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Southern sleuthing in the Big Easy: 'The Lafitte Affair' delivers
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? Love a good historical mystery? Pirates and hidden treasure? Swoon-worthy southern cuisine? Find your heart’s desires in "The Lafitte Affair" by Norman Woolworth.
Curmudgeonly antiques dealer Bruneau Ignatius Abellard is finishing his last bite of Eggs Sardou (poached eggs, spinach and artichokes...Read more
OB-GYN explains why women are taking Mucinex to get pregnant
With more than 1,500 posts, “#mucinexdpregnancy” has become one of TikTok’s latest fads. To explain why the cough medicine trended as a fertility booster, OB-GYN Dr. Jessica Shepherd jumped online with “Good Morning America.”
“The reason why people think that this is going to be a way that’s going to help increase chances of ...Read more
Job stress among office workers linked to higher risk for irregular heart rhythm
Work-related stress that stems from job strain and a perceived imbalance between effort and reward may raise the risk of developing an abnormal heart rhythm condition, new research suggests.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, found adults in white-collar jobs in Canada who faced high levels of job strain and ...Read more
Twisted secrets and deadly deceptions that’ll keep readers guessing
This is the third book by Bonnie Traymore that I have reviewed, and they just keep getting better. There’s no question in my mind that Traymore should be getting recognized as a prominent new voice in mystery fiction.
Like her earlier books, "The Bluff" is a deliciously twisted tale about marital infidelity, long-buried secrets and, of course...Read more
5 ways to rethink what a 'balanced diet' means
Most of us probably think we have a pretty good idea of what a "balanced diet" looks like. And a lot of us may be wrong.
"I don't love the term," which can give people an outdated or oversimplified idea of what healthy eating looks like, said Dr. Matthew Landry, an assistant professor of population health and disease prevention at the ...Read more
Richard Osman delivers laughs and twists with a new wacky crime-fighting trio
Whenever Richard Osman releases a murder mystery, readers know they are in for a clever, good time. In "We Solve Murders," (Pamela Dorman Books), Osman creates a wacky trio on the run from a Russian oligarch and a stream of anonymous assassins. When the bullets fly, Osman keeps his readers guessing about who the shooter is and who is the ...Read more
Lori Borgman: Brain functions well in a jumble
I've read that doing puzzles helps keep your brain sharp as you age.
I don't like to brag, but I can often solve the Jumble puzzle at a glance. After years of making millions of typos at the keyboard, I'm accustomed to seeing words with letters in the worng odrer.
A granddaughter brought over a new game called Mobi. It's like Scrabble but all ...Read more
Lori Borgman: The two sounds that follow natural disasters
There are two sounds that follow natural disasters. The first is an eerie, unnatural silence. No traffic, no car doors slamming, no children’s voices, dogs barking or birds chirping. Just a disquieting quiet.
The second sound is that of motors revving and gears whining, followed by the deafening buzz of chain saws slicing into downed trees.
...Read more
7 bewitching reads, perfect for the fall season
The air is growing crisp, the trees are beginning to shed their leaves and pumpkin spice is on every drink menu.
This month, Women’s Fiction Writers Association has gathered a list of novels that hold a glimmer of magic within their pages. Whether you’re looking for thrillers with a supernatural twist, romance entwined with magical realism...Read more
Moms: How a nutritionist ranks most popular kids breakfast cereals
The cereal aisle at the grocery story is lined on both sides with options. But not all these morning meals are equal. That’s why Healthnews researchers teamed up with nutrition scientist Lauryna Nelkine to determine how some of the United States’ most popular breakfast cereals rank when it comes to healthiness.
According to Statista, more ...Read more
Popular home blood pressure cuffs may not fit millions of adults
More than 17 million U.S. adults may be unable to get accurate blood pressure measurements at home from popular over-the-counter devices because the cuffs that come with these machines are too small or too large for their arms, new research shows.
The proportion of adults whose arm circumference didn't match the standard device cuff size was ...Read more
Craving more Sally Rooney? You’ll love these Rooney-esque books
I, like so many others, have constantly chased the high I feel when reading books by bestselling author Sally Rooney. She has a way of making the most mundane subject matter fill you with such emotion as each book portrays the spectrum of human connection and interpersonal relationships.
The same can be said about her newest release, "...Read more
Debra-Lynn B. Hook: Memories of Asheville
Like so many people, I have a deep and personal connection to Asheville, North Carolina, a once-sleepy mountain town grown into an artists’ enclave and vacation haven for people weary of bright lights and big cities.
I grew up 63 miles south of the town of 95,000 in the also once-sleepy berg of Greenville, South Carolina, in the foothills of ...Read more
Lori Borgman: Once upon a time somebody said yes
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" is a question heard frequently around here with this small herd of grandkids.
Answers range from archaeologist to teacher, bluegrass musician, artist, builder and welder. A 9-year-old grand wants to be a NICU doctor because she's always wanted to be a doctor and loves babies. Win, win!
Of course, all ...Read more
Want fewer head injuries in football? Experts suggest changing this play
Cohen Craddock was just 13 years old when he died in August, his brain swollen with blood. The West Virginia middle school lineman made a tackle during a Friday practice, stood back up, took a few steps and collapsed. Within a day, he was dead.
The same day, Alabama high schooler Caden Tellier — a 16-year-old quarterback — died of a brain ...Read more
Celebrating unsung women innovators
It is a common enough tale: A wife, daughter, sister, or mother who began a career at the side of a man in her life, only to have her considerable contributions to their shared life goals minimized to a footnote in history or erased from them altogether.
When working on my novel, "Mademoiselle Eiffel," I wanted to highlight an important woman ...Read more
Good heart health early in pregnancy may offset genetic risk for complications
Maintaining good cardiovascular health early in pregnancy may lower the risk for dangerous high blood pressure-related health conditions, even among people at genetic risk for those problems, preliminary new research suggests.
The study found higher cardiovascular health scores, as measured by adherence to a set of health metrics, were linked ...Read more
Lori Borgman: When the smart car is smarter than you are
It has been 10 years since we bought a new car, which puts us roughly 2,000 light years behind the curve on automobile technology.
Our new car has smart car features, not to be confused with one of those little Smart cars that looks like it fell out of a Cracker Jack box and can be washed in a dishwasher.
We are still learning about all the ...Read more
Family, faith and therapy helped her recover from cardiac arrest, triple bypass and stroke
Staying fit was important to Linda Griffin, especially after she was diagnosed with high blood pressure. That came after the birth of her third child, April, when Linda was 29. Since then, she'd taken medication to control her blood pressure.
She was also concerned about heart disease because her father had two bypass surgeries. He later died ...Read more
9 weeks after giving birth, former Chicago Bulls dancer had a mini-stroke
As a captain of the Chicago Luvabull dancers in the late 1990s, Natalie Poli gasped for air after performing elaborate dances on the basketball court for Chicago Bulls fans.
Poli had danced her whole life – she started at age 3. In her eighth-grade graduation program, her answer to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" was "Dance for the...Read more