The 41 best books MPR News staff read in 2024

From a submarine survival adventure during World War II to an exploration of the dark side of a Catholic convent on the Irish countryside, our staff has wide-ranging taste for their favorite book they read in 2024. Check out the following suggestions (and maybe focus on the Minnesota authors first, eh?).

Note: Not all of these books were released this year. We instead opened submissions to include any book a staffer read this year.

Minnesota author

‘I Cheerfully Refuse’ by Leif Enger

Full disclosure: I worked with Leif while he was a reporter extraordinaire here at MPR many years ago, so I have a natural bias. But his dystopian novel of life around Duluth and on Lake Superior in a not-so-distant future is a remarkable, if occasionally shocking, read.

His housepainter bass-playing hero Rainy suffers an awful calamity and sets off in a small boat across the big lake on a trip to find redemption. However, the sense of darkness which slowly emerges in the early chapters develops into a dreadful realization of evil which threatens Rainy and everything he loves.

Enger’s prose builds this world on rocks and water that many of us will recognize and that’s what makes the story such an adventure, and the underlying sadness and conflict so relatable. After decades of reading Enger’s books I have to say this is my favorite.     

— Euan Kerr, regional editor

‘Where Wolves Don't Die’ by Anton Treuer

My favorite recent read is “Where Wolves Don’t Die” by Anton Treuer. It’s a young-adult novel, but I was pulled in by the writing, captivated by the story and informed by the Ojibwe history, culture and humor woven into the story. A really enjoyable but thought-provoking read.

— Dan Gunderson, correspondent

‘The Mighty Red’ by Louise Erdrich

I am not sure who else could write so beautifully about land and North Dakota but Erdrich. To me, the heart of this novel was the mother-daughter relationship. At times it reminded me of the movie “Ladybird.” Everyone in the book is fairly ordinary. It is a story that feels familiar and almost comforting, like it could be unfolding anywhere in the Midwest on an average day. Even so, I couldn’t stop reading.

Erdrich is so talented at bringing in-depth stories to areas that others just think are “flyover land.” Across the prairie and Midwest, there are complex people with big feelings working blue-collar jobs who deserve representation in literature as well.

— Sam Stroozas, digital producer

‘Native Love Jams’ by Tashia Hart

I’ve read many books but there are few books that I have read where the main setting was in northern Minnesota, where I consider home. “Native Love Jams” follows the story of an Indigenous woman, Winnow, hired to forage and cook at an Indigenous food festival. There, she meets an attractive, yet annoying, Niigaanii.

This book has become a favorite of mine because it is both funny yet also gives Indigenous people the spotlight when it comes to contemporary romance! Plus it’s written by a Minnesota author — what’s there not to love?

— Chandra Colvin, radio reporter intern

Adult nonfiction

‘I Might Regret This: Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities, and Other Stuff’ by Abbi Jacobson

I have read this and listened to the audiobook (read by Jacobson!) countless times, including revisiting it this year. It follows a solo road trip Jacobson commences on after a gutting break up and the end to her wildly important show, “Broad City.”

She discusses the fluidity of sexuality, the power and delicacy of love and the role of grief in growth. If you have ever been existentially lost, deep in heartbreak or just needing a reminder to chill, it’s for you.

— Anika Besst, temporary digital producer

‘Erosion: Essays of Undoing’ by Terry Tempest Williams

A glimmering tribute to the earth, a powerful call to action and an invocation to change the course we are on. Williams’ heartbreakingly brilliant essays overflow with admiration and respect for public lands, the natural world and its inhabitants.

— Erica Zurek, senior health reporter

‘The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism’ by Tim Alberta

I’m originally from Michigan, and Michigan author Tim Alberta has written the best book explaining the overwhelming Christian support for President-elect Donald Trump. The book delves into what’s happening at evangelical churches when it comes to the blending of religion and politics. Alberta is the son of a pastor and his insight sheds light on what’s happening on the ground in these places of worship.

