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Success Principles;

by Robert Tighe

| Published May 18, 2018 |

Book review by Thursday Review editors

According to Robert Tighe, there is no single key to achievement, nor any single magic formula for success in life, or in business. But there are...(click to read more)


Collection of Heng Souk book cover

The Collection of Heng Souk;

by S. R. Wilsher

| Published April 13, 2016 |

Book review by
Patricia McQuigg
Thursday Review contributor

Wow, what a gripping tale that includes so many emotional sequences including dysyfunctional families, war, different cultures, the death of...(click to read more)


Don & Andy book cover

Andy & Don:

The Making of a Friendship and a Classic TV Show; Daniel de Visé

| Published February 22, 2016 |

By Kevin Robbie
Thursday Review contributor

Like millions of people, I grew up watching the Andy Griffith Show, arguably one of the greatest classic comedies in television history. Some of my earliest memories of television involve the...(click to read more)


God Help the Child book cover

God Help the Child; Toni Morrison
| Published February 10, 2016 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

“…what you do to children matters. And they might never forget.”

This beautifully written, haunting fable set in modern times, centers around the stunning Bride (her name), a young woman whose blue-black skin and striking appearance has helped...(click to read more)


Wolf In a White Van book cover

Wolf in White Van; John Darnielle
| Published February 5, 2016 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

Wolf in White Van is unlike any book I’ve ever read. I was instantly captivated by the voice of the narrator, one Sean Phillips, an isolated...(click to read more)


Between the World and Me book cover

Between the World and Me; Ta-Nehisi Coates
| Published December 7, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

Like Claudia Rankine’s Citizen, Coates’ Between the World and Me is truly required reading, a modern classic.

In this epistolary memoir addressed to his...(click to read more)


cover art of The Art of Asking

The Art of Asking; Amanda Palmer
| Published December 5, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

“From what I've seen, it isn't so much the act of asking that paralyzes us--it's what lies beneath: the fear of being vulnerable, the fear of rejection, the fear of looking...(click to read more)


cover art of The Bees

The Bees; Laline Paull
| Published September 17, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

Readers, you will be absolutely captivated by this fascinating look at the honeybee through the eyes of one individual bee, Flora 717, a lowly sanitation bee. This is not a case of...(click to read more)


Go Set A Watchman cover

Go Set a Watchman; Harper Lee
| Published August 30, 2015 |

Book Review by Karen Franklin
Thursday Review contributor

This recently published book about the Finch family takes place after Harper Lee's 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird, but it was written first. As such, one cannot...(click to read more)


E. L. Doctorow

E.L. Doctorow, Novelist, Dies at 84
| Published July 22, 2015 |

By Thursday Review staff

Author E.L. Doctorow has died at the age of 84, according to his publisher, Random House, in statements released late Tuesday. Doctorow was a contemporary novelist whose...(click to read more)

 
All My Puny Sorrows book cover

All My Puny Sorrows; Miriam Toews
| Published February 27, 2014 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

As young girls, Yoland, (“Yoli”) and Elfrieda, (“Elf”) are often scrutinized and vilified by Mennonite elders who visit the family’s home to...

(click to read more)


Empathy Exams cover

The Empathy Exams: Essays; Leslie Jamison
| Published December 1, 2014 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

“Empathy isn’t just listening, it’s asking the questions whose answers need to be listened to. Empathy requires inquiry....

(click to read more)


Cover of Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes

Mr. Mercedes; Stephen King
| Published October 17, 2014 |

By Lisa K. Whitten      Thursday Review contributor

An avid fan of Stephen King, I downloaded a copy of Mr. Mercedes to my Kindle. What better way to read King....

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  What A Friend ~ The Sack book cover

What a Friend ~ The Sack; Betty H. Marshall
| Published December 13, 2014 |

By Lisa K. Whitten
Thursday Review contributor

The setting for Betty Marshall's novel is early 1960's in rural Alabama. What a Friend: The Sack is a glimpse of the way of life for the....

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Jack the Ripper book cover

I, The Jury
| Published October 14, 2014 |

By Kevin Robbie
Thursday Review contributor

The world’s most famous serial killer was supposedly never seen by witnesses or police and he was never caught. He struck on...

[ Read more ]


White House scripts book covers

40 Years Ago: A Very Popular Paperback Book
| Published June 18, 2014 |

By R. Alan Clanton
Thursday Review editor

County commissioners in Arlington County (Virginia) recently approved a proposal by a company called....

