Tag: books

Weekly Book Roundup: Essential Reads on Global Expansion and Risk Management

This week’s spotlight on business books for leaders. Photos: Barnes & Noble

Books of the Week: Scale Across Cultures, Personal Security, and the NASA Way

Welcome to this week’s roundup of essential business and leadership reads. Whether you’re expanding your company across international borders, looking to navigate risk with the precision of an intelligence officer, or seeking to build a high-performance team using lessons from space exploration, I spotlight three standout books to elevate your strategy.

1. Mind The Gap: Scaling Businesses Across Cultures

By Vincent Lauria and Stefano Pellegrino

“Your global expansion isn’t failing because of your strategy; it’s failing because you don’t see the cultural gap.”

Have you ever done everything right, built a strong product, crafted a solid pitch, and entered a promising market, only to watch deals fall apart and partnerships stall? (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

Written by global venture capitalist Vincent Lauria and international operator Stefano Pellegrino, Mind The Gap is not another generic business guide filled with one-size-fits-all frameworks. It’s a real-world playbook built from decades of experience scaling companies across continents, exploring the human layer that most books ignore.

  • What You Will Learn: How to walk into any new market with confidence, instantly read the room, build trust faster than your competitors, and close deals that once seemed impossible.
  • Key Takeaway: Each chapter delivers clear, usable takeaways you can implement right away, acting like a seasoned global advisor guiding your every move.

About the Authors

  • Vinnie Lauria is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned venture capitalist who has spent over 15 years helping founders build companies across high-growth innovation markets in Asia, the US, and the Middle East. As founding partner of Golden Gate Ventures, he has invested in over 100 companies across 15+ countries.
  • Stefano Pellegrino is an attorney qualified in New York and Italy, holding an LL.M. from UC Berkeley and a PhD from the University of Pavia. His book is based on conversations with more than 50 global founders, executives, and investors from the world’s top technology companies.

2. Understanding Personal Security and Risk

By Charles E. Goslin

Blending decades of global intelligence and security experience with time-tested principles, this book delivers a powerful, practical framework for personal safety and risk awareness. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

Updated to reflect today’s realities, Understanding Personal Security and Risk equips readers, especially those traveling or operating in high-risk environments, to recognize threats, understand adversarial behavior, and make informed, rapid decisions under pressure.

  • Who It’s For: Professionals managing global security programs, travelers, and individuals navigating an increasingly unpredictable world. It uniquely addresses vulnerabilities faced by women, children, the elderly, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, missionaries, and university students.

About the Author

  • Charles E. Goslin is a retired intelligence officer who actively consults, writes, and travels. With a lifetime spent analyzing risk and threat across corporate operations and government matters, he has developed executive management curriculum and security tradecraft for universities and foreign governments worldwide.

3. Building Culture the NASA Way: Mission-Critical Principles For Creating Any Organization’s Culture

By Brady Pyle

What does it take to build a culture where people perform under pressure, pursue an impossible mission, and show up every single day fully committed? Ask NASA. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

For thirty years, Brady Pyle worked inside one of the most extraordinary organizations on earth, shaping the culture of an agency where the stakes couldn’t be higher. Through compelling firsthand stories of the people and decisions that defined the agency’s culture, Pyle brings to life what it feels like to work alongside astronauts and engineers.

  • The NASA Framework: Using the Navigate, Assess and Adapt, Strengthen Leadership, and Activate Inclusion and Innovation (NASA) model, Pyle delivers a clear playbook for building cultures of trust, performance, and purpose—whether you lead a team of five or an organization of fifty thousand.

About the Author

  • Brady Pyle is the Chief Human Resources and Inclusion Officer at Space Center Houston, a two-time recipient of the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and the 2024 HRO Today Learning and Development Executive of the Year for Lifetime Achievement.

‘Heavy Cream’ Book Review: Sarah Blakley-Cartwright’s Coming-of-Age Novel

‘Heavy Cream’ is Sarah Blakley-Cartwright’s new novel. Photo:

Heavy Cream: A Novel by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright: A Review

Abandoned by her mother in New York, sixteen-year-old Geraldine falls under the influence of three women, each seeking to form her in their image in this coming-of-age story from the bestselling author of Alice Sadie Celine. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

The Story

Geraldine (Gerry) is ten years old when her grandmother passes away. She and her mother arrive in town to stake their claim. Her grandfather had preceded her years ago, so they naturally assumed they’d be getting their fair share of stuff. Her grandparents meant nothing to her, so she wasn’t affected either way. A week later, they come across Nell, her mother’s estranged sister, at the memorial, and naturally, sparks fly.

