Jacques Schiffrin was an influential publisher in Paris at the outbreak of World War II, but soon he had to flee the life he’d built and begin again in the United States. The story of his impressive rise, and of his unexpected second... Read More

Michelle Ann Abate’s "Funny Girls" is fascinating, focusing on an oft ignored component of Golden Age comics: preadolescent girl characters. It contextualizes and analyzes a number of wildly successful but academically ignored... Read More

Ultimately heartwarming despite its macabre circumstances, "No Straight Thing" is an engrossing historical mystery. In F. Nelson Smith’s character-driven novel, "No Straight Thing", a murder mystery connects a war veteran and a young... Read More

Margaret Hagerman’s "White Kids" brings to mind two words: must read. Many crucial race studies focus on the struggles of disenfranchised folks. But by centering her research on white children, Hagerman studies the kids who benefit... Read More

Perre Coleman Magness explains why decadent American Southern food is so darn delicious in "Southern Snacks", which acknowledges that sharing bountiful amounts of food is a natural part of the region’s culture—of tailgating, garden... Read More

Ren Behan’s "Wild Honey and Rye" transforms the treasured foods of her Polish forbears into fresher, lighter recipes. While there are still hearty dishes in the mix, Behan’s emphasis is on adaptations of classic Polish fare to... Read More

Michael Smerconish’s collection is compelling and entertaining—not as a filtering of daily news through a predictable ideological lens, but as a group of insightful entries into conversations about current events and issues. Although... Read More

"The Adventures of Jonathan Roberts" is a biography with an interesting, novel perspective on how the Civil War ravaged Northern Virginia. Gregory P. Wilson’s second biography of his ancestor, The Adventures of Jonathan Roberts: The... Read More