— Kelly Bleyer, newscaster

‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ by Jane Jacobs

I read Jane Jacobs’ 1961 urban planning classic for the first time a decade ago. I wanted to read it again because American cities are going through an enduring identity crisis in the aftermath of the pandemic and the rise of the remote worker. Many of her design ideas are evergreen. Mainly: healthy, vibrant city neighborhoods are walkable and home to a diversity of uses and people from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

I wonder what Jacobs, who died in 2006, would say about the state of cities today and the major strains they face, like the vacant office spaces in city high rises and the rise in the cost of housing and the decrease in supply.

— Alex V. Cipolle, senior arts reporter and critic

‘Question 7’ by Richard Flanagan

Australian writer Richard Flanagan calls “Question 7” a memoir, but it is so much more than that. It’s a study of the human interconnections of family, history, culture and love, while showing the way operations of chance can scatter and change everything. Flanagan links how an illicit kiss between authors H.G. Wells and Rebecca West led to the creation of the atomic bomb, then the deaths of thousands in Japan — and, in time, his own birth. And that’s just the beginning.

It’s a wild ride, pulling in his heritage, questions of the human condition and his brush with death as a young man. A historian by training, he weaves events of the past with the possibilities of the future and the impacts these have on the personal lives of ordinary people. It’s breathtaking. I have never read anything like it.  

— Euan Kerr, regional editor

‘The Devil’s Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth-Century Italy’ by Frances Stonor Saunders

“The Devil’s Broker” focuses on British mercenary John Hawkwood to tell the story of 14th century northern Italy, the papal schism, the power vacuum it created and the feuds among Italy’s city-states that Hawkwood exploited. It’s a smart storytelling technique that helped me grasp a complicated piece of history.

— Paul Tosto, editor

‘Cher: The Memoir, Part One’ by Cher

I’m a big Sonny and Cher — as well as a Cher — fan. She’s such an icon to have survived in the music and entertainment industry (including winning an Academy Award) for more than five decades. Her story is incredible and her memoir does not disappoint with a mother who married about as many times as Elizabeth Taylor and at times the family struggled to have reliable shelter. 

Cher is brutally honest in the book and doesn’t hold back. With 600-some pages, the memoir only goes through the 1970s. She’s lived quite a life. You’ll have to wait for Memoir Part 2 for the rest of her story.

— Kelly Bleyer, newscaster

‘There Are Moms Way Worse Than You: Irrefutable Proof That You Are Indeed a Fantastic Parent’ by Glenn Boozan

I absolutely loved this book because, as a mother, I know how challenging and tough parenting can be at times. This book is a hilarious reminder that no matter how much you might doubt yourself, there are always other moms out there who are doing even worse.

— Mandy Thalhuber, meteorologist

‘Taking On the World’ by Ellen MacArthur

I learned about this book while following Cole Brauer, the first woman from the U.S. to sail solo around the world nonstop and unassisted. When Brauer finished her race in March of 2024, I needed another sailing story to follow. 

I found it in “Taking On the World.” British sailor Ellen MacArthur describes her early passion for sailing that inspired her to save her lunch money to buy her first boat when she was eight. 

With excerpts from her sailing journal, she describes the grit and perseverance it took for her — at age 24 — to become the youngest person ever and the fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe alone in 2005. 

— Cari Dwyer, senior producer

‘Escape From The Deep: The Epic Story of a Legendary Submarine and Her Courageous Crew’ by Alex Kershaw

Their submarine was dead, 180 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Somehow they survived. They were tortured and beaten. Somehow they survived. Alex Kershaw has done it again as he brings to life World War II’s greatest submarine survival adventure.

— Phil Picardi, newscaster

Adult fiction

‘All This Could Be Different’ by Sarah Thankam Mathews

This book made me more hopeful than maybe any other book I’ve ever read. It follows Sneha, a college grad stumbling through the recession in Milwaukee (Midwest shoutout!) alongside a vibrant cast of supporting characters in similar states of limbo.

The novel really puts Sneha through it: she’s saddled with family trauma, a terrible employer, a racist landlord, a sexuality crisis and her tendency to self-sabotage. But I was struck by the space the novel gives its characters to forgive each other and carve out a beautiful little community. It’s part social drama, part political manifesto, part coming-of-age tale and I can’t stop recommending it to every fellow 20-something I know.

