Gena's Reads

World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil is a truly beautiful little book. Part personal memoir, part poetry, each chapter highlights another of natures astonishments; together with gorgeous illustrations they form this wonderous book. It is an important reminder that nature is always there to teach and guide us if we can just find the time to slow down and listen and the eyes to see. From the smallest creature to the greatest, Nezhukumatathil unpacks some of natures greatest mysteries in…

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Imagine you could get a do-over of your life, rolling back time and fixing any regrets you had, making a different choice, changing the direction your life went in. Now imagine thousands of parallel lives, thousands of do-overs. That is the premise of the new book by Matt Haig, The Midnight Library. I think we’ve all wished this at one time or another, so it was a fun fantasy to escape into. However, as much as I was enjoying Nora’s…

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Untamed by Glennon Doyle is one of the most popular books of the year. It is part memoir, part inspirational self-help book; personally, I enjoyed the part that was memoir the best. Doyle tells of her life-long struggles with addiction, eating disorders and mental health issues; of marrying the wrong person and always fitting into society, but of losing herself. Then she meets soccer star Abby Wambach and falls instantly in love and her whole life changes from that moment…

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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab is a wonderful fantasy novel about a girl in 18th century France, desperate to escape an arranged marriage, running for her freedom, when she finds herself making a deal with the Devil that will change everything. Completely addictive, this book was impossible to put down, and I found myself rooting for Addie the whole way through. Schwab has put an original twist on the story, so it didn’t feel like something…

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Transcendent Kingdom is the new novel by Yaa Gyasi, author of Homegoing. Gifty, a PhD student at Stanford, is a brilliant scientist who mostly keeps to herself in her lab, trying to understand the parts of the brain that cause addiction, reward seeking and depression, among other things. Gifty is part of an immigrant family from Ghana, whose Father returned there when she was little, leaving her mother to raise her and her older brother, a gifted athlete who becomes…

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Miss Iceland by Audur Ava Olafsdottir is a poetic, atmospheric book set in Iceland in the 1960’s. It follows Hekla, a young female writer and Jon, her gay best friend who longs to work in the theater. Both are out of place in Iceland at that time. Although the tone is often melancholic, I loved every second of this book. Olafsdottir completely captured the mood and the feeling of that particular time and place and what it would have been…

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The Break by UK author Marian Keyes is a big juicy novel that’s absolute fun to get lost in. Hugh, wonderful husband and father of teenage daughters, goes through something of a mid-life crisis after the death of his parents and a good friend. Unable to pull himself out of grief, he decides he needs a six month complete break from his life and his marriage and he takes off to Thailand. This means Amy, his heartbroken wife, is also…

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Where the Line Bleeds is the debut novel by Jesmyn Ward, author of Sing, Unburied, Sing. Set in rural Mississippi, the book follows twin brothers Joshua and Christophe the Summer after they graduate from high school. They live with their blind grandmother and both spend their days applying for any jobs they can find. The reappearance of their absent Mother and their addict Father bring challenges to the boys lives, which have for the first time ever, veered off in…

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The Distance Between Us, A Memoir by Reyna Grande tells the all too common story of Mexican children who are left behind while their parents go to “El Otro Lado” the other side, to try to make a better life for their family, often times never coming back for their children. Reyna and her siblings grow up with a cruel grandmother in Mexico while waiting for their parents to return and take them to “El Otro Lado.” Beautifully written, honest,…

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Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn, is a family saga set in Hawaii. Strong Washburn brings ancient Hawaiian mythology into modern day life and explores local Hawaiian culture in a way that few writers ever have. When seven year old Nainoa falls overboard and is saved by a shiver of sharks, his family knows there is something special about him. As he struggles with his newfound gifts as a healer, he eventually ends up working as…

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