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SPACE OPERA by Catherynne M. Valente

June 30, 2018

A WONDERFUL INTERGALACTIC ROMP stars washed-up British glampunks competing in a universe-wide music competition. So much fun! B PLUS

SPACE OPERA
Gallery / Saga Press
2018

Grade: B PLUS

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WHAT SHOULD BE WILD (HARDCOVER) by Julia Fine

June 28, 2018

A FAMILY HAUNTED BY MAGIC, generations of women with eerie powers, and a mystical wood add up to a complex fantasy tale. SOLID B

WHAT SHOULD BE WILD (HARDCOVER)
Harper
2018

Grade: SOLID B

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FOR SINGLE MOTHERS WORKING AS TRAIN CONDUCTORS (THE IOWA PRIZE IN LITERARY NONFICTION) (PAPERBACK) by Laura Esther Wolfson

June 25, 2018

SHIMMERING, BEAUTIFUL ESSAYS tell stories of love, loss, travel, and the impossible but necessary challenges of translation. A MINUS

FOR SINGLE MOTHERS WORKING AS TRAIN CONDUCTORS (THE IOWA PRIZE IN LITERARY NONFICTION) (PAPERBACK)
University Of Iowa Press
2018

Grade: A MINUS

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HEART BERRIES|HARDCOVER by Terese Marie Mailhot

June 24, 2018

A WONDERFULLY CRAFTED MEMOIR from a Salish Indian writer speaks her anger and grief at personal, family, and cultural suffering. B PLUS

HEART BERRIES|HARDCOVER
Counterpoint Press
2018

Grade: B PLUS

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I AM, I AM, I AM (HARDCOVER) by Maggie O'Farrell

June 21, 2018

A LITANY OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES becomes a joyous though bittersweet hymn to the beauty of life and love. A MINUS

I AM, I AM, I AM (HARDCOVER)
Knopf
2018

Grade: A MINUS

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DESPAIR by S.R. Ravencroft

June 18, 2018

KOWLOON WALLED CITY is the center of a near-future work of speculative horror. Great premise marred by unpolished prose. B MINUS

DESPAIR: SHADOWS UNDER KOWLOOON
S.R. Ravencroft
2018

Grade: B MINUS

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ELYSIUM FIRE by Alastair Reynolds

June 16, 2018

SPACEFARING POLICE PROCEDURAL has an exciting denouement, rich worldbuilding, but a sluggish first act. SOLID B

ELYSIUM FIRE
Orbit
2018

Grade: SOLID B

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NOIR (HARDCOVER) by Christopher Moore

June 14, 2018

A SKEWED TAKE ON NOIR set in a punch-drunk 1947 San Francisco, complete with the era’s sometimes-disrespectful slang. B PLUS

NOIR (HARDCOVER)
William Morrow
2018

Grade: B PLUS

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GUTS by Janet Buttenwieser

June 11, 2018

A MEMOIR OF ILLNESS AND LOSS also celebrates love, friendship, and healing in warmly open-hearted prose. B PLUS

GUTS
Vine Leaves Press
2018

Grade: B PLUS

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CREATURES OF WILL AND TEMPER (THE DIABOLIST’S LIBRARY) (PAPERBACK) by Molly Tanzer

June 9, 2018

AN EXTRAVAGANT RIFF ON WILDE, where the demons are real, the drawing-rooms dangerous, and the loves among all genders. B PLUS

CREATURES OF WILL AND TEMPER (THE DIABOLIST’S LIBRARY) (PAPERBACK)
John Joseph Adams/Mariner Books
2017

Grade: B PLUS

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