Book Reviews

Iraq + 100

'Iraq + 100' Is Painful, But Don't Look Away

by Amal El-Mohtar

This new anthology of science fiction and fantasy, edited by Hassan Blasim, imagines Iraq 100 years after the invasion of 2003. Harrowing, necessary, often beautiful, it resists comfort and catharsis.
The Glass Universe

Women Astronomers Shine In 'The Glass Universe'

by Heller McAlpin

Dava Sobel's new book is a history of the unheralded women — called computers, rather than astronomers — who worked at the Harvard College Observatory, studying, cataloging and classifying stars.
ODY-C Cycle 1

In 'ODY-C,' A Greek Hero Worthy Of Women

by Annalisa Quinn

Matt Fraction and Christian Ward's splendidly trippy, genderbent retelling of the Odyssey sets the story in space, as warlike Odyssia, "witchjack and wanderer" winds her way home to far Ithicaa.
Searching for John Hughes by Jason Diamond (Raquel Zaldivar/NPR)

'Searching For John Hughes,' And Finding Yourself

by Drew Toal

Jason Diamond tried to write a biography of John Hughes, director of classic '80s teen movies, but along the way, the story became more about his search for Hughes than the elusive filmmaker himself.