Gerry has spent most of her young life on the road with her mother, moving from city to city. She is homeschooled, having never attended a traditional school, though they occasionally attended homeschoolers’ meetings so Gerry could socialize with children her own age. On the road, her mother teaches her how to circumvent the rules: how to spend the day at a motel’s swimming pool without being a guest and how to avoid paying extra for the chicken on a Caesar salad. She has learned how to adapt to her circumstances, no matter how dysfunctional.

When Gerry is sixteen, they meet a group of guys from Australia, including Patrick. He and her mother pair up and spend days together, even going to the beach as a family. Then one day, he just disappears, which deepresses her mother. Out of the blue, her mother tells Gerry that she’ll be spending a week with Bonnie, her old college friend, in Connecticut because she’s going to Australia to see Patrick. Days turn to weeks, and Gerry’s mother never comes back.

Her journey takes an unexpected turn when three very different women step into her life, each determined to shape her future. Alongside Bonnie and Nell, Gerry meets Finley, an old-money socialite at a party, who introduces her to a world of Manhattan privilege and sophistication and enrolls her in a normal school for once in her life.

Review

What happens when the only person who has ever shaped your world suddenly abandons you, leaving three very different women to decide who you should become? In Heavy Cream, Sarah Blakley-Cartwright delivers an insightful story about Gerry, whose unconventional upbringing has left her woefully unprepared for life on her own. Having grown up in a world of instability and dysfunction, she finds herself navigating a reality she barely understands, especially against the backdrop of New York City.

Character Analysis

Gerry is a protagonist defined by survival and adaptability. Raised on the road with an eccentric mother, Gerry is hyper-observant yet profoundly unanchored. The three mentors who take her in act as mirrors reflecting different facets of womanhood:

  • Bonnie represents conventional, stifling respectability.
  • Nell champions rigorous self-invention and artistic ambition.
  • Finley seduces Gerry with the rarefied, exclusionary armor of high-society privilege.

Gerry’s internal conflict lies in untangling these competing projections to find her own voice.

Major Themes

  • Unconventional Motherhood: The novel deconstructs traditional maternal care, contrasting the toxic survivalism of Gerry’s biological mother with the flawed, surrogate caretaking of Bonnie, Nell, and Finley.
  • Inheritance and Mental Illness: Blakley-Cartwright probes how emotional baggage and psychological turbulence pass down generational lines, asking whether we are doomed to repeat our parents’ mistakes.
  • The Comedy of Manners: The novel blends acute psychological depth with witty social satire, charting Gerry’s eccentric, bumpy path toward authentic selfhood.

The narrative balances humor with emotional depth while examining family relationships and personal growth. I especially enjoyed the premise of three women offering such contrasting paths to one young girl. It’s an important reminder that becoming yourself isn’t always easy, especially when everyone else has a different idea of who you should be.

Told through Gerry’s first-person point of view, it provides deep insight into her thought processes, particularly when she accepts that her mother is not coming back:

“Now, too many days disappeared, I felt whatever we had called love thinning out like a voice I couldn’t hear anymore.”

Final Verdict

Heavy Cream by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright is an unconventional story about identity and the complicated nature of family. Fans of literary fiction centered around family dysfunction and the multifaceted nature of female influence should definitely put this one on their reading list.

“In most households, there was one norm to rebel against. I had competing mothers. I worried I’d spend the next twenty years trying to see past the three women’s views, which blocked my own.”

Rating: 4 out of 5.

** Thank you to Sarah Jean Grimm and Broadside PR for my gifted ARC for review consideration. I haven’t been compensated for this review and all views and opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

Sarah Blakley-Cartwright is the author of Alice Sadie Celine and Red Riding Hood, a #1 New York Times bestseller published worldwide in thirty-eight editions and fifteen languages. She’s the editor of Hauser & Wirth’s The Artist’s Library for Ursula magazine and an associate editor at A Public Space.

San Antonio College Theatre Presents ‘Lend Me A Soprano’ Fall 2026

San Antonio College Theatre’s production of Lend Me A Soprano opens Friday October 30. Photo: San Antonio College Theatre.

San Antonio College Theatre Presents Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me A Soprano. 🎭

San Antonio College Theatre is officially back in the McAllister Fine Arts Auditorium for their Fall 2026 season, kicking things off with Ken Ludwig’s madcap comedy, Lend Me A Soprano. Opening tomorrow, October 30th, tickets are on sale and available online now. (San Antonio College Theatre, 2026)

About the Show

It’s 1934, and the clever, combustible Lucille Wiley, Manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, is ready to welcome world-class soprano Elena Firenzi for a high-stakes, one-night-only starring role in Carmen.

The only problem? Elena arrives late, her passionately jealous husband Pasquale throws a fit, and it’s entirely up to Mrs. Wiley’s mousy but fiercely determined assistant, Jo, to try and save the day.

