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A New York Tate of Mind
A New York Tate of Mind
In which this reader and explorer reviews books, muses on literary (and other) matters, and shares some of her adventures.

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My 1-5 rating system:
1 = I did not like it and would not recommend it.
2= It was fine. Read it if the subject matter interests you.
3 = I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
4 = I really liked it, and think you should read it!
5 = One of the best books I've read.
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Review: Ghost Boys
3/5 stars Ghost Boys, by Jewell Parker Rhodes (2018) TW: gun violence, fatal police brutality, mention of lynching This is a middle-grade...
tatedecaro
May 23, 20231 min read


Review The Inheritance Games series
3/5 stars The Inheritance Games (2020), The Hawthorne Legacy (2021), and The Final Gambit (2022), by Jennifer Lynn Barnes I'll be...
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May 15, 20233 min read


Review: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
3/5 stars Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, by Benjamin Stevenson (2022) Ernie Cunningham is from a family of seemingly...
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May 8, 20232 min read


Review: The Last White Man
2/5 stars The Last White Man, by Mohsin Hamid I'm having a really hard time writing about this one. I finished it almost 2 weeks ago and...
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May 2, 20234 min read


Review: So Much More Than a Headache
3/5 stars So Much More Than a Headache, edited by Kathleen O'Shea (2020) I Describe a Migraine I wanted to describe chronic migraines as...
tatedecaro
Apr 21, 20233 min read


Review: Kaikeyi
3/5 stars Kaikeyi, by Vaishnavi Patel (2022) In the Indian epic story, The Ramayana, Queen Kaikeyi is the villain. She is the third wife...
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Apr 18, 20232 min read


Review: Our Missing Hearts
3/5 stars Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng (2022) This book is set in a dystopian version of the US that pulls from many real-life...
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Apr 9, 20233 min read


Review: Deaf Republic
5/5 stars Deaf Republic, by Ilya Kaminsky (2019) This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend two of RIT/NTID's Big Read events,...
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Apr 3, 20233 min read


It Never Ends (a free-write)
TW: Gun violence in schools March 30, 2023 – morning free-write It never ends. It never ends. There’s a secret door to a secret room with...
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Mar 30, 20232 min read


Review: Hell Bent
3/5 stars (reluctantly) Hell Bent, by Leigh Bardugo (2023) A few years ago I read the first book in this series, Ninth House, and...
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Mar 27, 20233 min read


Review: Black Cake
2/5 stars Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson (2022) Very sad to be giving this 2 stars. It started out so well! A 5-star beginning, that...
tatedecaro
Mar 19, 20232 min read


Review: Amy Among the Serial Killers
2/5 stars Amy Among the Serial Killers, by Jincy Willett (2022) I didn't realize until I was well into the book that it's actually the...
tatedecaro
Mar 10, 20232 min read


Louisville, KY
I took a road trip to visit Louisville, KY for a week's vacation, just to explore somewhere new, and see an old college friend and her...
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Feb 21, 20232 min read


Review: The Power
3/5 stars The Power, by Naomi Alderman (2016) TW: Physical violence, murder, rape (men towards women, and women towards men) The Power...
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Feb 20, 20235 min read


Review: The Night Circus
5/5 stars The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern (2011) I've read this twice before, and the third read was just as awesome. This time I...
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Feb 18, 20233 min read


Review: The Death of Jane Lawrence
3/5 stars The Death of Jane Lawrence, by Caitlin Starling (2021) First 3/4 of the book - 5 stars. The final 1/4 of the book lost its way....
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Feb 8, 20232 min read


Review: The House Girl
4/5 stars The House Girl, by Tara Conklin (2013) This story is told in two alternating narratives: Josephine is a young slave girl (about...
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Feb 1, 20232 min read


Review: Code Name Verity series
3-5/5 stars Code Name Verity (2012), Rose Under Fire (2013), The Pearl Thief (2017), and The Enigma Game (2020), by Elizabeth Wein I had...
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Jan 21, 20236 min read


The Textures of Goodbye.
Today I wrote the following... poem, I guess? And I wanted to share it. The Textures of Goodbye. “See you soon” is the smoothest duvet...
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Jan 17, 20233 min read


David Mudgett paintings
Since June 2022 we've had almost 30 paintings by my maternal grandfather, David Mudgett, have been on display at NTID's Dyer Arts Center...
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Jan 14, 20232 min read

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