Magnolia's Reviews

Award-winning author George Saunders is back with yet another dazzling collection of short stories. The nine deeply personal works that make up this collection are mainly speculative stories that involve harsh confrontations with reality alongside smaller and equally poignant narratives on motherly love, generational guilt, and our desire to cling to the past. Those who love Saunders for his wry cynicism, witty prose, and earnest sentimentality will not be disappointed.

—Magnolia

Poet Laureate Joy Harjo has selected 50 of her best poems from the past 50 years for this truly evocative and intimate collection of poetry. With her attention finely tuned to heritage, femininity, and our relationship with nature and sense of place, Harjo takes us on a journey through her youth as she discovers her own voice, up into her adulthood as she contemplates the deeply human truths of the present. Heart-wrenching and hopeful, this collection is unforgettable.

—Magnolia

Nineteen acclaimed writers come together in this collection to give personal accounts of how climate change has come to impact their lives. Lydia Millet, Omar El Akkad, Gabrielle Bellot, Terese Svoboda, and many more offer memories and chronicles of life with climate change. The result is a deeply personal portrait of the impact that climate change has on every corner of Earth. 

—Magnolia

Lives is a collection of verse that explores the complicated and personal relationship between our natural world and the human tendency to become violent and destroy. The lyrics of CJ Evans are intimately political, unreserved, and stinging, yet somehow encouraging of our ability to find solace, beauty, and love despite the violence that surrounds us. Reading this collection felt like finally being able to release a breath I’ve been holding in for too long. 

—Magnolia

Fans of Rebecca Roanhorse and Tamsyn Muir have their next read! The Dawnhounds is a queer, Māori-inspired fantasy tale that follows an ex-street-urchin-turned–police officer who gets killed on the job and is brought back to life on a mission to save the world. Sasha Stronach manages to intertwine technologically modified pirates, chaotic gods, and plant-manipulating magical powers into one mystical adventure that is guaranteed to keep you turning pages. 

—Magnolia

Acclaimed environmental activist Leah Thomas has put together an expert and necessary introduction into the ways climate change has most aggressively impacted marginalized communities while simultaneously pinpointing the ways those same voices have historically been ignored within environmentalism movements. The Intersectional Environmentalist is the ultimate guide to addressing some of the planet’s most pressing issues by dismantling privilege and uplifting the voices at the center of these issues which often go unheard.

—Magnolia
 

It’s not just the horrifying story of the Golden State Killer, but also the story of victims and survivors. It’s a timeline of DNA technology and the investigation techniques that influenced the trajectory of this case and others like it. It’s also the story of Michelle and the impact this case will continue to have on anyone with an interest in true crime.

—Magnolia

With some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read, Palm tells the story of growing up alongside the Kankakee river in Indiana. Poetically retracing her path to adulthood and escape from her hometown, her tale is countered by that of her childhood love - now serving a life sentence for murder. These two hauntingly distinct narratives serve as a reminder of the impact our geographies forever have on us.

—Magnolia

This hilarious and heart-wrenching retelling of Don Quixote follows high-school junior Cameron Smith as he struggles with his recent diagnosis of mad cow disease. Bray blurs the lines between reality and hallucination in this action-packed adventure of self-discovery. From talking garden gnomes to punk guardian angels, this book truly has it all.

—Magnolia

This timeless classic about an American bombardier in WWII fighting a system in which everything is against him is perfect for those of us who have felt trapped in an endless cycle of defeat this past year. Confusing and frustrating in the most coherent way possible, Catch-22 excellently embodies the absurdity of trying to navigate between survival and duty.

—Magnolia