by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Welcome to the dog eat dog world of publishing where Nella Rogers is the only black girl at Wagner Books. Image her delight when another black girl, Hazel, is hired and she can share her frustration over the micro-aggressions she faces on a daily basis. But is Hazel really all that she seems to be? Is she the sender of the threatening notes that Nella is receiving? Can Nella maintain her integrity in the face of the confusing messages she’s hearing?

The Other Black Girl is an entertaining, clever commentary on feeling invisible, dismissed and overlooked in the workplace. It’s also a great thriller with a chilling conclusion.

by Tana French

Tana French is an Irish mystery writer who is soooooo good! This is her first novel featuring Cassie Maddox, a dectective on the Dublin Murder Squad. Cassie and her close friend and partner, Rob Ryan, are investigating the murder of a young teenager. The crime takes place in the same woods where Ryan and his two best friends spent their childhood playing. One day when Ryan is 11, he is found clinging to a tree with no memory of how he got there or where his friends may have gone. The mystery of their disappearence is never solved.

He thinks he’s dealt with the event but it becomes clear to both he and Cassie that he is in over his head.

Tana French has a gift for fleshing out her characters, creating an atmosphere of suspense that doesn’t rely on cliff hangers at the end of every chapter, and inviting you into her characters’ inner dialogues with humour and wisdom. Her dialogue is quick, witty, insightful and her characters are whip smart and deeply flawed.

I would read them in order – some are stand alone but some feature the same characters for one or two books. I LOVE her reads!!!!

by Claire Thomas

The themes cover relationships, feminism, racial and sexual identity, motherhood, grief, art, philanthropy, and climate change and climate anxiety, and, of course, appreciation of art. All these aspects transpire in a natural, non-didactic, non-message-y way.

Tequila Leila is a sex worker in Istanbul who has been murdered. Her spirit takes 10 minutes and 38 seconds to die and in that time she revisits her life and we discover how she ended up here. We meet her family and friends in this time and discover a rich and beautiful life that has been cut short. It is a beautiful read with wonderful characters who had me laughing and crying until the very end.

All of Elif Shafak’s books are thoughtful and compelling commentaries on life in Turkey. I love her!

Jai lives in a shanty town in India. When one of his classmates goes missing he convinces his two friends, Faiz and Pari to join him in his search. What starts as a game soon becomes more sinister as other children begin to disappear from their neighbourhood. Rumours begin to circulate that the Djinn (or soul-snatching spirits) are the culprits. Anapara writes with humour and compassion about some real events that occurred in metrapolitan India.

 “A beautifully observed and deeply funny novel of May Attaway, a university gardener who sets out on an odyssey to reconnect with four old friends over the course of a year.” This is the Goodreads opening paragraph from its review. I could not have written it better.

After their parents’ death, the McAllister siblings return to the camp where they spent their summers to read the will. They are faced with coming to terms with the murder of a camper twenty years prior. Their father’s will makes demands upon them that makes the process quite painful. It is suspensful, really well written and has a depth that many who dunnits lack.

Cyril Avery’s life is reminded frequently that he isn’t a real Avery. He spends a lifetime trying not to look too deeply into who is is, what he wants and where he’s going. This gets him into trouble throughout his life, until he finally takes a long look at himself. His story is sad, witty and wise (my three criteria for a great read). It is quintessentially Irish!

Danny and Maeve are thrown out of the Dutch House – an immense, fairy tale-like home that their father, Cyril, built for his wife. The house maintains a hold on them and as the book progresses we begin to understand why. The book is well written, suspensful and the characters are wonderfully sketched out.

This hilarious, profound book reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Andrew has a ho-hum job, lives alone in a ho-hum apartment and seems stuck as the years roll on. He, reluctantly, falls in love and as he grapples with how to express his love I found myself rooting for him to face whatever stopped him from living.