reviews

From humiliation to reclamation: Chanel Miller sheds her "Emily Doe" anonymity and gives a voice to victims of sexual assault Author: Chanel Miller The deceptively simple front cover of Chanel Miller's Know My Name was inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi. Kintsugi is the technique of gluing shattered fragments of pottery back together using lacquer and powdered gold, silver, or platinum. The breaks and imperfections are not concealed; rather, they are celebrated as something new and beautiful in their own right. It’s obvious that Miller herself is a work of kintsugi. An exquisite one, at that. First, she was [...]

Educated: A Memoir of Abuse and Overcoming Author: Tara Westover I’ve seen Educated’s distinctive cover working its way across bookstores and Amazon recommendations for a while, yet when my book club chose this as one of our next reads, I rapidly discovered that I didn’t know what it was about or what to expect from it. I only knew that it was non-fiction. Educated covers Tara Westover’s traumatic experience growing up with mentally unstable, fundamentalist Mormon parents who are convinced that doomsday is upon us, the system will soon disintegrate, and a head-for-the-hills pack must always be ready. In this world, Tara was [...]

The Brokenness of Family Author: Tana French In the night, in a ghost town beleaguered by broken dreams and the poverty of recession, a fomented secret comes to a head. There is blood and forgiveness, paranoia and release, and ultimately love transformed into desperation, tinged with the failings of lost money and unrealized promises. Enter Detective Michael Kennedy, alias Scorcher, and his newbie assistant, Richie, as they travel to a forgotten place and try to look beneath the surface of chaos to find the killer and lay the dead to rest. Only, it appears that in this family murder – [...]