Through Another’s Eyes

The five memoirs included in this roundup detail the lives and experiences of five truly remarkable individuals. From mysterious medical conditions and life in cyberspace to culinary adventures and survival against the odds by way of adventuresome history, the stories that they have to tell provide startling insights into the worlds inhabited by other people.

A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention: A Memoir of Coming Home to My Neurodivergent Mind by Rebecca Schiller

When Rebecca Schiller and her family moved to a smallholding in the picturesque English countryside, their new life should have been a dream come true. Unfortunately, however, their attempt at the good life quickly turned into the troubling life as Rebecca’s previously robust health started to break down. She found herself suffering from memory lapses and mood swings, and she also started to frequently experience falls. It was a lot to cope with in the midst of an overwhelming lifestyle change that necessitated a steep learning curve when it came to the difficulties and technicalities of running a small farm. After a succession of medical investigations, Rebecca finally received a very surprising diagnosis: ADHD. The diagnosis caused her to both question her current life and reevaluate her past, a process that placed a serious on Rebecca and her family. In an attempt to cope with her life seemingly spiraling out of control, she sought to distract herself by investigating the history of her new land and the roles of various women in its past. Schiller’s A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention: A Memoir of Coming Home to My Neurodivergent Mind is a moving and insightful account of her journey through the darkness of uncertainly and into the light of acceptance.

Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family by Madhushree Ghosh

Madhushree Ghosh’s Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family is a gorgeously illustrated culinary memoir comprised of essays showing the integral role that food plays in history, politics, society, family, and more. In vivid prose, Ghosh examines how immigrant food in general, and South Asian food in particular, has been transported around the world via colonization, migration, and refugee journeys. Through the stories of chefs, home cooks, and street food vendors, she questions what it means to belong and how food histories can be integrated into new locations. On a more personal level, she also elucidates the role that food played during her childhood as the daughter of Indian refugees and then later in her adulthood as an immigrant in the United States. As Ghosh sought to situate herself as an immigrant, a woman of color working in medical science, a woman who escaped an abusive marriage, and a woman of Indian heritage striving to keep her parents’ cultural history alive through her cooking, food seemed to be the one stable and constant presence in her life. Together, the essays in this collection awaken the senses and inspire the mind to consider the vast differences and inequalities that exist globally.

The Earth Is All That Lasts: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation by Mark Lee Gardner

Celebrated warrior Crazy Horse and revered holy man Sitting Bull are now best known for leading the Lakota to victory against US General Custer’s Seventh Cavalry at Little Big Horn. However, this great triumph has arguably overshadowed all the other details of the two men’s truly remarkable lives, an issue that Mark Lee Gardner has sought to address through years of extensive research and consideration of primary sources that have previously been ignored. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull both grew up on the High Plains of the American West during a time when herds of buffalo still roamed wild and nomadic Native Americans could move freely across the land. It was also a time when white fur traders and government-backed explorers were increasing seeking access to Sioux lands, closely followed by a host of other settlers aiming to profit from the vast resources of the West. The arrival of these interlopers decimated the buffalo population, spread deadly diseases to the Native Americans, and provoked a series of armed conflicts. Experiences such as these inspired Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the warriors who followed them to achieve victory at Little Big Horn, although their great triumph sadly did not ensure the preservation of their way of life. Gardner’s The Earth Is All That Lasts: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation is a masterful dual biography of two true legends of the Great Sioux Nation and their pivotal role in the Native American resistance during the closing days of the American Frontier Wars.

Girl Online: A User Manual by Joanna Walsh

As the old adage goes, if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product, and nowhere is that more true than in cyberspace. While the internet offers many benefits, it has also increasingly turned its users into the used, who lack adequate privacy and data protection. This enforced lack of agency is often particularly problematic in the case of young women online, who are encouraged to conform and adopt certain personality traits in order to be accepted. Whether they seek to be vloggers, bloggers, or influencers, young women are forced to sign a Faustian pact—stay young, beautiful, and fit; never let the realities of mundane life intrude; fake it till you make it—to attract and maintain an audience. There’s now growing recognition that the need to keep up appearances in this way can prove highly psychologically damaging, although the practice doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Girl Online: A User Manual is Joanna Walsh’s account of her attempts to negotiate life in cyberspace as a girl, a woman, a mother, a writer, and a person who needs to make their living online. Using a variety of styles ranging from programming language to tweets to a blog, she brilliantly captures the realities and unrealities of online existence.

The Nazis Knew My Name: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Courage in Auschwitz by Maya Lee and Magda Hellinger

The Nazis Knew My Name: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Courage in Auschwitz tells the heart-wrenching tale of Magda Hellinger’s experiences of life in concentration camps during the Holocaust, as related to her daughter and co-author Maya Lee. Magda was deported to Auschwitz from her home in Slovakia in 1942. She would become one of the few people to survive over three years spent in concentration camps. During her time at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Magda was first chosen by the SS to act as a Jewish prison leader and then later appointed a Camp Elder, a senior position that brought her into contact with both her fellow prisoners and high-ranking members of the SS. Where possible, she used this access to perform acts of kindness, bravery, and compassion that helped to keep other prisoners alive despite the awful conditions in which they were being held. Although the roles of people such as Magda during the Holocaust have been largely forgotten, she did write a short memoir chronicling her experiences, which her daughter Maya used as the basis for investigating the situation further. Through additional research and interviews with other concentration camp survivors, Maya is able to demonstrate how Magda’s kindness changed and saved the lives of many.


Spells for Forgetting: A Novel

Fourteen years after the night of the fire, the last heir of the Salt family returns to the island of Saoirse to bury his mother. Seemingly untouched by time, Saoirse and its inhabitants live in their own charming world, where children follow in the footsteps of their forefathers and no one would ever think to lock a door. But to those who can read the omens, the island is stirring with too many secrets and change is in the wind.

August Salt’s return to the island reopens old wounds that never fully healed. Having fled the island to escape persecution, he finds himself being held accountable for actions not solely his own. As the story unfolds, we learn about the sinister side of this reclusive community, where council members vote on more than just roadwork and bloodline feuds span generations.

As the events leading up to that tragic night are slowly revealed, we find ourselves with more questions than answers. It only takes an accidental slip of the tongue to reveal the first of many secrets, which paves the way for each piece of the puzzle to fall into place. All this makes for a slow-burning and suspenseful thriller.


Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: A novel

When Sam and Sadie meet in a hospital games room as kids, it’s the beginning of a years-long friendship—a friendship full of love, envy, frustration, creativity, and collaboration. Sam and Sadie are alike in their love of games, and it’s this shared passion that ties them together from the early days of their friendship in the hospital to their college years in Boston to the establishment of their video game company in California.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow follows the journey of their lives and their careers as they navigate chronic pain and disability, the daunting video game industry, the challenge of balancing art and commerce, and their relationship with one another.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is rich with both compelling narrative developments and complex emotional dynamics. Each moment is imbued with an emotional texture that makes the characters’ lives feel vivid and that propels the story forward. It is a novel about art and games, about love and business, about life and death, and about the complexity of collaboration and creativity.


The Gilded Ones #2: The Merciless Ones

The Merciless Ones is the second book in the series that started with The Gilded Ones. It is a continuation of the story of a young warrior named Deka. In the first book, it was revealed that the world is dominated by men. Girls are forced to go through a ritual when they come of age; if they bleed gold, they are labeled impure, alakai, and their family is disgraced.

When Deka is found to be impure, she is saved by the emperor and made to join his army in order to earn her eventual freedom. While in the emperor’s army, she discovers a whole plot and realizes that she is descended from goddesses and the very thing her saviors had trained her to kill, the deathshrieks, are actually reincarnations of her alakai sisters.

Now, in The Merciless Ones, Deka has freed the goddesses and is fighting for equal rights for men and women. On a rescue mission to save an alakai, Deka discovers that there is a symbol that weakens her powers and allows the male jatu (sons of the goddesses) to revive from death and withstand Deka’s mind control. How is this possible?

Deka is also confused because the jatu keeps saying that Idugu (you have to read the book to know who that is) will stand for them and help them win the fight against the females. Puzzled, Deka runs to the goddesses for answers, but quickly discovers that not even her mothers can be trusted.

The Merciless Ones is just as good as the first book and is filled with feminine energy and triumph. The book is wonderful; the plot twist at the end left me in awe. I already can’t wait to see what will happen with Deka in the next book. I wouldn’t recommend allowing children under the age of nine to read this book because it may be a bit too graphic, but other than that, this book is an exquisite read!


The Last Dreamwalker

After her mother’s death, Layla Hurley’s world is turned upside down. Her whole life, she had been plagued by vivid dreams that her family dismissed as a child’s active imagination, but now she discovers they are so much more. She’s introduced to the family she had never known and her mother’s past that her mother worked so hard to keep hidden. The inheritance of a mysterious island and the introduction to her family's history gives her the strength to face an unseen enemy that threatens everyone she loves.

This is an atmospheric Gothic tale that delves into the Gullah-Geechee culture of the islands off the coast of South Carolina. The descriptions were vivid and captivating. The characters were well-rounded and endearing. Normally I don’t care for stories that flash back and forth through time, but this one is so well written that I enjoyed every bit of it. The author takes the reader on a historic trip through time as the main character explores her family history. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves historical mysteries and Gothic mysteries. Thank you to Netgalley and Forge books for the opportunity to review this novel.


The Cherry Robbers

Summer Reading

If you’re looking for the perfect holiday read this summer season, then look no further than the five recent releases included in this roundup. Fun, fabulous, and filled with both romance and intrigue, all five books are excellent escapist novels that are just begging to be read at the beach.

