The Kitchen Front, by Jennifer Ryan

Trigger warning for brief domestic violence and emotional abuse. In her note at the end of The Kitchen Front, Jennifer … More

The Wedding Party, by Liu Xinwu

Wherever you are, weddings are a big deal. Families pull out all the stops to keep up appearances (and mostly … More

I used to pet sit fairly regularly for co-workers and friends. It was a fun way to meet new critters … More

Trigger warning for references to child abuse. We have an expression about wanting to be a fly on the wall … More

Joaquín Alzada is a police inspector who has a thinner line to walk than most. Twenty years ago, he had … More

Trigger warning for rape. In the nineteenth century, a woman could be diagnosed with hysteria for an array of symptoms … More

Library conferences rarely take me to beautiful places. The American Library Association, for example, has a reputation for booking places … More

I’ve never had a chance to use this word in earnest, but I’m glad that somewhere I learned the untranslatable … More

Not everything I choose to read is an intellectual puzzle or a heartbreaking exploration of human pain. Sometimes I read … More

Trigger warning for domestic violence. I don’t know what the statistics are on unsolved murders versus solved murders, but I … More