book review Archives | Northwest Public Broadcasting

BOOK REVIEW: Kevin Wilson Is On Fire In ‘Nothing To See Here’

By NPR News November 3, 2019

Wilson's new novel centers on a young woman taking care of two kids with a disturbing ability: When upset, they burst into flames. But in Wilson's hands, what could be scary is funny, even beautiful. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Kevin Wilson Is On Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Burn It Down’ Diagnoses, Analyzes The State Of American Women’s Anger

By NPR News October 29, 2019

The anthology demonstrates that American women are just now at the starting line of exploring and understanding their anger; it's more about how they live with anger than about what makes them angry. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Read More

BOOK REVIEW: End-To-Beginning Telling Of Inventor’s Story In ‘Edison’ Makes For A Circular Read

By NPR News October 26, 2019

Throughout his career, Edmund Morris repeatedly showed boredom, even disdain, for the traditional biography. In turn, he sometimes injected his books with an artistic flair that got in the way. Continue Reading BOOK Read More

In ‘Stolen,’ Five Boys Are Caught In A Reverse Underground Railroad Toward Slavery

By NPR News October 18, 2019

Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home, by Richard Bell

Richard Bell's true tale details how even as the Underground Railroad ferried enslaved people north towards freedom, free black people vanished from northern cities to be sold into plantation slavery. Continue Reading In Read More

BOOK REVIEW: Saeed Jones’ Eloquent Coming-Of-Age Is Hard To Read — And Harder To Put Down

By NPR News October 10, 2019

Jones grew up black, gay and isolated in Texas. He chronicles his wobbly path to self-affirmation in the raw and eloquent new memoir, How We Fight for Our Lives. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Saeed Jones’ Read More

BOOK REVIEW: In ‘Here We Are,’ Heart-Rending Challenges Of Immigration Are Exposed

By NPR News October 3, 2019

Aarti Shahani as a child with her sister and her father.

Aarti Shahani reports on Silicon Valley for NPR. But, as she details in her memoir, she's also from a family that followed a contorted, painful path to citizenship. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: In ‘Here We Are,’ Read More

BOOK REVIEW: W.H. Auden’s Poem ‘September 1, 1939’ Still Resonates In Times Of Crisis

By NPR News September 27, 2019

Critic Ian Sansom's deeply informed and unapologetically digressive new book dives into Auden's life — as well as the life of his singular poem. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: W.H. Auden’s Poem ‘September 1, Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Red At The Bone’ Cuts Close To The Bone

By NPR News September 18, 2019

Jacqueline Woodson's exquisitely wrought new novel follows two black families of different classes whose lives become intertwined when their only children conceive a child together in their teens. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘Red At The Bone’ Read More

BOOK REVIEW: If Salman Rushdie’s ‘Quichotte’ Drives You Nuts — That’s Fine. It’s Meant To

By NPR News September 8, 2019

Quichotte, by Salman Rushdie - book on a table

It could be argued that Quichotte is a novel that aims to reflect back to us the total insanity of living in a world unmoored from reality — but it's about the power of believing more than anything. Continue Reading Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Downstairs Girl’ Faces Difficult History With Joy And Style

By NPR News August 25, 2019

In Stacey Lee's new novel, an opinionated and talented Chinese American girl makes her way in Reconstruction-era Atlanta while preserving her secret work as an advice columnist in the local paper. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Inland’ Creates A New Myth Of The Old West

By NPR News August 17, 2019

Téa Obreht's new novel is set against a familiar old West backdrop, but it tells a fresh story of two people, both haunted in their own ways — a tough frontier woman and an immigrant camel driver. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘Inland’ Creates Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘When I Was White’ Centers On The Formation Of Race, Identity And Self

By NPR News August 11, 2019

When I Was White: A Memoir, by Sarah Valentine

As the U.S. becomes more brown and black — resulting in a xenophobic backlash and nostalgia by some for white European immigrants — the ideas in Sarah Valentine's memoir become even more necessary. Continue Reading BOOK Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Idiot Wind’ Tells A Personal Tale Of Journeying From Addiction To Recovery

