When she was twenty-nine, a total hysterectomy left Ashley Leavy feeling bereft, grieving, and needing the comfort of feminine energy. Bringing together her love of crystals and of the moon, she created a spiritual practice that fostered... Read More

Maria Tumarkin’s "Axiomatic" focuses on events and people in Australia, and through that lens illuminates a wide spectrum of humanity. Though categorized as a book of essays, “essay” doesn’t do justice to Tumarkin’s lengthy,... Read More

There’s something a little mysterious at work in Hebe Uhart’s "The Scent of Buenos Aires", but it’s the ordinary mystery of other people. These thirty-eight short stories function like a panopticon, each dipping into one person’s... Read More

“Nietzche was right. It’s upon the death of those one loves that they become for us a shining star,” admits Maya Ombasic in her memoir, "Mostarghia". Ombasic was twenty-seven years old when her father died—the same age he was... Read More

A dark and comic family drama, Ronit Matalon’s "And the Bride Closed the Door" takes place in Tel Aviv and begins with Margie making a big announcement through her bedroom door: “Not getting married.” The ensuing action takes a few... Read More

Maya Abramovna Klotsvog, a Jewish Ukrainian mathematics teacher born in 1930, comes of age during the Soviet Union’s post-war era of power and becomes an exemplary Russian woman, wife, and mother in every respect. If you believe this,... Read More

Teresa Radice and Stefano Turconi’s "The Forbidden Harbor" is an epic labor of love—and a classic story of love—told in graphic novel format. "The Forbidden Harbor" is a book anchored in history. Although it is fiction, details of... Read More

Katie O’Neill’s graphic novel "The Tea Dragon Festival" is a standalone story set in the gentle and popular Tea Dragon fantasy world. Rinn is a would-be cooking apprentice who discovers a dragon, Aedhan, in the woods. Aedhan is a... Read More