ArcaMax

After our son grew up and began carving out a life of his own, he left home as young men often do. It was about 21 years, one month, 17 days, three hours and 10 minutes ago, but who’s counting?

He married a young woman whose passion for camping, hiking, dogs, night skies and the great outdoors matched his. After tying the knot, they fled to ...Read more

It’s true. Millennials and Gen Xers love nostalgia. There’s a reason so many of us keep mining that time period of our childhood in the 1980s and ‘90s for fiction. Nostalgia isn’t just about reliving our carefree past when our knees were stronger, our skin was firmer, and our hair less gray. The late ‘90s occupies a really interesting ...Read more

Essay collections written by authors who focus on topics we may not often consider open us to new worlds of information and thought-provoking ideas.

These collections take readers on journeys of the mind and heart while exploring themes that offer ways to expand our views of the world. Written in bite-sized pieces, they are perfect for reading...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- This summer a schism fractured the baseball community in tight-knit St. Louis Park, Minnesota, where the modern forces of youth sports were about to dismantle a suburban relic.

For years, kids as old as 12 could still play Little League at a local park for a couple hundred bucks, placed on teams with kids of varying abilities. No...Read more

'HEART OF THE BEAST'

Rated PG-13 for violence, peril, bloody/injury images and some language.

What it’s about: A Special Forces Army veteran and his combat dog fight to endure the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash.

The kid attractor factor: This is more of an adult drama with dangerous and emotional situations, but kids might be ...Read more

Q: My ex wants us to celebrate our daughter's birthday together every year because she says it's better for our daughter. We don't fight in front of her, but being together is uncomfortable and I'm sure she can feel it. I'd rather have separate celebrations. Does putting the kids first mean we have to celebrate together? What’s good ex-...Read more

When a technician pronounced our refrigerator’s ice maker beyond repair two years ago, he bowed his head, marked the event with a moment of silence, then handed us an outrageous repair bill.

Not going down to defeat, or life without ice, we went out and bought two plastic ice cube trays. Making our own ice was such a throwback to the past ...Read more

We are certainly living in dark times these days… Who’s to say we aren’t loving in them, as well?

Back at the tail end of 2024, I was offered a wild opportunity to pitch a horror romance to an imprint at Harlequin Books. I leapt at the opportunity because, baked into this prospective shot, there was a gleeful demon on my shoulder, ...Read more

Would you buy a haunted house? Some people might, while others would get back in their cars and race off at the first spooky sound. Sometimes people will buy a house for its historical significance, like a castle or manor that dates back several centuries.

There is also a rule about full disclosure; the seller must reveal to the buyer any ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- As a kid, Kristen Mueller spent her summers playing baseball with friends at a park a couple of blocks away. In high school, she was a three-sport varsity athlete and later played hockey for her college team.

But if her kids join today’s hyper-organized youth sports culture, they will be expected to get serious, not dabble. ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — It may indeed be divine to forgive. But Peter Hook has absolutely no intention of letting bygones be bygones — even for just one night — when he and his former bandmates in Joy Division and New Order are honored Nov. 14 at the 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater.

“Their behavior...Read more

'RESIDENT EVIL'

Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore and language throughout.

What it’s about: This reboot of the video game franchise follows a medical courier on a treacherous journey into a zombie-infested Raccoon City.

The kid attractor factor: This horror survival thriller is ooey, gooey, bloody and intensely violent, not for kids....Read more

The question these days is not “Can we afford to eat out?” but “Can we afford to tip?”

If you pay on a screen at a restaurant, the tip choices are 15%, 20%, 30%, and “take my wallet.” The awkward part is thinking it through and doing the math while the server stands there watching you.

We always tip, but sometimes one of us has to ...Read more

Q: My 9-year-old has started calling my husband “Dad.” Her father is furious and corrects her every time she does it. He says she already has a dad and allowing this is disrespectful. I understand why it hurts his feelings, but she's very close to her stepfather. This was her choice. What do I tell her?

A: There’s a fine line we walk ...Read more

Think about it: Some of the most unforgettable books hinge on a missed opportunity, a chance meeting, or even a random conversation. Such moments end up being the catalyst for life-altering journeys. What’s cool is that these stories can be found in almost all genres – romance, historical fiction, mystery, women’s fiction.

And no matter ...Read more