Hey, Bookhearts! Pithy Picks are a bookish meme created to help you quickly find books that are worth your time and coins. Just read the pithy reviews below!
Title: First Lie Wins
Edited by: Ashley ElstonPublished: January 2024
Pithy Review: Evie Porter has a loving doting boyfriend, a white picket fence with a garden and a fancy friend group. The only catch is that Evie Porter does not exist. Her anonymous boss gives her an identity and a location. It's up to Evie to learn everything about the town, its residents and her mark. This would be better suited as a short thriller or TV mini-series than a full length novel. The adaptation would be better, I bet.
Quote: "It's because you're not ready to tell me the truth and I'd rather you not lie to me." ~ pg. 181
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️
Title: I Hope My Voice Doesn't Skip
Author: Alicia Cook
Published: June 2018
Pithy Review: I fell in heart with this poet's mixtape series so felt obliged to read her other works. Like a vinyl record, this collection is sorted into EP (shorter poems) and LP (longer prose and songwriting). It is heartfelt. Although a few lines spoke directly to me, this collection was not as good as her other poetry.
Quote: "Tell me my eyes will clear. Tell me I will smile again. Tell me how to heal—I didn't hear you the first time." ~ 13%
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️
Author: Alicia Cook
Published: June 2018
Pithy Review: I fell in heart with this poet's mixtape series so felt obliged to read her other works. Like a vinyl record, this collection is sorted into EP (shorter poems) and LP (longer prose and songwriting). It is heartfelt. Although a few lines spoke directly to me, this collection was not as good as her other poetry.
Quote: "Tell me my eyes will clear. Tell me I will smile again. Tell me how to heal—I didn't hear you the first time." ~ 13%
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Published: January 2024
Pithy Review: This short memoir is about family secrets, grief and reconciliation. Cheryl's mother-in-law is given weeks to live. As the family goes through her final days, Cheryl reckons with their complicated relationship. The women accept their differences and find healing in saying goodbye. It makes you go hmmm.
Quote: "But there's a spiritual component to dying. To some degree, people need to release whatever's holding them here before they can make the transition." ~ pg. 15
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title: Worst Wingman Ever
Author: Abby Jimenez
Published: January 2024
Pithy Review: A couple falls in love before they officially meet in this short romance. Holly is a hospice nurse but this time the patient is her own grandmother. Upon leaving one evening, she finds a Valentine's Day card with a freaky coupon on her windshield. Turns out it was not meant for her. The amusing mistake leads to a cute game of "Tag, You're It" and a lovely exchange of anonymous notes and acts of kindness. This story is a reminder that strangers can care and we are always meant to be where we are at the right time.
Quote: "Take responsibility for your own unhappiness." ~ 72%
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Abby Jimenez
Published: January 2024
Pithy Review: A couple falls in love before they officially meet in this short romance. Holly is a hospice nurse but this time the patient is her own grandmother. Upon leaving one evening, she finds a Valentine's Day card with a freaky coupon on her windshield. Turns out it was not meant for her. The amusing mistake leads to a cute game of "Tag, You're It" and a lovely exchange of anonymous notes and acts of kindness. This story is a reminder that strangers can care and we are always meant to be where we are at the right time.
Quote: "Take responsibility for your own unhappiness." ~ 72%
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title: Drop, Cover, and Hold On
Author: Jasmine Guillory
Published: January 2024
Pithy Review: An earthquake traps a woman inside her favorite bakery with its impossibly rude and insufferably handsome owner on Valentine's Day. In her signature style of writing, Jasmine Guillory introduces characters that are easy to like, relatable and carry on engaging banter that makes this easy to read in just one sitting eating your favorite pastry. It is a cute short story of finding love when and where you least expect it.
Quote: "Resting...smile face?" ~ pg. 23
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Jasmine Guillory
Published: January 2024
Pithy Review: An earthquake traps a woman inside her favorite bakery with its impossibly rude and insufferably handsome owner on Valentine's Day. In her signature style of writing, Jasmine Guillory introduces characters that are easy to like, relatable and carry on engaging banter that makes this easy to read in just one sitting eating your favorite pastry. It is a cute short story of finding love when and where you least expect it.
Quote: "Resting...smile face?" ~ pg. 23
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title: Fires to Come
Author: Asha Lemmie
Published: February 2024
Pithy Review: Any short story that begins with an 8-year-old asking her Papa if he kills people, is worthy of reading in one sitting. Abandoned as an infant and raised by Italians, Carlotta has never quite fit in as the only Black person in her neighborhood. She ventures to Harlem, home of the great Renaissance, jazz and love in the air. Then the dynamics of her adoptive family shift and Carlotta has to decide where she belongs. This short story dares to defy fairness, convention and gender roles.
Quote: "Everyone always does what's best for themselves. It is the oldest law of nature." ~ pg. 32
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️
Author: Asha Lemmie
Published: February 2024
Pithy Review: Any short story that begins with an 8-year-old asking her Papa if he kills people, is worthy of reading in one sitting. Abandoned as an infant and raised by Italians, Carlotta has never quite fit in as the only Black person in her neighborhood. She ventures to Harlem, home of the great Renaissance, jazz and love in the air. Then the dynamics of her adoptive family shift and Carlotta has to decide where she belongs. This short story dares to defy fairness, convention and gender roles.
Quote: "Everyone always does what's best for themselves. It is the oldest law of nature." ~ pg. 32
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️
Title: Fallen Grace
Author: Sadeqa Johnson
Published: February 2024
Pithy Review: Another eShort in the Amazon Original Stories Blaze collection that can be read or listened to in one sitting. Bubbles Jones is a single mother in segregated Virginia pushing back on societal prejudice, her own family's judgment, a hypocritical pastor father and the betrayal of a lover. She has a lot to escape in order to forge a life ahead for her and a newborn baby. This one packs a punch with a message in less than 50 pages.
Quote: "All that singing and carrying on you do every week in the name of the Lord, and you're going to put your flesh and blood out on the street because you're afraid of church gossipers?" ~ pg. 26
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Sadeqa Johnson
Published: February 2024
Pithy Review: Another eShort in the Amazon Original Stories Blaze collection that can be read or listened to in one sitting. Bubbles Jones is a single mother in segregated Virginia pushing back on societal prejudice, her own family's judgment, a hypocritical pastor father and the betrayal of a lover. She has a lot to escape in order to forge a life ahead for her and a newborn baby. This one packs a punch with a message in less than 50 pages.
Quote: "All that singing and carrying on you do every week in the name of the Lord, and you're going to put your flesh and blood out on the street because you're afraid of church gossipers?" ~ pg. 26
Recommend or Nah? ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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