Mariko Hewer
Mariko Hewer is a freelance editor and writer. She is passionate about good books, good food, and good company. Find her occasional insights of varying quality on Twitter at @hapahaiku.
80 entries by Mariko Hewer
On the endless possibilities of deviating from the norm.
The Hymn to Dionysus
By Natasha Pulley
The god of pleasure assumes a distinctly human form in this charmingly updated Greek myth.
Navigating my mother’s illness helped me confront my fear of grief.
At Dark, I Become Loathsome
By Eric LaRocca
This creepy, frustrating tale leaves too many questions unanswered.
We Lived on the Horizon: A Novel
By Erika Swyler
Humans and AI seek to evolve in this provocative dystopian tale.
A famed conservationist lights a path through the darkness.
The Icon & the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry that Brought Birth Control to America
By Stephanie Gorton
The road to accessible contraception was long and bumpy.
Nether Station: A Novel of Cosmic Horror
By Kevin J. Anderson
An uneven, confusing ode to Lovecraftian terror.
How Stacey Abrams’ pragmatic how-to guide rekindled my hope.
The Bog Wife: A Novel
By Kay Chronister
A family saga that gives new meaning to the word “haunted.”
The Familiar reminds us to take stock of the extraordinary amid the ordinary.
Vertigo: The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany
By Harald Jähner
An illuminating look at a lesser-examined yet pivotal period.
A feminist manifesto urges women to reclaim their anger.
Beep: A Novel
By Bill Roorbach
A precocious monkey has a lot to say about us humans.
The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands: A Novel
By Sarah Brooks
Excessive ambiguity derails this ambitious train tale.
How a book of essays reacquainted me with my emotions.
How a murder mystery inspired me to grow my community.
The Mars House: A Novel
By Natasha Pulley
This queer, outer-space romance speaks to the human condition here on Earth.
This New Dark: A Novel
By Chase Dearinger
Literal and metaphorical storm clouds pervade this scary, hopeful tale.
The Road from Belhaven: A Novel
By Margot Livesey
This absorbing tale is both steeped in mystery and grounded in the everyday.
A reimagined Baba Yaga reminds us there’s more than one way to tell a tale.
Who Owns This Sentence?: A History of Copyrights and Wrongs
By Alexandre Montagu and David Bellos
An astute survey of ever-evolving proprietorship laws.
How a book ostensibly about dragons lit a metaphorical flame in my heart.
Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair
By Christian Wiman
Meditations on faith, family, and life offer more hits than misses.
An informative, uneven history of the digging-est science.
The Prospectors: A Novel
By Ariel Djanikian
This adventure falls short on likable characters but boasts an addictive plot.
Lessons from a fictional past cast light on humanity’s future.
We Have Always Been Who We Are
By Sofia T. Romero
Magical realism highlights the absurdities of life in this not-quite-cohesive collection.
Burr: A Novel
By Brooke Lockyer
This haunting, ethereal debut examines grief’s many manifestations.
A zombie novel offers unexpected insights into the value of community.
Looking Glass Sound
By Catriona Ward
Killings and creepiness pervade a New England seaside town.
How a book about a giant Pacific octopus helped me confront my dog’s mortality.
Vanishing Maps: A Novel
By Cristina García
An intricate, rewarding portrait of a globe-spanning, multigenerational family.
Amanda Gorman’s poetry is more necessary now than ever before.
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What a sci-fi novella’s extraterrestrial vision tells us about earth’s troubles.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
By David Grann
A rollicking yarn with more swells and dips than the ocean itself.
People in dire straits find allies amid the chaos.
This collection delights and mystifies in equal measure.
Why I’ve learned to embrace — not avoid — melancholy and yearning.
Hungry Ghosts: A Novel
By Kevin Jared Hosein
A mystery unfurls in the verdant, troubled Caribbean of the 1940s.
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In 2023, my favorite habit will come with specific intentions.
Bad Cree: A Novel
By Jessica Johns
A horror story with long-simmering revelations about family and death.
How the Anthropocene Age is affecting the ecology around us.
The Hollow Kind: A Novel
By Andy Davidson
This atmospheric tale about a doomed family is a spooky delight.
Nights of Plague: A Novel
By Orhan Pamuk; translated by Ekin Oklap
This inventive tale of a long-ago contagion speaks to our world today.
What can the story of a “forgotten” disease teach us about treating covid-19?
Valley of Shadows: A Novel
By Rudy Ruiz
A heavy dose of magical realism keeps the pages turning in this gritty, neo-Western mystery.
Dünkirchen 1940: The German View of Dunkirk
By Robert Kershaw
This in-depth chronicle leans heavily on detail while providing novel insights.
How a book about a neurotic woman helped me experience stress in more productive ways.
The Bone Flower
By Charles Lambert
A racing plot and imaginative details deliver uneven results in this supernatural saga.
Reward System: Stories
By Jem Calder
This penetrating collection prompts reflection on how technology has forever changed us.
How the story of a crusader helped put my own struggles in perspective.
A novel set in the 1790s has surprising resonance today.
You Have a Friend in 10A: Stories
By Maggie Shipstead
This new collection will delight readers while keeping them on edge.
Book of Night
By Holly Black
Stumbles aside, this fast-paced occult thriller is a worthy read.
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How a sweeping novel helped me understand the global refugee crisis.
Life Without Children: Stories
By Roddy Doyle
This collection of pandemic tales casts the lockdown in a new light.
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How Jenny Lawson’s Broken helped me see the mountains of hope through the fog of depression.
Examining some reading favorites of the last 30 years.
How Danielle Evans helped me navigate my feelings about injustice in America.
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Rupi Kaur’s newest book hooks the reader with insights startling in their simplicity.
No Gods, No Monsters: A Novel
By Cadwell Turnbull
This first book of a new trilogy is mystical, mythical — and a bit mystifying.
Camaraderie during conflict shows the importance of community.
Nine Shiny Objects
By Brian Castleberry
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This ambitious, multi-decade saga ultimately fails to connect all the dots.
Before Trans
By Rachel Mesch
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A fascinating analysis of identity, women’s rights, and literature as a transformative tool.
Defining our language helps define us.
Fracture
By Andrés Neuman; translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia
A moving examination of love and human relationships in the face of calamity.
Tahereh Mafi’s recent novel captures our national condition, writ small.
Competitive Grieving: A Novel
By Nora Zelevansky
Though it aims for pithy commentary on anguish, love, and growth, this story ultimately lacks a cohesive message.
Your Ad Could Go Here
By Oksana Zabuzhko
With some excavating, these tales yield up various nuggets of wisdom.
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What long-ago doctors and modern-day medicos can teach us about resilience.
A recent memoir about hardship and hope proved the perfect antidote to 2020.
The Hare: A Novel
By Melanie Finn
A guileless young woman becomes ensnared by a malevolent conman.
How Kamala Harris embodies the female strength celebrated in Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing.
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The characters in The Essex Serpent would recognize the path we’re currently on.
Flyaway
By Kathleen Jennings
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Steeped in magical realism, this debut novel examines human nature and choice.
Nine Shiny Objects: A Novel
By Brian Castleberry
This ambitious, multi-decade saga ultimately fails to connect all the dots.
A fascinating analysis of identity, women’s rights, and literature as a transformative tool.
The Violinist of Venice: A Story of Vivaldi
By Alyssa Palombo
Music, passion, and betrayal in 1700s Italy.
The Hummingbird: A Novel
By Stephen P. Kiernan
Parallel narratives intertwine in this satisfying tale of love, loss, and redemption.