Based on Ken Ludwig’s Tony Award-winning Lend Me a Tenor, this fast-paced screwball farce puts women in the leading roles and is guaranteed to leave audiences rolling in the aisles.

Directed by Laura T. Garza, it’s presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals.

Performance Dates & Times

All performances take place at the McAllister Fine Arts Auditorium. Please note: There are no performances on October 31st or November 8th.

  • Friday, October 30 at 10:00 AM — Student Matinee for High Schools
  • Friday, October 30 at 7:00 PM — Opening Night Reception!
  • Sunday, November 1 at 2:00 PM — Sunday Matinee
  • Thursday, November 5 at 7:00 PM
  • Friday, November 6 at 7:00 PM
  • Saturday, November 7 at 7:00 PM — Closing Performance

Location & Venue Info

  • Where: McAllister Fine Arts Building – Auditorium, San Antonio College
  • Address: 1300 San Pedro Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212
  • Pro-Tip: The theatre tends to be quite chilly, so be sure to bring a sweater or jacket for your comfort!

Ticket Prices

  • General Admission: $17.00
  • Senior / Military / Educator: $12.00
  • All Other Students: $7.00
  • SAC Students: $5.00

Content Warning & Recommendations

  • Recommended Age: 13+
  • Content Warning: This fast-paced screwball farce contains mature themes, including sexual innuendos and situations, partial dress, mild profanity, brief references to self-harm, and an accidental excess of prescription medication mistaken for a suicide attempt.

🎟️ Ready for a night of big laughs? Grab your tickets online today and support local student theatre.

Photo: San Antonio College Theatre

Navigating Grief and Maternal Guilt in ‘The Porcelain Heart’ Memoir

‘The Porcelain Heart: A Mother’s Memoir of Unexpected Loss’ is Marcy Kelly’s new memoir. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Book Review: The Porcelain Heart: A Mother’s Memoir of Unexpected Loss by Marcy Kelly

The Story

Losing a child is a heartbreak no parent should ever have to endure. In The Porcelain Heart: A Mother’s Memoir of Unexpected Loss, Marcy Kelly offers a personal and emotionally raw account of life after the sudden death of her beloved forty-five-year-old son, Michael, her only child. Through her journey, readers witness the devastating reality of grief and the long, complicated road toward acceptance. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

The book begins with Marcy and her husband, Jim, at home. They receive an unexpected visit from longtime friends Susan and Roy Brown. Marcy knows something is wrong when Jim drops what he’s doing and offers to answer the door. They gather in the kitchen, where Jim breaks the news: Michael is dead. A deputy from the sheriff’s office had called thirty minutes prior because they found his business card in Michael’s wallet, and Jim was just waiting for their friends to arrive to help tell Marcy.

Initially, Marcy refuses to believe it. Later, she blames herself for not recognizing the signs of his illness. She experiences disturbing dreams about not saving him and spirals through the various stages of grief as she waits months for the coroner to render an official cause. However, Marcy rejects the fifth and final stage of grief; in her mind, if she accepts Michael’s death, he will never return.

The memoir chronicles Marcy’s journey during the year following Michael’s death. She endures all the “firsts” without him, including holidays and his birthday. She joins grief groups, remembers frightening and fun times together, questions whether she was a good mother, and tries to distract herself with travel. To honor his memory, she creates a golf scholarship in his name and commissions a stone people and pet fountain to be built along the path where he used to hike.

On the one-year anniversary of his passing, she takes his ashes to his favorite place, a lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and finally begins moving toward acceptance.

Review

The Porcelain Heart is a moving testament to the enduring power of a mother’s love. Kelly’s honesty makes this memoir especially meaningful for anyone navigating loss or supporting someone through bereavement. Heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful, it reminds readers that healing doesn’t mean forgetting. Sometimes, learning to live with loss is the most courageous act of love.

Kelly tackles profound themes of grief, maternal guilt, and memory. Her story doesn’t follow a pre-set, neat path to healing; instead, she reveals the agonizing disorientation of enduring “firsts” without her son while struggling with whether she did all she could to help him.

Sample Chapter List

The book includes insightful and deeply personal chapters, such as:

  1. Proof
  2. The Next Day
  3. The Last Seat
  4. In Limbo
  5. The Viewing
  6. My Kingdom for a Password
  7. The Man in the Blue Print Shirt
  8. The Friday Email
  9. The Final Visit
  10. A Life in Fifteen Minutes

Key Highlights & Takeaways

  • Chapter 6 (“My Kingdom for a Password”): Marcy struggles to access Michael’s phone for contacts, final pictures, and videos because she doesn’t know his password, finding no help even at the Apple Store. It serves as a vital life lesson: “So much important information is stored on phones and computers—and for those, like Michael, who pride themselves on living a paperless life, the lack of access creates serious complications for survivors.”
  • Chapter 17 (“Why Is There No Word?”): Marcy explores how grief impacts couples differently, noting that losing a child either brings partners closer together or breaks them apart. As she observes, “In some cases, the trauma of their loss exacerbates the fissures that already exist.”

