Home School Rules is a look at the world of lockdown through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy. If you ever wondered what we adults look like to kids when we’re stressed, caged and on an emotional rollercoaster, wonder no longer! And be prepared to laugh. Nothing is quite so funny as seeing ourselves in …
Jarkata by Rodrigo Márquez Tizano
Reviewed by Desiree Willis Jakarta focuses on the life of an unnamed narrator in a dystopian society where the virus Z-bug has caused nearly the extinction of the human race. Where he resides, his partner Clara holds a strong connection to a glowing stone; which holds powers that allow for the narrator to view past …
Repentance by Andrew Lam
Reviewed by Cara LaVigne “Kodomo no tameni… It means, ‘for the sake of the children.’” Andrew Lam’s Repentance unravels the life of a dysfunctional family as he reveals the secrets of a soldier fighting during WWII in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated unit composed of Japanese-American soldiers. The title of the book, Repentance, …
Parisian Lives, by Deirdre Bair, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
Reviewed by Martha Patterson In this shining and hard-to-put down memoir, journalist Deirdre Bair writes of interviews she conducted with playwright Samuel Beckett (WAITING FOR GODOT) and feminist Simone de Beauvoir (THE SECOND SEX) in Paris during the 1970s and ‘80s, while completing biographies of both. Bair had never authored a biography before, but Beckett, …
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The End We Start From by Megan Hunter
Reviewed by Kelsie Colclough The End We Start From is Megan Hunter’s ambitious debut novella. Exploring motherhood in a flooded Britain is a fascinating concept delivered in the novella in a shaky format. The End We Start From leaves you feeling that more than Britain has flooded and been swept away; character names are reduced …
In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Reviewed by Clea Dobrish In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado- a raw, honest, and innovatively told memoir that paints a new picture of abuse. Machado has recently made herself known in the literary world with her short story collection titled Her Body and Other Parties. Using fairy tales to depict the stories of …
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Sunlit Imagery, Heartfelt Lament: Two Chapbooks by William Heath
Reviewed by David Salner William Heath’s distinguished writing career includes scholarly books plus crime and historical novels. With these two new chapterbooks Heath shows us what he can do as a poet, from sunlit imagery to heartfelt lament. The reader would expect a mastery of setting in a volume titled Leaving Seville. But Heath’s lines …
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Let’s Chat with Author & Producer Lancelot Schaubert
Hello Book Smugglers! I recently got the chance to speak with author and producer Lancelot Schaubert whose book Bell Hammers is available to read now. Keep reading to see what advice Schaubert has for his fellow authors and what he enjoys most about writing. What inspired you to write BELL HAMMERS? An accident. Normally I write scifi, …
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Maid by Stephanie Land
Summary via Amazon At 28, Stephanie Land's plans of breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest to chase her dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, and with …
Let’s Chat with Author Regina G. Hanson
Hello Book Smugglers! I recently got the chance to read an unpublished chapter of, Racism: The Real Reason I Left The South, and am so excited to announce that I had the opportunity to speak with the author, Regina Hanson. Keep reading to see what Hanson has to say about becoming a published author and …