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A Solid Conclusion to a Trilogy

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Guest Post by Natalie Hess.

Fox Forever is the conclusion to the Jenna Fox Chronicles. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this given that I really enjoyed the first book, and didn’t care much for the second, but this was a solid conclusion to the trilogy.

The story follows Locke as he tries to fulfill a favor he owes in Boston, which involves Miesha’s long lost husband, and a girl Locke accidentally falls for who is tied to the favor in a way that she doesn’t even know. As in the other two books, the characters are the best part of this story by far, but the plot is really good as well. There are reveals and plot twists around every corner, and they are quite unpredictable for the most part. Pearson constantly adds pieces to the puzzle and it grows more complicated as the situation reveals itself.

If you enjoyed the first book, and even if you didn’t enjoy the second book, I definitely think this is a series worth continuing!

Fox Forever by Mary E. Pearson. Square Fish, February 2014.

Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

A Gentle & Ambitious Journey

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Guest Post by Stephanie Katz.

New-Hampshire-based poet Amanda Lou Doster’s first chapbook Everything Begins Somewhere is a gentle yet ambitious journey across the poet’s life. The first poem, “Actually,” sets in motion the idea of loss mixed with returning home, a theme which threads throughout the chapbook. Doster writes: 

here, have this poem which all my life I thought
would be big enough for the languages and the countries
and the drugs, but which is really just a basket
woven from hay. Fragile stuff from the farm
I never thought I’d live on, but where it turns out I do.

The poems that reference children or motherhood paint stark pictures of the experience. In “A mother dreams of more babies” Doster writes: 

In my friend’s belly grow tiny teeth,
perfect little knives. She says
they’re eating her alive.

One of the most vivid and raw poems in the collection is “You are expected to be more decorous than linoleum.” Doster writes: 

It is unseemly to wash your hair in snowmelt. Impolite to discuss
your lover with your husband, but since you asked
in sixty-four years we will dissolve. All of us.

The themes of loss and quiet self-destruction play heavily throughout the poems, but the last poem “Next time I’ll ask someone else” hints at self-acceptance with the final line “I can collect everything / inside that green trunk—some vintage clothes, / paisley, and other lapses in judgement.” 

This chapbook was published by Slate Roof Press, a unique member-run letterpress based in Massachusetts. New poets are selected through their annual contests and spend the next three years a member of the press learning and helping to produce their own title.  

Everything Begins Somewhere by Amanda Lou Doster. Slate Roof Press, 2020.

Reviewer bio: Stephanie Katz is a librarian with the Manatee Libraries and editor in chief of award-winning litmag 805 Lit + Art. She was selected as a Library Journal 2020 Mover & Shaker and is the author of Libraries Publish: How to Start a Magazine, Small Press, Blog, and More. She blogs about creative library publishing at LiteraryLibraries.org. 

Galileo Press Releases Blood Histories

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Galileo Press, the book publishing arm of literary magazine Free State Review has released a new chapbook from writer and filmmaker Tara Stillions Whitehead, Blood Histories. This is a fiction, poetry, hybrid chapbook.

What the book trailer and grab your copy today!

The End of a Breathtaking Duology

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Guest Post by Natalie Hess.

This sequel to Strange the Dreamer was absolutely phenomenal. It picks up right where the first book leaves off as Minya tries to force Lazlo to do her bidding, with the threat of releasing Sarai’s soul and letting her evanesce if he does not comply.

There are so many twists and turns throughout all 500 pages of this masterpiece. There are high stakes. There is whimsy. There is Laini Taylor’s gorgeous writing. There are the extremely lovable characters. And most of all, there is an amazing conclusion to this duology.

Throughout the entire story it seems as if there is no way to solve all of the major problems, even as more are being introduced, but somehow it all comes together for a spectacular ending that leaves the reader with so much emotion. I would highly recommend this duology to everyone, because it is absolutely breathtaking.

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor. Little, Brown and Company, October 2018.

Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

NewPages Book Stand – July 2021

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Are you taking advantage of summer downtime by getting some reading done?  At this month’s Book Stand, we have more books to add to your “to-read” list, including five featured titles.

The prose poems in Ariadne Awakens: Instructions for the Labyrinth by Laura Costas “rearticulate the myth of following, finding, losing and following again an invisible thread that connects body to body, body to soul, soul to soul.”

Marcela Sulak’s City of Skypapers “not only enact[s], but also celebrate[s] what it means to be alive ‘in a place where the flowers are old enough to have stories.’”

Matt Longabucco’s book-length essay M/W: An Essay on Jean Eustache’s La maman et la putain reckons with Jean Eustache’s document of political bitterness and romantic catastrophe from the standpoint of our own vexed present.

Edited by Meredith Stabel and Zachary Turpin, Radicals is a two-volume collection of writings by American women of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with special attention paid to the voices of Black, Indigenous, and Asian American women.