⚠️ Content & Trigger Warnings

  • Chapter 11 (“Wong in America”): Recalls a traumatic home accident that tragically claimed the life of Michael’s beloved dog, Clover.
  • Chapter 10 (“A Life in Fifteen Minutes”): A young Michael prematurely introduces a new bunny, Henry, to their existing one Cleo with disastrous (though thankfully survivable) results.

Kelly’s writing is sincere, offering an unvarnished look at the non-linear nature of heartbreak. The Porcelain Heart is more than just a book about sorrow; it’s proof of an enduring maternal bond that death can’t sever. It’s highly recommended for anyone who has navigated profound loss or sought light in the darkest corners of grief.

“Most parents get to see their child’s name engraved on a wedding invitation, but I would see mine on a sympathy acknowledgement card. I added that to my growing list of the ways life wasn’t fair.”

Rating: 4 out of 5.

** Thank you to Fauzia Burke/FSB Associates for the Advance Reader Copy (ARC) for review consideration. I haven’t been compensated for this review and all views and opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

Marcy Kelly has worked in communications and press relations at U.S. government agencies and has led several nonprofit organizations. She studied creative writing at UCLA and earned a Master of Fine Arts from Antioch University. Her short fiction has been published in Narrative Magazine and in various short story collections, while her essays on grief have appeared on Medium and other online platforms. Additionally, her co-written script, Fool Me Twice, won the Producers Guild of America best screenplay award.

Essential Leadership Books to Help You Lead with Purpose and Impact

Level up your leadership with these business books. Photo: Barnes & Noble/Gemini-Generated

Books of the Week: Essential Reads for Modern Business Leaders

Whether you are looking to redefine your leadership strategy, elevate an undervalued function, or navigate the deeply human side of management, this week’s book spotlight offers invaluable insights. Consider these three powerful reads designed to help you lead with purpose, impact, and authenticity.

1. Create Your Own Luck: How Leaders Leverage the Intersection of Preparation and Opportunity

By Dr. Jeremy Strickland Owoh

The concept of luck carries various implications, often shaped by individual experiences, and perspectives. From a spiritual realm, there has also been some controversy about whether there is really such a thing as luck. Throughout his leadership journey, the author has contemplated its true meaning and has come to define luck as the intersection of preparation and opportunity. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

If there is one principle that sums up his leadership experience, it’s an unwavering commitment to preparation, ensuring that he is ready to seize any opportunity that arises. His journey has been shaped not only by diligence and readiness but also by the profound influence of grace and mercy.

About the Author: Dr. Jeremy Strickland Owoh is a transformational educational leader and superintendent of the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District, where he leads with a clear focus on Academics, Behavior, and Culture (ABC). With experience spanning teacher, principal, district, and state leadership, he has consistently driven innovation, improved outcomes, and expanded opportunities for students and educators alike.

2. The Payroll Pivot: From Invisibility to Influence

By Nick Day

Payroll controls up to 80% of an organization’s operating expenditure and holds compliance risks worth millions. It’s the primary reason every employee trusts their employer enough to show up tomorrow. And yet, it remains one of the most strategically undervalued functions in business. The Payroll Pivot exists to change that. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

Nick Day has spent 24 years placing over 10,000 payroll professionals, conducting more than 400 podcast conversations with industry leaders, and coaching payroll executives across the globe. This book distills everything he has learned about why brilliant professionals stay invisible, and what happens when they stop.

“Payroll professionals who pivot will shape the future. Those who don’t will be shaped by it. This is your pivot.”

About the Author: Nick Day is a keynote speaker, executive coach, and author ranked the number one Global Payroll Thought Leader in the world by Thinkers360. He holds the PayrollOrg Global Vision Award and Reward Strategy Personality of the Year 2023. As founder of JGA Recruitment Group and host of The Payroll Podcast, The HR L&D Podcast, and Mindful Paths Podcast, he sits at the intersection of payroll, leadership, and human performance. He is also the creator of The Fear Equation™, a framework that helps professionals turn hesitation into decisive action.

3. Leading While Human: Notes I Wish Someone Had Given Me

By Ralph Kellogg

Leadership is rarely what we imagine it will be. It’s not defined by how polished we appear, but by how consciously we choose to show up. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

Most people enter leadership believing it will bring clarity, confidence, and authority—that experience will quiet doubt and success will resolve uncertainty. Instead, leadership often magnifies the very things we hoped it would erase: fear, pressure, responsibility, identity, and the constant awareness that our decisions affect others in profound ways.

