Kin by Tayari Jones (★★★★☆)
Print • Owned (Target) • Historical Fiction • 2026
Short synopsis: In the wake of their mothers’ absences, two best friends from small-town Louisiana follow dramatically different paths—one into privilege and power, the other into a dangerous search for belonging that could cost her everything.
This book was a masterclass. The writing was so beautiful that I kept stopping to reread certain lines because they took my breath away. (Something that has never happened to me before!) Jones did such an incredible job immersing me in the world of Niecy and Annie, and there was such a strong sense of place, no matter where the girls were living—their hometown in Louisiana, Spelman College, or a farm being run as a brothel. The characterization was especially strong, and even when the characters frustrated me or made choices I didn’t love, I was still totally invested in them because Niecy and Annie felt so real and fully formed. That said, there is just something holding this back from being a 5-star read for me. I can’t even fully explain what it was, just that I felt like something was missing for me emotionally. Still, it was an exceptional read, with so much to say about family, sisterhood, and being a Black woman in the Jim Crow South.
In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams (★★★☆☆ 1/2)
E-Book • Libby • Contemporary Fiction • 2025
Short synopsis: When a burned-out chef returns to her Kentucky hometown to help open a farm-to-table restaurant with her brother’s best friend, long-buried feelings, family tension, and second chances force them both to decide whether love is worth the risk.
Sarah Adams is such a hit-or-miss author for me, and this one somehow managed to be both at the same time. I love a good brother’s best friend/longtime crush romance, and this book definitely delivered on that front, but my biggest issue was Madison. While I related to the whole “leave your hometown chasing something bigger only to realize you miss home” feeling (that was my college experience!), and I appreciated how the book explored Madison’s struggles with anxiety after working under a toxic chef in her previous restaurant job, there was something about her personality that never fully clicked for me. She didn’t feel like a real person, and I could never get a grasp on her character. I also struggle with Sarah Adams’ writing, since it tends to lean a little too cheesy and cutesy. Overall, it was a fine romance and I’m glad I finished out this series, but I don’t know if it’s a series I would wholly recommend.
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 3 by Beth Brower (★★★★☆)
Audiobook • Hoopla • Historical Fiction • 2020
Short synopsis: The third volume of Emma’s journals follows our delightful protagonist as she teams up with her cousin Archibald for the annual Julius Caesar scavenger hunt.
This is the first full-length novel of the Emma M. Lion series, and I had the best time with my new BFF. The scavenger hunt was hysterical and Emma’s insights into this weird world were a delight to read. There is a romance brewing in Emma’s world, and it gives me butterflies! I continue to adore this series and while I’m going to take a little break from it to listen to a few other audiobooks in my queue, I’m so looking forward to picking it back up soon!
What are you reading?
Kin is on my list to read, although I am the only person around who didn’t like An American Marriage. But it sounds great to me! I am reading Awake, which is a memoir, and honestly it is NOT working well for me. I should have DNF’d but I DNF’d two books before it and, I don’t know. It’s short so I thought I would just read it. It is a lot of telling and no showing. Also I would probably like it more if I knew this woman’s backstory, which she alludes to a lot (apparently she is famous in evangelical Baptist circles!)
Kin was my first Tayari Jones. I can’t do stories about prison, so I skipped An American Marriage.
I really love Jen Hatmaker and have been interested in reading Awake. I think it’ll be a little more impactful for me since I grew up evangelical and understand a lot of what she’s talking about. But I can see how it wouldn’t necessarily work for people who didn’t grow up that way!
I’m getting close to the end of The Frozen River, and it’s kind of like what you’re saying about Kin- I like it, but there’s something holding me back from LOVING it, and I can’t quite put my finger on what that is. Kin sounds really good though. Oh, I also just got Yesteryear, so I’ll be diving into that soon!
Isn’t frustrating when you can’t really put a finger on WHY you are really liking but not fully loving a book? There’s just that missing x factor, I guess!
I hope you love Yesteryear! I will be so interested in your thoughts.
I liked but did not love Kin and I cannot put my finger on why. It had all the ingredients of a 5-star read but I felt a little disconnected from the characters for some reason. But I adored An American Marriage so the bar was quite high going into this book.
I’m reading the latest Elizabeth Strout book which I am adoring! I love her books so much but they are so very very characgter driven so you have to be someone who enjoys a pretty plotless book.
I haven’t read An American Marriage! Prison stories are hard for me, so I just decided to skip that one, even though it gets such rave reviews.
Yes, Tayari Jones is an AMAZING writer. But I didn’t give it five stars, either. I sometimes found the voices of the two characters similar and had to check to see whose POV it is. I feel like I’d have wanted to just KNOW who I was reading by the voice. But I did give it a 4.5. I just wish she wrote more books!
I need to read more of her backlist. Kin was my first Tayari Jones!
I just re-read An American Marriage, and am looking forward to Kin, though the wait is long.
I almost DNF Life After Life, it took me a while to get invested. But now I’m maybe 3/4 done and want to go back and listen to it again I think. That happens sometimes…I don’t connect at first, and so I feel like I miss a lot, and why not listen again?
I’ve definitely had that experience with books where I start it and am not loving it, but then the more I engage with the book, the more I love it! It’s great when that happens (not so great when I keep slogging through a book that never gets better). I never thought of rereading to find out what I missed in the beginning, though! I love that idea!
Wow. Kin sounds so good! And I get that, sometimes you love it but it’s not 5 stars!
Oh wow, I didn’t even know In Your Dreams existed 😆 I need to finish the series and see if I agree!