Books

Anna Sinjari is a Kurdish woman dealing with both office drone existential dread and the lingering trauma of the violence she escaped when she immigrated to America. Ssrin is an alien on the run, who immediately bonds with Anna when they encounter each other in Central Park. As a cosmic crisis looms, the pair’s uncanny

The squeamish yet diligent Detective Hiroshi Shimizu returns in Shitamachi Scam, the sixth instalment of Tokyo-based Michael Pronko’s crime novel series. In 2022, Azabu Getaway transported readers to the cosmopolitan Azabu district, but this time the action takes place in an older, more traditional Shitamachi neighbourhood. An unscrupulous gang is targeting the elderly residents of

As a 19-year-old undergraduate, Antonia Hylton read an academic paper that mentioned Crownsville State Hospital, known at its founding as the Hospital for the Negro Insane. That reference triggered an obsession with the hospital’s bleak history that has carried her through the 10 years it took to produce Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim

Am I the only one who feels mighty old when a book set in 1968 is called historical crime fiction? It’s a label that’s been applied to Where We Lie, by Irish debut author Claire Coughlan and set in Dublin at the end of the Swinging 60s. Historical or not, from the get-go Coughlan works

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles As the days become shorter, there’s nothing more comforting than immersing myself in a sweeping historical novel—the bigger, the better! When my book club recently voted to read Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow (Penguin, $18, 9780143110439), I welcomed the opportunity to escape nightly into the grand halls

It’s only a couple days until Black History Month, and Goodreads has put together a list of 100 Essential New Works of Fiction by Black Authors to help build your TBR for February! This list is only fiction, including novels and short stories, but not nonfiction or poetry. The introduction doesn’t specify whether this is

N. Scott Momaday was the first Native American author to win a Pulitzer Prize, with his novel House Made of Dawn. He passed away on January 24th at age 89. Momaday wrote novels, poetry, essays, and memoirs, and he incorporated his Kiowa heritage in his writing. He published House Made of Dawn in 1968, and

Most of Tirzah Price’s life decisions have been motivated by a desire to read as many books as humanly possible. Tirzah holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and has worked as an independent bookseller and librarian. She’s also the author of the Jane Austen Murder

R. Nassor may spend more time with books, tea, and ceramic mugs than recommended by professionals but it hasn’t failed her so far. Nassor has a MA in English Literature from Georgetown University, where she looked at the way medieval and early modern literature reappear in fantasy books today. She’s been writing about romance, fantasy,

Lyndsie Manusos’s fiction has appeared in PANK, SmokeLong Quarterly, and other publications. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has worked in web production and content management. When she’s not nesting among her books and rough drafts, she’s chasing the baby while the dog watches in confused amusement.

Audiobook lovers and those eager to dip your ears into the format, this year’s finalists for best audiobooks across the 27 categories of the Audie Awards have been announced. The Audies, presented by the Audio Publishers Association, recognize excellence and distinction in audiobook and spoken-word entertainment. They are given to the performer of the audiobook.

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

The title of the new crime fiction novel by popular author Lee Matthew Goldberg sounds like the name of a circus act. And, indeed, the story includes masks, taking on roles, daring feats and surprising actions – all most definitely like a circus. While in its early stages, you may be inclined to believe –

Brandon Stosuy is a master of pulling together the inspiring words of artists: He has gifted us with the stellar online magazine of interviews The Creative Independent, and three elegantly designed creativity guides. Now he returns with Sad Happens: A Celebration of Tears, a book of reflections, illustrated by Rose Lazar, about the experience and

Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson are highly regarded Canadian humorists – Leacock Award winners, no less – who now and again joins forces to pen books like How to be a Canadian. Now they’ve turned their satirical eye on cosy crime fiction with a short novel called I Only Read Murder. It is the tale

Maria Hummel’s fifth novel offers the atmospheric story of an old friendship gone awry. As Goldenseal opens in 1990, Edith has arrived in Los Angeles, a city that’s unrecognizable to her after 40 years in Maine. Her destination is a grand hotel she once knew well. Waiting for Edith is Lacey, who has withdrawn not

Over the past year or two we’ve seen a flurry of book titles containing the names of women. These often fall into the quirky and offbeat or cosy categories. The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou is not one of them. Quite the contrary. In 1954, a Greek Cypriot grandmother named Zina Pavlou is in London

Ten novels. And, an ideal reading list to get you deep into 2024. As in previous years (see the links at the bottom of this article), we’ve prized the new and interesting over the next-in-the-series books to be released over the coming months. It would be easy to select the annual novels due from the

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Outsiders and othering, control freaks and narcissists, extremes of wealth and poverty – these are some of the themes I picked up on in crime fiction over the course of 2023. A reflection of today’s world? Well, Cosy crime fiction was huge, too, as it usually is when everything feels unstable. However, escapism for me usually

It’s been a busy old year, and as a consequence reading has had to take something of a back seat. Which means that I’ve been concentrating on quality over quantity in 2023, while topping up my longing for a cracking good tale by sampling a fair few audiobooks too. But reading is my first love,

Karl Marlantes, author of the epic Deep River, returns with a new tale of the Koskis, a family of Finnish immigrants to the Pacific Northwest in the early 20th century. Set just after World War II, Cold Victory follows Louise Koski, granddaughter-in-law of Aino Koski, Deep River’s fiery and unforgettable protagonist. Louise moves to Helsinki

Grief is a devastating stimulus. The manifestations of mental anguish form the subject of Bird Life, Anna Smaill’s elliptical, poetic follow-up to her Booker Prize-longlisted 2015 debut The Chimes. The story centers on two very different women, Dinah and Yasuko. Dinah, a New Zealander, is in Tokyo on a work visa to teach English to

In the male-dominated landscape of wartorn 1963 Saigon, Vietnam, Tricia and Charlene are two American wives striving to be the best possible “helpmeets” to their military husbands: sociable, graceful, obedient, obliging. Through author Alice McDermott’s precise, lingering prose, these women otherwise relegated to the margins bloom with agency and empathy. Charlene’s immense business acumen flares

“I’m rooting for, uhmmm, everybody Black,” said actor/writer/producer and “Insecure” creator Issa Rae at the 2017 Emmy Awards. The essential Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from “Soul Train” to “Black-ish” and Beyond, from Washington Post reporter Bethonie Butler, does the same, showcasing prime-time television shows of a “new era in Black television: one

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Political corruption, like death and taxes, is always with us, a fact that Chicagoans know better than most. Chicago has long been considered America’s most corrupt city, with one investigation suggesting more than $500 million leaves the system each year to pockets unknown. An incredible number, and the kind of graft that crime fiction authors