Suzanna Recommends

“Patricia Lackwood's Priestdaddy is one of my favorite memoirs of all time, so I knew I just HAD to get my hands on her debut novel. As expected it's weird and quirky as hell, a tad inappropriate but makes you literally LOL. She creates a plot through a constellation of nebulous observations and witticisms that, as I said, is expected from her. And the narrator's voice drips with that certain sarcasm that is perfectly in line with Lockwood's. What I did NOT expect, however, is for these drifting sentiments and sediments to suddenly unify as one sharp needle point at the book's climax and rip out my still-beating heart. The audacity of Patricia Lockwood! After I was done ugly crying, I was able to take a step back and truly appreciate how marvelous this book really is. Do yourself a favor and just read it.”

“I didn’t think it was possible to combine education and humor so effectively in a book about racism, but Ruffin and Lamar proved me wrong. This incredibly well-structured, digestible, challenging, and engaging book opened my eyes to the many ways racism can permeate every interaction in Black people’s lives. The way the sisters play off each other and how Ruffin reflects on Lamar’s experience in contrast to her own make the book especially accessible. A must-read!”

“Put this book at the top of your listening list! Clap When You Land is a beautifully written and compellingly narrated story of two half-sisters who are unaware of each other's existence until their father dies in a plane crash. Elizabeth Acevedo not only writes with an exquisite voice, but she and Melania-Luisa Marte alternate narrating with voices that carry into the readers heart and soul. One of the best audio books I have listened to in a very long time.”

“We are all living through this moment in history together, and yet somehow, Zadie Smith has captured it in a way I could never have expected. Stunning, thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, but oddly hopeful, Intimations is necessary reading (or listening, with searing narration by the author)—the sort that had me pulling off the road as catharsis welled in my eyes.”

“I firmly believe I will be hard-pressed to pick up a book in 2019 I love more than The Need, a genre-bending novel that explores motherhood and identity. Molly is the most authentic character I’ve had the pleasure of reading in quite some time, accompanied by baby Ben and lively Viv, the most fully realized fictional four-year-old ever. Is The Need a fever dream, a psychological thriller, a cosmic twist of fate unveiling a parallel world? The author leaves her readers to wonder while highlighting the dualities of domestic life. In gorgeous prose, Phillips shows how the mundane is often revealed to be just that, but sometimes that mundanity is sacred. A deeply immersive human story.”

“This is a beautifully inclusive novel that made me cry and laugh harder than I’d like too. Chloe and Red were amazing characters that I didn’t want to leave when the story ended. I can’t get over Chloe being a larger lady and the story not focusing on that. I was bracing myself so many times for her to feel sad about her weight or talk about how much she might eat to de-stress herself but the story never gave me that, and I appreciated it so much. She was fine with her appearance and it’s that type of attitude and writing that made me love Chloe even more. I also loved how determined Chloe was to not let her disability take over her life. It’s important to me to see stories like this getting written because representation is huge as a bookseller. I believe everyone deserves to be seen and this was a pure gem.”

“When I attempted to write a review for Such a Fun Age, I was at a loss for words. How could I encapsulate how Kiley Reid’s startling debut perfectly captured what it means to be a woman? The societal pressure, the self-doubt, the perseverance, the constant comparison — all of it was perfectly represented through Reid’s two wonderfully flawed and captivating leads. Follow Emira and Alix, two women on seemingly incongruous paths who find themselves searching for purpose and an authentic sense of self. Such a Fun Age tackles complex issues — race, gender, economic status, and the intersection of them all — yet remains accessible. You will not want to put this book down; when you do, you’ll be itching to pick it back up again.”

“Lindy West makes true observations about movies in ways that will make you laugh at out, and cause you to re-think some of your 90s/00s favorite films! Her witty commentary is what we all NEED in this 2020 world, even if you have not seen the films. It’s written by someone smart and hilarious who has strong opinions about things that don’t matter. The PERFECT road trip audiobook, listeners can come in and out without loosing place in the book. *12/10 DVDs of The Fugitive*”

““....some truths will never be enough...” Unbelievable debut author. The twists and turns lead you to a place you never would have guessed.”

“Her unconventional childhood—think playing unsupervised on the streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Washington, D.C.—prepared Amaryllis Fox for a career in the CIA. She was recruited because as part of her master’s studies at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, she developed an algorithm that was amazingly accurate at predicting where terrorist cells might pop up in the world. Soon, she was deployed as a spy in the Middle East while posing as an art dealer. After 10 years, Fox left the CIA and is now a writer, a current events analyst, a peace activist, and a mother. One wonders what is next in her fascinating life!”