In A. D. Nauman’s unflinching bildungsroman "Down the Steep", a girl struggles with her morality during the civil rights movement. In 1963 Virginia, Willa wants nothing more than to impress her father. He happens to be an influential... Read More

In Joie Davidow’s harrowing historical novel "Anything but Yes", there are costs to maintaining convictions in the face of oppression. Anna was in the kitchen when the religious police arrested her and brought her to Casa dei... Read More

A Russian woman recalls her mother’s final days and her own grieving process in Oksana Vasyakina’s novel "Wound". After her mother’s death, Oksana has an endless list of tasks to complete, the most important of which is to take her... Read More

Jean-Baptiste Phou’s frank memoir "Coming Out of My Skin" functions as an impassioned manifesto against anti-Asian racism, which—in Phou’s experience—has been even more pernicious than homophobia. Phou, whose Chinese parents... Read More

Beth Kephart’s memoir-in-essays contemplates paper in its many forms, including its emotional, historical, and tangible impacts. With cohesive eloquence, the book details how paper defines mundane aspects of everyday life: it is there... Read More

An elderly, closeted trans woman makes a final stand against fascistic AI in Chris Bergeron’s novel "Valid". When Earth was rocked by environmental decay and recurrent pandemics, David, an AI designed to be “humanity’s best... Read More

Who doesn’t like a good secret history? In "Silhouettes and Shadows", Adam Steiner takes a look at a pivotal moment in the musical life of David Bowie, the 1980 album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). Coming between Bowie’s... Read More

A secret-keeping woman from polite society enters spiritualist circles somewhat against her will in Anbara Salam’s glittering historical novel "Hazardous Spirits". In the shadows of World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic, everyone in... Read More