Houston, We Have a Problema

Though this book was published six years ago, its protagonist, Jessica Luna, typifies the twenty-something millennial: she can’t find a job doing something she loves, so she works a dead-end job in Houston to get by. She’s different in how she copes with life, though: she keeps her eyes open for signs, keeps a Virgen

Two Across

When Stanley Owens and Vera Baxter first meet, they’re rivals on the stage of the 1960 National Spelling Bee. Vera thinks Stanley is smug and privileged — he lives in the fancy hotel where the spelling bee is being held — while Stanley thinks Vera is pale and strange. Regardless, both are brilliant teens who

The Light of the World

When does this story begin? Elizabeth Alexander muses in the opening of her memoir. She and Ficre Ghebreyesus were the great loves of each other’s lives but all of that was one in an instant when Ficre suddenly died of massive heart failure. And so, she wonders, does this story begin when they met? When they married? When he died?

Bon Appétempt: A Coming-of-Age Story (with Recipes!)

Growing up, Amelia Morris was never a foodie, and it wasn’t until she was in her twenties that she decided to test her cooking skills. Despite never having made a cake from scratch — or having much of any kitchen experience whatsoever — she was dazzled by a beautiful chocolate-peppermint cake in Bon Appétit magazine and decided

On dating, virginity, and life experience: Never Have I Ever & Confessions of a Latter-Day Virgin

Katie Heaney’s Never Have I Ever: My Life (So Far) Without a Date first came on my radar towards the end of 2014; it was a finalist for the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards in the humor category. By the age of 25, Heaney has had a lot of things: college degrees, a social life, general