ArcaMax

Some memoirs invite you to sit quietly and listen. "Maya Blue" does the opposite.

Brenda Coffee’s story swings the door wide open and pulls you into a life that starts like a dream and veers, chapter by chapter, into places you don’t expect to go. It reads with the tension of a thriller, yet it’s rendered with the candor and empathy of a ...Read more

History’s darkest chapters are often best understood not through dates and battles, but through the intimate stories of those who lived them.

For readers drawn to the emotional weight of World War II fiction, these six novels balance sorrow with hope. Each powerfully reminds us: though war shatters worlds, the bonds of humanity endure.

The ...Read more

Some books whisper, while others hit like lightning … then there are the rare ones that do both. Those books tend to shift something deep inside you with their quiet insistence on truth. The following 7 books are shaped by memory and sharpened by resistance. They dig deep and unearth what we’re told to keep buried. Family dynamics. Cultural ...Read more

'THE LONG WALK'

Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, suicide, pervasive language, and sexual references.

What it’s about: In a dystopian America, a group of boys enter a walking contest for a cash prize. The lone survivor wins.

The kid attractor factor: While this features teenage boys as the main characters, it's a tough ...Read more

Q. I have had a drug problem for the last four years. I was arrested and have been out of the picture for years. I am now clean and sober and have begun to slowly re-enter my 5-year-old daughter’s life. Prior to that, my daughter’s father had sole custody. He has been living with his girlfriend for years and two years ago married her. My ...Read more

We used to tell our kids to act their age. Now they tell us to act our age. We try, but it’s not easy when you are 20-somethings trapped inside the bodies of seasoned citizens.

The husband spent five days last fall channeling Paul Bunyan, swinging an ax at the roots on a 60-year-old maple tree that a removal service had taken down. In ...Read more

In an era defined by shifting alliances, relentless technology races and deepening mistrust in institutions, these geopolitical thrillers feel ripped from tomorrow’s headlines. When the smallest spark can ignite global war, only the few — whether from the military or any number of alphabet agencies (or a well-trained rogue operative) — ...Read more

"Anchored by Love" by Marie-Claire Moriah Wright and David Saccoh Wright is a heartwarming multigenerational family saga. The book explores the lives of Asher and Charlotte Kingsley and their children as they grow through life’s milestones.

The story begins with Asher and Charlotte’s teenage years. Asher Kingsley, a confident and ...Read more

It happens once in a while: you think of a clever twist of phrase, one that’s not only funny but insightful. Maybe you were in the shower, in the car, doing the dishes. “I should write that down,” you think. But, of course, most of us never do.

Not so with Piotr Bardzik. He’s made a point of getting it all down on paper, and you’ll be...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Scott Redd watched as five young men juked the basketball around defenders, putting up jump shots as music boomed and people trickled in and out. On a typical night, open gym at Sabathani Community Center draws 40-50 people from around the neighborhood.

To Redd, Sabathani’s chief executive, the scene in front of him is part of ...Read more

The 5-year-old child sat sullen before the birthday cake, refusing to blow out the candles. “Wishes don’t come true,” the child said. “I wish to be a boy and it’s not coming true.”

The child cried at the hairdresser’s because the cut wasn’t short enough and vomited at a kindergarten classmate’s girls-only party, pleading to go...Read more

'THE CONJURING: LAST RITES'

Rated R for bloody/violent content and terror.

What it’s about: Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren take on one of their last cases with their daughter Judy leading the way.

The kid attractor factor: This haunting horror movie is not for kids, but maybe some appeal for teens.

Good lessons/bad lessons...Read more

Q. My ex and I broke up 6 months ago. We have two kids, and we share custody. She has just informed me that she wants to start dating other people and I’m going a little crazy. It’s only been 6 months! Isn’t this too soon? What’s good ex-etiquette?

A. Too soon for whom? You or the kids? Probably for both, actually, but I’m not ...Read more

I’m stealthy about slipping outside each morning to retrieve newspapers from the driveway. I dread someone driving by, lowering their window and yelling, “Get with the times!”

Oh, darlin’, we’re with the Times — and the Journal and the Star and the News. Two papers in print and four online.

Back when an apple was still a fruit and ...Read more

Open the first page of Ann Hardcastle Kilgore’s "The White Cheyenne" for a quick peek, and you might find yourself reading long past sundown. Kilgore — a South Texas rancher turned novelist — writes like someone who has hauled hay and watched the stars from a back‑of‑beyond pasture, then carried those sounds and silences to the page. ...Read more

As a reader of "TART," you may have come for the promise of unabashed shagging and haute cuisine, but stay for the writing, which is crisp and unapologetic, a hard dive into an excess of just about everything. “I’m a greedy person at my core,” our protagonist writes right up front. “I don’t want my job to be a means to an end; I want ...Read more