Eat the Apple
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Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present
Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present
Dinner & A Story with Tequila Book Club
Tequila & Books! No, we’re not getting smashed, but this book club is all about reading and discussing our favorite titles while enjoying a cocktail…or two. Instead of the usual glass of wine included with Dinner & A Story, our signature Fahrenheit 1517 Margarita will be the drink of choice!…
7 Types of Literary Lovemaking
Don't let a lack of coital euphemisms ruin your V-Day! Instead, I suggest we develop our own terms and, given that this is a site about writing, use writer's names. Here's a quick list to get you started: Faulking Up: When you have no idea what your partner is doing,…
“One must look for one thing only, to find many…” – Cesare Pavese LOS ANGELES. It was coming down hard, just like Albert Hammond sang in his 1972 hit, “It Never Rains in Southern California.” “It pours,” crooned the prolific songwriter from Gibraltar. “Man, it pours.” As it did last…
The Book of Delights: Essays
Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation
Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation
February 2019 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
Company by Sam Ross. Four Way Books. 112 pages. These Many Rooms by Laure-Anne Bosselaar. Four Way Books. 86 pages. Strange What Rises by Gary J. Whitehead. Terrapin Books. 94 pages. Beneath the Sleepless Tossing of the Planets: Selected Poems by Makoto Ooka, translated by Janine Beichman. Preface by Shuntaro…
El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America
El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America
Nik Korpon inspired me. Years ago, I was writing crime fiction but unsure of my voice. I was still caught in the literary versus genre mindset, and my writing displayed my uncertainty. Then I stumbled upon Bar Scars, his early collection of short fiction and, for the first time, realized…
Bowlaway: A Novel
In this compelling, unsettling, and important book, Swenson tells a true story of wrongful conviction that lays bare the shocking state of Cleveland’s criminal justice system as well as the nation’s. The account starts in the early 1970s with the arrest of three Black men for robbery and murder. The…
When I travel, and I travel more than most people, I always carry two books in order to have something to read and think about in those down times which are inevitable in the distances I travel. One is always a narrative (fiction or nonfiction, I don’t differentiate much) because…
Dear Writers, This is Audrey Bastian, chair of the 2019 Washington Writers Conference, sponsored by the Washington Independent Review of Books. As I sit here writing chapter 17 of my own book and watching the snowflakes fall with a warm mug nearby, I want to cordially invite you to this…
Just a Journalist
Lisa Gornick and Whitney Scharer in Conversation with Bethanne Patrick
Gornick’s latest novel starts with a bang: it’s June 1916, and Louis Tiffany blows up the breakwater at his mansion, Laurelton Hall, to prevent the town from reclaiming the beach for public use. He also sets in motion a chain of events that reverberates for nearly a century through several…
Peach
Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him
Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him
Whether in the intimacy of a black box or the grandeur of an opera house, there is a certain majesty live theater retains even in its modern context. Like poetry, the art form is ancient, which means it has had a long time to evolve, sometimes rapidly, and is infused…
It's never too late! Join us as Personal Financial Specialist and CPA Robin Gordon shares from her best-selling book LIVING THE BEST LIFE YOU CAN WITH THE MONEY YOU HAVE: Create a Financial Plan That Works for You. This book, designed to empower you to take charge of your financial…
The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man’s Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America
The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man’s Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America
Notes from a Black Woman’s Diary: Selected Works of Kathleen Collins
Notes from a Black Woman’s Diary: Selected Works of Kathleen Collins
7 Best-Reviewed Books in January 2019
Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War II by James Holland (Atlantic Monthly Press). Reviewed by Paul Dickson. “Holland is a master of narrative. His combat scenes are crisp and evocative, and he does a masterful job of putting the reader in the cockpit with the men on…
An Interview with David Morgan
Something in tiny agate type called “Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Comedy)” snuck into America’s unsuspecting “TV Guide” in 1974. Members of the Spanish Inquisition tortured blasphemers with the padded edges of soft cushions; a Robin Hood knockoff, Dennis More, robbed the rich of lupins and distributed them to the confused…
The Peacock Feast: A Novel
Other than “Where do you get your ideas?” the questions I’m asked most often are about worldbuilding. How do I do it? Do I plan everything out in advance or do it on the fly? How do I select certain details? The truth is worldbuilding — and setting more generally…
5 Most Popular Posts: January 2019
David Bruce Smith’s review of Toni Tennille: A Memoir by Toni Tennille with Caroline Tennille St. Clair (Taylor Trade Publishing). “‘Daryl and I had our differences for many years, but he had never cursed at me with such rage. Perhaps he had his own reasons to be angry, reasons I…
