The Nix

Sep 21, 2023 | Book Report

THE NIX by Nathan Hill Review of THE NIX: “Hill is such a gifted and tenderhearted storyteller that “The Nix” doesn’t need these postmodern digressions and gimmicks….. Then again, if his primary aim was to represent, in all its tragicomic contradictions, the...

Jo’s Jottings: The Serendipity of My Life

Sep 11, 2023 | General

Many years ago, I was in Washington DC making my first visit to the Holocaust Museum. I had already been blown away by the way the museum designers had set up the path visitors would travel. First, you are given an identity card—someone who lived during the Holocaust;...

Swimming Back To Trout River

Aug 22, 2023 | Book Report

Swimming Back To Trout River by Linda Rui Feng Reviews: “With lean prose and assured storytelling, this debut novel describes a family fractured by geography, ambition and the ripple effects of China’s tumultuous 20th-century history.”—NEW YORK TIMES BOOK...

Notes On An Execution

Aug 8, 2023 | Book Report

Notes On An Execution by Danya Kukafka: Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesn’t want to die; he wants to be celebrated,...

Jo’s Jottings: The Highs and Lows of Self-Publishing

Jul 31, 2023 | General

Over the last three days I have spent many hours at the computer trying (without success) to upload my latest work to the marketplace. There is a lot to be said for being an independent author—I get to write what I want and I am in control (sort of) all the...