South Korean researchers said Thursday they have uncovered dozens of artifacts used in Buddhist ceremonies nearly a millennium ago, as they begin to unravel the mystery behind an ancient shrine where they were discovered.The 77 artifacts include a vajra, a type of club with ribbed spherical heads, bells and censers thought to be from the Joseon era (1392-1910), or possibly even earlier.Researchers at the Seoul Institute of Cultural Heritage were wrapping up an archaeological field survey on Dobo

Late in his novel “Your Face in Mine,” Jess Row cites a parable attributed to Zhuangzi, a Chinese philosopher from the fourth century BC. “Zhuangzi awoke from dreaming that he was a butterfly,” he writes, “And didn’t know whether he was a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi.” It’s the kind of brain-twister beloved by the ancient masters, but it also has a lot to do with what Row is after in this book.“Your Face in Mine” is his first novel after two well-regarded collections of stories, and it dea

I grew up within sight of the ocean, close enough to hear the boom of the surf as it exploded across the sandbars. My grandfather pulled his living from the ocean, and a great uncle died in it. I spent thousands of hours in the Atlantic and thousands more along its edges. I knew it, I thought.Then I read James Nestor’s fascinating new book, “Deep,” an exploration, layer by layer, of the oceans’ depths. My knowledge barely dipped beneath the surface.Nestor’s journey begins in Greece, on assignmen

All Our NamesBy Dinaw Mengestu (Knopf)At first glance, “All Our Names” seems to be a straightforward immigrant story. A young man, carrying the name of Isaac on his passport, has come from Uganda to Laurel, a small Midwestern town, on a one-year student visa. His case is assigned to Helen, with Lutheran Relief Services. Chapters segue between those in Uganda narrated by Isaac, and those in America, narrated by Helen.The novel partially takes place in Uganda in the early 1970s, after it has won i

Remember Me Like ThisBy Bret Anthony Johnston (Random House) A page-turner of a plot alone usually is not enough to keep me reading long into the night, abandoning my dreams for a writer’s creative imaginings. Bret Anthony Johnston delivers the special something that makes a book worth losing sleep over: a masterfully designed architecture of psychological truths and observations that build ironclad believability.Just a couple of chapters into “Remember Me Like This,” I cared enough about the fa

AKRON, Ohio ― When people tried to pet her, the cat snuggled closer to owner Susan McIntosh. The cat is the first pet to be housed at the new home of Family Promise, a 10-year-old nonprofit organization that provides services to homeless families. Recently, it opened a kennel so that the families could keep their pets with them.Most homeless shelters do not take pets, forcing owners to find someone to watch a pet, or to give it away. Some would rather live on the streets than give up an animal.“

BALTIMORE ― Charlotte Rollenhagen still remembers the first time she saw Dorothy Hutchins at Johns Hopkins Hospital.It was 1940, and the 10-year-old girl had been badly burned when her dress caught fire on the kitchen stove in her family’s Baltimore home. Her entire back was burned, as well as part of her left leg and her left arm, which she flapped in vain to put the flames out.“The picture of this little girl is indelibly placed in my mind,” said Rollenhagen, who at the time was a rookie 21-ye

LOS ANGELES ― Women filed into a classroom at an East Los Angeles community center. Some came alone, some in groups of two and three. Most were Latina and edging past middle age. They hauled tote bags full of fabric and rolled suitcases holding sewing machines.One of them was Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, toting her own bundles of material.As one of the “five kings and queens” who run a sprawling county government, Molina is among the most powerful women in Los Angeles. She wrestl

Josephine Shoo arrived in Korea in March 2014 to visit friends, but after a medical checkup, she received a shocking diagnosis: stage III follicular lymphoma. Left with a bill of over $40,000 and no Korean health insurance, the Shoos and their friends are reaching out to the public for donations to help cover the hospital expenses.Shoo runs an NGO called New Life Foundation with her husband Glorious Shoo and is the president of another nonprofit called Uzima Africa in her native Tanzania.She had