Vertiginous and gritty, Andrzej Tichý’s novel "Wretchedness" depicts the seamier side of Europe’s society. Cody is a cellist for an avant-garde ensemble, and Tichý’s narrative weaves in and out of his drug-infused past. While... Read More

Motivational and hopeful, Nancy Pickard’s Bigger Better Braver is a self-help book for those who think that it’s too late to change. People don’t intend to live unfulfilling lives, Pickard knows, but so many do. Hemmed in by fear,... Read More

French writer Jean Giono’s fascinating "Occupation Journal" was kept while he lived under Nazi rule. In 1943, Giono was a respected novelist with a family to care for. He wrote his novels from Provence, drawing upon the local culture,... Read More

Jennifer Hosten, the first black woman to be crowned Miss World, shares her inspiring story of winning the pageant, and what happened afterward, in her memoir "Miss World 1970". Born and raised in Grenada, Hosten dabbled in modeling as a... Read More

In Kyle Smeallie’s "Softies", a young girl survives the explosion of Earth and explores the galaxy via spaceship. In the aftermath of Earth’s destruction, Kay is rescued from space by Arizona, an alien waste collector, and Euclid,... Read More

Guy Stern’s entrancing memoir "Invisible Ink" draws on a cornucopia of experiences from his rich and varied life. Beginning with Stern’s childhood and time as a military intelligence officer in WWII, the book’s reminiscences have a... Read More

Emerson Whitney’s genre-bending memoir "Heaven" is about gender, family, and memory. It is cerebral in examining social labels and expectations, as well as how selves are constructed and the stories that people tell themselves about... Read More

Fulfilling the promise that “the last shall be first,” Khristi Lauren Adams’s The Parable of the Brown Girl is a moving call to power for black women and girls. Drawing on biblical stories and Adams’s personal experiences as a... Read More