Will Stotts, Jr.

Recent Articles

Booked Up: Five Great Books I Meant To Review
Booked Up

Five Great Books I Meant To Review

A farewell to my readers, with five must-read books of 2014.

Booked Up: An Incredible Debut Novel
Booked Up

An Incredible Debut Novel

Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist, is a terrific mystery ala Jane Eyre set in 17th century Amsterdam.

Booked Up: The Man With No Face
Booked Up

The Man With No Face

A National Book Award winner, Wolf in White Van is a frightening, achingly beautiful first novel.

Booked Up: Give the Gift of Reading
Booked Up

Give the Gift of Reading

Whether you’re buying for friends or family, young or old, there’s a great book to buy for them.

Booked Up: The Enduring Artistry of Margaret Atwood
Booked Up

The Enduring Artistry of Margaret Atwood

If you’ve never read her, Atwood’s wonderful new book of short stories is a great place to start.

Booked Up: Back to the Future
Booked Up

Back to the Future

Ben Lerner’s 10:04 is a poetic novel where change is constant and the future ever beckons.

Booked Up: Jane Smiley’s New Epic Novel
Booked Up

Jane Smiley’s New Epic Novel

Pulitzer Prize-winning author begins a new trilogy -- and beautifully -- in Some Luck.

Booked Up: The Wisdom Of Solomon
Booked Up

The Wisdom Of Solomon

In Ian McEwen’s powerful new novel, The Children Act, a compassionate judge faces tough social issues not easy to solve.

Booked Up: Iowa Is/Isn’t For Lovers
Booked Up

Iowa Is/Isn’t For Lovers

Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Marilynne Robinson returns to her fictional town of Gilead, Iowa, for an unusual romance story.

Booked Up: The Enigma of Haruki Murakami
Booked Up

The Enigma of Haruki Murakami

The world-famous Japanese novelist’s latest book offers another strange and mysterious tale.

Booked Up: A Fabulous Journey Through the 1940s
Booked Up

A Fabulous Journey Through the 1940s

Amy Bloom’s Lucky Us is a big, rambling old fashioned novel that’s a ton of fun.

Booked Up: A Dentist’s Descent Into Darkness
Booked Up

A Dentist’s Descent Into Darkness

In an acclaimed novel by Joshua Ferris, a rabid atheist confronts a cosmic case of identity theft.

Booked Up: “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”
Booked Up

“It’s the End of the World as We Know It”

In the post-apocalyptic novel, civilization has collapsed, but culture and beauty survive.

Booked Up: “The Magic Will Not End”
Booked Up

“The Magic Will Not End”

The final part of Lev Grossman’s epic trilogy is worth your attention, even if you missed the first two.

Booked Up: In Old San Francisco
Booked Up

In Old San Francisco

Frog Music offers a murder mystery -- and a gritty historical narrative -- set in Frisco in 1876.

Booked Up: Midnight on the Continent of Good and (Super) Evil
Booked Up

Midnight on the Continent of Good and (Super) Evil

A new Spanish Civil War-era spy novel from Alan Furst transports readers to a simpler time…when no one can be trusted.

Booked Up: Lives of the Immigrants
Booked Up

Lives of the Immigrants

Cristina Henriquez’s new novel offers poignant stories of newcomers and those who resent them.

Booked Up: The Iraqi War Blues
Booked Up

The Iraqi War Blues

Redeployment offers an ex-Marine’s powerful short stories about life in a war zone.

Booked Up: J.K. Rowling Meets Philip Marlowe
Booked Up

J.K. Rowling Meets Philip Marlowe

Harry Potter creator publishes second book in her adult mystery series. Raymond Chandler might approve.

Booked Up: The Greatest Cartoon Editor Living Today
Booked Up

The Greatest Cartoon Editor Living Today

Two great books from New Yorker cartoonists Bob Mankoff and Roz Chast offer life lessons with the laughs.

Booked Up: Stories of the Old West
Booked Up

Stories of the Old West

Larry McMurtry’s The Last Kind Words Saloon offers a wonderful summation of his writings on frontier life.

Booked Up: The Mystery of Our Parents’ Divorce
Booked Up

The Mystery of Our Parents’ Divorce

In Mona Simpson’s novel, Casebook, teen boys do a Hardy Boys style investigation of parental problems.