(click to read more)


Soul In Space

Soul in Space
| Published April 19, 2014 |

By Kristy Webster         Thursday Review contributor

I always have the hardest time writing about the books I love the most. It is because....

(click to read more)


Cover of David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants and author Malcolm Gladwell
 

Battling Giants

Lisa K. Whitten Thursday Review contributor

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants; Malcolm Gladwell: I picked this book to read....

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cover of The Reason I Jump
 

The Reason I Jump; Naoki Higashida

Book review, Kristy Webster

Thursday Review Contributor

Wow. I don't even know how to do this book justice, frankly. I read it in one....

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Miranda of the Luminous Eyes cover
 

Our Lady of the Ruins; Traci Brimhall

Book review, Kristy Webster

Thursday Review,
Contributing Writer

I have to admit, the first thing that drew me to Our Lady of the Ruins was the cover: an exploding porcelain doll....

[ Read more ]


 
Miranda of the Luminous Eyes cover
 

Miranda of the Luminous Eyes; Wesley Cecil

Book review, Kristy Webster

Thursday Review, Contributor

Miranda of the Luminous Eyes is a beautiful tale that har-nesses light and com-passion and is refreshingly optimistic and deliciously whimsical....

[ Read more ]


 
Green Illusions book cover
 

Why Aren't Those Wind Turbines Working?

Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism;
Ozzie Zehner

By R. Alan Clanton
Thursday Review Editor

Back in the late 1990s, on a nine day vacation—a trip which included driving a rented Subaru from Ft. Collins, Colorado to San....

[ Continue Reading ]


 
How Animals Grieve cover

How Animals Grieve

How Animals Grieve; Barbara King (University of Chicago Press, 2013).

Book review, Kristy Webster

Thursday Review, Contributing Writer

"We must look at animals' actions with fresh eyes and thoughts unconstrained by expectations." --Barbara King
With her down to earth....

[ Read more ]


 
The Game of Boxes cover

Lyrical Fears, Lyrical Loves

The Game of Boxes; Catherine Barnett

Book review, Maggie Nichols

Thursday Review, Contributor

Catherine Barnett's The Game of Boxes, winner of the James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American....

[ Read more ]


Book cover of Neoconservatives

The Rise of the Power Intelligensia
| Published September 23, 2013 |

By R. Alan Clanton
Thursday Review editor

The comedian Lewis Black tells a joke in which he offers up what he says is as good a definition as any for the term neoconservative: neo-...(click to read more)

That Bright Yellow Adirondack Chair

That Bright Yellow Adirondack Chair

| Published May 8, 2024 |
R. Alan Clanton,
Thursday Review editor


It comes knocking for all of us, and it is the inevitable rite-of-passage, so to speak, for all humans since...(click to read more)


George W. Bush and Tom Wolfe

Reflections on the Passing of Tom Wolfe

| Published May 17, 2018 |
R. Alan Clanton,
Thursday Review editor


At the typewriter, he truly had the right stuff. Tom Wolfe, one of the 20th century’s undeniably great writers, has died at the age of 88. The late editor William F. Buckley, Jr., himself a prolific author and columnist, called Wolfe...(click to read more)


Hillbilly Elegy cover art

Hillbilly Elegy:
A Memoir of a Family & Culture in Crisis

| Published August 22, 2016 |
Book Review by Pamela Pitman Brown, Thursday Review contributor

J.D. Vance has been making the talk show circuit with his book, Hillbilly Elegy, as someone who has insider knowledge on why people are supporting Donald Trump for President. His book is currently...(click to read more)


Snowflower and the Secret Fan cover art

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan; Lisa See

| Published July 13, 2016 |
Book Review by Patricia McQuigg, Thursday Review contributor

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a book for all you women who think you have a hard life—or have already had a hard life. Believe me that upon reading Lisa See’s book you will quickly change your mind. And for all of you women who have had it pretty easy—and you know who you are—this book also...(click to read more)


Ready Player One cover art

Ready Player One; Ernest Cline

| Published April 24, 2016 |
By Michael Bush, Thursday Review contributor

Ready Player One is the most incredible group of 1980s pop culture references ever assembled into a sci-fi novel about video games…ok, it’s probably the only such novel out there (for the time being, at least). But all jokes aside, this book by Ernest Cline is...(click to read more)