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery

While Bree, Mikki, and Ashley might have achieved their collective lifelong dream when they opened a beachside bookshop in sunny California, their personal lives sadly remain far less successful than their professional lives. After an early experience of heartbreak caused Bree to swear off romance forever, she has been a fairly contented singleton; however, a close encounter with a visiting author might just persuade her to change stance on the matter. For her part, Mikki has been unable to properly move on since her divorce, although she is keen to find a way to do so. And as for Ashley, she has been planning her dream wedding since she was a little girl, but her boyfriend’s reluctance to tie the knot is making that dream seem increasing out of reach. As the bond between the three friends strengthens as their business prospers, they also find new ways to challenge and support each other in achieving what is truly important to them. Susan Mallery’s The Boardwalk Bookshop is a tribute to the power of friendship and the need to never give up on finding the perfect romance.

The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker

The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker is a gripping gothic page-turner that offers a surprisingly contemporary interpretation of the traditional coming-of-age tale. There might be ghosts and socially coerced marriages, but there are also fresh feminist takes and bold artistic expressions. Sylvia Wren is recognized as one of the most important American artists of the last century, although she is equally well known for her reclusive lifestyle. From the relative safety of her New Mexico home in 2017, Sylvia looks back on a past that she has tried hard to distance herself from, a past that stretches back to her childhood and adolescence in 1950s Connecticut. Originally known as Iris Chapel, Sylvia was born into the wealthy Chapel munitions dynasty. The second youngest of six sisters, she grew up in an apparently privileged but emotionally cold household with the expectation that she, like her sisters, would secure a good marriage as soon as possible. However, when her oldest sister dies of an unknown cause shortly after getting married, a tragedy that is repeated when her next oldest sister marries, Sylvia determines to find a way to escape both the family curse and the burden of the expectations placed on her.

The Nobodies by Alanna Schubach

To the outside world, Nina and Jess seem like typical best friends, close and willing to do almost anything for each other. Yet, no one suspects just how close they really are nor the massive secret that they share: when Nina and Jess touch their heads together, they are able to switch bodies. Nina is a self-assured and assertive extravert, and being in her body prompts the naturally shy and retiring Jess to say and do things that she otherwise wouldn’t dare. By contrast, being in Jess’s body allows Nina to experience the close and loving family situation that she has always craved. Although time and distance eventually separate the pair, they are drawn back together following the death of Jess’s father and soon fall back into their earlier body-swapping antics. However, this time around, they are both more prone to deceiving the other and more likely to lose themselves in the alternative life that is temporarily available to them. The Nobodies by Alanna Schubach examines the blurred boundaries between friendship and obsession, exploring what can happen when friends become so close that their identities start to overlap.

Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman

Laura Costello finds herself adrift in downtown Los Angeles after her life falls apart in a tragically unspectacular way: a fire at her apartment building has left her homeless, being dumped by her high-school sweetheart has left her heartbroken, and being caught in a rare downpour has left her within even dry clothes on her back. Fortunately for Laura, she decides to take shelter in the bookshop run by Nina Hill and ends up becoming acquainted with an eclectic bunch of folks who are happy to serve as a makeshift new family for her. Her new-found friendships with Nina, Polly, and Impossibly Handsome Bob eventually show Laura that everyone needs a little help to reassemble their life at some point. Serving as an almost sequel to The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Abbi Waxman’s Adult Assembly Required is a quirky contemporary romance novel that focuses on the importance of nurturing all relationships and finding a place to truly belong. Perfect for any romance-loving bookworm, it’s a light-hearted and cozy tale that is sure to delight.

Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin

Thought-provoking, other-worldly, and rather beautifully sinister, Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin is a captivating account of motherhood in all its many facets, from the delightful to the downright tragic. Vera has grown up in an isolated and arguably bleak community in which everyone must adhere to rigid rules and constrained roles, where girls know from a young age that they are destined to marry and have children. However, what really sets the community apart from all others is that fact that every so often, some mothers simply disappear, vanishing up into the clouds without any explanation. When it’s Vera’s time to become a mother, she joins her contemporaries in gossiping and speculating about who among them will one day disappear. What is it that marks a certain mother out for disappearance: paying too much attention to her offspring or not enough? This is the question that plagues Vera as she attempts to do what’s best for her child, all the while wondering whether she will get the chance to see them grow or instead simply vanish like so many have done before.


The Stories Behind the Poses: The Indian Mythology That Inspired 50 Yoga Poses

Dr. Raj Balkaran delivers a must-own book for yoga enthusiasts, spiritual seekers, and students of mythology in The Stories Behind the Poses. The fully illustrated hardcover volume tells the eternal stories from Indian myth anchored in the Brahmanic worldview underpinning the spiritual beliefs and the physical practice of yoga. Beyond merely a retelling of epic tales of the struggles and triumphs of gods, goddesses, kings, demons, and various characters, Balkaran delves into the transformative power of meaning-making. Artist Devika Menon brings each story to life with her inspired and informed illustrative interpretation of how mythology yielded each yogic pose.

The Stories Behind the Poses is an elegantly written and illustrated page-turner for anyone who appreciates origin stories from rich cultural traditions. The book is beneficial for yoga practitioners and anyone who appreciates Indian rituals and philosophy. Balkaran tells each story compellingly, creating a reason for the reader to empathize with moral and ethical dilemmas faced by powerful beings. Each story is itself a meditative tool to guide the yogi. The book invites anyone with a yoga practice to deepen their physical practices by internalizing the lessons from each tale and how it relates to the physical manifestation of the yogic posture.


The Science of Being Angry

Being a teenager is super hard, and is very emotional. In this book, Joey has had a hard start in life. She begins to wonder why she always feels so angry. She begins to learn about the science of being angry and learns that her family genes can play a role in the emotions she feels. She learns how to react to hard situations with her family and knows that her family will accept her and try their best to help her through hard times.

This is a really good book. This book was very interesting. I was able to relate to this book since we are moving because I don't want to move but my parents think it is for the best. I think this is a good book to help readers with their emotions.


City Dark: A Thriller

The dark in the title refers to the power outage in New York City in 1977. In the midst of the blackout, two young boys are left in their mother’s car while she goes to fetch gas. She never returns. Forty years later, one of the boys, Joe, learns that a body found on the beach at Coney Island might be his mother’s.

Now an assistant attorney general and a binge-drinking alcoholic, evidence begins to mount against him. Did he kill his own mother in a drunken stupor? When a second murder occurs and more evidence is found implicating Joe, he becomes the primary suspect.

Prior to these events, Joe had secured the continued institutional confinement of Aaron Hathorne, a serial pedophile and master manipulator. Armed with this information, the reader can see the broad outline of the story’s outcome before either Joe or the police can connect the dots.

The interest of City Dark lies in whether Joe and the detectives can unearth the truth before the trap closes. With a nicely honed mix of dark passages and surprising revelations, City Dark is a gritty, cleverly plotted, and well written police procedural that will intrigue mystery fans.


The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School

Pride Month

In the United States, LGBTQ Pride Month is celebrated every June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, which took place in New York City in 1969 and marked a turning point in the fight for equality. If you’re looking for some new queer reads to enjoy this June, then look no further than the books featured in this roundup.

First Time for Everything by Henry Fry

Henry Fry’s First Time for Everything is a queer coming-of-age novel that follows twenty-something Danny Scudd as he’s forced to recognize that everything he has always wanted might not actually be everything he has always needed. Having dreamed since childhood of escaping the monotony of life above his parents’ small-town fish and chip shop, Danny moved to London as soon as he was able and launched a career as a journalist. While his career is now going okay, he’s not exactly setting the world alight with earth-shattering stories, nor is he feeling particularly fulfilled in his personal life either. In fact, things were looking pretty ropey in his relationship with self-centered boyfriend Tobbs even before a visit to the doctor indicated that Tobbs might not have been exactly faithful. When Tobbs stubbornly maintains that the pair had never actually agreed to be monogamous, Danny finds himself single at just the same time his housemates ask him to move out so that they can have the space to start a family. With no other affordable options available, Danny moves into a commune in East London that is home to his flamboyant childhood friend Jacob. All this change launches Danny on a journey of self-discovery that encompasses the perils of dating, the slog of working, and the alarming outcomes of therapy, lots and lots of therapy. It all makes for a delightfully funny story populated by characters that readers will really grow to care about.

Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond

Terminal people-pleaser Amy has spent her life putting other people first, often sacrificing her own hopes and dreams to do so. Things start to look up, however, when she meets Charley, an attractive lesbian engineer who has recently moved to Amy’s hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her friends and coworkers are thrilled that she seems to finally be ready to move on from her ex-girlfriend and pursue a future as her authentic self, but Amy doesn’t quite seem able to let go of her people-pleasing and self-sabotaging tendencies just yet. While she has secure employment as a baker and bartender, she agrees to take a one-off job as a stand-in bridesmaid in order to make some extra cash, which quickly morphs into a full-time career due to Amy having spent years obsessing over weddings and perfecting her baking and crafting skills. Once again, her deep-seated desire to please other people kicks into overdrive and threatens to derail her friendships as well as her budding relationship with Charley. It is only when all the plates she has been spinning for so long look set to drop that Amy finds the courage to really examine her life and consider what she truly wants. Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond is a tender and uplifting celebration of queer love and the magic of individuality. Amy’s attempts to find both herself and true love make for a rom-com with a whole lot of heart.

