The last time we sold a house was 40 years ago, so we were unfamiliar with the current concept of “staging a house” before selling it. When our youngest daughter and husband mentioned staging their house, we thought live music and refreshments might be involved. Wrong again.

Staging a house means you declutter, deep clean and enter all your...Read more

To say Bill Ehnert appreciates women is an understatement. Whatever female strays into his peripheral vision, he sees through his own particular pair of rose-colored glasses, which makes Ken Rossal’s newest novel, "Wither Creek," a joyous and libidinous ride.

Starting out at 16, living in Smalltown America, Rossal’s everyman first falls in ...Read more

Michael Bienenstock’s "Love and Hope Have No Borders" is a rare novel that manages to be intimate and expansive at once. Told through the eyes of Joe Gold, a young Jewish medical student from New York, the book follows his reluctant journey to a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, where his internship through Doctors Without Borders becomes much ...Read more

Imagine a covert operative enhanced by microscopic technology, only to discover the very tools that empower her might also be used to control her.

This is the exhilarating premise of Edward L.E. Phont’s "The Hidden Pulse," a high-octane blend of science fiction and thriller that grabs hold from page one. Set in the near future, the novel ...Read more

Turquoise colors the early morning sky as a granddaughter and I leave the house for a doughnut run. We turn out of the neighborhood, zip past the strip mall, clear two stop lights, lean into a roundabout and begin cruising a lovely stretch of road bordered by magnificent estate homes with manicured lawns and swimming pools.

My backseat ...Read more

What do risk-adjusted returns, beta coefficients and strategic exits have in common with romance? According to Desi Duncker, quite a bit.

In his book "Asset Management: Relationship Lessons from Corporate Finance (and Other Fields)," Duncker draws an unlikely — but utterly compelling — line between boardrooms and bedrooms, offering readers ...Read more

Whether your kid heads to soccer drills, pottery painting or a week of themed chaos at the local rec center, summer camp comes with sunshine, socializing and plenty of opportunities for scraped knees and soggy sneakers.

If you haven’t peeked inside your kid’s backpack lately, you might be missing a few essentials that can make (or totally ...Read more

If you’ve ever felt discouraged or defeated by diet and fitness fads or overwhelmed by the ever-growing sea of contradictory advice about weight loss, "Do It Yourself Weight Management" by Kouros F. might be the guide you didn’t know you needed.

This isn’t a book about quick fixes and overhyped results. It’s written for the rest of us �...Read more

I may be only one bag of Miracle-Gro away from going officially overboard on the whole garden thing this year. I blame it all on a long, hard winter. My survival kit during snowbound months with no sun and sub-zero temps consisted of chocolate and mail-order seeds.

Starting seeds indoors was how I convinced myself winter would one day pass and ...Read more

Mary Alice Monroe’s latest novel, "Where the Rivers Merge," is a gorgeous read, one of those historical novels that sweeps you up into a time and a place so real and lush you feel you’re there, with a compelling storyline to make you stay.

This captivating multigenerational saga of a wealthy South Carolina family and its land centers on a ...Read more

In "Child of Silence: A Blessing in Disguise," H. Allen Benowitz gives readers a deeply personal and boldly honest memoir of a life endured through adversity, transformed by resilience, and uplifted by love, creativity, and purpose. With vivid prose and reflection, Benowitz chronicles a journey that begins in silence. Born as the son of deaf ...Read more

What happens when you give two adventurous octogenarians a Class C motorhome, a loaded itinerary and 15,642 miles of North American wilderness? You get "Ride With Us! 15,642 Miles, Seventy Nights Camping," a memoir by Sportyman (the husband’s pseudonym) that’s equal parts travelogue, survival journal and a love letter to both RV culture and ...Read more