Lover of literary fiction and creative nonfiction. Hiker, backpacker, and travel bug-bitten daydreamer. Fearless photographer and daredevil grub-maker in the kitchen. An intrepid experimentalist in the art of making up nonsense songs. The guy who will cross the busiest intersection in town just to pet a cute dog. A great big dork, pretty much.
Delicately-plotted, quietly-insightful little wonders in miniature-- ah, how I loved this collection of stories! Every single one is a triumph, but for me it's "A Map of the Simplified World"-- a tale of immigrant children navigating the many social challenges of the American school system-- which stopped me in my tracks. This is so good. --Todd
Such a vital, electrifying, passionate story collection, and quite a feat, being able to tackle generational trauma with this much wit and youthful vigor. So's portrayals of Cambodian immigrants and their first-generation Californian kids are wildly varied and impeccably crafted-- there's a huge heart at the core of these sometimes melancholy, sometimes laugh-out-loud tales. --Todd
Oh, wow wow wow-- this was quite a hoot. A writer whose creative gas tank has run empty suddenly gains access to an unbeatable, sure-to-be-a-hit storyline and passes it off as his own...with, let's just say, "mixed results." It's a gripping, sometimes quite hilarious, literary thriller which held me hostage (in the best possible way) for a few sittings; I had to use a ton of restraint not to read it all in one go. So much fun! --Todd
I can honestly say I've never read anything quite like this, a cautionary sci-fi eco-horror tale weaving three interconnected storylines across several millennia while also framing the history of Johnny Appleseed as a fairytale. It's a daring, hugely thought-provoking epic, flush with ideas and inventive language...highly recommended if you're looking for a truly singular reading experience. --Todd
Exquisite and poetic in spite of the often-harrowing subject matter, this thoughtful rendering of Vietnam's turbulent history--told as a family saga-- is deeply impactful fiction. There is considerable hardship in these pages, but also triumph and so much beauty. I was wowed. --Todd
Gold-standard graphic journalism, based on the author's many visits to the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the early 90s-- yes, several decades ago, but the issues more or less remain the same now as they were at the time of writing. Sacco is a gifted illustrator who has created a deeply human, genuinely moving, and often shocking depiction of day-to-day life in a very troubled part of the world. --Todd
This is easily one of the most captivating works about intersectionality I have read-- the authors do an incredible job not only with telling the history of various social movements of the late-Twentieth Century, but also with explaining how they very often worked together towards shared goals. If you enjoyed Howard Zinn ("A People's History of the United States"), then this tremendous labor of love should definitely grab you. --Todd
A gorgeous, intricate multi-generational epic, set amongst towering hardwoods and old-growth forests, with family drama and intrigue layered much like the concentric tree rings of the book's cover. It's a quiet little masterpiece, taking on the daunting subject of environmental collapse with so much heart and soul. --Todd
I'm a total fool for tales about obsessions, and this portrait of naturalists and tree-climbing thrill-seekers in their quest for the world's tallest redwoods kept me riveted. Nature writing at its most entertaining! --Todd
Yes, this is a book about hawks-- and MacDonald wields a poet's pen in celebrating the majestic creatures-- but ultimately it is just as much a memoir of grief and of finding a reason to get up in the morning. It's also a love letter to her father, and I found her coming to terms with loss to be genuinely moving. --Todd
Fans of Octavia Butler, or Margaret Atwood's dystopian novels, should seek out this unsettling, atmospheric tale of medical experimentation on Black bodies-- think Tuskegee Study, but in current times. A disturbing commentary on classism, racism, and exploitation, this is quite a bold, inventive literary debut; I ended up reading the whole thing in an afternoon. --Todd
I find oral histories to be such a compellingly direct, intimate literary format; this collection of testimonies from women survivors of Stalin's gulags is a shining example of the form's power. These tales of resilience and the ability to find beauty and solace in the bleakest of circumstances are unforgettable and deeply engrossing. --Todd
Brimming with wit, wisdom, and wide-eyed wanderlust, this travel memoir is a pure delight-- Knighton explores every single one of our national parks, and the year-long journey makes for an energizing, very educational read. I particularly enjoyed how the author arranges the travelogue thematically, rather than chronologically-- very effective and quite illuminating! --Todd
