First a force within Eastern European oral traditions before flowing into popular culture as a frightening witch, Baba Yaga is a character whose many incarnations suggest fascinating depth. Stories about her are teased out and mined for... Read More

A high achiever risks all that she’s ever cherished in the hope of realizing a dissipating dream in the exciting thriller "A Lie for a Lie". In Jane Buckingham’s psychological thriller "A Lie for a Lie", a star student forges a... Read More

Awing over Jerusalem as “the place of all places,” Bret Lott’s memoir "Gather the Olives" relishes in time spent among Israelis and Palestinians. Lott, who loves Hebrew Bible “stories for their action, their mystery, their terror... Read More

Alisa Alering’s alluring novel "Smothermoss" enters the bloodstream of Appalachian storytelling like a fevered dream, unraveling the intergenerational tales of women living on the edge. Half-sisters born five years apart, Sheila and... Read More

Adèle Rosenfeld’s "Jellyfish Have No Ears" is a poignant novel in which lost hearing reshapes a woman’s understanding of the world. Louise has always been somewhat “uprooted from language” because of her imperfect hearing. Now... Read More

An esoteric but informative text, "A Photographic History of Snakebite Treatments" covers centuries of human responses to the dangers (and potential uses) of snake venom. Bob Ashley, Charles F. Smith, and Gordon W. Schuett’s "A... Read More

In the moving novel "Soldier in Germany", a young man is pulled from the comfort of military routines by an exciting woman. In James Snyder’s involving historical novel "Soldier in Germany", a scarred Vietnam veteran heals while posted... Read More

Challenging its audience to find themselves within its heroines’ tales, Leah Hager Cohen’s magnificent turn-and-read novel To & Fro is a tour de force peek into the wilds and wounds of childhood. Annamae, a linguist’s daughter... Read More