In the opening chapter of The Only Good Indians, Ricky, one of the titular “Indians” has stepped outside a bar to take a leak when a massive and possibly hallucinatory elk appears, stomps on a bunch of cars, and leaves him to the mercy of a bunch of drunk white guys who mete out swiftContinue reading “No Punches Pulled in ‘Indians’”
Author Archives: Elisabeth Ring
A Two-for-One Take on ‘Ninth’s
The nice thing about being a little late to the game is that often the books I love already have sequels or the authors have otherwise published other work, so I can linger a little longer in the world or language than I would have if I had read them when the ink was stillContinue reading “A Two-for-One Take on ‘Ninth’s”
‘Space’ Does SciFi Proud
I’m not sure how much Michaiah Johnson knows about architecture, but if The Space Between Worlds is any indication, she sure can construct a plot. The debut novel has an immaculately constructed plot with parallels upon parallels to itself and real life—which, as it happens, you almost forget exists after being immersed in Johnson’s world.Continue reading “‘Space’ Does SciFi Proud”
A Quest Fulfilled, with a Disappointing End
For the last several years, I have been on a Quest. Something like twenty summers ago, my precocious, scrawny little-kid self would go to the bookmobile library at every opportunity and come home with a stack of books practically as tall as I was (which wasn’t that tall then, but still). The picture books, earlyContinue reading “A Quest Fulfilled, with a Disappointing End”
Temporary slowdown
Just a quick heads-up: I’ve got some hefty deadlines coming up, which unfortunately is going to really cut into my reading time. As such, I’m going to scale back to a review every other week until about the end of February. See you less often until then!
‘Liars’ is Nothing Short of Magic
Early on in the pandemic, I sat in the antiseptic-drenched donation room of the Red Cross and tried to read The Butchering Art. It was, as I said at the time, a fascinating and exceptionally well-written book, but something about the written depictions of surgery theater and infection contrasting with the new fears of theContinue reading “‘Liars’ is Nothing Short of Magic”
Magic and Sisterhood Soar in ‘Witches’
I read a lot more than the books I review, sometimes because I get distracted by kinda trashy books or nostalgia (the less said about the intersection of these, my rediscovery of R. L. Stein books earlier this year, the better) and sometimes because I just can’t think of anything clever to say about aContinue reading “Magic and Sisterhood Soar in ‘Witches’”
‘Future’ Succeeds, Sort Of
Annalee Newitz is never short on a good concept. Their previous book, Autonomous, is all about androids and cyborgs and bootlegged prescription drugs and pirates. Their newest, The Future of Another Timeline, is packed with time travel and murder and political intrigue and wormholes. Despite the incredibly cool concepts in this book, though, reading Future feltContinue reading “‘Future’ Succeeds, Sort Of”
‘Luster’ Earns its Glow
The premise of Raven Leilani’s Luster is simple enough: A Black woman in her early 20s begins an affair with a middle-aged white man. Go down past the surface and you could expound on the fact that the man has been seeking for an affair with his wife’s permission, and that he and the mainContinue reading “‘Luster’ Earns its Glow”
‘There There’ a Gut Punch in the Best Way
There are a lot of characters—a full dozen POVs and a smattering of side characters—to keep track of in Tommy Orange’s There There. But even though reading the novel means keeping track of this person and that person as they appear and disappear within There There‘s various narratives, Orange’s considerable skill as a writer meansContinue reading “‘There There’ a Gut Punch in the Best Way”
Ring Reads 