Miriam Batson, the protagonist of these nine short stories, first appeared in Paulette Alden’s previous collection, Feeding the Eagles (1988). Like Alden herself, Miriam is a writer and sometime college professor based in Minne...

So far I’ve read 229 books in 2013, so although my task is nigh on impossible I’m gamely attempting to reduce that list down to just ten stand-out titles, five nonfiction picks last week and five fiction this week. (Some of the...