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Hot Take: ‘Six of Crows’ by Leigh Bardugo Is Reflective of Our World, Plus Magic
Ketterdam, a bustling commercial city. Grisha, with his specific powers. Children who were forced to grow up suddenly. Powers that shake the world. Poverty, tragedies, politics... It sounds gloomy, but the Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is by no means. Leigh Bardugo...
Out Now: The Inspirational ‘Dear Starving Artist, Get Something to Eat’ by Actor Ransford Doherty & Screenwriter Angie J. Sanders
Unless they go in totally delusional, most creatives know that their journey to success may not be the smoothest or easiest journey they’ve been on. Actors and writers are referred to as “starving artists” by those critical of working creatives for a reason. ...
We’re Rattled By Patrick T. Reardon’s ‘Puddin’,’ Poetry Written By a Baby
Whether we personally identify as an introvert or an extrovert, a loner or a team player, we all yearn for a connection with other people, especially the people who should love us the most: our families. But sometimes life doesn't work out that way, and we're left...
From Grieving for ‘Seven Years’ to Drowning in ‘Treading Water,’ Alyssa Harmon’s Hope-Infused Poetry Should Not Be Missed
Happy Tuesday, readers, writers, and shark fans! We have a wonderful double book review for you today of the first two full-length poetry collections by Alyssa Harmon: Seven Years and Treading Water. If you've been reading the issues of Lit Shark Magazine (thank you),...
‘Someone Somewhere Maybe’: Reading More Poetry by Sophie Diener (Plus, a Broadside!)
Hi readers, writers, and shark fans! You know that feeling when you finish reading a book... and a few weeks later, it comes back to you, and you can't stop thinking about it unless you revisit it? Well, that's how we're currently feeling about Sophie Diener's debut...
Cheerful Novel or Morose Tale? A Book Review of Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Klara and the Sun’
Content Warnings: Terminal illness, death of a child, grief and loss depiction In Loneliness, We Find Friendship Terminal illness in oneself and those we love can bring out the worst in people and the best in others. Death can be a catalyst for some, a reminder that...
Longing, Familial Ties, & Tradition: In Conversation with Poet Millicent Borges Accardi & ‘Through a Grainy Landscape’
Since the pandemic---I know this must be as true for others as it is for me---I've felt this deeper call for connection: to nature, to my family, and to myself and who I'm called to be. These are surely songs that have called all of us at various moments in our lives,...
Poetry That Makes You Feel Something: ‘Someone Somewhere Maybe’ & An Exclusive Interview with TikTok Sensation Sophie Diener
Whether it's poetry by Walt Whitman or Edgar Allan Poe, children's poetry by Shel Silverstein, or poetry by singers like Jewel and Halsey, everyone can agree that poetry is meant to make you feel something, whether it's deeply vulnerable, beautiful, or...
Unrealistic Friendship or Relatable Story? A Review of Sally Rooney’s ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’
Content Warning: Mental Health, Depression, Self-Harm The Balancing Act of Life In many people’s experience, especially those discovering themselves in their 20s and 30s, life can seem lonely as you explore what it means to be human. While some delve into careers,...
Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s ‘Rooted’: A Scientific Meditation on Human’s Relationship to Nature
Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit feels like a story in which the author, Lyanda Lynn Haupt, takes you gently by the hand and brings you on a sacred tour of the forest, pointing out details in hushed reverential tones. This nature manifesto...
Haunted By What-Ifs, Alternate Realities, & Multiverses In Matt Haig’s ‘The Midnight Library’
Content Warning: Suicide, drugs, overdose Our Perpetual Negative Self-Talk Have you ever felt like nothing seems to be going right, no matter how hard you try? Maybe you feel like you're not where you're supposed to be in life. Or perhaps you always feel stuck when...
