I have to admit that I’m thrilled when some of my favorite books do well on all those best-of-the-year lists. I was heartened to see Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout, Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates…
One of the best experiences, as a reader, is when you discover a new writer with whom you feel a connection. Not necessarily a debut author, but new in the sense that you’ve never previously read anything by him or her. My latest such discovery is Ted Chiang. Science fiction readers are, undoubtedly, well-acquainted with…
I would never have picked up this book had a friend not recommended it to me. I thought it might be self-congratulatory or preachy. But Melissa Gates is neither of those things. Quite the opposite: she is humble and refreshingly honest about how hard it can be to make change in the world. This book…
Erica’s Picks of the Week are the perfect way to start off the holiday season.
This book is the first in Ann Cleeves’s new Three Rivers series. Mystery fans know Cleeves from the Vera Stanhope and Shetland books and TV series, and it was exciting to discover her brand-new character, Detective Inspector Matthew Venn. He’s an unassuming, introverted sort who’s pulled into a murder case on the day of his…
