How the West Won - The American Scholar A great Texas novelist whose message succumbed to myth

NBCC member Steven G. Kellman reviewed David Streitfeld's "Western Star: The Life and Legends of Larry McMurtry" for The American Scholar:

NBCC member Joanne B. Mulcahy reviewed Terese Svoboda's "Hitler and My Mother-in-Law" for On the Seawall:

Interview: John Waters' 80th birthday is no joke What's On

NBCC member Jake Cline interviewed John Waters for Arsht Magazine, where they discussed Elena Ferrante impersonators, why he thinks “writing a book is not fun,” his 80th birthday (on April 22) and when we may see a followup to his 2022 novel "Liarmouth":

NBCC member Kevin Anthony Brown’s essay-review of Stendhal’s "Armance, The Red and the Black, and The Charterhouse of Parma" appeared in the April 2026 edition of New English Review:

NBCC member Nancy Naomi Carlson reviewed U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze's "Transient Worlds" for On the Seawall:

NBCC member Daniel Mendelsohn reviewed Yann Martel’s "Son of Nobody" for The New York Times Book Review:

Unable to shoot films during the pandemic, Lauren Rothery made ‘Television’ The London-born, San Diego-raised author worked for years as a filmmaker before deciding to write a novel.

NBCC Online Chair Michael Schaub interviewed Lauren Rothery for The Orange County Register: buff.ly/QAhhEO7

NBCC member Valerie Duff-Strautmann reviewed Maggie Dietz’s "If You Would Let Me" for On the Seawall:

Antwain K. Hunter, "A Precarious Balance: Firearms, Race, and Community in North Carolina, 1715-1865" (UNC Press, 2025) - New Books Network Also Hosted By Sullivan Summer

NBCC member Sullivan Summer interviewed historian of slavery and freedom in North America Dr. Antwain K. Hunter about his book, "A Precarious Balance: Firearms, Race, and Community in North Carolina, 1715-1865," for the New Books Network:

Frances Crawford’s Bold, Brilliant Crime Debut Frances Crawford is proof that age is not a barrier to becoming a successful author. In 2022, at the age of sixty, she earned a master's in literature in creative writing with distinction from Glasgow...

NBCC member Linda Hitchcock reviewed Frances Crawford’s "A Bad, Bad Place" for BookTrib:

'Where'd You Go, Bernadette' author Maria Semple returns with new novel Author and former Seattle resident Maria Semple spoke with us ahead of an event at Town Hall Seattle on April 18.

NBCC member Eric Olson interviewed Maria Semple for The Seattle Times. The two talked about her former "naivety," life in the New York City publishing world, and Grateful Dead fandom:

An essay by NBCC Poetry Chair David Woo, “Poets of My Age and the Erotics of Influence,” appeared in Poetry:

Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell Bloomsbury Review by Brian Tanguay Honeysuckle is one of the strangest novels I’ve read in a long while, and by strange I mean in the sense of unsettling and rarely encountered. Before reading Bar…

NBCC member Brian Tanguay reviewed "Honeysuckle" by Bar Fridman-Tell for the California Review of Books:

101 best book club picks for every type of reader From romance and memoirs to mystery and fantasy, here are the 101 best book club picks, according to a survey of more than 200 authors, publishers, journalists and book club fans.

NBCC Online Chair Michael Schaub contributed to the Los Angeles Times’ feature about the 101 best book club picks:

The Complete Notebooks by Albert Camus, translated by Ryan Bloom Chicago Review by David Starkey Is Albert Camus’s most famous novel, The Stranger, a bit too programmatic? Is The Plague, which I reviewed during COVID, a bit too long? Is the metaphor of his essay…

NBCC member David Starkey reviewed "The Complete Notebooks" by Albert Camus for the California Review of Books:

Gaelynn Lea pens memoir about key moments in her life, career With the Duluth singer-songwriter's memoir, "It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect," hitting bookshelves April 14, she reminisced about a remarkable life that has led to fame far beyond the Zenith City.

