Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
318 pages

What’s it about?
 Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.  He is raising his 14 year-old nephew, Nathan, and dealing out justice for those on the reservation who are denied it by the system.  It becomes personal for Virgil when Nathan begins to get involved with drugs and the legal system.  Not only must Virgil must come to terms with his conflicted feelings about his Native identity, but he needs to find out who is bringing drugs onto the reservation.  

What did it make me think about?
 This book highlights aspects of local and federal law that affect Native Americans on reservations.  

Should I read it?
 So I picked this book up thinking it was simple crime fiction.  I was ready for a plot driven book without a heavy message- so I may not have been in the mood to appreciate this book as it should be appreciated.  Although this book is based on solving a crime- it is really a Native American story.   Let's face it- the Native American story is tragic. The book is compelling and the mystery is solid so I would recommend this to anyone looking for a literary crime story.

Quote-
"Back in the time before Columbus, there were only Indians here, no skyscrapers, no automobiles, no streets.  Of course, we didn't use the words Indian or Native American then;  we we're just people.  We didn't  know we were supposedly drunks or lazy or savages.  I wondered what it was like to live without that weight on your shoulders, the weight of murdered ancestors, the stolen land, the abused children, the burden every Native person carries." 

If you liked this try-
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
There There by Tommy Orange
​The Round House by Louise Erdich

​8 stars

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel
191 pages

What’s it about?
 "It was her idea to tie up the nun".  And so begins the novel, Infinite Country.  Talia is 15 years-old and serving her time in an all girls correctional facility when she decides to break out and make a run for it.  Time is of the essence if she is to make it back to Bogota in time for her flight to the United States.  It is her chance to reunite with her mother and siblings in the land of her birth, but it will mean leaving behind her life in Columbia and her father.  

What did it make me think about?
"​He wanted to convey to his daughter the price of leaving, though he had difficulty finding the words.  What he wanted to say was that something is always lost; even when we are the ones migrating, we end up being occupied."

Should I read it?
 This was a beautiful book.  It is a story of immigration, but it is also a story of family.  I highly recommend this book.  It would be a great book club selection.  

Quote-
​"He didn't want his daughter to see her grandmother's condition as a death sentence.  He didn't want her to fear the body's natural process as it was shutting down, preparing for its exit from life.  He wanted her to see that as long as Perla took breaths and had a heartbeat, even if her own home and family felt unfamiliar to her, she was loved and valued and still so alive, and though they could no longer reach or understand her, and her expression became a blank, secretive mask, she would know through their touch and voices that she was safe and belonged there."

If you liked this try-
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen

9 1/2 stars

Outlawed by Anna North
261 pages

What’s it about?
 This slim novel takes us back to 1894 and a different Wild West.  The flu has killed a large percentage of the population and a woman's worth is tied up in having babies.  Ada is seventeen when she marries, and excited to become a wife and a mother.  When she doesn't become pregnant right away she begins to fear she will be branded a witch, and sent to prison or killed.  Her mother sends her away before that can happen.  She joins up with the infamous Hole in the Wall Gang and an interesting story begins.

What did it make me think about?
 This was just a fun gender-bending adventure story.

Should I read it?
 I highly recommend this one.  It has been said that it is A Handmaid's Tale meets Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and I can't think of a better way to describe this book.  This book is for anyone who likes a quick adventure story- with a twist.  

Quote-
"I tried to picture what it would be like to leave home because you wanted to- to be able to simply choose a different life.  It was beyond my imagining."

If you liked this try-
Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

9 stars

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
311 pages

What’s it about?
 Reuben Land is an asthmatic 11 year-old boy living in the Midwest.  When Reuben's older brother Davy kills two intruders the whole family must come to terms with it.     

What did it make me think about?
 Faith, family, miracles, and who we choose to rely on.

Should I read it?
 I revisited this book after 10 years and enjoyed it again a second time.  

Quote-
"Fair is whatever God wants to do."

If you liked this try-
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Virgil Wander by Leif Enger
​The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman
​Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig

8 1/2 stars

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
241 pages

What’s it about?
Clay and Amanda drive away from Brooklyn with their two teenage children looking forward to a summer vacation on Long Island.  They have rented a nice house with a pool out in the countryside and envision barbecues and day trips to the beach.  On their second evening there is a knock at the door and their vacation changes. New York City is experiencing a blackout and the homeowners have returned to the country.  But is it safe?

What did it make me think about?
 I could not help but to think of the beginning of the pandemic when I read this book.  Are we ever really prepared for our world to change?

Should I read it?
 I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.  The story was suspenseful, but in a different way than I expected.  Mr. Alam's observations on race, class, and even parenting are thoughtful, "Her distrust was not of her parents but of the world that they had made, and maybe she was right."

Quote-
"They had asked themselves questions when they decided to have children- do we have the money, do we have the space, do we have what it takes- but they didn't ask what the world would be when their children grew."

If you liked this try-
A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Exit West by Moshin Hamid

8 stars

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
378 pages

What’s it about?
 Samuel and Isaiah are slaves living on a plantation in Mississippi called Empty.  As young men they are tasked with keeping the animals and the barn- a job that requires brawn and strong backs.  As they grow into the job, they also grow into a romantic relationship.  This relationship goes unremarked upon until another slave, Amos, decides to start preaching the white man's God on Sundays.  Once Amos begins preaching, the other slaves realize that this relationship puts them all at risk.  

