Books

In the novel Endling, by Maria Reva, protagonist Yeva joins guided romance tours in Ukraine to help pay for her research as a snail conservationist. Somehow, she becomes part of a kidnapping caper. Then Russia invades Ukraine. And the book shifts to a work of nonfiction with the author herself telling her story. Fiction and reality collide—beautifully.

Texas' Senate Bill 13 empowers school boards to decide which books are permitted in their school libraries. It also allows parents to submit a list of books their children are prohibited from checking out.

In the story “Clara” by Roberto Bolaño, a man tells the story of a woman he knew in his youth. Over three decades later, he hasn’t forgotten her. The story is riddled with tells that reveal that he’s carried the memory of her around with him for all that time. What is the hold she has on him all about?

In 1975, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape explored pernicious cultural and legal attitudes about rape and helped debunk the long-held view that victims were partly to blame.

Richard Bausch discusses his latest story collection, The Fate of Others. This may be the author’s 24th book, but it is a fresh, powerful collection of stories for today’s world with all its resonances of loss and isolation—but also of hope.

Dallas-based Half-Price Books spoke out against the bill, which would expose booksellers to lawsuits over materials deemed inappropriate for minors.

The flaws and follies of Cupolo’s characters teach us something about what it means to be human when we make mistakes or when we allow each other mercy. Lisa Cupolo discusses her award-winning story collection.

Peter Orner and Yvette Benavides discuss “Oh, Joseph, I’m So Tired" by Richard Yates. It’s a story narrated by a man looking back on his childhood during the Depression. He recalls difficult moments that are brutally honest but told with a tender acceptance of what was.

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff is a multigenerational family saga that underscores the ways that a family tries to navigate and survive addiction, grief, shame and the losses that loving deeply can bring to our lives. Secrets and regrets, forgiveness and grace—all figure in this tender story about love in its many forms.

Jock Heidenstein. Anita Lasker. Chana Zumerkorn, Regina Feldman. These young women did not know each other. They never met—not before or after their respective experiences during the Holocaust. What connects their incredible stories? A red sweater. Lucy Adlington discusses her book Four Red Sweaters.