I'm a bookseller, poet, caregiver, cat-person, dog-person, and unashamed therapeutic crier. My favorite books are ones that give me nightmares, make me weep, and/or make me laugh out loud. Usually all three? Poetry is my main jam, but I have a love for psychological thrillers and short story collections. My pronouns are they / them.
Deaf Republic is deeply imaginative and triumphant. Kaminsky manages to champion the momentary and internal in a narrative - in a world, really - that is so external and loud. This book feels like a fever dream; I believe it, and I believe in it. The intensity in this work is matched, if not exceeded by, the gentleness and love that are, ultimately, the true heroes of this story.
I loved this debut novel by Kira Jane Buxton in ways I truly didn’t expect to, as a book about zombies is not something I would normally choose. But this book made me cry, it made me laugh out loud, it made me rethink the seemingly minute decisions I make on a daily basis. It has the immediacy and ferocity of a great young adult novel, the softness and emotion of a well-told romance, and sophisticated moments of poetry that took my breath away. S.T. the talking crow is the complicated, relatable, hilarious protagonist I never knew I needed.
This book is not for the faint of heart. Or mind. In anyone else's hands, this story might have been a monstrosity (and not the GOOD kind of monstrosity that it turned out to be), but Awad develops these characters masterfully. She gives a truly....um....visceral...account of how it feels to be lonely in this modern world. It's hilarious, challenging, and, above all, terrifying.
This collection by Cassie Donish is wildly refreshing. It's soft, yet tough. It's ornate, yet abrupt. It's a beautiful book that in one moment seems rooted in place, and in the next moment brings us somewhere new. Donish seamlessly captures how strange and fluid it is to live within a body that must live within the world.
This concise and beautiful book is a force! As someone who has worked on and off as a professional caregiver for many years, I am shocked at how expertly and unexpectedly Lila Savage untangles the nuances and emotional oddities of caregiving in her debut novel. The blatant honesty and lyricism in this book are continuously surprising and moving.