The Museum: From its Origins to the 21st Century by Owen Hopkins

Frances Lincoln Review by David Starkey In The Museum: From its Origins to the 21st Century, Owen Hopkins, Director of the Farrell Centre at Newcastle University, focuses on three key…

Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra, translated by Megan McDowell

(Penguin) Review by Brian Tanguay Discovering a new author is one of the unparalleled joys of reading. Like the box of chocolates made famous by Forrest Gump, one never knows…

Wildflowers of North America by the National Audubon Society

Knopf Review by David Starkey It’s spring here in Coastal California, and the atmospheric rivers that deluged our state have resulted in an abundance of wildflowers, which makes the publication…

Seeking Authenticity by Walter Cummins

Del Sol Review by Jack Smith In this collection of essays and reviews, Walter Cummins, short story writer and essayist, deals with a broad range of topics, among them DNA…

Take What You Need by Idra Novey

Viking Review by Walter Cummins The words of Idra Novey’s title, Take What You Need, suggest a sign scrawled on a heap of broken, useless stuff not worth a payment.…

Six California Kitchens: A Collection of Recipes, Stories, and Cooking Lessons from a Pioneer of California CuisineSix California Kitchens by Sally Schmitt

Chronicle Books Review by George Yatchisin Sally Schmitt’s posthumous publication Six California Kitchens proves you can write a powerful memoir one recipe at a time. Whether the book will become…

Dog on Fire by Terese Svoboda

Nebraska Review by Walter Cummins Terese Svoboda opens Dog on Fire with the narrator trapped in a blinding storm: “Out of a storm so thick with dust, a storm so…

MacLeish Sq. by Dennis Must

Red Hen Review by Jack Smith As with many of Dennis Must’s other fictions, consisting of three novels and three short story collections, MacLeish Sq. is a tale about personal…

Dangerous Blues by Stephen Policoff

Review by Lisa del Rosso In Stephen Policoff’s latest novel, the evocative Dangerous Blues, widower Paul Brickner, the not so much unreliable as increasingly unhinged narrator, is being haunted by…

Entangled and Interdependent: An interview with David Anthony Martin, Founder and Editor of Middle Creek Publishing & Audio

By H. L. Hix In this conversation, David Anthony Martin discusses with H. L. Hix the vision of Middle Creek Publishing, the role of small press publications in revitalizing our…