The Seaboard Review of Books: Thursday Edition
May 7, 2026
In this issue:
Song of the Seasons by Michael Otis (Fiction)
Amapiano Eyes by D. Nandi Odhiambo (Fiction)
Shy Cat and the Stuff-the-Bus Challenge by Dian Day and Amanda White (Fiction, Children’s)
Dear Kenneth, by Cole Degenstein (Non-Fiction, Graphic Memoir)
The Mobile Ruin Traces the Berlin Wall’s Travels (Non-Fiction)
Summoning by Jacqueline Bell (Poetry, Chapbook)
One River: New and Selected Poems by Ricardo Sternberg (Poetry)
Thanks for reading this issue of The Seaboard Review of Books!
James M. Fisher, editor-in-chief
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Fiction
Non-Fiction
Poetry
Children’s
On May 23, with a week of Short Story Month left to go, The Seaboard Review of Books is launching its new monthly feature, Saturday Shorts. Mark your calendars for “Riot at Legion No. 9” by the critically acclaimed Sarah Mintz!
Her most recent book, NORMA, was praised in the Toronto Star as a “delicate feat” that “results in a powerful, destabilizing examination of loss, age and the darkness that — potentially — awaits us all.” True, but I can tell you first-hand that it’s also chest-bustingly funny.
“Riot at Legion No. 9” similarly handles sadness and humour, taking readers into a depressed mining town in Western Canada, a place where the drinks flow steadily at the Royal Canadian Legion—and everyone wants to win the weekly raffle.
We’re really excited to be launching Saturday Shorts with this amazing story, and just wait until you see all the other amazing writers we’ve been working with for future editions. Woot woot!
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
Reviewed by Lisa Timpf
Matt Haig’s The Life Impossible, published in 2024, is largely set on Ibiza, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea. Retired math teacher Grace Winters is living alone in a bungalow in the Midlands in England when she finds out that Christina, a colleague she befriended but has lost contact with, has left her a property on Ibiza. Curious, Grace goes to check it out. Christina disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and Grace tries to find out more about what happened to her. In the process, she learns more about the ecology of the island, and encounters a mysterious alien entity referred to as La Presencia.
As was the case with Haig’s book The Humans, mathematics makes its way into the story in interesting ways. Thanks to La Presencia, Grace also acquires superhuman powers. The novel touches on the ecology of Ibiza, and the conflict between development and conservation. There are also philosophical discussions about what it means to truly enjoy living, and our connection with other living creatures. Interesting characters including a misanthropic goat named Nostradamus add to the entertainment value. Readers who enjoyed Haig’s other books will likely find this one appealing. Just be prepared to deal with a sudden urge to visit Ibiza…
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