The Book of Joan

Lidia Yuknavitch’s latest novel is a dystopian reimagining of Joan of Arc. Set in the near future, Earth has been ravaged by radioactive fallout following several world wars. Survivors are white, sexless, hairless creatures who live as slaves under CIEL’s tyrannical rule; these creatures inscribe epic stories onto their skin. Other humans — the wealthy

Read Harder Quickies: Books About Books

I’m doing Read Harder 2017. I would have read both of these books anyway, but it just so happens that they both work for Task 3 (read a book about books). Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch Publisher/Year: Harper, 2011 Format: ARC Pages: 241 Source: Publisher What it is: After the sudden

LaRose

Like a couple of its predecessors, Louise Erdrich’s newest book, LaRose, returns to the Ojibwe territory of North Dakota. It begins with a fatal tragedy: while hunting, Landreaux Iron shoots and kills his neighbor’s five-year-old son, Dusty. The neighbor, Peter Ravich, is Landreaux’s best friend, and their sons were best friends. Dusty’s death is promptly ruled an accident,

Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary

Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary was published eight years ago, back when Hillary Clinton was first running for president. I’d wanted to read it at the time, but then election fatigue took its toll and down the TBR list it went. But now here we are again: Hillary Clinton is running for president and new

Quickies: Unrequited & Choose Your Shot

Unrequited: Women and Romantic Obsession by Lisa A. Phillips Publisher/Year: Harper, 2015 Format: ARC Pages: 304 Source: Publisher What it is: Part memoir, part investigation, Phillips explores the role of obsessive love in women’s lives. She begins with her own story: many years ago she fell hard for someone, was rejected, and kept pursuing him. She ended up sneaking into