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Growing up in the violent chaos of South African apartheid in the 1980s and ’90s Alex Lago and his disillusioned nihilistic friends have one goal: “Getting out of Joburg alive. That was our African dream.” Lago does escape—barely. After decades away from his hometown he returns to try to uncover the real history of Bobby Locke world champion golfer and “South Africa’s greatest-ever sportsman.” Locke’s story sadly is characteristic of Johannesburg which “doesn’t traffic much in happy endings”: Decades of alcoholism systemic racism misogyny narcissism numerous run-ins with the law and a serious car accident involving a train eventually ended his career. The tragedies continued long after Locke died when his reclusive wife and daughter ended their lives in a suicide pact. When Lago returns to his old stomping grounds now radically different in terms of racial demographics and socioeconomic disparity he realizes that Locke’s sad story shares parallels with Lago’s own youth—the drugs the lawlessness the desperation. The deeper he digs into Locke’s all-but-forgotten history interviewing old friends and others who were close to the golfer the closer Lago comes to unearthing the terrible truth that led him to leave Joburg so many years ago.
The intertwining of nonlinear stories—Lago’s horrible secret from his youth and Locke’s tragic life—keeps the momentum brisk until the very end and makes for a fascinating dichotomy that contrasts the Joburg of the past to the city in the present day. Another noteworthy attribute of the novel is the subtle way in which the author infuses social commentary into the storyline: “Africa’s the future brother…The rich hiding behind walls and the rest living in hell. That’s the entire history of our species…Not a coincidence the richest dude in the history of the world is a white South African right?” Unarguably the most impressive element of the novel which is based on true events is Martini’s distinctive prose which is simultaneously eloquently brutal lyrical and deeply philosophical. Many novels have a handful of good lines; some releases have no noteworthy passages. The truly memorable sentences in this dark gem of a novel are bountiful: “Joburg is a crack whore in a torn dress fighting on a street corner on a Tuesday afternoon wig ripped off shoes lost spit and blood flying”; “I remember the frail Edwardian houses as they once were their verandas crowded with people on summer evenings but they pass by in the night now as gutted husks of crumbled masonry and emptied misery the old art déco buildings iridescent in open-pit fires squat vertical slums of absence.” Historical fiction aficionados will be more than impressed by Martini’s meticulous descriptions of Joburg throughout the decades and crime story and mystery fans will enjoy puzzling out Lago’s secret. This unsettling fusion of historical fiction and brutal noir thriller also functions effectively as a coming-of-age tale—Lago’s harsh journey of self-discovery is laden with nuggets of existential wisdom such as the realization that some things are best left in the past.
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Mitchell gathers an assortment of essays combining film criticism with personal narrative covering topics such as his lifelong disabilities personal relationships and general existential crises. The films he covers are diverse leaning mostly independent (with some mainstream classics). For the most part the author follows the formula of describing a film providing commentary and criticism and contextualizing the film within some episode or theme from his life. The movies discussed include Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World and Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are. The title essay is the least connected to Mitchell’s personal life and contains the most rigorous criticism. By contrast the penultimate essay (one of the best in the collection) “Weightlessness” contains no film criticism and only tangentially references Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff and Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity; it instead focuses on a deeply emotional chapter in the author’s life in which his young adult son was hospitalized. In another piece Mitchell states “This is not a story with an epiphany.” This line though specifically written in regard to his father serves as something of a thesis for the entire collection; Mitchell writes openly about his physical relational and religious anxieties which rather than trying to solve he learns to accept. In his essay about Tsai Ming-liang’s Stray Dogs the author writes “I come to trust my darkness but the trust makes it no less dark. I grow comfortable with the way I move without light.” The provocative ways in which the author relates his personal life to the films he discusses makes the collection uniquely engaging—although many of the selections are not mainstream in the least Mitchell’s takes are so edifying that readers will be hooked whether or not they are familiar with the material.
