This is not another pity-party book written by someone with a life-threatening illness. Instead, Brenner’s writing provides a map for future activists and organizers…. read more

[Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around is] a collection of stories that stress not only the importance of a movement but also its role and influence in larger society and culture as a whole. … read more

If the autobiographical essays in You’re Not Edith are any indication, Allison Gruber has a surprisingly functional (not to mention intimate) relationship with all things strange and eccentric. … read more

“With two volumes containing poems, essays, and experimental writing, this retrospective encapsulates the riveting and powerful nature of Adnan’s unique voice […]”… read more

Though the book demonstrates an intimacy as telling as a photo album, the ultimate message of the collection is clear: no matter how deeply you might know a place, the world does not belong to you, and you can claim no ownership. … read more

If everyone is used to objectifying women, like it’s just a thing used to sell toothpaste and jeans and trick us into watching rom-coms, how do you write about sex and the erotic in a way that only the intended audience is picking up what you’re putting down?… read more

There’s something you’ll get from Kelli Dunham’s book of essays that other comedians’ books don’t always include: heart. In Freak of Nurture (Topside Signature), Dunham offers a wide array of comedy, storytelling, observations and advice. Having spent portions of her life as a nun, a house boi, a volunteer childcare provider in Haiti, an emcee,… read more

Anyone who assumes erotica is just not their thing may think twice after reading these stories. There’s warmth and humanity here, and a perfect balance of sex with storytelling…. read more

In one of Willa Cather’s letters to her beloved brother Roscoe she writes, “As for me, I have cared too much, about people and places–cared too hard. It made me as a writer, but it will break me in the end.” Losing those near to her very nearly did break Cather, but it is our great fortune that she let herself care as much as she did…. read more

“…THE FIRST FAN MAIL I HAD WAS ALMOST ALWAYS FROM PEOPLE WHO FELT VERY ISOLATED AND VERY UNKNOWN…AS THE YEARS WENT ON I MUCH MORE OFTEN GOT RATHER JOYFUL LETTERS SAYING THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WORK YOU’VE DONE AND HOW MUCH EASIER YOU’VE MADE MY LIFE.” Author Jane Rule is best known for her… read more