Roi J. Tamkin reviews A Darker Shade of Noir, fifteen new stories from women writers completely familiar with the horrors of owning a body in a patriarchal society, edited by Joyce Carol Oates.

Illustrator Rachel Moss transforms Bill Withers’ classic song into an uplifting children’s story about friendship and community. Bob Pomeroy reviews Lean on Me.

The upbeat pop song by REM becomes an uplifting children’s story.

In this retro-futuristic drama, New York City is recreated on a massive scale in the Nevada desert after a terrorist attack. Things are in a bad state, but will they ever get better? After 1500 pages, the answer is: Not really.

Akashic Books Noir series stops in Addis Ababa for some stories about the dark side of Ethiopia. The stories blend myth, history, memory and regret related to dealing with the county’s traumatic recent past.

Akashic Books series of geographically-based collections of crime stories lands in Tampa Bay. The fifteen stories in Tampa Bay Noir are a gritty tour of the regions dark side.

Illustrators and artists reimagine famous works of literature as one-panel cartoons.

Companion photo book to the documentary Salad Days, an exploration of Washington DC’s trailblazing hardcore punk scene.

Berlin based photographer, Holger Talinski, takes on a visual tour of Peaches world. He spends far more time in sweaty rehearsal halls and hotel rooms than he does showing the glamour of being a rock star. He provides the proper unfussy photographic documentation of a performer with a don’t give a damn attitude.

Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Zachary Lipez from Freshkills, and designer Stacy Wakefield create this modest chapbook. How is it? Well, it’s named accurately. James Mann spends 15 minutes so you don’t have to.

Carl F Gauze recommends this collection of posters from the hottest graphic artist of the year, Jay Ryan.

Harlem Renaissance man by way of Chicago in the 1970s, Melvin Van Peebles adds another tome to his illustrious résumé.

Three women deal with stray dogs and dysfunctional relations, then one of them dies and everyone else cries. Obviously, Carl F Gauze isn’t feeling Maggie Estep’s new novel.

Rose Petralia takes an evil stroll through Toronto’s dark underbelly with Toronto Noir.

Rose Petralia thinks Arthur Nersesian’s latest novel is a dirty New York bus ride over the edge of strange.

Pat Graham brings the DC-centric goods in this new collection of over a decade’s worth of his music photos. Matthew Moyer feels like he has an all-access pass.

Bob Ham is overjoyed to find that the coming-of-age story still has legs with Colin Channer’s lovingly crafted tale of a 14-year-old Caribbean girl’s journey to find a new home.

Rhona Scoville has a new favorite author, and this quirky and funny tale about life after a significant other’s death by Jamaican writer Anthony Winkler really hit the spot.

Don’t let the blinding sun of the tropics fool you. Daniel Chavarria’s new novel is prime Caribbean noir. Sheila Scoville adjusts her sunglasses and observes the bodies piling up.

Carl F Gauze , who may or may not be a card-carrying member of the Blank Generation, follows punk godfather Richard Hell from the seedy world of rock to the perhaps seedier world of the written word.