Photo: Paula Farmer.

Daisy Jones and the Six

For a fun romp through 70s rock music era, wonderfully mixing sex, drugs and rock n roll, look no further than “Daisy Jones and the Six.”  Taylor Jenkins Reid (TJR), author of the “Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” uniquely  ...
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My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Craving alternative literature, an unconventional heroine and a downright weird premise? “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by award winning writer Ottessa Moshfegh is just what the literary doctor prescribes ... And when you read this bodacious new novel, you’ll  ...
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My Sister, the Serial Killer

If the title of this gem of a book doesn’t draw you in, the first chapter made up of two sentences will. “My Sister the Serial Killer” by Nigerian author Oyinkan Braithwaite is a delicious and disturbing novel that takes  ...
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Lucky Boy

“Lucky Boy,” by Berkeley-based writer Shanthi Sekaran, is two stories in one. Either of which, rich in prose and character development, would be worthy of being its own novel, but how much more satisfying with the merging of divergent accounts.  ...
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Swing Time

Although it is commendable that Zadie Smith’s latest novel, "Swing Time," is ambitious and somewhat interesting, it seems to fall short of its lofty goals. That being said, there is still no denying that Smith is an exceptional writer whom  ...
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Just Mercy

There has probably never been a more appropriate title for a book than “Just Mercy,” by Bryan Stevenson. This book is about striving for justice against unsurmountable odds. This book is about sweet mercy that some need and deserve more  ...
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Exit West

"Exit West," by Mohsin Hamid is a creative, complex, deeply felt saga that reads almost fable-like. Set in an unnamed Middle Eastern City on the brink of civil war, readers are introduced to the main characters of Nadia  ...
Jerome Charyn. Photo by Jorg Meyer.

Jerzy

Dissemble: (per the OED) Conceal or disguise one's true feelings or beliefs. Dissemble: A word I have never understood. Why not just say “lie”? In “Jerzy,” PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novelist Jerome Charyn bites off more than most of us  ...
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Algren: A Life

Nelson Algren Biography Explores the Writer’s Struggles with Life and Craft Nelson Algren was a star in Chicago’s bright literary firmament, but his light dimmed in the years after he won the 1950 National Book Award for  ...