Elizabeth Earley’s essay collection Little Deaths all in a Row (out September 16th) is a deeply vulnerable, deeply personal cosmology constructed from recollections of working hospice care, practicing Reiki, formative childhood experiences, and a myriad of sexual and romantic experiences spanning her life so far. She meshes these memories into a collage of concepts from cognitive science, biology, physics to try and address questions about intimacy,Read More
An Exploration of Queer Muslim Diasporic Identity: The Last One by Fatima Daas
I snagged Fatima Daas’s The Last One because someone—I forget both where and who—mentioned it had won France’s Prix de Flore. Look, I’ll admit it, I’m a magpie for any book that makes the French literary crowd uncomfortable enough to shower it with accolades. What blindsided me? Three hours hunched over the book in my café’s corner,Read More
A Quietly Mythic Coming-of-Age Novel: The Archer by Shruti Swamy Review
The Archer moves with the methodical, recurring, and emotionally controlled intensity of mastered movement. In this debut novel, Shruti Swamy resists spectacle in favour of scrutiny—of the body, of memory, and of the hidden labour of becoming someone you were assured you couldn’t be. Set in mid-century Bombay, The Archer follows Vidya, a girl drawn to kathak dancingRead More
An Unforgettable Experimental Novel: Biography of X by Catherine Lacey Review
In what has quickly become one of my favourite novels of all time, Catherine Lacey’s Biography of X (Picador 2023) reveals a circuitous tale of a woman’s life and an alternate history of the United States that was consuming, compelling, and thrilling to read. When a woman known only as X—a performance artist, author, and infamous socialRead More
A Polarizing, Experimental Horror Book: We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer Review
Despite us being firmly being into December, I still have a few horror books on my to-read list that I am working through, and We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer came up on my library holds list. I listened to the audiobook, as I enjoy being able to yell at characters in a good hauntedRead More
Sam reviews Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link ʼTis at last that most frightful and morbid of months, a spooky season of ghosts and ghouls, the danse macabre we raise our jaded bones to join but once each year—October is here! And not a moment too soon, because it’s time to check in on everyone’s favoriteRead More
Thais reviews Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
I loved this book. I loved it so much that I immediately binned the other review I had planned for this month, even though I do not have the slightest idea of how to properly describe and criticize this book. I know a lot of people hated Catherine House, so I wanted to make thisRead More
Danika reviews In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Trigger warning: This review discusses emotional abuse. I have been simultaneously excited for and dreading reading In the Dream House since I first heard of its existence. I absolutely loved Her Body and Other Parties as well as Machado’s edition of Carmilla, so those put her books on my automatic must read list. This memoir, though, is about aRead More