Book Review: Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth by Daisy Hernandez-Immigration Studies

Hello, dear Readers,

Below is my book review of Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth by Daisy Hernandez.

Title: Citizenship

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Non-Fiction

Author: Daisy Hernandez

Publisher: Hogarth
Publication Date: February 17, 2026

Language: English

Hardcover: 304 Pages

Meet the Author: Daisy Hernandez

Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

A provocative, personal, blazingly intelligent examination of one of the most vexing questions facing the United States today: Who is, and should be, a citizen?

“[A] fascinating, urgently needed new book.”—Chicago Tribune

“How did ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ turn upside down to where we are today? Everyone needs to read this book, citizens and non-citizens alike. Brilliant!”—Sandra Cisneros

“The most comprehensive book on citizenship/immigration I’ve ever read. A must-read!”—Javier Zamora

“The book I have always wanted to read.”—Jose Antonio Vargas

“Personal, profound, engaging, and comprehensive . . . this is an essential book for these contentious times.”—Booklist (starred review)

In this one-of-a-kind book, Daisy Hernández fiercely interrogates one of the most complicated subjects of contemporary life and politics: citizenship. Braiding memoir, history, and cultural criticism, she exposes the truths and lies of how we define ourselves as a country and a people. Turning to her own family’s stories—her mother arrived from Colombia, while her father was a political refugee from Castro’s Cuba—Hernández shows how the very idea of citizenship is a myth, one of the stories we tell ourselves about the American soul and psyche.

Reframing our understanding of what it means to be an American, Citizenship is an urgent and necessary account of the laws, customs, and language we use to include and exclude, especially those who come from Latin America. With her scholar’s mind and memoirist’s gift for narrative, Hernández weaves a story both personal and national, while reckoning with our country’s ongoing debate about who belongs and providing fresh ways of thinking about citizenship. At once bracing, fearless, and tender, Citizenship is a powerful portrait of one family’s experiences in the borderlands of citizenship and an honest illumination of the country we live in.

My Thoughts

If you are lucky enough, you come across books like Citizenship, and I feel so fortunate right now.

I didn't want it to end. I was so immersed in the story, and I also felt validated about many things I had been thinking about regarding immigration and citizenship in general. Sometimes we question ourselves, and what we believe or how we see the things going on around us, and when you have is a book like Citizenship, when another person puts into words a well-researched, well-told story, it can be a pretty powerful tool for the rest of us who are trying to educate ourselves and understand. I loved how the author goes into the story putting her personal touch in a memoir sense, but also adding all the references, facts, and dates, without making it too technical, boring, or difficult to understand.

Thank you, Hogarth and NetGalley, for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Wendy

Book Review: When I Kill You: A Novel by B.A. Paris- Domestic Thriller

Hello, dear Readers,

My book review of: When I Kill You: A Novel by B.A. Paris.

Title: When I Kill You: A Novel

Rating:  4/5 Stars

Genre: Domestic Thriller

Author: B.A. Paris

Publisher: St.Martin's Press

Publication Date: February 17, 2026

Language: English

Hardcover: 304 pages
Meet the Author: B.A. Paris
Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

The multimillion-copy and New York Times bestseller B. A. Paris returns with a triumphant, unsettling next suspense novel, When I Kill You.

Who is watching Nell Masters?

Nell Masters is certain someone is following her. The hairs on the back of her neck rise when she travels to and from work, there are silent calls to her office, and a huge bouquet of flowers arrives without a card. And Nell has a reason to be looking over her shoulder, because she has a secret that she’s hiding from everyone in her life, including her new partner, Alex. But Alex also has secrets of his own.

Fourteen years earlier, when Nell went by the name Elle Nugent, she witnessed a student, Bryony Sanders, getting into a stranger’s car. When Bryony was found murdered, Elle became obsessed with finding the person responsible. She was convinced she knew who it was, and her fixation with Brett Parker, the man she accused, led her down a dangerous path . . .

Now, Nell tries to convince herself that this unnerving feeling of being watched is all in her mind. Has someone from her past discovered her new identity? Has the stalker become the stalked? Or is there something even more deadly at play?

My Thoughts

Every time B.A. Paris comes up with a new book I get so excited. She is one of my favorite authors ever, and once again, she didn't disappoint. 

When I kill you was such a roller coaster, suspenseful pack, and the ending was completely unexpected but very satisfying. I always appreciate her stories just because they have all the elements of a great thriller, and also characters that bring everything to the story. 

