Book Reviews

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Creepy, Brilliant 'Touch' Will Possess You

7:03am February 19, 2015

by Amal El-Mohtar

Claire North's new novel imagines a world where "ghosts" can leave their own bodies at death and jump to whoever's close enough to touch. Scary, but "reader, I loved it," says reviewer Amal El-Mohtar.

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A Writer Expresses His 'Discontent' With Civilization

10:03am February 18, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Mohsin Hamid's new collection plays on the title of Sigmund Freud's classic Civilization and Its Discontents, but critic Michael Schaub says these essays are both more personal and wider ranging.

Books
Arts

'Tales Of The Marvellous' Is Indeed Very Strange

9:01am February 18, 2015

by Genevieve Valentine

These are not your father's fairy tales, but reviewer Genevieve Valentine says readers prepared to devote some time will find rich rewards in this newly translated volume of 10th-century Arab stories.

Books
Arts

'Find Me' Gets Lost Along The Way

10:03am February 17, 2015

by Jason Heller

Reviewer Jason Heller says Laura Van Den Berg's first novel has a stellar setup — mysterious young woman, post-disease-apocalypse — but drifts listlessly, never quite living up to its premise.

Books
Arts

Black Slugs And 'Black Holes,' An Artful Portrait Of Depression

7:03am February 17, 2015

by Tasha Robinson

Jasmine Warga's debut young adult novel My Heart and Other Black Holes follows two teens who make a suicide pact, in a carefully layered character study that sometimes stumbles on the details.

Books
Arts

Book Review: 'The Evening Chorus'

7:35pm February 16, 2015

by Alan Cheuse

Alan Cheuse reviews The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphries.

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Books
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Ten Hearts For The Country — And Language — Of 'Ice Cream Star'

8:25am February 16, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Reviewer Jason Sheehan says Sandra Newman's debut novel may start some arguments — but readers would be better off just sitting down, opening the book and letting the beauty of her language sink in.

Stokely Carmichael, shown here in 1967. Historian Peniel Joseph argues Carmichael's writings on slavery and capitalism deserve more attention.

Books
Arts

How Black Lives Have Always Mattered: A Reading List

7:03am February 15, 2015

by Peniel E. Joseph

For Black History Month, historian Peniel E. Joseph recommends books that take an unsparing look at slavery and American capitalism, with a focus on the often overlooked work of Stokely Carmichael.

Books
Arts

Three Books To Light Your Fire For Valentine's Day

10:03am February 14, 2015

If you've been comfortably paired up for years now, our romance guru Bobbi Dumas recommends three Valentine's Day reads that'll help give you the spark and thrill of first love all over again.

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Sizzling-Hot Reads For Those Cold Winter Nights

6:29pm February 13, 2015

If the cold and snow has you feeling, well, frigid, here's the solution. Five titillating titles that'll put you in a steamy frame of mind.

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