A Word on Words

Galahad and the Grail is the first volume in Malcolm Guite's four-part epic poem, Merlin's Isle: An Arthuriad, which retells the Arthurian legends with a focus on the Grail quest, featuring Sir Galahad, Sir Bors, and Sir Percival. The book is a modern epic poem best read aloud. This book aims to be both a literary work and a spiritual journey.

Michael Thomas’ The Broken King is a powerful memoir exploring fathers and sons, race, trauma, and recovery. Through interwoven portraits of five men, including himself, Thomas traces his own breakdown and reckoning, crafting a deeply personal story about family, identity, and the fragile path back from loss and madness.

“In Alabama, we exist at the border of blessing and disaster….” Alexis Okeowo blends memoir and journalism to explore her upbringing in Montgomery as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants. Weaving her personal story with the state’s complex history, she challenges stereotypes and reveals how Alabamians reckon with loving a place shaped by both deep pride and painful truths.

After her father’s death, college student Jane Sharp finds identity and purpose in online true crime forums. When a triple murder in Idaho goes viral, she and her fellow sleuths dive in only to uncover eerie inconsistencies. One year later, Jane reveals a chilling truth about obsession, fame, and the danger of turning crime into entertainment.

For nearly 40 years, spiritual seekers traveled to Plains, Georgia, to hear former President Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School. Welcoming people of all backgrounds, his humble, thoughtful lessons offered practical insights on faith, love, and daily life. This collection captures his Scripture-based teachings, reflecting a lifetime guided by deeply held Christian principles.

The Everlasting is a time-traveling fantasy novel about a historian, Owen Mallory, who falls in love with the legend of the knight Sir Una Everlasting. He gets pulled into her story, forcing them to repeatedly relive and try to change her tragic fate. The novel blends adventure with a genre-bending romance as the two characters try to rewrite history and their own ending.

Inspired by tribal folklore and the ghost stories of his grandmother, Carson Faust, an enrolled member of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe, explores intergenerational trauma, grief, and violence in his novel IF THE DEAD BELONG HERE. Faust tells the story of a family broken by the disappearance of a young girl, and how her family is left to deal with the aftermath, uncovering secrets along the way.

Under the Stars by Beatriz Williams is a multigenerational novel linking three women across time on Winthrop Island, New England. As chef Audrey Fisher and her famous mother, Meredith, confront buried family secrets, their story intertwines with that of Providence Dare, accused of murder aboard the doomed 1846 steamship Atlantic, revealing love, legacy, and truths that echo through generations.

“A dangerous element of narratives of Black excellence are being regal, being perfect, being flawless in this way that can be, I think, oppressive to the people who try to uphold that label.” Rob Franklin talks with J.T. Ellison about his debut novel, GREAT BLACK HOPE.

Jessa Crispin’s book WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEN is a sharp, clever exploration of patriarchy, masculinity in crisis, and the cultural myths that shape gender. With surprising insight, illustrated through Michael Douglas films of the 1980s and ’90s, Crispin dissects how power, desire, and identity collide, challenging readers to rethink what men are and what they might become.