The Seaboard Review of Books: Monday, June 15, 2026
June 15, 2026
In this issue:
There is No Decent Place to Stand by Jeremiah Prenn (Fiction)
The Book of Maggie by Stephanie Wyeld (Fiction)
A Change in Plans by Mike Martin (Fiction)
Louis J. Robichaud: A Man for the Moment by Donald J. Savoie (Non-Fiction)
Renoviction and Resistance in the Capitalist City by Cole Webber and Philip Zigman (Non-Fiction)
The Volcano’s High Held Snow Note: Poems by Tim Lilburn (Poetry)
Thanks for reading this issue of The Seaboard Review of Books!
James M. Fisher, editor-in-chief
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller
In Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon—and the Journey of a Generation, Sheila Weller sketches out the lives and careers of three impactful female singers. The book includes historical information as well as comments from individuals who were close to the singers. In addition to depicting the career trajectories of King, Mitchell, and Simon, Weller examines their accomplishments and struggles in the context of societal and cultural changes.
When I was a teenager, a close friend got me started playing the guitar, and it was some of these singers whose tunes I first learned. Girls Like Us reveals the background behind some songs, including Simon’s “You’re So Vain”. Weller also discusses other high-profile figures like James Taylor, Leonard Cohen, and Graham Nash who were connected at different times to the profiled singers. The famous Woodstock concert is also briefly discussed.
The book is formatted in time periods, depicting the ups and downs of each singer’s life and career in turn. I admit to sometimes getting a bit lost as to who we were talking about as the narrative flipped to the next person, but was a logical way to format the book, and the small amount of disorientation wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
At one point while I was reading Girls Like Us, I found myself singing (admittedly off-key) some songs mentioned while driving the back roads of Norfolk County. The book brought back memories as well as a deeper appreciation of the artists’ works. Girls Like Us is a revealing and informative blast from the past that pays tribute to three influential women. (Lisa Timpf)
Contributor News
Seaboard Review contributor Lisa Timpf, along with fellow SF Canada members Paula Johanson and Colleen Anderson, will be co-editing an anthology of speculative fiction and poetry related to sports. With the working title Slapshots in Space and Magical Marathons, the anthology, to be published by Tyche Books, will accept submissions from July 1 to August 31 2026. For those who want to get a start on their submissions, guidelines are now available on Tyche Books’ site, https://tychebooks.com/submissions/.
