Month: January 2016

January 31, 2016

Citizen by Claudia Rankine

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine Graywolf Press, 2014 This book, which is a collection of prose poetry and essays, strikes me as a…
January 30, 2016

The Other Side of Life by Andy Kutler

The Other Side of Life by Andy Kutler Neverland Publishing, 2015 I might not have come across this novel except that I’ve been asked to…
January 25, 2016

Paradise Drive by Rebecca Foust

Paradise Drive by Rebecca Foust Press 53, 2015 This book won the Press 53 Award for Poetry. A collection of modern sonnets, it explores the…
January 23, 2016

While the City Slept by Eli Sanders

While the City Slept: A Love Lost to Violence and a Young Man’s Descent into Madness by Eli Sanders Viking, February 2016 Eli Sanders won…
January 21, 2016

The Biggest Thing That Happened to Me in 2015

At the new year, I saw a few people posting lists of the 100 things that made their years, following the example of Austin Kleon who…
January 20, 2016

Cementville by Paulette Livers

Cementville by Paulette Livers This is a touching story about a community that suffers a terrible tragedy–several of its young men serving in the National…
January 19, 2016

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie This stunning novel was published in 20o5, and somewhere along the way I acquired a signed…
January 18, 2016

Virginia Festival of the Book 2016

One of the many excellent things about living in this area is the Virginia Festival of the Book, held every March in Charlottesville. I…
January 17, 2016

Forgetting English by Midge Raymond

Forgetting English by Midge Raymond This is another book I read last year but didn’t have time to write about. This story collection won The…
January 16, 2016

The Big Smoke by Adrian Matejka

The Big Smoke  by Adrian Matejka A finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, this powerful poetry collection examines the life of…