There are days I feel like the last surviving gatekeeper to tradition. My mission is to keep the holidays from crashing into one another.

In my rich fantasy world, Labor Day is followed by Halloween, Halloween is followed by Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving is followed by Christmas. Never do they meet, mix or mingle. Welcome to dreamland.

The ...Read more

"My Mountains: Our Family’s Story of Adventure, Mysteries, and Tragedy" opens on a blue-sky Colorado day and a text message no parent wants to receive.

From that first, shattering scene, author Chris Smith carries readers into a life measured not only by summits and trail miles, but by the stamina of a family learning to love through pain. ...Read more

In today’s most compelling crime fiction, the chase is never just about the killer — it’s about the fragile minds drawn into the hunt. These five thrillers plunge deep into the psychology of obsession, pairing haunted investigators with murderers who blur the boundaries between predator and prey.

Set against backdrops of small-town ...Read more

In "Searching for Bowlby: The Life of John Bowlby," C.V. Wooster has written a comprehensive biography about the life and work of Dr. John Bowlby, the noted British psychiatrist who devoted most of his career to studying the links of the emotional bond (or lack thereof) between parent/guardian and their child and how the child’s development ...Read more

Jane Gallagher’s reflective memoir explores one big question: What does it mean to become conscious, both personally and collectively amid shifting beliefs, power structures and ecological awareness?

If you’ve ever found yourself contemplating how much of what you believe comes from the world around you vs. how much comes from within ...Read more

I set off the alarm at the grocery store over the weekend. I wasn’t going to mention it, but it’s always best to get ahead of a breaking news story. My story, my spin.

I’ve never set off an alarm before.

I take that back. I set off the smoke alarm in the kitchen about once month, but high heat with cast iron does that. Other than that, ...Read more

There were no witnesses, but all I said was, “Get Fred off the table and away from the food.” I thought it was a reasonable request, but from the look on her face I was out of line. Who knew a first-grader with beautiful hazel eyes nestled above cherub cheeks could shoot such a menacing look?

I was momentarily intimidated, but I also knew I...Read more

Life doesn’t hand out road maps for the hard stuff — illness, grief, loss or the quiet, sometimes overwhelming uncertainty that comes after survival. There’s no checklist, no perfect sequence of steps, no easy answers. But books? Books can meet us exactly where we are. They can hold us, challenge us and whisper the truths we need to hear ...Read more

In 1998 in Morgantown, West Virginia, a bar owner took over the sponsorship of a local adult softball team. Named Chico’s Bail Bonds after the sponsor of the hapless Bad News Bears little leaguers in the 1976 film of the same name, Chico’s Bondsmen are now immortalized in a new book.

"Sometimes Orange Is Almost Gold: Morgantown’s Misfits ...Read more

We look at paintings of that first Thanksgiving more than 400 years ago, with tables sagging under the weight of wild game, venison, waterfowl, lobster and mussels, corn, beans and pumpkins We often sigh and say, “Life was so simple back then.”

It was simple. Life was so simple that heat in homes came from logs crackling in a fireplace. ...Read more

From a remote Italian village where a chance reunion bridges generations, to a sunlit California beach where a stranger’s kindness sparks a lifelong bond, "God Storys" offers an awe-inspiring odyssey through moments that defy mere coincidence.

In this compilation of 30 true-life vignettes, Victorya Wright shares her personal encounters with ...Read more

The story of Central Park stretches from its nineteenth-century origins — with an unlikely cast of colorful characters — to the experiences of some 42 million visitors each year, and no single book could encompass it. "Ten Thousand Central Parks: A Climate-Change Parable" nonetheless attempts the impossible. It seeks to uncover the layered ...Read more

I married a hottie. He loves the heat and the sun.

When the summer sun is scorching and most people hide inside to keep from flash frying, he goes outside to do yard work.

I tend toward the cool side. Some like it hot, some like it cold, and for some mysterious reason they tend to marry one another.

Our favorite pastime is playing endless ...Read more

Every nine years, the Game of Nines begins again. A cryptic letter arrives. A body turns up. And the killer dares the authorities to stop them before time runs out.

This is where "Game of Nines" by James Patterson and Max DiLallo sinks its hooks into listeners. It’s not just another serial killer story; it’s a psychological chess match ...Read more

We’ve all heard the phrase: You can’t change your stars. Wesley Farnsworth doesn’t argue with its sting — he remembers living under it. But his new book, "The Blueprint of Becoming: A Practical Guide to Faith, Failure, and Finding Your Way Forward," makes a persuasive case that the line is a lie we don’t have to keep believing.

With ...Read more

Therapy is expensive, TikTok advice is terrifying, and your obscurely named group chat is one bad breakup away from a meltdown. Whether you’re creatively blocked, romantically jaded, existentially bored, or convinced the world is one bad headline away from total collapse, books are cheaper than therapy and judgment-free.

BookTrib’s staff ...Read more

Pity the evil queen in "Snow White" asking the magic mirror who was the fairest of all, waiting anxiously for the reply. Today, all the queen would need to do is upload an image of herself to an AI beauty analysis app and wait 10 seconds for the results.

Beauty analysis apps score your face “plain, pretty or gorgeous,” or “attractive, ...Read more

Looking for a quick fantasy read that hits the spot? Lisa Lacriola serves up just what you need in the second installment of her Species Chronicles, "The Order of the Wolf: Covenant."

The story follows Toni Luello after the events of the first book, "The Order of the Wolf: Lineage," where the disappearance of her great-aunt leads Toni to ...Read more

Debut novel "The Amalfi Secret" by Dean and Catherine Reineking takes readers on a pulse-pounding chase through sun-drenched Italian locales and shadowy halls of power.

This mystery thriller opens on the picturesque Amalfi Coast, where Gabe Roslo meets up with his grandparents for a family vacation. It’s a heartfelt reunion after a year or so...Read more

We accidentally left for our vacation in Maine a day early. I take full credit — or blame — it depends on who tells the story. There’s nothing wrong with leaving a day early, except that when you get there you won’t have a place to stay.

A quick online search landed us a reservation just outside a picturesque New England town we’d ...Read more