The independent news organization of Duke University
When reading, I often felt as though I was part of a conversation not meant for me.
Mikel Jollett’s “Hollywood Park” shows that a family is not only a concept but also an experience, which requires work and communication.
In times of discomfort and sadness, our responses are often a confusing blend of emotion. With great tact and poise, Edelstein explores her personal response to pain by showing that this is life, and it is not simple.
While we are all stuck at home, this story of an escape and a search beyond ourselves enables us to travel far and wide.
Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s 2019 short story collection and National Book Award finalist, “Sabrina and Corina,” is everything a short story should be.
It is reductionist to say that self-help books are too regimented and clinical. Of course, there are books that enforce a “how to” tone or a certain sense of “this is what you must do,” but many others are less instructive and more descriptive.
There are some books that beg to be finished in one day: they pull you in with heroic characters and moving stories and transport you to a world that is foreign but familiar. Elliot Ackerman’s “Waiting for Eden,” published in 2018, is exactly one of these novels.
There are few authors who have a command of language like Jesmyn Ward.
