I was one of the first to complete the family NCAA bracket this year. There’s not a chance I’ll win and I’m good with that.

Our son-in-law started the family bracket challenge, which includes his side of the family and our side, 15 years ago.

His side of the family loves sports. His dad even refereed for years.

When you love sports, you...Read more

Part of what makes novels so appealing is how they allow us to step into the lives of others. This allows us to not only escape the real world — like in science fiction and fantasy — but also to see the real world through a new lens. To see — to feel and experience — what it’s like to live a completely different life, even if only for ...Read more

"The Librarians of Lisbon" is accurately described on the cover as “A WWII story of love and espionage,” and novelist Suzanne Nelson certainly delivers, as promised, a fine work of historical fiction for adult readers.

This former children’s book editor and award-winning author has previously written dozens of middle grade and young adult...Read more

Looking out the window of his home in Troy, New York, on a Friday night, Kyle Wessels made note of his first chore the next day: shoveling snow.

On Saturday morning, he saw that only a few inches of snow had fallen, but it was the wet, heavy kind.

Having grown up in Troy, then-47-year-old Wessels knew the drill. He grabbed his snow blower and ...Read more

I can’t call heads or tails on whether we should stop minting the penny. There are two sides to every coin, right?

Zinc and copper used to make a penny are worth almost four times the value of the coin. Bottom line: The penny is not cost-efficient. I empathize. Some days I’m not terribly cost-efficient either.

It’s hard to imagine life ...Read more

Is there such a thing as too old or too late to find new love?

I admit that before I turned 40 almost a decade ago, I didn’t give much thought to this question. Though I was writing romance and love stories, my protagonists were my age or younger, because that was what I knew. The protagonists I read about or watched on film and television ...Read more

With her mother in labor, then-17-year-old Jamie Dawson sneaked past nurses and headed for the delivery room.

The door was cracked open just enough for her to hear baby brother Max cry for the first time. Dawson felt a surge of love like she'd never experienced. When she became the first person to hold Max other than his parents, the feeling ...Read more

The fate of America sits in the crosshairs as Russia unleashes its most ambitious plan yet to deceive, distract, and sow chaos. But no Russian machinations have yet survived a run-in with Dan Reilly, international hotel executive and part-time CIA spy, as Ed Fuller and Gary Grossman reveal in the fourth installment of their popular Red Hotel ...Read more

I attend a spirituality group for an hour every week that holds loving kindness as its anchor.

During the hour, we read the poetry of such luminaries as Mary Oliver and John O'Donohue. We meditate, and we talk about the ways we find to extend loving kindness to ourselves and others.

The dozen or so gentle-spirited members of this group also ...Read more

We have just done a school pick-up; 14-year-old twins and their 12-year-old sister are in the car with us. In a unanimous decision, we head directly to Chick-fil-A because some days the main thing you get at school is hungry. Very, very hungry.

We ordered and are seated with waffle fries and ice cream, checking off vegetables and dairy for the ...Read more

Harold Phifer’s "My Bully, My Aunt, and Her Final Gift" is a refreshingly honest, darkly humorous, and unexpectedly heartfelt memoir that masterfully balances comedy and introspection. With sharp wit and a candid narrative style, Phifer takes readers on a journey through his complicated past, shaped by the formidable presence of his Aunt Kathy...Read more

The day Angie Loving married Sam Abadir, she was on the list for a heart transplant. It was Feb. 29, 2020, three months after she survived a massive heart attack. She was still relearning seemingly simple givens of life like how to eat, speak and walk; still dealing with ensuing blood clot issues; still working through daily therapy.

But while ...Read more

Better sleep, less stress, stronger immune system — are these the results of a better diet? Exercise? It’s just “good sex.”

Psychologist and Emory University professor Candice Hargons, who holds a doctorate in counseling psychology, is the author of “Good Sex: Stories, Science, and Strategies for Sexual Liberation.” Taking a moment ...Read more

I dashed into our Walmart to pick up a few greeting cards and noticed huge glass cases lining both sides of a nearby aisle.

My first thought was they had locked up hunting guns, but this Walmart doesn’t sell firearms anymore. Then I thought maybe they locked up power tools like big box hardware stores do. Wrong again.

The merchandise locked ...Read more

The history of the romance novel cover charts the evolution not just of the romance novel itself, but of our changing attitudes as a society. Romance novel covers tell the story of readers’ hopes, tastes and desires. But most of all, “the romance book cover is a promise to the reader,” says archivist and romance historian Steve Ammidown.

...Read more

Joy Fortuna’s "Even Dusk Has Its Dawn" is the thrilling second installment in the Max Rossi Series that blends crime, romance, and suspense with finesse. Following the events of "In the Shadow of Dusk," this book delivers a gripping narrative that explores justice, loyalty, romance, and the intricate fight between good and evil.

The story ...Read more

During a Fourth of July weekend with their two children, Tara and Tyler Yell visited a water park about 90 minutes from their home in Frisco, Texas.

The parents joined their daughter, Emerson, then 10, and son, Declan, 4, on rides and slides, laughing and splashing. Suddenly Tara started to feel dizzy and sick. Her heart raced.

For the first ...Read more

I came home the other day and my hubby was not home. His car was here, so I figured he had gone for a walk.

He didn’t come home and didn’t come home, so I was concerned he was collapsed on a sidewalk somewhere.

He has never collapsed on a sidewalk before, but when you reach a certain age, and have an active imagination, the possibilities ...Read more

As usual, Julie Ferris-Tillman had a full evening planned after leaving her office.

By day, she's vice president of a public relations firm in Milwaukee. At night, her world is a stage. She performs in sketch comedy, improv and community theater. On this Wednesday evening when she was 48, she was rehearsing for a murder mystery play opening the...Read more

Hopelyn Gray’s "Soulful Serenades for Calm and Clarity," a collection of meditative and insightful sayings, is a must-read for those struggling to find tranquility and hope.

"Soulful Serenades" covers a wide range of topics to help calm readers’ minds and stir their hearts. Gray reflects on topics such as love, mindfulness, faith, hope, ...Read more