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Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah
Calling for a Blanket Dance employs one of my (recent) favorite literary ‘techniques’, which consists in using the short-story format to tell an overarching story. A few weeks before reading this I read Morgan Talty’s Night of the Living Rez, which also used the short-story format to tell a young man’s coming-of-age. Unlike that title,…
1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 20th century, 3.5 STARS, addiction, Adult, America, belonging, Calling for a Blanket Dance, Cherokee Kiowa Mexican author, CHILDHOOD, collection of short stories, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), disabilities, family, fatherhood, gritty realism, growing up, indigenous, indigenous author, interconnected stories, intergenerational, LITERARY FICTION, male authors, MEMORY, native american & first nation, Native American & First Nation authors, Oklahoma, Oscar Hokeah, parenting, polyphonic, Poverty, published in 2022, RACE, read in 2022, reservations, short stories, siblings, snapshots, social issues, trauma -
Revival Season by Monica West
“Papa had carefully cultivated our belief in him. He never said it outright—Believe in me as you believe in God—that would have been obvious blasphemy and idolatry. But he was the all-consuming presence that had filled my entire life, taking up all the space in the house and in revival tents. In its absence was…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, arizona, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Christianity, Contemporary, Faith, family, fathers & daughters, female authors, Louisiana, Mississippi, Monica West, mothers & daughters, My reviews, netgalley, Oklahoma, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, Religion, Revival Season, road trip, siblings, Southern America, Summer, texas -
Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford
“My father wasn’t a wound or even a scar, not a black hole or a dry desert. He just wasn’t. Not for me anyway. Mom was my sun and my moon. I was her all, too, and that was us.” In Crooked Hallelujah Kelli Jo Ford presents her readers with a nonlinear exploration of the…
1980s, 1990s, 3 STARS, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, Adult, America, American, bad love, Cherokee, CHILDHOOD, coming of age, Crooked Hallelujah, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), family, female authors, girlhood, HISTORICAL FICTION, indigenous, indigenous author, interconnected stories, Kelli Jo Ford, mothers & daughters, native american & first nation, Native American & First Nation authors, Oklahoma, published in 2020, read in 2020, Religion, toxic relationships -
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney — book review
“That was Wyatt’s philosophy when it came to the past: Stay out of it. ” The Long and Faraway Gone is a well written if somewhat uneven novel. I can definitely see why it has drawn comparisons to books by Dennis Lehane. Both authors render a strong sense of place, so much so that the…
1980s, 3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Contemporary, CRIME, HISTORICAL FICTION, Lou Berney, male authors, missing girls, missing persons, MYSTERY, Noir, obsession, Oklahoma, private investigator, published in 2015, READ IN 2019, SISTERS, SUSPENSE, The Long and Faraway Gone, THRILLER, trauma, violence
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