Behind-the-Scenes: Reading & All My Rage

An important part of my process as a writer is reading. I’ve mentioned this before… repeatedly. Reading across genre and category on a continuum from amazing reads to mediocre to needs so much work is a powerful tool. This practice helps me with my own craft and style. It helps me see amazing author choices and technique, to varied narrative structures, to how not to approach writing. All powerful lessons.

Some of my auto-buy authors.

Every once in a while I come across a book that blows me away. These books are the ones that linger long after I’ve closed the book. They make it hard to sleep because I’m thinking about the characters and the dilemma. They make me want to slow down and savor them, but I can’t help but burn through it page after page because I need to know what happens. These are the books whose authors have a way with words that somehow connects with my bones and takes up residence in my marrow. Language so powerful that it somehow changes my DNA.  

I want to share these books with you, so here we go. The first one this year is All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir.

All My Rage sat on my shelf since its release in 2022. I preordered it. Got a signed copy. Tahir is one of my favorite authors, and I have made the claim that Ember in the Ashes series is one of the best YA fantasy works I have ever read. And still All My Rage sat on my TBR shelf and sat and sat. Why? I knew I was going to love it,  and I didn’t want it to be over. So rather than read it, knowing it was there waiting for when I was ready was comforting. Do you know what I mean?

Well, I finally pulled it from the shelf as my first read of 2023. I was right. I knew what it would be, how I would feel reading it. All My Rage is magic (and an award winner. It deserves all the awards!).

The story follows Noor and Salahudin during their senior year in the small town of Juniper. While they are in a fight and avoiding one another, the failing health of Salahudinʻs mom brings them back together. As they navigate the complicated and painful landscape of their lives, they can count on one another to weather the awful storms each of them face. But when circumstances tear them apart, they find themselves clinging to a solitary life preserver. Will they be able to find their way back to one another?

Tahir has a way with words that burrows under your skin. Her ability to get right to the heart of a thought with succinct clarity is powerful. She creates characters that are flesh and bone, trapped inside the black and ivory pages, ready to leap fully formed into the world. The narrative is adeptly pieced together revealing truths both ugly and beautiful in a way that isn’t rooted in blame or pain but rather in the matter-of-fact humanness. It is what it is. And yet still offers us a slice of hope that we can navigate the uglier parts to find the beautiful.

All My Rage is a tapestry layered with themes of grief, addiction, anger, abuse, racism, and poverty. A tour de force, this is a story that conveys the truth. From being a teen, to being caught by one’s circumstances, to finding love, to giving and accepting forgiveness, Tahir’s All My Rage captures the beauty of the human spirit in all it’s flaws and all its beauty. 

When I closed the book with tears in my eyes, I wanted to read it for the first time… again. I had experienced something great. A work of perfection that I needed to share. All My Rage is everything, and the very reason I am in love with stories, with reading, and with writing. 

Book Hangover List

Tomorrow is my birthday. When I was little, I loved my birthday. My parents made it magical. Ask anyone, and one of the first things out of my mouth was the date of my birthday. My cousins loved to tease me because I always said it backwards (at least in the US). “When’s your birthday ,Cam?” they’d ask. “Seventeen November,” I’d answer. I still love my birthday, though as an adult, I don’t struggle to go to sleep the night before excited about presents. Truthfully, now I wouldn’t mind the clock slowing down because I realize how much quicker each birthday arrives.

Speaking of gifts, one of my favorite things to receive are books. So to celebrate, I thought I would share with you the books that have given me a book hangover. You know those books that when you close the cover after the final page, you sit in silence. And sometimes, it’s even hard to move forward, since you’re walking around in that story fog as it lingers. In no particular order, these are books I read that left me reeling in some way (needing a debrief) so that I had to pick up a book in a different genre to read something else.

So in no particular order:

  1. Marcus Zusak’s Bridge of Clay (OMG! I love this book.)

  2. Carlos Ruiz Zaffon’s Shadow of the Wind (Pure magic.)

  3. Sabaa Tahir’s Ember in the Ashes quartet. (The last one is A Sky Beyond the Storm. But I reread the series. Read the whole thing again. Seriously.)

  4. Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner (Dear God… ugly cried.)

  5. Jennifer Niven’s Breathless (Closed the book and felt empowered. My life finally made sense. )

  6. Jeff Zenter’s  In a Wild Light (Every book by Jeff Zentner has given me a book hangover. He has this way of capturing character and then they worm their way into your heart.)

  7. Fredrick Backman’s A Man Called Ove (They’re making a movie of this one. I loved it so much.)

  8. TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea (Amazing characters and humor? Can’t go wrong.)

  9. Emily Henry’s Book Lovers (*sigh.)

  10. Mary E Pearson’s Dance of Thieves Duology. (I think about this story all the time. Like I’ll just be washing dishes and think about Kazi and Jase and wonder about their story.)

  11. Rebecca Roanhorse Black Sun (One of the best fantasy novels I’ve read.)

  12. V.E. Schwab’s Darker Shade of Magic (I remember being in awe when I read this. I was just shocked at how perfect this was).

I could add to this list, but it’s what I’ve got for now. Let me know if any of yours are on this list. Or better yet tell me one that isn’t so I can add it to my ever growing TBR.

Favorite Reads of 2021 So Far

We’re (almost) halfway through 2021. Wait. What.


This means I’m also halfway to my reading goal of reading 100 books this year, stacking in at 53 reads so far. Nice. I figured that meant it would be a good time for a Favorites so far. Here they are:


My favorite Books I’ve read in 2021 So Far …

  1. Anxious People by Fredrick Backman is awesome. The story follows the lives of several different characters in a crime that goes terribly wrong. I struggled initially and even thought I would abandon the book because of the multiple point of view, but once I was hooked, I was hooked. It’s both poignant tear jerker and laugh out loud funny. One of my best reads ever.

  2. Fable & Namesake by Adrienne Young is a YA duology that follows Fable in this pirate inspired fantasy. Hiding her power as a gem mage, Fable needs to find her way to her father who didn’t want her. She doesn’t expect to find a family in the process. I loved the originality of this world.

  3. Paradise, WV by Rob Rufus releases this summer (July), and I was fortunate to get to read an early copy. It’s a wonderful story of several characters caught amidst a crime spree happening in their small town that is reminiscent of a serial killer behind bars who committed crimes years before. Mystery, coming-of-age, and family saga, Paradise, WV was a wonderful ride that I couldn’t put down.

  4. Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse is an epic adult fantasy influenced Native Americas cultures. It took me a while to get into the story because of the multiple points of view, but once I was invested it was a quick and adventurous ride to the end. The heroes and the villains aren’t always clear which makes for a very intriguing read.

  5. Frankly in Love by David Yoon is a wonderful and well written YA novel that follows Frank Li on his journey through his last year of high school, his first experience of falling in love, and his struggle to reconcile his Korean heritage with his American roots. Loved this read.

  6. Charming As a Verb by Ben Philippe is another wonderful YA novel exploring themes of diaspora, socio-economic disparity and race. Henri Haltiwanger is working hard to achieve his dreams, but when he takes matters into his own hands, he has to decide how far he’s willing to go to make his dreams happen and face the consequences when he does. Well written with awesome characters. Really enjoyed this story.

  7. Ever After Always by Chloe Leise is an independently published RomCom. The third book in the Bergman Brothers series, this is about a Bergman sister, Freya, who’s marriage is falling apart. Can she and her husband, Aiden put it back together before it’s too late? I loved this story, and the healthy way it presents marriage. I have enjoyed each book in this series and am looking forward to the fourth installment which publishes later this year (September).

I’m going on vacation! See you back here in July.