About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Marco D'Eramo, Trans. by Bethan Bowett-Jones and David Broder
Rave Shelf Awareness Marco D\'Eramo\'s thought-provoking The World in a Selfie: An Inquiry into the Tourist Age...is a thorough and often critical look at modern tourism through a variety of sociological lenses ... He creates a salon-like atmosphere of noted thinkers and writers, synthesizing hundreds of years of thought about interpreting the world through travel ... This is an intriguing book for sociologists and economists, as well as for serious travelers wishing to understand their impact as they once again move about the globe.
Pola Oloixarac, tr. Adam Morris
Positive Shelf Awareness Mona isn\'t particularly likable, but her character is treated with honesty and the reader\'s gaze is held firmly on her throughout ... toward the end of the novel...an unexpected and apocalyptic conclusion which she\'s been too self-absorbed to see coming. With controlled emotion that builds to a devastating ending, Mona uncovers the complexities of a post-feminist generation.
Mariana Enriquez, tr. Megan McDowell
Rave Shelf Awareness Her disquieting stories, populated by ghosts, disappeared adults and exploited children, examine economic pain, social unrest and violence through the lens of literary horror. Characters observing the slow burn of a society in decay find themselves asking, as the titular story does, \'Why not just let the fire keep going and do its job?\' ... Supernatural elements become compelling metaphors for societal breakdown ... Child exploitation is represented as an actual haunting of society ... Enriquez skillfully uses the tropes of horror to expose the everyday atrocities that occur in societies that abandon the fight against corruption. Even as these stories provide chills, they elicit a deep feeling of sadness for innocence lost.
Carl Hoffman
Positive Shelf Awareness Hoffman, who never hides his journalism credentials, is an affable skeptic who finds most rally-goers welcoming and eager to convince him that Trump is \'heaven-sent.\' He puts into context quotes from MAGA-goers and Trump himself with observations from sociologists and historians ... Liar\'s Circus is an illuminating and weirdly entertaining addition to the slew of books currently in print about President Trump, offering a well-documented, personal look at the people who placed him in power.
Meryem Alaoui, Trans. By Emma Ramadan
Positive Shelf Awareness ... lively ... This is a funny and profane book; joyful in its celebration of a life lived expansively and filled with the sights and sounds of Casablanca. It also introduces a confident female character comfortable with choices that may seem--to those more privileged--unsavory and unwise. Straight from the Horse\'s Mouth received critical acclaim when it was first published in France, and will be equally welcome in this ebullient English translation.
M. O. Walsh
Positive Shelf Awareness ... a surprising and heartwarming contemporary drama about looking back and looking forward ... Walsh clearly understands the tendency for middle-aged people to look in the rearview mirror and second-guess their choices ... The adults in this story have been unwilling and unused to contemplating their life choices, and their discomfort, by turns funny and melancholy, will be familiar to many ... readers of this singular, nuanced story will, quite possibly and without a machine as prompt, undertake their own personal reflection.
Caitlin Chung
Positive Shelf Awareness The art of storytelling features an engrossing tale and pitch-perfect delivery; Caitlin Chung excels at both in her debut, Ship of Fates ... Desire, deceit and regret come together in this spellbinding mixture of legend and heartbreak.
Andrew Coté
Positive Shelf Awareness ... Coté chronicles a year of hard work, adventure and just plain fun ... His easygoing narrative, recounting his apian experience from his childhood in Connecticut to his current position as president of the New York City Beekeepers Association, will educate and entertain even the most bee-phobic reader ... [Coté] demonstrates the ability to make a complex subject clear while adding enough humor to make it engaging ... thanks to this delightful memoir, readers will have a new appreciation for these complex insects and the humans who care for them.
Sara Mesa, Trans. by Katie Whittemore
Rave Shelf Awareness Acclaimed writer Sara Mesa, in a novel brilliantly translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore, wields language like a knife, cutting apart hidden secrets of abuse ... This is a linguistically precise, stylistically spare and emotionally devastating look at the corrosive effect of abuse and power imbalance, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Samanta Schweblin.
An Yu
Positive Shelf Awareness ... a moving, magical parable about a young woman\'s journey of self-discovery and empowerment.
Maisy Card
Positive Shelf Awareness ... episodes and people in Abel\'s life, both dead and alive, unfold in multiple voices and over vast swaths of time. These episodes are presented asynchronously, actively engaging readers in piecing together the puzzle of a family that doesn\'t know how or if they all fit together ... Themes of deception and abandonment occur again and again, and Card shows how these acts spread and stain across generations ... Her personal understanding affects and authenticates the characters and events in These Ghosts Are Family. Card is a powerful new voice, and readers will eagerly await her next effort.
Dexter Palmer
Positive Shelf Awareness This is a suspenseful, thought-provoking narrative that pairs well with dystopian fiction such as The Handmaid\'s Tale, and raises uncomfortable questions about women\'s lack of control over their bodies--which, unfortunately, seems unchanged over the centuries.
Jac Jemc
Rave Shelf Awareness In her second story collection, False Bingo, Jac Jemc delivers 20 compact, disquieting stories that are starkly realistic yet tinged with a sense of otherworldly menace ... Jemc\'s ability to build an undercurrent of threat in mundane situations is reminiscent of Shirley Jackson ... In all her writing, Jemc displays dexterity with characters and precision with words and sentences, creating small worlds that satisfy even as they disturb. Fans of Daisy Johnson and Helen Oyeyemi will relish these stories of mistrust, danger and regrets.
Frank Langfitt
Rave Shelf Awareness Langfitt reveals the complex history of modern China through fascinating stories that range from humorous to sorrowful. Importantly, these profiles of individual Chinese men and women successfully humanize an enormous population that other countries tend to see as one homogenous body. His real affection for them shines through on every page, and leads to his hope that \'one day the Chinese people will have a government more worthy of them.\'
C.M. Kushins
Rave Shelf Awareness In his first book, journalist Kushins relies on extensive documentation, including hundreds of interviews with Zevon\'s family, friends and colleagues. These give the reader an intimate, sometimes painful window into \'the conundrum of Warren Zevon.\' Readers are advised to have Zevon\'s extensive catalogue queued up to accompany this absorbing, compelling biography.
Catherine Chung
Positive Shelf Awareness Even readers who don\'t recall their own math classes will get the mathematical references woven seamlessly into Katherine\'s emotional memories ... Readers who enjoyed The Only Woman in the Room will appreciate this intelligent novel ... [a] powerful historical novel[.]
N D Galland
Positive Shelf Awareness Perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Nancy Thayer, as well as those looking for a romantic comedy enhanced by contemporary social issues.