For the Duluth News Tribune, NBCC member Jay Gabler interviewed Gaelynn Lea about her memoir, "It Wasn't Meant to Be Perfect":

Ben Lerner’s Novel of Fathers and Sons His most experimental and unsettling book, Transcription as us whether art is futile or the most important weapon we have.

NBCC member Tara Menon reviewed Ben Lerner's "Transcription" for The Nation:

Book Review: 'Ghosts of Fourth Street' | Minnesota Monthly Former Minnesota Star Tribune books editor Laurie Hertzel weaves a hunting memoir of her childhood from the hills of Duluth

NBCC member Deborah Copperud reviewed former NBCC President Laurie Hertzel's memoir "Ghosts of Fourth Street: My Family, a Death, and the Hills of Duluth" for Minnesota Monthly:

A theology of self-help according to Thecla Meggan Watterson finds in the Acts of Paul and Thecla a seven-step journey for personal...

NBCC member Nicole Schrag reviewed "The Girl Who Baptized Herself" by Meggan Watterson for Christian Century:

Review: Esther Lin’s “Cold Thief Place” by Lee Rossi The speaker’s estrangement from her parents and her ancestral culture carries over to relationships with lovers and friends. The book contains moments of broad and icy humor, which reflect uneasily…

NBCC member Lee Rossi reviewed "Cold Thief Place" by Esther Lin for Another Chicago Magazine:

NBCC member Diane Josefowicz reviewed "Happy Land" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez for The Providence Eye:

The Mania of Finding Meaning | Malén Denis’s Lithium By Cory Oldweiler

NBCC member Cory Oldweiler wrote about "Lithium," written by Malén Denis and translated from the Spanish by Laura Hatry and John Wronski, for Southwest Review:

How William Kennedy Turned a Bedtime Story For His Four-Year-Old Into a Publishing Sensation On a recent afternoon in Averill Park, New York, William (Bill) and Brendan Kennedy sat in a room built around a pool table. Posters for Bill’s films hung on the walls: Jack Nicholson and Meryl Str…

NBCC member Stephanie Gorton interviewed William and Brendan Kennedy about their Charlie Malarkey children's books for Literary Hub:

Ashes to Ashes - Words Without Borders Cheung Yuen-man’s dark story is set against an all-consuming fog in which a cat falls ill and a husband mysteriously vanishes.

NBCC Emerging Critic Fellow Michelle Chan Schmidt translated an excerpt from Hongkongese writer Cheung Yuen-man's short story “Ashes to Ashes” for Words Without Borders' collection of post-2019 Fiction from Hong Kong:

Endless Waiting for “The Endless Garment” - On a snowy Sunday afternoon, you go to Pioneer Works looking for a poetry book. “The Endless Garment” is related to an exhibit at the Brooklyn's Red Hook art space. The sign out front says free and...

For The Village Star-Revue, NBCC member Michael Quinn reviewed "The Endless Garment: Atlantic Basin," a group exhibition on global fashion and labor at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works, with an accompanying poetry book:

Former NBCC board member and recipient of the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing Steven G. Kellman reviewed Andrew Miller's "The Land in Winter" for the print edition of Rain Taxi: buff.ly/EJK7oQI

NBCC member Tony Miksanek's review of "In Defense of Sunlight: The Surprising Science of Sun Exposure" by Rowan Jacobsen was featured as Booklist's "Review of the Day" for April 3:

NBCC board member Lauren LeBlanc reviewed Djuna Barnes' "Ladies Almanack" for The Believer:

Morbidity and humor coexist in George Saunders' latest novel Saunders will be in town on Tuesday, April 7, for an event with Seattle Arts & Lectures.

NBCC member Eric Olson profiled George Saunders for The Seattle Times:

Guardians & Saints - Small Press Picks With emotional depth and arrestingly beautiful prose, this collection of linked stories examines the ways in which those who’ve been orphaned–literally or metaphorically–are supported or let down...

"Guardians & Saints: Stories" by NBCC member Diane Josefowicz was reviewed at Small Press Picks: