As the world shuts down and ultimately starts to reopen, Iowa City circles its figurative wagons, our institutions working to keep local artists and retailers engaged. Little Village reaches out for book reviews. Prairie Lights delivers books for reviewers right to their doors. I have the privilege of reading Nest, a series of heartfelt essays […]
Articles by Sharon Falduto
Book Review: Kiley Reid — ‘Such a Fun Age’

Reading: Kiley Reid Prairie Lights — Friday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. Such a Fun Age By Kiley Reid — G.P. Putnam’s Sons Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Kiley Reid has written a timely and compelling debut novel. The action begins when Emira Tucker, a part-time babysitter, who is black, is called in for emergency sitting […]
Book Review: ‘Many Hands Make Light Work’ by Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy
Book Review: ‘Gangster in our Midst’ by Betty Brandt Passick

Gangster in our Midst is a multiple-perspective historical fiction by Betty Brandt Passick, about Louie Da Cava, a man with alleged ties to Al Capone, who married a woman from Oxbow, Iowa. The first chapter introduces us to Louie in his brother-in-law’s home in Oxbow as he hesitantly welcomes the paperboy […]
Opinion: Expanding legal gun use for minors isn’t Iowa Nice, it’s Iowa Insanity
Opinion: ICCSD schedule changes will require adjustments

On Tuesday night, the Iowa City School Board made a final decision about the new bell schedule for the next school year. Elementary schools will now run from 7:55 a.m.-2:55 p.m., and the junior high and high schools will run from 8:50 a.m.-4 p.m. From what I’ve read on social media, pretty much no one […]