Fear-induced habits—self-doubt, resistance to change, judgment of others—keep people from living carefree lives, says Deborah Duda in her engaging second book, Lighten Up: Seven Ways to Kick the Suffering Habit. Duda lived a... Read More

Fear and paranoia surrounding the atomic bomb is explored in Stephen C. Sutcliffe’s ambitious yet meandering novel, Atom. Thanks mostly to the limitless funds of their affluent parents, Michael Brethren and his friends live a free and... Read More

“It’s difficult for my small brain to understand all of this,” the main character, James Pollack, complains to one of his numerous sexual partners in Andrew Man’s second book in the Tego Arcana Dei series. Many readers will... Read More

Tree nymphs and a banshee are joined by anthropomorphic lizards, flowers, and monkeys in David Frankel’s unusual book, Dragons & Dreams and Other Stories. Dragons & Dreams and Other Stories is a compilation of three individual... Read More

Zeina Abirached’s evocative memoir, translated from French and told in a graphic novel format, opens with an attractive skyline of East Beirut in 1984. As the perspective zooms in, the initial beauty gives way to empty streets, windows... Read More

“69752. That was his phone number … he had it tattooed there, on his left forearm, so he wouldn’t forget it. That’s what my grandfather told me. And that’s what I grew up believing. In the 1970s, telephone numbers in Guatemala... Read More

Both the title and the cover illustration of Lisa Mehornay’s memoir, "Rising to the Light", may puzzle readers, who likely will be anticipating a revelatory tale or story of redemption. Mehornay, who has lived in the United States for... Read More

A short story collection is like a meal. How it’s consumed depends on the reader. A lazy Sunday afternoon can vanish as one enjoys a literary dim sum, sampling from this or that part of the book as pages flip by like waiters with trays... Read More