Book Reviews

Cover Crop

Music Is Troublesome Magic In 'Signal To Noise'

by Jason Heller

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's debut novel bounces back and forth between Mexico City in 1988 and 2009 to tell the story of a young woman who finds she can make magic — actual, dangerous magic — with music.
Cover crop

'Displacement' Floats Too Close To The Surface

by Etelka Lehoczky

Lucy Knisley's new Displacement is a buoyant memoir of a cruise with her elderly grandparents. Reviewer Etelka Lehoczky says the book is engaging and lovely, but snorkels when it should dive deep.
Promo image

Cozy 'Blue Thread' Is Unabashedly Domestic

by Heller McAlpin

Anne Tyler's 20th novel will feel comfortably familiar to her fans — A Spool of Blue Thread is the long-haul story of an ordinary Baltimore family thrown into disarray by illness and sudden tragedy.
My documents cover image

Stories That Must Be Told In 'My Documents'

by Juan Vidal

Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra's new story collection shows off his exacting eye, comic timing and powers of description; critic Juan Vidal says the narratives flow like a glass of cool water.