Episode 38: Anna V. Q. Ross (Of Self-Portraits, Foxes, and Leaving For Good)
Date: January 2, 2024
Listen: On Apple, Spotify, Google and elsewhere Click here to listen.
News & Reviews
News:
Best New Poetry Books
Date: January 2, 2024
Handpicked by our expert librarians and staff, the poetry books in this list, all published in 2022, include debut collections and new classics from established poets. Click here to read […]
‘Secret Harvests’ probes an unspeakable Japanese American family history
Date: January 2, 2024
David “Mas” Matsumoto, author of Epitaph for a Peach, Harvest Son, Changing Season, has yet another true story to share, this time a family secret so unspeakable that it remained buried for over […]
Valley author shares family secret in book about internment impact
Date: January 2, 2024
A farmer and author in the small Fresno County community of Del Rey is sharing a personal story with a universal message. Mas Masumoto published a book in the spring […]
Friday 5 at 5
Date: January 2, 2024
Join a Denver Public Library reader’s advisor extraordinaire for a flash book buzz featuring hot new and forthcoming titles that you just have to know about! Give us 15 minutes, […]
Local author sharing family history through poetry
Date: January 2, 2024
A local author and Creative Writing professor at Fresno State is sharing her family history through poetry and written word. Click here to read more.
The 37 Best Books About Los Angeles Culture (and Beyond) Published In 2023
Date: January 2, 2024
Books change lives when they are read wholeheartedly and must be shared. This collection covers everything from L.A. noir to sci-fi to identity and poetry. Read, gift, and get inspired. […]
2023 Small Press Gift Guide
Date: December 12, 2023
BOMB looks back at the books from small and independent presses we featured in 2023 and helps you pair them with the idiosyncratic readers in your life. We’re grateful to […]
Francesca Bell Fearlessly Tackles the Unsettling in “What Small Sound” [INTERVIEW]
Date: December 12, 2023
Francesca Bell was raised in Washington and Idaho and settled as an adult in California. She did not complete middle school, high school, or college and holds no degrees. She […]
The Best Books We Read in 2023
Date: December 12, 2023
My picks are different than yours. Different than Jaylynn’s, than Tucker’s, than Joelene’s, than Andrea’s, than the New York Times. I love that about books. We couldn’t possibly read them all, […]
Reviews:
YubaNet features essay by Molly Fisk!
Date: March 31, 2026
Molly Fisk is Inaugural Poet Laureate Emerita of Nevada County. Her historic novel-in-verse, Walking Wheel, comes out April 7th from Red Hen Press.
Helen Benedict’s THE SOLDIER’S HOUSE reviewed in Publishers Weekly!
Date: March 25, 2026
Benedict (Wolf Season) unspools a harrowing story of an Iraqi refugee family’s attempts to fit into American society. During the Iraq War, Khalil served as an interpreter for the U.S. […]
Laura Kasischke’s THE LIFEGUARD got a Booklist review!
Date: March 24, 2026
Full review to come on April 1! “Wednesday, July 16, 1969. When all of America had its eyes on the moon, the Mannings inMission Hills, Michigan, suffered a wrenching personal […]
Rebecca Chace’s TALKING TO THE WOLF reviewed in Booklist!
Date: March 24, 2026
“Chace’s latest (after Capture the Flag, 2010) is told mostly through flashbacks and is heavily dependent on what the characters are thinking as they navigate the final day before their […]
David Mason’s COLD FIRE reviewed in Washington Independent!
Date: March 24, 2026
“COLD FIRE is a revitalizing collection that burns off the dross from our tired, worn-out concepts of the world, restoring for us its inherent mystery and splendor.”
Laura Kasischke’s THE LIFEGUARD receives early praise from Foreword Review!
Date: March 24, 2026
“Flush with sensory details, the sprawling, immersive prose includes both extensive information on how a lifeguard wears her swimsuit and evocative active images.”
Adela Najarro’s VARIATIONS IN BLUE reviewed in Presence Journal!
Date: March 24, 2026
“It’s a memorable poem [IGUANA DREAMS], as are many in VARIATIONS IN BLUE, Najarro’s fifth book. She is, I think, still early in her career, one that will, I hope, […]
Khanh Ha’s THE AFTERLIFE OF A THREADBARE JESTER got a starred Kirkus review!
Date: March 16, 2026
In Ha’s historical novel, a former intelligence officer’s imprisonment in a communist reeducation camp serves as a lens for examining the Vietnam War and its lasting impact. It’s 1978, and […]
Laing Rikkers’ MORNING LEAVES: CULTIVATING A LIFE OF BEAUTY, MEANING, AND JOY reviewed by Kirkus!
Date: March 12, 2026
The author lost her sister at the end of 2019; soon after, the world went into lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, compounding Rikkers’ already overwhelming loss with a sense […]
Adrianne Kalfopoulou THE RE IN REFUGE, reviewed in World Literature Today!
Date: March 12, 2026
At the heart of Adrianne Kalfopoulou’s The re in refuge is the experience of crossing borders—primarily international, cultural, and linguistic but also erotic, psychological, and intellectual, among others. A Greek […]