Elisabeth Cook is a book and cultural critic, a fiction writer, and the lead editor of The BookBrowse Review. She has written for Book Riot, Dorkaholics, The Spool, and other publications.
Features
There is a pervasive idea that serious fiction is purely a pursuit of the mind, meaning it is not of the body, of desire, of pleasure, of satisfaction and relief. It is not meant to be therapeutic or healing.
Monthly Book Lists
Check out five books we're looking forward to that are coming out in March, including new releases from Rebecca Solnit and Louise Erdrich.
Reviews
Persona’s title and premise of two women who seem to share some aspects of their identities is evocative of the Bergman film of the same name, but it is also a rich exploration of technological isolation that centers on what one character calls the Default Persona.
Reviews
In which I write about Nina McConigley's debut novel and fall far into comparisons to my own biracial childhood and adolescence in the 1980s and '90s, as well as musings on Asian American literature.
Monthly Book Lists
Our takes on six books forthcoming in February 2026, including novels, short story collections, and nonfiction.
Reviews
While reading Quan Barry’s new novel The Unveiling alongside Tiphanie Yanique's "On Character," I was struck by how it reflects Yanique's expansive approach to realism for authors of color, demonstrating a way to write fiction beyond the limits of the psychological.