Book Reviews

[ad_1] You may wish to note the below. As a hailing, this phrase is eccentric yet disarming. It also shares a description with the two characters that share the book’s title—Leonard and Hungry Paul. It is also a variation of Hungry Paul’s entry for the Chamber of Commerce’s sign-off contest, which he doesn’t want the … Read more

[ad_1] Lysley Tenorio follows his debut story collection, Monstress, with his recently published debut novel, The Son of Good Fortune. The novel focuses on Excel, a young undocumented Filipino immigrant, and his mother, Maxima, a former Philippines B-action movie star turned online scam artist.  Set in Colma, a Northern California city known for its seventeen … Read more

[ad_1] Great historical fiction reaches beyond the era it explores to tell truths about our current moment. Kathleen Rooney achieves this in just the opening sentence of her new novel, Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey, as she writes “monuments matter most to pigeons and soldiers.” Her story follows Charles Whittlesey and homing pigeon Cher Ami, … Read more

[ad_1] Stanley Plumly—author of eleven books of poetry, four books of nonfiction, Maryland poet laureate, professor, and winner of numerous literary prizes—died of multiple myeloma in April 2019 at the age of 80. According to his own poem leading off this, his last collection called Middle Distance, he was a “White Rhino,” the last of … Read more

[ad_1] Climate change may be a planet-wide problem, but novels about the subject can be deeply personal. Case in point: Australian author Charlotte McConaghy’s transporting debut, Migrations. It tells the story of Franny Stone, who seeks out the last flock of Arctic terns in Greenland and then follows them on what might be their final … Read more

[ad_1] Last week I saw the groundhog for the first time. He lumbered across the patch of lawn at the bottom of our garden, looking much like a muskrat or a beaver but for his tail—the muskrat has a tail, unsurprisingly, like a rat; the beaver of course has his paddle; whereas the muskrat’s tail … Read more

[ad_1] It all starts with a sentence. “Her name was Magda.” Then three more. “Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.” But the ground is clear. No body, no blood. No signs of a struggle. Just the conspicuous note, printed in blue ballpoint pen on notebook paper, … Read more

[ad_1] In Space Station Down, by Ben Bova and Doug Beason, scientist Kimberly Hadid-Robinson is the senior-ranking American aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The most extraordinary thing she expects about her mission is that her ex-husband, former ISS Commander Scott Robinson, will serve as the lead astronaut at NASA mission control, managing communications between … Read more

[ad_1] Transition is often met with uncertainty. Changes in life challenge our perceptions, our emotions, and the way we feel about ourselves. In Shruti Swamy’s debut story collection, A House is a Body, a thread of internal change weaves throughout the twelve stories. Characters accept and face the consequences of unavoidable circumstances in life, and it’s … Read more

[ad_1] Picking up a sequel to a book as original as Gideon the Ninth is a little scary—the first book set an incredibly high bar. Tamsyn Muir’s second novel, Harrow the Ninth, thankfully, clears it with room to spare. Returning to that preposterous but somehow organic blend of black magic and science fiction, Harrow the … Read more