Just where and how life began on earth is uncertain—deep sea vents, tide pools, and hot springs all provide rational explanations—but water was certainly involved, and as single-cell organisms gave way to more complex forms of life,... Read More

Sea otters are impossibly adorable furballs, whose pup-parenting, shell-cracking antics make them ecotourism and aquarium superstars. Todd McLeish’s "Return of the Sea Otter" gives a more rounded portrait of these apex predators (males... Read More

Tom Pelton’s "The Chesapeake in Focus" introduces the complicated story of the region’s environmental restoration. The nation’s largest estuary straddles a wide swath of the eastern coastline, and is impacted by agricultural and... Read More

With a fast pace and concise, humorous writing, "Hug Chickenpenny" is a unique and playful tale. S. Craig Zahler’s "Hug Chickenpenny" is curiously fun. An asymmetrically deformed baby boy is born one night in the huge, terrifying, and... Read More

"Mule Shoes to Santa Fe" is a sprightly, Christian-values-driven western. In the mid-nineteenth century, the thousand-mile-long Santa Fe Trail was one of North America’s main thoroughfares. In Jim L. Hickman’s sprightly,... Read More

Cyril Pedrosa transforms his personal experience of discovering family roots into a semi-autobiographical masterpiece, the award-winning graphic novel "Portugal". The fictionalized protagonist is Simon Muchat, who finds himself... Read More

Nielsen’s knowledge, experience, and teaching acumen are apparent in every section of "A Compendium for Advanced Aesthetics". Mary Nielsen’s "A Compendium for Advanced Aesthetics" is a comprehensive and invaluable tool for anyone... Read More