Not Till We Are Lost: Thoreau, Education, and Climate Crisis (Mercer University Press 2024) by William Homestead is a blend of memoir, philosophy, and literary analysis. It weaves together the author’s college teaching experiences, his personal journey of self-examination, and an academic exploration of Transcendentalist thought, drawing from figures like Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo […]
“Turtle on a Post” by Carl Parker as told to Jim Sanderson
August 12, 2025 by 1 Comment
Turtle on a Post (Lamar University Press, 2024) is a memoir that transforms what Jim Sanderson describes as “bits and pieces of anecdotes” into a compelling narrative of Carl Parker’s life. The story traces Parker’s journey from his childhood in East Texas to a distinguished career in public service. It follows him from his early […]
“The Devil’s Pulpit & Other Mostly True Scottish Misadventures” by E. J. Wade and Karen Spears Zacharias
August 12, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Ellen Wade and Karen Spears Zacharias, two seasoned women with family roots in the American South, take us along as they leave their families behind and enter a graduate program in Scotland, where they have months to study the connection between Scotland and Appalachia while exploring their own Celtic roots. The book’s title, The Devil’s Pulpit […]
“Beach House Rules” by Kristy Woodson Harvey
August 11, 2025 by Leave a Comment
What is your guilty pleasure? What do you head for when you’ve had a bad day? A bowl of ice cream, a glass of wine, a bacon sandwich? Well, you can save those calories, just get a hold of Kristy Woodson Harvey’s newest of twelve novels, Beach House Rules (Gallery Books 2025), set it aside […]
Read of the Month: “Resurrected Body” by Elizabeth C. Garcia
August 6, 2025 by Leave a Comment
The opening poem, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” sets the soul-baring tone for Elizabeth C. Garcia’s stunning collection, Resurrected Body (Cider Press Review 2024). No wonder this book won Cider Press Review’s 2023 Editor’s Prize! The phrasing of Garcia’s first poem will cause most mothers to recall those scary, cringeworthy moments in the delivery […]
“What’s Yours Is Mine” by Jennifer Jabaley
August 5, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Most readers have heard of tiger moms and “daddyballs”—those hyper-competitive parents who live vicariously through their children’s achievements. In What’s Yours Is Mine (Lake Union, 2025), Jennifer Jabaley dives into the intense world of Atlanta’s pre-professional ballet, where one mother takes that rivalry to a chilling—and dangerous—extreme. Fans of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere and […]