In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. Katie Berta’s collection retribution forthcoming is one of the strongest debuts I have read in years, a book that wields vulnerability and humor in its remarkable poems. Claire Wahmanholm wrote of the book: “retribution forthcoming fuses the abject with the sincere, the tender with the perverse. Katie ..read more

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. The Angels of Sinkhole County is a humorous story about death and deception set in Appalachia. Kirkus wrote of the book: “The stark impossibility of Loretta’s gambit is part of the book’s farcical strength. This is an impressively subtle novel—brimming with comedic sharpness, but also a sweet but unsen ..read more

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. The linked stories in Monic Ductan’s collection Daughters of Muscadine, set vividly in a small Georgia town, make up an auspicious debut. Chapter 16 wrote of the book: “Recurring characters and themes in Monic Ductan’s debut story collection, Daughters of Muscadine, recall the vines of their fictional ..read more

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. Greg Kearney’s novel An Evening with Birdy O’Day is the most moving book I have read all year, a heartbreaking and clever portrayal of two gay men over a 60 year period of their lives. Zoe Whittall wrote of the book: “An Evening with Birdy O’Day is like a modern-day Wharton novel crossed with a Kids in ..read more

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. Craig Willse’s novel Providence is an intense and compelling debut. Publishers Weekly wrote of the book: “Willse debuts with a consuming psychological thriller that turns familiar tropes of dark academia and fatal attraction on their heads….The result is a memorable, steamy, and accomplished queer thri ..read more

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. Caroline Leavitt once again proves herself one of our most evocative storytellers in her new novel Days of Wonder. The New York Times wrote of the book: “Leavitt is clearly in her element here… [her] graceful prose… heralds the power of steady perseverance, sturdy faith and the raw restorative power of ..read more

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. Uche Okonkwo’s collection A Kind of Madness is filled with nuanced and moving stories of modern Nigeria. Publisher’s Weekly wrote of the book: “Okonkwo has a Chekhovian eye for the tangle of internal motivations and assumptions that steer her characters. . . .Readers will be eager for more of Okonkwo’s ..read more

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. Jeff Alessandrelli’s And Yet is one of the year’s most innovatively told novels. Patrick Cottrell wrote of the book: “And Yet asks, What might be gained or lost from living one’s life via text instead of directly participating in the world? Through aphorism, anecdote, observation, and narrative, Alessa ..read more

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. Jorrell Watkins’s poetry collection PlayHouse is as moving a debut as I have read in years. John Murillo wrote of the book: “Though Jorrell Watkins’s Play/House is anything but formulaic, it is difficult to describe without reverting to the usual formulas: It is, in fact, a ‘stunning debut.’ It is ‘wid ..read more

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others. Christine Ma’s debut The Band is the first great American K-pop novel. Booklist wrote of the book: “Ma-Kellams takes readers on a gripping exploration of the complexities that accompany fame…This darkly humorous novel examines the more sinister aspects of celebrity and the profound impact it can have o ..read more