1. Adele Annesi’s review of A Kitchen in the Corner of the House by Ambai (Archipelago Books). “In a society where women’s voices are hushed by tradition everywhere except, perhaps, the kitchen, Ambai has crafted stories as diverse and savory as the dishes created in this space — one like many others whose window overlooks distant mountains of aspiration usually obscured by a clothesline of ‘trousers, shirts, pajamas, saris, and petticoats.’”


2. October 2019 Exemplars by Grace Cavalieri. “Dear Readers: This is my last ‘Exemplars.’ I’ve loved reading poetry books each and every day for my monthly column and reviewing poetry for more than seven years for the Independent. Thank you (and them) for being with me.”


3. Jennifer Bort Yacovissi’s review of The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay (Algonquin Books). “Even better (or, as the author would say, ‘Delight!’), this is a physically small book that fits nicely in the reader’s hands. Each essay stands satisfyingly on its own, at most six or eight pages, more often two or fewer. All of which goes to say that it’s a book that begs to be carried along, offering insight and delight in whatever slice of time a reader may have. This is flash nonfiction.”


4. Philip K. Jason’s review of The German Midwife: A Novel by Mandy Robotham (Avon). “Robotham’s achievement in The German Midwife is powerful on all fronts. Her sense of time and place is authentic and prophetic. Her major characters are sturdily developed, and the novel is also populated with interesting minor characters. From her own expertise as a midwife, along with a confident mastery of sources and a large dose of sympathetic imagination, the author has constructed an enlightening and compelling literary experience.”


5. Patricia Schultheis’ review of The Man Who Saw Everything: A Novel by Deborah Levy (Bloomsbury Publishing). “In her stunning new Man Booker-longlisted novel, The Man Who Saw Everything, Deborah Levy achieves what other authors have attempted but few have realized. When artists in other mediums were eschewing conventional forms to create new modes of seeing and listening, the constraints of linear narrative kept writers hogtied to telling what happened next. And next.”

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