First a force within Eastern European oral traditions before flowing into popular culture as a frightening witch, Baba Yaga is a character whose many incarnations suggest fascinating depth. Stories about her are teased out and mined for... Read More

Forbidden love tears apart an Egyptian Levantine family in Éric Chacour’s novel "What I Know About You". Tarek always followed the path laid out by his family: he became a doctor to please his strict father, and he married the woman... Read More

Elisa Albert’s ranging essay collection "The Snarling Girl" includes sixteen pieces published over the last ten years in venues including Longreads, New York magazine’s The Cut, The Forward, and Lit Hub. Their topics include feminist... Read More

Christophe Lebold’s biography of one of popular music’s greatest songwriters is outstanding, grounding its subject in the historical times that formed him and his art. Following Leonard Cohen from his childhood in Canada through to... Read More

Gender is examined throughout diverse histories and cultures in Lee Wind’s edifying book "The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie". Beginning by introducing the nuances of gender and sexuality as they’re now understood, each chapter is... Read More

Introducing telemedicine to doctors and patients in terms of its most significant benefits, "Skip the Waiting Room" is an informative health-care primer. Chris Rovin, Jared Sheehan, and Talib Omer’s forward-looking health-care book... Read More

A prized violin becomes akin to a living, breathing object within a musician’s family in the wrenching, informative memoir "Made in Italy". Thomas Walter Kelley’s memoir "Made in Italy" recounts his and his wife’s astonishing time... Read More

A high school crush-turned-romance faces adult complications in the exciting contemporary novel "The Side Project". In Laurel Osterkamp’s romance novel "The Side Project", two reserved writers have complicated family lives that act as... Read More