I Feel Love: Notes on Queer Joy by Samantha Mann

Edited by Samantha Mann, the author of Putting Out: Essays on Otherness, I Feel Love: Notes on Queer Joy is an anthology of diverse memoirs, works of creative nonfiction, and poetry dedicated to the “priceless event or moment” that caused each included author to recognize their own queer joy. As a consequence, the pieces featured in the collection all focus in different ways on the process of finding devotion and happiness within both the self and others. They invite readers into a host of deeply personal moments and powerful realizations, and they all seek to foster the understanding that being true to yourself is the most precious of gifts. In putting together the anthology, Mann sought to highlight the need for inclusiveness and community among queer authors, with her overall aim being to showcase the diversity of experiences of queer love in order to unite members of the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies in appreciating the range of voices currently writing on the subject. This is the perfect collection for readers looking to appreciate and celebrate the many talented writers within the LGBTQIA+ community.

Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life by Jonathan Van Ness

In Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life, Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness presents a collection of powerful, emotive, and often highly amusing essays about both his life to date and his observations of the wider world. The personal essays cover a wide array of topics, including experiences of grief and tragedy, being diagnosed and living with HIV, the unexpected queer history of his hometown, as well as eating disorders and body image issues. From the deeply serious to the rather frivolous, these essays all deal with their subjects in a heartfelt, honest, and entertaining manner. In terms of the essays with a more global perspective, they cover issues as diverse as racial inequality and the rise of white supremacy in the United States, the prevalence of transphobia, and means of dealing with imposter syndrome. In addition, to Ven Ness’ own observations, these latter essays include expert opinions and are intended to provide information, guidance, and comfort to readers. Taken together, the varied works collected in this volume have plenty of insight, wit, and life-affirming wisdom to impart.

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

Sonora Reyes’ The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School follows closeted sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores as she navigates life at a Catholic school where the majority of other students are very rich and very white, while also doing all she can to avoid people finding out that she’s gay. She transferred to the school after being outed by her crush and former best friend at her previous school, and this time round she’s determined to keep her private life private. With that in mind, she has decided to focus on keeping her brother safe, making her mother proud, and avoiding relationships at all costs. Unfortunately, Yami’s never been particularly good at any of those things, and the desire to avoid relationships becomes even more difficult after she meets Bo, the only openly queer girl at the school. As she finds herself becoming increasingly drawn to Bo, Yami decides that she needs to follow a simple plan when in school, that is, she needs to ask: What would a straight go do? Her attempts to put this plan into practice lead to a story that is simultaneously hilarious, heartbreaking, and uplifting.


Planet Q

Like a piece of artwork that combines the creativity of different artists, Planet Q leaves it to readers to complete the stories in the book with their imagination. The hundreds of hilarious, intriguing, and unexpectedly profound story openers are brilliantly structured to inspire curiosity and spark the reader's creativity. Peter Quinones'  initiates an amazing cognitive trip with social themes such as dating, loneliness, Covid-19, parenting, and more. Prepare to experience a strong, memorable reaction with almost every story opener in Planet Q, whether it's shock, laughter, wonder, or deep introspection. ---Foluso Falaye, Manhattan Book Review


Thirty Years Hence

It’s New York City in 1973; however, the characters who inhabit Denise Beck-Clark’s most recent novel Thirty Years Hence are living more in the past than the present. Michelle Cooper, traumatized by her childhood and a college experience marked more by drug and alcohol consumption than education, wanders through a meaningless life without direction. Ida Birnbaum, a middle-aged Holocaust survivor that the younger Michelle befriends, is haunted by her terrible memories and dreams of the Holocaust.

Michelle abandons her college friends to live in a studio apartment on a dirty Upper West Side street. She takes a job as a bookkeeper in a basement office with poor ventilation and a ceiling crisscrossed with water pipes, which creates a stifling gas chamber-like atmosphere. She salves her psyche with random men she meets in bars, which results in a fateful meeting with a skinhead who begins stalking her. She first meets Ida when she sees her shoplifting at Bendel’s department store and then is later introduced to her by her boss. Ida, despite having raised a family, is likewise living on the edge due to her failure to reconcile the horrors inflicted on her during the Holocaust.

Central to the novel’s conflict and narrative is the mechanism by which Ida and Michelle cope with and attempt to overcome their pasts.  Ida, as many survivors did in the 1970s, internalizes her trauma and memories of the Holocaust. She spins out of control one night and has a wild and destructive experience in the tawdry part of the city; the consequences of which cause her much grief. Michelle and Ida then turn to Charles, another Holocaust survivor who operates a dial-a-prayer service and has developed an experiential program that helps victims of trauma to recover. The results of the program alter Michelle and Ida’s lives forever.

The novel provides a wonderful sense of the New York City of the 1970’s. Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village, squalid six floor walk-ups and posh co-ops, streets crowded with hustlers and cabbies, all come to life. The bars Michelle frequents have characters right out of central casting. The reader becomes submerged in the sights, sounds, and smells of NYC. The novel’s plotlines are excellently weaved throughout, and the novel’s narrative moves ever forward, with several twists and turns maintaining the interest of the reader. The characters are fully developed as the reader gains a large measure of intimacy with them and identifies with their struggles and motivations. At the end of the day, Beck-Clark succeeds in spinning a true to life tale of Holocaust memory, trauma, and recovery, that is both sad and inspiring.


Thirty Years Hence

Thought-provoking, emotive, and sometimes deeply uncomfortable, Denise Beck-Clark’s Thirty Years Hence offers a meditative exploration of life and living from the perspectives of a disparate group of damaged individuals who orbit around each other in the New York City of 1973 as they all attempt to understand their past and determine their place in the present.

After a troubled childhood led to an equally troubled period at college during which she spent far too much time on drink and drugs and far too little on studying, Michelle Cooper did her best to retreat from the world, deliberately distancing herself from friends and eschewing ambition in favor of a dingy Upper West Side studio apartment. “Sixteen years of schooling and she was still ignorant about the most crucial subject: how to fill her days and nights and make them meaningful while also earning a living.”

Michelle spends her days working as a bookkeeper in the oppressive basement office of a bookstore owned by Murray Wolfe, while she spends her nights haunting neighborhood bars and pursuing random encounters with ill-chosen men. It seems like her life has reached a dead-end at the grand old age of twenty-three. However, Michelle is shaken from her near-terminal state of ennui when Murray introduces her to his cousin, forty-something-year-old Holocaust survivor Ida Birnbaum.

The pair have actually briefly met before, when Michelle spotted Ida shoplifting in Bendel’s department store, although she doesn’t let on about it to Murray, which helps create an instant bond between her and Ida. The two end up spending a day together, meeting up with Michelle’s good-natured friend Theo Gafoor, a recent immigrant from Guyana. Through Theo, they learn about Call and Pray, a prayer-based telephone therapy service run by Charles Wentworth, another Holocaust survivor.

The ideas of therapy and recovery are central to the stories of both Michelle and Ida, and Beck-Clark makes it clear that they are both, in their own ways, seeking help with their trauma, however self-destructive their behavior might initially seem. The two women might have survived their past experiences, but they are not truly living. Michelle doesn’t seem to feel rooted in the world, while Ida seems positively weighed down by the fact she’s still in it. The guilt of having survived Auschwitz when so many others didn’t eat away at Ida, pushing her toward ever more risky behavior.

After a terrible night brings them both to rock bottom, Michelle and Ida turn to Call and Pray for help, eventually deciding to participate in Charles’ latest therapeutic endeavor: the Rogen Treatment Program, which entails a series of exacting treatments intended to shock them into overcoming their troubles. This decision will have life-changing, life-affirming, and sometimes mind-boggling consequences for them and many of those around them.

Thirty Years Hence is a powerful and heart-rending story of survival, acceptance, and belonging. Beck-Clark goes a great job of tackling weighty topics in a way that inspires introspection without detracting from the narrative flow. She also does extremely well in recreating the New York of the early 1970s, including all the sights, sounds, dreams, and despairs. Given the exploration of trauma, it might not always be a comfortable read, but it is an important one.


For Position Only

In this exciting sequel to Author Adele Royce's Camera Ready, our favorite love-hate relationship is back and hotter than ever. Jane Mercer and Craig Keller have always held a torch for one another. Camera Ready is told from Jane's point of view and in an interesting twist, For Position Only is told from Craig's point of view. Craig is still the womanizing bachelor with the perfect teeth, perfect body (we learn his gym routine in this book), and what seems to be the perfect single life. But this book digs deeper as the reader finds out why Craig turned out this way via therapy sessions and self-reflection. It stems from the day his older brother DJ died on a yacht and Craig has carried guilt over the situation all these years.

I really loved the way Adele Royce turned the tables in this book. The reader is able to see a much more vulnerable side to Craig as he finds himself falling in love with Jane and not knowing what to do about it. Jane is as lovely as ever, of course, and when Craig and Jane's advertising agencies merge, the foreshadowing of a reunion is clear. Added to the mix of brilliant characters are the unscrupulous Hayden Towne, Craig's trusted advisor and number one cheerleader Bobbi, Craig's ex-wife Alessandra, his two adorable children Axel and Anabel, and to top it off, Craig's parents, Don and Julia. Seeing the interactions between Craig and all of the people in his life really sheds a light on his lack of commitment and why he does what he does to get what he wants.

For Position Only turns up the heat in the romance department. The tension between Craig and Jane when they first start working with one another is intense. This tension only builds up when Craig is told by his partner, Warren Mitchell, during the merger that there is a stipulation that Craig must accept. Warren puts a clause in Craig's contract that if he gets even one report that Craig has said or done anything to make a woman at the agency uncomfortable, Craig has to go. This makes going after Jane, who is a married woman, even more, enticing to Craig.

I loved For Position Only as the continuation for Camera Ready. Intimate, romantic, and tastefully written sex scenes grace the pages of this book. The storyline is easy to understand and fun. This one is a real pageturner.


