My favorite reads are those I find moving. A story that shifts something inside, captures a feeling or experience I did not have a name for or know was still living inside of me. Here is one of the works of fiction that moved me:

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

I picked up this book at the Dallas airport, on my way back to DC after the funeral of my grandmother. I didn’t expect this gem of a novel to be so resonant and deal with love and loss in such a unique way. What starts off as newlyweds dealing with the news that the husband has been diagnosed with a mutation that, yes, means he’ll turn into a great white shark, becomes a story about love through generations, about grappling with change, loss, sickness, transformation. The premise at first seems outlandish, but the weight of reality the story conveys quickly had me convinced and deeply invested in the characters. Maybe it was the timing, but reading it, all I could think was “yeah, this sounds like life.” Riddled throughout are deep reflections on motherhood, family history, and caretaking elegantly explored through the lens of the human-animal transformation within this seemingly normal world. I loved this one. It didn’t feel like anything I had read before and left an impression on me.

If you’re curious to read it, you can order it at this link:

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