Celebrating 50 Years of The Monthly

FEATURED

Ask the Expert: Estate Planning with Sara Diamond

Ask the Expert: Estate Planning with Sara Diamond

The pandemic created the urgency for many East Bay families to set up an estate plan. Richmond Estate Planning Attorney, Sara Diamond answers questions about wills, trusts, powers of attorney and advance health care directives.
An Alt-Milk Primer

An Alt-Milk Primer

A crazy-fast growing market for non-animal milk suggests a market in shake-up mode, so what's a milk drinker to do? Here's a primer on the landscape.
Should Middle School Parents Ban Smartphones?

Should Middle School Parents Ban Smartphones?

Some parents are banning smartphones. I am not.
Wife 22

Wife 22

Oakland author Melanie Gideon, who recently graced the pages of O magazine, is getting rave reviews for Wife 22, her amusing (and sexy!) first novel for adults. We’re pleased to publish an excerpt from Chapter 9.

PARENTING

Not Everyone Is Doing It

Not Everyone Is Doing It

If the refrain "everyone is doing it" bothers you, check in.
Should You Supply Your Kids With Pot or Alcohol?

Should You Supply Your Kids With Pot or Alcohol?

Should parents enable their children's experimentation with marijuana and alcohol by providing them with vices?
It’s Important to Get the Right Amount of Shut-eye

It’s Important to Get the Right Amount of Shut-eye

Want a better night's sleep? Put down the phone.
Should Middle School Parents Ban Smartphones?

Should Middle School Parents Ban Smartphones?

Some parents are banning smartphones. I am not.
Child Care Could Get Easier for California Families

Child Care Could Get Easier for California Families

A new law would treat larger day cares the same as smaller ones when it comes to permits and zoning.
Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton Urges Parents to Discuss Race

Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton Urges Parents to Discuss Race

A Cal psychologist has a simple prescription for race relations.
East Bay Parents Are Big Fans of 510Families

East Bay Parents Are Big Fans of 510Families

Two East Bay moms provide plethora of ideas for getting out of the house.
Keeping Birthdays Simple

Keeping Birthdays Simple

Should you get a petting zoo? No way. Tips on celebrating and keeping your sanity.

BOOKS

READING ROUND-UP

Local independent bookstores weigh in on their favorite back-to-school books for kids and adults.
Steve Wasserman Writes Heyday’s Second Chapter

Steve Wasserman Writes Heyday’s Second Chapter

A former Los Angeles Times Book Review editor, Steve Wasserman returns to his roots in Berkeley to leave his mark on independent California publishing.
The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage

The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage

Writer Phyllis Grant of Berkeley shares life lessons from the kitchen and a recipe in her essay, “Recipe,” one of 28 pieces collected in a recently published anthology, The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage: True Tales of Food, Family and How We Learn to Eat. Two San Francisco authors and editors, Caroline M. Grant and Lisa Catherine Harper, put together the collection, which includes submissions from several Bay Area writers.
Holding Silvan: A Brief Life

Holding Silvan: A Brief Life

Berkeley writer Monica Wesolowska recently published the memoir Holding Silvan: A Brief Life, which explores the love and ethics behind forgoing medical intervention for her newborn son. This poignant and lyrical book chronicles the author’s painful and lovely days with her baby.
Ariel: A Memoir

Ariel: A Memoir

An excerpt from a superbly illustrated new memoir by the 86-year-old painter, a fixture in the Berkeley arts scene since the 1940s and pal to many a famous Beat poet.
The Doris Diaries

The Doris Diaries

Former Monthly editor Julia Park Tracey gives us a peek into the life and times of her spirited great-aunt in the Roaring Twenties with this first installment (edited and published by Tracey) of the Doris’s decades-spanning journals.
Wife 22

Wife 22

Oakland author Melanie Gideon, who recently graced the pages of O magazine, is getting rave reviews for Wife 22, her amusing (and sexy!) first novel for adults. We’re pleased to publish an excerpt from Chapter 9.

Faces of the East Bay