The Wildelings by Lisa Harding was on a ‘dark academia’ reading list I came across. I don’t know if it fits into that category. Still, it takes place at a fictional Dublin university (named after Oscar Wilde) and deals with some dark elements of human nature, so sure. The story…
Category: Books

The Q Review | Girl in a Band | Kim Gordon
Kim Gordon is arguably and objectively one of the coolest people to have ever walked the planet. Full stop. An artist’s artist. An L.A. girl who made good in New York City. A woman who sought to define her style and relationship to her art, even as part of a…

The Q Review | The Pilgrimage | John Broderick
I’m going to start this review by saying: READ THIS BOOK. The Pilgrimage by John Broderick is a riveting soap opera of a story about a wealthy couple living in a midcentury Irish town. The story is told from the perspective of the wife, Julia, who begins the novel having…

The Q Review | Will and Testament | Vigdis Hjorth
Will & Testament by Vigdis Hjorth deals with the painful topics of incest and family dysfunction. The book is (at least partially) taken from events in the author’s own life, which means she writes in great detail about these dynamics, aptly capturing the pain and frustration of dealing with a…

The Q Review | The KLF | John Higgs
My only knowledge of The KLF before reading this book is a faint memory of hearing their song “3AM Eternal” on the radio in my senior year of high school, thinking, “What is this?” The music I was into at the time – mainly of the new wave and alternative…

The Q Review | Going Clear | Lawrence Wright
I love reading about cults, and I’ve never read anything by Lawrence Wright that I didn’t like, so I was all-in from the very beginning on Going Clear. Much of what is in the book has been cited in various articles, documentaries, and published personal accounts from defectors. Still, Wright…

The Q Review | The Moon is Down | John Steinbeck
The first thing you should know about “The Moon Is Down” by John Steinbeck is that it was written in March 1942 as Allied propaganda. It tells a story of the invasion and occupation of a small northern European village. The parties are not named, but it’s a clear depiction…

The Q Review | Admiring Silence | Abdulrazak Gurnah
There is very little that happens in this Nobel Prize-winning novel, and yet, it’s one of the most impactful books I’ve read this year. I’m married to an immigrant who came to the West, seeking opportunity and security. I’ve witnessed firsthand the emotional and psychological challenges that befall anyone who…

The Q Review | The Naughty Nineties | David Friend
Let me start by saying that this is a very, very long book. The good news, however, is that it doesn’t feel that long. It actually flew by because it’s composed of popular culture and political vignettes that I lived through as a young adult. I was surprised how many…

The Q Review | The Pisces | Melissa Broder
Now this is a story! I’d reserved a copy of Melissa Broder’s book The Pisces at the library, but since it wasn’t immediately available, I opted to start with her most recent release, Death Valley. I wasn’t impressed, but The Pisces came so highly recommended that I was still looking…