Consumed by a Season

Consumed By A Season is a beautiful story that follows one woman's fall into postpartum depression, ultimately leaving her husband and small baby behind in this life. The author weaves a story about a man and woman who fall in love and become one anothers' best friends. They end up having a beautiful baby girl named Avery. Both the pregnancy and birth go well and the couple loves their baby. It is soon after, however, that the mother feels so overwhelmed and so helpless. She feels that she cannot take care of their baby and even calls her husband at work one day telling him that she has shaken little Avery. The husband rushes home and finds that Avery seems to be okay. But his wife is not. Soon after, the husband tells the wife that he will take the baby for the day so that she can have some time for herself. But the woman does not even know where to start. It is as if she has lost herself and doesn't know how to pull herself out of this deep dark spiraling hole she has somehow fallen into. She decides that her husband and baby are better off without her and leaves.

Consumed By A Season deals with an issue that many women face after giving birth. I know many readers will relate to both the woman and her husband. This book is written with such wonderful descriptions and details that the words melt right off the pages and into the heart of the reader. During many parts of the book, I stopped reading and just imagined how these characters were feeling. One thing I noticed immediately was that the author did not give the main characters, the man and the woman, proper names or physical descriptions. In the author's note at the end of the book, she states that this was done on purpose so that "the emphasis would not be on the characters themselves but on the experiences they are walking through." Although the story works fine without them, I felt that having names would have actually helped connect me more with these characters because names give a little bit more of a personal feel to the story. It wouldn't detract from the sympathy or empathy I felt for a character or make that character unrelatable.

Overall, this is a wonderful story that just about everyone should read. It's not just for women who may be experiencing a perinatal disorder, but also for their loved ones to help understand that there are resources out there and that they are not alone.


Consumed by a Season

Consumed by a Season describes the highs and lows of relationships and parenthood during spring, summer, fall, and winter. Instead of the seasons representing a time of the year, they serve as a symbol for a chapter in the characters’ lives. During the “spring,” a man and woman meet in a coffee shop and gradually fall in love, experiencing new beginnings. In “summer,” warm emotions are rising as the couple experiences the growth of their baby. The new mother feels as though she’s failing and falling apart, while the family dynamic is forever changed during the all-consuming season of fall. The father is left to raise his daughter independently, feeling the cold and distant sting of winter.

The story begins by giving the reader a glimpse into a single dad’s therapy session, showing the frustration, anger, and confusion he feels at having to raise his daughter by himself. The author then takes the story back ten years to when the man and women first met. Both characters are described with minimal detail, allowing the reader to imagine themselves or a loved one as the main characters. Although their connection is described in detail, their physical description, ethnicity, ages, and names are never revealed. This strategy allows the reader to become fully immersed in the emotions, thoughts, and fears of the individual character as if they are experiencing them themselves.

The story takes the reader on a tumultuous journey through the mind of a woman with postpartum depression and a single dad struggling to raise his daughter alone. After the baby arrives, she becomes even more overwhelmed with doubt. She feels desperate to connect with her child, but she feels devoured by grief and becomes disconnected from the world around her. The mother’s stress and frustration swell up one day, causing her to do something harmful to her child. She becomes sick with regret and needs to separate herself from her baby in attempt to save her family and, ultimately, herself.

As the daughter matures, she begins to have questions about her mother and longs for answers about her condition. The story ends with a beautiful revolution; the scattered dates align, important questions are answered, and the daughter is able to use her life experiences to help women in a similar situation to her mother. I could not imagine a more perfect ending to this impactful, important novel. The story is fictional, but it reads like a creatively crafted memoir. Consumed by a Season is a must-read for individuals who know someone struggling with postpartum depression or who are experiencing it themselves. The book does not romanticize this mental condition, but offers hope to those desperate for empathy and understanding.


Dark Harvest

In 1959, a mountaineering team was found dead in the Ural Mountains, in what came to be known as the Dyatlov Pass incident. Their deaths have never been explained. Until, that is, 2019, when Cameron Becker is protecting a Russian businessman who gets kidnapped. This businessman is not who he said he is and, as Becker attempts to retrieve him, he discovers how bad things really are.

Lori Dalton is a doctor with the WHO, and she stumbles upon Becker while investigating a virus outbreak in Syria. This virus causes its victims to turn violent and ravenous towards each other, and a terrorist group plans on unleashing it on the world. Dalton and Becker team up in order to stop this outbreak before there is nothing left.

Please, please, someone make this into a movie! Action-packed and a fun twist on the zombie narrative, it will keep you on the edge of your seat until you finish. I loved how the author took a real-life event and explained it in his own way. If you are still struggling with the aftermath of COVID-19, maybe don’t pick up this book. Everyone else definitely should!


A Dreadful Splendor: A Novel

To escape from Miss Crane’s ‘boardinghouse,’ Jenny is doing one last seance. When the police catch her in the act of stealing jewelry from the participants, she is sent to jail. Lucky for her, Mr. Lockhart is seeking someone with her exact qualifications. He’s hoping that her performance will help his master, Mr. Pemberton, be at peace with the death of his fiance. Mr. Lockhart wants her emphatic assurances of eternal rest so Mr. Pemberton will let go of his search for a murderer, and the household can get back to normal. However, Mr. Lockhart doesn’t factor in Mr. Pemberton’s own agenda, the previous claim laid on the land, or the ambition found elsewhere in the house. Jenny has to solve the death of the lady of the house if she is to be free before she is the next victim.

Letters from the deceased and inexplicable occurrences create a gothic 19th-century story laced with mystery and romance. Many will guess the outcome; few will be correct. There are as many twists and turns in this one as there are in a dungeon under a castle. Wordy but well worth the time.


The Sharp Edge of Mercy

Lillian Donal has a sister who has been blinded by scarlet fever, a need for money, and a burning curiosity. These all lead her to take a job as a nursing assistant at a cancer hospital, though the job is menial labor and only very rarely affords her the chance to ask the many questions she is plagued by. When her opportunity to learn does come, it is tied to potential peril, and Lillian finds herself having to ask questions that have no easy answers.

The Sharp Edge of Mercy has a compelling storyline and fascinating characters, and I continued to go back and forth about what to rate it. In the end, I had to settle on four stars, because the tone of the book took away from my enjoyment. Lillian’s questions were interesting, but often they were presented all at once, as though she was peppering the reader with them. In addition, the morality of the book often feels too simplistic and easily reached. In my opinion, a book dealing with ethical questions ought to delve deeper into gray areas earlier than this one does.

I expect many readers will enjoy this book, however, and I do recommend it.


The Second Husband: A Novel

Emma’s husband was murdered just over two years ago, a crime that was never solved. She’s since gotten remarried to Tom. As they are settling into their new life together, a detective visits Emma to let her know that they are reopening her first husband’s case. It seems that they have some new information, and they are beginning to look at Tom. Emma discovers that he had been keeping tabs on her long since before they met and she was a widow. Could The Second Husband have done in the first?

The story itself is okay; it has a few twists and turns and plenty of second guessing. However, it felt unfinished. Things didn’t seem to wrap up, and instead of leaving you in suspense, it just felt like it wasn’t completed. I’m not sure if that was purposeful or incidental, since it was an uncorrected proof that I received. If you enjoy Kate White’s other thrillers, you may enjoy this one. I wouldn’t really recommend it to thriller fans in general, as it’s not very thrilling. It’s mostly just following Emma around as she constantly second guesses herself. Definitely not the most exciting mystery.


Satellites: Nine Stories

Satellite is a collection of short stories by Tom Pappalardo. His nine tales cover everything from Death choosing its replacement to a gigantic dog downtown and many other exciting topics. As this master wordsmith weaves these beautiful narrations, each encompasses the two genres of Ancient Greek literature- comedy and tragedy. Pappalardo has his audience reaching for a tissue to wipe the tears of joy and sorrow. His characters are seemingly ordinary individuals confronted by the truly absurd with totally pedestrian reactions. It's as if "un-reality" is an everyday occurrence.

This Bay Stater is a modern-day Renaissance Man. As a singer-songwriter, cartoonist, graphic designer, and author, he knows how to tell a story. This is his fifth book and his first of all short stories. His love for coffee and Massachusetts shows up regularly. Pappalardo's book is creative, entertaining, humous, and thought-provoking. It is a fun read for fans of illogical fantasies. In my opinion, Pappalardo has penned the greatest line in literature. Without giving away too much of a spoiler, it has to do with a Basset Hound not being a terrorist threat, but one will have to read Satellite to find out.


How to Draw Clothing for Manga: Learn to Draw Amazing Outfits and Creative Costumes for Manga and Anime - 35+ Outfits Side by Side with Modeled Photos

Do you love manga and want to learn how to draw in that style? This book teaches you how to draw manga clothes, which is very important to any manga character. Drawing clothing doesn’t seem difficult, but it is actually tricky if you consider the types of fabric, style of clothing, and the movements of the fabric.

This book goes into detail in teaching you how to draw various clothes for both boys/men and girls/women, from skirts, jeans, uniforms, suits, costumes, to coats. I love the section about wrinkles on different types of clothes and how movements affect the wrinkles. It is definitely hard to get this right, and it is something I need to practice on. I also love how it included an actual photo of the model posing along with the manga illustration.

I received an uncorrected ebook with a watermark logo on it, which distracted me and made it difficult to read and view the tips and art. This is a great how-to book for any manga fans and artists.


Out on a Limb

Lulu broke her leg and so had a cast on. She liked the cards and balloons and attention she got when she broke her leg. She got used to the new way she had to do things because of her cast. But when she has to remove her cast, Lulu isn’t so sure anymore. Suddenly, Lulu is afraid her once broken leg won’t be the same.

