John Newlin     Most people of my generation know about Pearl Harbor only what they’ve seen on television newsreels—bombs falling on battleships in the harbor and destroying planes lined up at Hickam Field on the December 7, 1941; the…

Katie Piccirillo Sherman     The New York Times recently revealed that 74 percent of Trump supporters advocate barring Muslims from the United States. This shocking statistic alone highlights the relevance of Greg Hrbek’s newest novel, Not on Fire but…

LeeAnn Celapino     Caitlin, a rather peculiar 12 year-old living with her single mother in Seattle, keeps company with the fishes at her local aquarium. Her mother, loving and determined, works long hours as a laborer just for the…

Erin Fannin     Eric Faye’s novel Nagasaki delves into the mindset of Shimura, a middle aged Japanese man, as he deals with an unexpected guest in his house. The story begins when Shimura notices that his food starts to…

Ellen Hughes     Patrick Modiano’s Paris Nocturne starts with recalling a nighttime collision between a sea-green Fiat and the quiet, loner narrator who is crossing Place des Pyramides. The car snagged the man’s leg, careened through an arcade, and…

Rebecca Manning     The story takes place in the basement of Bruno Schulz, a deceased author, most famous for his two collections of short fiction released before his murder by a Gestapo officer in 1942. Maxim Biller follows the…

Angela Raper     “All this leads me to the conclusion that with people, it’s just the same: just because you’re uncultivated doesn’t mean you’re not cultivable. You just need to stumble on the right gardener.” – Germain Chazes In…

Gwen Holt     Mary Gaitskill’s newest novel, The Mare, is a sensitive exploration of class, love, and strength born from damage. It revolves around the polar worlds of Ginger and Paul, an artsy couple from upstate New York, and…

Maha Shahid     Italian writer Piero Chiara’s The Disappearance of Signora Giulia is a slim novel that will draw readers in and keep them hooked all the way to the end and beyond with the promise of resolving tantalizing…

Mackinley Greenlaw     You’d assume that a story called The Man in a Hurry would be an exercise in efficiency—a flash-seared piece of meat with the fat trimmed, and the garnish minimized.  But, you probably assume a lot.  You…