Recent Stories
Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother’s Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South
The clowns at your job dominate Ring Number One. Ring Number Two features The Juggler (you) and your checkbook, schedule, chore list, and family obligations. And in Ring Number Three, there’s a wild combination of the other two. Run away and join the circus? Yeah, that’s already happened but in the new book “Truevine” by Beth Macy, it was far from voluntary.
Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives
Today was an ordinary day. It had its ups and downs; pleasant surprises came between the mundane and the irritating and you’ll look back at it tomorrow with clarity, perhaps, but its details will be sketchy in a decade. It was an ordinary day which, says Gary Younge, also means an average of seven kids in the U.S. lost their lives to a bullet. In “Another Day in the Death of America,” he explains.
Darktown
Someone always has to be first. That can be a good thing, or a bad one. Good, if it’s a cafeteria, supermarket queue, electronics store, or conga line; better, if free samples are involved. Bad, in experiments, taste-testing, first-on- last-off and, as in the new novel “Darktown” by Thomas Mullen, first in a dangerous new job.
Elizabeth and Michael
You never have to explain yourself when you’re together; everything said (and unsaid) is understood. There may be many years between you, but it doesn’t matter. There may be differences in background, but no worries. Nothing keeps you apart, and in the new book “Elizabeth and Michael” by Donald Bogle, that might be because you have everything in common.
Elizabeth and Michael
You never have to explain yourself when you’re together; everything said (and unsaid) is understood. There may be many years between you, but it doesn’t matter. There may be differences in background, but no worries. Nothing keeps you apart, and in the new book “Elizabeth and Michael” by Donald Bogle, that might be because you have everything in common.
The Full Tank Life
At the end of the day, you’re out of gas. There’s nothing left in your reserves, not a drop. You’re done, wondering if this is as far as you’ll ever go but somehow open to new suggestions. So read “The Full Tank Life” by Ben Tankard. It might just rev your engine again.
Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White
There’s no magic wand to change the things that’ve been on your mind lately: social issues, inequality, poverty, politics, apathy, violence. Those ills didn’t arrive quick and they won’t leave quick but, says Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, they can be repaired.
Brave Like Me
Never be afraid of…. Your Mommy and Daddy have taught you that. Never be afraid of spiders, big animals, lightning, or loud noises. Always be brave, they say, and so you are – and in the new book “Brave Like Me” by Barbara Kerley, you’ll see how that courage you’ve got helps them, too.
The Education of Kevin Powell
By Kevin Powell
You never knew what you didn’t have. There were times in your childhood when cereal was supper because there was nothing else. When birthday toys seemed gently pre-loved, hand-me-downs were new to you, and you were none the wiser.
'I Almost Forgot about You'
In every love life, there’s always “the one that got away.” He got away because you were both too young, too scared, too broke, or too different.