Critical Notes

Roundup: David Berlin, Hisham Matar, Ray Bradbury, and more

By Mark Athitakis

Jim Ruland has a new monthly books column at San Diego CityBeat. His first entry covers a handful of travel-themed books, including Judith Schalansky’s Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Not Visited and Never Will.

Regan McMahon, former books editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, is now the books editor at Common Sense Media.

Rayyan Al-Shawaf reviews David Berlin’s The Moral Lives of Israelis: Reinventing the Dream State for the Globe and Mail.

Gina Webb reviews Kelle Groom’s memoir, I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl for the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Steven G. Kellman reviews Hisham Matar’s new novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, for the Dallas Morning News.

Adam Kirsch reviews Jonathan R. Eller’s Becoming Ray Bradbury for the Barnes & Noble Review.

Tana Wojczuk writes about how Jack Kerouac influenced her (even while she avoided reading On the Road) at the Rumpus.

Carolyn Kellogg reviews George Pelecanos’ new crime novel, The Cut, for the Los Angeles Times.

Jan Gardner reviews a new pictorial history of the Boston Public Library for the Boston Globe.

Joseph Peschel reviews Robert Bausch’s new novel, In the Fall They Come Back, for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Your reviews and recommendations help seed these roundups: If you’re an NBCC member with a review you’d like considered for inclusion, please email nbcccritics@gmail.com. You can also get our attention by using the Twitter hashtag #nbcc, posting on the wall of our Facebook page, or joining our members-only LinkedIn group.