For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] At the very beginning of Balsam Karam’s novel The Singularity (translated from the Swedish by Saskia Vogel), a pregnant woman stands witness as a woman lets herself fall off a cliff in her sightline, disappearing silently into the ocean. From there, time unspools forward and backwards, giving the reader insight into both past and … Read more
[ad_1] It is difficult to talk about guns in America without talking about denial. With every new tragedy, we look the other way in a naive attempt to escape responsibility for our role in sustaining the cycle of gun violence. Alexander Sammartino shows a keen sensitivity to this dynamic in his raucous, irreverent debut novel, … Read more
[ad_1] In Christina Cooke’s debut novel, Broughtupsy, a young woman, Akúa, whose family has been unmoored and adrift since the death of her mother, is on a mission. Akúa’s father moves the family first to Texas, then to Vancouver, but Akúa’s older sister, Tamika, travels back to Jamaica, leaving Akúa and their younger brother Bryson … Read more
[ad_1] Kate Kennedy is a woman who finds herself at a crossroads. Growing up under fourth wave feminism, she still felt the undeniable siren song of quintessential womanhood past: join a sorority, get married, have a kid. “[There are] the traditional values we held growing up versus the opportunities that greeted us once we did,” … Read more
[ad_1] The room was too warm, but that’s not why I was sweating. I was nervous. Deeply, deeply nervous. It had been a long time since I sat in a creative writing classroom, yet here I was. It was early June 2023 and I hadn’t written fiction in years. My Imposter Syndrome had been growing … Read more
[ad_1] Abbott Kahler’s debut thriller, Where You End, follows the twenty-two-year-old Bird sisters after a car accident leaves Kat with no memories save the name and face of her twin, Jude; remnants of the unique language they have shared since childhood; and an unexplained ability to defend herself. The story is comprised of Kat’s perspective … Read more
[ad_1] Very early in my spiritual education, I was taught by my elders to be cautious about making claims. One reason for this caution—particularly when it comes to making claims about oneself—is that claims are often rooted in the ego. They betray the fact that so much of what we claim about ourselves can be … Read more
[ad_1] There is a certain kind of fiction that, in its pitch-perfect encapsulation of reality, functions to help us mourn the distance between the world we want and the world as it is. These are the stories and novels of Marie-Helene Bertino, from her 2012 story collection Safe as Houses and her debut novel 2 … Read more
[ad_1] In one of the many poignant moments of his first inauguration in 2009, Barack Obama autographed the program of Civil Rights icon and longtime Congressman John Lewis with the words, “Because of you, John.” Lewis remained grateful for the encomium for the rest of his life, but he would also be the first to … Read more
[ad_1] Termush, a 1967 novella by Sven Holm (translated into English by Sylvia Clayton), is an understated accounting of events at a luxury resort that has been transformed into a safe haven for a select group of survivors of a nuclear disaster. While concerns about wealth inequality and post-apocalyptic survival remained relevant throughout the Cold … Read more