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
Marlon James: Reading and Signing
In Black Leopard, Red Wolf — the first novel in Marlon James’s Dark Star trilogy — myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker —…
Strangers in Budapest
Educated
Broken Ground: A Novel
Romance Roundup: February 2019
It’s February, and love is in the air…but isn’t that always the case for romance readers? This month, I’m highlighting four terrific novels that made me sigh, cry, and laugh out loud. And who could resist a hero named Valentine? Whatever you may be reading this month, may it make…
Joseph Finder in Conversation with Clair Lamb
New York Times bestselling author Joseph Finder returns with a suspenseful and explosive new thriller about a female judge and the one personal misstep that could lead to her—and her family's—undoing. JOSEPH FINDER is the New York Times bestselling author of 14 previous novels, including The Switch, Guilty Minds, The…
James Rebanks may be the best-known shepherd in the English-speaking world. His Twitter feed (@herdyshepherd1) has regaled tens of thousands with the beauty of the Cumbrian landscape in England’s Lake District since 2012 and led to his bestselling 2015 memoir, The Shepherd’s Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape. Last…
House of Stone: A Novel
Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service
Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service
“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life / I was a bride married to amazement. / I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.” – Mary Oliver And so it was for Mary Oliver, who leaves behind 83 productive years of distinctive poetry. She was…
An Interview with Mikita Brottman
A missing-person photo, a former hotel in Baltimore, and the mysterious death of a man who didn’t seem to have any enemies or motives for suicide are the intriguing elements of Mikita Brottman’s new book, An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere. The story relates…
Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants
Tony Gaskins Live! Book Talk + Signing
MahoganyBooks is proud to present an intimate event with celebrity life coach, relationship expert Tony Gaskins Jr. as he signs and discusses, Make It Work: 22 Time-Tested, Real-Life Lessons for Sustaining a Healthy, Happy Relationship. About the Book: Proven principles — drawn from real life failures and successes — for…
I’m raising two little boys in the age of Fortnite and iPhones and, like so many of you, I spend a lot of time thinking about things like screen time, connectedness, and cyberbullying. I hover around when they watch YouTube and stay close when they’ve got on those headsets and…
The Most Dangerous Branch: Inside the Supreme Court’s Assault on the Constitution
The Most Dangerous Branch: Inside the Supreme Court’s Assault on the Constitution
An American Marriage
The Milk Lady of Bangalore
Kramers Presents Dinner & A Story
Meet local Belletrist Babes & Beaus to discuss the latest #BelletristBook, My Sister, The Serial Killer. Did you laugh out loud as much as we did reading this? Were you also as frightened?! If this book hasn’t gotten ahold of you yet, make it a priority and let’s dissect it…
Holy Lands: A Novel
The Current: A Novel
One of my favorite features of being a member of the National Book Critics Circle is the opportunity to participate in the entire process of selecting the recipient of its annual John Leonard Prize, the award named in honor of the legendary critic, for an author’s first book-length project in…
Sally Wen Mao in Conversation with Shaheen Qureshi
Mao’s second collection uses history, film, and time travel to examine how Asian women have been by turns erased, fetishized, and commodified in Western culture—while seldom being seen for themselves. The unsettling title poem meditates on a Shanghai woman who uploaded her suicide to Instagram, while another looks back to…
Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison — Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out
If The Friend by Sigrid Nunez, a 2018 National Book Award winner, slipped under your reading radar, run — don’t walk — and grab this 224-page treasure, which you’ll gobble in joyous gulps. Your reward will be an elegiac read about love and life and death and grief. The sparse…
Tony Mendez, the real-life spy portrayed in the 2012 blockbuster film “Argo,” was the author of four books. But to describe him primarily as “an author” would be misleading. Mostly, he was, as the title of his first book, published in 1999, says, The Master of Disguise, a secret agent…
The Heavens: A Novel
An Interview with Dr. Paul Zeitz
Dr. Paul Zeitz, author of Waging Justice: A Doctor’s Journey to Speak Truth and Be Bold, has spent the past 30 years working in public health and global development projects in over 40 countries. His memoir includes the vision of what healthcare should look like, interwoven with his personal search…
5 Reasons Happy(ish) Endings Are the Best
I’m the kind of neurotic book lover who reveres books as objects. I tremble to even write my name in the front of a book or adhere a bookplate, and even when I’m researching, the most I can do is make gentle margin notes in pencil. But I have been…
A Dangerous Duet: A Novel
A Busboys and Poetry Event hosted this week by Regie Cabico Regie Cabico is one of the country's leading innovators and pioneers of The Poetry Slam having won 3 National Top Prizes and winning The Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam. Bust Magazine ranked him in the “100 Men We Love”…
The Drinkable Globe
Eternal Life