What did it make me think about?
How our behaviors are shaped by our circumstances.

Should I read it?
Robert Jones Jr. is a beautiful storyteller. This book is told in many different voices- from slaves to slaveowners. It is heart wrenching and affirming at the same time. I was apprehensive about this book.  I had heard it was a story of two gay lovers living in slavery in the South.  I couldn't imagine it and I am amazed at what Robert Jones Jr. made me feel about this subject.  To me- this novel was about having the courage to love, no matter your circumstances, rather than who you choose to love.

Quote-
​"This is why Isiah and Samuel didn't care, why they clung to each other even when it was offensive to the people who had once shown them a kindness: it had to be know.  And why would this be offensive? How could they hate the tiny bursts of light that shot through Isaiah's body every time he saw Samuel?  Didn't everybody want somebody to glow like that?  Even if it only last for never, it had to be known. That way, it could be mourned by somebody, thus remembered- and maybe, someday, repeated."

If you liked this try-
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Memorial by Bryan Washington
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

9 stars

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alex E. Harrow
371 pages

What’s it about?
 January Scaller is often left alone at Locke House while her father journeys the world looking for treasures.  Mr. Locke (her father's employer) treats January kindly, but she finds herself restless and she misses her father.   She longs for a more adventurous life.  January is expected to "behave" and she finds her escape in books.  When a special book appears that tells the story of secret doors and hidden worlds, she wants to know more.
  
What did it make me think about?
This is a story about words- more succinctly it is a story about the power of words.  The stories we read are doors into other worlds, often worlds we are unfamiliar with.  "Words and their meanings have weight in the world of matter, shaping and reshaping realities through a most ancient alchemy."

Should I read it?
 Even though I found this book really inconsistent- there is still so much to like about it.  It is a fantasy story written for readers.  The book kept me engrossed at times, and uninterested at other times.  All in all, there is way more to like than dislike in this book. I think this story would lend itself to a good discussion.

Quote-
"Doors, he told her, are change, and change is a dangerous necessity.  Doors are revolutions and upheavals, uncertainties and mysteries, axis points around which entire worlds can be turned. They are the beginnings and endings of every true story, the passages between that lead to adventures and madness and -here he smiled- even love.  Without doors the worlds would grow stagnant, calcified, story less."

If you liked this try-
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeymii
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Buried Giant by Kazoo Ishiguro

7  stars

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
927 pages

What’s it about?
 This is the fifth Cormoran Strike detective novel in the series by Robert Galbraith (a pen name for J.K. Rowling).  In this novel, Strike and his business partner Robin are tasked with trying to solve a missing persons case from 40 years earlier.  Margaret Bamborough went missing in 1974 and is assumed dead, most likely at the hands of convicted serial killer Dennis Creed.  However Creed has yet to confess to this crime and the victim's daughter would like closure.   Strike and Robin continue to explore their own relationship as they look for clues as to what happened to Margaret Bamborough.

What did it make me think about?
 J.K. Rowling just writes interesting characters and intricate plot lines.  I was thinking about who did it for 900 pages.

Should I read it?
 So this was a long book and I enjoyed it immensely.  I must add that this book has gotten uneven reviews.  The book has also had it's share of controversy over a cross-dressing character in the story. 

Quote-
" 'One t'ing life's taught me: where there's no capacity for joy, there's no capacity for goodness,'"

If you liked this try-
These Women by Ivy Pochoda
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney
The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey
Long Bright River by Liz Moore

9 stars

Everywhere You Don't Belong by Gabriel Bump
261 pages

What’s it about?
 Claude McKay Love is coming of age in Chicago's South Shore- just as Obama is rising in politics.   Claude is a kid dealing with more than his fair share of problems.  Claude's everyday existence is different than most of us would imagine.  

What did it make me think about?
All the young people who live in precarious situations.

Should I read it?
 What an unusual and compelling book!  Claude is my favorite literary character of 2021 (ok it is only January 10th...).  This book was uneven, funny, heartbreaking, and so very readable.  I am so glad I picked this one up!

Quote-
"And my life went on like that: people coming and going, valuable things left in a hurry"

If you liked this try-
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement
​Dominicana by Angie Cruz

​9 stars
​

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
264 pages

What’s it about?
 Gifty is sixth-year PhD candidate at Stanford University School of Medicine studying neuroscience.  Her interest is in reward seeking behavior and addiction.  Alternating between the past and the present this is a story of a family grappling with the many facets of mental health.

What did it make me think about?
 I loved Gifty!  What a great character.  She was so complicated, and yet so refreshing.   "He smiled at me, and I wanted to slap the smile off his face, but I wanted other things more."

Should I read it?
 I highly recommend this book.  It is a family story first- but it also sheds light on addiction, depression, religion, and being an immigrant in the Deep South.  What a combination...  

Quote-
"But this tension, this idea that one must necessarily choose between science and religion, is false.  I used to see the world thought a God lens, and when that lens clouded, I turned to science.  Both became, for me, valuable ways of seeing, but ultimately both have failed to fully satisfy in their aim: to make clear, to make meaning."

If you liked this try-
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
​Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
​
9 stars