Arnaldur Indriðason has once again taken us back to Inspector Erlendur’s early years with Iceland’s […]
Shylock is My Name, by Howard Jacobson
The Merchant of Venice has vexed me since I read it in college. I was […]
In praise of…depressing books
My book club tends to read a lot of depressing books. We don’t mean to […]
Mothers, Tell Your Daughters, by Bonnie Jo Campbell
I probably should have warned my book group about Mothers, Tell Your Daughters, a short story […]
Crooked Heart, by Lissa Evans
After reading Chris Offutt’s My Father, the Pornographer, I figured I needed a book with a […]
My Father, the Pornographer, by Chris Offutt
There is another truth universally acknowledged: one is always embarrassed by one’s parents at some […]
Unforgivable
The question for the 5 January 2016 installment of The New York Times‘ “Bookends” column is […]
The Photographer’s Wife, by Suzanne Joinson
We are usually taught that World War I began, officially, on 28 July 1914 and […]
The Queen of the Night, by Alexander Chee
A voice is a fragile thing. In the larger sense, voices can be drowned out […]