The Wartime Sisters: A Novel
Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here are three such titles, suggested by David Bruce Smith, founder of the Grateful American™ Foundation: Ordinary People by Judith Guest. In this emotionally raw novel, members of an everyday family ripped apart by tragedy try to…
I’m K.L. Romo — a book reviewer, novelist, and freelance writer who loves to read. I am passionate about women’s issues and the power of women’s voices. This new column is dedicated to kick-ass women — both writers and heroines. Therefore, it’s fitting for this inaugural installment to explore the…
Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts
Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts
A tale of spies, sabotage, and industrial ingenuity, Taylor’s third book starts with a little known incident from June 1940: the explosion at Baltimore’s Crown Cork and Seal factory. Because cork was used in gaskets, bomber insulation, and ammunition, it was essential to the war effort, and rumors circulated about…
White Dancing Elephants
January 2019 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
The Stella Poems: Astrophil & Stella by Duane Locke. The Bitter Oleander Press. 83 pages. Oculus by Sally Wen Mao. Graywolf Press. 96 pages. when you say you can’t go home again, what they mean is you were never there by Marty McConnell. Southern Indiana Review Press. 88 pages. Li…
The Splendor Before the Dark: A Novel of the Emperor Nero
The Splendor Before the Dark: A Novel of the Emperor Nero
An Interview with Camille A. Collins
Camille A. Collins, a senior publicist for William Morrow in New York, is also an author. Her debut novel, The Exene Chronicles, finds 14-year-old Lia, one of the few African Americans in her San Diego neighborhood, feeling rudderless now that her best friend, Ryan, has vanished. She reaches for salvation…
The Martin Chronicles
It’s a symptom of a new year, I suppose, but over the last few weeks, I’ve seen a bombardment of posts and articles about the number of books I should be reading. Several friends have been posting their “number” — how many books they read in 2018 — or their…
The Eichmann Trial (Jewish Encounters Series)
The Eichmann Trial (Jewish Encounters Series)
One Station Away
Baltimore’s premier speculative fiction reading series returns with a wildly creative vengeance to usher in 2019 the right way! This month’s readers are T.C. Weber, Ruthanna Emrys, and Andy Duncan. T. C. Weber has pursued writing and music since childhood, and learned filmmaking and screenwriting in college, along with a…
Fools and Mortals
Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War II
Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War II
Reniqua Allen in Conversation with Ibram X. Kendi
The economic crisis hit Black households especially hard, cutting their wealth by more than 30 percent and signaling to Black millennials that middle-class stability might be beyond their reach. In this illuminating report, Allen shows how this generation of young Black Americans is coping. Taking us around the country, she…
No, this column isn’t about my golf game. (For those who are interested, my handicap is now 26 and rising faster than ocean levels. Pretty soon, I’ll be getting strokes on the practice range.) I’m talking about foreshadowing, foreboding, foretelling, and forewarning. I’ve mentioned in previous columns that, when writing…
The Day the Sun Died: A Novel
Witnessing Elie Wiesel’s Genius
“Listening to a witness makes you a witness.” – Elie Wiesel Rabbi Ariel Burger’s journal of 25 years as Elie Wiesel’s teaching assistant at Boston University, Witness - Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom, is a strong book, part personal life saga of the author, part biography and explanation of his…
How to Leave: Quitting the City and Coping with a New Reality
How to Leave: Quitting the City and Coping with a New Reality
You Are the Everything
Grapevine: Storytelling Series
COME HEAR IT AT THE GRAPEVINE @ Busboys and Poets, Takoma SECOND WEDNESDAYS @ 7:30 PM! Tim Livengood and Noa Baum host The Grapevine Spoken Word Series. Celebrate the timeless Art of Storytelling, with Truths, Folktales, Rumors, and everything in between! $15 suggested donation. This month’s features: Noa Baum &…
Come November, I look for a compelling stanza from a poem or a picture for my holiday card. This is a time to return, like elephants do, to ancestral bones — to feelings that evoke history, pathos, and celebration; the human condition at its most tender. In years past, I…
Rising out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist
Rising out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist
What We Owe
The Last Republicans
Glass and Gavel: The U.S. Supreme Court and Alcohol
Glass and Gavel: The U.S. Supreme Court and Alcohol
Happy New Year! One of my goals for 2019 is to read more fiction, although I already read a lot. Some days, it feels like all I do is read. But there are so many other distractions (hello, Facebook) and so much reading for work — plus all of those…
Washington City Paper Fiction Issue Celebration & Reading
The Washington City Paper Fiction Issue is back! Nearly 50 entries from writers around the region highlighted concerns weighing on our collective minds. The stories touched on climate change, gentrification, metro woes, and the search for meaningful connections. Join the authors of some of the winning and standout entries —…
7 Best-Reviewed Books in December 2018
Milkman by Anna Burns (Graywolf Press). Reviewed by Robert Allen Papinchak. “Milkman vibrates. It is energized with a perspective that immerses the reader in a setting that commands attention. It resonates because of the symbiotic interplay of its characters. Its language soars. It would be the same story if it…
