Beasts & Children, by Amy Parker

Amy Parker came to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop after spending four years at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center; if that does intrigue you, I don’t know what will.

Beasts & Children is her newest work, a collection of interrelated short stories. Early on in the book, readers are introduced to young children; later, those characters are back with their families and kids. Some stories are more than related, they’re the same story but told through a different lens.

Parker will give a reading at 7 p.m. today at Prairie Lights, 15 S. Dubuque, and hold a conversation with writer Marcus Burke.

New Queen Victoria’s Mysterious Daughter: A Biography of Princess Louise, by Lucinda Hawksley

Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort Albert had nine children, marrying them onto thrones across Europe. Her sixth child, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, was a feminist, sculptor, actress, pianist, and dancer. It sounds well and good for a princess, but not in Louise’s time.

She was surrounded by scandal during and after her lifetime; when she attended an art college, she became the first British princess in a public school; she was the first royal in nearly three centuries to marry a commoner; it was rumored she had several love affairs, even one with her brother-in-law.

Hawksley was not, and may never be, able to answer the questions swirling around Princess Louise, but she does shed light on many shrouded aspects of her complicated existence.

Re-discovered To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

With the passing of Harper Lee, it seemed right to pull a tattered copy of To Kill A Mockingbird from my shelf and spend the afternoon between its pages.

By now everyone knows the tale of racism and morality in a small Alabama town, but that doesn’t make Lee’s words any less beautiful. She created fascinating, complex, and misunderstood characters; she helped readers grow up and understand what Scout learned.

When reading memorials of Lee, I was unprepared for the depth of my emotions. It was devastating to know her bright presence was no longer in the world. Lee herself penned the perfect words for my surprisingly strong sadness: “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” I did not fear Lee’s absence until she was gone. Rest in peace, Harper Lee.

— By Justus Flair