Planting seeds of ambiguity
Allison Alsup’s richly detailed, atmospheric novel, “Foreign Seed,” transports us to a fascinating, unfamiliar time and place. Based on history and infused with mystery, her engrossing narrative, set in a turbulent warlord-ridden China, occurs...
Around the Bookstore: Clock is ticking for summer
And just like that, it’s almost over …
Suddenly, amazingly, summer is winding to an end. And what a summer it has been!
While Kate Feiffer was signing copies of her new book, “Morning Pages,” on...
Lessons from the pandemic
Kathy Ham just released her book, “How We Coped,” which is an illustrated take on Island life during COVID. The proceeds from the book go directly to support the Island Autism Center. In “How...
Her Black country
On Thursday, August 8, Alice Randall shared excerpts from her new book “My Black Country,” at Featherstone Center for the Arts, and engaged the audience in conversation. People in the house were also privy...
Driven by inequality
As the daughter of a doctor who received his medical training in the Jim Crow days of the early 1950s, I found the parallels between his and Dr. Stanford’s experiences astounding and, sadly, not...
Endings and beginnings
Memoir is rooted in memory, and Honor Moore’s new book, “A Termination,” dwells in its allusive and kaleidoscopic nature.
The termination she speaks of is an abortion, which she had in 1969 at age 23...
Have bears, will travel
When I was a kid I wrote stories, accompanied by illustrations, and bound them together with staples and Elmer’s Glue. I desperately wanted to get a book published but I didn’t know how to...
‘The New Brownies Book: A Love Letter to Black Families’
There are some books that you want, and there are some that you just have to have. Scholar Dr. Karida L. Brown and awardwinning artist Charly Palmer’s stunning publication, “The New Brownie’s Book: A...
When life gets in the way
Kate Feiffer’s delicious new novel, “Morning Pages,” drops us straight into the intimate life and mind of her artfully wry-humored protagonist.
Elise is facing a problem — well, a few of them, truthfully. The novel...
Fun with friends
For those of us who are a certain age, the thought of paper dolls brings back fond childhood memories. I was no Barbie and Ken lover, but paper dolls, which can easily be cut...
Patricia J. Williams ponders ‘The Miracle of the Black Leg’
Patricia J. Williams, legal scholar, former Nation magazine columnist, and frequent Island visitor, offers a genre-exploding journey. “The Miracle of the Black Leg: Notes on Race, Human Bodies, and the Spirit of the Law”...
‘Anything Is Good’
“I could not have written this book without the storytelling gift and unsettling insights of Ralph Silverman,” reads the preface to Fred Waitzkin's new novel, “Anything Is Good” (Open Road Media).
Ralph Silverman was the...
The mystery writer reminisces
Wait, Spring
By Dionis Coffin Riggs (an excerpt)
Spring, do not come too early,
Wait until the heartwood
Is twisted and made gnarled
By the gale.
Gather a bunch of ordinary-looking people wearing ordinary-looking clothes — nothing that draws attention...
Bumpy road-trip
I hadn’t heard of a babymoon before reading Sidney Karger's delightfully engaging new novel, “The Bump,” but it’s an idea that makes a lot of sense. A babymoon, for those of you who also...
From must-haves to need-nots
In her lushly illustrated new book, “The Need-Not Artist,” Island author Kasha Ritter provides bite-size tidbits about how to be a successful artist. She fills the handsome work with personal stories, descriptions of her...
Around the Bookstore: Literary flowers blooming
That old saying “April showers bring May flowers” is true for me. Sitting at the register, looking out at Main Street in April means more than just showers. Though, goodness, there seem to be...
In Gandhi’s footsteps
So there I was minding my own business back in about 2007-8, living in West Tisbury at the wonderful Milton Mazer House, after my last book, “Buddha or Bust,” was published, staring at the...
What would you say about race?
“Mom’s people owned slaves. Dad’s were.”
“Native American. Voiceless in race conversations.”
“Hispanic doctor is not an oxymoron.”
“No white woman cooks like that.”
“I can’t leave without my receipt.”
“White husband became Iranian September 11th.”
“With kids, I’m dad....
Around the Bookstore: Female authors
March has arrived. There are a few hints of spring, with stretches of gray and rain, and more than a small amount of pummeling by the weather, which always puts me in the mood...
Books and music
MVY Radio, the nonprofit radio station located in West Tisbury, and broadcasting throughout the world via internet, is currently hosting something that's a bit of a departure from their usual mix of music and...