Category: Books

Territory of Light deftly balances exterior plot and interior musings. Its protagonist, a nameless newly single mother in 1970’s Tokyo, rents an apartment. She struggles to be prompt to her library job and is short-tempered with her young daughter. In other words, she’s a relatable nameless woman. Yoko Tsushima uses

The Uterus’ Guide To Raising A Baby is one of the most comforting books I’ve read about pregnancy and the “fourth trimester.” In this cute adult picture book? Short graphic novel? Folse showcases the role of hormones throughout the gestation and raising of infants. She is quick to inform her

Diane Setterfield can tell a good story and lets loose in her debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale. The plot is rollicking and the prose is impressive. This novel brings to mind both the nineteenth century greats (particularly Bronte and Dickens) and modern authors like Mark Helprin and William Goldman. The

The Water Cure is a beautifully eerie book; a book that inspired a neglectful afternoon with my children so I could finish it. Sophie MacIntosh has crafted a gripping psychological thriller disguised as a mediation on technology, climate change, and #metoo. The core of The Water Cure is anti-exclusion and

This is the best book I’ve ever read ever. Paperback Crush has reduced me to the platitudes and extremes of my seventh-grade self, as it contains every book, character, and series 7-13 year-old-me loved. Remembering and revisiting this era in Gabrielle Moss’ ultimate guide to “pre-Twilight” Young Adult fiction was

I was eight when Thom Jones rose to acclaim, what’s your excuse? Naw, I’m mostly joking. I’m just feeling salty because I’ve wasted so much of my life not reading him. His descriptions of mental illness, desperation, blue collar employment, and overcoming (or not) are bittersweet. I would have found

Barbara Kingsolver good cop bad cops her way through Unsheltered. Sometimes she’s playfully nudging us in the ribs, ‘Isn’t that a sweet human universality?’ Others, she’s Birdbox-ing us, demanding that we look at her monsters of climate change and the GOP. Our author has been accused of presenting la-di-da political

Let’s get it out of the way: The Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates is a novel featuring a brave young girl in a dystopian future. I’m as surprised as you are. No, I don’t know why she didn’t market this YA. (Probably as a buffer against ready

Zoje Stage takes the electra complex to another level in Baby Teeth. In this article I explore whether this novel adds anything worthwhile to the burgeoning genre of “creepy kids.” Of course, parenting is a joy. It’s also costly, sleepless, and full of anxiety. The whole experience can bring up

How are you doing, Mr. Murakami? I finished Killing Commendatore last week. It’s classic you: narrated by a milquetoast,  jazz-loving, Everyman who just happens to fall in with some weird stuff. References to music, art, and breasts abound. The Great Gatsby was more than a reference in this book, huh? Critics