— Estelle Timar-Wilcox, reporter

‘Small Things Like These’ by Claire Keegan

This book was actually released in 2021, but received new attention this year due to a film version starring actor Cillian Murphy. This beautiful novella is just over 100 pages. It’s the story of an Irish coal merchant with a wife and five daughters in the 1980s who discovers disturbing secrets about a local Catholic convent. The school for girls it runs is actually a Magdalene laundry, where unwed pregnant women and girls were forced to work under often brutal conditions.

The main character, Bill Furlong, is himself the son of an unwed mother and undergoes an internal moral struggle over whether to get involved. As he prepares for Christmas with his family, he wrestles with the same question humans have been asking themselves throughout history: How much of our own comfort and security would we be willing to give up to help another? There were lines I stopped to re-read because they were so poignant.

— Kirsti Marohn, correspondent

This beautiful book really grew on me. The writing vividly paints a man’s moral dilemma and, as a result, it invites the reader to question their own everyday decisions and their impact. I appreciated that the novel was so short because it left room for interpretation while still giving us a clear picture of the character's world. I look forward to re-reading this soon so I can pick up on subtle nuances I likely missed the first time!

— Anne Guttridge, video producer

‘Bright Young Women’ by Jessica Knoll

I have never been the biggest true-crime person, but, as many did in 2019, I got sucked into a particular movie Zac Efron played the lead of: “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.” The book, while fiction to a point, tells the stories of the real-life murders of America’s first celebrity-status serial killer through two narrators while reimagining the aftermath from the point of view of a survivor and, earlier, the life of a victim who is later killed.

In the ‘70s, this man whose name I will not use (Knoll did not name him once in her book) was often rewarded for his good looks while he was kidnapping, raping and murdering women across the Pacific Northwest. While the murderer was on trial a judge called him a “bright young man.” I cried a lot, and was left speechless often.

“He wants to extinguish us,” Knoll wrote about the murderer targeting a sorority on a college campus in Florida. “We are the ones who remind him that he’s not that smart, not that good-looking and there’s nothing particularly special about him.”

— Sam Stroozas, digital producer

‘North Woods’ by Daniel Mason

The main character of this novel is a yellow house in the Massachusetts woods which is built and lived in by centuries of people, starting with two lovers escaping a Puritan village. Later an orchardist moves in, a pair of spinster sisters, artists and a family dealing with schizophrenia. I could not put it down.

The writing was beautiful and it read like a series of short stories about vengeance, love and insanity. Most of all, I loved the writing on nature which was somehow, depending on what type of story it was, by turns sensuous, terrifying or melancholy. This was one I thought about for weeks after I finished it. LOVE.

— Elizabeth Shockman, education reporter

‘James’ by Percival Everett

This is a fascinating reimagining of the classic “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of the character Jim, who has escaped from slavery. It is full of satire of some pretty extreme codeswitching and constant action. Even if you’re familiar with Huck Finn’s adventures, “James” has something surprisingly moving or funny around every corner.

— Ellen Finn, producer

The National Book Award this year for “James” placed a long-deserved spotlight on one of the most interesting of U.S. writers. In his re-imagining of Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Percival Everett peels back the realities Huck’s friend Jim faces as the two take off down the Mississippi into the everyday horrors of enslavement in 19th-century Missouri.

Far from Twain’s barely educated Jim, Everett’s James is a deep thinker who covers his intelligence and ability to read, knowing they are likely to get him killed. He’s just trying to reunite with his wife and daughter and keep Huck and himself alive. 

Everett’s genius is in the way he can make a reader laugh out loud, and then wince at the violence, always present just below the surface, with the capacity to erupt at any time. It is a story that will return to a reader’s mind for a long time to come. It’s also an entry into the worlds of his previous exceptional novels. 

— Euan Kerr, regional editor

‘The Personal Librarian’ by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

This book is historical fiction, based on the true story of Belle Greener, a Black woman who changed her name to Belle da Costa Greene and passed as white in the early 20th century and became J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian. It’s a fascinating and deeply engaging story about a woman’s love of the history of the printed word — and the lengths she has to go to pursue her passion in a racist world (and I love that two authors wrote this novel together).

