by Gabino Iglesias for High Country News Sept. 9, 2020 In a small Montana town, there’s a thing with feathers. Hope? Not so much. Maxim Loskutoff’s debut novel explores the fraught history of the Bitterroot Valley. In the foothills of the Sapphire Mountains in southwestern Montana, elk are bleeding. Some are dead. Others are still …
I loved this smart, funny peek inside the high stakes world of San Francisco private schools. It has everything: social satire, family drama, friendship, a lot of laughs, a touch of romance, and lots to think about after. If you’ve been looking for that Where’d You Go, Bernadette feeling, try this. Bonus: The co-authors live in …
The Lightness is the debut novel from the editor of Literary Hub. Not only does she recognize good writing, but Temple also writes beautifully, herself. I enjoyed this book for its attention to detail as much as for its story, about a teenage girl, Olivia, who signs herself up for a meditation retreat that is …
Kristen Millares Young has written a cymbal clash of a debut. Claudia—a Mexican anthropologist fleeing her life in Seattle after her husband and sister announce their affair— collides with Peter—a prodigal son returning to the Makah reservation for the first time since his dad’s murder to help his mother, Maggie, whose memory is failing. The …
A humorous but pointed look at race, privilege and our motivation to act. Never preachy, Kiley Reid studies human nature. Her debut is a literary novel that reads like suspense. –Melanie, The Well-Read Moose, Coeur d’Alene, ID “When I attempted to write a review for Such a Fun Age, I was at a loss for words. …
Five Books About Coming of Age in the West Chelsea Bieker, Portland author, has recommendations for you at Literary Hub! Her novel, Godshot, has been described as a “fiercely written and endlessly readable” novel of a teenage girl in thrall to a magnetic–and terrifying–preacher who promises to save her dying town is “a godsend” …
I just read Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara and could hardly put it down! The premise is gruesome (but not graphic). It took me from my boring house and immersed me into a world I’ve never seen. It’s about a 9-year-old boy in India who decides to solve the mystery of a …
Ramiza Shamoun Koya has an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and her fiction and nonfiction has appeared in publications such as Columbia Review, Lumina, Washington Square Review, and Mutha Magazine. She has been a fellow at both MacDowell Colony and Blue Mountain Center. Her father was born in Fiji, her mother in Texas, and she was …
Combine equal parts Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Judy Blume’s Just as Long as We’re Together. Add a splash of Mary Oliver and you may begin to approach the essence of Elizabeth Ames’ gorgeously written debut novel. On its surface it is a story about the relationship between four college friends; going deeper it’s …
Nima may be awkward and a little lost in life, but she’s funnier than she thinks and so endearing. You can’t help but fall for her voice and feel for her situation. While she may think life is boring and want some changes, she doesn’t quite bargain for all she gets. Filled with kings, queens, …