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In her nonfiction debut Calambichis offers advice and guidance to “those who want to build a food business with passion discipline and purpose.” She provides worksheets and reference cards designed to translate her organizational ideas into practical real-world applications focusing on three key frameworks: the “Blueprint Operating Model” the “Blueprint Profit Framework” and the “Blueprint Risk Matrix” decision tools that “help clarify thinking identify opportunities and organize action in ways that intuition alone cannot always produce.” (The note about intuition not being sufficient appears throughout the book.) The author notes that food enterprises typically have two sides. One is passion-driven and emotional involving treasured recipes and culinary traditions; the other is driven by the structure and discipline of operational thinking. The latter side gets the lion’s share of Calambichis’ attention in these pages where she provides detailed advice about establishing and running a food business from tips on laying the groundwork to considerations of financial risks transportation delays weather patterns and supply chain issues. “Financial risk strength is built through disciplined cash flow management clearly enforced payment terms thoughtful growth pacing and the maintenance of financial reserves” she explains. The author regularly references the human elements of the process noting for instance that customers are often more understanding about problems than operators think they’ll be. Calambichis writes with appealing clarity in this work which will prove very useful to readers who are starting out in the food business. Equally valuable is the author’s tough-love acknowledgments of the realities of the business: “At some point things will go wrong” she writes. “Not occasionally. Inevitably.” Calambichis takes readers through every logistical reality of operations in a manner that nicely balances technical detail with philosophical frameworks and helps to position the material in a broader context. The inclusion of AI considerations feels a bit perfunctory but the bedrock basics of the business are impeccably described.
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Various timelines unfold across time and space in Eλλas “as it was then known” (it is now known as the Milky Way). Pandara and Koravo are two lovers from Ksevia a city in Tristulle. Ksevia’s commune is presided over by Arkdemus guardian of The Graphia Cometa text aided by Lohrnum a drug that promotes “balance and harmony.” Political unrest erupts and threatens the Yuit—“the collective mind of Ksevia”—and the wider universe. Pandara and Koravo escape into the city’s surrounding forest a mysterious landscape integral to the populace’s birth and death cycles (“when someone steps out into the wilderness a child is born”). As Pandara and Koravo wander deeper into the “unfolding distant dream of Sirrung” they encounter Seprator who warns them of “a dangerous journey” and a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. Koravo’s dream about Pandara becoming lost in a labyrinth comes true when the two are separated into dreamlike shifting states unable to communicate. The lovers must reunite to save each other and their city. Trautman’s novel details an expansive realm and many characters across its narrative strands. Readers will be intrigued by the jumps in time and place; in this universe “All times exist right now all times except for the future. The future is a constantly gyrating sphere of possibilities.” The author sacrifices character development in favor of in-depth worldbuilding leading to some tangential plotlines that distract from the novel’s central quest but the novel’s structure is cleverly replicated by the in-story puzzle box architecture—readers will be kept guessing by this pacy novel. The short chapters effectively flesh out the wider world where democracy is under threat though the political landscape is overshadowed by the emotionally layered core relationship.
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It’s 1930 and famous movie star Garland Westover is dead. Gracie Perkins and six other girls in the steno pool at Kaplan Talking Pictures are the only people who know this; they are also covering up his murder. Keeping this all a secret proves especially hard for Gracie a 21-year-old who had been conducting an affair with the older star. (“They had something special. It wasn’t just physical—he really understood her.”) When the studio frames Garland’s death as a suicide Gracie thinks the whole thing is finally over but LAPD detective Dominic “Nick” Zingarelli starts taking an interest. Though the case is officially closed Nick is suspicious about the circumstances of Garland’s death—he’s also romantically interested in Gracie who doesn’t know whether she should trust him. A second storyline moves back in time to follow Gracie in the past starting with a traumatic sexual assault that got her kicked out of school (“she didn’t try to refute any of it. She sat entirely mute as Mr. Lyttle told Peggy that it would be best if Gracie dropped out of school. That way they would not have to expel her”) and detailing her journey to a career in stenography. (This narrative thread feels a little jarring until it becomes clear how it ties into the main story.) Bator effectively weaves a deeply felt theme about the consequences of silence in the face of sexual assault with the engaging elements of a mystery thriller. The romance between Gracie—a strong lead character whose willful denial is painfully relatable—and Nick begins tentatively. Gracie is distrustful of him and her fear permeates their scenes together but ultimately their relationship settles into something easy to root for.