Booked Up: Brooklyn, Brooklyn Take Me In
Booked Up

Brooklyn, Brooklyn Take Me In

Michael Cunningam’s The Snow Queen is a magical story about the search for meaning by three city people.

Booked Up: Paris When It Sizzled
Booked Up

Paris When It Sizzled

Francise Prose’s new novel captures the romance and decadence of the City of Light in 1930s.

Booked Up: Playing Poker Poorly
Booked Up

Playing Poker Poorly

Novelist Colson Whitehead tries to become a professional gambler in this funny true-life tale.

Booked Up: The Life of a Book Seller
Booked Up

The Life of a Book Seller

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is a funny sad novel about books, a book shop owner, and the baby he raises.

Booked Up: Love Songs of Wisconsin
Booked Up

Love Songs of Wisconsin

A debut novel by Wisconsin writer Nicholas Butler is already optioned as a movie.

Booked Up: Black and White and Beautiful
Booked Up

Black and White and Beautiful

A young British writer transforms the Snow White fable into a beautiful novel about race relations.

Booked Up: Masters of Poetry
Booked Up

Masters of Poetry

Six new books of poetry include one by a local writer and one by a Hollywood star.

Booked Up: A World Full of Spies
Booked Up

A World Full of Spies

The Cairo Affair is a masterfully plotted espionage novel.

Booked Up: Chronicles of a Chinese-Canadian Family
Booked Up

Chronicles of a Chinese-Canadian Family

Kim Fu’s much acclaimed debut novel is filled with great characters.

Booked Up: How Monsters Eat the Town of Ealing, Iowa
Booked Up

How Monsters Eat the Town of Ealing, Iowa

Grasshopper Jungle is a teen fiction book with sex, drugs, rock’n’roll-- and giant praying mantises.

Booked Up: The Ultimate Prison Novel
Booked Up

The Ultimate Prison Novel

The Enchanted is a first novel that magically captures the horror and humanity of prisons.

Booked Up: Science With a Side of Humor
Booked Up

Science With a Side of Humor

Michio Kaku’s The Future of the Mind deftly explores the brain, adding speculation and witty asides.

Booked Up: Let’s Go Watch the Rapture
Booked Up

Let’s Go Watch the Rapture

The Last Days of California is a road trip novel featuring a Fundamentalist Christian family.

Booked Up:  End of the Universe?
Booked Up

End of the Universe?

New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert makes the unthinkable entertaining in The Sixth Extinction.

Booked Up: The Return of Armistead Maupin
Booked Up

The Return of Armistead Maupin

Celebrated author of Tales of the City returns with new novel based on his West Coast characters.

Booked Up:  A First Novel Tries to Capture a Continent
Booked Up

A First Novel Tries to Capture a Continent

Ishmael Beah’s Radiance of Tomorrow shines a light on the problems and potential of Africa.

Booked Up:  How the Brits Get Into Books
Booked Up

How the Brits Get Into Books

British culture really encourages reading. We could learn from it.

Booked Up: Novelist Sue Monk Kidd Comes to Town
Booked Up

Novelist Sue Monk Kidd Comes to Town

Author of best-seller The Secret Life of Bees will give a reading at the downtown library.

Booked Up: Malcolm Gladwell Comes to Town
Booked Up

Malcolm Gladwell Comes to Town

The New Yorker writer’s style is delightful, but does he overplay his hand?

Booked Up: Why Great Books in 2014?
Booked Up

Why Great Books in 2014?

Take the challenge and it may change your life.

Booked Up: Change How You Read in 2014
Booked Up

Change How You Read in 2014

Some suggested resolutions for a year’s worth of interesting reading.

Booked Up: Favorites of 2013
Booked Up

Favorites of 2013

I won’t claim they’re the best, but they’ll make for good reading.

Booked Up: The 12 Books of Christmas
Booked Up

The 12 Books of Christmas

Give the gift of books: 12 selections for every kind of reader.

Booked Up: New Column Explores Books, Author Readings & More
Booked Up

New Column Explores Books, Author Readings & More

Our new column, Booked Up, explores a variety of books, author readings and more.