370 ratings | 194 reviews | avg rating:4.11

Jonathan’s Year In Books

Jonathan’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Jonathan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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Jonathan Koven

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://linktr.ee/jonathankoven

Twitter

jonathankoven

Genre

Fiction, Poetry

Member Since

July 2018

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Jonathan Koven grew up on Long Island, NY. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Delana and their two cats Peanut Butter and Keebler. He works as a technical writer, and reads poetry manuscripts for Moonstone Arts. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Jonathan has both fiction and poetry published — by Assure Press, Animal Heart Press, 300 Days of Sun, and more. He is the author of the poetry chapbook Palm Lines (2020), the award-winning fiction novella Below Torrential Hill (2021), the poetry collection Mystic Orchards (2023), and co-author of the fiction novel Spark Bird (2024).

His most current list of publications can be found here:

https://linktr.ee/jonathankoven ...more

16 posts
Jonathan Koven's Blog

Gabriel’s Dream

This passage is excerpted from my short-story, “Gabriel’s Dream,” (Assure Press), available to read in full by purchasing this issue of Iris Literary Journal.

The house’s back gate whines like a cat. Gabriel’s toes slip out his sandals, cool on a stone step. He grins—uncertain if God has a voice, or if simply motion in any direction, in every direction—like the wind. Like the wind, he decides.

A woo

Combine Editions
Jonathan Koven’s books

Average rating: 4.55 · 159 ratings · 99 reviews · 6 distinct works • Similar authors

	Below Torrential Hill 4.38 avg rating — 56 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Palm Lines 4.77 avg rating — 31 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spark Bird by Jonathan Koven (Goodreads Author), Daniel DeRock, Julian Shendelman 4.72 avg rating — 25 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mystic Orchards 4.75 avg rating — 24 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Those Who Scream: A Novel by 30 Writers by Josh Dale (Goodreads Author), Bethany Bruno, P.J. Gallo 4.14 avg rating — 14 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gravitas: Volume 19 Issue 1 by Andrew Lafleche (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Marlee Abbott (Goodreads Author), Joanna Acevedo 4.44 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2020 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Jonathan Koven…

Jonathan is Currently Reading

Jonathan Koven is currently reading

Kicking Tongues (African Writers Series)

by Karen King-Aribisala

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Jul 14, 2026 11:46AM

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Jonathan’s Recent Updates

Jonathan Koven started reading Kicking Tongues (African Writers Series) by Karen King-Aribisala	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 14, 2026 11:46AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Kicking Tongues by Karen King-Aribisala. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Kicking Tongues by Karen King-Aribisala <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Koven rated a book really liked it All The Eyes I Have Opened by Franca Mancinelli	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Enjoyed these beautiful, succinct, perception-shifting poems from contemporary Italian poet Mancinelli. Eight of her books are collected and lovingly translated here, though it feels like one long cohesive poem. Each piece is super short: a few brief ...more
Jul 14, 2026 08:50AM · like · see review
Jonathan Koven rated a book it was amazing The Inquisitors' Manual by António Lobo Antunes	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Intoxicating, searing perspectives lay bare testimonies of decadence and oppression, narrated as a nonlinear stream-of-consciousness from one tormented speaker to the next. A hysteric, harrowing indictment of Salazar’s dictatorship and the political ...more
Jul 14, 2026 05:59AM · like · see review
Jonathan Koven and 10 other people liked AJ's review of The Inquisitors' Manual: "This novel very effectively peels back the layers of Portugal under Salazar and immediately post-Salazar. It is Portugal through and through (or as much as I can surmise it to be not being myself a native), but the struggles of the characters within " Read more of this review »
Jul 14, 2026 05:56AM · see review
Jonathan Koven wants to read Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 26, 2026 05:53AM · like
Jonathan Koven wants to read A House By Itself: Selected Haiku of Shiki (Companions for the Journey, 25) by Shiki Masaoka	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 25, 2026 08:16AM · like
Jonathan Koven wants to read Tropical Truth: A Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil by Caetano Veloso	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 24, 2026 09:34AM · like
Jonathan Koven wants to read Untrammeled golden-cracked words by Tianna Godsey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 22, 2026 05:24AM · like
Jonathan Koven started reading All The Eyes I Have Opened by Franca Mancinelli	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 19, 2026 11:39AM · like
Jonathan Koven rated a book really liked it The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
These Rumi translations with included commentary by Coleman Barks provide a guide to devoting oneself to longing, to surrender joyously to life’s great mystery. Not so much about romantic love as it is an ode to divine love—similar to Rilke’s Book of ...more
Jun 18, 2026 09:23PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Book of Love by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Book of Love by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">