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Democracy Book Review

Joan Didion
In the intertwined lives of politicians, socialites, and war profiteers, the drama of family shame and petty grievances look just as large as the Vietnam war. The characters in this novel are too insulated from consequences to have a sense of purpose, and that makes it hard as a reader to be invested in their stories. Their actions are motivated by a need to run away, to reject closeness, to turn away from inconvenient truths.

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There’s Always This Year Book Review

Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif’s signature tenderness, the way he calls us “beloved” and trusts that we as readers will reciprocate, is what sets his writing apart. Inventive in form and style, this book espouses a love for a city that seems like it wants to spit you out. It’s not a book about basketball, it’s a book about how we can pin our hopes and dreams on a rising star only to smother its light.

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Terraform: Watch/Worlds/Burn Book Review

Brian Merchant & Claire Evans
This collection of speculative short stories is massive in its scope, with truly divergent approaches from all the contributors. More dystopian than optimistic, they may not paint an ideal future but they try to jolt us out of sleepwalking towards the worst of it.

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The Electrical Field Book Review

Kerri Sakamoto
A mystery unfolds in the periphery as we plumb the depths of Miss Saito's loneliness, regrets, desires, and need for control. A death in her small town makes visible the cracks that her and her neighbours would have preferred to keep glossing over. It also unravels her sense of routine and comfort as the ghosts of the past come rushing back. Set against the backdrop of generational trauma stemming from the Japanese internment camps, this book wrestles to pinpoint the spot where the pain began.

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