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National Book Critics Circle

@bookcritics.bsky.social

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Honoring outstanding writing and fostering a national conversation about reading, criticism, and literature since 1974. bookcritics.org

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National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 1d

There’s still time to register for tonight’s event!

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 9d

Join us on October 7 as we talk with Gwendolyn Harper translator of the late Pedro Lemebel’s “A Last Supper of Queer Apostles,” winner of the 2024 Barrios Book in Translation Prize!

Attendance is free, but registration is required. Register at tinyurl.com/2025translation

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 9d

Join us on October 7 as we talk with Gwendolyn Harper translator of the late Pedro Lemebel’s “A Last Supper of Queer Apostles,” winner of the 2024 Barrios Book in Translation Prize!

Attendance is free, but registration is required. Register at tinyurl.com/2025translation

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 12d

NBCC member Nicole Schrag reviewed "Daughters of Palestine: A Memoir in Five Generations" for Plough Quarterly:

Daughters of Palestine

Nicole Schrag reviews Leyla K. King's Daughters of Palestine: A Memoir in Five Generations.

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 12d

NBCC member Natalie Bakopoulos wrote an essay for Literary Hub about the process of reading and translating her aunt's book from Greek, a book she learned about years after her death:

On Discovering My Aunt Eleni’s Place in Queer Greek Literature

My new novel, Archipelago, is narrated by a translator who’s translating a novel she hasn’t read before. In this way, she is both experiencing the story and writing it at once. I’ve attempted many …

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 12d

NBCC member Edna Bonhomme reviewed Yiyun Li's "Things in Nature Merely Grow" for the Berlin Review:

Edna Bonhomme · Grief’s Unforgiving Schedule

To keep us in the loop, the mental health industry, especially online, has hand-sized solutions for loss—even when it is as unbearable as losing a child. Against this tide of griefluencing, Yiyun Li’s...

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 12d

NBCC member Robert Rubsam reviewed Jordan Castro's "Muscle Man"; Adem Luz Rienspects' "Mixtape Hyperborea"; Sebastian Castillo's "Fresh, Green Life"; and Tony Tulathimutte's "Rejection" for Vulture:

The Anxiety Plaguing Male Fiction Writers

A recent batch of novels attempts to speak to the disaffected male reader, for better and for worse.

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 12d

NBCC member Grant Faulkner talked with Roxane Gay about memoir on the Memoir Nation podcast. They talked about oversharing and boundaries, when memoir becomes manifesto, and how Roxane’s success and visibility has impacted her writing:

Roxane Gay on Memoir as Manifesto

Memoir Nation: Weekly Inspiration for Writers is an extension of the Memoir Nation community hosted by Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner, two friends and colleagues who bring a community-minded sens…

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 12d

NBCC member Robert Allen Papinchak reviewed Donna Leon’s "Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life" for Shelf Awareness:

Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, September 12, 2025

Relationships are challenging but rewarding undertakings. Friends, lovers, family, coworkers: every shade and variety dares us to grow, closer together or farther apart. Debut novelist Yiming Ma's…

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 13d

NBCC member Linda Hitchcock reviewed Joanne Harris’ "Vianne" for BookTrib:

Secrets, Chocolate and a Touch of Magic in Decadent “Chocolat” Prequel | BookTrib.

Vianne is rightfully one of the most highly anticipated books of late summer. Anglo-French award-winning author Joanne Harris has presented her legions of fans with the gift of a prequel to her…

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 13d

NBCC member Nell Beram reviewed "I Write to Find Out What I Am Thinking" by Joan Didion:

Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, September 19, 2025

I consider myself to be a work in progress, and I'm often inspired by stories of how others reshaped and redefined themselves over time. Openness to change and fresh perspectives is a quality I…

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 13d

For Next Avenue, Michael Quinn wrote about learning to talk about money in a later-in-life relationship:

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 13d

NBCC member Delight Ejiaka wrote an essay about bleaching skin for The Rumpus:

At My House, We Don't Bleach - The Rumpus

After my punishment, I dusted my knees, returned to my friends, and continued the crime of noise-making. To make up for lost time, I invented an over-exaggerated story of the drunk bus conductor and…

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 13d

NBCC member @elaineszewczyk.bsky.social profiled Olivia Laing for Publishers Weekly:

Olivia Laing’s Art Work

Olivia Laing wrote their new novel, a queer thriller set in 1970s Italy, in three months, and is still catching their breath

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 13d

NBCC member Clea Simon reviewed "Clown Town" by Mick Herron for The Arts Fuse:

Book Review: "Clown Town" - Not Quite as Amusing as Expected - The Arts Fuse

Mick Herron’s prose, it must be said, remains top-notch, chock full of puns and timely references, as well as colorful dialogue. But the premise of this successful series of espionage thrillers is beginning...

