Book Digest

Laughter is often treated as a release valve—a way to smooth over tension and move past discomfort. But in Naughty Bits: Ten Short PlaysAbout Sex , laughter does something far less polite. It lingers. It exposes. It forces audiences to sit with the very things they might prefer to avoid. The comedy in Naughty Bits doesn’t exist to reassure; it exists to unsettle. Playwright William Andrew Jones understands that humor is one of the most effective tools for engaging with taboo subjects. By wrapping uncomfortable ideas in jokes, exaggeration, and absurdity, Naughty Bits invites audiences into conversations they might otherwise reject outright. The result is comedy that feels risky, confrontational, and deeply revealing. Why Taboo Still Works We live in a culture that often claims to be “post-taboo.” Sex is visible everywhere—advertising, entertainment, social media—yet discomfort remains surprisingly intact. Certain words still make people flinch. Certain scenarios still provoke out...

Amy Faulks's SUMMONERS is a fantasy novel that looks closely at how societies keep themselves safe and what they have to give up to feel safe. The story takes place in a world where magic is tightly controlled and every answer comes with a price. In this world, death doesn't always mean the end. Their spirits may stay behind when people die. Some spirits are calm, but others get angry or confused. The city relies on trained professionals called Executors to keep the living world safe. Executors are in charge of keeping spirits away from the living and keeping them safe. People don't always notice their work, but it's very important. The story is about Terry Mandeville, an experienced Executor who really believes in rules and order. Terry thinks that the only way to stop chaos is to keep things in order. When Terry meets the spirit of a man named Whip, his routine is thrown off. Whip is different from other spirits in that he is still aware and alert. His spirit do...

 We have certain expectations for family stories. Warm kitchens. Long conversations. Old wounds finally made sense in clear sentences. Someone says they’re sorry. Someone is crying. Everyone gets along well enough to end the chapter. That’s the deal. Comes Around breaks that deal right away. And really, thank God. The family in this book isn’t weak. Not calming. Not meant to make you feel safe like fiction often promises. It’s safe. It stays true. At times, it’s sharp around the edges. Love doesn’t show up here with open arms; it shows up in work boots. And that’s the whole point. The lie that love in a family should feel soft. In many novels, especially those about women, there is an unspoken rule that if your family loves you, they must also be emotionally fluent, supportive, and patient. That memo doesn’t get to real families very often. Family love in Comes Around doesn’t come with speeches or neat words of comfort. It comes with being there. People are comi...