Frank Mercy had led an interesting life. Raised on a horse farm in Wisconsin, he had a career he loved as a mounted police officer in Chicago. He was disabled with a serious leg injury after being struck by a teenage driver. Financially secure from the legal settlement, he left
Read More →I love books that defy easy explanation. Some of my most beloved books are those that are impossible to categorize or sum up in a few words. “All the Birds in the Sky” may be the quintessential impossible-to-define novel — and I adore it. Patricia and Laurence are typical outsider
Read More →Is it possible for a talented chef to fall in love with a food critic who writes a scathing review that brings down her restaurant? The only thing that Lou has ever wanted is to be a chef in her own restaurant, and her dream has come true at Luella’s,
Read More →“Spill Simmer Falter Wither,” the debut novel by Sara Baume, is the story of a man and his dog. The narrator of the story is the town’s recluse, living in his childhood home, haunted by the memories of his father. One day on his usual Tuesday trip to town, he
Read More →Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, completed and published posthumously, is an eloquent and thoughtful reflection on what makes life meaningful, purposeful and worth living. In May 2013, Kalanithi, 36, was about to complete 10 years of rigorous training as a neurosurgery resident at Stanford and was preparing to entertain top offers in
Read More →The community of Monroeville, Alabama takes enormous pride in being the model for “To Kill a Mockingbird’s” fictional town of Maycomb, written by its most famous resident, author Harper Lee. Fifty years after the fictional Atticus Finch defended a falsely-accused black man, Bryan Stevenson came to the aid of a
Read More →In the 15th century, five different kings — all with claims extending from King Edward III — ruled England. There were two direct lines involved: The House of Lancaster and the House of York. The wars of this period were between these two houses, represented by the red rose for
Read More →How much do you know about how your hand computer (smart phone) works? What about the box that cleans food holders (dishwasher)? Ever feel completely lost when talking about your car to a mechanic? Randall Monroe is here for you. The genius behind the Internet’s most popular comic — XKCD
Read More →Turn off your phone, don’t answer the door, and crack open the quirky political scene created by Zachary Michael Jack in his new book, “CORN POLL: A Novel of the Iowa Caucuses.” Follow Jacob “Press” Preston, a journalist from Denver, Colorado, as he cruises through the Iowa political landscape and
Read More →“Go big or go home.” This is the phrase that the smart, funny, confident and fat Texas teen Willowdean Dickson uses to confront the new challenges to her self-esteem. Willowdean (her former beauty queen mother calls her “Dumplin”) certainly goes big. Willowdean has a good sense of herself, and with
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