— Emily Hanford, senior producer and correspondent at APM Reports

‘American Pastoral’ by Philip Roth

Obviously, this isn’t a new book since it was published in 1997. But the story is captivating from the first few pages. Who knew that page after page describing how gloves were made could be so fascinating (with echoes of Herman Melville diving deep into the business of whaling in “Moby Dick”).

It’s a magnificent, ambitious novel that runs through three generations. Roth manages the nearly impossible: Marrying sensitive portraits of individual characters with attempts at trying to understand the forces behind the big upheavals and unsettling changes in American society and economy between World War II and the Vietnam War.

— Chris Farrell, senior economics contributor, MPR and Marketplace

‘Fight Night’ by Miriam Toews

When I first read an excerpt that was published as a short story, I just wanted to spend more time with the narrator, nine-year-old Swiv, and her brilliantly funny grandma Elvira. Their antics together made me laugh out loud and I loved being let into their private jokes. As children and old people are often ignored in American — or in this case, Canadian — society, this book brings these generations to the front.

But it’s really a poignant story of three generations — three vivid personalities who love each other fiercely and who have spent their lives learning to fight through all the pain and loss that comes their way. I was so into this book that I recommended it to my own cool grandma. Just a week later, she responded, “Finished Fight Night. A crazy book.”

— Alanna Elder, producer

‘The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches’ by Sangu Mandanna

This was the perfect cozy read for October, or any month of the year. I loved the depth of all of the characters and the world the author built. I felt like I was a kid again, reading Harry Potter for the first time and believing magic is real.

— Lisa Ryan, evening editor

‘The Pairing’ by Casey McQuiston

I’ve been on the Casey McQuiston train since their debut novel “Red, White, and Royal Blue” and I have read every one of their books, but I’ve got to say this may just be my favorite. It has the same kitschy and funny dialogue as “Red, White and Royal Blue” (now a major motion picture) with the more adult themes and conflicts that McQuiston’s other books do.

It follows two longtime friends turned lovers turned enemies as they travel through Europe on a food and wine tour four years after they’ve broken up with no contact. On the tour, the two decide to try to be friends again with a little friendly “hook-up” competition. Not only is this probably the horniest book I’ve read all year, it’s also the most deliciously written with amazing descriptions of food and wine that will have you wishing you were reading it in a European café at sunset.

It’s also a very beautiful romance that includes the LGBTQ+ representation you can always expect from McQuiston. If I had to describe it in six words: Disaster bisexuals eat and reconcile abroad.

— Kyra Miles, early education reporter

‘The Ministry for the Future’ by Kim Stanley Robinson

It’s a freaky freakshow of a book about the world, climate change, the global climate crisis and how a few people are actively trying to make a change. This book feels all too real — and not at all comforting or reassuring. It wasn’t an easy read by any stretch — and it’s something I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

— Elena See, newscaster

‘Nine Coaches Waiting’ by Mary Stewart

This 1959 novel is a delightful romantic suspense novel set in rural France. A beautiful young governess — who is concealing her true identity — moves into a chateau to care for an orphan. Is her charge just unlucky? Accidents seem to plague him. Or is someone trying to murder him?

— Stephanie Curtis, programming director

‘Sandwich: A Novel’ by Catherine Newman

No book made me laugh as hard in 2024 as “Sandwich” by Catherine Newman. Narrator Rachel (or Rocky, as her family calls her) is 54, menopausal, alternately weepy with gratitude and livid with untethered rage.

We accompany her, her husband, her almost-adult children and her aging parents as they embark on their annual summer vacation to Cape Cod, where sunscreen is applied, sandwiches are made and secrets are revealed. But the plot is almost beside the point. Rocky’s authentic and hilarious depiction of being a woman in midlife is the real gold here. I couldn’t stop laughing — or crying.

— Kelly Gordon, producer

‘Martyr!’ by Kaveh Akbar

This novel left me sifting through Reddit threads to make some sense of what I had just read. (Reddit wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, either). “Martyr!” is about a young man’s search for meaning but, ironically, it doesn’t end with all the answers wrapped up neatly with a bow.

If ambiguity isn’t your thing, “Martyr!” might not be for you. But the gorgeous prose and poetry — on love, loss, addiction, racism, sexuality, grief — might draw you in, anyhow. It’s dark, funny, beautiful and not likely to leave my mind for quite a while. A remarkable debut novel from Kaveh Akbar.

