New Books Network
Literature
History April 16, 2021

The Golden Age of the American Essay

1945-1970

Phillip Lopate

Hosted by Zachary McCulley
The three decades that followed World War II were an exceptionally fertile period for American essays. The explosion of journals and magazines, the rise of public intellectuals, and breakthroughs in …

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Literature April 16, 2021

An Indian Among Los Indígenas

Ursula Pike

Hosted by Zoe Bossiere
The western travel narrative genre has a history long tied to voyeurism and conquest. A way to see the world—and its many unique people and places—through the eyes of mostly …
Fantasy April 15, 2021

The Frozen Crown

A Novel

Greta Kelly

Hosted by Gabrielle Mathieu
The horror of the battlefield is fresh for Princess Askia. She’s just been forced to flee her kingdom, the northern country of Seravesh, where her cousin now rules under the …
Poetry April 13, 2021

Hotel Almighty

Sarah J. Sloat

Hosted by Andrea Blythe
Visually arresting and utterly one-of-a-kind, Sarah J. Sloat's Hotel Almighty (Sarabande Books) is a book-length erasure of Misery by Stephen King, a reimagining of the novel's themes of constraint and …
Literature April 13, 2021

Four Dead Horses

KT Sparks

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Today I talked to KT Sparks about her debut novel Four Dead Horses (Regal House, 2021) On May 1, 1982, eighteen-year-old Martin Oliphant watches a horse drown off the shore of …
Military History April 9, 2021

The Last Platoon

A Novel of the Afghanistan War

Bing West

Hosted by Jeffrey Bristol
The Last Platoon: A Novel of the Afghanistan War (Bombardier Books, 2020) is a riveting book of infantry ground combat. As a work of fiction it is superb, showing the …
Literature April 9, 2021

A Fourteen-Hour Lesson in Theosophy

Edgar Garbelotto

Hosted by Emily Everett
Writer and translator Edgar Garbelotto speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his short story “A Fourteen-Hour Lesson in Theosophy,” which appears in Issue 20 of The Common magazine. The story …
Popular Culture April 9, 2021

My Private Lennon

Explorations from a Fan Who Never Screamed

Sibbie O'Sullivan

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
In My Private Lennon: Explorations From a Fan Who Never Screamed (Mad Creek Press, 2020), Sibbie O'Sullivan offers a new point of view from which to consider the Beatles’ impact on society and on …
Science Fiction April 8, 2021

The Rain Heron

A Novel

Robbie Arnott

Hosted by Rob Wolf
At the end of its life, the phoenix bursts into flames and a younger bird rises from the ashes. The roc is large enough to carry an elephant in its …
Literature April 7, 2021

Road Out of Winter

Alison Stine

Hosted by Ellee Achten
Sometimes you come across a book that pulls you in from every angle. It offers you the space to explore your own fears and hopes all while taking you on …
Middle Eastern Studies April 7, 2021

Stories My Father Told Me

Memories of a Childhood in Syria and Lebanon

Helen Zughaib and Elia Zughaib

Hosted by Valerie Saint-Rossy
Family stories are the texture of the human fabric. From every land, from every time, they bring the past to life for young ears. In the beginning of the twentieth …
Literature April 5, 2021

Darkness at Noon

A Novel

Arthur Koestler

Hosted by Ian Drake
Philip Boehm, who has translated over thirty books from German and Polish into English, has translated a recently discovered German manuscript Darkness at Noon (Scribner, 2019) by the late Arthur Koestler …
Historical Fiction April 5, 2021

The Sky Worshipers

F. M. Deemyad

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
There have been more than a few contenders for the title of “World Conqueror,” but eight hundred years after the fact, Genghis Khan’s claim to the title remains unmatched. Over …
Critical Theory April 2, 2021

Imperial Encore

The Cultural Project of the Late British Empire

Caroline Ritter

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What role did culture play in the British Empire? In Imperial Encore: The Cultural Project of the Late British Empire (University of California Press, 2021), Caroline Ritter, an Assistant Professor of …
Popular Culture April 2, 2021

Warhol's Mother's Pantry

Art, America, and the Mom in Pop

M. I. Devine

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
In Warhol's Mother's Pantry: Art America and the Mom in Pop (Mad Creek Press, 2020), M.I. Devine introduces readers to a collection of 21st-century multi-genre essays inspired by Andy Warhol's mother …
Literature March 30, 2021

Father Guards the Sheep

Sari Rosenblatt

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
In Sari Rosenblatt’s collection, Father Guards the Sheep (University of Iowa Press, 2020), by turns tender and hilarious, we see fathers who are bullies and nervous watchdogs, haunted by their own pasts …
Literature March 30, 2021

Lightning Flowers

My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life

Katherine E. Standefer

Hosted by Zoe Bossiere
As the push for a Universal Healthcare system in the United States becomes more and more popular among the American people, we’re beginning to have more public conversations about access …
The Common Magazine March 26, 2021

Vigilância

Casey Walker

Hosted by Emily Everett
Casey Walker speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his short story “Vigilância,” which appears in Issue 20 of The Common magazine. In this conversation, Walker talks about writing World …
Literature March 23, 2021

Prospects of a Woman

Wendy Voorsanger

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
When Elisabeth Parker and her husband leave Massachusetts and arrive in California to join her father, she quickly learns that her father is not who she thought he was. It’s …
Australian and New Zealand Studies March 22, 2021

After Australia

Michael Mohammed Ahmad

Hosted by Bede Haines
After Australia (Affirm Press with the Sweatshop Literacy Movement 2021). No, Australia has not ended - it's a book edited by Michael Mohammed Ahmad. Climate catastrophe, police brutality, white genocide, totalitarian rule and …