Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher: Though I don’t indulge in romance often (except when I need a palette cleanser between heavier books), I couldn’t put down Love Redesigned. Asher’s novel follows Julian Lopez and Dahlia Muñoz, two locals from the small town of Lake Wisteria, who share a complicated past. While their families are close, […]
VICTORIA DALPE: Alone in the woods, some of us find solace. In that solace, some of us find fear – afraid of what lurks in the shadows or what lurks within? Victoria Dalpe is a Rhode Island horror writer. She delves into the complexities of our tortured nature in her book series “Selene Shade: Resurrectionist […]
Pre-COVID, I found that a lot of people in my generation and younger weren’t big readers. At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, between the never-ending stream of content on phones, tablets, and TVs, younger generations didn’t seem to have an interest in picking up a book for fun. I even ran into people […]
Humans inevitably run into conflict. Such hardships are essential to our lives. The point is to persevere. To overcome. To change and grow. But more often than not, besting such trials is easier said than done. We need help. We need direction and advice. We need books. The obstacles in our lives are not always […]
There is something fascinating about the American suburb. It is an experiment, at its best, in family dynamics; and at its worst, a reflection of capitalist disillusionment. Diane Josefowicz confronts the dual nature of appearance vs. reality in her confrontational, almost uncomfortable novella, L’Air Du Temps (1985). In the pages we find our narrator, thirteenyear-old […]
Immersing myself in a good story is a favorite pastime of mine. It can also be a great way to shift perspectives and see the world from someone else’s eyes. For Native American Heritage Month, I am happy to share some wonderful books by Native authors. Storytelling is and has been an important practice in […]
The orange October sky darkens to twilight, flirting with the silhouette of the Providence skyline. The lights above the streets in the highline apartments flicker on, while the storefronts on the sidewalks flip their signs and go dark. A fall breeze hushes through the tight streets. The bell of a shop door closing jingles distantly, […]
Looking for a good book? Look no further! Try these favorites and must-reads submitted by Motif writers — Maddie Jarvis, Trevor May, Kelly Lynn Currier, Victoria Lankford, Mike Ryan, Zeibeth Martinez, and Bobby Forand. A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara Though it is typically best practice to save the best item in a list for last, […]
I was shopping at my neighborhood supermarket when I first heard the news. It was the afternoon of June 13th. My friend phoned me and when I answered he blurted out an urgent jumble of words. For a moment I was terrified, thinking something terrible had happened. As it turned out, something terrible had, but […]
Saying 2023 has been busy for Eric Baylies would be a huge understatement. He has already released three books, Death Takes an Acid Trip, Cold as a Witch’s Cunt and Talking Like a Man With a Paper Asshole. The former two are psychedelic surrealist novels, the latter being a collection of poetry and lyrics dating […]