“Break the rules, but first break the rulers.” – Atmosphere, “Camera Thief” I used to love Woody Allen movies, none more than “Manhattan.” Allen’s depiction of New York, the stunning use of black and white, the wry humor on the verge of heartbreak…that movie genuinely changed my life. I’d watch…
Slowhand: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton
Slowhand: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton
5 Most Popular Posts: December 2018
Michael Landweber’s review of The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay (William Morrow). “Andrew thinks he recognizes one of the intruders from a violent incident in his past, suggesting this whole episode is driven by homophobia, but Eric has trouble seeing the resemblance. At another time,…
Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves
Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves
Readers and writers — a symbiotic relationship. Ideas spark writers to create stories and build worlds and characters for readers’ consumption. Readers add imagination and thought to interpret those stories, deriving meaning and enjoyment in the process. A story is incomplete without both reader and writer. As in other aspects…
Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Yeats, and Joyce
Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Yeats, and Joyce
The Rule of One
One of the biggest complaints I hear about classic books (aside from the fact that they can be long and boring) has to do with the exclusion of women and people of color. And so the story goes: Modern, canonized novels of the 19th century were, for the most part,…
16 Fiction Releases to Watch For
Talk to Me by John Kenney (Jan. 15, G.P. Putnam’s Sons). Ted Grayson is a veteran TV anchor who has it all…until he doesn’t. When his profanity-ridden rant in caught on camera, Ted finds his career on the verge of destruction, alongside his unraveling marriage and his already frail relationship…
Sara Bliss in conversation with Tess Finnegan
As a child, Bliss wanted to be a writer, but pursued art history in college and worked for Christie’s when she graduated. Unsatisfied, she went back to square one and re-launched herself as a magazine writer. Now a successful freelancer specializing in profiles, Bliss has compiled the stories of more…
Enchantress of Numbers
Elmet
“If I am out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog…” – Saul Bellow I have just finished a manuscript based on more than a thousand long-buried World War II letters. They were written by a young wife raising a toddler and her soldier husband, a…
Newcomer: A Mystery
A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost
A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost
The Jewish American Paradox: Embracing Choice in a Changing World
The Jewish American Paradox: Embracing Choice in a Changing World
We published dozens of fascinating author interviews this past year and encourage you to read all of them. These nine, though, were especially enlightening and/or timely. Jeffrey C. Stewart, author of The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke (Oxford University Press). Interview by Joye Shepperd. “I do think that…
The Western Wind: A Novel
Mammoth
From Midas to the modern-day lottery winner, in all civilizations, through all of time, human narrative is strewn with the warning, “Be careful what you wish for.” Irony abounds when the person who gains the thing that destroys them has been working their entire lifetime to achieve that end. The…
Have Yourself a Bookish Little Christmas Eve
By now, you’ve surely heard of hygge, the Danish concept of burrowing down, snuggling up, and making the cold, dark winter months as cozy as possible. Well, wouldn’t you know it? The Scandinavians (Icelanders, specifically) have an extravagantly simple Christmas Eve ritual, too: jólabókaflóð, or “Yule Book Flood,” during which…
Island of the Blue Foxes
Bring your young ones out for a Special Kwanzaa Book Giveaway, hosted by child activist Havana the Tiny Diplomat. Havana will be handing out FREE copies of Misty Copeland’s children's book, Firebird, as well as her young-reader book, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina. At MahoganyBooks, 1231 Good Hope Rd.,…
The Despot’s Apprentice
The Rise of Andrew Jackson: Myth, Manipulation, and the Making of Modern Politics
The Rise of Andrew Jackson: Myth, Manipulation, and the Making of Modern Politics
In the first year we were married, my partner asked me, “Why do you still play video games?” To which I responded, “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t.” Some of my earliest memories are connected to that particular technology. Everything from the frustrations of hooking up coaxial cables…
Everything Under: A Novel
LIVE! from Busboys hosted by Angie “AJ” Head
A Busboys and Poets in-house series LIVE! from Busboys is an open mic talent showcase that offers a platform for all performers, not just poets. Whether you are a musician, comedian, dancer, actor, magician or any other type of performer, we want to see what you got! Come out and…
The Bigfoot Files
Who Is Michael Ovitz?
An Interview with Laura Scalzo
Julia Bisette is a 15-year-old brainy girl who finds herself in Washington, DC, ostensibly to attend a conference where she is a finalist in a STEM competition to encourage the nation's young innovators. But, instead, she skips the event to travel around the city on her own. While touring the…
‘Tis the Season…for Conference Planning!
