Childhood Stories, a short memoir by Irina Howell:

In this exquisitely detailed memoir, Howell examines her Soviet childhood—the boundaries crossed and secrets kept within her broken family. The author was raised in Soviet Russia with a fighter pilot for a father. Her work explores the complexities of individual lives played out against the backdrop of the collapse of the Soviet Empire.

From Fiction Attic Press

 

Shine Shine Shine, a novel by Lydia Netzer

What can I say? I read this book more than a year ago, and I still think about it frequently. A young mother navigates a complicated suburban life on earth with her autistic son while her husband is in space, on a mission that has gone terribly off course. This book came out long before the film gravity, but if you liked Gravity, you’ll love Netzer’s novel. I’m excited that she has a new novel, How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky, coming in July. Visit Lydia Netzer’s website to learn more.

 

If You Serve Your Country, Do You Have to Serve God? by Emma Green for the Atlantic Monthly

A growing number of atheists in the military have called for the appointment of humanist chaplains to serve their needs. But Congress, the US Army War College, and others are still fighting for a narrower definition of religion and belief. Emma Green explores the bias against atheists in the military and the slow but certain changes taking place.

Michelle Richmond‘s most recent books are the the story collection Hum and the novel Golden State (“There’s no denying the suspenseful thrill” –Washington Times).