An Inspiring Read for National Poetry Month | “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”
A Story Deepened by a Poetic SensibilityA Legacy of Mixed HeritageSeeing Personal History Through the Prisms of War and ErasureThe...
Literary Fiction
Is Sophie’s Choice a True Story? – Revisiting “Sophie’s Choice”
1979 Bantam edition ▬ᴥ▬ I first read Sophie’s Choice in a Bantam paperback 1979 edition. Sophies's Choice is not a...
Celebrating Women’s History Month: 5 Great Literary Heroines
This month, we're taking some time to celebrate women; the female characters in our favorite books, and the women who...
Litstack Rec: Bridge & The Stargazer’s Sister
Bridge, by Robert Thomas “Welcome to the prayer-strewn pews of my brain,” Alice, the narrator of Bridge tells us, and...
Flash Review: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Buried Giant Kazuo Ishiguro Alfred A. Knopf Release Date: March 3, 2015 ISBN 978-0-307-27103-7 It's the dusk of Arthurian...
LitStack Review: The Standard Grand by Jay Baron Nicorvo
The Standard GrandJay Baron NicorvoSt. Martin's PressRelease Date: April 24, 2017ISBN 978-1-25010-894-4 It's rare when an author is able to...
LitStack Review: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Exit West Mohsin Hamid Riverhead Books Release Date: March 7, 2017 ISBN 978-0-7352-1217-6 Immigration is a hot burner issue right...
LitStack Review: The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
The WanderersMeg HowreyG. P. Putnam's SonsRelease Date: March 14, 2017ISBN 978-0-3995-7473-4 This book...wow. I read a lot of books; a...
LitStack Review: Universal Harvester by John Darnielle
Universal HarvesterJohn DarnielleFerrar, Straus and GirouxRelease Date: February 7, 2017ISBN 978-0-37428-210-3 Full disclosure: I grew up in Iowa, so John...
LitStack Review: The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
The WonderEmma DonoghueLittle, Brown and CompanyRelease Date: September 20, 2016ISBN 978-0-316-39387-4 It's 1859, and English nurse Lib Wright has been...
LitStack Review: Nicotine by Nell Zink
Author Nell Zink NicotineNell ZinkEcco PublishingRelease Date: October 6, 2016ISBN 978-0-06-244170-6 I get it. Not all books are going to...
LitStack Review: The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien
The Little Red ChairsEdna O'BrienLittle, Brown and CompanyRelease Date: March 29, 2016ISBN 978-0-316-37823-9 On April 6, 1992, a siege began...
LitStack Review: Rare Objects by Kathleen Tessaro
Rare Objects Kathleen Tessaro Harper Release Date: April 12, 2016 ISBN 978-0-0623-5754-0 In 2013, Kathleen Tessaro's novel, The Perfume Collector,...
LitStack Review: Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
Vinegar Girl (Hogarth Shakespeare) The Taming of the Shrew Retold Anne Tyler Hogarth Release Date: June 21, 2016 ISBN...
LitStack Review: Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
Photo by Jean Malek Hag-Seed (Hogarth Shakespeare) Margaret Atwood Hogarth Release Date: October 11, 2016 ISBN 978-0-8041-4129-1 In October of...
LitStack Review: LaRose by Louise Erdrich
LaRose Louise Erdrich Harper Release Date: May 10, 2016 ISBN 978-0-06-227702-2 Last year, Louise Erdrich was awarded the Library of...
LitStack Review: Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
Sweetbitter Stephanie Danler Alfred A. Knopf Release Date: May 24, 2016 ISBN 978-11-0187-594-0 Sweetbitter, the debut novel from newcomer Stephanie...
LitStack Recs: Who Do You Love & Beautiful Music for Ugly Children
Who Do You Love: Stories, by Jean Thompson May is #ShortStoryMonth, and this is third in a series of LitStackRecs...
LitStack Review: The Past by Tessa Hadley
The Past Tessa Hadley Harper Release Date: January 5, 2016 ISBN 978-0-06-227041-2 As I read Tessa Hadley's newest novel, The...
LitStack Rec: Desperate Characters & The Terror
Desperate Characters, by Paula Fox This classic of literary fiction, first published in 1970, is also a classic example of...
LitStack Recs: Stoner & Speak Easy
Stoner, by John Williams John Williams’ 1965 novel went out of print after selling only 2,000 copies, but since its...
Flash Review: Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
Fortune Smiles Adam Johnson Random House Release Date: August 18, 2015 ISBN 978-0-8129-9747-7 While this flash review was being written,...
LitStack Review: The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan
The Hummingbird Stephen P. Kiernan William Morrow Release Date: September 8, 2015 ISBN 978-0-06-236954-3 Deborah Birch, the heroine of Stephen...
