For all of its cynicism and humor, Please Don’t Tell Mum has something real to say about education. Think your school days were a nightmare? Well, let’s hear the other side of the story, from a teacher’s point of view. Narrator... Read More

Sympathy is created for these disparate and complex characters in a way that is worth savoring. Set in the late 1990s, Heather Bell Adams’s Marantha Road takes a seemingly standard setup of Southern poverty literature and burnishes it... Read More

The book’s riveting main character proves to be Haight-Ashbury itself, at its tumultuous peak. Susan Knapp’s "The House on Masonic" goes back to the summer of love to explore the hippie movement from its ground zero: the... Read More

"Starswept" is a seductive and wholly satisfying book from start to finish—imaginative, well written, and touching on themes beyond romantic love. Love fantasy? Romance laced with bittersweet longing? Science fiction that glows with... Read More

Håkan is so expressively drawn that his bouts of loneliness, heartache, and shame vibrate off the page. A Swedish immigrant, the American West, and the powers of fate unite in Hernan Diaz’s stunning novel, "In the Distance". In the... Read More

The book offers a convincing portrait of the daily life of fighter pilots during World War II. Can an individual who fought for Hitler’s war machine gain the admiration and respect of those who fought against him? This is the question... Read More

The argument that race is an archaic and counterproductive social construction is cogent, smartly argued, and thought-provoking throughout. Stephen A. Tillett’s "Stop Falling for the Okeydoke" suggests that race is a false concept that... Read More

"America Invaded" is a fun jumping-off point for discussions about history. "America Invaded" by Christopher Kelly and Stuart Laycock offers an intriguing tour of past conflicts waged on American soil, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.... Read More