Yohanis Gebreyesus’s cookbook Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa is both an educational and an inspirational addition to culinary libraries that encourages eating and cooking outside of your comfort zone. From his... Read More

The Bocas are a developing nation’s sleepy backwater until oil is discovered. For Orbits, sudden wealth is as unreliable as happiness, though; both are a thin veneer over his fear that “Maybe we in these islands are just floaters and... Read More

Rebecca Lawton’s powerful and poetic "The Oasis This Time" celebrates water as a precious natural resource. Though its essays focus primarily on water in the western US, the book also explores humanity’s complex relationship with... Read More

At first, Sarah Carlson’s "All the Walls of Belfast" comes across as a solid variation of a meet-cute young adult romance, but Carlson’s story has even more going for it. The book and its two main characters grapple with the history... Read More

Amalie Jahn’s "The Next to Last Mistake" is an insightful story about love and friendship. Tess Goodwin is happy with her life as a farm girl in Iowa. She is content with her cows, her chess club, and most importantly, her best friend,... Read More

In Jaco Jacobs’s "A Good Night for Shooting Zombies", Martin’s life is shattered the day his father is killed in a car accident. Two years later, his normally gregarious ex-actress mother is housebound, his sister is always out with... Read More

In 2016, J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy defined Appalachia for many, with Vance lionized as the region’s latter-day prophet. For Appalachians, the book has been much more troubling and complex. "Appalachian Reckoning", edited by... Read More

Christine Aroney-Sine’s "The Gift of Wonder" invites childlike joy back into faith through creative practices. “I grew up with a serious, workaholic type of God,” Aroney-Sine begins. Many Christians can relate. For them, the book... Read More