Tuggle Grass Blues

Moon Over BrendleBook Review | 📚📚📚📚 4/5 Jeff Noon | Angry Robot Why I was interested in this book:Jeff Noon is one of those gifted authors that make you think, but not to the point where it hurts. So when Moon Over Brendle was sent to me as an ARC, I was thrilled to dive into it and am happy to share my thoughts. He conjures up just the right kind of intense, near-futuristic, on-the-fringe,…

The Remarkable Life of Reed PeggramBook Review | 📚📚📚📚 4/5 Ethelene Whitmire | Viking Penguin Why I was interested in this book:First, the title and the book cover grabbed my attention. Once I read the book’s compelling description I put it at the top of my TBR list. My assessment:What an incredibly wild journey Reed Peggram had throughout his life. He seemed to overcome hurdles because of of –…

Last SeenBook Review | 📚📚📚 4/5 Christopher Castellani | Viking Penguin Why I was interested in this book:The cover drew my attention. It looked ominous with a Twin Peaks vibe. The blurb is what pulled me in to actually acquire it and read it. Part true crime. Part supernatural. Part mystery. My assessment:The book truly pulled me into the characters and their situations. How each character…

Book Review | Rabbits

RabbitsBook Review | 📚📚📚 4/5 Terry Miles | Del Rey | Penguin Random House Why I was interested in this book:First, the cover of Terry Miles‘ first novel is fantastic. And, while I don’t judge a book by its cover, a cover can easily pull me into reading the book.  The publisher’s blurb was so enticing. The theme sounded great and a twisty mind-altering journey that I enjoy reading. My…

BOOK REVIEW | The 7 Secrets of Responsive Leadership

The 7 Secrets of Responsive LeadershipBook Review | 📚📚📚📚📚 5/5Jackie Jenkins-Scott | Career Press Why I was interested in this book:Having been in leadership positions for over 30 years, I am always looking for ways to effectively communicate, assess and lead. I had not heard of responsive leadership before and thought this might be something new to add to my leadership skills. My assessment:The…

Book Review (short) | Sticking Points

Sticking Points: How to Get 4 Generations Working Together in the 12 Places They Come ApartBook Review | 📚📚📚 4/5Haydn Shaw | Tyndale Momentum Why I was interested in this book:I’m on the cusp between Gen X and Baby Boomer. Serving in executive leadership roles for over 25 years, I’ve been noticing a disconnect between co-workers based on their generational age. A co-worker who is a Millennial,…

Book Review: The Killing Hills

The Killing HillsBook Review | 📚📚📚 3/5Chris Offutt | Grove Press Why I was interested in this book:Living in rural Kentucky for over a decade, my love for grit lit is endless. I had previously read and reviewed Chris Offutt’s novel, Country Dark and really enjoyed it. Who doesn’t love a compelling murder mystery set in the Appalachia country! My assessment:While I really enjoyed Country Dark,…

SHORT BOOK REVIEW: The Q

The QBook Review | 📚📚📚📚 4/5Rick R. Reed | NineStar Press So many thoughts. On the surface, The Q is a very good story about life in Appalachia. Life filled with gay and gay friendly towns folk. Upon reading the first couple of chapters, the book seemed to be more a collection of short stories. But then the a-ha moment that this is more like Armistead Maupin’s, “Tales of the City.” 28 Barbary…

Book Review | The Way Back

The Way BackBook Review | 📚📚📚📚 4.5/5Gavriel Savit | Knopf Books for Young Readers It was time to read something less heavy (I’ve been reading a lot about social justice and social injustice lately). So, I stumbled across this new book. A YA (young adult) novel with fantasy and Jewish fantasy tomes alluded to in the publisher’s book blurb. I really needed to read this book at this time. It had…

Book Review | Tales from the Bottom of My Sole

Tales from the Bottom of My Sole Book Review | 📚📚📚📚 4/5 David Kingston Yeh | Guernica Editions Tales from the Bottom of My Sole is the second book I read by David Kingston Yeh. I really enjoyed his first book, A Boy at the Edge (read my review here). What I liked most about the first book, was also experienced in Yeh’s new book – he tells the stories of people without judgement. Even those that…

Book Review | Tokyo Ueno Station

Tokyo Ueno Station Book Review | 📚📚📚📚 4/5 Yu Miri | Penguin Random House

A ghost inhabits a train station in Japan and listens in on the stories of the living.

Publisher’s blurb for Tokyo Ueno Station can be found here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/623504/tokyo-ueno-station-by-yu-miri/9780593088029

Why I was interested in this book: I love books that explore the human condition in…

Surrender Your Sons Book Review | 📚📚📚 3/5 Adam Sass | Flux Now

One Sentence Summary: Young Adult novel that’s one part Hardy Boys, one part Lord of the Flies, where a mystery unfolds on an isolated island housing a gay conversion camp.

Publisher’s blurb for Surrender Your Sons can be found here: https://fluxnow.com/product/surrender-your-sons/

Why I was interested in this book: See my intro…

Book Review | Beyond Kidding

Beyond Kidding Book Review | 📚📚📚1/2 3.5/5 Lynda Clark | Fairlight Books

This book, about a dad and his strange/estranged/stranger son, might all be based on a lie. The wild journey is what makes the twisted tale so much fun to read.

Publisher’s blurb for Beyond Kidding can be found here: https://www.fairlightbooks.co.uk/beyond-kidding/

Why I was interested in this book: I enjoy quirky tales…

Book Review | Toil & Trouble

Toil & Trouble Book Review | 📚📚📚📚 4/5 Augusten Burroughs | St. Martin’s Press

Another Augusten Burroughs memoir? What direction could he possibly go this time? Is there anything else to add to his life that he has not already shared in his past memoirs? Yes. Yes there is.

Publisher’s blurb for Toil & Trouble can be found here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250019950

Why I was…

Book Review | Everywhere You Don’t Belong

Everywhere You Don’t Belong Book Review | 📚📚📚📚 4/5 Gabriel Bump | Algonquin Books

Place is everything. Or is it? Can your life change based on where you live?

Why I was interested in this book: Honestly, my mom is from South Shore – the South Side of Chicago that is featured in this book, so I was intrigued. After reading the book’s blurbI realized that this would be a book about perseverance…

Book Review | The Warehouse

The Warehouse Book Review | 📚📚📚📚 1/2 4.5/5 Rob Hart | Crown Publishing

Our world is catching up with cyber-fiction. That’s not good, or is it? Revenge, opportunity, drugs, Big Brother to the 10th power; this is Utopia? This is the thriller that needs to be read.

Why I was interested in this book: Lately, I’ve been fascinated and fearful of how technology has just creeped into our lives where…

Book Review | The Swallows

The Swallows Book Review | 📚📚📚 1/2 3.5/5 Lisa Lutz (author) | Ballantine (Random House) Books

The Swallows is a book about a high school prep school with a secret society, a badass teacher whose past troubles follow, and a growing group of renegade students. What could possibly go wrong?

Why I was interested in this book: I read a lot of grit lit and literature with social messages. I needed…