Razorblade Tears – Not the kind of book I usually read but good for summer when you want a fast page-turning book.  It is about two men whose sons were married and murdered.  They come together to find out what happened to them.

Great Circle – Keep in mind this book is 600 pages long.  At 23% in I almost put the book down and then I got drawn in.  Insanely well-written intertwining American story starting during Prohibition taking us through WWII.  It is about one’s desire to achieve her dreams regardless of the hand she has been dealt.  Expect to see a movie be made about this book.

Homemade – The importance of a meal, community and how both of these things bring us together.

Yearbook – There are parts of this book where I laughed so hard tears came to my eyes.  The last quarter of the book got a little tired but otherwise an absolutely great read.

Unstoppable – There is an advertisement for this book every single week in the NYTimes Book Review.  It is about a Holocaust survivor and the story of his life.  Everything he touched turned to gold.  He was, as the title says, Unstoppable.  I stopped reading the book about 60% of the way in.  After a while of reading, he did this and then he did this, was plenty.  Inspiring though.

The Great Mistake – An important piece of NY history from the turn of the 20th Century about a man whose impact on NYC is still felt today.  Really good.

Detransition, Baby – Page turner about three women, trans, cis and de-transitioning and their motherly desires.  It is a fantastic book.  The characters are deeply layered.  The right book at the right time.  Loved it.

The Other Black Girl – The hype around this book is huge.  A “Get Out” thriller highlighting racial social issues.  I wanted to love it but sadly I didn’t.

The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town – I still can’t stop talking about this book.  An insight into the business of hospitals, the toll it takes on people, and how our Government is turning a blind eye.  Our healthcare system is literally killing us while creating a bigger socioeconomic divide on a daily basis.  A must-read.

The Gold Diggers – A really great read into the Indian immigrant experience.

Betty – An incredible novel set in the Appalachians portraying generations of family abuse, poverty, and racism in Cherokee history.  A coming of age book that packs a punch.  Someone compared it to the Color of Purple.  A fantastic read.

We Trade Our Lives For Someone Else’s Day – Ivana Bodrozic is Croatian journalist and crime fiction author.  A quick page-turner about the 1991 Yugoslavian war.  Reading a book that has been translated into English through the eyes of someone who lived through the war, makes the read even more powerful.