Sammy’s Flame Reviewed by Leilani Squire Sammy’s Flame reminds me of a modern day Aesop Fable set in the fantasy world of dragons. This is a charming little story about how to never give up, how to face the challenge in front of you, while shining a light on the...

Leilani Squire is a published poet and author, CCA Certified Creativity Coach, and Associate Member of The Dramatist Guild. For the past seven years she has facilitated creative writing workshops for veterans and military families, culminating in the annual public...

There is no doubt that the author Steve Jones found inspiration for his two recently published books, Nature Based Leadership: Lessons for Living, Learning, Serving, and Leading, and Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading: Revealing and Applying Nature’s Wisdom, in his...

Writer, editor, mentor, researcher, and family historian, Dera Williams is the author of a collection of childhood memories, In My Backyard: Stories of Growing Up in Oakland.  Born in Arkansas to college-educated parents, Dera was two years old in 1953 when...

In Jasmine H. Wade’s interview with bookscover2cover, she remembers writing her first “official story” in middle school about “a boy who followed a set of clues to catch a gorilla thief.” She knew at that young age she was a storyteller. Today, her short stories have...

The Sympathizer With a steady pounding to the U.S. solar plexus, Viet Thanh Nguyen relentlessly holds a mirror to American sensibilities and the underlying imperialistic arrogance that is forever culturally present in daily American life. The Sympathizer provides a...

Writers read, and read, and read. Reading is without a doubt an essential part of their craft, and books are a vital source of ideas, landscapes, and different perspectives. In the course of our interview series with published authors, we have noticed a trend—their...

Poet and Iraq war veteran Hugh Martin offers his list of influential poets and poetry is this book list extracted from his author interview.

Non-Fiction Perhaps one of the most moving and inspiring memoirs, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi should be on everyone’s reading list. As a highly-skilled physician almost at the finish line of a decade of training as a Stanford neurosurgeon,...

In our recent interview with Mona Houghton, author of two novellas Frottage & Even As We Speak, we asked her what authors and titles have influenced her writing. She generously shared with us a list of her favorites.

Writer Ronne Troup recently transcribed and published her mother’s autobiography, Once I Was a Debutante. Ronne shares a list of her favorite reads in our latest book list.

The five books on this list — chosen for Veteran’s Day — are not remembrances or celebrations but they are all written by veterans and they tell their stories. To listen, to read is to honor.