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Meets ‘Bridgerton’ In This Steampunk, Neo-Victorian World—Plus Exclusive Interview with L.S. Kilroy
Welcome to Vitruvia, readers, writers, and shark fans! In this futuristic series, women have completely lost their rights as society has transitioned to Victorian standards and patriarchal dominion. The Vitruvian Heir is a steampunk rendition of Margaret Atwood's The...
Wing Strokes Haiku: An Interview with Amy Losak & Other Books for Mother’s Day
Happy Mother's Day Week, readers, writers, and shark fans! To celebrate this Mother's Day with you, we wanted to share a special mother-daughter poetry collaboration that really pulled at our heartstrings: Wing Strokes Haiku by Sydell Rosenberg and Amy Losak. Poet...
Family Ties, Climate Change, & the Allure of Black Gold: Reading ‘Windfall’ by Erika Bolstad
Windfall tells the story of how journalist and documentary filmmaker, Erika Bolstad uncovers a hidden family history, buried deep underground in far-off North Dakota. Thanks to the royalties (known as “mineral rights”) that belong to her great-grandmother, this...
Clark Kent is a Super Hipster: Finding Beauty in the Absurd & the Mundane: Reading Shawnte Orion’s ‘The Existentialist Cookbook’
Here I am, attempting to think of what to say, but my coffee spilled, and it made such a lovely and dark display across my table. This is the sort of mindset in which Shawnte Orion places me: an area of in-the-moment appreciation, the odd humor of something spilled...
The Surrealist and Bodily Nature of Grief: Reading Kristin Bair O’Keeffe’s ‘The Art of Floating’
Even when you read regularly, it takes time to find something truly great; but every once in a while, there will be a book, a poem, a story, that truly turns you on your heel, holds you in place, and keeps you loving, recommending and discussing that piece for months....
One Step Forward, One Step Back: The Complexities of Jason Odell Williams’ ‘Personal Statement’
We’ve all been there. We reached the final year of high school and discovered the college, the school, the job, and the career that we wanted, and we attempted to move forward. We did everything we thought we needed to do---and more---to ensure that we would land one...
Grief as Meditation, Grief as Art: Reading Meg Day’s ‘Last Psalm at Sea Level’
Writing reviews can be extremely difficult. What’s ironic, though, is that I tend to find greater difficulty in writing a review about a book that I loved, rather than one I was unimpressed with. Perhaps this is because I tend to find some angle of merit in each work...
We’ll Never Know What We’re Leaving Behind: Reading ‘Swimming Lessons’ by Claire Fuller
I’ll be honest: I’ve spent the last two days trying to let this book go (or rather, to pry its hooks out of me). This book is all at once startling and overwhelming, beautifully composed, and thieving (as ‘haunting’ in this case is not a strong enough word). I flipped...
The Power of Grief, The Power of Hallucination, The Power of YA Literature: Reading Rebekah Crane’s ‘Aspen’
Let me point one fact out from the beginning: I admire young adult literature, and I believe it can be extremely powerful when the central characters are confident, self-possessed individuals, dealing with both personal and more widely-recognized issues. Rebekah...
‘Gone Girl’ Meets ‘Little Fires Everywhere’ In Jean Hanff Korelitz’s ‘The Plot’
Happy Friday, readers and shark fans! Here is Jean Hanff Korelitz’s THE PLOT, which bears incredible ties to LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE and GONE GIRL in a dark academic thriller.
Your Next YA Graphic Novel Pick Is Sprinkled with Spooks, Awkward Love, and Magic in Balazs Lorinczi’s ‘Doughnuts and Doom’
Happy Friday, readers and shark fans! Here’s our next review—a spooky and queer YA graphic novel, DOUGHNUTS AND DOOM by Balazs Lorinczi.
The Precision of Language, Nature, and Violence in Shaindel Beers’ ‘Secure Your Own Mask’
Happy Friday, readers and shark fans! Here is our latest book review: SECURE YOUR OWN MASK by Shaindel Beers, a beautifully striking poetry collection from White Pine Press.