Ask a Bookseller: 'The Half-White Album'

Let’s start off the new year with a debut book that defies genre. John Hoffsis of Treasure House Books and Gifts in Old Town Albuquerque, N.M., recommends “The Half-White Album” by local author and musician Cynthia J. Sylvester.

The book is a collection of short stories, flash fiction and poetry, but it’s music that ties the story together. Each of the sections are song titles, and the story follows a fictitious cover band, The Covers.

Adding further depth, a Spotify playlist of the songs is available here:

Hoffsis said Sylvester performs pieces of the book locally with a band, recreating The Covers.

Sylvester grew up in Albuquerque and is an enrolled member of the Diné. Written from an urban Native perspective, “The Half-White Album” is a story of dwelling in two worlds, of living and loving imperfectly. This book was awarded 2023 the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for best LGBTQ+ book.