Furnace Creek
Joseph Boone’s debut novel tells the story of a white, middle-class boy who, through a series of events and strange encounters, gets lifted into the world of high culture, something he’s dreamed of but never expected.
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning
For those who enjoy the unconventional bildungsroman—or are thirsting for some adventure—read this memoir by Laurie Lee. Originally published in 1969, it recounts the poet's long walk across Spain in the 1930s.
Category Unknown
Category Unknown by Koushik Banerjea is a dense and ambitious book that continues the conversation relaunched by the racial reckoning of 2020, "and reminds us that the conversation isn't the least bit new."
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
"Shattering one-sided, romanticized stories of how this country came to be…" Carol Ann Wilson reviews The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Two Novels that Strike Close to Home: On Finding Oneself in a Book
Geoffrey Dutton looks at the "book-within-a-book" literary device, as used in the 2015 novel Disclaimer— and his upcoming novel Her Own Devices.
The Philosophy of Marvin Goodspeed
The Regular, the new novel by Dave Buckhout, is a philosophical novel, and its main protagonist, Marvin Goodspeed, is a philosopher. That said, what is the philosophy of this modern day southern Cynic? And what, ultimately, is the book’s (and…
So You Want to Talk About Race: Understanding Racism in America
So You Want to Talk About Race is a vital book in our divisive society, to help all of us understand what is racial oppression and why we need to talk about it.
The Serpent Papers
The Serpent Papers is about the completion of Joseph Bell’s soul. This battle is fought within and without, and the outcome determines whether his soul lives or dies.
Grave Seas and A Syrian Riddle
“For a Syrian, like myself, the whole road to my country has been, and always will be, filled with fatal riddles and dangerous words.”-Hussam Eddin Baramo
From Glasgow to Damascus
David Forrest weaves a narrative of friendship amid a catastrophe of war. This booklet elicits thoughts of how strange humanity is when it comes to war.
Books
Category Unknown
Category Unknown by Koushik Banerjea is a dense and ambitious book that continues the conversation relaunched by the racial reckoning of 2020, "and reminds us that the conversation isn't the…
Share
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
"Shattering one-sided, romanticized stories of how this country came to be…" Carol Ann Wilson reviews The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Share
Two Novels that Strike Close to Home: On Finding Oneself in a Book
Geoffrey Dutton looks at the "book-within-a-book" literary device, as used in the 2015 novel Disclaimer— and his upcoming novel Her Own Devices.
Share
The Philosophy of Marvin Goodspeed
The Regular, the new novel by Dave Buckhout, is a philosophical novel, and its main protagonist, Marvin Goodspeed, is a philosopher. That said, what is the philosophy of this modern day…
Share
Interviews
Jasmine H. Wade
Jasmine H. Wade is an award-winning writer obsessed with the ridiculous, and oftentimes traumatic, trials of growing up. She is a member of the AfroSurreal Writers Workshop and her short stories have appeared in a number of journals.
Mona Houghton, on influences in writing and style
Mona Houghton is an award-winning author and teacher. She has published stories in multiple literary magazines. In this interview, she shares what influences her writing, her process, and teaching experiences…and an amazing reading list!
Jeff Schnader
Jeff Schnader was at Columbia University in 1972 where he participated in sit-ins, marches and protests against the Vietnam War. He took part in demonstrations in front of Hamilton Hall where students were beaten by N.Y. Tactical Police in full battle regalia. He graduated with a BA in physics. His short story, The Champion, won first prize…
Michael Fertik
Michael Fertik is a published fiction author, poet, produced film writer, and playwright whose writing has won fiction, poetry, and film prizes and includes a New York Times Bestseller. His novella Allotrope was published in The Write Launch and a review of his book Hip Set is available on bookscover2cover. Michael is a graduate of Harvard…
The Writer’s Journey
It’s a London thing
Ever find yourself rolling your eyes when you hear that phrase ‘back in the day’? As often as not uttered by some grisled cynic bemoaning the loss of an older world and its deep treasures. Analogue by instinct, the lament typically covers those tangible gifts of vinyl, gatefold sleeves, hard copy and some even tougher…
Parts of Me: Reflections on Reviewing The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
In this Writer's Journey essay, Carol Ann Wilson shares how, in reading and reviewing The 1619 Project, she also uncovers "parts of a bigger me to be discovered and explored."
