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Behind the Book: Crossing borders to find the heart of a story
Column by Laura ResauI came across the bones of my book Star in the Forest on the outskirts of a small town in southern Mexico. One day, a decade ago, I was taking my daily walk down a dirt road lined with shacks made of corrugated metal and plastic tarp and salvaged wood scraps. I strolled past smoldering piles of trash and leaped over trickles of raw sewage, giving wide berth to occasional packs of… -
Ron Rash’s powerful new collection is filled with stories worth slowing down for
Review by Kristy KiernanThe short stories in New York Times bestseller and PEN/Faulkner award finalist Ron Rash's new collection, Burning Bright, flow so seamlessly into each other that the reader is tempted to devour them all in one sitting like a novel. But doing so would mean losing the power of each individual story—and that power is formidable, well worth slowing down for.… -
The best guides for landing a job you'll love
Feature by Stephanie GerberNow more than ever, finding a job is itself a full-time job. With unemployment topping 10 percent, the job market is a tough nut to crack. We’ve found four books that will help you hear those magic words—“you’re hired!” Whether you’re a recent college grad, recovering from a layoff or looking to change fields, these books can help you turn the page and find a fulfilling career.…
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Living by a warrior’s code
Review by Angela LeeperLike last year’s critically acclaimed Marcelo in the Real World, Francisco X. Stork’s The Last Summer of the Death Warriors is the story of a teen faced with difficult choices before the start of a new school year. Kicked out of his foster home and recently orphaned, 17-year-old Pancho…
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Pick your poison: Alan Bradley’s indomitable heroine returns
Interview by Trisha PingHow many 70-year-olds can also claim the title of best-selling debut novelist? We know of at least one: Canadian author Alan Bradley, whose first novel (after two nonfiction projects), The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, became a word-of-mouth hit in early 2009. Set in Britain just after World War II and starring Flavia de Luce, a fiercely intelligent 11-year-old with a talent for…
Featured ReviewAll the lonely peopleWe all have lonely moments, but for several years in her 30s, Emily White was persistently, deeply and inescapably lonely, despite a successful career and nearby family and friends. Unable to stem her loneliness, she decided to investigate it. The result is Lonely: A Memoir, in which White intersperses her own story with a thorough examination of the research on loneliness—which was not easy to compile. Loneliness is a fairly recent field of study, and White combed academic and Internet sources, called doctors and psychologists around the world and advertised on Craigslist for lonely people willing to be interviewed. Luckily, she was tenacious in her quest, and she is thorough and clear in her explanations and analysis.
Loneliness, it turns out, is…
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Announcing Monday contests on The Book Case
Winter's readingMore dark fun with Flavia“But Flavia can’t be dead!” this reviewer thought as she read the first page of Alan Bradley’s latest novel starring the 11-year-old sleuth-cum-toxicologist, Flavia de Luce. Further reading reveals that of course she’s not dead, but only pretending to be. Like any other lonely and somewhat neglected child, Flavia wonders what her hateful sisters and distracted,…
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Web exclusives!Behind the Book: Memoirist’s first novel draws from lifeWeb exclusiveWhen you open the pages of my novel Angelology, you will enter a secluded convent nestled next to a wide, mirror-dark river; you will climb into a narrow gorge cut deep into the granite of an Eastern European mountain; and you will sit in a shadowy lecture hall filled with students during the Second World War. You will meet a young woman named Evangeline, whose… Read More… |
Tops for teensBleak days on Rikers IslandMartin Stokes is a 17-year-old black high school student. Arrested on his own front stoop for “steering” an undercover cop to a drug dealer, he’s spent five months in jail at Rikers Island when this story begins. By turns bleak and funny, Rikers High follows Martin’s struggles with his overworked legal-aid attorney, the bullying of his fellow… Read More… |
For the homeLifestyles: Start small, reap bigMarch is an ideal time to dream about the garden. In my area, we’ve been pummeled by more snow and ice and bitter rain than we’ve seen in many a year, so cultivating a little plot of ground sounds delectable, in every sense of the word. |
