Kick back this summer with these three new fiction reads
By Olivia Wilson ’24
Staff Writer
In the spirit of summer’s approach, Mount Holyoke News has compiled a list of potential beach reads. These books — all authored by women — may help keep the Mount Holyoke vibes nearby no matter how far you are from campus.
“Book of Night” by Holly Black
“Book of Night” is the adult fiction debut of popular young adult and middle-grade author Holly Black. It is a “modern dark fantasy,” according to Goodreads. The novel takes place in a fictionalized version of the Berkshires where shadows can be manipulated by magicians called “gloamists,” who utilize the shadows for fittingly dark purposes. According to the book’s description on Black’s website, the story follows Charlie Hall, a low-level con artist and bartender, as she tries to survive while her friends and enemies fight to steal a powerful secret. It is set to release on May 3.
Described as a “master at world-building” by The New York Times Book Review, Holly Black grew up in New Jersey and is the author of over 30 books for young adults and middle school-aged children. Her other notable works include the beloved children’s series “The Spiderwick Chronicles” and the 2018 New York Times bestseller “The Cruel Prince.”
According to the Odyssey Bookshop website, Black resides in New England with her husband, son and secret library. A launch party for “Book of Night” will be held at the First Congregational Church in South Hadley on May 3 at 7 p.m.
“We Measure the Earth with our Bodies” by Tsering Yangzom Lama
“We Measure the Earth with our Bodies” takes place over the span of 50 years and recounts the story of an exiled Tibetan family affected by political violence and colonization. Told through the perspective of four different characters, the book follows the lives of a Tibetan refugee family as they struggle to survive and keep hold of their culture amid what the BBC described as the longstanding Chinese “claim to sovereignty” over Tibet. A review by Booklist characterized the novel as “[an] achingly beautiful debut.”
According to the biography page on her website, Tsering Yangzom Lama is a Tibetan writer born and raised in Nepal who currently lives in Vancouver, Canada. Her work has appeared in numerous books, magazines and other publications. She is also the co-founder of “LhakarDiaries,” a blog for Tibetan youth living in exile. She currently works for Greenpeace International as a storytelling advisor, coaching branches of the organization around the world on how to craft narratives. “We Measure the Earth with our Bodies,” Lama’s debut novel, is set to release on May 17.
“Human Blues” by Elisa Albert
Described as “virtuosic” and “brilliant” by The Washington Post and The New York Times, Elisa Albert’s “Human Blues” is told over the course of nine menstrual cycles. The story follows Aviva Rosner, a singer and songwriter who wants a child but is unable to get pregnant. She is wary of artificial insemination, and her decision to write her fears into her music leads to a surprising reaction from audiences. The book’s blurb on Goodreads describes it as a “bold, brainy, darkly funny” interrogation of society’s obsession with childbearing. The book is set to release on July 5.
Elisa Albert is also the author of the short story collection “How This Night Is Different” and the novel “The Book of Dahlia,” which follows a woman dying of brain cancer. According to The Odyssey Bookshop, Albert currently lives in upstate New York.
Sequoia Nagamatsu explores life and death in a plague-stricken future in debut novel
Graphic by Sofía Savid ’24.
By Maggie Wills ’25
Staff Writer
“It seemed like everyone was walking either to or from a funeral. Death had become a way of life,” author Sequoia Nagamatsu writes in his new novel, “How High We Go in the Dark.” The book, published Jan. 18, 2022, drops readers into a futuristic reality eerily similar to our own.
In Nagamatsu’s world, it is 2030, and researchers in Antarctica are working tirelessly to find solutions to salvage the rapidly-warming planet. Despite their efforts, the melting permafrost has released a 30,000-year-old virus that begins infecting the research team and later spreads to the rest of the world. The deadly virus, known as the “Arctic Plague,” overwhelmingly infects children, causing their specialized tissue cells to assume the identity of other tissues. Patients’ hearts develop tiny brains and their lungs slowly develop into livers. Death rates increase, as does the demand for funeral services — lists of patients needing organ transplants are endless.