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 14d

NBCC member Linda Hitchcock reviewed Philip E. Orbanes’ "Monopoly X" for BookTrib:

True History of Monopoly’s Surprising, Crucial Role in WWII Espionage | BookTrib.

Philip E. Orbanes is an American Board Game designer, former senior vice president for research and development at Parker Brothers and the world’s foremost authority on the history of the board game…

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 14d

NBCC member Ryan Teitman reviewed Chet’la Sebree’s "Blue Opening" for The Adroit Journal:

A Review of Chet’la Sebree’s Blue Opening

The question of origins is a tricky one, metaphysically speaking. In his book Why Does the World Exist?, New Yorker writer Jim Holt helps clarify the issue as he digs into the nitty-gritty details …

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 14d

NBCC member Sullivan Summer interviewed Black feminist scholar Dr. Susana M. Morris about her new cultural biography, "Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler," for the New Books Network:

Susana M. Morris, "Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler" (Amistad Press, 2025) - New Books Network

Also Hosted By Sullivan Summer

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 14d

NBCC member Connie Post’s book "Broken Metronome" (Glass Lyre Press) is the winner of the 2025 NYC Big Book Award in the category of Grief, Loss and Remembrance:

2025 Winners (List) | nyc-big-book-award

Join us every fall for the NYC Big Book Award. Book submissions are welcomed from independent authors, publishers, and big press.

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 14d

NBCC member Clea Simon reviewed "The Book of I" by David Grieg:

Book Review: "Book of I" - A Gem of a Novel - The Arts Fuse

This novel is as fresh and charming as any contemporary work this critic has read in ages.

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 14d

NBCC member Nell Beram reviewed "The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990" by Jonathan Mahler:

Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, August 29, 2025

There are so many books that we're excited to spotlight this week, we can hardly contain ourselves! Essayist Jacob Tobia reexamines popular terms like "male privilege" and "toxic masculinity" in the…

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 15d

NBCC member Cory Oldweiler reviewed Patricia Lockwood’s "There Will Never Be Another You" for The Boston Globe:

What happens when illness robs a writer of her words? - The Boston Globe

A lengthy bout of COVID at the start of the pandemic robbed Patricia Lockwood of the facility with words that engenders her strength, her sense of self.

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 15d

NBCC member Nell Beram reviewed "Death in Trieste" by Jason:

Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, September 19, 2025

I consider myself to be a work in progress, and I'm often inspired by stories of how others reshaped and redefined themselves over time. Openness to change and fresh perspectives is a quality I…

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 15d

NBCC member Susan Bernofsky reviewed the novel "We Do Not Part," written by Nobel laureate Han Kang and translated from the Korean by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyal Morris, for Korean Literature Now:

KLWAVE - Magazines | Korean Literature Now | Articles | Articles View

KLWAVE brings together Korean literature information about rights, publishers, authors, titles, and translators all on a single website.

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 15d

NBCC member Rebecca Brenner Graham interviewed historian Kate Haulman about her book, "The Mother of Washington in Nineteenth-Century America," for Smithsonian Magazine:

The Reinvention of George Washington's Mother, From Paragon of Virtue to Greedy Shrew to Widow Striving for Independence

A new biography examines how 19th-century Americans remembered Mary Ball Washington, who raised the future president largely on her own after her husband’s death in 1743

National Book Critics Circle @bookcritics.bsky.social · 15d

"The Forgetters," NBCC lifetime member Greg Sarris’ novel in stories, was a finalist for the Northern California Book Awards:

The Forgetters by Greg Sarris

The Forgetters is a tender, astonishing, and richly beautiful story cycle about remembering our shared histories and repairing the world.