“Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country” by Pam Houston Pam Houston’s affecting new title consists of essays depicting scenes of life at her ranch home. In 1993, with funds from the success of her first book, “Cowboys Are My Weakness,” Houston purchased a 120-acre ranch near Creede, Colorado. Twenty-five

Book Reviews

‘My Year of Rest and Relaxation’ The unnamed narrator of “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” has one goal in mind: to remain asleep for as much of the day as possible. She accomplishes this goal by finding a quack psychiatrist who is willing to prescribe her an elaborate mix of sleeping and antianxiety medication. With

Book Reviews

‘Leave No Trace’ Following her critically acclaimed novel, “Everything You Want Me to Be,” Mindy Mejia has proven to be deserving of comparisons to Gilian Flynn and Paula Hawkins. With “Leave No Trace,” she gives us another character-driven, suspenseful, can’t-put-it-down adventure. Set in northern Minnesota, near the vast expanse of

Book Reviews

‘Circe’ New takes on these ancient stories have been done so many times that it takes something extraordinary to bring back the spark of interest to a jaded public. Madeline Miller has more than succeeded in bringing a new facet to Greek Mythology with her new book, “Circe.” Miller takes

Book Reviews

‘Ordinary People’ Ordinary People, like the title would suggest, tells the story of ordinary people and their ordinary problems. Diana Evans tells the story of two couples. Melissa and Michael, who have just had their second child together, are struggling with the roles they find themselves in. The second couple is Damian and Stephanie, who have been

Book Reviews

‘The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies’ The focus of a recent episode of a missing history program was on William Friedman, a groundbreaking cryptologist. It said nothing about Elizebeth Friedman, his wife, who was also an important cryptologist. The story of their role

Book Reviews

‘The Best We Could Do’ Thi Bui’s memoir beautifully illustrates the story of her family as they escaped the terror of South Vietnam in the 1970s. Presented in a graphic novel format, her gorgeous, masterful drawings narrate their harrowing journey to California and provide an unflinching look into their lives

Book Reviews

‘There There’ “There There” is an incredible debut novel by Tommy Orange. It follows a dozen different Native American perspectives all coalescing around a powwow taking place in Oakland, California. Tommy Orange breathes life into each of these characters and paints a vivid picture of what it’s like to be

Book Reviews

‘The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism’ During World War I, the city of Halifax was a prominent shipping port for military supplies, as crossings from North America to Europe became increasingly perilous. The French freighter Mont-Blanc sailed from New York in

Book Reviews

‘Beaut’ Award-winning author Donald Morrill presents his first novel, “Beaut,” a gorgeously written tale of family and motherhood, love and heartbreak, and the possibilities and failures in life. We learn about Jill Lundgrove through her writing to an as-yet unnamed person. Through fits and starts as she writes, stops and