The world adapts to these changes by developing new technologies, such as human organs grown in pigs. The individuals inhabiting this world are forced to adapt. Their morals and values change as they become desensitized to death. What does not change, however, is humanity’s desire for hope and relationships.
In each chapter, Nagamatsu introduces readers to a new individual who yearns for human connection while simultaneously navigating a life affected by the plague. Many chapters take place in the California Bay Area and Japan, but others transcend Earth and even the physical world. The scope of the book is wide, with some chapters spanning centuries.
Each individual’s story is intricately linked to others in a way that unifies the novel. These characters grapple with their new reality and attempt to find hope and community in the darkest of times. A medical researcher mourns the loss of his son by becoming the acting father to his test-subject pig that has learned to speak; an adolescent boy connects with his mother through her prized robot dog after she dies from the virus; a close-knit cul-de-sac hosts funerals together, vowing to combine their ashes in a community urn.
“In each chapter, Nagamatsu introduces readers to a new individual who yearns for human connection while simultaneously navigating a life affected by the plague.”
At points, the world Nagamatsu creates feels like the direction our humanity is currently heading in, which can make for a particularly unsettling reading experience. In Nagamatsu’s world, death is slowly being commodified — countless companies advertise their funeral packages and death-centered social media platforms. Constant natural disasters lead scientists to search for a new home planet with zero plans to fix the one they’ve got.
Other stories are absolutely heartbreaking, but impossible to put down. The chapter “The Used-To-Be Party” is incredibly striking. It is told from the perspective of a newly-widowed man, Dan, who attempts to connect with his neighbors who have also lost loved ones. He laments on his failure to be a bigger part of his daughter’s and wife’s lives, seeking to change that by hosting a cookout for his neighbors. Dan reasons that “[they] need a party to break the silence, to begin to heal.”
According to Nagamatsu’s website, “How High We Go In The Dark” is his debut novel. He has published many works in literary magazines and penned a 2016 collection of short stories called “Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone.” He is soon publishing another novel shortly entitled “Girl Zero.” Nagamatsu lives in Minneapolis with his wife and teaches creative writing at St. Olaf College.
In an interview with LitHub, Nagamatsu said he began writing “How High We Go In The Dark” before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He mentioned feeling apprehensive about publishing due to the subject matter, but ultimately decided that publishing the book served as a way to understand the lockdown and cope with his father’s death.
According to Nagamatsu, the book has received mixed reviews. Some readers have found his world comforting, while others have felt it hit too close to home.
To echo Gabino Iglesias of Locus Magazine’s thoughts on the novel, “reading [Nagamatsu’s] ‘How High We Go in the Dark’ is not always a pleasurable experience.” Nevertheless, it is an introspective and rewarding read. It invites readers to reflect on grief, sadness and hope. Despite the world seeming to grow more and more despondent, Nagamatsu reminds readers to find comfort in connection, even in the darkest of times.
Louise Erdrich’s newest novel encourages reflection on our complex present
“Books contain everything worth knowing except what ultimately matters,” Louise Erdrich writes in the early pages of “The Sentence,” boldly setting the tone of her new novel Published Nov. 9, 2021, “The Sentence” is packed tightly with the events of one fictional woman’s life between November 2019 and November 2020. Set in Minneapolis, the novel is profoundly current, deeply human and often raw. It follows an Ojibwe woman named Tookie as she lives through the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the death of George Floyd and the following protests — all while working in a haunted bookshop.
Celebrate Women’s History Month with these nonfiction recommendations
New in poetry: check out these releases from Black poets highlighting race, gender and sexuality
This week, Mount Holyoke News is highlighting several Black authors who have recent releases in honor of Black History Month. These emerging poets weave history, personal experiences, art and ancestry to craft thoughtful conversations about gender, sexuality and identity. Each of their poems, with unflinching words, opens a discussion about how Black history and experiences have shaped America.