This book is not a manual on strategy, productivity, or performance metrics. It’s an exploration of the human side of leadership—the parts rarely discussed in meetings or executive coaching sessions. Through deeply honest essays drawn from real workplace experiences, the author examines how leadership is shaped by lived experience rather than just training and ambition.

Written for current and emerging leaders (or anyone who works with others), this book offers a thoughtful examination of what “leadership” actually requires: not perfection, certainty, or control, but awareness, humility, and courage.

About the Author: Ralph Kellogg is a senior human resources executive, speaker, and advocate for mentally healthy workplaces with over two decades of experience leading people operations across complex organizations. A TEDx speaker exploring the cost of silence and unseen struggles in the workplace, Ralph frequently delivers keynotes on human resources leadership, workplace inclusion, and building organizational cultures rooted in trust and psychological safety.

‘The Lotus Blooms Twice’ Book Review: Stories of Love & Resilience

‘The Lotus Blooms Twice’ is Monica Saigal’s new short story collection. Photo: Paste Creative Book Tours, used with permission.

Book Review: The Lotus Blooms Twice: Stories of Love, Life, and Redemption

By Monica Saigal

Part of Paste Creative Book Tours

The Lotus Blooms Twice is a moving collection of fourteen stories and a bonus novella exploring the complexities of love, loss, and the possibility of beginning again. With settings ranging from Delhi’s bustling streets to quiet Virginia kitchens, these multicultural literary tales offer an intimate look at ordinary people navigating extraordinary emotional challenges. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

Saigal places women in midlife at the heart of her stories, giving voice to experiences that are often overlooked. Her characters confront betrayal, grief, caregiving, complicated relationships, and the longing for something more:

  • A widow struggles to reclaim her memories at the Taj Mahal.
  • A wife in a comfortable marriage discovers unexpected stirrings of desire.
  • Family secrets challenge a father’s understanding of the truth.
  • A woman faces the difficult choice between silence and survival.

Pick up your copy of ‘The Lotus Blooms Twice’ today!

Table of Contents

  • The Love Child
  • One and Done
  • The Bitter Season
  • It Is Better to Have Loved
  • A Heritage of Gold
  • The Waltz & Schnitzel
  • The Rhythm of Us
  • Truth? I Dare You
  • The Lotus Blooms Twice
  • The 2:00 a.m. Love Loop
  • The Accounts of Love
  • Still, We Remember
  • Love Guaranteed, No Refunds
  • Bonus Read: The Matchmaker’s Recipe

Standout Story Highlights

1. It Is Better to Have Loved

Neelam is a romance author who has spent most of her life as a single mother after a one-night stand. She agrees to go out with Amit even though she knows he’s married, only to realize she was deluding herself.

“I had known. That was the part that cut the deepest. I had betrayed myself before he ever had the chance.”

2. The Waltz & Schnitzel

Roland is a German engineer who keeps a journal addressed to the love of his life, Farah. He asked her to marry him the night she disappeared, and he hasn’t seen her since. As days turn to months and years, he opens a café named The Waltz & Schnitzel, leaving out a plate of spiced schnitzel, two cups of chai, orange slices, and a candle in the window waiting for her return.

“The silence that once gave me peace before I met you has now grown teeth. It bites into every part of my spirit.”

3. Still, We Remember

Deepa and Arun have been married for 25 years, but Arun is slowly losing his memories to cognitive decline. Girish, his brother, moves in to help care for him because Arun seems to remember him best. This one pulled right at my heartstrings.

“I wept for the man who remembered poetry but forgot my name. For the husband who had loved me splendidly and then vanished while still breathing beside me.”

Review

The honest portrayal of human vulnerability is what makes this collection especially compelling. Saigal avoids fairy-tale endings, embracing the messy realities of relationships and the courage required to move forward, even when endings remain somewhat ambiguous. Her characters are imperfect, relatable, and mot of all, shaped by experiences that resonate particularly with women in their fifties and beyond.

Themes of identity, resilience, forgiveness, reinvention, and second chances weave seamlessly through these stories, reminding readers that personal growth does not end with age. The language is accessible, and for readers unfamiliar with certain Indian terms, a helpful glossary is included at the back.

Some tales are heartbreaking, others unsettling, while several offer quiet moments of joy and hope. Together, they celebrate the strength it takes to rebuild a life when familiar foundations disappear.

The Lotus Blooms Twice is an emotionally rich collection for readers who appreciate character-driven literary fiction and stories that reflect life’s complicated truths. Saigal delivers a beautiful reminder that heartbreak need not mark an ending. Like the lotus, we can bloom again, sometimes more beautifully than before.