I think this is a sweet story about a brave little girl who is afraid to use her leg again. She is afraid to injure the same leg because she broke it before. Luckily, Lulu’s grandfather visits her and helps her. I like that the story has Lulu’s grandfather, who is patient and spends time with her. I also like the snail drawings in the book. I recommend this sweet story to children who enjoy stories about facing your fears.


Blood Like Fate (Blood Like Magic)

Voya is the youngest Matriarch of the Thomas family, and the only witch with two gifts. But what did she give in exchange? Her grandmother is dead, her relationship with her cousin and her former crush, Luc, is in shards, and her family—and the other Toronto witches—don’t believe in her ability to lead them.

When the powers of people around her start growing out of control, Voya is struck with a terrifying vision about the end of the Toronto witches, one with Luc at the center of it. Could he really be responsible? And if he is, can she find the strength to defeat him?

This book was entertaining, fast-paced, and magical! I was a fan of the first book, and this one did not disappoint! Voya’s character development was phenomenal, and watching her grow as a person was definitely one of my favorite parts. She never felt like her character was forced to grow in a specific way, and her scenes with Luc were so well done! The romance between them was beautiful, and I did not find them annoying or boring.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves witch-themed fantasy books!


Design Your Own Anime and Manga Characters: Step-by-Step Lessons for Creating and Drawing Unique Characters - Learn Anatomy, Poses, Expressions, Costumes, and Color

Design Your Own Anime and Manga Characters is an extremely impressive book designed to teach amateur and experienced artists how to draw people. It teaches fundamentals, like how to draw a figure using muscle and bone structures and how to draw realistic clothing by using knowledge of where folds form. In addition, this book includes less generic information, like how to draw a partially human creature or a pet. It is very well written, and even people who are not interested in anime and manga can learn a lot from it. I am a decent artist, but I could not effectively draw people before I got this book. Now that I have it, I can draw humans much more easily.

Design Your Own Anime and Manga Characters can be used by anyone. It is an exceedingly useful book, so all libraries, elementary, middle school, high school, and public, should own one or more copies. It is worthwhile to purchase a copy as an individual. Every artist and art enthusiast who wants to draw people and other characters better should get a copy of Design Your Own Anime and Manga Characters.


Old Wood Boat

I love this book. Kids who like boats will really like it, and kids who don’t really know anything about boats will probably want to know more. Old Wood Boat is the story of an old boat getting fixed up by a family who really loves to sail and they take it on an adventure.

If you have read anything by Robert McCloskey, this book by a different author has a similar feel, like old but still good for the story and the pictures. It’s an easy story, but you still want to keep reading to see how everything goes. There is a really detailed diagram of a boat if you want to know about all the parts from bow to stern.

Everybody should read this book, and it should be in all the libraries, and you’ll probably want to have it in your library at home, too.


How to Draw Hairstyles for Manga: Learn to Draw Hair for Expressive Manga and Anime Characters

Are you curious about how to draw different types of manga hair? This manga hair tutorial covers all the things you need to learn. You will understand the basics, like how and where hair grows, various textures and lengths, and of course, giving your hair personality!

This tutorial gives you all the basics you need to start you off. I found this easy to follow and perfect for my level. Others who are more advanced may find this too simple, so I recommend this tutorial for beginners. I learned a lot about hair shading and styles, and I figured out ways to draw hair for certain occasions and action poses.

I really liked learning how to draw braids and how to make it more realistic. I also loved the section about drawing hairstyles with movement. It even has some examples of drawing elemental hair, which I think is really cool. I also like that the drawing examples in the book have a lot of different art styles.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn how to draw manga hair!


Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America's Woods

Although unfortunately not the most egregious example (clear cutting and burning in the Amazon and elsewhere are an even bigger problem), the beautiful Pacific Redwoods are threatened with an alarming amount of illegal logging, despite the establishment of protected forest areas. However, this story is complicated and nuanced. Environmental issues tend to be extremely polarizing, so I appreciated Bourgon's exceedingly compassionate presentation of this one.

Her extensive research included interviews with park rangers, environmental biologists, law enforcement officers, and most importantly, those whose lives are most entwined with the trees—former loggers and their communities. Several of those interviewed had been convicted of poaching. Their stories are essential for understanding not only the environmental, but also the human costs both of illicit logging and of the measures taken to save scarce resources.

The book does not excuse the poaching. But after reading it, you come away with a better idea of what may drive its happening, and maybe some different ideas about solutions—not only for the Redwoods, but for communities driven to poaching around the globe. It is a careful, thoughtful book that leads to many more questions and perhaps to better answers as well.


A Day for Sandcastles

A Day for Sandcastles should be every day, in my opinion. I love water and everything with it, including the sand. In this story, a family gets to the beach and right away, the three kids notice a good spot to start building a sandcastle. They work together to build a big and fancy sandcastle, but because different things happen to it, they have to keep rebuilding it and get frustrated. The kids make at least three sandcastles and then have to keep moving it each time closer to their parents because of the water tide. At the end of the day, the kids and the whole family had a great day at the beach and are exhausted!

I don't think I've seen a book like A Day for Sandcastles before; it doesn't have any words, just pictures. It was easy to tell what was going on by looking at the people in the pictures. If you've been to a beach before, you could imagine things about it, too. Because there aren't any words on the pages, little kids who can't read can make their own stories and big kids who can read can also make their own stories.


Heart Takes the Stage: A Heart of the City Collection (Volume 1)

Middle-schooler Heart Lamar dreams of being on stage, so she plans to audition for the lead role in her school play. With the help of her good friends, Kat, Dean and Charlotte, Heart will navigate many first time experiences: first lead role, first ear piercing, first protest, and first job.

This is a funny collection of comics about a middle schooler who loves attention and acting. Heart Lamar is kind of a lazy, irresponsible, typical young girl. She schemes to get out of detention early so she can go to her audition. Heart is a very zany character, so I liked her, but I also liked her very responsible friends who are always there for her. My favorite scene was the sleepover makeovers because Charlotte and Kat looked hilarious.

I hadn’t heard of the Heart of the City comics before, but I’m glad I gave this collection of comics a try. I recommend this book to theater kids or anyone who likes middle-school hijinks.


Deep Into the Weeds

Farmers are the backbone of Canada, ensuring safe and healthy produce to eat. But when dairy farmer Preston McPherson can no longer make ends meet, he must turn to a more lucrative crop. With the aid of his corrupt brother-in-law Sergeant Fergus Becker, Preston converts his family farm into a legal marijuana growing operation. As Norfolk County’s newest cannabis grower, Preston faces a new set of pressures. From the daily protests outside his farm, government inspectors, gangsters, and a cannabis-eating cow, this simple farmer is thrown into a world that leaves him Deep into the Weeds.

From humorist and author Willie Handler comes a biting commentary on the legal marijuana industry. Handler, who hails from Canada, takes a dark turn in his new book that deals with the mishaps of a budding entrepreneur. Preston’s exploits in Ontario feel a bit like a combination of Breaking Bad" and Fargo, complete with everyday absurdity and clumsiness of straddling criminality and its optics. North American readers on either side of the border may appreciate Handler's characters as they hilariously maintain the overly polite, Tim Horton drinking Canadian stereotypes in the face of difficult scenarios. Handler's dry satirical style ranges from slightly absurd to laugh-out-loud funny. Deep into the Weeds is bound to grow on you.


The Last Crown (The Bold, 2)

Political history in the Middle Ages is largely male-focused. Women were historically used as pawns or bargaining pieces for gaining profit for a kingdom. Though the men in The Last Crown by Elzbieta Cherezinska may want to think they run the show, it is ultimately the women who make the bold, albeit often hidden, moves that determine the true fate of the dynasties.
Cherezinska picks up the tale of Świętosław, where she left off in the first book The Widow Queen. Świętosław has married Sven of Denmark instead of Olav, the man she truly loves. He, in turn, takes his revenge by marrying Sven’s sister Tyra, brought to him by the aid of Świętosław’s own family. These betrayals set in motion decades of troubles that will engulf both families and their descendants.

I wanted to like these novels for the simple fact that I enjoy reading about women who have been lost in history. It is no mean feat to find them whispering in the darkness of time and bring their voices forward to be heard. And for that alone, I can forgive the overcomplicated storyline and often disjointed plot. Elzbieta Cherezinska is a wonderful writer whom I hope to find in translation more often.


The Forty Elephants

Alice Diamond has a tall order before her: to protect her family after her brother steals from the wrong man and the debt falls to her. There’s only one way she can think of to pay off the debt before the deadline she’s been given, and that’s to fall in with Mary Carr and her gang of girl pickpockets. She thinks she can do it easily, get in and get out once she’s done with them. Unfortunately, the life she’s found proves more seductive than she expected, and Mary Carr far more dangerous.

Bledsoe has spun a fascinating novel about crime in 1920s England, which is based on real people. I would have loved a substantial author’s note discussing her inspirations more, but even as it stands, the book delighted me. Alice is a sharp-edged heroine who can hold her own, and the secondary characters all felt alive and vibrant. While the romance was lackluster compared to everything else, that’s a small complaint when the rest of the book shone. This story is electric, and I wanted nothing more than what it offered.


Beyond the Desert Sands (Love on the Santa Fe)

Isabella Garcia has no wish to leave her aunt’s home in California for her parents’ home in the new state of New Mexico. Aaron Bailey has no wish to serve as her chaperone. For Isabella, the visit reminds her of when she was uprooted from California as a young child; for Aaron, Isabella is a spoiled brat with no notion of loyalty to her parents or an understanding of God’s love. In a pairing like this, you can already see the sparks flying.

