Book Review: In Focus: Meditation by Jacqueline Towers

In Focus: Meditation by Jacqueline Towers is a comprehensive overview of meditation that serves as a perfect introduction to the subject. It looks at what meditation actually is, how different religious and spiritual practises view it, and the various tools of common meditation practises. I appreciate that the author stresses that no tools or equipment […]

Book Review: Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel

Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel is a darkly magical re-imagining that fuses two great classics- Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice– into a seamless narrative. A chance encounter between Mary Bennett and Victor Frankenstein sets in motion a series of relationships that will leave them both forever changed. Victor is travelling […]

Book Review: Atlas of the Unexpected by Travis Elborough

Atlas of the Unexpected by Travis Elborough is broken into several sections, helping to define the strange and unusual aspects of the sites mentioned. Each site is accompanied by black and white photos. ‘Accidental Discoveries’- includes places such as Cahokia and Pompeii. The latter, of course, is the famed city in Italy buried by the […]

Book Review: Pause, Breathe, Smile by Gary Gach

Pause, Breathe, Smile by Gary Gach offers a simple, yet highly effective method for cultivating mindfulness wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing. It’s as simple as the title says, taking time to pause, breathe deep, and smile. This is a beneficial tool alone, and Gach teaches how to turn it into […]

Book Review: Fresh Ink edited by Lamar Giles

This collection, written by a diverse cast of authors, presents a variety of equally diverse stories featuring PoC main characters, a plethora of LGBTQ+ characters, and a slew of those with unusual mental/physical conditions. It was refreshing to me to step away from a mostly white story cast. I’m an anthropologist. Characters like the ones […]