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★★☆☆☆ John Darnielle’s new novel Universal Harvester is an urban legend — a convoluted and ultimately disappointing one, but enough of a creepy modern folktale to appeal to those readers sensitive to nostalgic storytelling....
★★★☆☆ To borrow a quote from one of the side characters in his new book Normal, Warren Ellis “kind of invented the modern end of the world.” His stories often journey into the dark corners...
★★★☆☆ In Commotion of the Birds, John Ashbery’s twenty-seventh book of poetry, puzzling poems read like textual collages: meticulously arranged words and phrases torn and reassembled into abstraction. They’re enigmatic, but far from anything...
★★★★☆ Would you consider starting your morning with toast, tea, and a microdose of LSD? Throughout her decades-long battle with neuroses, irritability, and chronic pain, author Ayelet Waldman tried a variety of medications including...
★★★★☆ He’s back: after two and a half centuries of being trapped in Rudolph Erich Raspe’s 1786 novel Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, the Baron himself has slipped...
This month each of our critics have highlighted some of their favorite books from this year. From those posts on the Run Spot Run blog, we’re pleased to present a Top 5 for 2016,...
★★★☆☆ Bestselling author Sophie Hannah attempts to capture Agatha Christie’s masterful storytelling in Closed Casket, but Christie was an author who cannot be replicated. Closed Casket takes place at Lady Athelinda Playford’s estate in Clonakilty, County...
★★★★☆ Although not the shimmering, layered masterpiece that is Magda Szabo’s 1987 novel The Door (translated last year to critical acclaim), Iza’s Ballad is an accomplished work of similar emotional weight. Before The Door’s...
★★☆☆☆ The prolific César Aira is a writer of momentum and continuum. He often discusses his work ethic in essays and interviews, explaining how he’s a daily writer and resists editing yesterday’s material. He...