— Gretchen Brown, producer

‘The Bee Sting’ by Paul Murray

The book starts with idle chatter about a horrific murder in the next town over. A “Derry Girls” style teen from a small Irish town wonders to her bestie why it doesn’t happen more often. The author leaves that there and then tells the tale of a family unraveling — failing car dealership owner Dickie, his panicky wife Imelda, their kids stressed-out Cass and clueless P.J.

It would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic and surprising and dark. It’s not a short read, but well worth staying with it to the remarkable end.

— Heidi Raschke, senior producer

‘Pachinko’ by Min Jin Lee

This is a beautifully written family saga set in Korea and Japan throughout the 20th century. It follows four generations of a Korean family through political turmoil under Japanese colonization, the aftermath of World War II and watching the home they left behind split into two countries they don’t recognize.

I wasn’t very familiar with this period of time in Korea and Japan and this book was both a learning experience and a marvelous and heartbreaking tale with incredible characters. I couldn’t put it down.

— Ellie Roth, producer

Young adult

‘A Crane Among Wolves’ by June Hur

My favorite read was released in May 2024. It’s a YA novel "A Crane Among Wolves" by June Hur, a historical thriller I couldn’t put down and finished within a day. A young woman tries to find a killer to use as a means of freeing her sister from the hands of an evil tyrant. She becomes involved in a political conspiracy with a mysterious prince to free the Korean people.

Hur’s writing is so carefully researched and compelling, drawing on period-accurate realism of the Joseon Dynasty in 16th-century Korea. Her novel doesn’t shy away from the brutal, true historical events of King Yeonsan who many often consider to be the worst tyrant in perhaps Korean history.

— Hannah Yang, senior reporter

Poetry

‘Everything Comes Next: Collected and New Poems’ by Naomi Shihab Nye

Naomi Shihab Nye is Palestinian-American, and her dual identity is key to this poetry collection. The three sections of the book give you a sense of the arc: they’re titled “The Holy Land of Childhood,” “The Holy Land that Isn’t,” with poems centered in Palestine, and finally “People are the Only Holy Land.”

What I love about Naomi Shihab Nye is her insistence on approaching this complicated world at the human level, person-to-person, with curiosity, kindness and empathy.

— Emily Bright, weekend newscaster, host of Art Hounds and Ask a Bookseller

Audiobook

‘Tom Lake’ by Ann Patchett

This is a book about the many lives people live before they become parents and how that pre-child life can seem like just a story to their kids. It captures how we all process the raw emotions of the past and turn it into an edited, cleaned-up story we tell ourselves and others, in order to continue with our lives.

“The past need not be so all-encompassing that it renders us incapable of making egg salad,” the main character, Lara, says, returning to making lunch for the family.

I love that this book takes place during the 2020 pandemic. Patchett perfectly captures how time stretched out so long — especially in the unending summer sun of northern Michigan — that it’s perfectly conceivable that three adult daughters are enraptured by their mother’s long, winding story.  

I especially loved listening to the audiobook, narrated by Meryl Streep. Much like I now think of Tom Hanks when I think of Patchett’s other book, “The Dutch House,” due to his lovely audiobook performance of that book, I will now also think of Meryl Streep when I remember “Tom Lake.”

— Lisa Ryan, evening editor

‘Finding Me: A Memoir’ by Viola Davis

As someone who loves memoirs but struggles to focus when trying to read for fun, I decided to listen to the audiobook version because of how compelling Davis is as an actress. She even won the Grammy Award for best audiobook in 2023!

It was an emotional and engaging listen. I appreciated how honestly Davis discussed some of her deeply personal struggles to empower herself and the reader to own the past and help it mold a brighter future. 

— Nina Moini, host of Minnesota Now

‘Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer

An absolutely beautiful story about the potential for symbiosis between humans and nature. This is perhaps one of the only books I’ve read that weaves environmental science, art, sustainability, gardening and Indigenous culture.

When the author was young, she was told these interests were incongruous with each other, that she had an artist’s eye and not a scientist’s. The book is a culmination of her life’s work combining those interests, not listening to her critics. This is the type of book that will change your way of thinking — if you let it.

