Review: What Strange Paradise
5/5 stars What Strange Paradise, by Omar El Akkad (2021) Beautiful and haunting and cinematic. The narrative follows Amir Utu, a 9-year...
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.
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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tatedecaro
- Jul 1
- 1 min
Review: Clap When You Land
5/5 stars Clap When You Land, by Elizabeth Acevedo (2020) Sixteen year old Camino Rios has grown up in the Dominican Republic (DR) with...
18 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- May 24
- 2 min
Review: What's Mine and Yours
2/5 stars What's Mine and Yours, by Naima Coster (2021) I enjoyed this story, though I don't think it's going to stick with me. It was a...
15 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Mar 20
- 3 min
Review: The Other Black Girl
1/5 stars The Other Black Girl, by Zakiya Dalila Harris (2021) Y I K E S. Huh. That was unexpected and not... umm... yeah, just not...
49 views1 comment
tatedecaro
- Feb 19
- 1 min
Review: Fifty Words for Rain
1/5 stars Fifty Words for Rain, by Asha Lemmie (2020) UGH. I'm so angry right now! Though it had it's flaws, I enjoyed this book... right...
52 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Feb 9
- 2 min
Review: Redemptor
3/5 stars Redemptor (Raybearer Book #2), by Jordan Ifueko (2021) This is the second book in Ifueko's duology, and since I have a terrible...
15 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Jan 25
- 2 min
Review: Call Us What We Carry
3/5 stars Call Us What We Carry, by Amanda Gorman (2021) Like everyone else, I was introduced to and blown away by Amanda Gorman when she...
22 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Dec 29, 2021
- 2 min
Review: The Deep
5/5 stars The Deep, by Rivers Solomon (2019) Decades back, pregnant African slaves were thrown from slave ships into the ocean. Their...
46 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Dec 29, 2021
- 2 min
Review: My Sister, the Serial Killer
4/5 stars My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite (2018) I really enjoyed this dark, morbid, thriller/crime story - not...
22 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Dec 24, 2021
- 2 min
Review: Pet
1/5 stars Pet, by Akwaeke Emezi (2019) UGH. I really didn't enjoy this book. I'm so confused by all the praise it has received (including...
31 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Dec 17, 2021
- 2 min
Review: Firekeeper's Daughter
3/5 stars Firekeeper's Daughter, by Angeline Boulley (2021) TW: grief, suicide, murder, drug addition, & rape Despite the heavy nature of...
27 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Dec 12, 2021
- 3 min
Review: Tongues
4/5 stars Tongues: On Longing and Belonging through Language, edited by Eufemia Fantetti, Leonarda Carranza, & Ayelet Tsabari (2021) I...
35 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Nov 26, 2021
- 2 min
In This Moment chapbooks
5/5 stars In This Moment: Revolution, Reckoning, Reparation, a chapbook series curated by Amanda Chestnut, coordinated by Jeanne...
88 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Nov 18, 2021
- 2 min
Review: Mixed Feelings
4/5 stars Mixed feelings: Poems and Stories, by Avan Jogia (2019) This book may be slim, but it packs a punch, exploring the complicated...
28 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Nov 17, 2021
- 2 min
Review: Where the Dead Sit Talking
2/5 stars Where the Dead Sit Talking, by Brandon Hobson (2018) TW: Drugs, suicide, sexual identity, violence against women This is a dark...
28 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Oct 12, 2021
- 2 min
Review: Conjure Women
3/5 stars Conjure Women, by Afia Atakora (2020) An impressive debut of historical fiction, the book is set on a large plantation in the...
17 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Oct 8, 2021
- 4 min
The Book Thieves
My book club, The Book Thieves, met last night to choose all of our books for 2022, and I'm excited to share the list! If anyone is...
49 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Sep 3, 2021
- 2 min
Review: Nights When Nothing Happened
3/5 stars Nights When Nothing Happened, by Simon Han (2020) This book is a slow, ponderous burn. I found myself feeling distracted at...
23 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Aug 27, 2021
- 2 min
Review: Brown Girl Dreaming
4/5 stars Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson (2014) Earlier this year I read Woodson's 2020 novel Red at the Bone (click to read...
37 views0 comments
tatedecaro
- Aug 20, 2021
- 2 min
Review: Prison Diary of Ho Chi Minh
3/5 stars The Prison Diary of Ho Chi Minh, by Ho Chi Minh (1943) My mom is going through all of the books in her house, and donating a...
79 views0 comments
