Laura Lippman and Jessica Elfenbein, Thomas Hollowak, and Elizabeth Nix
Laura LippmanThe Most Dangerous Thing (Morrow)Lippman cranks out novels at a pace that makes Stephen King look like a slacker but still manages to up the ante with each book. Dangerous Thing unfolds...
Cindy Kelly, Leonora "Peachy" DiPietro Dixon, and Susan Fillion
Cindy KellyOutdoor Sculpture in Baltimore (The Johns Hopkins University Press)Some reference books become immediately indispensable. This is one of them. Baltimore is, after all, "the monumental city...
Daniel Mark EpsteinThe Ballad of Bob Dylan (Harper)Dylan biographies abound, but there's room for one more, as long as it's as insightfully written as this one. Epstein makes no apologies for being a...
Susi WyssThe Civilized World (Holt Paperbacks)Wyss, a Hopkins fiction writing grad, infuses her debut novel with a warmth and empathy that practically radiates off the page. Using five female...
Jessica Anya Blau
Drinking Closer to Home (Harper Perennial)
Blau's second novel, her follow-up to 2008's acclaimed The Summer of Naked Swim Parties, delves into the thornier aspects of family life....
The Shattered Wig ReviewIssue #28 (Shattered Wig Press)It's been awhile since Rupert Wondolowski put out a Wig issue, but it was worth the wait. When a labor-of-love lit journal takes an unplanned...
Justin KramonFinny (Random House)The protagonist of this debut novel brings to mind the main character of Natalie Standiford's How to Say Goodbye in Robot, another fantastic coming-of-age story that'...
Jay-ZDecoded (Spiegel & Grau)I didn't judge this book by its cover, but it sure helped get my attention. Was I clamoring for a Jay-Z memoir? Not so much. But the Warhol "Rorschach" painting on...
Ellen Lupton, Cara McCarty, Matilda McQuaid, Cynthia Smith, and Stephen Dixon
Ellen Lupton, Cara McCarty, Matilda McQuaid, Cynthia Smith (co-curators)Why Design Now? National Design Triennial (Smithsonian)Anyone feeling a bit down about the state of things should take a gander...
Marshall Edward ConwayThe Greatest Threat: The Black Panther Party and COINTELPRO (iAMWE)Conway, a prominent member of the local Black Panthers, was sentenced to life in prison for killing...