By NPR News July 30, 2019

Book image blurb - Idiot Wind - Canongate Books

Even if we weren't in need of another road-trippy-addiction memoir, Peter Kaldheim's book recounts his very human efforts to swim to shore with compassion and gratitude. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘Idiot Read More

‘Gods Of Jade And Shadow’ Spins A Dark, Dazzling Fairy Tale

By NPR News July 25, 2019

Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's novel is set in an alternate Jazz Age Mexico, where gods and monsters from Mayan mythology walk the Earth and war with each other for dominion over Xibalba, the land of death. Continue Reading ‘Gods Of Jade And Read More

BOOK REVIEW: Rooted In History, ‘The Nickel Boys’ Is A Great American Novel

By NPR News July 16, 2019

Colson Whitehead's deeply affecting new novel is based on the true story of a segregated reform school in Florida where African American boys were brutalized and possibly murdered. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Rooted In History, Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Cuban Comedy’ Walks The Line Between Politics And Poetry

By NPR News July 11, 2019

Pablo Medina's The Cuban Comedy walks a fine line between poetry and political satire. It follows a woman in rural 1960s Cuba who longs to be a poet, and the troubles she faces when she succeeds. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘We Went To The Woods’ Warns: You Can Know History And Still Repeat It

By NPR News July 3, 2019

We Went to the Woods by Caite Dolan-Leach

Caite Dolan-Leach's new novel follows a young woman who gets kicked off a reality TV show and ends up on a 1960s-style commune, where utopian ideals soon fall prey to some very human foibles. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Aloha Rodeo’ Offers Alternative To The Cowboy Cliché

By NPR News June 30, 2019

Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World's Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West, by David Wolman and Julian Smith

Journalists David Wolman and Julian Smith chronicle the history of Hawaii's cattle trade and profile a number of "paniolos" — every bit as tenacious and resourceful as their mainland cohorts. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘Aloha Read More

‘The Accident Of Color’ Looks At The Failure Of Reconstruction

By NPR News June 20, 2019

Daniel Brook has written a book that goes a long way toward injecting thoughtfulness into popular notions of the history of race and racism in America but doesn't delve far enough into class conflict. Continue Reading ‘The Accident Of Read More

‘Fleishman Is In Trouble’: A Debut Novel About Divorce, Dating And Disappearance

By NPR News June 15, 2019

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

One day, Toby Fleishman's ex-wife drops off the kids and disappears. Author Taffy Brodesser-Akner says too many people are "locked into" marriage; her new novel explores wedlock, and what comes after. Continue Reading Read More

New William S. Burroughs Book Sheds Light On The Literary Legend’s Influence On Music

By NPR News June 13, 2019

American writer William S. Burroughs poses during a portrait session at Bourges Railway Station on April 24, 1984 in Bourges, France.

Relying on a wealth of research and documents, Casey Rae deftly maps out how one of America's most controversial literary figures transformed the lives of many notable rock musicians. Continue Reading New William S. Burroughs Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘This America’ Pits Rise In Nationalism Against Championing Of Liberal Democracy

By NPR News June 1, 2019

Jill Lepore, author of These Truths, argues that supporters of free and fair liberal government can't just hold their noses and wait for voters to realize that democracy is better than autocracy. Continue Read More

BOOK REVIEW: Love, Disappointment Course Through 4 Classic Asian American Novels

By NPR News May 30, 2019

Penguin Classics has released paperback editions of four mid-20th century novels by Asian American authors: America Is in the Heart; The Hanging on Union Square; East Goes West and No-No Boy. Continue Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Theodore Roosevelt For The Defense’ Makes A Libel Case Into Gripping Reading

By NPR News May 22, 2019

Former U.S. President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

Gifted writers Dan Abrams and David Fisher, who previously brought us Lincoln's Last Trial, are clearly fascinated by how Teddy Roosevelt's court case played out — bringing an enthusiasm to readers. Continue Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Becoming Dr. Seuss’ Reveals Theodor Geisel As A Complicated Icon

By NPR News May 7, 2019

Theodor Geisel — Dr. Seuss --holds a toy of the Cat in the Hat, one of his most famous character creations.