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This charming book asks readers to wonder who or what could pull Santa’s sleigh. Sheep are cute but might put Santa to sleep. Goats are “nimble and quick” but they’re likely to munch on everything in sight. Frogs would leap at the chance but might anger dragons who think frogs are princes in disguise. Long-legged ostriches? They can’t get off the ground so how about dinosaurs? Far too chaotic. Finally robots are perfect…until their batteries run low. Which brings us back to reindeer. Barnsley’s rhyming prose is bouncy humorous and fast-paced which younger audiences will enjoy. Epelbaum’s full-page illustrations are vibrant clear and expressive with just the right touch of exaggeration from the adorably sleepy sheep to the cross-eyed frog zapping a slimy slug. The depth and attention to detail in each illustration is impressive inviting the audience to dwell on each page. This book is not simply a fun read-aloud; Barnsley also slips in interesting tidbits about each animal such as goats’ voracious appetites frogs’ remarkable tongues and the fact that ostriches can’t fly. Perfectly suited to younger audiences this playful picture book will put everyone in the mood for Christmas.
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Knowing that it’s wrong but attracted by the excitement of big easy bucks 17-year-old Ohioan Elliott allows himself to be drawn into the schemes of his troubled longtime friend Felix Thurman. Felix who struggles with his disengaged adoptive parents has a new girlfriend “tech goddess” Céline Moreau whose dad “went to prison / for some credit card scam thing.” Elliott deals with his own tensions at home—his father is unemployed and his mother works retail and has a multilevel marketing side gig. Céline provides the gear and know-how for the trio to set up a series of bogus online product offers charities and websites. Then mysterious texts—“I know who you are” “I know what you’re doing buddy”—and extortion demands appear followed by an incident that leaves Felix beaten and bloody and a devastating discovery. Repentant 12th grader Elliott is left to reflect on friendship and the kind of person he wants to be aware that for every Felix in the world there are “friends like me / who tag along.” This work for striving readers balances narrator Elliott’s introspective musings with a fast pace and a clearly stated message about the immorality of scammers. Although not everyone is redeemed by the end the story does end on a positive note of hope and redemption for Elliott. The cast presents white.
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Kelly joins a new gym run by the Olympic coach but she’s unsure of herself in the shadow of her “bubbly / beautiful confident” best friend Jenny. Through Jenny she meets Brandon a cute boy she believes she doesn’t have a chance with since she’s “‘stocky.’ / And sad.” Kelly is devastated over the recent death of her beloved half brother Michael while he was camping with Todd her other half brother. Her household is filled with tension—unkind Todd seems to resent it when Kelly’s grief spills over: “Todd is handsome and / charming. // To other people.” In short lines of unadorned free verse Kelly speaks about her feelings (including guilt over experiencing happy moments when Michael’s life is over) the gym where she trains a new gymnastics friend family dynamics and her growing involvement with Brandon. Shelton carefully portrays the tough world of competitive sports that Kelly wants to enter. Her fragile emotional state coupled with her drive to get onto the competition team supply this verse novel for striving readers with enough interest to keep the pages turning. Characters largely present white.
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Joe Sargenti is a stressed-out corporate litigator and partner at white-shoe firm King and Ransom. Joe’s work consumes his life; he’s burned out despises his colleagues and regrets missed family time and broken relationships. He’s also shocked and saddened by the suicide of Marco Casasanta a young colleague who was house counsel at one of the firm’s top clients Madison Bank. One day while looking into bank records regarding a seemingly routine SEC matter he notices some unusual activity. Marco’s widow then asks Joe for help unlocking Marco’s laptop hoping it might hold a clue to Marco’s suicide. Joe takes the laptop to his estranged son Sean a feckless MIT computer science dropout despite knowing that accessing any bank data it might contain is a serious legal matter. But Joe’s misgivings won’t go away especially after he discovers that someone has deleted the suspicious records he’d seen and then he’s abruptly shifted to another case. Soon the bank’s executives are demanding the laptop back. Joe stalls and the bank retaliates with a court order against him his son and Marco’s widow. At this point it’s safe to say that it’s not only Joe’s career that’s in jeopardy. Threatened with losing it all will he get a chance to rebuild his relationship with Sean and ultimately find new purpose? Woll a screenwriter and former lawyer builds the story layer by painstaking layer in a voice laced with sardonic humor as in his description of a bank executive: “His confidence in these abilities exceeded the abilities themselves.” While Joe stumbles across clues without knowing where they lead the author raises the stakes with the behind-the-scenes dealings of high-level politicians. The main characters are well developed while others such as the conniving partners and irascible elderly judge are familiar genre staples though vividly sketched.
