Elizabeth Gilbert’s All the Way to the River, Sarah Moss’s Ripeness, and Stephen Greenblatt’s Dark Renaissance all feature among the best reviewed books of the week.
Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews.
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1. Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz
(Deem Vellum)
5 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Mixed
“I implore you: If you’ve lately felt too occupied with social media, if you’ve worried over the products of AI, or if you just want to deepen the mysteries of existence with an open and patient mind—pick up Schattenfroh and dedicate some time and effort to it. It couldn’t be any further from our current typical modes, but it functions as a refreshing immersion rather than escapism.”
–Jonathan Russell Clark (The Washington Post)
2. Clown Town by Mick Herron
(Soho Crime)
5 Rave • 1 Positive • 1 Mixed
“Showcases [Herron’s] unique perspective on spycraft and skill in creating complicated, empathetic characters … Showcases the series’ best qualities … The dialogue between its inhabitants is still biting … The novel’s cast of characters is wide, but written with a surety that renders each unique … It’s a quirk and a gift that the author can tell such somber, unsettling stories so sprightly.”
–E.A. Aymar (The Washington Post)
3. Ripeness by Sarah Moss
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
4 Rave • 1 Positive • 2 Mixed
Read an excerpt from Ripeness here
“Moss’s writing has always been characterised by its range, and the latest novel does not disappoint … Part of the attraction of this captivating novel is Moss’s curiosity about different ways of knowing.”
–Michael Cronin (The Irish Times)
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1. Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival by Stephen Greenblatt
(W.W. Norton & Company)
7 Rave • 1 Positive
“The book teems with the erudition and wonder that permeates Greenblatt’s Will in the World and The Swerve … Less a straightforward biography, more an evocation of Marlowe’s milieu, swimming in lush detail, immersing us in England’s social ferment at a hinge moment.”
–Hamilton Cain (The Boston Globe)
2. All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation by Elizabeth Gilbert
(Riverhead)
3 Rave • 5 Positive • 2 Mixed • 1 Pan
“Fans of her more lighthearted memoir and novels may be shocked by this book’s intensity, but it’s a brave story with an ultimately hopeful outcome. Anyone who has faced addiction—or loved someone who has—will recognize and be moved by Gilbert’s journey.”
–Candace Smith (Booklist)
3. Does This Make Me Funny?: Essays by Zosia Mamet
(Viking)
2 Rave • 1 Positive
“Intimate, funny, and sometimes harrowing … There’s more heft here than in standard-issue showbiz memoirs: Mamet’s struggles with self-doubt and self-definition resonate, and her jokes land more like attempts at maintaining good humor in the face of a cruel world than pure silliness. This is a must for Girls fans, aspiring actors, and young women attempting to figure out who they are. ”