Using personal papers, telegrams, biographies, unpublished interviews and letters, author Brian Jay Jones gives readers a comprehensive view of the complex, multifaceted creator who became a giant. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Hacking Darwin’ Explores Genetic Engineering — And What It Means To Be Human

By NPR News May 4, 2019

The waters of genetic meddling are murky; in a new book, technology futurist Jamie Metzl reviews where we've been in the past as a guideline for where we might be headed. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘Hacking Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Normal People’ Appeals Across Genders And Generations

By NPR News April 17, 2019

Normal People by Sally Rooney Hardcover, 273 pages

Sally Rooney avoids a sophomore slump with Normal People, a will-they-won't-they love story with sympathetic protagonists whose lives are complicated by economic uncertainty and class differences. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Read More

BOOK REVIEW: In ‘She Could Fly,’ A Teen Wrestles With A Host Of Psychological Mysteries

By NPR News March 31, 2019

Christopher Cantwell's new graphic novel follows teenaged Luna, who's struggling with mental health issues and finds a kind of hope in the appearance of a mysterious flying woman in the Chicago skies. Continue Reading BOOK Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Lost Gutenberg’ Traces One Bible’s 500-Year Journey

By NPR News March 24, 2019

An illustration depicting Johannes Gutenberg taking the first proof off his printing press.

The depth of Margaret Leslie Davis' research on the tome's history cannot be understated — her writing is straightforward and, at times, heartbreaking, but outstanding reporting lies at the core. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Lost Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Night Witches’ Sheds Some Light On Daring Female Flyers

By NPR News March 19, 2019

The Night Witches by Garth Ennis and Russ Braun Paperback, 256 pages

Garth Ennis' new graphic novel creates a fictional character to flesh out the stories of the real Night Witches, Soviet female pilots who dropped bombs on the Nazis from rickety old biplanes. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘Night Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Pocahontas And The English Boys’ Bridges 2 Wildly Different Cultures

By NPR News March 12, 2019

Pocahontas and the English Boys, by Karen Ordahl Kupperman

Historian Karen Ordahl Kupperman shines a new light on Pocahontas, showing how she made her way as a go-between for her two cultures, and introducing us to her long-forgotten English counterparts. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Raven Tower’ Rises From Shakespearean Foundations

By NPR News February 26, 2019

Ann Leckie's new fantasy novel is packed with family intrigue, throne-room maneuvering and nods to Hamlet in its story of a son who comes home to find his father missing and his uncle in power. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Heartbeat Of Wounded Knee’ Seeks A New Narrative For Native Americans

By NPR News January 26, 2019

Memorial to the Wounded Knee Massacre that occurred on Dec. 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota.

Author David Treuer calls his new book a "counternarrative" to Dee Brown's 1970 classic. "I have tried to catch us not in the act of dying but, rather, in the radical act of living," he writes. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Read More

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The First Conspiracy’ Details Foiled Plot To Assassinate George Washington

By NPR News January 9, 2019

October 1789: American Gen. George Washington declining to accept terms, after the siege of Yorktown, from British Gen. Charles Cornwallis (left), whose subsequent surrender practically ended the American War of Independence.

Thriller author Brad Meltzer and documentary producer Josh Mensch offer an intriguing look at a true-life, foiled plan that, had it succeeded, may have killed the American dream before it even began. Continue Reading BOOK Read More

Pulled Into Poetry: Northwest Poet Savannah Slone Releases First Book

By T.J. Tranchell January 2, 2019

After finishing her degree in CWU’s Professional and Creative Writing program and an MFA from Lindenwood University, the 23-year-old Savannah Slone is releasing her first chapbook, 'Hearing the Underwater,' on January 4 with Finishing Line Press. Read More

Kate Atkinson's new novel follows a young woman recruited to Britain's MI5 spy agency during World War II. Juliet's wartime deeds may come back to haunt her — but she still has her old spy skills. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: Wartime Sins And Secrets Read More