The end of the year always means it’s time to plan for the next year’s conferences I’ll attend. I’ve attended reader-based and craft-based conferences and enjoy both. As an author, I’m always looking for a good balance in my selections so I can get the most out of my experiences.…
An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good: Stories
An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good: Stories
Looking for books to give the special people in your life this holiday season? The booksellers at Curious Iguana, an independent bookstore in Frederick, Maryland, share some of their favorites from 2018. Any of them would make a great gift! Gmorning, Gnight! Little Pep Talks for Me & You by…
Drew Anderson, known lovingly as “Droopy the Broke Baller” and “The Black Weird Al Yankovic”, has been hosting at the flagship Busboys and Poets 14th & V nearly since its inception, proudly serving as Venue Captain. For two hours, audiences can expect a diverse chorus of voices, and a vast…
It’s All Relative
London’s Triumph
The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created
The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created
Make it a storybook holiday season this year: Join us for Story Time with Santa at Kramerbooks! Tickets available HERE. Gather ‘round to hear Santa tell your favorite festive holiday tales and you'll receive: Two Polaroid Instax mini photos of your child with Santa A double-sided holiday ornament frame for…
Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here are three such titles, suggested by David Bruce Smith, founder of the Grateful American™ Foundation: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg. A 16-year-old girl enters a mental hospital to conquer her schizophrenia…
House of Gold: A Novel
Dispatches from the Miami Book Fair
The city of Miami recently welcomed an impressive roster of authors to celebrate the 35th year of its famed Miami Book Fair. The weeklong event saw presentations, book talks, and signings take over the wide campus of Miami Dade College. Highlighted speakers included Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (who discussed…
I’ve come to realize over the years that many of my favorite novelists — Don DeLillo, Umberto Eco, Kurt Vonnegut, E.L. Doctorow, etc. — are categorized as “postmodern.” This means that, among other things, they tend to be skeptical of rationality and don’t always observe narrative traditions, rather juxtaposing fragments…
Fiction Imbued by Place: Rockville Stories
It's often said, “If these walls could talk.” Novelist Ellen Prentiss Campbell makes a habit of listening to the silent walls around us. She imagines lives our buildings may have witnessed and her fiction gives voice to the bricks and mortar. Campbell grew up in Rockville and later returned, living…
Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story
Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story
December 2018 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
Leopard Lady: A Life In Verse by Valerie Nieman. Press 53. 98 pages. Wilder by Claire Wahmanholm. Milkweed Editions. 96 pages. The Astrologer’s Sparrow by Panna Naik. New Academia/Scarith. 106 pages. Stet by Dora Malech. Princeton University Press. 88 pages. Abandoned Poems by Stanley Moss. Seven Stories Press. 128 pages.…
Charlie Company’s Journey Home: The Forgotten Impact on the Wives of Vietnam Veterans
Charlie Company’s Journey Home: The Forgotten Impact on the Wives of Vietnam Veterans
Alice Stephens in Conversation with Jenny Yacovissi
Alice Stephens, author of the new novel Famous Adopted People, will be in conversation with Jenny Yacovissi, author of Up the Hill to Home. (Both writers are also columnists for the Independent.) This event is free and open to the public. At Loyalty Bookstores pop-up, 931 Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring,…
My tree is up, my wildlings are sufficiently excited by the multiplying boxes with bows appearing beneath it, and I’ve begun to wish I could spend my days drinking hot cocoa by the fire. (Or wine. Wine would work.) Instead of, you know, working and stuff like that. In the…
The Perfect Candidate
Sacrifice
Mr. Dickens and His Carol
MoonLit Writing Workshop: “Let’s Get Ekphrastic!”
Sign up for our last MoonLit DC workshop of the season, “Let's Get Ekphrastic: Using Art to Inspire Writing,” held in our A Creative DC studio pop-up — reserve your spot here! Reinvigorate your writing using art as your muse. Participants will engage in visual analysis of artworks, uncovering personal…
Romance Roundup: December 2018
December has arrived, and everything is merry and bright! I love this time of year, not only because the cold weather makes me want to hibernate (and read), but also because it’s gift-giving season! There’s nothing better than being able to give my favorite books! This month, I’m highlighting romance…
Don’t Hide the Madness: William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg
Don’t Hide the Madness: William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg
My Year in Reading: 2018 Edition
I’m glancing at the collected stack of books that I finished reading over this last year and thinking that it doesn’t compare well with 2016. It seems that I slacked off rather significantly in the books-read department. (And who even knows what happened to 2017’s reading? I don’t.) I blame…
The Incomplete Book of Running
The Incomplete Book of Running
John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court
John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court
7 Best-Reviewed Books in November 2018
The Library Book by Susan Orlean (Simon & Schuster). Reviewed by Kitty Kelley. “The Library Book is not simply an investigation into a fire that burned for seven-and-a-half hours and left 400,000 books in ashes and 700,000 more covered in soot and slime from the over 3 million gallons of…
Exemplars Asks for Your Support
Why does it matter that poets are showcased? Because poetry rinses off language so that we don’t sound like endless newscasts. Poetry slows down the world. That’s a wonderful thing: removing wires from our brains long enough for us to see what’s written imagistically. Poetry makes us less lonely because…
Join the Writer's Center for an evening with author and attorney Mark A. Cymrot. His new memoir, Squeezing Silver, chronicles the thrilling real-life drama of one of the most important trials of the 20th century. Reception to follow. Free and open to the public. Mark A. Cymrot is the leader…
5 Most Popular Posts: November 2018
