Recent content from Kevin Canfield
'Where Rivers Part' solidifies St. Paul writer Kao Kalia Yang as one of our very best
NONFICTION: A Minnesotan continues a sweeping, multi-part portrait of her remarkable family.
Review: 'The Queen of Dirt Island,' by Donal Ryan
FICTION: A short, powerful novel about Irishwomen who meet heartache with resolve and dark humor.
Review: 'Seven Aunts,' by Staci Lola Drouillard
NONFICTION: A Minnesota writer's gracious second book focuses on family members who stared down hardship.
Review: 'Life Is Everywhere,' by Lucy Ives
FICTION: A brainy, multifarious campus novel that's one of the year's most impressive books in any genre.
Review: 'Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius,' by Nick Hornby
NONFICTION: A breezy, entertaining look at the similarities between two artistic greats, a 19th-century Brit and a 20th-century Minnesotan.
Review: 'The Book of Goose,' by Yiyun Li
FICTION: From the author of prizewinning novels and nonfiction, an unsettling portrait of a noxious friendship in postwar France.
Review: 'Lessons,' by Ian McEwan
FICTION: An ambitious novel charts the relationship between an ordinary man's travails and decades of geopolitical upheaval.
Review: 'Elizabeth Finch,' by Julian Barnes
FICTION: A distinguished British writer's graceful novel about a rewarding bond kindled in the classroom.
Review: 'Seven Aunts,' by Staci Lola Drouillard
NONFICTION: A Minnesota writer's gracious second book focuses on family members who stared down hardship.
Review: 'Planes,' by Peter C. Baker
FICTION: An observant novel about two women dragged into the maelstrom surrounding America's antiterror campaign.
Review: 'All the Secrets of the World,' by Steve Almond
FICTION: Written over a 30-year-period, this engrossing novel focuses on an apparent crime and its ruinous effect on two families.
Review: 'The Premonitions Bureau,' by Sam Knight
NONFICTION: An engrossing, multifaceted portrait of a skilled British doctor who embraced supernatural ideas.
Review: 'Thin Places,' by Kerri ni Dochartaigh
NONFICTION: A survivor bravely confronts the trauma caused by Northern Ireland's protracted, deadly conflict.
Review: 'Sea of Tranquility,' by Emily St. John Mandel
FICTION: In a dazzling sci-fi novel, likable characters land in strange situations, challenging their assumptions about human life and the passage of time.
Review: 'Life Without Children,' by Roddy Doyle
A gifted Dublin writer takes on the pandemic, in moving, funny stories.
Review: 'The Sisters Mao,' by Gavin McCrea
Set in England and China, a smart, expansive novel considers the toll of extremist beliefs.
Review: 'Bright Burning Things,' by Lisa Harding
A probing character study with insightful perspectives on addiction and single parenthood.
50+ essential books for your winter reading and holiday shopping lists
Page-turners that will make you laugh, cry, reflect and escape when the weather outside is frightening.
Review: 'Speak, Silence: In Search of W.G. Sebald,' by Carole Angier
A perceptive biography considers a late German writer's distinctive talents.
Review: 'Silverview,' by John le Carré
FICTION: In a sharp, posthumously published spy novel, an aggrieved agent plots against former allies.
Review: 'China Room,' by Sunjeev Sahota
FICTION: A powerful tale of two relatives fighting painful battles in India, seven decades apart.
Review: 'The Age of Acrimony,' by Jon Grinspan
NONFICTION: Enlightening look at relentless political turbulence of the past.
Review: 'The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing,' by Sonia Faleiro
NONFICTION: This true story recounts needless deaths in a culture where women are systematically subjugated.
Review: 'That Old Country Music,' by Kevin Barry
FICTION: Wry stories from an Irish writer who deftly melds beauty and sorrow.