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Mark Bonen has been away from his home country for seven years. Shy but determined he works for months at a time on mining rigs in the desert living in campers and jotting down fragments of poetry in a notebook. As an immigrant without a visa Mark finds his life to be a series of temporary routines and relationships that seem insubstantial and surreal. During long hot days at the rig he often disappears into himself alienated from the work and from his fellow laborers. “The papers would make him real” observes the terse third-person narration. “He wanted a life that didn’t have an expiry date.” The prize of Mark’s labor—a visa—is just over the horizon promised to him by his contract with the mining company. So Mark keeps working despite his aching body despite the solitude and despite the tenuousness of his connection to each new place he finds himself. Nogia’s tightly written story features spare prose that perfectly situates the reader inside Mark’s grinding existence. The loneliness and boredom that the quiet anxious protagonist experiences render the stakes of everyday interactions impossibly high: An attractive restaurant server the first woman he’s seen in six months mesmerizes him as she cleans his table; an aborted attempt to join a local salsa class becomes a symbol of his inability to connect. “Need to go with friends” Mark thinks on his way to the class. “Don’t have any.” This novella is quiet and simple but it’s never banal. Indeed reminders of Mark’s immigration status drive home the fact that the details of his future large and small are in someone else’s hands as when he watches helplessly as officials hash out the sponsorship of his visa over a series of blasé emails.
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The author who’s co-written articles and books about parenting difficult and/or traumatized children brings gentle advice to the topic of adopting rescue dogs. Integrating any pup into a new family involves a period of adjustment but rescue animals carry with them unique challenges due to their often troubled histories; many bear the scars of their pasts—sometimes physical more often emotional. Most of the time their earlier lives are a mystery to new owners or at best only vaguely known. Some have been removed from their mothers and littermates too early before having a chance to develop appropriate social behavior (such as learning to bite softly); others have been picked up by animal control while wandering the streets or rescued from a dangerous and abusive situation. In all cases new owners must offer security which will allow the animals to reveal their true loving nature Sunshine says. This guide adheres to the “HEARTS” framework that’s frequently followed by agencies placing at-risk and/or traumatized children with adoptive parents. The acronym stands for six steps that lead toward a rewarding adoption: “Heal the body” “Enrich the brain” “Align the environment” “Relate with kindness” “Teach compassionately” and “Support the individual.” Sunshine writes “Imagine being sent to a place where you don’t know anyone and you don’t speak the language. Every sound is unfamiliar. Every smell is strange. You have no idea if you’re safe or if you will soon need to move again.” It takes patience determination and careful observation of which actions are distressing to the new family member and which are supportive. To this end Sunshine has created an interactive guide that is reminiscent of traditional baby books with blank pages to chart the newcomer’s progress and milestones complete with pertinent questions writing exercises and suggestions that may help one build a lifelong bond with their pet.
Due to its clear accessible prose composed in a voice that stresses positivity rather than pedantic instructions the guide will be appropriate for both adult and adolescent dog owners. Throughout the book Sunshine addresses potential stumbling blocks and offers gentle science-based methods for providing reassurance. She reminds readers that “Dogs communicate and share information through body movements”; it’s also the way they understand their new owners she points out by reading their humans’ body language. Kelly-Liviolette’s sweet line drawings accompany every chapter and illustrate how dogs “politely” signal their distress or feelings of security. Over the course of the guide she also provides intriguing and helpful tidbits of canine-related information such as “Dogs have remarkably sensitive necks—their trachea thyroid skin and spine are all vulnerable there.” Hence one must choose collars or harnesses with comfort as well as safety in mind Sunshine asserts. Occasionally she employs light humor as when she discusses dogs’ extraordinary sense of smell through which they learn critical information about their environment: “The smellier the better! From dirty laundry to dead squirrels or another dog’s rump odors fascinate your dog.”