“50 Favorite Books of 2018.” Nobody loves a good list more than we do — except, apparently, our readers! Book-lovers swarmed to our annual praise fest to see which titles made the cut. We hope your faves were among them! Sara Dahmen’s review of The Clockmaker’s Daughter: A Novel by…
Milkman: A Novel
6 Word-Rich Ways to Celebrate the Season
It’s winter now for those of us in the northern hemisphere, and, for many, that means cold sucking at our skin and early sunsets hurrying us home. The winter holidays are a welcome antidote to the wild cold awaiting outside in the dark, so we gather friends and family around.…
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen
From Pete Souza, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Obama: An Intimate Portrait, comes a powerful tribute to a bygone era of integrity in politics. Tickets available HERE! As Chief Official White House Photographer, Pete Souza spent more time alongside President Barack Obama than almost anyone else. His…
Gold Dust Woman
The Splintered Empires
That change you just dug out of the couch cushions? (It’s called a vacuum cleaner, people. Google it.) You could blow it at Starbucks…OR, you could send it our way. We’ll use it to fund the excellent — and unbiased — reviews, features, and interviews you’ve come to expect from…
In fall and winter, the sun still shines brightly on sand-covered beaches. Waves still ebb and flow. And while colorful umbrellas no longer dot the sand, and suntanned bodies don’t stroll the boardwalk, businesses must still make a living. And that includes bookstores. Maintaining a bookstore is a full-time occupation…
Carry Her Home: Stories
Patricia Harman: The book I’ve been reading in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep is my new historical novel, Once a Midwife, set in 1941 just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. You might want to know why an author would be reading her own work. As…
True, $50 won’t get you courtside seats for, well, anything, but it’ll get us a month’s worth of mailing labels for shipping books to reviewers! Giving is simple — and tax-deductible! Here’s how: Make a one-time (or recurring) donation via PayPal or credit card by clicking here. Send a check…
Authors are often encouraged to write about things they like. I presume this advice pertains mainly to nonfiction authors, since it might create a problem for novelists, particularly those in the thriller, mystery, horror, and erotica genres. The distance between imagination and actuality is about the width of a pair…
Sadie
Meet & Greet with Cheryl and Wade Hudson
MahoganyBooks is extremely excited to welcome Cheryl and Wade Hudson, co-authors of We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices to discuss their book with parents and children alike. The perfect gift book for parents and educators to read to or along with their young children, We Rise, We Resist,…
Nope, $25 won’t pay a writer’s rent. But it will pay her for one of those thoughtful reviews you’ve come to expect from us! Giving is simple — and tax-deductible! Here’s how: Make a one-time (or recurring) donation via PayPal or credit card by clicking here. Send a check to…
Ghost Riders: When the US and German Soldiers Fought Together to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Horses in the Last Days of World War II
Tweens Book Event: Stars Over Latin America
When two young men begin a journey across Latin America on the back of a rundown motorcycle called The Mighty One, they have no idea how much the voyage will change their lives. Their interactions with the locals teach Che and Alberto that their continent is home to considerable suffering…
An Interview with David Shields
Back in October, a story appeared in the Hollywood Reporter revealing that Barack and Michelle Obama, under their production deal with Netflix, had optioned author Michael Lewis' The Fifth Risk to develop as a potential series. Lewis' book, which chronicles the absolute mess made in the transition to the Trump…
Whether you’re a reader, a writer, or both, you’re part of the Independent community! So this Giving Tuesday, please help us continue providing the quality book reviews, author Q&As, and features you’ve come to expect! Making a tax-deductible donation is simple. Here’s how: Click here to donate via PayPal or…
Training School for Negro Girls
Training School for Negro Girls
One year ago this month, I stepped in as curator of the blog series “The First Two Pages,” begun in April 2015 by short-story writer and novelist B.K. (Bonnie) Stevens. Bonnie died in August of last year and, in the wake of that unexpected loss, her husband, Solomon Dennis, and…
Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times
Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times
Support the Independent while blowing your paycheck! If you're shopping on Amazon today — or any day — please get there via our site. Click any linked book title, the “purchase title from Amazon” button at the bottom of any review, or the “A” logo on our homepage, and you’ll…
In no particular order: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee (Mariner Books). Reviewed by Gretchen Lida. “Despite its many subjects, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is above all a book on writing. As I read, I underlined, highlighted, and snapped photos of quotes. While I…
Madonna in a Fur Coat: A Novel
Madonna in a Fur Coat: A Novel
Reflections on the 1968 Democratic National Convention
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Join us as Neal Gillen, former campaign aide to Vice President Humphrey, and Frank Joseph, former reporter for the Associated Press, share their experiences inside and outside the convention hall that summer. The discussion will be moderated by…
We Have Not a Government
The Cow with Ear Tag #1389
7 Ways to Survive Thanksgiving
I’m not sure who originally decided to put Election Day so close to Thanksgiving, but this year the whole thing seems like a bad idea. On the heels of historically divisive campaigning and voting, the thought of “a house divided” will likely take on literal meaning at family gatherings around…
An Attitude of (Writerly) Gratitude
Lately, I’ve been burned out on book festivals and conferences. As a writer, I attend them for tips on craft and publishing. As a reader, I’m inordinately excited to meet my literary heroes. And while I’m not exactly an introvert, the “always being on” element of any event is exhausting,…
Inventing American Tradition: From the Mayflower to Cinco de Mayo
