Ryan’s own uninviting prose mirrors her philosophy about poetry: that it is not meant to be easy or satisfying.
Review: The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams
Despite the fact that it takes place in 1871, The Illness Lesson feels eerily contemporary.
Review: Wow, No Thank You. by Samantha Irby
Irby’s signature sardonic voice nibbles playfully at your ear from the first page, where she dedicates the collection to Wellbutrin.
Review: Bird Summons by Leila Aboulela
This novel is at its best in its moments of careful consideration of the anxieties of its main characters.
Review: Save Yourself by Cameron Esposito
Comedian Cameron Esposito’s new book Save Yourself has landed on my shortlist of memoirs that blend interiority and laugh-out-loud wit.
Review: My Meteorite, or, Without the Random There Can Be No New Thing by Harry Dodge
Like all works of art, this book is an attempt to create patterns, to impose some order on our experience of the world.
Review: Writers & Lovers by Lily King
King is able to capture the particular kind of youth Casey is struggling with perfectly: one where she hasn’t lived anywhere with a dishwasher since high school, where she does not want to be infertile yet also does not want…
Review: Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
Finishing this manic, gripping novel may instigate a desire for a long, hot shower.
Review: Track Changes by Sayed Kashua
Kashua explores the ideas of migration, language, and nationality through a perpetual internal monologue that at times, seems to give away too much of the author’s hand.
Review: The Recipe for Revolution by Carolyn Chute
It is a book that dares you to grapple with it, then mocks you for the attempt.
Review: Footprints by David Farrier
Welcome to the Anthropocene, to the daily awakening to and reckoning with our drastic human impact on the planet.
Review: The Antidote for Everything by Kimmery Martin
Martin’s greatest strength is in her depiction of characters, painting them vividly across the page in acute details.