Literary awards season is upon us. A few weeks ago, the good people over at the Man Booker Prize announced their longlist. What an eclectic and essentially unpredictable bunch that was, but it was, nevertheless, a wonderful lis...

I know that it’s impossible to believe, but it’s already past the midpoint of 2014. Wow, that was fast! The TBR pile on my shelf was gigantic at the beginning of the year, but it has slowly dissipated, as summer has come and (n...

Kseniya Melnik grew up in Magadan, Russia but moved to Alaska at age 15. In her debut short story collection, Snow in May, she reflects on the past half-century of Russian history through the experiences of ordinary people copi...