ArcaMax

When the kids were growing up, we had a giant weeping willow tree in the backyard. It was a magnificent specimen with long, graceful branches that swayed in the breeze.

It was also a magnificent mess. Not only did it dance in the wind, it seemed the tree shed constantly-every day, every week, every month of the year. To add insult to injury, ...Read more

Q. My mom and I are very close, but I also have a close relationship with my bonus mom. She has been married to my father for 8 years. I was 12 when I met her. I’m 20 now. My mother accepts her, and if asked, she would deny any jealousy. But this one day, Mother’s Day, I notice a difference. If I mention anything about wanting to spend any ...Read more

With the final season of "The Handmaid’s Tale" upon us, Gilead’s chilling grip on our imagination feels more relevant than ever. As real-world threats to bodily rights, privacy, and personal freedoms intensify, these novels delve into the struggle for self-determination against oppressive forces — whether political, technological, or ...Read more

Brooke Jones went through two years of infertility before finally becoming pregnant at 34.

Always an anxious person, her worries rose "to another level" as she went through her pregnancy, delivery and early parenthood during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If someone so much as coughed near Jones, it could send her into an emotional tailspin. And that ...Read more

Suze Leonie’s "Yonah and Devorah’s Traveling Music Theater" takes readers on a haunting journey through grief, family secrets and creative reinvention. At the heart of this deeply introspective novel is Eli Schmidt, a young man who, after his grandmother’s death, finds himself grappling not only with her passing but with a family legacy ...Read more

'THE ACCOUNTANT 2'

Rated R for strong violence, and language throughout.

What it’s about: The sequel to the 2016 film about an autistic accountant who serves dangerous clients sees the protagonist team up with the feds and his assassin brother to target human traffickers.

The kid attractor factor: This is an adult action thriller — not ...Read more

Since becoming a parent, one of my favorite domestic tasks is taking out the bins on trash night. Not only are the blast of fresh air, the sudden darkness and the sigh of suburban quiet a welcome break from the barrage of stimulation of family life with a young child, it’s also a chance, on a clear night, to reflect on all the iterations of my...Read more

Q. My ex reminds me daily that I can’t do anything right, from paying child support on time (I’ve never been late) to how poorly I parent the kids when they are with me. She tells me about all the guys who want to be with her and how stupid I was for leaving. Every day she finds something else to complain at me about and it makes it very ...Read more

One of our granddaughters announced she is going to an ice cream parlor on her honeymoon. I thought it would be good to get that on record in case she changes her mind and starts talking about a Caribbean cruise or backpacking through Europe.

She is not engaged.

She doesn’t date.

She is 6.

To the best of everyone’s knowledge, she has ...Read more

Some authors can tell a sad story but render it beautiful. That’s what Bobi Conn observed when she started reading books while in graduate school at the age of 27.

I would take it a step further and count Conn herself among those authors.

Conn documented poignantly the harsh realities of her own life growing up in the foothills of the ...Read more

Dr. Priya Soni remembers the childhood hand-washing lessons her mother taught. She didn't just make Soni wash her hands before meals, or insist she clean up after playing outside.

Soni's mother, a microbiologist who ran her own lab, had her wash one hand and then put both in a petri dish to illustrate the difference good hygiene made in ...Read more

Here’s how death works:

Up there, you’re not allowed to leave your residence or contact other dead people — although you’ll be afforded any leisure pastimes or hobbies that may interest you. No one said death wasn’t boring.

The only exception is if your phone rings and you are contacted and called to Earth by a living descendent for ...Read more

My mother grew up in a beset post-Depression family that saddled her with too many responsibilities, including, from age 9, tending her three siblings while her mother worked nights as a nurse and slept days.

Among her siblings was Aunt Cathy.

Aunt Cathy was always considered "off” by my hardened grandmother, though I always wondered if she ...Read more

'SINNERS'

Rated R for strong bloody violence, sexual content and language.

What it’s about: A historical horror movie about twin brothers returning to their hometown in Mississippi in 1932 and encountering otherworldly danger.

The kid attractor factor: Teens will be drawn to this big horror blockbuster film for the big screen genre thrills....Read more