💬 My Final Verdict

The Lotus Blooms Twice by Monica Saigal reminds me why I love stories that reflect the messy, yet beautiful, reality of being human. It’s a powerful reminder that heartbreak and uncertainty don’t necessarily define the rest of our lives.

I especially appreciate the focus on women in midlife and beyond, whose dreams and desires deserve to be celebrated just as much as those of younger women. Monica Saigal brings deep emotional sensitivity to experiences that feel deeply personal yet universally relatable. These are stories that invite us to pause, reflect, and perhaps see our own struggles with a little more compassion.

Sometimes the most beautiful blooms come after the hardest seasons, and this collection is a lovely reminder that it’s never too late for a new chapter.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

** Thank you to Stephanie Caruso and Paste Creative Book Tours for the gifted copy for review consideration. I haven’t been compensated for this review and all views and opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

Monica Saigal (formerly Bhide) is an award-winning author, culinary ambassador, and cultural storyteller whose work explores the intersection of food, identity, and belonging. Born in New Delhi, raised in the Middle East, and now based outside Washington, D.C., she brings a distinctly global perspective to everything she creates.

She currently serves as Culinary Ambassador for Aramark Dining Services and has partnered with leading food and spice brands (including House of Spices), translating culture-rich storytelling into meaningful culinary experiences. In addition to her creative work, Monica runs a storytelling consultancy, working with global organizations to shape narrative-driven brand, cultural, and leadership communications.

A four-time contributor to Best Food Writing anthologies, Monica is a sought-after speaker and educator who has collaborated with institutions including the Smithsonian, Yale University, and Les Dames d’Escoffier. She holds degrees from George Washington University, Lynchburg College, and Bangalore University.

Author Monica Saigal. Photo: Rashmi Gill Photography, used with permission.
Photo: Paste Creative Book Tours

PechaKucha San Antonio Closes Out 2026 Season with Architecture-Inspired Vol. 49

The final PechaKucha of 2026 will be at the recently renovated Magik Theatre. Photo: Ben Yanto, used with permission.

PechaKucha San Antonio Closes Out 2026 Season with Architecture-Inspired Volume 49

Get ready for an evening of rapid-fire inspiration, architecture, and local culture. PechaKucha San Antonio is closing out its 2026 series with Volume 49 on Thursday, October 15, 2026, hosted at the newly renovated Magik Theatre. (PechaKucha San Antonio, 2026)

📅 Event Details at a Glance

  • Date: Thursday, October 15, 2026
  • Location: Magik Theatre (420 S Alamo St, San Antonio, TX 78205)
  • Welcome Reception: 6:30 PM
  • Presentations: 7:30 PM
  • Tickets: $10 (+ fees) | Available at the door or online

🏛️ Returning to Architectural Roots

Created in 2003 by Tokyo’s Klein Dytham Architecture, PechaKucha (Japanese for “chit chat”) gives creative minds a platform to share their passions using a unique storytelling format: 20 images, shown for 20 seconds each (a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds per speaker). What started as a showcase for architects has evolved into a global phenomenon in over 1,200 cities worldwide.

For Volume 49, PechaKucha San Antonio is returning to its design origins in a special collaboration with the Texas Society of Architects, featuring a curated lineup inspired by design, architecture, and the built environment.

🎤 Featured Presenters

The evening features a diverse array of local voices:

Emcee: Mike Long (builder at work, armchair philosopher at leisure)

🎷 Music, Bites & Hospitality

Come early for the 6:30 PM welcome reception, featuring:

  • Live Music: Fresh, modern jazz standards performed by the 210 Young Jazz Trio (Joel Castillo, Jared Finn, and Isaiah Williams).
  • Complimentary Bites: Delicious food and coffee courtesy of local favorites:
    • Liberty Bar
    • Olla Express Coffee
    • Duke’s Dive / Mission Bell
    • Folklores Catering

🤝 Community & Venue Partners

This event is presented in partnership with The Power of Preservation Foundation.

Annual Sponsors

Maltz Properties • Frost Bank • Lake|Flato Architects • Best Quality Daughter • 80|20 Foundation • Big City Small Town • Blue Star Arts District

Community Partners

Texas Society of Architects • Magik Theatre • Josh Huskin Photography • Studio Morris • Giant Noise • Sprocket Productions • Wenger Productions • SmithPrint • Ben Yanto Visuals • Gary Sweeney’s Postcards • Liberty Bar • Olla Express Coffee • Duke’s Dive/Mission Bell • Folklores Catering

About the Venue:

Founded in 1994 by Richard Rosen, the non-profit Magik Theatre creates professional, accessible, literature-based theatrical experiences designed to ignite young imaginations and inspire empathy across San Antonio families.

