Book Review

A review of All Hallows’ Eve, a children’s book that encourages keeping the Hallow — or holy — in Halloween.

Michigan-based novelist Angela Shupe’s debut work, “In the Light of the Sun,” can be seen as a testament to the power of art and music to lighten even the most extreme anguish and hardship.

Bronwen McShea’s “Women in the Church,” which, as the title suggests, examines the influence of both religious and lay women in supporting the life of the church in big and small ways.

Although the image of the wine press never appears in any of the stories, the feeling of being “pressed” — or perhaps oppressed — is the enduring theme of Joshua Hren’s “In the Wine Press: Short Stories.”

Review of “A Hiker’s Guide to Purgatory: A Novel.” In terms of adventure, the author, Michael Norton, does not disappoint. For a story with a foregone conclusion, the road to heaven nonetheless takes many turns for its main character, an erstwhile family man and lawyer from St. Paul by the name of Dan Geary.

“Hold Fast” is the tale of a father and son in the harsh time following a pair of tragedies. Thom, a grizzled Minnesota handyman and snowplow driver, has fallen into a deep depression after the loss of Helen, his wife; Jude, his son, has lost both his mother as well as his dream of rowing on the Olympic team after an injury.

Anyone looking to appreciate Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” without having to wade through the 100 cantos will welcome this new collection from writer and educator Angela Alaimo O’Donnell.

In his newest book, “Totality,” Brendan Lyons imagines a dystopian future where people are given the opportunity to receive a brand new, genetically modified, “perfect” body. This process, called a “switchover” takes place by implanting the person’s brain into the new body.