Personal testimonials reveal the lived truths of communist Albania in Margo Rejmer’s oral history book "Mud Sweeter than Honey". Of the communist states in Europe after World War II, Albania is less discussed. It was cut off from the... Read More

Ken Lindner’s "Aspire Higher" is designed to equip people to be the best versions of themselves. While the news and other factors of modern life make it easy to focus on what’s negative, Lindner states that there are other options.... Read More

In the connected stories of Leslie Pietrzyk’s "Admit This to No One", a scandal-prone politician leaves a wake behind him as he cycles through relationships and families. The charismatic Speaker of the House is expected to be the next... Read More

"Jazz Age Cocktails" is a vivacious, accessible history of drinking and popular culture during Prohibition era America. Cecelia Tichi writes with enthusiasm and authority about this heady time, and her work is as easy to savor as a... Read More

A whimsical memento mori, Julia Ridley Smith’s essay collection "The Sum of Trifles" sifts through the stuff of an inheritance in search of peace. When Smith’s parents died, they left behind a home full of antiques, trinkets, and... Read More

In SJ Sindu’s novel "Blue-Skinned Gods", a child groomed into godhood grows to be a young man whose faith in himself and in others is questioned. The story of Kalki’s godhood was always the same: his blue skin signifies his ability... Read More

David R. Roth’s captivating novel "The Femme Fatale Hypothesis" involves a curious friendship between Kelsey and Rose Geddes and their next-door neighbor, June. The Geddeses are an elderly couple dealing with Rose’s terminal cancer,... Read More

In W. B. Garvey’s expressive novel "Independence Blues", a boy and his parents travel through southern America in the 196Os, encountering racism and exclusion on repeat. Madeline and Emerson are Jamaican immigrants; their son was born... Read More