Daniel Black and Major Jackson discuss Black’s latest novel at the Odyssey Bookshop
“Daddy’s mind left like a dream at dawn, and now the encounter could only take place in my imagination, so that’s where I went,” the author’s note of Daniel Black’s latest novel, “Don’t Cry For Me,” reads.
Black, who won the Distinguished Writer Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writer’s Association in 2014, published his newest work, “Don’t Cry for Me” earlier this month.
More than romance: books about love to read this Valentine’s Day
As Valentine’s Day approaches, it’s the perfect time to celebrate all forms of love in our lives. According to Rabbi David Wolpe of Time Magazine, love is “a feeling that expresses itself in action.” This feeling manifests itself not just in romantic partners, but also in relationships between friends and family. As argued by Madeleine Dore of ABC Everyday, the love between families and communities are just as important as romantic love, despite the weight that society puts on romantic relationships.
In ‘Call Us What We Carry,’ Amanda Gorman connects our past to our present
“Call Us What We Carry” is the debut poetry collection of Amanda Gorman, who, according to NPR, became the youngest ever inaugural poet in 2021 at 22 years old. Her website notes that she graduated from Harvard with a degree in sociology in 2020, a year before she performed at Joe Biden’s inauguration. Gorman was appointed as the first National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017. Now, she is the youngest board member of 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the United States. Her first two books, a children’s book titled “Change Sings” and the published version of her inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb,” were released in September 2021. Readers can dive deeper into her work with “Call Us What We Carry,” originally “The Hill We Climb and Other Poems,” which was published on Dec. 7, 2021.
Predicting the future: science fiction draws inspiration from the world around us
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Book award shortlists released, showcasing this year’s literary highlights
Fall book award season is upon us, highlighting titles from this past year that, according to critics and award panelists, are worthy of praise and recognition. Some notable book awards are the United States specific National Book Award, the Booker Prize for Fiction, the PEN/Faulkner Award and The Women’s Prize for Fiction. Every year, the panelists for each award pick books for a longlist based on nominations from publishers. They then narrow this down to a shortlist, from which they select a winner. Winners for the Women’s Prize for Fiction were announced on Sept. 8, and winners for the National Book Award and the Booker Prize will be announced in the coming weeks.
Emily Arsenault ’98 draws on Mount Holyoke ghost stories in her new book
Content warning: this article mentions suicide.
“This is what it means to be a ghost. To watch all the other girls live — laugh, talk, sleep, eat, dance, study, scream — while you flicker and fade into the shadows,” an unnamed narrator declares, opening “When All the Girls Are Sleeping,” published July 13, 2021, the latest novel by Mount Holyoke alumna Emily Arsenault ’98.
Female rage and empowerment dominate in Xiran Jay Zhao’s ‘Iron Widow’
“For eighteen years, my unibrow has saved me from being sold into a painful, terrifying death,” Xiran Jay Zhao writes in their debut novel, “Iron Widow.”
“Iron Widow” is not for the faint of heart.
A story about a thirst for vengeance and hunger for power, brimming with the pain caused by a deeply misogynistic society, the novel is for angry girls — the girls who have been beaten down and poked just enough to snap. For anyone who is aching to break out of the claustrophobic boxes that make up our world — “Iron Widow” is a novel of catharsis, or as the endorsement quote on the cover from E.K. Johnston states, “A primal scream of a book.”
Identity and place: dive into the work of three Latine authors
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'Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch' is a must-read for historical fiction fans
Don’t let the title fool you — Rivka Galchen’s second novel “Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch” is as far from contemporary popular fantasy as the Earth is from the sun. Based on an assemblage of historical documents from the seventeenth century, “Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch” is a fictionalized account of the real-life story of astronomer Johannes Kepler’s mother, Katharina Guldenmann Kepler, an accused — and acquitted — witch.