Book Review
Edge of the World
In the intrepid, intimate essays of "Edge of the World", edited by Alden Jones, travel engenders realizations about self, society, and the value of queer community. Sixteen authors of diverse sexual orientations and genders contrast here...
Book Review
Double Hyenas and Lazarus Birds
In his rollicking essay collection "Double Hyenas and Lazarus Birds", Charles Hood reckons with the ocean’s simultaneous allure and risk through stories of seabird-watching and of his father’s wartime service in the Pacific Theater....
Book Review
Foreign Fruit
In Katie Goh’s nimble hybrid memoir "Foreign Fruit", the unfolding history of the orange is paralleled with family migrations and anti-Asian racism. The inciting incident dates to the COVID-19 lockdowns: “The morning after a white...
Book Review
The Wild Dark
In his fascinating travelogue "The Wild Dark", Craig Childs goes on a quest to reclaim dark nights. Childs remembers the mixture of awe and fear he felt under a Colorado night sky when he was five years old. Since then, he’s taken...
Book Review
Nine Minds
Daniel Tammet’s "Nine Minds" is a biographical mosaic of neurodivergence built of stories of individuals whose struggles and achievements defy the clichés surrounding autism. The book presents autism not as a “disorder” but as a...
Book Review
When the World Explodes
The incisive autobiographical essays of Amy Lee Scott’s "When the World Explodes" ponder private tragedies and global threats. Eleven inquisitive pieces consider personal crises alongside natural disasters and gun violence. One links...
Book Review
Beasts
Set in a postapocalyptic world, Ingvild Bjerkeland’s chilling novel "Beasts" is about children who hope to reunite with their father. Thirteen-year-old Abdi is the guardian of his five-year-old sister, Alva, since a beast killed their...
Book Review
Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love
Lida Maxwell’s enthusiastic academic study reappraises scientist Rachel Carson’s motivations in light of ecological crisis and queer studies. Although Carson grew up in Pennsylvania, her affinity for the ocean became paramount. On...