Diverse Book Reviews

Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim Juhea Kim’s debut novel, “Beasts of a Little Land,” is a historic epic about the Korean peninsula during the first half of ...

Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi Longtime couple Aima and Kalu should have been together forever, but a recent move to New Lagos, Nigeria revealed the cracks in their relationship. The ...

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston Kit and Theo have been a lot of things to each other: childhood best friends, romantic partners, and now exes. They broke up four years ...

The Library of Legends by Janie Chang Vancouver, British Columbia-based author Janie Chang is headlining Whatcom County Library System's second Open Book: a Festival for Readers at the Ferndale Events ...

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily R. Austin “Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead,” by Emily R. Austin opens a window on a uniquely ...

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley John le Carré meets “Kate and Leopold” in this genre-bending debut. An unnamed British civil servant transfers to new hush-hush department to work ...

Evenings & Weekends by Oisín McKenna It’s the hottest weekend of the summer and the people of London are ready to let loose. Phil and his housemates—including Keith, with whom ...

Tell It to Me Singing by Tita Ramirez Life is not turning out the way Mónica Campo intended. Pregnant with her first child and newly engaged to a nice guy, ...

Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah “Calling for a Blanket Dance” is a moving tale of the power of heritage and generational connections. Author Oscar Hokeah stitches together ...

Thunder Song: Essays by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe’s debut memoir, Red Paint, was all about healing. Her new book, Thunder Song, is all about embracing contradiction—about both charting ...

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai From childhood favorites to special meals with friends or family, few things bring us back to the past as immediately as the smell ...

This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets; edited by Kwame Alexander In 2020, poet Kevin Young, current director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American ...

The Night Parade: A Speculative Memoir by Jami Nakamura Lin “Maybe this isn’t a story about ghosts, but a story about telling a story about ghosts.” This genre-defying memoir uses ...

The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling Schoolchildren across the country have heard the story of Sacajawea, and can readily recall her association with the Lewis and Clark ...

Hula by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes Now that winter has finally arrived in Whatcom County, readers might enjoy a literary escape to warmer climes, and “Hula: a Novel” by Jasmin ‘Iolani ...

Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki High school best friends Zee and Dani have always dreamed of visiting New York City together. In Roaming, they reunite in Manhattan for ...

Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater It began with a meme. A single image that an ...

Congratulations, the Best Is Over!: Essays by R. Eric Thomas In this new collection of laugh-out-loud funny essays, R. Eric Thomas picks up where his last memoir (Here For It, ...

Where the Language Lives by Janet Yoder Vi taqʷšɘblu Hilbert was 49 years old when she got a phone call that changed the course of her life. Thom Hess, a ...

I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer by Robert Lashley I have read and heard Robert Lashley’s work for more than 15 years. He has published three books of poetry ...

American Mermaid by Julia Langbein This splashy debut novel is part Hollywood satire, part girl-power eco-thriller. High school English teacher Penny moves to LA for the summer to adapt her ...

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang “Bad Art Friend” meets psychological thriller in this pacy, satirical page-turner. June Hayward is a struggling author whose debut novel flopped. Her college friend, Athena Liu, ...

Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City: A Memoir by Jane Wong Some memoirists paint the past with soft edges, intentionally or perhaps subconsciously smoothing out the rough bits and lingering ...

Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalalludin Canadian author Uzma Jalaluddin is known for contemporary romances that recast classic stories with fresh, modern settings and people. Her latest novel, Much ...

Confidence by Rafael Frumkin Ezra Green is a smart, bored high schooler who winds up in juvie for selling fake drugs to his classmates. It’s there he meets Orson: charming, ...

Our Best Intentions by Vibhuti Jain Vibhuti Jain’s compelling, character-driven novel introduces readers to a fresh new voice in fiction. In the affluent suburb of Kitchewan, Babur Singh believes he ...

Rose Quartz: Poems by Sasha taqʷšblu LaPointe and I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State edited by Rena Priest Just in time for National Poetry Month, there are ...

Small Game by Blair Braverman Writer and dogsledder Blair Braverman has faced down nature on dozens of real-life adventures. After she became violently ill on an episode Naked and Afraid ...

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen The Bachelor meets Bigfoot in this wacky page-turner. The cast and crew of reality dating show The Catch travel to a remote island ...

Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe is the Whatcom READS 2024 book selection. Jess Walter, author of the 2023 featured title, The ...

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka Reviewed by Emma Radosevich, collection development librarian, Whatcom County Library System At the community pool, obsessive lap swimmers adhere to a strict, unspoken social code ...

All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien It’s 1996, and Ky Tran has left her tiny hometown of Cabramatta and her Vietnamese immigrant community to scratch out a future as ...

Think Black: A Memoir by Clyde W. Ford Few people have lives as varied and interesting as Bellingham’s own Clyde Ford. In his professional life, he’s been a chiropractor, a ...

The Family Chao by Lan Samatha Chang Lan Samantha Chang’s latest novel, “The Family Chao,” centers around a murder, but it’s less of a whodunit than a psychological study of ...

Northwest Know-how: Beaches by Rena Priest Nature lovers and poetry enthusiasts have a couple of chances to meet a local treasure, Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest. Priest will be ...

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. FRUIT, RUM, SUGAR, spices — their mother Eleanor’s black cake is a family tradition that runs throughout Benny and Byron’s childhoods, tying them to their ...

The Salt Fields by Stacy D. Flood In spare prose with haunting images, Stacy D. Flood’s novella, “The Salt Fields,” tells of a Black man’s train journey north, leaving South ...

Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of A Coast Salish Punk by Sasha taqwšeblu LaPointe Reviewed by Lisa Gresham, collection servcies manager, Whatcom County Library System An Indigenous artist from the ...

Of Blood and Sweat: Black Lives and the Making of White Power and Wealth by Clyde W. Ford Over his distinguished writing career, Bellingham author Clyde Ford has entertained and ...