Photo: PechaKucha San Antonio

New Horror Movie Based on Josh Malerman’s Best Selling Book

Other Mommy starring Jessica Chastain is now in theaters. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Book-to-Movie Adaptation: Incidents Around the House

By Josh Malerman

The Book

A young girl’s troubled family is haunted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy” in this chilling tale from the bestselling author of Bird Box.

LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE

Synopsis

To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day:

“Can I go inside your heart?”

When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the question over and over, Bela understands that unless she says yes, her family will soon pay.

Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe, but other incidents show cracks in her parents’ marriage. The safety Bela relies on is about to unravel and Other Mommy needs an answer.

Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror about a family as haunted as their home.

About the Author

Josh Malerman is a New York Times bestselling author and one of two singer-songwriters for the rock band The High Strung. His debut novel, Bird Box, inspired the hit Netflix film of the same name. His other novels include Daphne, Pearl, Spin a Black Yarn, and Malorie (the sequel to Bird Box).

The Movie (Other Mommy)

Now playing in theaters, Incidents Around the House comes to the big screen under the title Other Mommy, starring Jessica Chastain.

Synopsis

Bela, an 8-year-old girl living in a home fraught with marital tension, confronts a sinister entity that emerges from her closet. The presence, whom she calls “Other Mommy,” becomes increasingly threatening to both her and her family.

Movie Details

  • Director: Rob Savage
  • Writers: Nathan Elson, Josh Malerman
  • Cast: Jessica Chastain, Dichen Lachman, Karen Allen
  • Genre: Psychological horror, Supernatural horror, Thriller
  • Rating: R (for some bloody violence and language)
  • Run Time: 1 hr. 33 min.
Photo: IMDb

Fall at the Briscoe Museum: Kathy Sosa Exhibition, Tejano Legacy, and Events Guide

Kathy Sosa: Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico opens to the public on October 15 at the Briscoe. Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.

Unsung Heroes: Kathy Sosa’s ‘Revolutionary Women’ Comes to the Briscoe Western Art Museum

SAN ANTONIO, TX — The women who shaped Texas and Mexico were never just passive witnesses to history. They were active participants, survivors, cultural transmitters, laborers, activists, mothers, revolutionaries, and community leaders. Their resilience and determination forged the vibrant cultural landscape that connects Mexico, Texas, and the American West. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2026)

This fall, their stories take center stage.

Opening October 15 at the Briscoe Western Art Museum, Kathy Sosa: Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico brings these incredible narratives to life through more than 30 powerful works by San Antonio artist Kathy Sosa. On view through June 14, 2027, the exhibition serves as a striking contemporary artistic continuation of the history explored in the Briscoe’s landmark exhibition, Tejano Legacy: Another American Origin Story.

A Grand Reopening for the Women of the West Gallery

Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico marks the highly anticipated reopening of the Briscoe’s Women of the West Gallery, which has been temporarily closed as part of the museum’s ongoing renovations.

The refreshed gallery will reopen just in time to welcome Sosa’s exhibition, providing a dedicated, expanded space to honor the women who built and shaped the American West.

Revolutionary Women: History Through a Contemporary Lens

San Antonio artist Kathy Sosa is a self-taught creator whose work explores mestizaje – the distinctive cultural identity of the Texas-Mexico borderlands. While historically referring to racial and ethnic mixing between Indigenous peoples and Europeans, the term has evolved to describe a broader cultural process: the convergence of traditions, languages, ideas, and ways of life.

That exploration takes on a deeply human dimension in this exhibition, which draws inspiration from Sosa’s acclaimed book, Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico: Portraits of Soldaderas, Saints and Subversives. The collection features paintings, mixed media, and sculpture highlighting women whose lives challenge conventional ideas about who built the history of the region.

About the Artist: Kathy Sosa is the author of Mestizaje: The Feminist Art of Kathy Sosa, co-editor and illustrator of Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico, and co-producer of the documentary series Children of the Revolución. Her work has been exhibited nationwide and featured across major media platforms.

A Contemporary Companion to 400 Years of Tejano History

The theme of mestizaje bridges Sosa’s work directly with Tejano Legacy: Another American Origin Story, the largest and most ambitious exhibition in the Briscoe’s history.

On view through January 18, 2027, Tejano Legacy explores nearly 400 years of Tejano history, culture, and identity through more than 100 artworks and artifacts. It examines the migrations, conflicts, faith, and traditions that created a vibrant borderlands culture that continues to thrive today.

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage & Fall at the Briscoe

With Tejano Legacy, Selena Forever | Siempre Selena, a robust fall calendar, and the arrival of Revolutionary Women, the Briscoe offers incredible opportunities to immerse yourself in Tejano and Mexican American history and culture.

