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Open Letters Review

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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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November 08, 2025

The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Canas

November 08, 2025/ Jim Abbiati
The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Canas

A visually creepy novel perfect for the Halloween season.

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November 08, 2025/ Jim Abbiati/
Isabel Canas, The Possession of Alba Diaz, fiction, gothic horror
November 06, 2025

Underspin by E. Y. Zhao

November 06, 2025/ Tom LeClair
Underspin by E. Y. Zhao

A debut novel about table tennis

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November 06, 2025/ Tom LeClair/
November 05, 2025

(Th)ings and (Th)oughts by Alla Gorbunova

November 05, 2025/ Brock Covington
(Th)ings and (Th)oughts by Alla Gorbunova

A collection of stories from the prize-winning Russian poet

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November 05, 2025/ Brock Covington/
November 01, 2025

The Haunting of Modesto O'Brien by Brit Griffin

November 01, 2025/ Jim Abbiati
The Haunting of Modesto O'Brien by Brit Griffin

An enjoyable hybrid of entwined genres, themes, and narrative styles.

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November 01, 2025/ Jim Abbiati/
The Haunting of Modesto O'Brien, Brit Griffin, fictino, fiction, contemporary fiction
October 29, 2025

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

October 29, 2025/ Tom LeClair
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

A review of Ian McEwan’s ambitious new novel

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October 29, 2025/ Tom LeClair/
Ian McEwan, What We Can Know, fiction, contemporary fiction
October 26, 2025

The Monsters We Make by Rachel Corbett

October 26, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
The Monsters We Make by Rachel Corbett

An insightful if slightly uneven look at serial killers and their analysts

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October 26, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Rachel Corbett, The Monsters We Make, Ted Bundy, Ted Kaczynski, serial killers, criminal profiling, true crime, history, american history
October 20, 2025

The Blood in Winter by Jonathan Healey

October 20, 2025/ Aaron Kyereh-Mireku
The Blood in Winter by Jonathan Healey

A dramatic account of the run-up to the English Civil War

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October 20, 2025/ Aaron Kyereh-Mireku/
The Blood in Winter, Andrew Healey, Charles I, English Civil War, English History, history
October 15, 2025

Fateful Hours by Volker Ullrich

October 15, 2025/ Joe Spivey
Fateful Hours by Volker Ullrich

The grim story of the end of Weimar Germany

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October 15, 2025/ Joe Spivey/
Fateful Hours, Volker Ullrich, Jefferson Chase, Weimar Germany, Germany history
October 14, 2025

The Gales of November by John U. Bacon

October 14, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
The Gales of November by John U. Bacon

A generous narrative history of the famous Lake Superior shipwreck

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October 14, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
John Bacon, The Gales of November, US history, The Edmund Fitzgerald
October 13, 2025

The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus by Matthew Restall

October 13, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus by Matthew Restall

A prismatic new look at Columbus the man and Columbiana the legends.

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October 13, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Matthew Restall, The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus, Christopher Columbus, history, biograph, biography
October 12, 2025

True Nature by Lance Richardson

October 12, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
True Nature by Lance Richardson

A brilliant new biography of the legendary 20th-century author

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October 12, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
True Nature, Peter Mattiessen, Lance Richardson, biography, literary biography
October 10, 2025

Picket Line by Elmore Leonard

October 10, 2025/ Jim Abbiati
Picket Line by Elmore Leonard

Picket Line, a new posthumous Elmore Leonard novella, is a must-have for completists and a maybe-have for anyone else.

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October 10, 2025/ Jim Abbiati/
Picket Line, Elmore Leonard, fictino, fiction, contemporary fiction, American fictionm
October 08, 2025

The Killing Season by Robert Cowley

October 08, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
The Killing Season by Robert Cowley

A gripping new history of the First Battle of Ypres

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October 08, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Robert Cowley, The Killing Season, Ypres, military history, First World War
October 07, 2025

Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon

October 07, 2025/ Tom LeClair
Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon

A review of the new novel from the legendary Thomas Pynchon

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October 07, 2025/ Tom LeClair/
Thomas Pynchon, Shadow Ticket, fiction, contemporary fiction
October 05, 2025

All Consuming by Ruby Tandoh

October 05, 2025/ Joe Spivey
All Consuming by Ruby Tandoh

A wry look at the far-flung provinces of the gustatory world

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October 05, 2025/ Joe Spivey/
October 04, 2025

Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue

October 04, 2025/ Jim Abbiati
Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue

Spencer Quinn's latest installment of his whimsical Mrs. Plansky mystery series.

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October 04, 2025/ Jim Abbiati/
September 30, 2025

Lion Hearts by Dan Jones

September 30, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Lion Hearts by Dan Jones

The rousing conclusion to the historical fiction “Essex Dogs” trilogy

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September 30, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Dan Jones, Lion Hearts, fiction, historical fiction
September 23, 2025

The Tower of the Elephant by Robert E. Howard (Valentin Sécher, illustrator)

September 23, 2025/ Jim Abbiati
The Tower of the Elephant by Robert E. Howard (Valentin Sécher, illustrator)

A classic Conan reprint from Titan Comics that sits somewhere between a graphic novel and a coffee table art book.

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September 23, 2025/ Jim Abbiati/
September 20, 2025

Chinese Songs in a French Key by Pauline Yu

September 20, 2025/ Siddharth Handa
Chinese Songs in a French Key by Pauline Yu

A biography of a groundbreaking volume of Chinese verse in translation

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September 20, 2025/ Siddharth Handa/
September 19, 2025

Nemesis by Catherine Hanley

September 19, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Nemesis by Catherine Hanley

A new biography of the French king who fought with Plantagenets his whole life

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September 19, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Nemesis, Catherine Hanley, Henry II, Philip Augustus, French history, medieval history, history
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Editors:

Steve Donoghue
Sam Sacks
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Olive Fellows
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