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
A sparse, bittersweet romance for misfits, Mooncop is the graphic novel I can't stop recommending. Without much in the way of dialogue or narration, Tom Gauld's lovely little tale crafts a toast to endings and beginnings that is infinitely memorable. The titular Mooncop is just that: a police officer on the Moon. He's been there … Continue reading Mooncop: A Review
What if the Underground Railroad had been a physical, subterranean means of transport? That's the premise that drives Colson Whitehead's latest novel, The Underground Railroad. But the Oprah Book Club pick spreads beyond this catchy and convenient gimmick to become a gripping tale of survival, family, determination, and race. Cora is the third woman in … Continue reading The Underground Railroad: A Review
You're standing at the podium, approaching the climax of your speech, when you say that word. For the first time. Out loud. Each and every one of us knows the exquisite anxiety of saying aloud a word you've only ever read silently to yourself. Thankfully, there's a snappy little book out there to help take … Continue reading You’re Saying It Wrong: A Review
Recounting nearly 30 years of Egyptian history in three Cairo summers, Yasmine El Rashidi's Chronicle of a Last Summer: A Novel of Egypt drives readers through an evolving --- perhaps even crumbling --- country on the brink of revolution. At the heart of El Rashidi's story are the unnamed narrator and her ever-dwindling family. The … Continue reading Chronicle of a Last Summer: A Review