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From the moment the teenage Aggie Brown sees a Qilak Inuit storyteller mask lying in a junkyard she knows that she has to help return it to its rightful owners. With the help of her friend Emmett she steals it from under the noses of the brutish Donnelly twins and hides it in the Northern Lights Egg Timer™ factory. As the two friends embark on what initially seems like a minor adventure the author gradually introduces readers to the larger world of Port Helios an Arctic Regional Commonwealth city that once boomed but is now characterized by boarded-up factories state propaganda corporate ambition and the looming authority of President Doctor Professor Semper Ubi Sububi. Beneath the odd details of this northern society is a complicated social order in which Inuit culture is both exploited and guarded by the authorities and the powerful Von Poucke Industries where Aggie’s father works as a geologist. Commissioner Ylva Tikaani a powerful official whose domains include sanitation environmental protection and prisons is desperately searching for the mask Aggie has stolen. It seems no coincidence then when Aggie’s father is arrested for allegedly filching diamonds that were discovered during his work on the mysterious Northwest Project. Determined to understand both the significance of the mask and the circumstances surrounding her father’s arrest Aggie begins an investigation of her own. An old photograph leads her to Tommy Tulugaq the only Inuk student at her elite school. Though Tommy is reluctant to help he realizes that his own family is tied to the same mysteries surrounding Aggie’s father. Before long Tommy’s family history Aggie’s parents’ past and old legends about the magical Lodestone Mountain begin to converge as the young trio find themselves on the run and trying to understand how stolen artifacts corporate expansion and Inuit mythology are part of the same story.
Zelkowitz displays great prowess at creating an eccentric layered world. Rather than explicitly explaining the workings of Port Helios he allows readers to discover its politics history and cultural tensions piece by piece. He similarly avoids the black-and-white moral divisions common to much dystopian fiction; the villains range from indifferent guards to genuinely violent authoritarian figures. Aggie’s mother a native of the region embodies the complexity of an occupied culture through her relationship with Aggie’s father and the company he serves. The narrative offers a thoughtful exploration of cultural heritage environmental damage and the surprising connections between science and mythology. The novel repeatedly challenges Aggie to reconsider her assumptions while imbuing a world shaped by corporate interests with real powerful magic. As Tommy discusses the importance of the storyteller mask to his community he reminds her that “Masks are part of our living tradition Aggie not just some piece of ancient history.” The density that makes the novel’s world fascinating can also make it difficult to navigate—lists of acronyms and references to legends political factions and family secrets will likely test younger readers’ patience in particular but those willing to follow Zelkowitz through his deliberately absurd bureaucratic maze will find the effort more than rewarding.
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Medical resident Maria Castillo is in her first year of residency at University Hospital in Winston-Salem North Carolina; Chris Defont is a talented coder who recently started work in the hospital’s information technology division. It’s a time of great technological change in the medical profession and their workplace has just launched a new AI medical assistant called Metis that monitors every doctor’s decisions whatever their expertise and offers tips and criticism. Metis’ advice draws on massive libraries of knowledge and is often incredibly thorough and many doctors and nurses are thankful for the help it’s able to provide. But some are unnerved and distrustful of any technology that has power over questions of life and death. One of these critics is Maria’s attending physician and supervisor Victor Hendrix a former hacker who believes in the knowledge and wisdom of his team. Maria and Chris form a budding friendship and then a tentative romance after a rocky first meeting; they find themselves brought together by the fact that they both begin to notice flaws in the Metis system. At the very least the new tool frequently chooses palliative and even dangerous care options for patients who could be saved. When Metis and the corporate interests backing it cover their tracks by blaming Maria and Chris for the system’s failures the two band together to get to the bottom of the mystery. Over the course of this thriller Mashaw delivers a story that’s akin to other tales of promising tech gone wrong such as Michael Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park (1990) and his screenplay for the 1973 film Westworld. Although it’s set in a modern-day hospital or perhaps one that’s a few years in the future readers may find the technological aspects and their accompanying concerns to be chillingly familiar. Its exploration of giving too much power to a technology that few people completely understand seems especially timely.
