
- May 3
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
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
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...

- Jul 12, 2021
Three Books I'm Reading Now, 7/12/21 Edition
The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading a bizarre, dark set of short stories by a former Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer, Jen Spyra;...

- Jul 5, 2021
Review of No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
The first section of Lockwood's story about an internet darling is absurd, frivolous, vulgar, irritating, and frequently disturbing; the...

- Jun 29, 2021
Review of Sarahland: Stories by Sam Cohen
The various Sarahs of Cohen's stories take on frequently unorthodox searches for self and meaning--while coping with versions of the...

- Jun 3, 2021
Review of A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (The Carls #2) by Hank Green
This ending to Green's duology has tremendous heart without ever flirting with sappiness, deep meaning without being pedantic, and it...

- Jun 2, 2021
Review of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (The Carls #1) by Hank Green
ICYMI: This is a gloriously oddball book with lots of heart featuring unorthodox friendships, the frightening power of social media, the...

- May 31, 2021
Three Books I'm Reading Now, 5/31/21 Edition
The Books I'm Reading Now Two of these books are largely about redemption, two focus on the twisted blessing-and-curse of technology, and...

- Apr 19, 2021
Review of Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
Greenlights is wonderfully entertaining and endearing, showcasing McConaughey's frequently zany encounters, lust for adventure, and...

- Apr 2, 2021
March Wrap-Up: My Favorite Reads of the Month
Ta-da! My very favorite books from March! Here are the books I most loved reading during the past month: a beautiful story of heartbreak...

- Feb 22, 2021
Review of Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
The emotions and drives of the story feel real, but the tone is darkly playful. I loved spending time with main protagonist Eli as he...

- Feb 5, 2021
Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love
01 The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden This is an ancient-feeling, dark fairy tale of a story that takes place within a small...

- Jan 18, 2021
Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/18/21 Edition
01 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo Evaristo won the Booker Prize in 2019 for this novel, which I'm listening to as an audiobook...