🌟 Featured Companion Exhibition

  • Selena Forever | Siempre Selena (On view through Jan. 4, 2027): Features photographer John Dyer’s intimate images of Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla captured between 1992 and 1994. Large-scale portraits, boutique photography, and magazine covers celebrate her enduring legacy.

🎶 Fall Events Beyond the Galleries

  • Oct. 22 | Llamativa Free Concert (6–8 p.m.): Experience the living rhythms of cumbia with San Antonio’s all-female cumbia group, Llamativa. This all-ages outdoor/gallery performance is completely free and open to the public.
  • Nov. 7 | Los Tejanos Film Screening & Conversation (1–4 p.m.): Join a special screening of the documentary Los Tejanos, followed by an audience Q&A with acclaimed author John Phillip Santos, producer Jeri Wachter, and Emmy-winning director Joseph C. Stillman. Free with advance registration.
  • Nov. 19 | Truly Texas Mexican Film Screening (6–8 p.m.): Explore how food traditions carry history and cultural memory across generations during this special documentary screening. Free with museum admission.

Plan Your Visit

  • Location: Briscoe Western Art Museum, San Antonio River Walk, 210 W. Market Street, San Antonio, TX ( housed in the beautifully restored 1930s former San Antonio Public Library building).
  • Stay Updated: Programs and details are subject to change. Visit the Briscoe Western Art Museum online for the latest ticketing information, hours, and event registrations.

About the Briscoe Western Art Museum: Dedicated to preserving and presenting the art, history, and culture of the American West through engaging exhibitions, educational programs, and public events reflective of the region’s rich traditions and shared heritage.

What Is a Conversation Architect? The Critical New Role in the Age of AI

‘Garbage In, Faster’ is a companion to ‘Connecting Goals to Impacts and Outcomes.’ Photo: Amazon

Book Spotlight: Garbage In, Faster: Why AI Needs Conversation Architects

By Claude Hanhart

Synopsis: The Alignment Paradox

“AI doesn’t remove the need for human alignment. It amplifies it.”

From the co-author of the #1 Amazon Kindle Bestseller Connecting Goals to Impacts and Outcomes comes a provocative companion: a book exploring why AI makes human conversation skills more essential than ever. (Amazon, 2026)

Across industries, organizations rushed to lay off Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches, only to immediately adopt AI. They eliminated the very people responsible for creating organizational alignment and bought a technology that makes alignment more critical than ever.

The result? Garbage in, faster.

Fascinatingly, Garbage In, Faster was written in collaboration with Anthropic’s Claude AI, with the entire manuscript generated in under 60 seconds. However, those 60 seconds only worked because of the hours of structured conversation that preceded them and the twenty years of expertise behind those conversations. In short: the process of writing this book proved its thesis.

What You’ll Learn

  • The Diagnosis: Why “agile is dead” is the wrong conclusion, and what actually failed.
  • Communication Debt: The invisible liability quietly destroying your organization.
  • The AI Multiplier: Why AI multiplies clarity and confusion equally and how you choose which one wins.
  • Syntax & Infrastructure: How VERB + NOUN syntax creates infrastructure for both humans and AI.
  • Context Engineering: Why “context engineering” is just Structured Conversations by another name.
  • The Unautomatable: The five conversations AI can never have for you.
  • The New Role: How to become a Conversation Architect, the role organizations need most right now.
  • Actionable Steps: Five conversations you can have on Monday morning using no new tools.

Who This Book Is For

  • Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches wondering what comes next in their careers.
  • Product Managers whose AI tools produce beautiful, meaningless artifacts.
  • Executives who invested in AI but aren’t seeing the promised results.
  • Anyone who suspects that better conversations might actually be the answer.

Note: This is a companion to Connecting Goals to Impacts and Outcomes: Harnessing Structured Conversations for Customer-Driven Value Delivery. While that book provides the complete toolkit, this one is the vital argument for why that toolkit is now existential.

Structure the Conversation. Deliver the Outcome.

About the Author

Claude Hanhart is a Product Strategist and Agile Coach with over 10 years of leadership experience driving groundbreaking product strategies and agile transformations. His approach centers on fostering innovation rooted in business objectives, customer experience, and market leadership using tools like Generative AI, OKRs, and Behavior-Driven Development (BDD).

Claude brings a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective to modern product challenges, holding an MA in Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and Languages from the University of Berne in Switzerland and an MA in Geography from the University of Minnesota. Multilingual in German, Swiss German, and French, he thrives in international collaborations.

Structured Conversations represents Claude’s commitment to bridging strategic thinking with practical implementation. Currently based in New Jersey with his wife, Claude finds that their three energetic dogs serve as daily reminders of the importance of clear communication and patient guidance, principles that translate beautifully into his professional coaching work.

Are you leveraging AI to speed up your work, or are you just accelerating the chaos?