Never Gonna Give It Up
I guess I am a lesson in never giving up. I’m almost 70 (well, I just turned 69 so 70 is a year away – still seems like almost). I started writing seriously when I was about 35. Before that, I did lazy hippie things like a lot of short-term jobs and a lot of just living life. I went back to college – if you can call…
Essays
Liu Xiaobo: Tyranny, Freedom of Conscience, and the Incompleteness of the Individual
After Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, I followed the news about him—this dissident public intellectual who had given the Chinese government a major headache. Having read many books about nonviolent thought and action, I sensed that Liu Xiaobo’s life and writing could deepen my understanding further: He believed that words followed by action could change the direction of a country.
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Essays
Liu Xiaobo: Tyranny, Freedom of Conscience, and the Incompleteness of the Individual
After Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, I followed the news about him—this dissident public intellectual who had given the Chinese government a major headache. Having read many books about nonviolent thought and action, I sensed that Liu Xiaobo’s life and writing could deepen my understanding further: He believed that words followed by action could change the direction of a country.
Share
The Longform Book Review
The longform book reviews on bookscover2cover are narrative, descriptive and analytical. Through a close reading of the text, the reviewer identifies themes and motifs embedded in the text and examines contextual information to verify facts. To develop a coherent argument in favor of the book, the reviewer offers readers insight, not mere judgement.
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The End of the Beginning: Building the Structural Foundation
When I write, I have a plot sketched out in my mind and sometimes laying out the groundwork can be laborious and even boring. It’s essential, though, that I push my way through the initial drudgery and progress to the middle and the end of the story. When I finally type “The End,” I know I’m deluding myself. It’s only the end of the beginning. Usually at that point I am weary of the story…
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Tell Me a Fractal
Think of a snowflake forming around a molecule of water clinging to a tiny particle of something, how it blossoms and diverges as other molecules join in, seeking their hexagonal destiny, becoming a perfect thing of beauty. Then think of it melting, its sharp edges blurring, its interstices blotting out until it plops to earth. That’s a story, right there, in full surround. Matter, space…
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Longform reviews
The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine
Ben Ehrenreich, on assignment for Harper’s magazine, went to Palestine’s West Bank in 2011 to report on Israel’s water war with Palestine. The Way to the Spring is based on his eye-witness account of life in the West Bank—in the village of Nabi Saleh and the cities of Hebron and Ramallah.
The New Jim Crow
Why has an academic book with a title that includes this mix—“Jim Crow,” “mass incarceration,” and “colorblindness”— resonated with the public? Clearly, Alexander has hit a nerve. Something profound is happening in American society.
Hip Set
Michael Fertik’s novel Hip Set is not only a thrilling detective story but also a literary inquiry into the sacred and the profane—the secular sandwiched between both. When it comes to human behavior, there is nothing pure about it, just as there is nothing pure about what lies on an arc between good and bad or between heaven and hell.
God Help the Child
The reality and impact of child abuse rests uneasily, front and center, with the interwoven themes of love and transformation. Meticulously crafted, God Help the Child is a journey of souls and hearts, a must-read book.
No Enemies, No Hatred: Selected Essays and Poems
Liu Xiaobo is the author of hundreds of essays and seventeen books. Most of the essays in No Enemies, No Hatred are from the period between 2004 and 2008, and reflect, in the service of freedom of speech, how words followed by action can change the direction of a country.
From the Archive
You’ll Find Me in the Darkness, If I Let You
The poetry of Anthony Perales comprises straightforward and telling narratives about growing up in San Pedro, chasing the dragon, spending time in prison, learning native doctrine in the…
Empire of the Summer Moon
S. C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon is an historical narrative of heroes and legends set against the panorama of the American West, particularly the Texas frontier between the years 1836…
Chaya Bhuvaneswar: a reading list from a powerful voice in fiction
Chaya Bhuvaneswar is a new voice in fiction with the recent publication of her debut story collection, White Dancing Elephants. In her interview with bookscover2cover, Chaya notes that her…
Diane Chamberlain, an Author Study
Diane Chamberlain writes compelling fiction that features young female protagonists striving to prevail in a world that proves to be hostile towards them for reasons that are revealed as the…