After our son grew up and began carving out a life of his own, he left home as young men often do. It was about 21 years, one month, 17 days, three hours and 10 minutes ago, but who’s counting?

He married a young woman whose passion for camping, hiking, dogs, night skies and the great outdoors matched his. After tying the knot, they fled to ...Read more

It’s true. Millennials and Gen Xers love nostalgia. There’s a reason so many of us keep mining that time period of our childhood in the 1980s and ‘90s for fiction. Nostalgia isn’t just about reliving our carefree past when our knees were stronger, our skin was firmer, and our hair less gray. The late ‘90s occupies a really interesting ...Read more

Essay collections written by authors who focus on topics we may not often consider open us to new worlds of information and thought-provoking ideas.

These collections take readers on journeys of the mind and heart while exploring themes that offer ways to expand our views of the world. Written in bite-sized pieces, they are perfect for reading...Read more

When a technician pronounced our refrigerator’s ice maker beyond repair two years ago, he bowed his head, marked the event with a moment of silence, then handed us an outrageous repair bill.

Not going down to defeat, or life without ice, we went out and bought two plastic ice cube trays. Making our own ice was such a throwback to the past ...Read more

We are certainly living in dark times these days… Who’s to say we aren’t loving in them, as well?

Back at the tail end of 2024, I was offered a wild opportunity to pitch a horror romance to an imprint at Harlequin Books. I leapt at the opportunity because, baked into this prospective shot, there was a gleeful demon on my shoulder, ...Read more

Would you buy a haunted house? Some people might, while others would get back in their cars and race off at the first spooky sound. Sometimes people will buy a house for its historical significance, like a castle or manor that dates back several centuries.

There is also a rule about full disclosure; the seller must reveal to the buyer any ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — It may indeed be divine to forgive. But Peter Hook has absolutely no intention of letting bygones be bygones — even for just one night — when he and his former bandmates in Joy Division and New Order are honored Nov. 14 at the 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater.

“Their behavior...Read more

The question these days is not “Can we afford to eat out?” but “Can we afford to tip?”

If you pay on a screen at a restaurant, the tip choices are 15%, 20%, 30%, and “take my wallet.” The awkward part is thinking it through and doing the math while the server stands there watching you.

We always tip, but sometimes one of us has to ...Read more

Think about it: Some of the most unforgettable books hinge on a missed opportunity, a chance meeting, or even a random conversation. Such moments end up being the catalyst for life-altering journeys. What’s cool is that these stories can be found in almost all genres – romance, historical fiction, mystery, women’s fiction.

And no matter ...Read more

Her memories of that night are never the same. They are both little girls, Unnur and her friend Freyja, alone on a black-sand Icelandic beach, the waves clutching at them. In one memory, Freyja ignores her pleas and walks into the sea. In another, Unnur yanks Freyja’s head underwater until the bubbles stop. Which is true? She’s never known. ...Read more

My new therapist is sitting on the edge of my desk, legs crossed, head slightly bowed. His beady eyes peer at me through his black framed glasses as he holds a pen poised over his clipboard.

He’s three inches tall, made of molded plastic, and looks like a cross between Freud and Dr. Leo Marvin from the movie, “What About Bob?”

The ...Read more

(WARNING: Contains spoilers for "Immortal Longings" and "Vilest Things.")

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Explosive. Breathtaking. It all comes down to the wire in the action-packed conclusion to Chloe Gong’s "Flesh and False Gods" trilogy, "Eyes of Kings."

Inspired by Shakespeare’s "Antony and Cleopatra," the trilogy is set within the world of Talin, in which ...Read more

I was already a huge fan of Riley Sager before "The Unknown." I’ve read all of his previous best-selling thrillers and even got the opportunity to interview him once. So I was pretty sure right from the start this would be a good book. I just didn’t know it was going to be this good.

"The Unknown" is a wonderfully creepy, spooky and ...Read more

Next to Monopoly and Battleship, Get Grandma is one of the family’s favorite games. No rules, no limits, play as often as you wish, whenever and wherever you wish.

Years ago, both sons-in-laws began jumping out of closets when they realized I had a strong startle reflex and often screamed loud enough to pierce two time zones when surprised.

...Read more

For anyone who has ever closed the Book of Revelation feeling more confused than illuminated, Robert Charley‘s "The Feast of Trumpets: Blueprint to Revelation" offers a fresh lens, grounded in scholarship yet written with the warmth of a friend walking you through a subject he loves.

Charley’s central premise is elegantly simple and, once ...Read more

Rob Pilkenton, author of "Dad, Again," has written an unflinching, deeply honest account of what it actually takes for a man to become the father, husband and person he wishes he’d been the first time around. He does this without ever asking the reader to admire him for it.

The book’s structure alone tells you it was built with care. ...Read more

Five police cars with flashing lights blocked the southern portion of a major intersection. Broken glass, debris and twisted metal spread as far as the eye could see. Partial remains of a horribly disfigured SUV sat on a flat bed. A mangled sedan was on its side in the middle of the pavement.

News reports said an SUV with four passengers ran a ...Read more

We’ve all read a mystery featuring the dreaded curtain-twitcher, a beady eye sweeping the street, the busybody, the local gossip, the old lady asking too many pertinent questions for comfort. The nosy neighbor is instantly recognizable and integral to the mystery yet is often an overlooked character. They’re frequently the catalyst to the ...Read more

Author Erin Van Der Meer gained insider perspective and in-depth experience as a journalist, which served her well in writing the bitingly satirical debut novel, "The Scoop."

It’s an irresistible, stay-up-late, guilty reading pleasure about protagonist Frankie Miller, a recently unemployed journalist weighed down by multiple rejections from ...Read more

George Washington is literally in the “pages of history.” A book on the coffee table has money hanging out of it — not play money, real money, as in a $1 bill.

I know in an instant the book belongs to a 12-year-old granddaughter.

The girl is an avid reader. She won the “Reader Award” in her class three times last year which ...Read more