All Books Considered

Desert Boys by Christopher McCormick Blurb from Goodreads : A VIVID AND ASSURED WORK OF FICTION FROM A MAJOR NEW VOICE FOLLOWING THE LIFE OF A YOUNG MAN GROWING UP, LEAVING HOME, AND COMING BACK AGAIN, MARKED BY THE STARK BEAUTY OF CALIFORNIA'S MOJAVE DESERT AND THE VARIOUS FATES OF THOSE WHO LEAVE AND THOSE WHO STAY BEHIND. This series of powerful, intertwining stories illuminates Daley Kushner's world - the family, friends and community that have both formed and constrained him, and his new life in San Francisco. Back home, the desert preys on those who cannot conform: an alfalfa farmer on the outskirts of town; two young girls whose curiosity leads to danger; a black politician who once served as his school's confederate mascot; Daley's mother, an immigrant from Armenia; and Daley himself, introspective and queer. Meanwhile, in another desert on the other side of the world, war threatens to fracture Daley's m...

The Smell of Other People's Houses  by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock Blurb from Goodreads : In Alaska, 1970, being a teenager here isn’t like being a teenager anywhere else. Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck strikes. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance, with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat. Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away than to stay home—until one of them ends up in terrible danger. Four very different lives are about to become entangled.  My Review: This was such a quick and captivating read!  I loved the story of four different teenagers in Alaska, just post-statehood and their struggles that are probably just as fresh today.  Not only was the setting interesting (and so different from a typical suburban setting) but the characters were each unique, with the...

The Tsar of Love and Techno  by Anthony Marra Blurb from Goodreads : From the New York Times bestselling author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena—dazzling, poignant, and lyrical interwoven stories about family, sacrifice, the legacy of war, and the redemptive power of art. This stunning, exquisitely written collection introduces a cast of remarkable characters whose lives intersect in ways both life-affirming and heartbreaking. A 1930s Soviet censor painstakingly corrects offending photographs, deep underneath Leningrad, bewitched by the image of a disgraced prima ballerina. A chorus of women recount their stories and those of their grandmothers, former gulag prisoners who settled their Siberian mining town. Two pairs of brothers share a fierce, protective love. Young men across the former USSR face violence at home and in the military. And great sacrifices are made in the name of an oil landscape unremarkable except for the...