They stand proudly gazing across the Hudson River at the cliffs of New Jersey. Their brows are marked by ornamental pediments. Greek columns stand as sentries by their entrances and stone medallions bedeck their chests. They are seven graceful relics of Beaux Arts New York, townhouses built more than 100 years ago for a new class of industrialists, actors and scientists — many from abroad — who made their fortunes in the United States...

"It is a complex time to be a parent. Our climate is in crisis, and economic inequality is deepening. Racialized violence is spreading, and school shootings are escalating. How do we, as parents, cultivate in our children a love of the earth, a cry for justice, and a commitment to nonviolence? Where do we place our bodies so we teach our kids that resistance is crucial and change is possible? What practices do we hold as a family to encourage them...

Tongue-in-cheek tributes to people whose own lack of judgment led to their demise includes a homeowner who filled his house with natural gas to kill termites, a motorcycle rider who steered with his feet, and a welder who incorporated a grenade into a chain.

""We can do extraordinary things when we lead with love," Barbara Becker reminds us in her debut memoir Heartwood. When her earliest childhood friend is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Becker sets off on a quest to immerse herself in what it means to be mortal. Can we live our lives more fully knowing some day we will die? With a keen eye towards that which makes life worth living, interfaith minister, mom and perpetual seeker Barbara Becker recounts...

"When Destiny was found by the Sloth Institute in Costa Rica, she was sick, thin, and one of her eyes was closed and not working. The Sloth Institute took her in and introduced her to other sloths as she started to recover. She never regained the use of her one eye, but that didn't stop Destiny from hanging out with her new buddies, or getting healthier and stronger. Last August, Destiny was fitted for her tracking collar and released back into the...

"Gardenmaking, in its finest form, is a celebration of life and of love. David and his book epitomize this." -Lauren Springer Ogden Brandywine Cottage is David Culp's beloved two-acre Pennsylvania garden where he mastered the design technique of layering-interplanting many different species in the same area so that as one plant passes its peak, another takes over. The result is a nonstop parade of color that begins with a tapestry of heirloom...