The audiobook was narrated by the author, whose voice is authoritative yet musical, with a way of speaking that feels like poetry. She imparts decades of wisdom in a comparatively short amount of time.

— Lisa Ryan, evening editor

‘I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying: A Memoir’ by Youngmi Mayer

Comedian Youngmi Mayer writes someone online called her the “mentally ill Ali Wong.” That’s so terrible lol. If I had pearls, I might have clutched them throughout this book. But Mayer embraces that. In this memoir, she takes listeners on a journey — through space and generations — sharing insight on how she’s amassed a large social media following. She is a funny and insightful critic. I appreciated getting to hear her narrate the audiobook because you get to hear her emotion, comedic delivery and pronunciation of Korean phrases.

Her book is a good read on generational trauma, biracial identity and the impact of Japan’s occupation of Korea, among other things. Got me thinking about hairy buttholes (and that I need to ask my relatives for our ancestors’ stories, too).

— Feven Gerezgiher, reporter and producer

‘The Women’ by Kristin Hannah

This book is visceral. It’s mind-opening. It’s an inspiring, gut-wrenching story of the women who went to war as Army nurses in Vietnam, saw the best and worst of humanity, served their nation and were shunned by their countrymen upon their return home. While fiction, it depicts a largely untold story of sacrifice, grief, grace, betrayal and community in a way that writes a chapter in history books these heroes never got.

You’ll feel sick, you’ll cry, you’ll laugh, you’ll cheer and you’ll get a sobering reminder of the consequences of governmental misinformation and a divided nation. Julia Whelan also does a fantastic job narrating the Audible version. And if you enjoy “The Women,” check out Hannah’s “The Nightingale” for another wartime story of women's bravery against all odds.

— Gracie Stockton, producer

‘Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics’ by Dolly Parton and Robert K. Oermann

You have to listen to this as an audiobook. Dolly herself describes her lyrics and songs and life like she’s having a conversation, and parts of her songs are woven through the conversation. I learned so much about Dolly and was able to hear her personality and humor shine through.

I also highly recommend turning this to regular speed (if you’re like me and listen to audiobooks at double speed or 1.5 speed). Dolly speaks quickly, and her songs are woven through, so you’ll want to savor her music and her voice.

— Lisa Ryan, evening editor

‘The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller

I didn’t just read this book; I also listened to the audio book some months later after wanting to experience the story in another format. Miller takes a classic tale of the Trojan War and Achilles told from the perspective of Patroclus.

I enjoyed the in-depth exploration of that era and the romance that flourished between the two main characters. Many aspects of the story were poetic, and not so “in-your-face.” The focus on character motives was what had been most compelling to me. Once I started the book, I could not set it down until I finished.

— Chandra Colvin, radio reporter intern

Graphic novel

‘Spa’ by Erik Svetoft

The debut graphic novel from Swedish artist and illustrator Erik Svetoft is somehow both an acidic satire of the mediocrity of small business owners and a phantasmagorical, unsettling series of set pieces in a decaying health retreat. The place is in the midst of an unexplained occult collapse and is being rapidly consumed by spreading goo, antlered beasts and randomly appearing bodies.

The satire is sharp and frequently uproarious, while the horror is... genuinely upsetting. The whole of it is drawn in tight, tidy black and white linework that sketches in characters, who are often hard to tell from each other. This feels deliberate, as though the bored Europeans who patronize this strange spa are barely present enough to notice anything amiss, barely distinguishable in their apathetic luxury. They hardly seem to notice as the tidy linework spirals into scribbled shadows that rise up to consume them. 

— Max Sparber, arts editor

‘Brownstone’ by Samuel Teer and Mar Julia

“Brownstone” is set in the summer of 1995, and the story follows teenager Almudena after she is unceremoniously left with her Guatemalan father — who she has never met. As a transracial adoptee, I was enthralled by the main character as she grapples with her sense of self, and learns to love and accept the Guatemalan side of her heritage.

For anyone who’s felt like they can’t connect with certain parts of their ethnic heritage, “Brownstone” may be a perfect, slice-of-life way to heal.

— Jacob Aloi, arts reporter

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