Better Living Through Birding, by Christian Cooper (Random House, 282 pages)
“Writing a memoir is akin to taking off one’s clothes in public” is how Christian Cooper begins his acknowledgments, wherein he thanks everyone who made his memoir possible, with one extremely notable exception: the Central Park “Karen” who Continue reading “Better Living Through Birding, by Christian Cooper”
The In-Between, by Hadley Vlahos (Ballantine, 259 pages)
For much of the past 50 years, most Americans died in a hospital. That was a change from the first part of the 20th century, when most people died at home. Since 2017, more people are dying at home again, in Continue reading “The In-Between, by Hadley Vlahos”
How to Survive History, by Cody Cassidy (Penguin, 224 pages)
Until this week I never knew there was a category on Amazon called “humor history,” but I’m here for it. So is Cody Cassidy, who created for himself a cheeky publishing niche by imagining the improbable and then figuring out Continue reading “How to Survive History, by Cody Cassidy”
Drowning, by T.J. Newman (Avid Reader Press, 293 pages)
If you haven’t read T.J. Newman yet, best get started. She is one of the hottest names in publishing right now, having seemingly emerged out of nowhere to sign multi-million deals that will put her two novels on the big Continue reading “Drowning, by T.J. Newman”
The Collected Regrets of Clover, by Mikki Brammer (St. Martin’s Press, 314 pages)
Clover Brooks is 36, single and surrounded by death — not the thing you’d want to put on a Tinder profile. The lifetime New Yorker lives alone in a rent-controlled apartment she shared with her grandfather Continue reading “The Collected Regrets of Clover, by Mikki Brammer”
Soul Boom, by Rainn Wilson (Hachette Go, 275 pages)
The shelf life of The Office and its cast seems eternal, even though it’s been 18 years since the sitcom’s debut. The actors keep turning up in other roles, in podcasts and in a surprising number of books, the latest Continue reading “Soul Boom, by Rainn Wilson”
Halcyon, by Elliot Ackerman (Deckle Edge/Knopf, 256 pages)
In a recent poll, fewer than 10 percent of young Americans said they were interested in military service, according to an NBC News story. This makes Elliot Ackerman one of a disappearing breed of writers, writers in the mold of Vonnegut, Continue reading “Halcyon, by Elliot Ackerman”
All the Beauty in the World, by Patrick Bringley (Simon & Schuster, 226 pages)
When Patrick Bringley’s older brother died after a lingering illness, his life was upended at age 25 and so he did the only thing that made sense at the time: He applied to be a Continue reading “All the Beauty in the World, by Patrick Bringley”
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, by Claire Dederer (Knopf, 273 pages)
In 2017, the year that the world learned about the sexual predation of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, Claire Dederer published an essay in The Paris Review in which she tried to work out her feelings about bad men and Continue reading “Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, by Claire Dederer”
Saving Time, by Jenny Odell (Random House, 364 pages)
The quote that opens Jenny Odell’s Saving Time is from the late painter Agnes Martin: “I wish the idea of time would drain out of my cells and leave me quiet even on this shore.”
For anyone who feels that Continue reading “Saving Time, by Jenny Odell”
