The four Flattery sisters have lived apart for many years, each the holder of a doctorate and passionately pursuing her own path. Olwen, the eldest, is a geologist in Galway; her lectures warn of the ...
Read ReviewQueens of Rock: Women in Geology
In Caoilinn Hughes' The Alternatives, Olwen is a geologist profoundly concerned with the effects of climate change. As in other sciences, women remain underrepresented in geology, even though they ...
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With the title Liberty Equality Fashion, it may seem like Anne Higonnet's new book is an unserious work—maybe a picture book of dresses from revolutionary France, recalling the refrain of "...
Read ReviewMarie Antoinette, Fashion Icon
In 1783, Marie Antoinette made a terrible faux pas—she dressed like a commoner. Painted by her favorite portraitist, Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, the queen was depicted in a loose ...
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Rachel Khong's sophomore novel Real Americans is an intergenerational saga that questions racial and cultural identity and our control over our destinies. Over the course of the book, we meet May, her...
Read ReviewChinese Science During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)
May, the matriarch of Rachel Khong's Real Americans, is born into a poor rural Chinese family in the 1950s. Her fate is foretold by her mother's life: wake before dawn to cook breakfast, clean up ...
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A Short Walk Through a Wide World
From the very first page of A Short Walk Through a Wide World, debut novelist (and librarian!) Douglas Westerbeke draws readers into the story of Aubry Tourvel, a nine-year-old girl who is not an ...
Read ReviewDouglas Westerbeke, author of the debut novel A Short Walk Through a Wide World, did not start his career as an author. In fact, he is a librarian in Ohio, at one of the largest libraries in the ...
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Journalist Karen Valby's first book, The Swans of Harlem, introduces readers to the little-known history of the Dance Theater of Harlem, which was founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell. Using interviews ...
Read ReviewPopular Dances of the 1960s-70s and Ballet
In The Swans of Harlem, Karen Valby explains how Arthur Mitchell sought to make ballet appealing and relevant to a Black audience. He and his dancers regularly visited schools to give talks and ...
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Sara Marsala is going through a rough patch, to say the least. In the process of divorcing from her husband and battling for custody of her four-year-old daughter, being forced to close her restaurant...
Read ReviewWe may think of Sicily today as merely an extension of the Italian mainland, but the island has its own unique history that dates back thousands of years and reflects the cultural, political, and ...
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This Strange Eventful History
by Claire Messud
An immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history.
The Familiar
by Leigh Bardugo
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo comes a spellbinding novel set in the Spanish Golden Age.
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A powerful, sweeping historical novel about a courageous woman in World War II Germany.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
