Offbeat

Jun 7

Review of Santa Ana by Addison J. Chapple with Rachael Flanery

I loved the premise and start of this zany story in which a statistics geek braves his high school reunion, only to be mistaken for a...

Mar 28

Review of American Mermaid by Julia Langbein

This story within a story is playful and satirical while providing deep issues to contemplate. It's different and captivating and silly...

Feb 21

Review of Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

Jen Beagin's literary fiction novel is consistently bizarre, at times base, and often darkly funny as her characters alternately dive...

Jan 25

Review of Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Addison Allen's magical realism story is set on an island off the coast of South Carolina and offers lots of heart, interactive ghosts,...

Nov 22, 2022

Review of Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Kevin Wilson's wonderfully odd 1990s coming-of-age novel centers around teens Frankie and Zeke, their mysterious artistic creation, and...

Sep 27, 2022

Review of Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

In Nethercott's Thistlefoot, estranged siblings Bellatine and Isaac Yaga find their way back to each other within this odd, dark story...

Aug 24, 2022

Review of The Humans by Matt Haig

The Humans is about mathematics, aliens, and shape shifters, but at its heart it's about a hurting family and an unimaginable, shocking,...

Jul 12, 2022

Review of Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley

Sloane Crosley's appealingly oddball tale explores the specter of newly engaged Lola's past loves and lusts while playing with space and...

Jun 29, 2022

Review of One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

McQuiston's love letter to New York offers charming song references, LGBTQ love, steamy scenes, character growth--and an irresistible...

Jun 15, 2022

Review of The Change by Kristen Miller

The Change explores the power of menopausal women and the poignant strength of friendship; supplies satisfying revenge fantasies and...

Jun 2, 2022

Review of The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle by Shawn K. Stout

Stout's recently published middle-grade story is irresistibly strange, full of difficulties and a tough young heroine's gritty...

May 3, 2022

Review of Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett

In Unlikely Animals, Hartnett's irresistible, oddball tragicomedy with heart, characters explore the limits and solidity of friendship...

Mar 3, 2022

Review of How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Nagamatsu's science fiction centers around a resurgence of an ancient Arctic plague. These interconnected stories are odd, fascinating,...

Jan 11, 2022

Review of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

Chambers's science fiction is full of heart, heartbreak, and hope--with a fascinating backdrop of space travel and interspecies...

Nov 1, 2021

Review of The Best of Me by David Sedaris

This collection of previously published Sedaris works is a gold mine of discomforting, edgy, offbeat observations--with more heart than I...

Aug 26, 2021

Review of The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson

Wilson's bubbly personality comes through in these essays, and her show business experiences were interesting, but I often couldn't...

Aug 16, 2021

Review of Paper & Blood (Ink & Sigil #2) by Kevin Hearne

I enjoyed revisiting characters from Ink & Sigil, but I felt bogged down by recounted stories and detailed logistics, and I missed the...

Aug 11, 2021

Three Books I'm Reading Now, 8/11/21 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Paper & Blood, Kevin Hearne's second and final book in his quirky Ink & Sigil fantasy duology; The...

Jul 23, 2021

Six Fascinating Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories

The Second-Chance Books I love a good second-chance book in which the main character gets the opportunity to go back and try again, redo...

Jul 14, 2021

Review of Big Time: Stories by Jen Spyra

Spyra's humor is edgy, dark, and far from politically correct as she plays up absurd and disturbing scenarios in the name of satire. This...

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