Department
Reviews
Sharp reviews of new fiction and non-fiction, 1,500 words, careful with the book's intent.
An American Non-Fiction from Graywolf
Christopher Ridenour's <em>The Walking Survey</em>, published by Graywolf Press on 2026-06-11, is a 274-page account of one geographer's attempt to walk the Pennsylvania portion of the Mason-Dixon Line in the summer of 2023.
A Marseille Novel in Translation: The Port House
Yacine Halilou's <em>The Port House</em>, translated from the French by Jennifer Higgins for And Other Stories on 2026-06-04, is 286 pages of careful, accumulative work on a single Marseille apartment block between 1972 and 2019.
A Novel of the Baltic Coast, from Fitzcarraldo
Kazimierz Linde's <em>The Long Strand</em>, translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones for Fitzcarraldo Editions on 2026-05-21, runs to 312 pages and crosses ninety years on a single beach. It is patient, sometimes oppressively so.
A Tokyo Novella in English: The Window Bookshop
Mio Tachibana's 134-page novella, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton for Tilted Axis Press on 2026-05-13, is small in every way it needs to be. It is also one of the best short books of the year so far.
Iowa Soil, Iowa Counties: A Small Press Non-Fiction
Hannah Voss's <em>The County and the Furrow</em>, from Belt Publishing on 2026-05-06, is a quiet 248-page report on land tenure in three Iowa counties between 1980 and 2024. It is the kind of book that gets ignored and shouldn't.
A Corkonian Debut from Tramp Press
Donal Twomey's <em>The Bandon Line</em>, published by Tramp Press on 2026-04-30, is a 244-page first novel set on the closed West Cork railway between 1961 and 1979. It is the kind of book the Irish small-press scene was made for.
The Coracle-Maker's Daughter, from Skein Press
Aine Halloran's debut novel, set on the River Teifi in west Wales between 1971 and 1988, is the first hardback from the Cork-based Skein Press. It is a slower book than its press release suggests.
Borges Rendered Anew by a Buenos Aires Scholar
Mariana Belgrano's new selected Borges, out from Granta Books on 2026-04-21, is the first major English retranslation in nineteen years. It is patient where Hurley was brisk and reluctant where Kerrigan was assured.