Working Waterfront

Stephen King likes it darker

King has never shied away from commenting on politics, especially when it comes to 45 (“Since I write horror novels for a living, I feel I have some authority when I say that four more years of Donald Trump in the White House would be an absolute nightmare”). SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Minot’s latest airs unhealthy yearnings

She worries all the time about the quality of her parenting. After experiencing the early loss of her own parents and her divorce after having a child, Ivy feels guilty for her son’s equivalent loss of a mother-father dyad. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

No way in for novel’s protagonist

Morgan Talty, a member of the Penobscot Indian Nation, grew up on its reservation near Bangor. His first book, out several years ago, was a brilliant collection of short stories SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Writer’s voice strong in Strout’s latest

It’s an interesting exchange. Olive, so blunt, could have intended her observation as an insult, or, it could have been received as one. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Why deadly storms aren’t so super

Category Five: Superstorms and the Warming Oceans That Feed Them By Porter Fox (Little, Brown 2024) I found Porter Fox’s Category Five: Superstorms and the Warming Oceans That Feed Them a riveting read. So much so, I think I lost focus, experiencing the book more as a series of edge-of-the-seat… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A journey to the ends of the Earth

The reader experiences, through Rush, the surprise and wonder of discovering how the scientists gather soil cores, how and why they collect animal bits from an island, their anxiety when they lose touch with an underwater remote vehicle... SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Tom Moore, unleashed

Moore also broaches intimations of mortality, at times tongue in cheek, at others, not so. In “Going Back: Getting Lost in Heaven” he moves from describing a house he built—“I cut studs and toe-nailed them”—to the “terrible signage” he finds in heaven. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Inside an islander’s mind

One of the shorter poems, “Modern Man Is Monstrous, Let’s Not Forget,” begins: “Seems like any time I have a minute/to relax here goes somebody all dressed up/on TV talking about the end of time.” These ideas are in themselves quirkily disconnected. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

History, fiction tell tale of escaping slavery

The plantation they bought was outside the city along the St. Johns River, part of an escape route for runaways. Dr. Mitchell had trouble building a medical practice as his opposition to slavery set him apart. He gained acceptance after helping locals fight off a Yellow Fever epidemic. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A librarian weaves a surprisingly tangled web

A book club would have a lot of fun with this, as it can be understood multiple ways. SEE MORE