While the novella has existed as a distinct literary form for over four hundred years, Sharon Oard Warner’s Writing the Novella is the first craft book dedicated to creating this intermediate-length fiction.

You can learn more about each of these New & Noteworthy books at our website. Click here to see how to place your book in our New & Noteworthy section.

Suspense, Twists, and Heartache

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Guest Post by Allison Kaminski.

The Wife’s House by Arianne Richmonde is a psychological thriller full of suspense, twists, and heartache. A widow lives alone on the edge of the Big Sur cliff tops, home to her modern glass refuge Cliffside. Little does she know, her lavish paradise is going to become her worst nightmare.

Triplets. A psycho ex-wife. Creepy notes. A dead husband. What could possibly go wrong?

Richmonde does a fantastic job of conveying suspense while building a main character who learns how to find confidence and strength in order to overcome the obstacles in her life.

Personally, I haven’t read a thriller quite like this. Its uniqueness in plot and suspicious characters had me hooked from the very beginning. I loved not knowing what characters I could or couldn’t trust. And let’s not forget the ending. Wow!

Overall, if you’re looking for an unputdownable thriller that will send you through a hurricane of emotions, The Wife’s House is the perfect read for you!

The Wife’s House by Arianne Richmonde. Bookouture, August 2020.

Reviewer bio: Allison Kaminski is a YA author who writes gripping mysteries and romance stories. She spends her days working to achieve a Bachelor in English with an emphasis in creative writing. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading and watching old movies. Connect with me on social media: https://www.instagram.com/author_allisonk.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

‘The Rotten Beast’

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Guest Post by Natalie Hess.

This is the short story in the Jenna Fox Chronicles that comes after The Adoration of Jenna Fox. I absolutely loved this! The story follows Allys, Jenna’s friend, who is trying to cope with the fact that she is made mostly of bio gel which is a sort of replicating technology that can be used to replace vital organs, and therefore save lives. The problem, though, is that Allys has an extremely large amount of this inside her, making her illegal.

I can’t say that very much happened in this story, considering it was only 12 pages long, but it was still extremely enjoyable. The way that Mary E. Pearson writes is really beautiful and makes something that could be very boring and insignificant into something gorgeous and impactful, and it very much has to do with the events in the rest of the series. I would highly recommend this series, and this short story, especially to people who really enjoy sci-fi.

“The Rotten Beast” by Mary E. Pearson. Tor Books, November 2011.

Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!

A Labyrinth of a Novel

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Book Review by Katy Haas.

Adam McOmber’s Jesus and John takes place in the days following Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus returns from the dead as a shell of himself, unable to speak and seemingly unable to stop walking in a specific direction as if being pulled by a magnet. The man who was his lover, John, is assigned the duty of protecting Jesus as he walks. This brings them to Rome, to a mysterious house called the “Gray Palace.” Once inside the palace, John’s journey becomes much more than he bargained for.

The deeper John travels into the labyrinth of a house, the looser the definition of reality becomes. John has no idea what lies around the next corner, and readers are kept just as unaware, constantly discovering new details. Each question answered unearths another question. I stayed up reading for hours, completely unable to set down this thriller/fantasy/horror/something-else-entirely novel.

McOmber writes John’s inner thoughts and feelings so vividly, a reader can’t help experiencing these feelings along with him: his love, his uncertainties, his growing fear and desperation. It’s been a long time since a novel has kept me so entranced and I welcomed getting lost in this fantastical world and queer storyline.

Jesus and John by Adam McOmber. Lethe Press, June 2020.

Buy this book from our affiliate Bookshop.org.

July 2021 eLitPak :: Summer Titles for Livingston Press at University of West Alabama

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Screenshot of Livingston Press May 2021 NewPages eLitPak Flier
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New Titles from Livingston Press by James Braziel, Mark Budman, Daren Dean, William Gay, and Terence Gallagher. See our flier for more information. We will announce the Tartt winner soon and then will resume open reading for fiction titles.

View the full July 2021 eLitPak newsletter.

July 2021 eLitPak :: Sonju by Wondra Chang

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Screenshot of Madville Publishing's Sonju flier for the July 2021 NewPages eLitPak
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After she defies the rigid, oppressive Confucian tradition of order and conformity, Sonju descends from an aristocratic upbringing to working at a men’s club. In spite of social condemnations and personal tragedies, her determination to be her own person never wavers. Available now from Madville Publishing and all online retailers.

View the full July 2021 eLitPak newsletter.

July 2021 eLitPak :: 2 Open Calls for Submissions at Madville Publishing

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Screenshot of Madville Publishing's flier for the July 2021 NewPages eLitPak
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Madville Publishing has two open calls for submissions! The Muddy Backroads short story anthology closes August 15, 2021, and the Arthur Smith Poetry Prize closes September 1, 2021. Find out all the information on our website.

View the full July 2021 eLitPak Newsletter.