The Garden Secret
A dogged heroine struggles to untangle herself from the mysterious Vine. In her debut novel, Daughters of the Wild, Natalka Burian crafts a tale of magical realism mixed with a woman’s determination to…
Category: family
Review of THE LOST AND FOUND BOOKSHOP by Susan Wiggs
A Celebration of Books, Bookstores, and the Meaning of Happiness Deep into Susan Wiggs’ The Lost and Found Bookshop, a character declares: “A bookseller is the link between the stories…
PSA: Austin’s “Mother Teresa of Montopolis” Needs Your Help
There’s Florence, Italy, Florence, South Carolina, and closer to home and heart is the iconic Austin social advocate Florence Ponziano—the “Mother Teresa of Montopolis.” If you visit 515 Kemp Street,…
Memory Markers: What I Was Reading When
Books, like people, make such good companions. Getting us through the bad times and helping us celebrate the good times. Making us calmer or piquing our energy. It’s amazing what…
Review of DARK AUGUST by Katie Tallo
Loneliness, Lies, and a Dog Named Levi In her debut novel DARK AUGUST, author and screenwriter Katie Tallo delves into the life of August “Gus” Monet, a young woman who’d…
Review of THE SILENCE by Susan Allott
The historical guilt of a nation ravages the lives of two Australian families. Silence isn’t always golden. It can also be “a cult of forgetfulness practiced on a national scale.” The…
Review of SISTER DEAR by Hannah Mary McKinnon
Envy and obsession explode in author Hannah Mary McKinnon’s newest thriller, SISTER DEAR. Eleanor Hardwicke is a loner, and she deserves it. Her mother has reminded her since childhood that…
Review of The Imperfects by Amy Meyerson
Diamonds, Dysfunction, and Family Legacy The fragmented Miller family is far from perfect — they’ve never been able to get their act together. But when the family matriarch dies and…