Poet Ted Kooser’s refreshingly compact meditation on his youth in Eastern Iowa is an essential addition to the growing number of prose autobiographical works by established Midwestern poets (see Mary Swander’s The Desert Pilgrim and... Read More

Brooklyn-born actress Theresa Saldana appeared in Raging Bull and on the TV series The Commish; she founded the Victims for Victims support organization. Her fiction debut, "The Almost Murder and Other Stories" (Piñata Books,... Read More

The subtitle of Veronica Dunbar’s debut implies that most modern fiction concentrates to her dislike on “abject misery.” In this novella and the three accompanying short stories the stress is on the heartwarming. Despite conflicts... Read More

From the moment of our conception, we are starting to die. This grim idea is the tip of the iceberg of the views presented by first-time author and quality control technician Jack Varner, who sets out to tell readers how the world is... Read More

As a manager beleaguered with tasks who hasn’t thought that if the employees were only more industrious/dedicated/loyal that business would be better than usual? As an employee coming off an exhausting shift who hasn’t heard the... Read More

Authentic voices of slavery are audible in this book: “After I was free I didn’t had no marster to ’pend on and I was hongry a heap of times. I belong to the ‘federate nation an always will belong to yall, but I recon it’s jes... Read More

Hannah is fourteen years old in 1866, living in the Utah territory. The story begins shortly after her mother and sister have died of diphtheria, and Hannah has assumed the home duties and primary care of her four younger siblings.... Read More

“Just throw back an Ensure shooter with a Pepto-Bismol chaser while you read my book. In no time, you’ll be laughing and feeling much better.” That’s how the author, a humor writer with several books on women’s topics, will... Read More