Books: Growing up, Liza Monroy traveled the globe with her diplomat mother, yet the author of the gripping coming-of-age story “Mexican High” now revels in the suburban feel of Prospect Heights. Comment.

Music: Enjoy a free jazz performance by the Charles Sibirsky Trio, while checking out the flavors of Park Slope’s new Aji Bar and Lounge, on Thursday. Comment.

Park Slope: Leave “The Ripper” alone! That’s what the sister of the so-called “Park Slope Ripper” — the man who tears down people’s stoop sale, “Help Wanted” and “man with van” signs from neighborhood lampposts — is begging the people of Park Slope, some of whom are increasingly angry about the man’s neatnik vigilantism. Comments (10).

Park Slope: Cops have collared the man who they say brutally murdered a Bensonhurst resident in Prospect Park last month, though his lawyer says that his confession may have been coerced. Comments (1).

Park Slope: A key bridge over Brooklyn’s most-troubled waters — the fetid Gowanus Canal — is back to nearly full capacity this week, two weeks ahead of schedule. Comments (1).

Music: Brooklyn is the city’s new jazz epicenter — and two Park Slope venues are part of the reason why, according to the Utne Reader, a literary journal. Comments (1).

Prospect Heights: Two thugs — one toting a nifty little sidearm — jumped a man as he was walking down Prospect Place on Aug. 16. Plus all the crime news from Prospect Heights’ 77th Precinct. Comment.