Thank you, St. Martin's and Netgalley, for the free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wendy  

Book Review: Homeschooled: A Memoir by Stefan Merrill Block-Memoir

Hello, dear Readers,

Below is my book review of Homeschooled: A Memoir by Stefan Merrill Block.

Title: Homeschooled

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Memoir

Author: Stefan Merrill Block

Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Publication Date: January 06, 2026

Language: English

Paperback: 288 Pages

Meet the Author: Stefan Merrill Block

Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

A heartbreaking, empowering, and often hilarious debut memoir about a mother’s all-consuming love, a son’s perilous quest to discover the world beyond the front door, and the unregulated homeschool system that impacts millions like him.

Stefan Merrill Block was nine when his mother pulled him from school, certain that his teachers were “stifling his creativity.” Hungry for more time with her boy, who was growing up too quickly, she began to instruct Stefan in the family’s living room. Beyond his formal lessons in math, however, Stefan was largely left to his own devices and his mother’s erratic whims, such as her project to recapture her twelve-year-old son's early years by bleaching his hair and putting him on a crawling regimen.

Years before homeschooling would become a massive nationwide movement, at a time when it had just become legal in his home state of Texas, Stefan vanished into that unseen space and into his mother’s increasingly eccentric theories and projects. But when, after five years away from the outside world, Stefan reentered the public school system in Plano as a freshman, he was in for a jarring awakening.

At once a novelistic portrait of mother and son, and an illuminating window into an overlooked corner of the American education system, Homeschooled is a moving, funny, and ultimately inspiring story of a son’s battle for a life of his own choosing, and the wages of a mother’s insatiable love.

My Thoughts

Every now and then, I come across a memoir that, more than the story itself, what fascinates me is the writing, the way the story is written. It is like this unique voice that makes you feel different while reading, in a good way. That was the case for me with Homeschooled.

Don't get me wrong, the story is very important and relevant, an important subject to be talked about, specially when you can hear from someone who actually went through Homeschooling, in this case, Stefan, sharing his story, his experiences, which for someone like me, who was never homeschooled, can be a very eye-opening account on the realities for kids who go through it and the long lasting consequences and impact. of it. 

I truly appreciate Stefan for sharing his story. 

Thank you, Hanover Square Press and NetGalley, for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Wendy

Book Review: The Fair Weather Friend: A Novel by Jessie Garcia- Suspense Thriller

Hello, dear Readers,

My book review of: The Fair Weather Friend: A Novel by Jessie Garcia.

Title: The Fair Weather Friend: A Novel

Rating:  4/5 Stars

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Author: Jessie Garcia

Publisher: St.Martin's Press

Publication Date: January 20, 2026

Language: English

Hardcover: 320 pages
Meet the Author: Jessie Garcia
Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

The next gripping domestic suspense novel from Jessie Garcia.

It's always sunny in Detroit for Faith Richards. The popular TV meteorologist, endearingly referred to as "The Fair Weather Friend" by her viewers, has the world by the tail. But one night, Faith leaves work on a dinner break and never returns. Her body is found the next morning.

The town is reeling, suspects emerge, and long-buried secrets are uncovered. While her allies rally, her list of adversaries also grows. Little does anyone know that only the deepest secrets will expose the truth.

In this riveting thriller from the author of THE BUSINESS TRIP, Jessie Garcia's signature multi-POV, rapid-fire style will propel you into the heart of a mystery no one could have forecasted.

My Thoughts

I read The Business Trip last year and loved it. And The Fair Weather Friend didn't disappoint.

Fast-paced, well-written, with suspense and characters. Kept me engaged, hard to put down. 

Thank you, St. Martin's and Netgalley, for the free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wendy  

Book Review: The Storm: A Novel by Rachel Hawkins- Psychological Thriller

Hello, dear Readers,

My book review of: The Storm: A Novel by Rachel Hawkins.

Title: The Storm: A Novel

Rating:  5/5 Stars

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Publisher: St.Martin's Press

Publication Date: January 06, 2026

Language: English

Hardcover: 288 pages
Meet the Author: Rachel Hawkins
Buy Me: Amazon

Book Description

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins is back with a thrilling new gothic suspense set in a Gulf Coast beach motel where hurricane season can be murder.

St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama, is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.

When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful actual crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.

As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive―and as deadly―as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping…

My Thoughts

My new favorite of Rachel Hawkins. It was so engaging and hard to put down. Unlike many thrillers I have read, I liked all the characters and thought they served the story well. 

I also loved the setting and, honestly, kept wanting to go to St. Medard's Bay; everything revolving around past and current storms was fascinating. 

I recommend The Storm 100%.

Thank you, St. Martin's and Netgalley, for the free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wendy