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The Stranger in the Woods

May 30, 2018

stranger

In case this news slipped by you, as it did me: In 2013 a man was apprehended at a children’s summer camp in northern Maine stealing food and supplies. Not particularly interesting except that when asked by the police he can tell them his birth date, but not how old he is—he has no idea what year it is. Further questioning reveals he has no address, no vehicle, no mail, none of ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: biography, book clubs, Knopf, life, New England

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

May 23, 2018

mars

  There isn’t any status in it unless you’d be impressed to know that the Mars Room is not a middling or mediocre strip club but is definitely the worst and most notorious, the very seediest and most circuslike place there is. In stark contrast to all that was warm and lovely in Monday’s book, Tin Man, I’m back today with a book that probably worked because it was ... Read More...

12 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Scribner, social issues, women

The Map of Salt and Stars

May 14, 2018

map

Making maps is the fulcrum for Jennifer Joukhadar’s debut novel, The Map of Salt and Stars. Rawiya and Nour are young women who tell their stories side by side even though they are separated by almost a thousand years. Rawiya is a sixteen-year-old in ancient Ceuta who longs to see the world beyond her village so she leaves home in the guise of a young man and becomes an ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, contemporary life, cultural, Middle East, mythology, Touchstone, war

Heart Berries: A Memoir

May 9, 2018

heart

It’s hard, as a reviewer, to say you loved a book or felt deeply touched by it, but that you’re not sure you understood a lot of it. And by understand, I mean, literally, the facts. This is the case for me regarding Terese Mailhot’s memoir, Heart Berries. The emotion of it gripped me. The symbolism of her words is a cold, clear stream—shocking and cleansing. For much of the ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, Counterpoint, memoir, mental health, women

American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent

May 4, 2018

american

  Like some of the other non-fiction books I read last month (Educated, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark), American Radical by Tamer Elnoury reads like fiction. High-wire tension, thriller kind of reading. Tamer Elnoury (not his real name) is an undercover FBI agent. He was brought here from Egypt by his parents when he was a small boy. English is his first language and he speaks ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, crime, Dutton, religion

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

April 27, 2018

gone

I finally joined the hordes of readers I know who have been held hostage by Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, a true crime thriller. And I won’t bury the lede: If you haven’t read it you should, especially given the recent news. But not alone at night. Despite taking place in the days before smart phones, ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, California, debut, Harper, true crime

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