A commonsense guide to what the United States government actually does, Jeff Fleischer’s "Civic Minded" demystifies subjects at the heart of contemporary political discourse and creates a groundwork of facts for everyday citizens.... Read More

Plant physiologist Rebecca E. Hirsch’s botanical reference text "A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants" explores the fascinating, often grisly world of dangerous plants. Clear and precise, the twenty-three chapters each cover a... Read More

In Jackson Ellis’s provocative science fiction novel "Black Days", a despondent Vermont man’s inspired plan leads to disaster, raising questions about the consequences of unchecked human ambition. Daniel is divorced, unemployed, and... Read More

In his intriguing book "Fountain Creek", Jim O’Donnell follows a neglected Colorado waterway, discussing the complex challenges involved in restoring it. Fountain Creek begins near Pike’s Peak and winds south through Colorado Springs... Read More

In the bold, experimental stories of Juan Carlos Reyes’s "Three Alarm Fire", reading is a riddle that results in salvation. Shifting in register from abject horror to cool irony and featuring slippery, compelling details, this is a... Read More

Meditative and sumptuous, "Latitudes" is Jean McNeil’s brooding memoir covering travels to remote landscapes; it ruminates on the unsettling impacts of climate change. McNeil is an inquisitive, restless traveler who crafts beautiful... Read More

Using humor as an educational tool, Duncan Watson’s charming memoir Everyone’s Trash reveals recycling secrets and stories about detritus. After earning a master’s degree in resource management in the early 1990s, Watson started a... Read More

The malaise of a small New England town in the 1960s is given an undercurrent of the infinite in Peter Selgin’s inspired novel A Boy’s Guide to Outer Space. Half is a junior high school student with a mentally ill stepbrother, a hat... Read More