The Land in Winter centers on two women: quiet, observant Ada and the more impulsive Irene, whose lives intersect during a harsh English winter that mirrors their emotional isolation. As they navigate love, secrecy, and social constraint, each is forced to confront the limits of duty and desire in a society slow to forgive female independence. I think the novel uses winter not merely as a backdrop but as a philosophical condition…a season that strips away illusion and leaves only what can...

It’s an exploration of how Giant became one of America’s most iconic stories, both on the page and on the screen. Gilbert intertwines three narratives: the fiercely independent life of her great-aunt Edna Ferber, the long research and writing process behind the bestselling novel about Texas oil, land, and social change, and the decades-spanning journey of that novel into George Stevens’s terrific 1956 Hollywood movie epic. Gilbert’s research and personal connection bring warmth to Ferber’s...

If you’re GenX, you know the importance of MTV in the 80s and 90s. An insider oral history for readers into the early days of MTV through the voices of its original video jockeys themselves. Rather than a distant third-person narrative, author Gavin Edwards weaves together first-hand reflections and interviews from the first VJ pioneers like Nina Blackwood, Alan Hunter, Mark Goodman, Martha Quinn, and J.J. Jackson. Their recollections deliver a look at what it was like to be at the very...