At its core, N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season is an examination of revenge, of how we seek it and why. It's also an allegory of marginalization in general, and of U.S. racism in particular. Most importantly, it's a damn fine novel. The story begins with Essun, who returns home to find that her husband, Jija, … Continue reading The Fifth Season: A Review
Even after decades of U.S. military involvement, the Middle East remains a mystery to many --- if not most --- people in the West. In Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, Sarah Glidden offers a work of meta-journalism that chronicles the experiences of a small band of reporters as they trek through areas … Continue reading Rolling Blackouts: A Review
In her debut essay collection, You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain, 2 Dope Queens co-host Phoebe Robinson lays out everything that's on her mind, from how it feels to wear a natural hairstyle, to why Michael Fassbender will be the father of her future child. It's an eclectic … Continue reading You Can’t Touch My Hair: A Review
He was just like every other little boy in Pyongyang, taking taekwondo lessons and dreaming of becoming a general in Kim Il-sung's army. In Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea, DPRK-escapee Sungju Lee tells of his family's fall from grace, his life as an orphan on the … Continue reading Every Falling Star: A Review
When a USDA agent comes to call on a small village in the mountains of North Carolina, the wife of the local preacher seizes on a chance for their gifted son to receive a better education at a school in the city. That's the gist of Julia Franks' Over the Plain Houses, but the novel … Continue reading Over the Plain Houses: A Review