Books

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The book cover. In hazy purple distance, the Philly skyline; in the foreground, a desert with a car & parking meter at right.

Early Sobrieties, by Michael Deagler

Explore the process

This debut novel from award-winning writer Michael Deagler follows a young man fighting for sobriety in South Philly, learning that it’s not transformation, but a daily process. Eileen L. Fay reviews.
Eileen Fay

Eileen Fay

Reviews 3 minute read
Book cover. Title above in blue, over a graphic of West Philly rowhouses & a green shape like a path leading to a rising sun

Housemates, by Emma Copley Eisenberg

Queering the classic American road trip

Philly writer Emma Copley Eisenberg’s debut novel, Housemates, begins in a West Philly group house and spreads across Pennsylvania as two young queer characters find art, love, and life on their own terms. Grace Kennedy reviews.
Grace Kennedy

Grace Kennedy

Reviews 4 minute read
Book cover: with red bars above & below, the focal image is a collage-like illustration of an owl in flight.

The History of Temple University Japan: An Experiment in International Education, by Richard Joslyn and Bruce Stronach

An American first in Japan

A new book about the surprising history of Temple University’s expansion to a Japanese campus is full of diplomatic intrigue, political ambition, last-ditch rescues, frenemies, and heroes. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 5 minute read
The book cover: title above in black & white text, over a slow-shutter image of a Barnes gallery with a blurry walking figure

The Barnes Then and Now: Dialogues on Education, Installation, and Social Justice, edited by Martha Lucy

Putting the collection in context

A new book edited by the Barnes Foundation’s deputy director for research, interpretation, and education gathers perspectives on the famous (and famously polarizing) collection of Albert Barnes in its 21st-century home. Pamela J. Forsythe reviews.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Reviews 6 minute read
Book cover: title above a sepia photo of a worn sculpture of a hand holding another pair of clasped hands.

Frume Halpern’s Blessed Hands, translated by Yermiyahu Ahron Taub

An American writer, in English for the first time

Blessed Hands: Stories, a collection of 20th-century writer Frume Halpern translated into English for the first time, is a treat for Yiddish literary scholars, but leaves a general reader still hungry. Helen Walsh reviews.
Helen Walsh

Helen Walsh

Reviews 4 minute read
Book cover: gold and orange split on a rough halfway diagonal, over an ancient fresco of a winged man holding a gold helmet

Homer’s The Iliad, translated by Emily Wilson

The Odyssey’s bloodier cousin

Philadelphia-based translator and UmPenn professor Emily Wilson follows her acclaimed English translation of The Odyssey with a similarly lucid and lean new Iliad. Kiran Pandey reviews.
Kiran Pandey

Kiran Pandey

Reviews 5 minute read
Book cover: title & author in plain black & brown text below an impressionistic painting of a cliff by the ocean.

Rinse, by Elaine Terranova

Making peace with enigma

Philly writer Elaine Terranova’s eighth book, Rinse, shows the author’s poetic sensibilities with lyrical language that captures emotional tones and thrumming silences. Anndee Hochman reviews.
Anndee Hochman

Anndee Hochman

Reviews 5 minute read
Book cover. Yellow title text with floral illustrations intertwined w/ text against solid blue background, review quote atop

This Terrible True Thing, by Jenny Laden

A visual look at the AIDS epidemic

Jenny Laden’s new young adult novel captures the AIDS epidemic, shock and isolation, and more through a 17-year-old’s voice and drawings in 1990s Philadelphia. Wendy Univer previews.
Wendy Univer

Wendy Univer

Previews 3 minute read
Book cover w/ The Pretty One prominent overlaying Brown, a Black woman, wearing a gray sweater, glasses, outdoors, smiling

The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup: Book Week 2023

A curated selection of books in celebration of Disability Pride Month

Alaina Johns and Kyle V. Hiller curate a variety of books from a variety of writers living with disabilities for this year’s BSR book week.
Alaina Johns Kyle V. Hiller

Alaina Johnsand Kyle V. Hiller

Previews 6 minute read
A group of four Black cosplayers in costume poses emphatically, joyfully, in a bright indoor space

Five reasons to attend the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention

For the geek at heart

An Nichols previews the 2023 East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention and how it works towards cultural awareness, youth literacy, and building safe spaces for geekdom.
An Nichols

An Nichols

Previews 3 minute read