Review: Kells: A Novel of the Eighth Century, by Amy Crider
At an early point in the story, one of the central characters, Connachtach, is left to contemplate the question “What does God want of me?” It’s a deep question, and […]
Review: A Feel-Good Novel about Coping Together, Everybody Here Is Kin, by BettyJoyce Nash
BettyJoyce Nash will be at The Book Cellar at 4736 N Lincoln Ave. in Chicago at 7pm on Thursday, October 26, to discuss her new novel Everybody Here is Kin […]
Review: Bewitching Hollywood Flappers and Fairies in Kathleen Rooney’s From Dust to Stardust
At one point in Kathleen Rooney’s bewitching new novel From Dust to Stardust, the iconic Hollywood flapper Doreen O’Dare says to an interviewer, “What I’ve figured out is that the […]
Review: Truest Metal: Heroes of the Metal Underground, by Alexandros Anesiadis with Yannis Skarpelos
Metal, as a genre, is an amusing blend of arrogance and earnestness. Look past the leather and chains, wind-milling manes, and tight animal print pants with padded baskets…ignore the kayfabe […]
Review: Julia Fine Weaves an Alluring Gothic Fairy Tale in Maddalena and the Dark
Vividly set amongst the winding cobblestone streets and shadowy canals of 18th century Venice, Chicago writer Julia Fine’s Maddalena and the Dark is a wonderfully moody, gothic fairy tale about […]
Review: Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood—Do All the Good You Can, by Gary Scott Smith
How can someone be so famous and yet so misunderstood? It’s easy if your name is Hillary Clinton. Gary Scott Smith, author of Do All the Good You Can, contends […]
Review: Who We Lost Meets the Loss and Sorrow of COVID with Grace and Fury
Who We Lost: A Portable COVID Memorial, edited by Martha Greenwald and published by Belt Publishing, started out on Greenwald’s website WhoWeLost.org, an online, crowd-sourced memorial to those who perished […]
Review: Gotta Get Organizized—Occupation: Organizer, by Clément Petitjean
Author Clément Petitjean asserts early on in his new book, Occupation: Organizer, that the role of a “community organizer” is multifaceted and warrants a comprehensive reassessment. While the general public […]
Review: Darkest Suburbia, Suburban Monsters, by Christopher Hawkins
Brevity is both the soul of wit and the spirit of horror. A horror novel carries its own pleasures, but shorter tales of terror often punch well above their weight. […]
Review: A Social Media Novel Not for the Faint-hearted, , by David Scott Hay
If ever a trigger warning was needed, it’s the one for David Scott Hay’s new novel [NSFW], which cautions the reader that the novel includes “sex, drug use, witchcraft, profanity, […]
Review: The Artist Who Made a Difference About Injustice
If you’re at all familiar with DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus, you’ve almost certainly been impressed by the nine-foot-tall statue of Monsignor Jack Egan at the eastern entrance of the […]
Review: The Marshal Who “Could Spit and Bust a Brick in Two,” Black Gun, Silver Star, by Art T. Burton
It is important that there is a book such as Art T. Burton’s Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshall Bass Reeves to ensure the memory […]