Jocelyn's Reviews

Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park deftly evokes a historical setting familiar to many of us, while imbuing it with sorely needed—and historically accurate—diverse and representative perspective, giving us a new hero to follow over the prairie. A book perfect for any kid (or adult) who hungers for tangible historical fiction, celebrates friendship triumphing over adversity, and yearns for heroes who don’t shy away from confronting challenges both practical and cultural to survive and thrive.

Jeanette Winterson draws you into a world split between a life mostly true and one that could be: 18-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley writing Frankenstein, and young trans Dr. Ry Shelley, in love with Victor Stein, who dreams of breaking death’s hold on humanity. Also, sex dolls, poetry, workers’ rights, AI ethics, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and God—all part of a modern fable on humanity’s fears, Desire, and Love; a wild dream to marvel at. - Jocelyn

Joy Harjo is a poet, musician, daughter and mother and descendent, member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, and a poet laureate of the United States. She writes with urgent beauty of just anger and beautiful celebration, of past crimes (whose resonance is both felt and resurrected today), legacy, present joy, music and song, the immediacy of being human, and the specificity of being Native. Her words stick with the brightness of specific stars, of a greater whole winding its story still. - Jocelyn

The Long Call was everything I wanted to curl up with and lose myself in. A vibrant British seaside town is rocked with the mysterious murder of a formerly homeless man, himself more mysterious yet. The character-driven mystery kept me turning pages for the secrets and complexities of a community of artists, do-gooders, bird watchers, spiritual seekers, and of course police—including haunted detective Matthew Venn, whose husband may be at the center of everything. I am so satisfied, and so ready for the next of this wonderful new series. - Jocelyn

Leigh Bardugo thrusts you behind the ivy-covered walls of Yale, where Alex (Galaxy) Stern knows the occult power wielded by the secret societies’ elite and finds herself at the center of a plot that snakes between mysteries and murders, rituals and secrets, and vivid, recognizable characters. Ninth House’s magic illuminates real truths within our world: privilege, addiction, mental illness, #MeToo, and everything in between. It goes to some of the darkest places but never loses the shine of hope, or the will to fight for what’s right. - Jocelyn

Drawing an emotional map, Aarón Sánchez traces the route from his troublemaker childhood to culinary stardom through El Paso, New York, New Orleans, Mexico, San Francisco, and back. With honesty and humility, he recounts mistakes and mental health issues and pays homage to the friends, family, and chefs (especially women) who shaped his food and him. Sánchez celebrates the Latinx and Mexican food he’s become known for and uses his platform to champion diversity, justice, and equality in the culinary world. I have never eaten Sánchez’s food, but I know the bold and complex flavors I am now craving from reading this vivid new memoir. - Jocelyn

If you are a progressive looking toward 2020, pick this up. Congressional staffers Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin posted the Indivisible Guide in 2016, starting the grassroots Indivisible movement. We Are Indivisible is part memoir, celebrating victories and taking lessons from failures since, and part road map, analyzing how we got to “Trump’s America” and what steps must be taken to save U.S. democracy. Inspiring, educational, and galvanizing, this will give you actionable efforts and hope. - Jocelyn

A book for scholars, but also for seekers of justice and humanity. Karen Armstrong’s writing is accessible and engaging, carrying the reader deep into ancient history and human development via the nigh-universal concept of sacred texts, to a vital premise, showing how the modern extremist occupation of these traditions runs counter to their original creation, intent, and understanding. Armstrong’s new work is packed with knowledge and is oh-so-satisfying for lovers of history, theology, and social justice. - Jocelyn

In signature literary fashion, Jonathan Safran Foer draws on the threads of history, science, and family history to illustrate the power in a single human choice to change the world—and the challenge to make it. His premise is simple: You can stop climate change’s devastation by not eating animal products before dinner. While light on practical suggestions, Foer does offer an intricate exploration of interconnectivity and agency and a passionate plea for our planet’s future. - Jocelyn

Before there was phone-a-friend or Google, librarians fielded questions, from the basic to the we’re-not-doing-your-homework-for-you. The New York Public Library discovered a cache of cards recording the questions asked of their librarians over decades of the 20th century and decided to share them in this book. With 21st-century resources and a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, Peculiar Questions may not have the answers the original askers expected (or wanted), but the book is completely entertaining. As a catalog of the curiosity and needs of humanity, this is a perfect gift for any bibliophile or library lover. - Jocelyn