Laurence Olivier as Hamlet

To Have a Head, Or
Not to Have a Head

| Published March 25, 2016 |

By Keith H. Roberts,
Thursday Review contributor

William Shakespeare was a true man of mystery, not in the Austin Powers sense of the word (though one could indeed make that case too), but in the sense that...(click to read more)


cover art of HER

Her; Christa Parravani
| Published February 23, 2016 |

By Kristy Webster,Thursday Review contributor

Once I started this memoir by Christa Parravani, I couldn’t put it down. Even though the reader knows from the beginning that one twin will be lost, the writing is so...(click to read more)



cover art of The Story Of My Teeth

The Story of My Teeth; Valeria Luiselli
| Published February 6, 2016 |

By Kristy Webster,Thursday Review contributor

Meet Gustavo Sanchez Sanchez, a.ka. “Highway,” a traveler, an auctioneer, an enigma who wears Marilyn Monroe’s teeth and smiles at passerby.

Each piece auctioned by Highway takes on a life of its own as he... (click to read more)



cover art of A Man Came Out of the Door in the Mountain

A Man Came Out of the Door in the Mountain; Adrianne Harun
| Published December 7, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster,Thursday Review contributor

In this stunning novel, Harun masterfully blends a true crime mystery with mythical and magical elements to create a haunting and unforgettable tale. Leo and his tight knit group of friends who have managed to remain untouched by the disappearances that have occurred over... (click to read more)


cover art of Brown Girl Dreaming

Brown Girl Dreaming; Jacqueline Woodson
| Published September 21, 2015 |

Book Review by
Lisa K. Whitten
Thursday Review contributor

Delightful! This is a word rarely used in my vocabulary, but this is the only way I can describe the way I felt after completing this book. Although it is a young reader’s book, I chose to read this book because our local library is promoting Brown Girl Dreaming as a... (click to read more)


cover art of Shadow Divers & Pirate Hunters by Kurson

Shadow Divers and Pirate Hunters
| Published September 1, 2015 |

Book Reviews by
Lisa K. Whitten
Thursday Review contributor

A few years ago I was wandering through a local used book store, perusing the bookcases for other things, when I kept seeing Shadow Divers on shelves. Since I dive, I decided to pick up a copy and give it a glance. I wasn’t sold on what I read on the...(click to read more)


Art of Gift of Imaginary Girl by Kristy Webster

Writer Seeks Funding Support for Book
| Published August 13, 2015 |

 

By Thursday Review editors

Kristy Webster believes that art can save lives. Webster says that a social worker once told her that she would never work a full-time job again, and that her only path to success would reside in some form of disability. Webster re-....(click to read more)


Orphan Train book cover

Orphan Train; Christina Baker Kline
| Published July 26, 2015 |

 

Book review by Karen Franklin
Thursday Review contributor

I had no idea that the events on which this book is based actually happened in real life. It made me cry, truly, to think what some young children--abandoned or orphaned in large eastern United States cities--were subjected to when they were loaded on to trains, shipped to the Midwest, and "fostered" to families in need of hard laborers, or children to do housework, babysit, etc. Yes,... (click to read more)


The Enchanted book cover

The Enchanted; Rene Denfeld
| Published March 9, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

“They can keep men in here, under lock and key, deep in the dungeon until the final moments of their lives, so that men like York and me will never taste the rain. But they cannot keep us from passing our condensation on to the sky. They cannot keep us from raining down in China.”--Rene Denfeld, The Enchanted.

I always find it the hardest to write book reviews for the books that move me the most, for the ones I fall deeply in love with. Such is the case with The Enchanted, the debut novel by author Rene Denfeld. Since finishing this book two days ago, I have found...(click to read more)


The Book of Unknown Americans book cover

The Book of Unknown Americans; Cristina Henriquez
| Published March 6, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez, is stunning and powerful portrait of the immigrant experience during some of the most turbulent times in recent American history. Alma and Arturo have just journeyed thousands of miles, leaving behind their comfortable home and successful construction business in Mexico to live in a one bedroom, drafty ridden apartment in Delaware. They’ve left their country in hopes that Evers, a private school for children with disabilities and special needs, will help... (click to read more)


Citizen, An American Lyric book cover

Citizen, An American Lyric
| Published February 24, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

Recently I came across the Banksy quote, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Such is the case for Citizen, An American Lyric, a brilliant work of poetry and prose by Claudia Rankine.

