For The Book Obsessed
[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
[ad_1] You never can tell where life will take you. When I met Beth Uznis Johnson at an MFA alumni event for Queens University of Charlotte, she lived in Michigan, and I lived in Chicago. Who’d have guessed that a decade later, she’d live a few blocks from me, and we’d meet for Monday writing … Read more
[ad_1] During the launch of her first book, Down Girl, a popular work about sexism and misogyny, Kate Manne was doing what she could to avoid appearing in public. She turned down a book tour and in-person interviews, and supplied media outlets with her own photographs. Manne was self-conscious of her body’s size, and didn’t … Read more
[ad_1] National Book Award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell’s new novel, The Waters, highlights the world of the Zooks—four generations of women led by matriarch and herbalist Hermine—as they claim their place in the male-dominated world of rural Whiteheart, Michigan. From their cabin on an island in the swamp, also called The Waters, Hermine “Herself,” with … Read more