★ Meathooked: The History and Science of Our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat

“To publicly make the observation that meat is murder,” writes avowed animal-rights advocate Morrissey in his autobiography, “is, in fact, to claim that the law is wrong. It is also to suggest that all British ... Read More »

January 26, 2016 | Filed under: Food & Drink, Health & Self-help

Lives of the Poets (with Guitars)

By Ray Robertson

Biographies of musicians are often indistinguishable from extended fan letters, so it’s always nice when authors are upfront about their enthusiasms. In the introduction to his new essay collection, Lives of the Poets (with Guitars), ... Read More »

January 26, 2016 | Filed under: Art, Music & Pop Culture

You can’t bury them all

By Patrick Woodcock

Canadian poet Patrick Woodcock has spent much of his life as an expatriate in diverse countries that include Poland, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Colombia. In his new collection, the poet ... Read More »

January 26, 2016 | Filed under: Poetry

Making Out in the Mainstream: GLAAD and the Politics of Respectability

By Vincent Doyle

There are few groups so prominent in the LGBT mainstream as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. In this historical and ethnographic study of the organization, Vincent Doyle, a Canadian living in Spain, explains ... Read More »

January 26, 2016 | Filed under: Politics & Current Affairs

★ On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light

By Cordelia Strube

Smart and sassy girls are the focus of Cordelia Strube’s latest novel, a masterful blend of comedy and tragedy that delves into contemporary family life. At the heart of the book is 11-year-old Harriet, who ... Read More »

January 26, 2016 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Spare Dog Parts

By Alison Hughes; Ashley Spires (illus.)

Dogs and picture books might be the most ideal pairing of subject and artistic form. Even film cannot fully capture the twitch of an eyebrow, the slow thump of a tail that crescendos to pure ... Read More »

January 25, 2016 | Filed under: Picture Books

Miss Moon: Wise Words From a Dog Governess

By Janet Hill

January 25, 2016 | Filed under: Picture Books

The High Mountains of Portugal

By Yann Martel

Grief engenders both emotional and physical exile for the characters in Yann Martel’s fourth novel, told in three intersecting tales spanning nearly a century. A trio of men who have each suffered great losses set ... Read More »

January 25, 2016 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Frame and the McGuire

By Joanna M. Weston

On an innocent trip to the local bridge, 10-year-old Frame and her brother, Ranger, are shocked to discover a body floating face-down in the river. Haunted by the image of what turns out to be ... Read More »

January 18, 2016 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction

Fairie

By Eisha Marjara

The teen years are a time of discovery, of figuring out who you are and who you want to be, of testing limits and taking ownership of your life. But for kids dealing with mental ... Read More »