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Brownell’s book begins with Vee Haines waiting for her 9-year-old son Ray to come home. Their ramshackle homestead is in Starve-Out New Mexico a place so obscure that it’s not on any map. Vee tells Ray bedtime stories about her own childhood as the oldest daughter of a well-to-do banker in Chicago. Privately she remembers the series of misfortunes that led her from enjoying an affluent life to eking out a hardscrabble existence with Ray. Then a handsome stranger named Benton arrives a man who’s down-and-out but also gentle respectful and kind. But after a brief interlude of happiness things fall apart and Ray threatens to run away. The novel abruptly fast-forwards to Connecticut in 2012 and switches to the point of view of Vee’s grandson Davey Traska an overweight college dropout who lacks a full-time job and lives in his mother’s basement. Vee 99 resides in a nursing home and Davey worries that she’s beginning to confuse past and present. She says “I’ll see you again yesterday” when he visits and he wonders if her stories of Starve-Out and Ray are remembered or imagined. At 27 Davey has a longstanding crush on Mia a woman he’s too scared to approach and Vee encourages him to take a chance. Then Vee starts flirting with a nursing home resident which upsets Davey. What happens next leads him to a reckoning and reconnection with his family’s history and a newfound sense of purpose. The sudden shift in time and point of view is jarring at first but the parallels and connections—including hints of the supernatural—between past and present become more meaningful as the present-day part of the story progresses. Brownell’s writing is apt and evocative whether describing a mesa’s evening shadow spreading “as though someone was pulling a soft gray blanket across the desert landscape” or Davey’s wardrobe of “sweat pants and sweatshirts probably made in sweatshops.” Her characters are relatable and memorable. Vee transforms from a scared young girl into a tough self-reliant woman and Davey confronts his fears to change self-pity into hopeful action.
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Wilder’s novel unfolds entirely within the uninterrupted narration of Warner Truman an 18-year-old high school graduate whose tendency to self-aggrandize is immediately apparent: “I’m going to be president one day. No doubt about it.” Warner also announces that he is a hero promising to eventually explain the tumultuous events that he feels have earned him that title. The world outside Warner’s head is chock-full of people he resents. He despises his own father while idolizing his grandfather Jed a former police officer whose questionable behavior Warner invariably interprets as evidence of strength and intelligence. Warner’s version of an earlier family tragedy provides the first reason to question his own perspective: His younger brother Randy was paralyzed after jumping from a window. But while Warner insists he was in the bathroom at the time he acknowledges contradictory accounts and a lingering “seed of doubt” about his role in the accident. At school Warner navigates a world dominated by bullies like Deke Smith and the vile Coach Kennedy. His relationship with his girlfriend Carly deteriorates as she grows closer to a boy Warner hates named Carter Bedford. He also befriends Joey a lonely student who’s relentlessly mocked for his weight; as part of Warner’s insistence on his own benevolence he appoints himself the isolated boy’s new “mentor.” Uncertainties start to multiply as Warner observes Coach Kennedy’s abusive behavior toward Joey and female students—especially when he learns that Joey keeps an AK-47 hidden in his basement. Despite Warner’s insistence on being a good person—“If somebody needs help I’m your man”—his attempts to quietly manage everyone around him get more and more pronounced. As bullying abuse romantic jealousy and simmering violence increasingly rise to the foreground Warner’s promised explanation of his supposed heroism begins to look considerably more complicated.
