Massacre, killer, murder: when these words appear on a novel's first page, readers are fore-warned. And, yet, the first third of Sara Taylor's Boring Girls (2015) is a coming-of-age story. "It was becoming more and more apparent that I had been right all along. No one could truly understand me, unless they got
Jill Sexsmith's Somewhere a Long and Happy Life Probably Awaits You (ARP Books, 2016) "Tulip stopped at the doorway. She had grown up with the whir of a mitre saw in the background, always cutting her thoughts and sentences and songs in half. Still, the sound of the blade
This debut collection is filled with sensory detail. From brisket and chicken soup to gefilte fish and borscht. From paint-by-number clowns to lacy pillow-slips. From red-striped deck chairs to weathered shutters. Inanna Publications, 2016 Whether it's Debussy or lyrics from "Oklahoma", the details matter. But Aspects of Nature is actually preoccupied
It begins with a body. And with short chapters, told from a variety of perspectives, guaranteed to create strong pacing. Blown Red is the first in the Signy Shepherd mysteries ,and it introduces readers to the series' star, as well as some of the other key personnel working on the Line. One stop on
In which I discuss some of the skinny volumes, which have nestled into my bookbag (while longer works, like Marge Piercy's Gone to Soldiers and Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend, were left at home. Vivek Shraya's God Loves Hair is illustrated by Juliana Neufeld, a full-page image introducing each of
