Rebecca Solnit’s "Waking Beauty" is a fantasy fairy tale retelling that blends feminist themes with whimsical musings. What if Sleeping Beauty had a sister? The cursed daughter of the traditional fairy tale, Ida, falls into the... Read More

In the dozen linked short stories of Rachel King’s gritty collection "Bratwurst Haven", lovable, flawed characters navigate aging, parenthood, and relationships. Set in Colorado in the recent past, the book depicts a gentrifying area... Read More

All are invited to observe the species-specific, fabulous qualities of the common rat: bigger than a mouse, wily and wise; capable of slipping through tiny holes and bouncing on its strong tail; and happy to chew through tough surfaces.... Read More

Dave Williams and Elizabeth Howell’s "Why Am I Taller?" covers the medical side of an astronaut’s life. Physician astronauts, like Williams, have a unique window into what it’s like to be in space. They both experience and diagnose... Read More

Love, loss, and sacrifice are at the center of Michael X. Wang’s historical novel "Lost in the Long March". The moment orphaned Ping sees Yong, he knows she is the one. Ping is a gunsmith who joined the Chinese Red Army to make a... Read More

In "Chingona", Alma Zaragoza-Petty’s life story intertwines with compelling advice that strikes at the heart of Latina women’s needs to claim the strongest parts of their identities. In her childhood, Zaragoza-Petty was often called... Read More

Derek Sayer’s "Postcards from Absurdistan" is an encompassing review of cultural and sociopolitical Prague from tumultuous 1938 onward, detailed with compassion for the Czech people. It is meticulous in recounting the regimes they have... Read More

Cecelia Tichi’s "Midcentury Cocktails" blends history, literature, and cultural critiques to address trends in alcohol and entertainment in the 1950s and 1960s. Despite what jokes about Baby Boomers suggest, the 1950s and 1960s were... Read More