Veteran educator and author Margaret Stenerson announces the release of two powerful books that shine a light on the transformative power of knowledge, curiosity, and lifelong learning: My Noble Profession (Third Edition) and The Joy of Knowing: Everyday Wonders and Science Stories. Together, these titles offer a heartfelt tribute to teaching as a calling, and …
In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, internationally renowned glass artist Mark Eliott joins Anna Featherstone to show how a published book doesn’t need to stay in a fixed format over the years. Mark’s Essence of Cloud project began as improvised glass cloud sculptures, grew into a novel and an art exhibition, and …
It’s August 2005 in Hartless, a small, dusty town in the Texas Panhandle. Kindergarten teacher Helen McCabe, in her mid-50s, has just finished the first week of school, hoping that her class will help her find her mooring again. Her husband, Hal, recently died in a car crash; he drove into an intersection, just as …
In a curious and visually unique combination of words by former New York Times reporter Black and page designs (“visualization”) by illustrator Lehrer, this book portrays the author’s experiences dealing with grief after his mother’s unexpected death. The minimal text Black provides is scattered sparingly across the book’s pages, often with just a single word on …
Whether it was losing his parents or the dissolution of his nearly 25-year marriage, whenever the pain of loss became too great for him to bear, Mirasole looked to the open road for escape. “I’d come home from those roads different in some way I couldn’t name—quieter, maybe, or more willing to be alone with …
The Speakies are the newer UK-based relative (technically the British Audio Awards) of the US’ Audies Awards, celebrating the best of the year’s audiobooks. Like the Audies, the Speakies are open to indie titles, which is why I make sure to spend some time scouring the shortlists and winners when they appear. And this past …
This motivational book opens by discussing how women often face “You should say something” moments but don’t end up speaking out because of fear. The author emphasizes that the goal is not to have the loudest voice but the clearest. A woman’s voice, she insists, can create a “ripple” that extends to fellow teammates or …
Werth, whose books include The Billion-Dollar Molecule (1994), opens with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which did not spare the U.S., whose doctors wrote millions of prescriptions that cured no one. He then delivers an eye-opening history of the American pharmaceutical industry featuring little-known geniuses (James Conant, Max Tishler, Selman Waksman), as well as commercial …
When we last left mouseling Titch, she had just escaped a crew of grabbers—greedy forest scavengers—with the help of an eaglebear, a massive creature the Grabbers also held captive. As this story begins, Titch, her homebody rodent pal Huckleberry, and pocket-size puffling Dollop are lost in Rotwood Mire. A gruesome creature arises from the mud—a …
In the context of Black cultural life, writes English professor Freeburg, “soul is the one-word answer to this question: How did enslaved Africans turn America’s infamous failure into the greatest moral occasion of modern Western life?” Soul involves the formation of community, self-care, and self-help; delivering aid to others; and finding meaning in life—all enabling …
“Mags MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O. / And on that farm she had a…WHOLE LOTTA WORK TO DO!” With Old MacDonald taking a much-needed vacation, Mags decides to bring the farm into the 21st century. She begins ordering contraptions: a turbo jetpack with hose attachment to help water the crops (“with a SPRINKLE-SPRINKLE here, / …