Fiction & Literature Book Reviews

Eowyn Ivey sets her debut novel in 1920s Alaska, where readers are first introduced to its wilderness by an aging couple struggling to survive in this unrelenting, isolated place. read more

In Spoonful, Chris Mendius tells an engrossing tale of drug-dealing, the junkie lifestyle and the seductive perils of heroin, set in Chicago of the ’90s. The evocative work earned the book a Kirkus star. Here he talks to us about the levels of addiction, the tension of gentrification and his route to publication. read more

Liz Moore’s second book, Heft, follows the story of an obese recluse in Brooklyn and a teen baseball star in Yonkers, N.Y.—and the intricate ties that intersect their difficult lives. read more

An award-winningfiction writer and poet, Naomi Benaron’s debut novel Running the Rift won the Bellwether Prize for fiction. Set in Rwanda—a country that Benaron says she felt a strong connection to upon first sight—the story follows Jean Patrick Nkuba and his dream of one day running in the Olympics. read more