Degas & Cassatt: A Solitary Dance

Collaborations among avant-garde artists have always captured the imagination of art enthusiasts and scholars. Such partnerships have inspired creativity and innovation in style, perspective, and materials. Salva Rubio and artist Efa focuses on the decades-long friendship between Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt, icons of the Impressionist movement. Degas, an artist who strongly critiqued the art establishment in Paris, has often held unorthodox views. Only a handful of his contemporaries could stand to be around him. Arrogant and self-assured, it is a wonder that he fancied Cassatt, an American artist, who shared similar aesthetic sensibilities. "Degas & Cassatt: A Solitary Dance" details the precarious partnership between the two artists, who pursued their own visions while also colluding on shared aspirations to change the status quo in the 19th-century Parisian bourgeoisie.

While the friendship between the two artists has been documented in books and even featured in museum exhibitions, Rubio and Efa bring it to light in graphic novel format. Efa simulates the unique brush strokes of the famed artists in each frame, capturing the essence of Degas’ creative approach. Readers will come away with a refreshed understanding of how Degas and Cassatt led a group of iconoclasts who dreamed of novel ways to invite people from different backgrounds to engage in art.

The Eloquence of Silence

The concept of success in modern life is predicated on busyness: packing all hours with doing, achieving, and hoarding. “Hustle life” is glorified, the constant yearning for more. Even as we navigate loss and pain, the common advice is to keep going and keep moving. Many lifetimes are squandered chasing pleasures or running away from pain. Instead of yearning to fill the proverbial cup, what if we sat still with emptiness?

"The Eloquence of Silence" is Thomas Moore’s encouragement to allow spaciousness into our lives. Through meditative writings on the gifts of silence and detaching from expectations. Moore draws from the wisdom of folktales, literary works, and various spiritual traditions—from Judaism to Christianity to Zen Buddhism—to share age-old beliefs about the value of emptiness.

Followers of Moore who benefited from his works about deepening spiritual practices to advance moral development will appreciate how this book dispenses well-grounded advice. Others who are looking for secular applications of the Heart Sutra will find solace in Moore’s contemplations on how slowing down and letting go can renew our commitment to humanity, virtue, and kindness. The lessons are meant for seekers on the path toward another way of dealing with challenging emotional experiences, ready to realize peace and comfort.

What Makes You Bloom

Queer theologian and spiritual teacher Kevin Garcia invites readers to reevaluate deeply held beliefs about connectedness, belonging, and love in the refreshing and affirming "What Makes You Bloom." Garcia shares personal anecdotes of growing up gay in a conservative, Southern evangelical Christian church. The process of deconstructing their faith did not come easy, and Garcia leaned upon wisdom in other traditions to overcome the fear and trepidation of being isolated and losing all they cherished. Garcia models their path in identifying a solid and virtuous sense of purpose.

I engaged with the book from my vantage point as a cisgender woman of color who became disillusioned by the exclusionary tenets of a Christian missionary institution. As a social justice educator and community organizer, I appreciated how Garcia used their platform and privilege to call out the toxic threads of homophobia, racism and capitalism intricately woven into the white American church. Moved by Garcia’s message of connection and alignment, I was inspired to learn more about their ministry. They are embraced widely by LGBTQIA+ folks and allies who may have had mentally traumatic experiences as part of a congregation and are looking for ways to connect with God and divinity. Readers would appreciate the down-to-earth, accessible, and practical guidance toward somatic and spiritual practices.

Here Where Death Delights: A Literary Memoir

“Here, Where Death Delights” is Dr. Mary Jumbelic’s thoughtfully rendered literary memoir. She relays scenes from a lifetime of encountering death, from losing her father at an early age to a storied career in criminal forensics and mass disasters. As the dead spoke through her scalpel, Jumbelic worked with law enforcement and the courts to provide reports and testimony. A medical doctor by training, Jumbelic shares her learnings on the job and their impacts on her personal life. As she honed her investigation skills working on criminal cases in Chicago and Syracuse, she became a well-sought-out forensics expert for her ability to examine evidence closely to unmask the causes of death.

The author began her career in forensics before the use of DNA evidence became commonplace. Jumbelic relied on her intimate knowledge of human anatomy, critical thinking, and keen intuitive skills to tell an objective, evidence-based story. Jumbelic writes in a straightforward way about her experiences at crime scenes and what she uncovers at the morgue. While definitely a page-turner, “Here, Where Death Delights” is not an easy book to read. I found that I could only read so much about unresolved suffering before I needed a break to reflect on the shortcomings of the justice system.

At its core, Jumbelic’s memoir tackles trauma, violence, and grief. Readers in the helping professions, or those who have suffered loss, would find solace in understanding the great care that medical examiners and forensic experts put into their work. One also senses the cathartic purpose of the book as the author recalls her thoughts and reactions to the difficult process of uncovering the truth.