Inventing American Tradition: From the Mayflower to Cinco de Mayo
Celebrating Black Friday from your couch? Support us at the same time! If you’re headed to Amazon, enter it via any linked book on our site (or by clicking here, or here, or even here), and the nonprofit Independent gets a portion of your purchase. (It doesn’t cost you anything…
Why Religion? A Personal Story
Why Religion? A Personal Story
An Interview with Shabnam Samuel
“When I decided to write my story, I did it to prove that I exist.” With this startling sentence, Shabnam Samuel opens her memoir, A Fractured Life, about a personal journey that began with parents who abandoned her at the age of 3. Samuel was born in 1961. In October…
A Year with Nature: An Almanac
A Year with Nature: An Almanac
Grace : mercy : disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency : a temporary exemption: (in Christian belief) the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings In late October, we were three women and…
For the month of November, Girls' Night In Book Club is reading Everything's Trash But It's Okay by Phoebe Robinson. Gather with other women at Kramers for a great book discussion, with bites and sips provided by our café and MundoVino. In addition to lively discussion, we will be hosting…
Coldwater Canyon
Where the Past Begins
Paradise in Chains
Chris McGreal in Conversation with Gina Gallucci White
Please join us for this important event at Curious Iguana. On Sunday, November 18, British investigative journalist Chris McGreal, in conversation with local journalist Gina Gallucci White, will discuss his new book, AMERICAN OVERDOSE, a comprehensive portrait of a uniquely American epidemic — devastating in its findings and damning in…
Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here are three such titles, suggested by David Bruce Smith, founder of the Grateful American™ Foundation: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by…
The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life
The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life
“It’s one foot on the platform, and the other foot on the train…” – “House of the Rising Sun,” Bob Dylan version Ten months ago, I began reading Swann’s Way — volume one of Marcel Proust’s seven-book novel, In Search of Lost Time. I was by the pool at the…
Recently, I conducted a quick tour of four newish bookstores in the Washington, DC, area. While Barnes & Noble’s retailing strategy in the area involves closing its stores in an agonizingly slow decline to full corporate disappearance, other book retailers are jumping into the market — a heartening development for…
Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s
Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s
November 2018 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
Blood Pages by George Bilgere. University of Pittsburgh Press. 72 pages. A South Side Girl’s Guide to Love & Sex: Poems by Mayda Del Valle. Tia Chucha. 80 pages. The Book of Sharks by Rob Carney. Black Lawrence Press. 65 pages. Indian Rope Trick by Prartho Sereno. Blue Light Press.…
Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life
Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life
Carrie Callaghan in Conversation with Tayla Burney
Callaghan’s debut novel vividly recreates the life of Judith Leyster (1609-1660), a Dutch Golden Age painter whose work, until 1893, was attributed to Franz Hals or to her husband. Focusing on Leyster’s early life, Callaghan, an editor and contributor to the Washington Independent Review of Books, follows her efforts to…
A Light of Her Own: A Novel
J.A. (Judith Ann) Jance has written 56 books, sold millions of murder mysteries, created distinctive heroes and heroines to solve crimes, and, at 74, is still going strong. Her publishing pace of two books per year is galloping, and she discounts the notion of aging with humor and disdain. “Am…
Expanding on her August 12, 2017, New York Times op-ed, Ghodsee looks at all facets of American women’s lives—relationships, parenting, work, politics — showing how each is harmed by unregulated capitalism and how a socialist model could improve the situation. A skilled ethnographer and professor of Russian and East European…
4 Novels that Get Adoption Right
November is both National Adoption Month and National Adoption Awareness Month. National Adoption Month was established in 1995 by President Clinton to bring attention to the many children in foster homes waiting to be adopted. National Adoption Awareness Month strives to raise awareness about adoption both among the adoption community…
A Room Away From the Wolves
Bobby Kennedy
An Interview with Juris Jurjevics
What prompted you to write Red Flags now, more than 40 years after your deployment to Vietnam? No one had yet written about our running battle with the South Vietnamese, our hosts at the war we were paying to attend. I wanted to get into their elaborate, even treasonous corruption…
The Burning Time
A chef and certified sommelier, Vickie Reh is based in DC but has traveled the world to talk to chefs and wine makers, absorbing not just techniques and recipes, but discovering firsthand the best food and wine pairings. Politics and Prose and Buck's Fishing and Camping are thrilled to welcome…
Children of God: A Novel
Rhys Bowen is the pen name for the British woman who has written The Tuscan Child, and she appears to be a writing machine, having churned out 40 mysteries, including the Constable Evan Evans series, the Molly Murphy series, the Royal Spyness series, the Red Dragon Academy series, and the…
Sometimes, poets will suggest as a revision strategy to “play” with line breaks or stanza breaks, by which they mean alter or rearrange the shape of the poem. What is sometimes missing from those suggestions is how to play and by what method one should rearrange. While all creative writing…
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter: A Novel
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter: A Novel
9 Dystopian Novels to Take Your Mind off the Midterms
The Circle by Dave Eggers. This brilliant novel veers from post-apocalyptic thriller to satire to parody as Eggers takes the tenets driving social networking and Silicon Valley megalomania to their logical conclusion in the tale of a young ingénue, Mae Holland, who goes to work at the Circle — a…
Love Is Blind: A Novel
Story Slam: Tales of Change, Growth, and Resistance