This book took courage, wisdom and sensitivity to write, and requires from its readers a willingness to be made uncomfortable by facing some inevitable... (click to read more)


J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien A Life Inspired; by Wyatt North
| Published January 8, 2015 |

By Lisa Whitten
Thursday Review contributor

I first learned of The Hobbit in the early 1970's. I read one and a half of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and stopped because I couldn't keep track of everyone and everything. That, and I was just beginning my adult life and was too busy for reading. With the impending release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies I obtained a copy of this short biography on J.R.R. Tolkien and read it prior to seeing the latest movie. The movie was... (click to read more)


Sherman Alexie True Diary

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
| Published August 25, 2014 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

Both hilarious and heartbreaking, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a fictionalized account of Sherman Alexie’s adolescence on a Spokane Indian Reservation is told with sharp wit and uninhibited clarity.

Fourteen-year-old Arnold Spirit was born with more challenges than most. Born with “water on the brain,” his oversized noggin’ and his slight build make him a target for... (click to read more)


If I Stay book cover

If I Stay; Gayle Forman
| Published July 14, 2014 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

The film based on the young adult novel by Gayle Forman, If I Stay is due to come out in theaters next month, on August 22nd. If the success of The Fault in Our Stars is any indication, I'm guessing those who haven't read this tear jerker yet will want to do so before they watch the movie adaptation.

Like The Fault in Our Stars, this may be a young adult novel, but it isn't light fare. This is another story about a young person dealing with a situation (mostly) out of her control, and a tragedy so...(click to read more)


Looking For Alaska book cover

Looking for Alaska; John Green
| Published July 11, 2014 |

Book Review By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

Before Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters stole our hearts, there was Miles “Pudge” Halter and Alaska Young. It is no wonder or surprise to me that John Green’s novels transcend the Young Adult genre, captivating readers of all ages. Like The Fault in Our Stars, Green’s teenage characters in Looking for Alaska are bright, complex and intriguing people facing fears and coping with regrets that are not specific to...(click to read more)

 
Standing Too Soon cover art

Standing Too Soon; Jeffery W. Massey;

By Lisa K. Whitten

Thursday Review Contributor

This would have been a quick, smooth read but that was not to be case--the frequent misspellings, grammatical glitches and incorrect use of words slowed me down in some places.  The author, Jeffery W. Massey, could haved used an editor, or two. (A frequent problem with self-published books; an outside set of eyes always helps to cull out the errors and smooth out the wrinkles).  Having said that: the storyline kept my attention and it was, in fact...[ Read more ]


Audrey Hepburn's Neck cover art

Audrey Hepburn's Neck; Alan Brown;

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review Contributor

Sometimes judging a book by its cover leads to pleasant surprises. Such was my experience with Alan Brown’s Audrey Hepburn’s Neck. The gorgeous cover, a picture of Audrey’s neck of course, from the bottom of her face to her shoulder, juxtaposed against purple blinds and bright Tokyo lights piqued my interest. Being a huge fan of Banana Yoshimoto who writes about twenty-somethings in modern Japan, while simultaneously...[ Read more ]

 
American Pastimes: The Very Best of Red Smith cover art

American Pastimes

By Earl Perkins
Thursday Review associate editor

If you love sports history or well-written prose, then drop what you're doing and go buy this book: it's called American Pastimes: The Very Best of Red Smith (The Library of America; 2013). Daniel Okrent has assembled some of Red Smith's finest columns, spanning six decades of glorious memories.

Many authors write about famous people and historic events, but no matter what Smith was writing about, he made you feel as though you...[ Read more ]


The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain; Garth Stein

Review by Kristy Webster
Thursday Review Contributor

I don't understand why people insist on pitting concepts of evolution and creation against each other. Why can't they see that spiritualism and science are one? That bodies evolve and souls evolve and the universe is a fluid package that marries them both in a wonderful package called a human being. What's wrong with that idea?”   [ Read more ]



 
Two Nations Indivisible book cover

Two Nations, Indivisible

Thursday Review staff

The border that separates the U.S. from Mexico is a notoriously troubled stretch of soil and river, and it has only gotten worse in the last few years. That two thousand mile stretch of fence and Rio Grande has given the country south of the border a bad rep, and Mexico's new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, hopes to begin a process of reform and transformation for a nation beleagured with bad press.  Last summer we reviewed in these pages the 2013 book by Jeb Bush and Clint Bolick, Immigration Wars, which—among its many...[ Continue Reading ]