Flash Review: Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry
Church of Marvels Leslie Parry Ecco Release Date: May 5, 2015 ISBN 978-0-06-236755-6 In 1895, in New York City, Sylvan,...
LitStack Recs: Wonder Woman Unbound & The Good Soldier
Wonder Woman Unbound The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine Tim Hanley College level English classes are one...
LitStack Recs: Dept. of Speculation and Tri Star
Dept. of Speculation, by Jenny Offill With the release of Jenny Offill’s acclaimed second novel, there have been comparisons to...
Flash Review: The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson
The Bookseller Cynthia Swanson HarperCollins Publishers Release Date: March 3, 2015 ISBN 978-0-06-233300-1 Thirty-eight year old Kitty Miller is pretty...
LitStack Review: A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
A God in Ruins Kate Atkinson Little, Brown and Company Release Date: May 5, 2015 ISBN 978-0-316-17653-8 According to her...
LitStack Recs: The Sheltering Sky & On the Day You Were Born
The Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles Bowles is one of my favorite writers, stark yet rich; prose with a darkness so...
LitStack Recs: Brooklyn & 3 Sections
Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin Toibin's 2009 novel, which won that year's Costa Award, is a lovely and haunting story set...
LitStack Rec: Thunderstruck & Other Stories & Baseball’s Great Experiment
Thunderstruck & Other Stories, by Elizabeth McCracken Early on in Elizabeth McCracken’s extraordinary story collection, Thunderstruck, a grieving mother instructs...
A Brief Look at the British Travel Memoir
Three authors linked by the British tradition of going by foot and writing about it. A Time of Gifts: On...
LitStack Recs: The Custom of the Country & The Quick
The Custom of the Country, by Edith Wharton I knew from the start that things would go badly for Ralph...
LitStack Review: The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
The Bone Clocks David Mitchell Random House Release Date: September 2, 2014 ISBN 978-1-4000-6567-7 Back in 2012 when I read...
Flash Review – Us by David Nicholls
Us David Nicholls HarperCollins Publishers Release Date: October 28, 2014 ISBN 978-0-06-236558-3 Douglas Petersen is fifty-four years old, a biochemist...
LitStack Review: Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
Leaving Time Jodi Picoult Ballantine Books Release Date: October 14, 2014 ISBN 978-0-345-54492-6 Jodi Picoult is one of our greatest...
LitStack Review: The Laughing Monsters by Denis Johnson
The Laughing Monsters Denis Johnson Farrar, Straus and Giroux Release Date: November 4, 2014 978-0-374-28059-8 If you feel a bit...
LitStack Review: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Everything I Never Told You Celeste Ng The Penguin Press Release Date: June 26, 2014 ISBN 978-1-59420-571-2 It absolutely slays...
LitStack Review: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Robin Sloan Farrar, Straus and Giroux Release Date: September 24, 2013 ISBN 978-0-374-21491-3 I love it...
LitStack Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr Scribner Release Date: May 6, 2014 ISBN 978-1-4767-4658-6 In 1934, six-year -old...
LitStack Review: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Station Eleven Emily St. John Mandel Alfred A. Knopf Release Date: September 9, 2014 ISBN 978-0-385-35330-4 The world has come...
Flash Review – Sweetness #9
Sweetness #9 Stephan Eirik Clark Little, Brown and Company Release Date: August 19, 2014 ISBN 978-0-316-27875-1 Talk about the into...
10:04 by Ben Lerner
10:04 Ben Lerner Faber and Faber Release Date: September 2, 2014 ISBN 978-0-86547-810-7 It's not very often that I recommend...
LitStack Review: The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
The Paying Guests Sarah Waters Riverhead Books Release Date: September 16, 2014 ISBN 978-1-59463-311-9 Sarah Waters is known for her...
LitStack Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot by David Shafer
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot David Shafer Little, Brown and Company Release Date: August 5, 2014 Awfully clever of David Shafer to...
LitStack Review: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage Haruki Murakami Translated by Philip Gabriel Alfred A. Knopf Publication Date: August...
LitStack Review: The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club Genevieve Valentine Atria Books Release Date: June 3, 2014 ISBN 978-1-4767-3908-3 "The Twelve Dancing...
Flash Review – Life After Life
Life After Life Kate Atkinson Little, Brown and Company Release Date: March 14, 2013 ISBN 978-0-316-17648-4 On a cold, snowy...
Flash Review – The Ghost in the Electric Blue Suit
The Ghost in the Electric Blue Suit Graham Joyce Doubleday Release Date: August 5, 2014 ISBN 978-0-385-53863-3 The Ghost in...
LitStack Review: Evening Stars by Susan Mallery
Evening Stars Susan Mallery Harlequin/Mira ISBN: 978-0-7738-1613-8 Nina Wentworth lives on Blackberry Island, a small community off the coast of...
