review – Page 91 – Reads A Lot

Memoir, Poetry, and Climate Change in Felicia Luna Lemus’ “Particulate Matter” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 21, 2020 by Amy Brady

[ad_1] Burning Worlds is Amy Brady’s monthly column dedicated to examining how contemporary literature interrogates issues of climate change, in partnership with Yale Climate Connections. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter to get “Burning Worlds” and other writing about art and climate change delivered straight to your inbox. Unlike most books explored in this column, Felicia Luna Lemus’s Particulate Matter … Read more

18 Notable Debuts by Trans, Non-binary, and Gender Non-conforming Authors – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 19, 2020 by Jen St. Jude

[ad_1] Being a debut author is overwhelming in any year, but those who published books in 2020 have dealt with challenges none could have ever imagined (a global pandemic, the news cycle from hell, and everything and everyone going online). Despite that, this year brought us many standout books by established trans, non-binary, and gender … Read more

The Liminality of Craig Mod – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 18, 2020 by Ian J. Battaglia

[ad_1] There’s perhaps no adage more cliche than the phrase, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” We can hear this, but so very few of us have actually taken it to heart; maybe we’ve simply reached our saturation point with it. Walking has taken on something of a new color in the quarantine year, … Read more

9 Works of Criticism You May Have Missed in 2020 – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 17, 2020 by Clancey D'Isa

[ad_1] Works of criticism, or more broadly, texts that critically survey our world, often don’t subscribe to fixed genres or easily distinguishable forms. During a year that rattled our attention and pulled hard at our ability to concentrate, these books, in their varied forms, drew us in. Through their joy (and pessimism) and critical perspective, … Read more

Ten Gift Ideas – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 16, 2020 by Mary Woodbury

[ad_1] John Muir said, “thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.” Still true over a century later, I’ve turned to this phrase often during hard times and more often during 2020, which turned out to be one of the … Read more

The Fire of Trauma in “The Ancient Hours” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 15, 2020 by Aaron Coats

[ad_1] The first sentence of Michael Bible’s latest novel, The Ancient Hours, is a lie. “We were innocent,” is an immediate provocation that gives the impression of someone in an interrogation room telling authorities a story agreed upon by a group of accomplices. Bible makes a bold statement beginning with this line, and also by … Read more

New Hope, Old Truths in “Responsible Adults” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 15, 2020 by Sara Cutaia

[ad_1] In Patricia Ann McNair’s newest collection Responsible Adults, many of the stories take place in a fictional town called New Hope. One can easily imagine a town with this name exists in the Midwest, and it’s also fitting for the theme: each story teems with an ache toward hope, a moodiness tinged with heartbreaking … Read more

13 Books in Translation You May Have Missed in 2020 – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 15, 2020 by Kyle Francis Williams

[ad_1] It has been a hectic year, to say the least. Without being able to regularly go into bookshops to browse the tables and staff picks, new releases in translation that may have become some of your favorites might have instead slipped under your radar. Hopefully, this list of a baker’s dozen books will help. … Read more

Transmutable Knowledge in “The Experimental Fire” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 15, 2020 by Michael Pittard

[ad_1] Alchemy may no longer be considered a reputable or factual science, but it still shapes our current understanding of chemistry, physics, and biology. In her new book, The Experimental Fire: Inventing English Alchemy, 1300-1700, scholar and historian Jennifer Rampling shows that this influence is worth chronicling, not only for marking how attitudes towards science … Read more

Devastation, Divisions, and Drag in “Crosshairs” – Chicago Review of Books

Book ReviewsDecember 13, 2020 by Malavika Praseed

[ad_1] Boldness incarnate. A laugh in the face of subtlety and propriety. These are fragmented phrases to describe Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez, and they do not go far enough. Hernandez writes for herself, for the communities she represents, and for anyone who has ever felt othered in society. Her feminism is intersectional, her prose electric, … Read more