The American Way: Stories of Invasion
This new short story collection by Comma Press focuses on what the American Way looks like to those at the sharp end of US aggression around the world.
The Truth About Amritsar
Why did British troops massacre hundreds of Indian civilians at Amritsar in 1919? This book explores the whole shocking story.
Digging to America by Anne Tyler: Review
In Digging to America, Tyler charts the course of two mismatched families, the hale and hearty, all-American Donaldsons and the quieter, more reticent Iranian-American Yazdans. All they have in common is that they both adopted babies from Korea at the…
Borges Marathon, Part 4: Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities
Why does this short story by Jorge Luis Borges create such power? Maybe it's the human frailty underlying the tale of a tough New York gangster.
Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen
Five chapters. Five narrators. Five different experiences of being young Greenlanders trying to navigate the complex territory of gender and sexual identity. That's the basic setup of Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen, a compelling novel first written and published in Greenlandic…
The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke by Tina Makereti
Set in Aotearoa and London some time in the 19th century, Tina Makereti's excellent novel tells the story of a Maori boy who makes his way to London, where he is exhibited in an artist's show. But he soon begins…
June 2021 Reading Roundup
In my last reading roundup, I was still emerging from winter. Now, it’s been 30+ degrees for weeks, and I can barely remember what a cloud looks like. The storks that had just appeared on the tops of the electricity…
Nightshade by Annalena McAfee
If you need your fictional characters to be likeable, to be the sort of people that you can "root for", then absolutely do NOT read Nightshade by Annalena McAfee. If, on the other hand, you want characters to be interesting,…
The Archipelago of Another Life Readalong, Part 4
Here’s a little life tip for you. If you ever feel that the time is starting to drag and you’d like your life to be busier, try signing up for a blogging event. As soon as the dates roll around,…