Being a Christian romance, they are very chaste sparks. All the same, this is a book with real edge and grit, and not all of it is the New Mexican dust.

I loved the setting of early 1900s New Mexico and the half-Mexican protagonist. It’s clear Peterson has a deep love for the American west, and as someone who grew up in Colorado, I was very happy to see that. The one thing I didn’t like about this book was the disparity in characterization. All the growth seemed to be necessary on Isabella’s part, while Aaron was good to the point of being almost sanctimonious. It felt unbalanced, and Aaron felt far less interesting than he could have.


Beach House Summer: A Novel

Beach House Summer is a wonderful read full of surprises. This was my first Sarah Morgan book and I absolutely loved how she kept me guessing what would happen from start to finish.

Joanna Whitman's life is about to be turned around yet again when she finds out that her jerk of a celebrity chef ex-husband Cliff has died in a car accident. The media is all over the story and to make things worse, a young, pregnant girl was in the car with him. But instead of Joanna being angry, she decides to visit the young woman whose name is Ashley, in the hospital Unexpectedly, she ends up taking Ashley under her wing and they both end up hiding out in Joanna's old hometown. The past soon catches up to Joanna and all the feelings of what it feels like to have friends and community on your side come flooding back.

This book has so many unexpected turns that end up making the story absolutely amazing. I was so surprised when Morgan revealed new information about Ashley and how the relationship between Joanna and Ashley grew stronger and stronger. There were adorable kitchen moments and shopping moments as well. This is a perfect beach read!


Must Read Well: A Novel

Strong Female Leads

What is a strong female lead? Well, most likely a woman who knows her own mind, trusts her instincts, is willing to take action when required, isn’t afraid of making mistakes, and much more besides. Indeed, strong female leads are as diverse as the stories that they inhabit, which the plots of the four excellent novels featured in this roundup immediately make clear.

Buck's Pantry by Khristin Wierman

In a seemingly unremarkable small Texas town, three disparate women find themselves being drawn together in ways that will change all their lives—and the lives of those around them—forever. Prom queen turned frantically busy mom Gillian is struggling to cope with recent revelations by her husband, formerly high-flying and purposefully vulgar banker Lianna is desperate to find a way to return to New York, while trapped and reluctant drudge Aimee is struggling to shine in her menial job due to having to cope with the mental illness that plagues her family. Against the odds, Gillian and Lianna find themselves in the same convenience store at the same time, and when they end up in a perilous situation, they have to rely on Aimee to puzzle things out and save them. Khristin Wierman’s Buck’s Pantry offers a suspenseful exploration of how a chance encounter can irreparably alter people’s fate.

The Real Mrs. Tobias by Sally Koslow

Three New Yorkers who are all known as Mrs. Tobias—matriarch Veronica, her daughter-in-law Mel, and Mel’s daughter-in-law Birdie—have to confront their associations with each other and various relatives while trying to find their place in the city and in life more generally. Although Veronica and Mel are both respected psychotherapists, their communication skills don’t extend to talking to and understating one another, which causes divisions within the family that prove near impossible to overcome. For her part, Birdie is struggling to settle into both New York and her new family, and when her husband lands himself in serious trouble, she flees back to her Midwestern hometown. When Birdie’s absence has unexpected consequences for Veronica and Mel, all three women must come together in order for each to find themselves. Sally Koslow’s The Real Mrs. Tobias unpicks the tangled webs that can unite a family while portraying the foibles of three very different women in a humorous and engaging fashion.

Must Read Well by Ellen Pall

Liz Miller, a penniless and now homeless Ph.D. student who is determined to finish writing her thesis whatever life may throw at her, chances upon a Craigslist post advertising a room to rent in a Greenwich Village apartment. The rent is suspiciously low, perhaps because the new tenant must agree to read aloud to the visually impaired landlady on a daily basis. Still, beggars can’t be choosers, and Miller decides not to let the unusual requirement put her off renting the room, not even when she discovers that her new landlady is Anne Taussig Weil, the novelist whose refusal to cooperate with her research has derailed her Ph.D. for years. It soon emerges that Weil’s need for a reader stems from her desire to revisit a torrid love affair described in a series of journals she kept in her youth, a love affair that inspired the plot of her most famous novel. Desperate to discover material about Weil that she can include in her thesis, Miller adopts a fake persona that will allow her to get close to the reclusive author. Ellen Pall’s Must Read Well is a fast-paced and twisting thriller that disorientates readers at every turn and leaves them questioning who can be trusted.

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams

Dimple Pennington is aware that she has some half-siblings due to her father’s roving eye, although she doesn’t actually know them. In fact, the only knowledge she has of the other four are some part-remembered recollections from decades earlier of the five of them being driven across London in their father’s signature gold Jeep, recollections that are closely tied to her deep-seated abandonment issues. However, she has more than a lack of family to worry about: she’s now thirty, her relationship is seriously unfulfilling, and her aspiration to make a living as an influencer doesn’t seem to be going anyway. In fact, she’s just come to the realization that she’s never felt more alone when a major trauma brings her four half-siblings back into her life, and things take a turn for the even more complicated when they are all forced to reconnect with their long-absent father. Candice Carty-Williams’ People Person is a warm and very funny novel that considers the various forms families can take as well as the numerous roles that individuals can play in other people’s lives.


Encyclopedia of Birds: for Young Readers (Encyclopedias for Young Readers)

Youngsters love books about animals, and there are plenty of them, but there aren’t as many books about birds. This is a wonderful introduction for elementary school children, although the word “encyclopedia” in the title is a bit misleading. There are six major sections — Not All of Us Fly; Have Wings, Will Fly; We Live by the Waterside; Parrots; Songbirds; and Birds of Prey — and each section has from two to ten spreads. Each spread in this oversized (eleven by fifteen inches) book has an art panel with beautiful illustrations of six to nine birds. The drawings are detailed enough to give a good representation of each bird but are not photo quality. For each bird shown, there is a short paragraph on the top or bottom of the page with some basic information about the bird, just enough to whet the learning appetite of the reader, likely sending him or her on a quest for more information from other sources. The writing is conversational and welcoming for young readers, but the real star of the show is the wonderful illustrations that will draw readers in and keep them turning pages. Don’t miss this one.


The Joy Thief: A Story of Trauma and Hope

The Joy Thief is an inspirational tale about overcoming one’s fears. The author, a firefighter and crisis intervention specialist, tells a story about a girl who becomes traumatized by a seemingly ordinary experience. The terrifying day began with a spider jumping on the little girl’s face. When the girl reacted (by screaming), her mother arrived in a huff, insisting that she keep down the noise. When she left, the door slammed behind her, causing the girl to feel an overwhelming amount of fear. This social-emotional rhyming story proves children can experience events that alter their way of thinking.

The girl’s “joy thief” (which is visually represented as a spider) follows her wherever she goes, reminding her of the fear she felt that day and preventing her from experiencing heightened feelings of happiness. She is finally able to talk with her mother and opens up about how she’s felt controlled by her fear lately. Adults may not realize that a certain event can contribute to a heightened state of panic that can continue to grow, making it difficult to participate in daily activities. The author encourages open communication by providing a guide for adults to stay present and open with children.


In Transit: Being Non-Binary in a World of Dichotomies is authored by Dianna E. Anderson. It is divided into several sections, each with a different focus. The first section deals with philosophy, personhood, and identity. It contains quite a bit of philosophy. The second section is specifically why I enthusiastically recommend the book. I teach history and the section explains the rather long but, unfortunately, largely forgotten history of non-binary people throughout world history. It left me wondering how I lived my life without knowing about The Public Universal Friend. I wondered, as well, how I teach history but didn’t know of Christine Jorgensen. Section 9 offers advice for allies, without being preachy. It ends in section 10 with reminding the readers of the complexities of most narratives, while bringing to light the hidden queer history Kitty Genovese, a tale I mistakenly thought I knew. Anderson offers their humanity in each section, and is witty, sharp, and informative. As the parent of a trans person and as someone who cares about humanity, I hope this book is in every library in the country.


Dogs of the Deadlands

Dogs of the Deadlands is an amazing book. It starts off with a young girl named Natasha. She gets a beautiful white wolf dog named Zoya, who has two different colored eyes. She quickly becomes attached to Zoya and deeply loves her. The very next day, Natasha wakes up to her father rushing her out of the house and telling her to leave Zoya. The distressed puppy runs after the train that little Natasha is forced to board, but it cannot catch up.

The story then flashes forward to a few years later. A white wolf dog has given birth to a litter of puppies. Sadly, only two of the puppies born survive. One of the surviving  pups' names is Misha while his brother, who has disfigured legs, is Bratan. The story then follows the lives of these two pups. Buy the book to go on all of Misha and Bratan’s adventures.

Dogs of the Deadlands was a brilliant book that I deeply enjoyed. It showed the many ways dogs and humans are extremely similar. It also taught an important lesson: there will always be violence and conflict in life, but there is always a way to end it all. This book is amazing for nature and adventure lovers. Buy Dogs of the Deadlands. I guarantee you will not regret it.


Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels: The Case of the Missing Marquess, The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, and The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets (Volume 1)

On Enola’s fourteenth birthday, her mother disappears. Enola’s brothers, Sherlock and Mycroft, come to visit, but it doesn’t go as Enola expected. When Mycroft keeps complaining that Enola isn’t “ladylike” enough and saying that he will make her go to boarding school, Enola escapes.

She goes to London and gets curious. She reads about a twelve-year-old boy, Tewksbury, who is missing. After finding the perfect disguise, she solves Tewksbury’s case, tries to find a girl who has mysteriously disappeared, and attempts to solve the case of the bizarre bouquets.

