For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] The start of the New Year always brings a lot of excitement as well as a familiar question: What books should I be on the lookout for? As avid readers ourselves, we love the moments of spontaneity that comes with exploring the back corners of a bookstore, only to find a book that completely … Read more
[ad_1] Get your to-read list ready, because with the New Year comes new opportunities to discover exciting debuts and the latest releases from your favorite authors! There is no slow ramp up when it comes to 2024, as January sees a number releases we’ve been greatly anticipating here at the Chicago Review of Books. We … Read more
[ad_1] There is no shortage of literary mashups in contemporary publishing, at least in how books are marketed. Books are described as X meets Y to give readers an idea of what to expect. Katie Cotugno’s latest novel, Meet the Benedettos, is billed as Pride and Prejudice meets the Kardashians, and the characterization is dead … Read more
[ad_1] Every year this list gets longer and my heart grows right along with it. I’m ending 2023 filled to the brim with gratitude for the books that made me feel seen; for who I’ve been, who I am, and who I dream of being. I’m also blown away by the talent exhibited by this … Read more
[ad_1] Many articles have been written about our culture’s shrinking attention spans, largely blaming the rise of smartphones for our dwindling attentiveness. So one might reason the short story should be rising in popularity, but there seems to be no such effect. Maybe because short stories often require more from readers. If you miss something … Read more
[ad_1] If your fondest holiday memories also involve hiding in the bathroom (or closet, or floorboard, or passenger seat of your cool older cousin’s car) to get a moment’s peace from your [insert adjective] family, you’re probably already sold on a distraction. Books can’t yell at you! Or guilt you! Or punish you! Unless they … Read more
[ad_1] I both love and hate end of the year book lists—love because they’re fun roundups full of great titles. But they also make me cringe, even silently rage, because without fail, they leave out amazing books that deserve the spotlight, arguably more than the mega bestsellers often dominating the lists. But the cold mechanics … Read more
[ad_1] Censorship is something Thai American author Sunisa Manning is all too familiar with. Her thrilling and heartfelt debut novel A Good True Thai follows three young people whose paths converge at university leading up to the 1970s pro-democracy student movement in Thailand, their lives upended after a massacre of student demonstrators—a historical event that … Read more
[ad_1] In the winter of 2016, in a classroom on the ground floor of the English department where I teach, my colleagues and I gathered to hear Sofia Samatar give a job talk for a tenure-track teaching position. The classroom had once been part of a large indoor pool, specifically the shallow end, whose only … Read more
[ad_1] Building a “Best Books of the year” list is an impossible task. For every one book we honor, there are hundreds of beautiful and well-deserving titles that go unrecognized. As a writer or reader, it’s easy to look at these 2023 lists with a mix of intrigue and dread, as they look to see … Read more