PODCAST-VERA, OR FAITH-BOOK REVIEW PODCAST: VERA, OR FAITH—BOOK REVIEW Gary Shteyngart’s book, Vera, or Faith, is a masterpiece. Last Friday night, I chose finishing the book rather than going to a dance with friends. If you know me at all, this is high praise. The slender 241-page novel is about a precocious ten-year-old
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PODCAST-EUPHORIA, MONTANA, & THE PROFESSOR & THE HOUSEKEEPER Are you looking for a book to read? Check out my mini reviews. Euphoria by Lily King: This work of historical fiction is loosely based on the life of anthropologist, Margaret Mead. The novel is set in 1930’s New Guinea, when anthropology was a nascent
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PODCAST-WELCOME-A BOOK REVIEW Welcome—Patterns of the Moral Life is an elegant, succinct, and persuasive book on the importance of welcoming others. This is both a well-written argument for the necessity of welcoming others and a practical guide to extending welcome in ways that are ethical and nurturing. The book is co-authored by Lois Shepherd
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PODCAST-SON OF A BIRD-BOOK REVIEW Writers are often advised to leave out the boring parts. Nin Andrews did just that with her memoir in prose poems called Son of a Bird. I couldn’t put the book down. In the first poem of her collection, Andrews describes her childhood home,
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PODCAST-THE GOD OF THE WOODS BOOK REVIEW Liz Moore’s literary mystery is set in 1975 at a prestigious summer camp in the Adirondacks. This place requires coed campers (aged eight through teens) to participate in a minimally supervised survival exercise. They are placed in small groups, given scant supplies, then are sent into the deep
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PODCAST-TIME OF THE CHILD-BOOK REVIEW The first half of Time of the Child by Niall Williams moves ever so slowly, taking its time to build a solid framework for the captivating events of the second half. By the middle of this novel, we readers are intimately acquainted with the village of Faha, its topography, history,
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PODCAST-WITHOUT YOU HERE-BOOK REVIEW Strange, though, how joy rides on the back of sorrow. You have to feel both to feel either. And no amount of best intentions can keep you from hurting what you love. These sentences are an example of the beautiful, soul-nourishing prose one can expect to find in Jody Hobbs Hesler’s
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BOOK REVIEW-ALLEGIANCE Set in 2025, Erika Raskin’s novel, ALLEGIANCE, anticipates what would happen if a fascist wins the U.S. presidential election in November 2024. The story is told from two points of view. One is a prescient grandmother (Natalie) on the run with her two grandchildren. She’s hoping to find safe harbor for them. The
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PODCAST-THE CARETAKER-BOOK REVIEW 0:00 / 0:00 The Caretaker-Book Review Ron Rash’s lovely novel hooked me on the first page then kept me engaged straight through to the end. He accomplished this by portraying his main characters in close point of view, which made me care about them immediately. Also, his vivid descriptions of place and
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EVERYONE HERE IS KINBOOK REVIEW 0:00 / 0:00 Everybody Here is Kin Using only thirty-eight words, the first sentence of Nash’s debut novel vividly describes two main characters, their behavior, beliefs, and financial status. Nash writes, “Naomi and I slogged through sand so hot it scalded our tender feet, lugging two rusted lounge chairs and
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