“There There” by Tommy Orange “A city is a place, is a collection of architecture, is neighborhoods, is happenings, is a multiplicity of voices. In the “There There”, the city is Oakland, CA, and the voices are those of urban (Indigenous) Natives. What starts as individual vignettes ends in a kind of complicated coherence, where […]

The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir by Betsy Lerner “The daughter of one of the titular “ladies”, who has played bridge for many years with the same group, observes, plays, and writes about her mother and these women she has known all her life. The author’s observations over time improve her opinion of her mother, her […]

The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea “This excellent novel, about a dying Mexican immigrant who throws one last blow-out party to celebrate both his birthday and his life, proves that happy families can be as interesting as unhappy ones. It’s also a solid choice for those looking to add a little diversity […]