Parents and grandparents sometimes debate which musical instrument is the most painful in the hands of a beginner.

Our nomination for first place is the violin, with drums coming in a distant second. Sure, drums can rattle the windows, but only a violin can peel paint from the walls.

The xylophone, also under our roof years ago, was the ...Read more

Roberto Palumbo’s immersive and haunting journey into "1657 The Year of the Plague" showcases the depths of human suffering and the resilience of mankind during one of Europe’s darkest chapters in history. Set in Genoa, this historical novel offers a staunch look at a city gripped by fear, despair, and the unrelenting force of death. At its ...Read more

Incidences for many common types of cancer have risen in recent years, with young women experiencing the brunt of the shift.

According to research from the American Cancer Society, the incidence rate of cancer for women under 50 has increased from 51% higher than men in 2002 to 82% higher than men in 2021, the last year this information was ...Read more

As life would have it, even those successful and satisfied in our current world tend to worry obsessively about the next.

We’re talking about the fear of death — that journey into the unknown. One common antidote is to joke about it. Take the perpetual death-worrier, Woody Allen, whose character Boris from his movie "Love and Death" returns...Read more

I surveyed my friends recently to find out what they’re doing to stay sane.

“Screaming into a paper bag,” said a friend who lives near Capitol Hill in Washington.

“Staying away from the news,” said another friend.

“Who said I’m sane?” said another.

As a massive reassembling of the U.S. government by President Donald Trump ...Read more

True confession, and this is embarrassing considering the times we live in, but I can't take good selfies.

There, I said it. That's a load off.

I think it's because I'm short and short people have short arms and long people have long arms. You need long arms for good selfies. Good skin without age-defining wrinkles helps, too.

It is always a ...Read more

After Meta, the parent company behind Facebook and Instagram, announced it would be shifting its fact-checking mechanisms to a crowdsourcing approach, parents’ fears about how social media is shaping their children’s minds have likely grown.

A 2023 poll conducted by C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan found that 67...Read more

A German Jewish couple must use every ounce of their strength and wiles to survive under the nose of the Nazis in this harrowing story based on the lives of Hans and Anna Bracher in "Untertauchen" by Arthur M. James.

"Untertauchen" (“to go underground”) is the impeccably researched tribute to Hans and Anna Bracher, as well as their family ...Read more

With the new year comes a new sense of hope. I can think of no better time to embrace the beauty of poetry, especially in works such as Cynthia Schumacher’s seventh collection, "Soul Flowers."

In this timeless collection, Schumacher explores with gifted verse those universal human emotions and experiences that unite us. Her poetry encourages ...Read more

In case you hadn’t heard, the Pantone color of the year is Mocha Mousse. Mocha Mousse is a scrumptious light milk chocolate. I’m not sure I could have it on the walls and resist a deep dive into my dessert cookbooks.

Mocha Mousse is encouraging because, for years, the chosen colors primarily have been neutrals. There was Drift of Mist (gray...Read more

There’s a point early on in James Gilbert’s "Reunion by the Lake" when Grace, entering the twilight of her life as she and her husband Richard confront his terminal illness, loses her grip of a glass in the kitchen, and it breaks in the sink into long sharp slivers.

The moment is the perfect metaphor for the book’s primary storyline.

“...Read more

At a recent gathering of my book club, the conversation turned to our pregnancy and delivery stories. This was prompted by the difficult delivery that the host’s daughter-in-law had just been through. Some stories were truly “scary” and even horrifying, while others were not quite as bad — but no one said it was a wonderful and special ...Read more

In today’s fast-paced world, where work, packed schedules and endless digital distractions compete for our focus, children sometimes struggle to get the attention they need. Although your child probably won’t say it directly, they often signal it through other behaviors.

“Whether a child admits it or not, parents are the center of a child...Read more

My wife and I have been married for almost 40 years. In all that time, I can count on one hand how many weekend afternoons we have spent together. She goes in one direction (shopping, show, friends) and I go in another (house projects, the dog, watching sports). I don’t want to do her activities (she doesn’t even suggest I come along) and ...Read more

We blew out all the stops to celebrate the husband’s birthday with a last-minute meetup at McDonald’s. Do we know how to party or what?

Three carloads. Five adults. Six kids, all girls.

If we squeeze six into the bench against the wall that spans two tables and grab extra chairs, we can make it work. Kids squirrel around as adults take ...Read more

"Shy Creatures" is one of those rarities in literary fiction, a quiet celebration of the complex human interactions that form lasting genuine friendships and heartfelt relationships that are retained in golden memories. Award-winning British novelist Clare Chambers has written nine novels including Learning to Swim which won the 1999 Romantic ...Read more

In Laurie L. Dove’s "Mask of the Deer Woman," Carrie Starr has hit rock bottom. A former Chicago police officer, she lost her job after her daughter was murdered and she emptied her gun into the back of the fleeing man she held responsible. Now, drinking and toking just to get through the day, she’s started the only job she could find, as ...Read more

The first time I spoke with author Humberto “Bear” Garcez, he was telling me about his new book based on very detailed recollections of one of his own dreams. That book is the recently released "The Blue in Your Eyes," a most unusual and intriguing novel that, just like dreams themselves, blends elements of reality with imagination and ...Read more

Ebony Smith-Thomas was juggling the demands of a hungry 2-month-old boy while keeping her 11-year-old son and two teenage nieces entertained when her air conditioning went out.

The humidity of a St. Louis evening in May was too much to bear, so she packed up the kids and drove from the south side of town to her mom's house on the north.

All ...Read more

The giddy texts and videos came rolling in from my bundled-up sister in New Orleans on a historic day in the Big Easy.

“It’s snowing, it’s snowing, it’s snowing,” she whispered, her eyes wide in disbelief, as she stood on her front porch in a rarely worn winter hat and scarf.

In fact, it snowed on Tuesday in record amounts across ...Read more