For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Zuska Kepplová is a Slovak author, editor, and political commentator for the Slovakian daily newspaper SME. In 2011, her book Buchty švabachom was published in her home country, winning the Ján Johanides Prize and becoming shortlisted for the Anasoft Litera Prize, Slovakia’s most prestigious literary prize. Now, twelve years later, Buchty švabachom is available … Read more
[ad_1] Straw Dogs Of The Universe is a multigenerational epic packed with action and adversity— but its heroes are mere humans, who must rely on luck and grit for a chance to surmount the terror of being a Chinese migrant in 19th century California. Devalued by railroad bosses, enslaved by brothel owners, and hunted down … Read more
[ad_1] My first encounter with Elle Nash’s work was Animals Eat Each Other, and since then I’ve been hooked. Her short story collection, Nudes, broke my heart in the best way, and Gag Reflex (written in the style of a LiveJournal from 2005) delivers measured doses of eating disorder vulnerability amid tenuous teenage social structures. … Read more
[ad_1] I’d promised myself I would take a break from contributing for a few months, but broke that promise when I saw Etaf Rum’s Evil Eye on the list of September releases. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to talk to Etaf again, as we’d had such a great conversation in 2019 about her debut novel, … Read more
[ad_1] In Wine People, Michelle Wildgen dives into the rich and ruthless business of wine via the dueling perspectives of two young women working for a Manhattan importer. While steely, pragmatic Wren learns the nuances of wine buying from her quixotic mentor, Sonoma-bred Thessaly prides herself on delivering top sales numbers alongside an eclectic cast … Read more
[ad_1] Kyle Dillon Hertz’s The Lookback Window starts in paradise. Or rather, it starts in a clothing-optional resort in South Florida. I found it apt to open the book here, a space of artificial beauty and peacefulness built directly on a foundation of unspoken terrors, all of which are fated to be erased by the … Read more
[ad_1] A good short story can feel like a mystical experience, or leave a reader remorseful, longing. Kate Doyle’s debut is a collection of such stories, linked in subtle ways, that perfectly encapsulate what it’s like to reflect on your youth while you’re still in it. The young women in these stories are on the … Read more
[ad_1] Sarah Viren’s new book, To Name the Bigger Lie, pushes us to re-examine what it means to tell the truth, one gorgeous sentence at a time. The two narratives—one of her high school humanities teacher and his tendency towards conspiracy theories—and the other, a piece about a false Title IX complaint against her wife … Read more
[ad_1] Julia Fine is back. I wouldn’t say she necessarily went anywhere – she’s steadily published novels since her debut in 2018 – but with her most recent, Maddalena and the Dark, she’s triumphantly returning to your bookshelves with her signature dark feminist speculative fiction. And it’s a masterpiece. Set in 18th century Venice, Maddalena … Read more
[ad_1] “My house holds sound / like the sea inside a shell,” writes Lesley Harrison in the poem “Convergence.” And this is the sense one has while reading Kitchen Music, a poetry collection filled with as much sea and wind as a house on the coast of an island. Conversing with a variety of artists … Read more