

Review of The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
In this heartwarming story of wonderfully faulted characters who face tragedy and often make a mess of things, loyalty and steadfastness...
Apr 23


Review of Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
Kennedy writes poignantly about the Irish Troubles through the point of view of Cushla, a young adult stretching her wings despite her...
Oct 30, 2024


Review of Bear by Julia Phillips
The author of Disappearing Earth offers a story of bleak prospects, poverty and illness, a sister bond with fault lines ready to crack...
Aug 15, 2024


Review of Love, Lists and Fancy Ships by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
Sarah Grunder Ruiz serves up an irresistible rom-com with great banter and with interesting and difficult, complex issues of loss, grief,...
May 30, 2024


Review of Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
The tone of Martyr! was tough for me to get a handle on for much of the book. The story is dark, nerve-racking, irreverent, tragic, and...
Mar 28, 2024


Review of After Annie by Anna Quindlen
Young mom Annie's abrupt death leaves her four children, husband, and best friend reeling. Each of them must find a way back to...
Mar 7, 2024


Review of Antarctica by Claire Keegan
Keegan turns her keen eye to the small moments that transform a life in this riveting short story collection. The settings range from the...
Nov 16, 2023


Review of Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
Angie Kim's sophomore novel is a mystery, but Happiness Falls is primarily an exploration of a complicated, loving, messy family and each...
Nov 14, 2023


Review of They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies that Raised Us by Prachi Gupta
In her memoir, Gupta explores the stressful, tragic disconnect between the "perfect minority" image her father demanded of the family and...
Nov 8, 2023


Review of Evil Eye by Etaf Rum
In Evil Eye, Etaf Rum (author of A Woman Is No Man) considers a small-town North Carolina artist, mother, and wife struggling with the...
Oct 19, 2023


Review of Time's Mouth by Edan Lepucki
Lepucki's strange, interesting time-travel novel centers around betrayal, broken hearts, second chances, and the power of hate--and of...
Sep 12, 2023


Review of You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir by Maggie Smith
Poet Maggie Smith's memoir traces the end of her marriage, weaving in the history and the future while she acknowledges that any story is...
Apr 13, 2023


Review of True Biz by Sara Nović
True Biz is a coming-of-age story, a beginner's primer on Deaf culture, and a captivating novel about romance, disappointment, fury, and...
Nov 23, 2022


Review of The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream by Jeannie Zusy
Zusy's Frederick sisters navigate a complicated, stressful situation and drastic changes with plenty of mistakes, forgiveness, and...
Oct 4, 2022


Review of The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
Cronin's debut novel explores mortality, vulnerability, surprising moments of joy and reflection, an irresistible young protagonist, and...
Sep 21, 2022


Review of The Oceanography of the Moon by Glendy Vanderah
The Oceanography of the Moon reads like a romance, with superlative moments, emotional encounters with art and music, and clean...
Mar 30, 2022


Review of My Heart Went Walking by Sally Hanan
Hanan's 1980s Irish coming-of-age story is full of angst, secrets, life-and-death danger, youthful determination--and the feeling that...
Feb 8, 2022


Review of Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
Betty is based on the author's family stories of difficulties, abuse, tragedies, and a hardscrabble life in the Appalachian foothills of...
Jan 12, 2022


Review of The Distance from Four Points by Margo Orlando Littell
In The Distance from Four Points, Littell explores deep human connections, grief, womanhood, what strength means, the power of origins,...
Dec 2, 2021


Review of This Shining Life by Harriet Kline
Kline's poignant, lovely book explores a family's emotional missteps and enduring love after a painful loss, and their hard-fought...
Nov 18, 2021