Book Review
Farm Family
by Mari Carlson
Jane Lee Rankin’s celebratory memoir is about forging an unlikely new family among farm animals. An alpaca farm and a new community in which to raise her son are the crucial components of new joy in Jane Lee Rankin’s memoir "Farm...
Book Review
Memory That Claws
by Mari Carlson
"Memory That Claws" is an affirming memoir about overcoming a haunting childhood through family love. Peter Simon Karp’s compact memoir "Memory That Claws" is about his aspirations to be a baseball player, which changed when he found...
Book Review
Conquergood & the Center of the Intelligible Mystery of Being
by Mari Carlson
A lone human in a synthetic world is undone by unanswerable questions in the unsettling dystopian novel Conquergood & the Center of the Intelligible Mystery of Being. In CG Fewston’s dystopian novel Conquergood & the Center of...
Book Review
Journey of Sea, Heart, and Land
by Mari Carlson
In the epic novel "Journey of Sea, Heart, and Land", intertwined people are encouraged to embrace a future that “exists in the present.” In Jaime Enrique Gutierrez Perez’s coming-of-age novel "Journey of Sea, Heart, and Land", the...
Book Review
Welcome to New Haven
by Mari Carlson
In the series-opening spiritual novel "Welcome to New Haven", an ordinary office worker awakens to his superpowers. An ambassador from New Haven retrieves the man who can save the world in Rashan Bryant’s fantasy novel "Welcome to New...
Book Review
The Redemption of Mattie Silks
by Mari Carlson
In the historical novel "The Redemption of Mattie Silks", a powerful woman plies the sex workers’ trade in her favor. In Kimberly Burns’s historical novel "The Redemption of Mattie Silks", a Denver businesswoman follows the gold rush...
Book Review
Infertilities, A Curation
by Mari Carlson
After their experiences with infertility, Elizabeth Horn, Maria Novotny, and Robin Silbergleid put together "Infertilities, A Curation", a collection of essays, art, and poetry on the subject. Prior to the COVID-19 shutdowns, the ART of...
Book Review
Presner the Remarkable
by Mari Carlson
"Presner the Remarkable" is a reflective novel in which an underdog dissects his idolization of an old friend. A wedding prompts a midlife crisis in Don Eron’s tragicomic novel "Presner the Remarkable". Presner once attended law...