In Eva Menasse’s short story collection "Animals", families, parents, and lovers are understood in terms of excerpted zoological descriptions of animal behavior. “Butterfly, Bee, Crocodile” delves into the private grief of a woman... Read More

Researcher William Viney’s dazzling, illustration-rich book compiles scientific knowledge about, and cultural representations of, twins throughout history. Assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization increased the... Read More

The essays collected in "Good Eats" explore people’s relationships to food through personal stories of love, connection, and emotional literacy. Food is not just food, the book argues. To discuss food is to dig into the foundations of... Read More

The Exile’s Cookbook, Daniel L. Newman’s translation of Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī’s medieval gastronomic tome, is part history text, part cookbook. Featuring a lengthy introduction, it includes the contextual history behind its... Read More

Daring women keep secrets, heal their neighbors, and protect each others’ futures in Bonnie Jo Campbell’s captivating novel "The Waters". On an island in a Michigan swamp sits a cabin whose residents seem to exist outside of time. As... Read More

A father’s suicide shakes loose family secrets, reigniting interest in a cold case, in Kate Brody’s engrossing thriller "Rabbit Hole". A decade past her older half-sister’s disappearance, Teddy teaches in the high school where her... Read More

A lonely girl peeks beyond the veil, ensuring a childhood of wonder and silence, in Su Bristow’s enchanting novel "The Fair Folk". Felicity’s earliest memories are of peering up from her baby carriage at the fairy faces grinning down... Read More

Islam Issa’s "Alexandria" is an outstanding biography of a unique city, describing how the Egyptian locale changed from its founding by Alexander the Great into the modern day. “Despite its classical renown and enduring impact,... Read More