"Beach reads" get a bad rap, but there's not much else I'd rather be doing than enjoying a good book in the sunshine. So whether it's fluffy or scandalous or a total thrill ride, "beach bag books" isn't a literary value judgment, it's about whether or not it's a great way to spend a sunny…
The Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal is the best book I’ve read so far this year. Food is both its frame and its unifying thread and yes, there are recipes. Yet, it’s only sort of about food. Either way, it takes guts to start a story with lutefisk.
Eva Thorvald, our protagonist,…
