Jnana Hodson: 8 books

The commuter rails of a great city whisk millions of riders to jobs, schools, friends, family, shopping, entertainment, recreation, and home again each day. It's a great place for watching real people, the straphangers who maintain the metropolis in its manifold character. Picture the London T, the...

As a synonym for diamond, “blue rock,” promises marriage and an engagement ring. The phrase also evokes music, spanning both the blues and hard-driving rock. “Blue rock” also holds an element of fire, as in anthracite, or “hard coal,” as well as a fiery pounding, as happens with a ritual...

When her father is swept away in an avalanche halfway around the globe, young Cassia's world falls apart. Who and what can she trust – now or forever? She turns wary of everything, especially her family. Just what holds hers together, anyway, other than their restaurant? At first, she yearns for...

When Cassia delves into her father's tumultuous college years spanning the late Sixties, she's both amused and aghast. In four turbulent years, he and his dorm buddies go from uptight square to psychedelic cool against a backdrop of protests, the Pill, and pot. None of them quite fit the hippie stereotype,...

Are they even hippies? Kenzie's housemates share a dilapidated farm for a host of reasons, their version of a loosey-goosey intentional community. But what do they have in common besides low-rent, dogs, cats, and chickens or a pile of dirty dishes or a school bus bouncing out to nude swimming at the...

Each of the eight resident yogis has a different reason for moving to the rundown farmstead in the mountains. In its seemingly tranquil setting, they study and practice together under a charismatic swami who's a holy terror on occasion and warm fuzzy on others. There are many reasons to refer to him...

The opportunity to transform a daily newspaper lures a team of idealistic young journalists to an industrial county seat in the American heartland, where they believe their high standards will empower the common good. Trained to fight big-time corruption, these liberal media hopefuls are soon besieged...

Jaya was a fast-rising star in Manhattan's world of financing for nonprofit enterprises when she left it all to live on a yoga ashram in the mountains. Returning to her career two years later, she finds the job market's changed. The best she can do is take a promising position in Prairie Depot and...