Wilder’s impressive commitment to Warner’s consciousness creates a surprisingly multifaceted novel despite confining readers to a single perspective. Scenes remain dynamic as Warner’s mind constantly darts between narration memories jokes and self-justifications. His voice can also be very funny. (One extended and memorably quirky tangent confidently argues that Gandhi was actually Jack the Ripper.) Wilder channels an extensive literary knowledge through Warner as well; the ideas of Orwell Steinbeck and other writers all get filtered through Warner’s peculiar interpretative mind. Warner’s psychology is skillfully rendered particularly when the narrator seems determined to convince readers of his heroism by insisting on the opposite in his characteristically vulgar fashion: “I’m not a hero despite what happened later. I’d be a pawn under a dictatorship. Likely sell my buddies up the river to keep my balls out of a vice.” But Wilder’s fascinating experiment can also be exhausting. The novel’s nearly uninterrupted blocks of text with little conventional punctuation or paragraphing is abrasive and frequently unpleasant especially because Warner’s caustic perspective focuses increasingly on potentially upsetting subject matter. Wilder’s acerbic humor often channeled through Warner’s ceaseless cynicism feels sharp and precise but it leaves little room for the horrific events the author describes to fully coalesce. While admirable for its style and technique Wilder’s deep dive into this strange antihero’s psyche may leave some readers eager to escape his company.
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When recruiting the young Stubblefield from Chattanooga Tennessee to join his band in the mid-1960s Brown was already in the midst of a musical transition. He called it “a brand-new bag” focusing more on grooves than songcraft. As Steinberg writes in her biography Stubblefield was such a polyrhythmic phenomenon that his pairing with holdover drummer John “Jabo” Starks supplied all the propulsion this new music required. He was the bedrock for hits that followed as Brown would encourage the band to explore that polyrhythmic interplay and then dash off some lyrics. The result was “Cold Sweat” and “I Got the Feelin’”—and the whole Sex Machine album. Brown wasn’t much for sharing the credit or the wealth so the creative contributions of the musicians were little heralded. From his six years in the band Stubblefield left an indelible imprint which grew larger after the emerging hip-hop sampling made his break from “Funky Drummer” ubiquitous. After leaving Brown in the early ’70s he settled in Madison Wisconsin where Steinberg was a student who became an ardent fan. “I met him when I wandered into a small almost empty bar late one night in the mid-nineties during the dead of winter in Madison” she writes. “As a result of that chance encounter we became friends. We stayed in touch for years off and on until his death in 2017.” Stubblefield served as a mentor for musicians in the university town and much of the book details what a shining example he set. He wasn’t much for rehearsing and he didn’t give lessons but he was a living lesson to all he encountered both in the way he played and the way he treated others (so unlike the tyrannical Brown). The survey of musical development and social impact are basic but a reporting trip to Chattanooga and interviews with Stubblefield’s former bandmates and acolytes give warmth to the portrait here.
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Lily Corcoran is a 40-year-old researcher at the University of Wisconsin whose pursuit of her Ph.D. in neuroscience has long been waylaid by the work of parenting her 10-year-old daughter Rosie. This task has now been made more difficult by the fact that Lily and her husband have recently separated. One wine-soaked night as Lily battles loneliness in her quiet house she’s startled by the arrival of her mother who doesn’t seem to have aged a day in 30 years. In the 1980s her mom Patty Rose left a holiday party early and died in a car accident on the way home. So the question is obvious: How could she be here now? Over the next few weeks Lily adjusts to life with her mother’s apparition including the smell of her 1980s hair spray her attachment to shoulder pads and her heavenly home cooking. Disguising her mom as her long-lost “Cousin Trish” they both attend holiday gatherings repaint Rosie’s room and even go shopping at Target. But as Lily finds out life with a ghost can be challenging: Patty bursts into flames when she’s angry and becomes transparent when she’s nervous. Her mother’s advice ranges from the dated (she pressures Lily to wear a push-up bra to win back her husband) to the genuinely caring (suggesting Lily cut back on candy and booze). But as happy as Lily is to have a second chance with her mother she can’t help resenting her too. Then one disastrous night changes everything between them: Lily realizes that she and Patty are more alike than she’s ever realized. Keller’s writing is bright and witty and the speculative details of the haunting are entertaining. Although the side characters are a bit flat and some conclusions feel too tidy the story remains somehow impressively grounded. The novel’s greatest success however comes from its depiction of the tender relationship between a daughter and the mother she lost too soon.
