Book reviewer Suzanne Perez explains why her travel itinerary always includes at least one indie bookstore.

In today's book review, Suzanne Perez looks at a free-verse novel for young readers that explores themes of hope and resilience.

I knew I wanted to read Death in Her Hands, Ottessa Moshfegh’s newest novel, before I knew anything about it. Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation was one of the best books I read in 2019—a darkly comic novel about a young woman’s extended hibernation with a battery of prescription meds—and I couldn’t wait to see what the author would do next.

I took a road trip recently—a long road trip—and downloaded a few audiobooks to pass the time. One was The Push, a debut novel by Ashley Audrain.

This coming weekend is the unofficial kickoff to summer. Which means summer reading. Which means—for lots of folks—a little something light and funny, maybe set in a sunny locale.

During a visit to my local bookstore a couple weeks ago, a bookseller ushered me over to the nonfiction table and grabbed a copy of Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad. “A Memoir of a Life Interrupted” was the subtitle. On the cover, a photo of the author and her terrier, Oscar, atop a goldenrod-colored Volkswagen bus.

The COVID-19 pandemic turned some of my friends into master do-it-yourselfers. Quarantined at home, they took on home improvement projects, learned to quilt, went crazy with sourdough starters and baked artisan breads.

Sometimes it’s the smallest books that pack the most powerful punches. Think George Orwell’s Animal Farm, John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. None are much longer than an average short story, but they tackle heavy themes such as communism, greed, and the struggle between good and evil.

Novelist Patricia Engel was born to Colombian parents. Her newest novel, Infinite Country, is a wonder of storytelling no doubt inspired by, if not her own upbringing, then the stories of countless immigrant families who seek a better life in the United States.

My friend Carrie keeps chickens in her backyard in Wichita, and whenever she goes out of town, I volunteer to feed and check on them. Chicken sitting, I call it. It’s not a bad gig and comes with rewards, like the occasional fresh egg with a yolk so orange and creamy, it doesn’t even resemble the ones you get in the grocery store.