About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Ruben Reyes Jr
Rave Booklist Jewel-like ... An extraordinary debut of speculative fiction.
Alissa Quart
Positive Booklist Quart picks at the threads of the American dream to reveal a richer tapestry ... Bootstrapped asks readers to begin by simply questioning the dominant narrative of the go-it-alone American success story.
Maya Phillips
Rave Booklist She draws parallels between her own personal development and that of fandom culture at large, encompassing media from comics and books to movies and television. Her loose chronological organization is interwoven with themes that emerge as she has evolved to use a more critical lens on her cultural consumption. She dives into the power of superhero stories ... The conclusion looks at pejorative attitudes toward fandoms and how fandoms capture what makes the narratives truly great parts of human culture, creating a book that will satisfy both scholars and casual readers.
Cassandra Khaw
Mixed Booklist Khaw drops readers into a hastily drawn cyberworld ... The reader may struggle to keep up as the action propels the story forward at a breathless pace ... Khaw laces the narrative with a florid vocabulary ... Readers who enjoy their expletives and fists flying in equal measure will like this cybernetic caper with carnage aplenty.
Amanda Montell
Rave Booklist Montell demystifies this twisty language into something readers will recognize, whether it’s being employed to manipulate or to motivate ... Reading Montell is like a satisfying chat session with your bestie—albeit one that focuses on obsession, language tricks, and manipulation. Her personal connection to the topic is compelling, as we learn of her father’s teen experience living in Synanon and her own disturbing brush with Scientology. Cultish will have huge appeal for those who have been listening to the podcasts The Dream or American Rehab, or watching The Vow. Montell’s masterful translation of our need to belong will mesmerize.
Tori Telfer
Positive Booklist Whether she’s describing women pretending to be doctors, socialites, or just another nice lady who desperately needed help, Telfer dishes up their scandalous schemes for true-crime fans to relish. Recommended for fans of Rachel DeLoache Williams’ true-crime memoir, My Friend Anna (2019).
Kim Stanley Robinson
Rave Booklist Robinson’s dense prose explodes Mary’s and Frank’s stories (among scores of human, animal, and other stories) into a provocative look at the economic, legislative, and scientific leaps that must be made in order to control rampant climate events that seem all too real ... A breathtaking look at the challenges that face our planet in all their sprawling magnitude and also in their intimate, individual moments of humanity.
Benjamin Lorr
Positive Booklist ...readers may find a dangerous urgency—especially amidst COVID-19-related stay-at-home orders—to the deep psychological dependency on a well-stocked supermarket. Lorr’s exploration of the systems and individuals that create the modern grocery store will move readers to ask far more probing questions about what they’re putting on the table. For fans of Michael Pollan’s work and Michael Ruhlman’s Grocery (2017).
Sandra Tsing Loh
Positive Booklist ... zingy anecdotal entries ... hilarious detail. [Loh\'s] warm, chatty, stream-of-consciousness style will attract book clubs as well as those looking for reassurance that they, too, are doing OK despite unsuccessful stabs at homemaking and dealing with hot flashes. Fans of her previous memoirs and of her bite-sized NPR podcast, The Loh Down on Science, will scramble to pick this up and dive back into Loh’s world.
K. J. Parker
Positive Booklist The tone of the book is equal parts dryly amusing and horrifying, as the exorcist contemplates the (often fatal) risks and rewards of ejecting demons. Moreover, the realization that Prosper’s genius may have stemmed largely from his possession haunts the exorcist as he contemplates what the demons will do with the royal baby, given time and other advantages. His solution is extreme, to be sure, and readers may be shocked by the abrupt ending. This tightly told little parable of good versus evil will linger in the minds of readers long after the last page is turned.
C. S. E. Cooney
Positive Booklist Readers will thrill to the extravagant descriptions of Cooney’s worlds, the plot’s socioeconomic allusions to our own world will draw in history buffs, and Desdemona’s strong sense of justice and bravery will lead new fans to Cooney. Though it is marketed as a standalone (and can be read as such), this is Cooney’s third foray into Seafall. A rococo romp through strange and eerily familiar worlds.
Seanan McGuire
Rave Booklist McGuire suggests entire universes in a few spare sentences, and the delightfully diverse cast of characters is similarly conjured ... readers will beg McGuire to keep the door open to these worlds in perpetuity. Phenomenal.
C. L. Polk
Rave Booklist Many disparate elements are expertly woven together to make this debut a crackler, with layers like a nesting doll and just as delightful to discover ... all wrapped up in the feeling of a historical mystery that fans of Maisie Dobbs and other WWI-era novels will dive into. Polk has created an amazing new world with hints of Edwardian glamour, sizzling secrets, and forbidden love that crescendos to a cinematic finish. Witchmark is a can’t-miss debut that will enchant readers.
August Thomas
Positive Booklist Thomas weaves together disparate strands of intrigue as the State Department and CIA battle it out to discover the identity of the bomber and the motive behind the attack ... As the story bounces between Langley, D.C., and Ankara, the languages of spies, statesmen, and everyday Turks are peppered throughout this political thriller with a street-level view of modern Turkey.