Lit Archives - Cambridge | Somerville Independent

Reviewed: ‘This Book Made Me Think of You’ is a sad romance that’s in love with books

by Kaliisha Cole September 1, 2026

Matilda “Tilly” Nightingale has lost her love for reading. Her husband, Joe, dies from cancer only a few months after they are married. Tilly is faced with navigating life without him sooner than she...

LIT

What Cambridge and Somerville readers are buying: Russo returns with ‘Under the Falls’

by Marc Levy August 25, 2026

Two novelists with extensive catalogs return to the lists: Pulitzer-winning Maine author Richard Russo for “Under the Falls” and Ann Patchett for “Whistler.”

LIT

Reviewed: Freed by grief to be a private detective and on an Alice B. Toklas hunt in ‘Bone Horn’

by Josh Cook August 25, 2026

“Bone Horn” maintains its precarious balance between absurdity and grief, work and childcare, bodies and books.

LIT

What Cambridge and Somerville readers are buying: A Howard Zinn bio and Homer’s ‘Odyssey’

by Marc Levy August 18, 2026

Every week, the Harvard Book Store shares its list of bestsellers with us and we compare it with what’s on the New York Times’ list. We go our own way.

LIT

Reviewed: ‘Night Night Fawn’ has a repellent narrator and a twist that will shake you

by Josh Cook August 18, 2026

You probably won’t like Barbara, the narrator of Jordy Rosenberg’s incandescent new novel, but you'll have to consider what justice means for such people.

LIT

Reviewed: The essays of ‘To See Beyond’ offer a guide past and around our fear, anger and despair

by Elizabeth Gonzalez James August 11, 2026

Making art in difficult times will not necessarily save the world, but it may save you and the ones around you.

LIT

Reviewed: ‘Designated Stranger’ is a poetry road trip that isn’t trying to escape

by Josh Cook August 4, 2026

Gion Davis repairs that myth of the open road by helping it grow into a more mature celebration of the joys of fearless living, not messiness.

LIT

Reviewed: ‘On the Other Side is March’ is a clear-eyed look at caring for a fading parent

by Josh Cook July 28, 2026

Sólrún Michelsen tries to give caregivers language and images that make it easier to bear a burden, hold on when adrift or see in the fog.

LIT

Reviewed: ‘When You’re Brave Enough’ doesn’t simplify middle-school hurt

by Fin Leary July 21, 2026

“When You’re Brave Enough,” about coming out as a lesbian in middle school, is sure to be beloved by young people figuring out what bravery means to them.

LIT

Reviewed: ‘Sourland’ sweats the details of weed farming and a fraught throuple

by Elizabeth Gonzalez James July 14, 2026

With dank prose as rich as the ripest bud, this is a dirty, sexy novel of ambition and alliances, hunger and lust, with notes of salt and blood on the tongue.