Book Review
Through Water and Stone
by Karen Rigby
In Karen Barnett’s arresting historical novel "Through Water and Stone", a Christian family’s adoption leads to a deeper perspective on God’s provisions. In the 1940s, Henry, a Zion National Park ranger, is married to Alma. There...
Book Review
Maria La Divina
by Karen Rigby
Jerome Charyn’s bracing biographical novel is about Maria Callas’s transformation from a New York daughter of Greek immigrants to a world-famous opera soprano. When she’s a teenager, Maria’s ambitious mother brings her to Athens....
Book Review
Prague
by Karen Rigby
One of Europe’s most visited centers is illuminated in Cynthia Paces’s erudite history book "Prague". Prague, Franz Kafka’s birthplace, has been called “the mistress of all Bohemia.” Here, this riverside site of political...
Book Review
The Tree That Was a World
by Karen Rigby
A work of unusual wisdom, Yorick Goldewijk’s story collection "The Tree That Was a World" introduces a tree and the creatures surrounding it. In these pithy fables, a spider resists consuming flies, dismayed that its perfect webs never...
Book Review
The Extremities!
by Karen Rigby
Chronic pain and psychosomatic maladies jar a reporter in Samantha Kimmey’s brooding novel "The Extremities!" While Kim, a journalist, reports on a wildfire whose smoke permeates her coastal town, her hands throb with pain, limiting...
Book Review
Thereafter Johnnie
by Karen Rigby
A Black family’s traumas are the focus of Carolivia Herron’s rending novel "Thereafter Johnnie", in which a bereaved daughter examines her origins. At first, Johnnie is a solitary “light,” condemned to haunt a former Carnegie...
Book Review
Wethersfield Road
by Karen Rigby
A young woman who once felt broken morphs into a self-sufficient woman with good boundaries in the warm, inviting novel "Wethersfield Road". Anna Binder Reardon’s affecting novel "Wethersfield Road" is about a woman’s recovery from...
Book Review
Turkish Odyssey
by Karen Rigby
For intrepid travelers looking to knowledgeably connect with Turkey, keeping its multilayered history in mind, "Turkish Odyssey" is an invaluable guide. Serif Yenen’s invigorating culture and travel guide "Turkish Odyssey" presents one...