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

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