It occurred to me to keep The Enlightenment of Katzuo Nakamatsu as a novella for November. But when I was rushing to leave the house one afternoon, and returned because I’d forgotten my wallet, I slipped TEoKN into my bag on a whim. So, naturally that’s what I read
Despite the rather long title, the core idea of this novel is succinct: “Your truth is not more fucking true than my truth.” Megan Gail Coles situates her story around a downtown restaurant in St. John’s Newfoundland. There, a handful of characters, who are navigating the daily grind, present
"Everything about the restaurant business is made harder by being in it as a woman. And speaking out about that only makes it worse." And, yet, she is doing just that. Speaking out and putting herself out there, in I Hear She's a Real Bitch. Readers meet Jen Agg
Readers familiar with Margaret Millar's suspense novels, will immediately recognize her style and language in Wives and Lovers. (Just yesterday I discussed Vanish in an Instant, another volume in the Syndicate reprint series.) "It was a shoebox of a room, with the ceiling pressed down on it like a lid, and
This year I have read some stand-out collections, but for the most part I neglected to take notes from them: Joy Williams' Honored Guests, Kathleen Winter's The Freedom in American Songs, Jessica Grant's Making Light of Tragedy, Shawn Syms' Nothing Looks Familiar, Elaine McCluskey's Hello, Sweetheart, Julia Leggett's Gone South and Other