Join TFA's Collective DC for “A Story Slam Called Protest: Tales of Change, Growth, and Resistance.” The annual story slam event brings together educators and students for a live storytelling experience showcasing their unique backgrounds and talents. Stories (and songs) are dramatic, humorous, and sometimes unexpected. This is an opportunity…
This Story Is a Lie is ostensibly a YA novel that readers of all ages who like speculative thrillers will enjoy. The book is a step away from author Tom Pollock’s previous work — mostly urban fantasy — and focuses on Peter Blankman, a 17-year-old math genius who suffers from…
Warlight: A Novel
Not given to viewing ghost stories as anything other than entertainment, it must be a narrative of some repute, like “Get Out” or early Stephen King, to draw my attention, to suspend my disbelief. But I recently made an arrangement with the Independent’s own Dorothy Reno, whose opinion I respect,…
The Library Book
5 Most Popular Posts: October 2018
The 2019 Washington Writers Conference. Did you hear that Jeffery Deaver will be headlining our 2019 event? Judging by the throngs checking out our conference page, indeed you did! (Click here to register at the special Super-Early-Bird rate while there's still time!) Robert Allen Papinchak’s review of Transcription: A Novel…
Shooting Lincoln
Psychosocial counselor Joanna Breyer, PhD, has condensed decades of experience working with seriously ill children and their families into a comprehensive guide. Expert advice on the practicalities of these situations, from how to navigate through the hospital setting and at-home care to coping with long-term outcomes, is provided. Breyer’s techniques…
7 Best-Reviewed Books in October 2018
Adrift: A True Story of Tragedy on the Icy Atlantic and the One Who Lived to Tell about It by Brian Murphy with Toula Vlahou (Da Capo Press). Reviewed by Eliza McGraw. “Parts of the narrative make the reader seasick because they're so gutting, while other passages are pleasantly atmospheric.…
Hannibal’s Oath
Where Did You Get This Number?: A Pollster’s Guide to Making Sense of the World
Where Did You Get This Number?: A Pollster’s Guide to Making Sense of the World
Romance Roundup: November 2018
November means Thanksgiving in the U.S., and there is so much I’m grateful for this year — including all of the wonderful books I’ve read. This month, I’m reviewing four very different romance novels that would seem to have nothing in common. But whether they feature firefighters or shapeshifters, take…
The digital age has many distractions, and sometimes it’s hard to muster the discipline to read anything more challenging than a thriller or a mystery. Many people join book clubs for precisely this reason, because the regular meetings and discussions incentivize them to read more complex material. For those of…
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life
An Interview with Lisa McCubbin
Now, more than ever, we need Betty Ford. The wife of President Gerald R. Ford left a legacy of progressive zeal from a 20th-century first lady arguably eclipsed only by Eleanor Roosevelt. Remembered today mostly for the eponymous substance-abuse treatment centers she helped pioneer in the 1980s, Ford was also…
Lost Mars: Stories from the Golden Age of the Red Planet
Lost Mars: Stories from the Golden Age of the Red Planet
Join us for a panel discussion on “I Wrote a Book! Now What?” Holly Smith, editor-in-chief of the Washington Independent Review of Books, will be joined by local authors Richard Peabody and John Wasowicz, and others, to discuss the challenges writers face in finding publishers and in promoting their books.…
6 Creepy-But-Cute Picture Books for Halloween
My son owns a scary amount of Halloween-themed kids’ books. This is my fault, of course, but I’m not apologizing. Dash loves a good creepy book. When he was younger, he had a fondness for one baby book that featured a haunted house with a headless knight, a spider named…
American Dialogue: The Founders and Us
American Dialogue: The Founders and Us
Jeffery Deaver to Headline the 2019 Washington Writers Conference!
Just announced: Bestselling writer Jeffery Deaver — author of the popular Lincoln Rhyme series, which includes The Bone Collector and The Cutting Edge — will deliver the keynote address at the 2019 Washington Writers Conference! What insights will he offer about the literary life? Better be there to find out!…
Busboys and Poets Books Presents José Andrés
Busboys and Poets Books welcomes chef and author José Andrés to discuss and sign his latest book, We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time, the true story of how a group of chefs fed hundreds of thousands of hungry Americans after…
13 of the Spookiest Stories Ever
Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. A novella written under the pen name Don A. Stuart, it’s the basis for two movies called “The Thing.” Scary because an alien creature takes over scientists' bodies by mimicking what they look like — so no one knows who anyone is!…
Okay, the title is a little misleading since I’m gonna NaNo. For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo (short for National Novel Writing Month) is an online event that begins every November 1st and ends at 11:59 p.m. on the 30th. Participants commit to writing 50,000 words of a…
War of the Wolf: A Novel
Flood
Arthur Vandenberg
A Dream Called Home: A Memoir
A while back, a cousin of mine mentioned that one friend in a group of pals had gotten a book published, so they all read it and did a mini book club to discuss. Though many of her friends seemed to enjoy it, she was appalled. “It was…vulgar. I know…
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
Stephens’ debut novel follows Lisa and Mindy, South Koreans and best friends since their childhood adoption by American parents. In their twenties as the novel opens, the two meet in Seoul at Mindy’s insistence to track down their birth parents. But Lisa has just lost her job teaching English in…
Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger
Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger
T.M. Logan’s debut novel, Lies, tells you everything you need to know in the title. Well, that’s not entirely true, of course. The plot is complex, and the string of untruths surrounding the lives of the characters will challenge even the sharpest of readers. Lies revolves around Joe Lynch, a…
Sound Pictures: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Later Years, 1966-2016
Sound Pictures: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Later Years, 1966-2016
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