Nathalie Cooke’s culinary history text "Tastes and Traditions" explores menus as strategic documents—much more than simple bills of fare. Menus, it says, do not always present their wares in a straightforward way; some go off the... Read More

David E. Campbell and Christina Wolbrecht’s stimulating political science treatise "See Jane Run" is about the impact of women politicians on society. The book posits questions about the parts that women politicians play in American... Read More

In J. T. Falco’s atmospheric thriller "Blood on the Vine", a seamy side of idyllic Napa Valley is unearthed. Lana, a seasoned FBI agent in the San Francisco field office, navigates uncertain motives and personal demons as she... Read More

A decadent horror story (for the oyster) narrated with awe and gusto, Andreas Ammer’s "Portrait of an Oyster" is must for all who find their joy on the half shell. Once “a cheap form of nourishment” twice consumed to near... Read More

An ambitious reconstruction of a hidden personal life, "Gabriële" is Anne and Claire Berest’s biographical novel about their formidable great-grandmother. At twenty-seven, Gabriële Buffet had carved out an unusual life—studying... Read More

Across more than a century, three women connected by a narrative persist beyond the brokenness of their worlds in "A Line You Have Traced", Roisin Dunnett’s stunning speculative novel. At the end of World War I, brilliant Bea assists... Read More

Jessica Zucker’s self-help book "Normalize It" demonstrates that storytelling is the way to break the cycles of silence, stigma, and shame that keep women from disclosing difficult episodes in their lives. Zucker shares composite case... Read More

Joined together, the grumbles of ill-appreciated and misunderstood knickknacks become cacophonous in Elisabeth Saake’s cheeky, delightful gift book "Tchotchkes and Their F*cked-Up Thoughts". Beware your baubles—they’re not content... Read More