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Russell Quant now approaching his 55th birthday is confronting the painful fact that his 84-year-old mother Kay is showing signs of increasing dementia. He visits her farmhouse to begin sorting out her lifetime’s worth of assorted possessions. Kay is paying a condolence call to her friend Cecilia (CeeCee) Toth whose husband Clem has recently died. Quant heads over to CeeCee’s house where he learns that Clem left a suicide text on CeeCee’s phone—the message includes a confession about committing some sort of crime. Quant also learns that two weeks before Clem’s death somebody sprayed poison over all the plants in some greenhouses in the neighboring town. CeeCee also owns a greenhouse and when the police discover empty containers of Roundup in CeeCee and Clem’s yard they assume that Clem was getting rid of the competition and feeling guilty died by suicide—but CeeCee is convinced he was murdered. And so Quant and his investigative partner JP Taine (who’s also his husband) have their next case. Bidulka’s ninth entry in his Russell Quant detective series offers a twisty mystery with enough red herrings to keep readers engaged. It’s also a touching tale of an adult coming to terms with the gradual mental decline of a beloved parent. The author sensitively limns well-observed small lapses—like ingredients missing in Kay’s much-loved recipes—and larger ones as when she mistakes Quant for his deceased father. (“I’ll always remember that moment the first time my mother misidentified me. Part of me wanted to turn and run away. Part of me wanted to engulf Mom in a hug until she knew it was me. I did neither.”) Despite the tale’s inherent poignancy Quant’s edgy and often self-effacing sense of humor adds giggles and a delightful positive energy to the mix.
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Everything seems to be going wrong in Tenley Ward’s life. It’s January 2027 and the draft has been reinstated; she fears that her college-aged son Chance could be drafted into a seemingly imminent third world war. Her marriage is also crumbling: After 21 years and four children the drudgery of everyday life has dulled her relationship with her husband Harrison. She enjoyed a promising career in television news before giving it up to raise her children. Recently however she’s found renewed purpose: The organization she directs Mothers Opposing More Senselessness (MOMS) has acquired over 250000 followers on social media. Outside the home she feels empowered. When she meets a handsome former Marine known as Privately who served in Iraq (a man young enough to be her son) she immediately wants to make him the face of her movement. The chemistry between them is palpable; Privately is the first man in ages to pay her any real attention. But he has secrets of his own including several arrests and the growing bond between them eventually threatens to sink not only MOMS but also her marriage. This is an exceptional look at a latter-day Mrs. Jellyby (Dickens’ matronly philanthropist in Bleak House) a woman so devoted to saving the children of strangers that she inadvertently neglects her own. Hinz excels in portraying the interior struggles of a woman at midlife especially Tenley’s constant questioning of whether she is still beautiful; she feels a sudden flush of warmth when a man approvingly appraises her body eagerly seeking one last romance. The will-they-won’t-they tension between Privately and Tenley powers the novel to its finish culminating in scenes of chaste but erotically charged passion. The central question readers are left with is this: Will the resolution allow Tenley to find long-term fulfillment and love in a world that so values youth?
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Two unnamed kids—one black-haired with tan skin one brown-haired with pale skin—become pals after one moves to the neighborhood and they end up at the same school; the two children switch off as narrators. (One kid’s words are in roman; the other’s are in italics. This will take readers some getting used to as the text doesn’t always sit on the page near the corresponding narrator.) The kids do everything together—play games ride bikes put on a show—until one day “I say something mean.” The tan-skinned kid immediately apologizes but the sting lingers and the other child flirts with a new friendship group before the two narrators make their peace. Some readers may be disappointed that Nienow doesn’t spell out what the “something mean” is; the idea is presumably that the particulars of the transgression don’t matter but the omission seems out of sync in a story teeming with specifics about what the friends do and think. Still the book’s subject—friendship drama—is eminently relatable. Ahmed’s deeply considered art captures the spirit of the narrators’ relationship and inventively employs what looks like a green vine as a motif that sometimes links the youngsters together and sometimes keeps them apart depending on where they are in their friendship.
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