My Father’s Wives: A Novel Mike Greenberg (Twitter) William Morrow (January 20, 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 0062325868 / 9780062325860) Fiction, 240 pages Parts of of this review were previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (January 27, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. ————————————————————————————————————- Sports-radio host Mike Greenberg has followed up the three female protagonists of his first novel, […]

Reunion: A Novel Hannah Pittard (Twitter) Grand Central Publishing (October 7, 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 1455553611 / 9781455553617) Fiction, 288 pages A version of this discussion was previously published as a Starred Review in Shelf Awareness for Readers (October 21, 2014). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. Three ex-wives, one widow, and four sets of children ranging from in age […]

The Luminous Heart of Jonah S. Gina B. Nahai (Facebook) (Twitter) Akashic Books (October 7, 2014) trade paper (ISBN 9781617753206) and hardcover (ISBN 1617753211 / 9781617753213) Fiction, 380 pages ———————————————————————————————————————- A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (October 21, 2014). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. A substantial Jewish contingent established itself in […]

A Song for Issy Bradley: A Novel Carys Bray (Twitter) (Facebook) Ballantine Books (August 12, 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 0553390880 / 9780553390889) Fiction, 352 pages, $26.00 A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (August 12, 2014). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. Faith, guilt, family responsibilities and cultural norms overlap and clash in Carys Bray’s debut novel. A […]

This Is the Water: A Novel Yannick Murphy Harper Perennial (July 29, 2014), Trade paper (ISBN 0062294903 / 9780062294906) Fiction, 352 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (August 1, 2014). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. In This Is the Water, Yannick Murphy (The Call) explores the effects of the shocking, seemingly random killing of one of its stars […]

Arts & Entertainments: A Novel Christopher Beha (Facebook) (Twitter) Ecco Press (July 1, 2014), trade paper (ISBN 006232246X / 9780062322463) Fiction, 288 pages A version of the following was previously published as a Starred Review in Shelf Awareness for Readers (July 15, 2014). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. In his second novel, Arts and Entertainments, Christopher Beha (What Happened to Sophie Wilder) shifts his setting from the world […]

Brutal Youth: A Novel Anthony Breznican (Twitter) (Goodreads author page) Thomas Dunne Books (June 10, 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 1250019354 / 9781250019356) Fiction, 416 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (June 17, 2014). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. Anthony Breznican’s Brutal Youth is at first reminiscent of The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier’s classic young-adult novel of […]

The Possibilities: A Novel Kaui Hart Hemmings (Facebook) (Twitter) Simon & Schuster (May 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 1476725799 / 9781476725796) Fiction, 288 pages A version of this review was submitted to Shelf Awareness for Readers, but was not published due to timing and space limitations. Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received. In her second novel, The Possibilities, Kaui Hart Hemmings again displays […]