A Word About Awards

THE ART OF LOSING by Alice Zeniter   Award: Dublin Winner 2022   Nomination: BookTube Finalist 2022   Date Read: April 17, 2024   From Kirkus Reviews: “What if the world identifies you as being something you don’t know anything about?   Naïma, a young French gallery worker, spends her days drifting between alcohol-fueled despair and bliss, unable to identify the nagging uncertainty about her roots that lurks at the edge of her consciousness. Born in France, the daughter of Hamid, an Algerian immigrant, and Clarisse, the daughter of a “traditional” French family, Naïma is aware of her Algerian identity but uninformed about its meaning (to herself and to the rest of the world) primarily due to her father’s purported lack of any memories about his early childhood years. After terrorist attacks in France, unspoken, but not unfelt, worries about the perception of darker skinned “Arab” residents prompt Naïma to wonder what others think of her and of her elderly Algeri...

THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO by Christy Lefteri   Award: Aspen Words Winner 2020   Nominations: BookTube Finalist 2020, Dayton Literary Peace Finalist 2020   Date Read: November 12, 2023   Nuri and his wife Afra have lost everything in their flight from war-torn Syria – their son Sami, their home and even their connection to each other. Navigating a treacherous journey that is about as harrowing as the place they are fleeing from, the Ibrahims relentlessly pursue the reconnection with their dearest friend in England.   Only during this arduous journey does it become clear that Nuri is suffering from PTSD. He has invented a child to save, Mohammed, as a psychological replacement for the loss of his son. Nuri is depressed, constantly vigilant and wading through darkness, hoping to find the light.   The Beekeeper of Aleppo shows just how difficult the immigrant journey is. All these refugees want is honest work, a sense of home and connection to family. As Sami ima...

THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett   Award: Goodreads Winner 2020   Nominations: Aspen Words Longlist 2021, BookTube Finalist 2021, Carnegie Longlist 2021, Dublin Longlist 2021, National Book Longlist 2020, NY Times Finalist 2020, Women’s Prize Finalist 2021   Date Read: February 3, 2023   Two Black twins with aspirations for a bigger life decide to leave the small town of Mallard for the big city of New Orleans. Although this had been Desiree’s dream forever, once they had actually left home, Stella was the one who was determined to make it. The harsh realities of city life began to wear down Desiree’s dream, but Stella adopted her sisters’ dream and ran with it.   Keeping in mind this story began in the 1950s, the difference between black and white lives were still profoundly different. Not much has changed now except Americans love to say racism is dead while it still happens all around us. I would think it was almost easier back then because you knew what it...

WOMEN TALKING by Miriam Toews   Nominations: BookTube Finalist 2020, Dublin Longlist 2020   Date Read: January 30, 2023   Although short, this is a powerful piece about faith, safety, and the power of women when they realize their own worth. Further, Women Talking is a testament to the importance of knowledge and the education of women. The women of a secluded Mennonite sect in Bolivia have been drugged and sexually assaulted, often many times over, by the men in their sect. What makes this worse is this novel is based on true events.   Toews has given the women a voice here, debating whether they should stay and forgive their abusers – their fellow fathers, brothers and sons – and move forward as if nothing ever happened or to leave and start over on their own somewhere else. What these women experienced is nothing short of horrific and add to that that many victims were children, one as young as three years old and the reader is left with disbelief that men could b...

10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS IN THIS STRANGE WORLD by Elif Shafak   Nominations: Booker Finalist 2019, BookTube Finalist 2020, Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist 2020, Dublin Longlist 2021   Date Read: December 18, 2020   Leila is dead. She was murdered and her corpse thrown into a dumpster, like human garbage. Her consciousness, however, is far from over, extending beyond the lack of a heartbeat for 10 Minutes 38 seconds as she relives the best and worst parts of her life. We experience what she thinks as well as what happens as a result of her death. It’s interesting to begin at the end and work your way backwards. As I got to know Leila, the loss of her became increasingly sad.   Leila lived on the margins of society, having been rejected by her family and sold to a brothel. The circumstances of her life are tragic – her own mother wasn’t allowed to raise her; she was raped by her Uncle; her family did not believe her when she finally told what was happening; her leavi...