I loved Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult. Picoult deals with ethical dilemmas subtly and expertly. The story alternates between 13 year old Jenna who is trying to find her mother, an expert on African elephants who went missing 10 years earlier, Alice, Jenna's mother, and two misfits - a has-been psychic and hack detective. Alice's excerpts were read as journal entries and it was fascinating to learn so much about elephants and their handling of grief. I felt like I was taking a science class and I mean that in the best way. This had a a nice twist I didn't see coming which I love.
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver was a nice escape. Lydia's fiancé dies and she find she can live an alternate life with him in her dreams. The book alternates between her real life and dreams. I had to suspend disbelief that one can be cognizant of their real life while living a chronological dream (each dream picks up as if it were the exact same date as real life). The ending was pretty predictable, but the message about dreaming one's life away vs. living it was well done.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo gave me major Jacqueline Woodson vibes. A coming of age story told through poetry. Xiomara has all the teen girl angst layered with baggage of being a twin and daughter of strict Catholic Dominican immigrants.
TBR List
- A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy
- Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
- Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
- The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
- The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
- The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- How to Have Impossible Conversations by Boghossian/Lindsay
