A sensitive, smart, sometimes even wryly humorous collection of memoir-essays about the author's experiences over the years of interacting with white people, from the outright racists to the well-meaning but obtuse "nice" ones. Her first line: "White people can be exhausting." She tackles assumptions, defenses, excuses, and fears, for both Blacks and whites. Well worth the read.
Tayari Jones came to Phoenix on her book tour, and because she was warm and charming, perhaps I was predisposed to like this contemporary novel. But I wasn't even three pages in before I realized how accomplished the writing is, how deft the narrative voice. The book is told from several perspectives: those of the married couple Ray and Celestial, and their friend Andre.
I thoroughly enjoyed this character-driven mystery set in the Cotswolds, UK. This book, the 18th in Deborah Crombie's series, rides the line between police procedural (as the MCs Gemma and Duncan are detectives in London; and two other characters are police as well) and cozy, as the action all takes place within a small village. As with most cozies, it's the relationships among the characters that matter; a good deal of our reading pleasure is in discovering the backstories that connect the characters, the knots behind the tapestry, as it were. I love that the secondary characters are psychologically coherent, varied, and imperfect. Characters who are wonderfully talented still make meaningful mistakes; those who seem misanthropic or strange are capable of loyalty and honesty; those who are young and impulsive are also capable of thoughtfulness and empathy. The prose is pleasing, without being "writerly" or self-consciously poetic, which resulted in me feeling as though I were looking through a transparent window into the little village and watching the events unfold. Would recommend for fans of Louise Penney, Martin Walker and Charles Finch.
