I came across When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill just after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The reviews indicated that it was a book about women’s rage, and also dragons. What’s not to love, I thought? I did indeed love it, but I was also surprised by the tender coming-of-age story about a grieving girl, and the powerful indictment of a society that tries to force its people to sweep their traumas under the carpet. Read the Full Story >>
Danielle Johnson
Fear & Injustice
When I picked up The Lioness, the latest from author Chris Bohjalian, I thought it would be a well-written beach-read-style page-turner. The combination of 1960s Hollywood and the hot Serengeti settings made me think this novel would be a thriller above all, more fun perhaps than Bohjalian’s past works. But while this book makes for compulsive reading, be forewarned that it does not shy away from extraordinary acts of violence, brutal mistakes, and their rippling consequences. Read the Full Story >>
Anger & Conspiracy
Alma Katsu’s newest historical horror novel, The Fervor, feels unsettlingly familiar despite its World War II setting. Although the story begins with the outbreak of a mysterious illness in a Japanese-American internment camp, it eventually merges in surprising and satisfying ways with two parallel story lines: one about a female reporter trying to uncover a government conspiracy, and the other focused on a grieving widow who gets sucked into a homegrown white nationalist movement. A touch of magical realism, mostly based on Japanese folklore and fairy tales, ties the book together. Read the Full Story >>
A Journey of Discovery in Italy
One Italian Summer is a love letter to mothers, written through the lens of a grieving daughter. As the novel begins, thirty year-old Katy has just lost her mother, Carol, to cancer. Read the Full Story >>
An Ordinary Person in a World Turned to War
and that Ukraine’s heritage is not distinct from Russia’s. Highlighting Ukraine’s rich literature is a clear way to counter this false narrative, and Serhiy Zhadan is one of the best writers in translation with whom to start. Read the Full Story >>
Isolated & Together, Tales of Strength
While Queen of the Sea unfolds like a page-turning mystery, filled with scandalous secrets, court intrigues, and forbidden loves, both the text and the illustrations have a restrained, subtle beauty to them. Read the Full Story >>
It Turns On Love
When you thumb through Bolu Babalola’s short story collection, Love in Color: Mythical Tales From Around the World, Retold, you’ll surely recognize some of the names that double as titles. Scheherazade, of the Arabian Nights; Nefertiti, a legendary ancient Egyptian queen; perhaps even Psyche, from the Greek story of Eros and Psyche. Many of the names may be unfamiliar, featuring myths from western and southern Africa, China, and Mesopotamia. But even if you know the original incarnations of these stories, Babalola’s versions will still feel entirely new. Read the Full Story >>