Roberto Montes book cover

I Don't Know Do You

Review by Jessica Smith
Thursday Review Contributor

In the fall of 2011 I took my first workshop of my MFA at The New School with Craig Morgan Teicher. Roberto Montes was also in that class. He turned in mostly quiet prose poems, where gypsies and shamans and youthful speakers interacted amidst...[read more]



Quiet book cover

Enjoy the Silence

Review by Kristy Webster
Thursday Review Contributor

A reflective essay on the book Quiet, by Susan Cain

My initial intention when choosing to read Quiet by Susan Cain was to better understand, and more importantly, advocate for my two sons, especially, my younger son who’s still in school. I myself test as an INFJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling & Judging) in the famous Meyers Briggs personality in spite of being described as “cheerful, outgoing and friendly” by others. While Quiet takes on the big picture dilemma of the extrovert....[read more]


book covers of books about Paris

"Paris is always a good idea"
Three books about the City of Light

Reviews by Sarah Herrin
Thursday Review Contributing Writer

It was Audrey Hepburn who said “Paris is always a good idea.” And no matter what kind of mood you’re in--in love, depressed, nostalgic, adventurous--there’s a Paris....[read more]


Cross Creek book covers

Cross Creek and the Literature of Paradise

By Earl H. Perkins,
Thursday Review
Associate Editor

"Somewhere beyond the sinkhole, past the magnolia, under the live oaks, a boy and a yearling ran side by side, and were gone forever."

--Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, from The Yearling

Home was among the thickest conglomeration of mosquitoes and deer flies in the backwoods of North Central Florida, an extremely inhospitable residence for man...[read more]


Love, Honor, Dishonor, Marry, Cherish, Perish book cover

Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish;

Book review by Kristy Webster
Thursday Review Contributing Writer

Cloaked in lyrical, iambic pentameter, Rakoff's novel embodies the rawest emotions and moral complexities in the dynamic lives of a myriad of characters whose stories intertwine in the best and worst of ways. Beginning with ...[Read more]

 
Debtor's Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility book cover

A Brief History of Debt
Debtors' Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility

By R. Alan Clanton, Thursday Review Editor

Though the economy was already wobbling badly in the nine to twelve month period prior to September 2008, the inescapable meltdown began in mid-September that year. Starting with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, spreading overnight to the insurance giant AIG, and growing....[Continue reading]



Michael Bush, a Thursday Review contributor, has just released his first book: Storm in Shanghai. "Harry Potter meets The DaVinci Code in this magical mystery thrill ride..." In modern day China, an American expat leads a law enforcement team of Mages and Wizards, whose sole purpose is to keep Magic hidden from the ordinary world. One morning, JARET KING finds Shanghai facing the return of the most deadly magical...

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The Gift of an Imaginary Girl cover art

Kristy Webster, a Thursday Review contributor, has just released her new book: The Gift of an Imaginary Girl. In this collection of magical realism tales, award-winning author and artist Kristy Webster offers hope and inspiration to those who never really imagined they fit in. Her first writing, Coco, is included in this collection of short stories.

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Haunt Box cover art

Thursday Review contributors, Sarah Herrin, Kristy Webster, Lori Garrett, with fellow author Victoria Betzel collaborated in a haunting collection of poetry: Haunt Box. Each writer showcases a unique style.The poetry of Haunt Box addresses the unavoidable scars made by living life fearlessly and offers a healing salve in the knowledge that one is never alone.

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Firefly cover art\glitter by Thursday Review

Thursday Review contributor, Jennifer Walker-James, as Jennifer Kilgore, Firefly. On the surface, Chloe Steele appears to be a normal eighteen-year-old girl, but underneath, she carries a dark secret. This secret propels her onto a journey that takes her to rural southeast Alabama, where she serves as a...

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Conversations Overheard in a Restaurant cover art

Thursday Review's editor, R. Alan Clanton's, first published collection of poems--invites the reader to observe both the universal and the unfamiliar through this poet's specialized lens. Though approachable and direct, these poems are never ordinary, and surprises often lurk around the corner.
Only $10 (s & h included)


The Buddha and the Borderline cover art

The Buddha and
the Borderline
;
Kiera Van Gelder

| Published September 19, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

“All you want is love and belonging, and your very existence depends on it. But when you get it, you have no existence except that love; there’s still no you.”

