In the spring, witches’ thoughts turn to gardening—since flora and greenery are tools of the craft. Use this lively lesson in intentional planting to create the magical plot of your dreams You have been on your knees all day—weeding, mulching, planting. Now you are inside, sipping a cup of tea brewed with chamomile from your garden, waiting. Finally, the moon begins to rise. You step outside and follow the intoxicating smell of gardenias to a sea of white blooms, some of which are just opening for the night. Feeling calm and peaceful, you sit down on a flat, moss-covered stone and begin your f ..read more

Erin Marie Lynch’s enlightening and powerful debut poetry collection, Removal Acts (Gray Wolf Press), is a haunting meditation on historical violence, and the repercussions future generations face from the atrocities of such legacies—herself included. Lynch, a direct descendant of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, writes about the banishing of the Dakota people from their homeland in 1863 and how the ripple effects of that erasure informed the fractured relationship she carried into her own body, mind, and spirit, from struggling with bulimia to reckoning with ancestral genocide.  In th ..read more

Lucy Sante, a Belgian-born writer, artist, teacher, and frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, has been a celebrated chronicler of American arts and culture since her first book, Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York, debuted in 1991. Her latest release, I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition, recounts Sante’s journey coming to terms with her gender identity and then beginning the transition process at age 66. Here, Sante, 69, gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the routines and rituals that keep her career going strong. I Heard Her Call My Name is a deep ..read more

Ever wanted to do a boudoir photo shoot but didn’t go through with it because of time, money, or an unwillingness to disrobe in front of the lens? AI avatars can give you the opportunity to be an erotic model—while still in your pj’s. DIY fantasy art is easy to make: All you need is 10 or more photos of yourself, and not even the best ones in your phone. Especially cool if you want to see yourself in a new light, AI products can generate avatars that are often as sexy as they are unexpected.  Plenty of free or low-fee photo apps offer users the ability to change looks with their artifici ..read more

When I discovered a rogue milkweed plant in the yard of my new home, I quickly realized it was an egg-laying hot spot for monarch butterflies. And when the caterpillars that hatched kept getting snatched up by garden ghoulies, my partner and I set out to save them. The monarch population has dropped like crazy in the last few decades, which is a huge bummer since the butterflies are devastatingly beautiful and crucial pollinators, boosting all kinds of ecosystems on their transcontinental migration. Here’s how to create a monarch-friendly habitat yourself, where you’ll get to witness all the ..read more

Come On Get Happy Rainkiss Sunset Smiley Poncho, $89, us.rainkiss.com. Full Bloom RainSisters Spring Bloom Coat, $372, rainsisters.com.  Under My Sun-brella  The National Gallery by Fulton Minilite UV Umbrella, $55, fultonumbrellas.ca.  Easy Being Green  The Original Muck Boot Co. Women’s Muckster II Mid Boot, $95, muckbootcompany.com. Purple Rain XTRATUF Women’s Fishe®Wear 6 In. Ankle Deck Boot, $105, xtratuf.com ..read more

“You concede you can’t change the system from within, but you propose you can change relative positions,” writes SJ Kim in This Part Is Silent. “You propose you can make the important parts of yourself indelible.” This essay collection explores displacement and loss (it rips your heart out and stomps on it), creativity and change (it puts your heart back together), and institutional power and progress (your heart is stronger for the experience). Born in Korea and raised in North Carolina, Kim grew up around her parents’ ice cream shop. Her mother was frugal about everything save for books, and ..read more

Most of us stumble through adolescence like we’re trying to solve the mystery of ourselves. For Melanie, a 14-year-old girl living in a small Massachusetts town in the 1980s—who suspects she might not be a girl at all—the mystery is both exhilarating and terrifying. Thankfully, she finds a mentor in Sylvia, a badass trans woman who knows about cool music, wears cool clothes, and drives in demolition derbies. Their friendship clears a space for Mel to thrive and start imagining life as Max, while rattling everyone around them.  When writing nonfiction under the pen name Jeremiah Moss, auth ..read more

Xochitl Gonzalez’s sophomore novel is a sweeping story that swings between the ’80s and ’90s and travels from Cuba to New York to Spain and everywhere in between. Artist Anita de Monte is on the rise when she’s found dead in New York City. And just like that, her renown is buried with her. That is, until over a decade later, when Brown University student Raquel Toro starts working on her final thesis. Behind her examination of another artist lies Anita de Monte’s forgotten legacy. But before she can reveal the full and beautiful extent of de Monte’s work, she must first confront the unsettling ..read more

Helena Hallberg’s debut album, Epithet, seamlessly combines jazz, folk, and pop sounds with refreshing results. There’s an eclectic mix of upbeat numbers (“The Day I Found the Moon,” “Your Side of the Pillow”), ballads (“Heaven and Hell,” “Mastermind”) and a great dance song (“Surprisingly Disco”) that goes straight to your feet with its way-cool groove. Hallberg’s vocal range is reminiscent of early Emmylou Harris and Joni Mitchell. Her writing is both thought-provoking and witty, with lyrics that focus on empowering oneself and others. Helena Hallberg has masterfully combined all these eleme ..read more