Tara Cheesman

Tara Cheesman reads books. Sometimes she writes about the books she reads. It's all a bit arbitrary. Most of this reading and writing happens in a small brick house in the Pennsylvania city where she lives with her husband, two dogs and an ever-expanding library of books translated from languages she doesn’t speak or understand. She's currently considering getting a tortoise, because tortoises seem like good company. When not reading, writing or tending to her extensive collection of wooden pencils, Tara spends her time exploring cities in search of bookshops and art exhibits. She was a panelist at the 2015 PEN World Voices Festival and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. Since 2009 she’s written the blog BookSexy Review. You can find her on Twitter @BookSexyReview. (Please feel free to tweet her your opinions on both books and pencils).

4 Novellas Told From a Child’s Point of View

Novellas told from a child's point of view, from a little girl born with a bearded face to a Congolese boy raised in an orphanage, and more.

4 Books to Inspire Your City Garden

Four works of memoir and nonfiction to help inspire you to create a city garden.

The 2018 Translation Prizes: Shortlists

The Paris Review Announces Their New Editor: Emily Nemens

Do Negative Reviews Disproportionately Impact Women and Writers of Color?

A reader responds to two essays considering whether negative reviews have an especially damaging impact on marginalized writers.

The National Book Award for Translated Literature

Does re-launching the National Book Award for Translated Literature make sense, or is it the wrong way to go about shining a light on translated works?

Books to Read Between Episodes of The Alienist

Gothic, Victorian reads to pick up between episodes of The Alienist.

Introducing Madagascar’s First Novel Translated Into English

Excitement! You can now read Madagascar's first novel translated into English, BEYOND THE RICE FIELDS by Naivoharisoa Patrick Ramamonjisoa.

How To Reboot Your Book Club

Is your book club losing steam? Here are 8 tips for reviving it.

When a Book is Almost Too Pretty to Read

Have you ever been intimidated by a book's aesthetic appeal, or picked up a book and found it too pretty to read? A reader talks about this very conundrum.