Critical Notes

Welcome to the latest news from the Nationa Book Critics Circle! We've got reviews and more for your holiday weekend. Elaine Szewczyk talked to humorist John Hodgman for Publishers Weekly

NBCC board president Laurie Hertzel, senior editor for books at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, wrote her weekly column about writers' bookshelves and reviewed the essay collection, Apple, Tree, edited by Lise Funderburg. Board member Mark Athitakis reviewed

Elaine Szewczyk interviewed Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers about his forthcoming memoir, Acid for the Children, for Publisher's Weekly. Martha Anne Toll reviewed The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom

The first and biggest news of this past week was, of course, the passing of the great Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize winner, writer and mentor to so many. In 2015,

Elaine Szewczyk interviewed Sheila Weller about her forthcoming biography, Carrie Fisher: Life on the Edge, for Publishers Weekly. Joe Peschel reviewed Chuck Klosterman's story collection, Raised In Captivity: Fictional Nonfiction, for

Book critic Michael Lindgren, who has been writing for the Washington Post and other venues for many years, is setting criticism aside to for an equally noble pursuit: plunging deeper into the book business. He'll

A historical novel and a nonfiction narrative each put their own stamp on the past with mixed results, according to NBCC member critics. In a review of Clare Clark's In

At the Washington Post, Ron Charles reviews Colson Whitehead's new novel The Nickel Boys, writing that “it shreds our easy confidence in the triumph of goodness and leaves in its place a

Poet Marie Ponsot, whose 1998 collection The Bird Catcher won the NBCC award in poetry, died Friday July 5 at age 98. NBCC Board member Tess Taylor penned her obituary in the NY Times.

Alexis Burling reviewed three nonfiction books for the San Francisco Chronicle, in honor of Pride week: Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall, by James Polchin; Out