pickI don‘t know how I had never heard of the prize-winning recently deceased Banks, but I did enjoy this story collection and plan to check out his extensive backlist.
These three long short stories follow the inhabitants of rural, white, Trump-supporting Vermont as they deal with local militias, racism, and drug deals gone wrong. Dark and deadly. I loved it!
pickRaw and honest, this is an urbanized fictional perspective of an individual who grew up in the rough streets of Brooklyn, New York. Afro-Latina and trans protagonist Carlotta is released from prison on probation and tries to assimilate back into her community. However, her new identity ostracizes her from everyone as she attempts to navigate while dealing with themes of family, crime, gender, queerness and the threat of gentrification.
pickThese books are great when driving or going to the gym. Don‘t need razor focus to pay attention. But still entertaining enough to be engaged.
It's like I been away so long that motherfuckers all done learnt a different language from me, an every time they get a second to theyself, they start messin round with that phone. Motherfuckers useta talk to motherfuckers, now ev'body be a zombie trapped in they own li'l world, watchin some apples blow up on a li'l portable TV.
pickWow. Wow. Wow!! I saw this book at Goodwill and waivered over buying it (for a whopping $2.99 lol). It sounded interesting, but I have a pile of books on my TBR stack to get through. Well, my Aunt saw through that lame excuse and bought it for me, and I‘m so glad she did! I loved this story of the Rabishevsky brothers - this was a total page turner that I didn‘t want to put down. What other Andrew Gross books should I read? I‘m hooked now!
She crossed the street and studied the building closely-no LIVE NUDE REVUE, no xxx movies, nothing Is this where it was at? Yes, definitely. The place had become a haunted house; the sign read TIMES SCARE Huh? So what is it now, like a dead nude revue?
pickWhat a voice! This is an unconventional novel told mostly in first person and in Black American vernacular about a trans woman‘s 48 hours after being paroled. I felt Hannaham is riffing on Joyce‘s Ulysses, putting his own spin on it. There is minimal punctuation, stream of consciousness, switches from 1st to 3rd person in the same paragraph...one has to read it carefully. I found it surprisingly exuberant despite the dark subject matter.
On Saturday my partner and I arrived at our new apartment near Keuka Lake in NY. It was a big move from SC, but we are already loving being here. I found these at our local small bookstore (of course I‘ve already been there twice). It‘s a county literary review, and the pieces I‘ve read so far have been a delight. More info in comments ⬇️
#fingerlakes #newyorkstate
