Reads A Lot – Page 70 – For The Book Obsessed

The Depth of Familial Trauma in “The Brothers Silver” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsJune 4, 2021 by jessicadekoninck

[ad_1] Stories of family trauma, parent-child relationships, and sibling relationships are not new in literature. Compelling examples go as far back as the Bible. Unfortunately, writing about family trauma has also often been negatively characterized as confessional, as if certain life experiences are either too embarrassing or otherwise unworthy for literary exploration. The Brothers Silver, … Read more

Uniting Form and Function in “With Teeth” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsJune 3, 2021 by D. W. White

[ad_1] For all the ink shed—in reviews, interviews, and criticism—about the trials and tribulations of navigating the literary world on the level of the individual novel, comparatively little space is provided to career-wide discussions. While this is understandable given the enormous challenge that writing and publishing just one book presents to the writer (not to … Read more

The Power of Friendship and the Grip of Addiction in “Bewilderness:” A Conversation With Karen Tucker – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsJune 2, 2021 by Clancy McGilligan

[ad_1] In an early chapter from Karen Tucker’s debut novel Bewilderness, the narrator, Irene, and her friend Luce come upon a stash of opioids. “I peered down at the jumbled blue tablets,” Irene tells us. “They really did look about as harmless as breath mints, and yet even I knew I was at the edge … Read more

The Sacredness of Queer Aunthood in “Stone Fruit” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsMay 27, 2021 by lauraolivesackton

[ad_1] Myths about romantic and familial love run rampant in our heteronormative, patriarchal culture. As children, we’re trained to believe that romantic love is the most noble love of all, that breakups are failures, and that being a mother is the purest way to love a child. Queer and trans communities have been pushing back … Read more

Chaos, Possibility, and Mangareme Fluffies in “The Unraveling” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsMay 26, 2021 by Jake Casella Brookins

[ad_1] Science fiction has a longstanding interest — a sub-genre, even — in using technology and far-future settings to think about gender. Classic feminist SF from the 1970s on, like Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, imagined worlds with gender roles reversed, complicated, or erased; almost all far-future, post-scarcity works, like Iain … Read more

The Powers of Kinesthetic Communication in “Punch Me Up to the Gods” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsMay 24, 2021 by Dana Dunham

[ad_1] At ten years old, Brian Broome tried to take lessons from his friend Corey on how to be “cooler”: “…Black boys had to show through our behavior that we were undeniably, incontrovertibly the most male. The toughest. We sat on either end of his bed and I got lost in his pretty brown eyes … Read more

Caution and Care in “Phase Six” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsMay 21, 2021 by Ethan Chatagnier

[ad_1] Last March, tweets urging writers to refrain from writing about the pandemic were so common they became as tiresome as the phenomenon they hoped to head off. No one wants to read your quarantine fiction, they insisted. No one living through hard times wanted to read a book about those same hard times, and … Read more

5 YA books to read based on your favorite Star Wars TV series

Book BuzzMay 21, 2021 by Reads A Lot Editor

[ad_1] A growing number of TV series, both animated and live action, are charting new courses through that galaxy far, far away. Check out our recommendations for which YA book should be your next read based on your favorite Star Wars TV series! For Star Wars Rebels Fans: Aetherbound If you love … Read more

Meditations on Collective Guilt, Culpability, and the Natural World in “The Impossible Resurrection of Grief” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsMay 20, 2021 by Alexander Pyles

[ad_1] The world is dying and it is all humanity’s fault—an on the nose observation, but one that encapsulates Octavia Cade’s novella, The Impossible Resurrection of Grief. We meet marine biologist Ruby in a near-future Australia, immersed in her study of jellyfish while dealing with the fallout of a colleague and friend drowning in the … Read more

An Interview with Susan Orlean – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsMay 20, 2021 by kelleyengelbrecht

[ad_1] Susan Orlean is known for making her readers care about people and things they may not have otherwise noticed. On the short list: German Shepherds, libraries, luxury condos, a 10-year old boy named Colin Duffy, and, of course, orchids. Coming up on the 20th anniversary of the film “Adaptation,” itself an adaptation of her … Read more