Infuriating but utterly unputdownable, Eyre's fearless examination of how Big Pharma (with the assistance of the DEA and certain unscrupulous pharmacies) manufactured the opioid epidemic is astonishingly heroic. Few works of recent journalism have woven small-town intrigue and national tragedy together so smartly and savagely. --Todd
Part meditation, part personal memoir, part literary and cultural history, this slim little volume is a curious charmer. It's also quite ambitious, covering a surprising amount of territory in such a modest number of pages. Fun, thoughtful, and often quietly reflective-- a "beach read" quite unlike any other! --Todd
Such an honest and essential book, focusing on the dreams and struggles of undocumented immigrants in the United States. The way the author weaves her own personal and family history into sharp, incisive, sensitive reporting is an absolute triumph. Upfront, unflinching, and so necessary. --Todd
A heartbreaking tale of forced exile and the fight for repatriation, based on actual, sadly-overlooked events in the Chagos Archipelago-- Patel's testimony to the human collateral damage of geopolitical strategizing is eloquent and deeply moving. Raw but so very beautiful. --Todd
This was a lot of fun-- Zada hits just the right balance between skepticism and eagerness and in the process gives a great deal of insight into how we construct our mythologies. His descriptions of the Pacific Northwest are positively enthralling, and the cast of characters he meets in his quest are quite unforgettable. --Todd
A journey I wish had gone on forever-- Theroux picks some of the toughest routes and modes of transport for his African odyssey, and the reader is made all the richer for his choices. It's a captivating tribute to a continent fraught with troubles yet full of resilience-- his prose shifts readily and beautifully between joy and sadness, hope and melancholy. A true travel memoir classic. --Todd
A must-have for any Bowie fan: in a series of miniature essays, O'Connell discusses each of the 100 books the musician credited as having the biggest influence on his life and career. It's a fascinating, informative game of connect-the-dots, offering plenty of context to the wildly varied, often surprising literary lineup. --Todd
An impeccably-crafted, alluringly enigmatic little puzzler of a novel-- Levy is a true master of playful, disorienting prose. I don't often re-read novels, but this one merits repeated revisits. --Pam
A vital voice for these frightening times-- Williams channels grief and rage and, remarkably, finds solace and hope in the wreckage. Few writers merge the personal with the political to such electric, rallying effect. --Todd
A philosophical, erudite examination of some truly remote, stone-silent little spots in the middle of nowhere, often peppered with generous measures of self-deprecating wit. This is a marvelous antidote to our ever-demanding digital world. --Todd
Part memoir, part travel narrative, part chef profile...and a whole lot of fun. Sure, it's a true foodie's delight, but it's just as much about reinvention and risk and the burning urge to break out of one's comfort zone. I inhaled this book. --Todd
Technically, this novel gets classified as science fiction, but Butler's tale of a modern black woman transported back in time to a slave plantation in the South is social realism and criticism at its finest. This is a shattering, thought-provoking work of psychological horror, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. --Todd
An intoxicating travelogue of some of the world's most desolate places, peppered with many philosophical musings and a great deal of historical context. Atkins evokes a sense of place so alluringly. --Todd
Ah, the deadpan delivery, the vague tingles of unease, the unblinking gaze! Didion's 1960's reportage offers no judgments but instead presents her subjects as they were, flaws and all. Societal malaise has rarely been made so delicious. --Todd
A master of metaphysical brain-scrambling storytelling trickery, Murakami takes some ingenious liberties with the Oedipal myth and serves up quite a crazy ride in the process. Few authors address the transition from adolescence to adulthood with such sense of wonder and emotional acuity. --Todd
Imagine a cross between Cormac McCarthy's work and "Breaking Bad" (but remove the show's pitch-black humor)-- Monge's stark, brutal tale of violence and regret in the unforgiving Mexican desert manages to be both lyrical and deeply visceral. --Todd
This is quite a singular read, weaving family memories and fiction with old snapshots to create a haunting meditation on homesickness and loss. Devastatingly beautiful. --Todd
Rarely has the adjective, Kafkaesque, been more fitting: Seghers's tense, nervy WWII-era literary thriller captures the predicaments and plight of the exiled with a thick air of confusion and existential dread. It's a brilliantly-rendered survey of the human collateral damage of war and conflict, and remains as relevant now as ever. --Todd