In this frank, brave and thoughtful memoir, Van Gelder....(click to read more)


The Boys in the Boat book cover

The Boys in the Boat; Daniel James Brown
| Published July 28, 2015 |

By Karen Franklin
Thursday Review contributor

Although a bit repetitive at times—perhaps emulating the mind-numbing and physical act of rowing—this true life story of a group...

(click to read more)


The Girl On The Train book cover

The Girl on the Train; Paula Hawkins
| Published March 7, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

The Girl on the Train is a fast paced, “Hitchcock-esque” psychological thriller that will keep you up all night....

(click to read more)


Brain On Fire bookcover

Brain on Fire;
Susannah Cahalan

| Published November 5, 2014 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

“We are, in the end, a sum of our parts, and when the body fails, all the virtues we hold dear go with it.” ―Susannah Cahalan, Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

This extraordinary true story of twenty-four-year old....

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Dismember book cover

Dismember;
George Marie

| Published March 2, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

“There was love. A difficult sort of love to categorize. Violent, dangerous. Except that there were none of the other devices: no drugs, no suicide notes. Instead, two small...

(click to read more)


Battleborn book cover

Battleborn;
Claire Vaye Watkins

| Published February 26, 2015 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

“P.S. On second thought, perhaps sometimes these things are best left by the side of the road, as it were. Sometimes a person wants a part of you that's no good. Sometimes love is a wound...

(click to read more)


Wonder book cover

Wonder; R.J. Palacio
| Published November 3, 2014 |

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

“Everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least one time in their life.” August Pullman, Wonder.

August, “Auggie” Pullman is an ordinary boy with an extra-....

(click to read more)


Beautiful Soul

Beautiful Soul: An American Elegy
| Published June 21, 2014 |

By R. Alan Clanton
Thursday Review editor

The poet’s best tool, arguably, is compression. It’s not the only device, but it’s the one which enables the writer of an....

(click to read more)



cover of Fault of Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars; John Green

Book review, Kristy Webster

Thursday Review Contributor

Though The Fault in Our Stars is considered a young adult novel, I encourage young and old alike to delve into and discover why...

[Read more]


MichaelSchmeltzer

TR Interview: Michael Schmeltzer

By Kristy Webster
Thursday Review contributor

I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Schmeltzer eight years ago, at the Rainier Writers’ Workshop, a three....

[ Read more ]


cover of Joyland by Stephen King
 

Joyland; Stephen King

Book review, Kristy Webster

Thursday Review Contributor

Never having read much of King's fiction, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed Joyland. Devin Jones...

[Read more]


Evan Burl and the Falling book cover

Book Review: Evan Burl and the Falling; Justin Blaney
by Lisa Whitten
Thursday Review Contributor

Young Adult fiction is not something I normally reach for. After the stress of college classes as an older student....

[Continue reading]


The Thief of Always

Book Review: The Thief of Always; Clive Barker
by Lori Garrett
Thursday Review Contributor

Growing up, I was a huge horror fan, and by age ten was well versed in the subject, Clive Barker being one of my favorite names associated with the....

[Continue reading]


Act of Congress book cover

Congress at Work,

Or Not

Act of Congress: How America's Essential Institution Works, and How it Doesn't; Robert G. Kaiser

Review by R. Alan Clanton

The mortgage meltdown which peaked so famously in Septem-ber and October of 2008 was as close to total economic cata-...

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Eisenhower in War and Peace

Eisenhower in War and Peace; Jean Edward Smith; Random House; 2012.

Smith, author of numerous political and military biographies (FDR; Lucius D. Clay: An American Life; John Marshall: Definer of a Nation) approaches the life of Dwight Eisenhower with his usual....[Continue reading]


The Great Rift: How a Party Became Divided cover

The Great Rift: How a Party Became Divided

R. Alan Clanton Thursday Review Editor

The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of Power; Robert A. Caro; Knopf.

Political lineage fascinates me, and I make no apologies for this fixation. The Republican Party of 2012 and 2013 has no Ronald Reagans at its helm, yet nearly all the leading figures—those candidates from the recent...[Continue reading]


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