Pain seems pretty straightforward in most situations: injure some part of the body and it will complain bothersomely until it has a chance to heal. But why does an ailing heart sometimes create shoulder pain? How do amputees experience... Read More

In many ways, "Oceanverse" is a harbinger of things to come for publishing in general, and for graphic novel publishing, in particular. First, it’s a self-published project, and a print collection of a webcomic. (A webcomic is any... Read More

How much of what we think we know of Israel and Palestine corresponds to reality, and how much is fed by distortions? Hillel Bardin’s nuanced account of Israeli-Palestinian peace processes is presented in “a book of contradictions,... Read More

Some writers have a gift for creating cozy scenes and comfortable locales despite a larger context of unease and violence. In her new novel "An American Tune", Barbara Shoup accomplishes this: meticulously establishing pleasant,... Read More

The United States Supreme Court’s October 2012 term opened with a flutter. Media buzzed about how the high court might rule on two divisive race-related issues: the Voting Rights Act and affirmative action at the University of Texas.... Read More

The Scavenger’s Daughter is a torture device invented during the reign of Henry VIII of England. It’s a particularly nasty machine which works opposite the famous rack: it crushes a person, causing internal bleeding, broken bones... Read More

This is certainly one way to go out: “My casket shall be filled to the rim with 2005 Saint-Émilion.” But in Michel Bruneau’s "The Emancipating Death of a Boring Engineer" that is only the beginning of the requests from recently... Read More

Nordic baking may not be part of the household cookbook section, but it ought to be. In this new book, Hanne Risgaard introduces American bakers to the joys and intricacies of baking with organic grains. Taking a cue from an Old Danish... Read More