This book is a graphic novel based on the novel and the movie about Enola Holmes. I really like the mysteries in the book; I found them very interesting and believable. The characters were relatable. I also liked the illustrations.


The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie

The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie is the story of thirty-two-year-old Lolly who is stuck in a rut. Stepping up as the glue of the family after her mother’s sudden death ten years ago, Lolly is no stranger to putting her dreams on hold. She’s sick of baking lemon meringue pies for her family’s struggling diner. When she finds a list of life goals she made when she was a seventh grader, she feels extra depressed that she hasn’t accomplished anything. How did her life go so wrong?

This book has a delightful twist of magic realism. Lolly’s eccentric great aunt gives her three mystical lemon drops that will allow her to live one day in an alternate version of her life. Through this unexpected gift, Lolly comes to learn more about herself and her life then she could ever imagine.

 The writing in this book is absolutely beautiful. Linden adds a wonderful set of details that ties up together perfectly at the end. The ending is satisfying, if a little tidy, but the overall effect is heartfelt, emotional, and charming. This book will make readers laugh, but also cry. It’s a wonderful journey that I highly recommend.


The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the monetary system faced an uphill climb. Trust in financial institutions was at an ebb. Bitcoin arrived appealing to the masses with the ability to send money online, blockchain technology serving as the written record for any and all transactions. Bitcoin’s progress was steady, first from independent sources, then picked up by large banks. Vitalik Buterin saw limits with bitcoin and blockchain technology while researching the digital currency and platform. Buterin was looking for a cryptocurrency that had financial singularity. Ethereum was born. The evolution of Ethereum wasn’t smooth as various insiders lobbied for proper credit, and others sought to manipulate the decisions of Buterin. Besides internal strife, hackers sought to nab Ethereum tokens and hijack the market.

The Cryptopians relates the birth of a new currency from a brilliant mind, how it was nurtured by a disparate group, and how fragile egos nearly destroyed the burgeoning currency. Author Laura Shin covers this human drama with the skill of a seasoned auteur, but never skimps on the fine details of the vast and enigmatic world of cryptocurrency. Money, power, backstabbing, and privacy are just a few of the themes that make for a powerful read.


Daisy Darker: A Novel

Daisy Darker and her family are summoned to her grandmother's house on a private Cornish island on Halloween, where someone starts picking them off one by one in the vein of And Then There Were None.

Alice Feeney is one of my favorite thriller authors, so this was a highly anticipated read for me. I absolutely loved the setting (stormy, unique seaside gothic manor) and was so intrigued by the story. I also really liked the poems and was totally invested. What disappointed me was one of the reveals. I won't provide details as I don’t want to spoil. I liked one of the twists, even though I kind of called it, but another just didn’t do it for me. I would probably rate this as 3.5 but bumped it up because I think others might enjoy this still.

I absolutely encourage everyone to check this one out for themselves; it would be an amazing spooky season read. Read this if you like locked room mysteries, Riley Sager, And Then There Were None, Knives Out, The Club, and The Guest List.


Blue Baboon Finds Her Tune

Blue Baboon Finds Her Tune is a story about Blue Baboon, a girl who lives in a city under an orange moon. Blue Baboon sees a bassoon (this is an instrument that is very tall and skinny) and wants to play it with the other animals around her who are playing other instruments (like a flute, a clarinet, and a saxophone). Blue Baboon can't play it very well, but then a big monsoon hits! Lucky for Blue Baboon, she finds a balloon to fly in to get away and find a new friend.

I liked Blue Baboon Finds Her Tune because even though there aren't very many words in the book, it still tells a whole story. The words were easy for me to read, but I still learned some new ones (bassoon, dune, croon) and I like how they all rhymed, which made it easy to guess and sound out the words that I didn't already know. The story seemed like it might end up sad, but it's not. It has a happy ending for everyone! Young kids will like this book, but I think bigger kids might find it boring due to the few words on the pages.


Black Boy, Black Boy

The vibrant images created by Ken Daley and simplistic language crafted by authors Ali Kannada and Jorge Redmond will captivate young readers as they learn about Black change-makers throughout American history. A young boy is taking a walk down a colorful path with an older man who teaches him about Black men in history who have used their voice, actions, and talents to advocate for African-American rights. HE learns about Colin Kaepernick's political stance on the football field, Martin Luther King Jr’s pivotal role in the American civil rights movement, and William Goines’ bravery as the first African American member of the Navy SEALS.

The boy also discovers that his favorite music, style of dance, AND poetry, were all popularized by influential Black men. The man encourages the boy to remember the strong impact these people have on others and use that as a driving force to enact change of his own. The boy learns to work hard but to be proud of his accomplishments and the power he has within. This book has language that is easy to follow for children ages three to seven; however, the back of the book contains additional information about each Black hero featured in the story.


The Hacienda

Thrillers with a Twist

There’s nothing like a good thriller to capture a reader’s attention and keep them hooked, especially when it seems likely that there’s a twist (or two) to come. The four thrillers included in this roundup are all atmospheric, fast-paced, and action-packed, and they’re sure to make for excellent summer reads.

The Patient by Jane Shemilt

Jane Shemilt’s The Patient is a tense and troubling domestic thriller that disorientates and poses questions at every turn of the page. GP Rachel Goodchild seems to have it all: a great career as a doctor, a wonderful house in beautiful Salisbury, and a loving family in the form of husband Nathan and grown-up daughter Lizzie. However, when she agrees to do an emergency consultation with a patient thought to pose a suicide risk, her world is quickly turned upside down. She is immediately attracted to the patient, whose name is Luc Levefre, and after prescribing him medication, also gives him her phone number, despite the clear breach of ethics. The two soon begin an affair, which poses the risk of destroying everything Rachel has worked so hard for. Things get even more complicated when there’s a murder in town and the police seem to have Luc lined up as their number one suspect. As a consequence, Rachel finds herself involved in something far murkier than she had anticipated…

Face the Night by Alan Lastufka

Insomniac single mother Adriana Krause is a gifted artist with a particular talent for drawing portraits, which helps her find work as a police sketch artist. Unfortunately, while the lack of sleep is leaving her almost too tired to function, the little sleep she is achieving is posing even more problems. Whenever she finally manages to drift off, Adriana has horrible nightmares in which she sees a horrifically mangled face, and it’s become the only face that she’s able to draw. She needs to keep her job with the police and avoid her controlling father’s attempts to influence her young son, and she decides that the only way to do so is to follow the path of her nightmares and uncover the meaning behind the mysterious and deeply troubling face. Her quest leads her out of the nightmares and into the very real world of crime in her town, potentially revealing her link to a brutal attack. Face the Night by Alan Lastufka is a spine-tingling supernatural thriller that is chock-full of scares, secrets, and suspects who are willing to go to any lengths to keep their misdeeds hidden.

The Last Party by Cassidy Lucas

Cassidy Lucas’s The Last Party is a deeply disturbing psychological thriller that exposes the dark underbelly of sunny California and the myriad dangers that lurk there. Dani Sanders is about to have her fiftieth birthday and she is definitely not looking forward to it. As she evaluates her life in advance of the big day, she is forced to admit that her career has hit a wall, her ex-husband is still causing her problems, and her daughter’s developmental condition seems to be regressing. Still, despite not feeling like celebrating, she agrees to accompany her best friend Mia Markle and six other friends on a birthday retreat at Celestial Ranch in Topanga Canyon. They’re planning to spend the weekend hiking, meditating, enjoying a spot of fine dining, and perhaps partaking in some short-acting psychedelic drugs that promise to transport users to a higher plain of existence. However, as the weekend progresses, long-buried secrets and grievances start to emerge, and after the group attempts to unwind with the help of some chemical intervention, people start to go missing. Is Dani being abandoned by the people who mean the most to her or is someone trying to take them away from her?

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

After Beatriz’s father is killed during the revolution that brings down the Mexican government, she is left facing disgrace, poverty, and homelessness, which is why she jumps at the chance to marry the charismatic Don Rodolfo Solorzano despite rumors swirling concerning the death of his first wife. The move to his estate in the countryside seems to offer the security that Beatriz craves, but she soon discovers that Hacienda San Isidro is far from being a sanctuary. When her new husband returns to the capital for work, Beatriz’s sleep is troubled by nightmares and she starts to sense an eerie presence watching her from dark corners of the property. Her sister-in-law refuses to enter the house after dark and the family cook insists on burning incense and daubing strange symbols in the doorway, although no one will tell her what the trouble is. With nowhere else to turn, Beatriz has to trust in the ability of young priest Padre Andres to overcome the malevolent presence that seems to be lurking in the hacienda. A haunting tale of gothic horror, The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas spins a creepy web of inexplicable happenings, exorcisms, and mysticism that proves both compelling and horrifying.


Venomous Lumpsucker

The Venomous Lumpsucker, Cyclopterus venenatus, is an ugly little fish that feeds on parasites and algae of bigger fish. It could also be the most intelligent fish in the world. Karin Resaint just finished studying the fish to determine just how intelligent it is. Mark Halyard is a corrupt executive for the mining company that might have just destroyed its breeding ground. Now Karin and Mark are on a global hunt to find any surviving Lumpsuckers for their own selfish reasons.

Venomous Lumpsucker is the newest book by British writer Ned Beauman. Considered among the most promising British authors of his generation, Beauman explores the absurdity of the vast array of human action and reaction to species extinction. This is an amusing cautionary tale of a future that includes an extinction industry. Even though they demonstrate growth and change, Beauman’s characters represent the wide spectrum of human morality in the face of ongoing environmental struggles. Beauman’s near-future story contains predictions in technology, industry, environmentalism, social and political views that are extremely plausible. He masterfully paints a grim picture with wit and satire. This is a dystopian story for anyone who loves wildlife, from giant adorable mammals to an ugly and intelligent little fish.


Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation

Abolition Geography: Essays Toward Liberation is a collection of interviews, essays, and collaborative writings by eminent scholar and organizer Ruth Wilson Gilmore. The writings that span more than thirty years focus on the interplay of racial capitalism, U.S. nationalism, and privatization in growing the prison industrial complex. Gilmore illustrates the geopolitical and socioeconomic dynamics involved in dehumanizing people in a capitalistic, profit-driven system. Focusing on the geographies of power and difference, Gilmore explores the complex interplay of globalization and the U.S. criminal justice institution that systematically and disproportionately jails and imprisons Black, Indigenous, Brown, and other people of color.

Gilmore’s work is enlightening and informative, a must-read for scholars and activists seeking a complex and interdisciplinary deep dive to effectively drive systemic change. It’s helpful to understand the racist trajectory of carceral policy in unearthing the root causes of mass incarceration. Policing, courts, and prisons all have a role to play in sustaining an unjust system that profits from the imprisonment of those whom Gilmore characterizes as “modestly educated people in the prime of their lives.” Anyone committed to prison reform and social justice has much to learn from Gilmore’s insights about the cognitive work and tactical organizing required to imagine and build an abolitionist future.


Reluctant Immortals

Reluctant Immortals is an absolutely mesmerizing novel that is impossible to put down. If I could give this book an extra star, I would! Gwendolyn Kiste sets the stage in 1960s Hollywood with Lucy, one of Dracula’s many victims, and Bertha (now called Bee), Mr. Rochester’s erstwhile attic-bound wife from Jane Eyre.

The two unlikely roommates are trying to make the most of immortality while avoiding the villainous men who put them there in the first place. But when a familiar face from Bee’s past brings news of Rochester’s arrival in San Francisco, everything they’ve come to love and rely on is thrown into danger.

This isn’t so much a feminist retelling, but rather a story of women reclaiming the story that was always theirs to begin with. Kiste provides such engrossing character depth for what were supposed to be background characters in their original stories, as well as vivid setting descriptions for the Haight at its height and New Hollywood noir that the novel takes on a hazy dream-like quality. Fans of gothic horror and feminist fiction will eat this book up!


The Boy Who Met a Whale

The Boy Who Met a Whale is a story about a fisherboy who embarks on the greatest adventure of his life. The book starts with Razi watching turtles hatch when he sees a dark shape in the water, a boat with a boy inside. The boy is named Zheng, and he has escaped a sinking ship with a map to a priceless treasure. Zheng tells Razi and his sister, Shifa, tales of survival against great odds, and he asks for help getting to the treasure.

However, having recently lost his father, Razi wants nothing to do with the sea. After changing his mind, Razi prepares to leave with Zheng and Shifa, when Zheng is captured by Marco and Cook. Razi and Shifa must now brave storms and sea monsters to rescue their friend.

Overall, this was a very good book. I really enjoyed the setting, which was a large island based on Sri Lanka. I also liked the parts with the whale, who turned out to be quite helpful. I would recommend this book to kids from fourth to eighth grade, especially kids who enjoy adventure novels.


The Sisters of Luna Island

Marigold Lafleur is one of the last descendants of a long line of aromages, or witches who can blend intentions into powerful charms to manipulate the world around them. But ever since the devastating earthquake that ravaged Luna Island, she and her sisters have sworn off their family legacy, promising to reject their magic.
When a terrible curse sweeps over Luna Island and the sisters she looks up to and cherishes over all else begin to slip away, Marigold must face an evil that spans generations without the sisters she loves… or risk losing them forever.

I liked this book because Marigold is a realistic, inspiring, and very relatable character, as she works to keep her family together and how she wants desperately for the rest of the island to accept her family and view them as “normal”. At the very root of this loving story is the love between sisters and just how far we would go for the ones we love. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a warm, loving story that will break your heart and mend it again!


Beneath the Bending Skies

In Montana, there is a lake called Lake Mary Ronan. This is her story.

Jane Kirkpatrick first discovered Mary Ronan on reading her memoirs, written down by one of her descendants. She’s a fascinating woman, and this book highlights the twists and turns of her life, from a girl in the mining towns of the west to the wife of a land manager in Montana, living among the Salish. The women of the west had to be strong, and Mary Ronan had both strength and grace, making her an intriguing figure to read about.

Judging from the author’s note at the end, it’s difficult to tell what makes the novel different from the memoir, besides the difference in genre. It seemed as though Kirkpatrick pulled Mary’s life wholesale from the memoir and added the imaginative flourishes a novelist is entitled to. Not having read the memoir myself, I can’t be certain, but it does make me wonder how necessary the novel is.

If nothing else, it will introduce many people to the life of a spectacular woman. I would recommend this book to anyone who grew up reading the Little House series and who still loves Laura.


The Orchard

Reads You'll Fall in Love With

If spring is truly the season of romance, then now is the perfect time to engage with some romantic reads, and the six novels featured in this roundup are among the best new works of romantic fiction. Whether historical or contemporary, they all manage to tug at the heartstrings, give plenty of sly giggles, and inspire longing daydreams.

The Boy with the Bookstore by Sarah Echavarre Smith

A bookshop combined with a bakery should be the perfect recipe for romance; at least, that’s what Joelle Prima hopes when she learns that the building housing her bakery is due to undergo significant renovation, meaning that her business will be temporary rehoused with the bookshop run by Max Boyson. For Joelle, who has long had a secret crush on the handsome Max, the plan conjures up daydreams involving the two of them falling in love as they cutely frolic about their respective businesses. Unfortunately, the reality of Max proves to be very different—very much more grumpy, thoughtless, and malodorous—than the fantasy, and Joelle’s dreams come dangerously close to being crushed. However, when the two of them discover that they are facing a common threat, it appears that they might be destined to be drawn together after all. Sarah Echavarre Smith’s The Boy with the Bookstore is a delightful and humorous contemporary novel in which books and baked goods serve to motivate a couple initially reluctant to pursue romance.

The Bachelor and the Bride by Sarah M Eden

Set in 1866, Sarah M Eden’s The Bachelor and the Bride details the unexpected intersection between love and crime fighting on the grimy streets of Victorian London. Far more concerned with his professional life than his personal interests, Dr. Barnabus Milligan only agreed to marry Gemma Kincaid in order to provide her with a means of escape from her infamous criminal family. For her part, Gemma initially believed that she had found true love with Barnabus, which was why she abandoned her new husband after only six months of marriage when she realized her feelings were unrequited. Now, some seven years after she left him, Barnabus wants Gemma back, but only to help him thwart her family’s latest scheme. A still-heartbroken Gemma agrees to help, although she makes it clear that Barnabus will never see her again after their business is concluded. Barnabus thinks that his plan is perfect, but what will happen when he recognizes that he feels more for his secret bride than he has ever admitted, not even to himself.

Rules of Engagement by Stacey Abrams

As an undercover agent with a secret intelligence agency, Dr. Raleigh Foster is well aware just how dangerous her life is. Death holds no fear for her, which is why she readily agrees to infiltrate a terrorist group known as Scimitar in an effort to recover environmental technology they have allegedly stolen. The mission proves to be more complicated than most, however, when she is assigned a partner: the brooding Adam Grayson, who is tasked with posing as her lover. He blames himself for the death of his best friend on a previous mission involving Scimitar, and he suspects that Raleigh might have somehow been responsible for the death. Yet, as the pair work closely to unravel the tangled web woven by the terrorists, Adam finds himself increasingly drawn to Raleigh, and the two of them are surprised to discover that their romantic charade is seeming increasingly real. Stacey Abrams’ Rules of Engagement is a sexy thriller that follows two secret agents as they embark on their most dangerous mission yet: love.

The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas

The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas is a slow-burning romcom about a situationship that gradually grows into something much deeper. Having quit her well-paying job to pursue her dream career as a romance writer, Rosie Graham doesn’t have enough cash to pay for the repairs required to the ceiling of her New York apartment. In sudden need of somewhere to stay, she is relieved to remember that her best friend Lina has left her with the spare key to her place while she’s away. What she doesn’t realize is that Lina has already lent the apartment to her cousin Lucas, who is visiting the United States from Spain. Even worse, Rosie has spent the past few months stalking Lucas on Instagram, something he is blissfully unaware of. When Lucas invites Rosie to share the apartment with him, she feels she has nothing to lose, not even when he suggests an outrageous plan to help her overcome her writer’s block. Will the six-week duration of Lucas’s visit be long enough for romance to blossom?

The Forever Farmhouse by Lee Tobin McClain

The first book in Lee Tobin McClain’s Hometown Brothers series, The Forever Farmhouse is a charming tale of homecoming and self-discovery, where the ties of community and friendship are found to potentially indicate something more. Ryan Hastings was a troubled teen when he first visited Teaberry Island, and the time he spent with a foster family there gave him the chance to turn his life around. Now an accomplished scientist, he has returned to the island to visit his recently widowed foster mother. While the people and place are largely unchanged, including Ryan’s feelings for Mellie Anderson, the girl he loved and left, there is one significant difference: Mellie now has a young son named Alfie. Still convinced that he is too damaged to be in a relationship with Mellie, Ryan nevertheless finds himself helping Alfie out with a bullying problem. Mellie is pleased to see Ryan and Alfie bonding, but she has a big secret of her own, one that could potentially change the course of all their lives.

The Orchard by Beverly Lewis

The Hostetler family has run an orchard in picturesque Lancaster County for generations. Evan Hostetler is expected to eventually take over the orchard, but when his draft number is called, his family is shocked to learn that, despite the Amish commitment to peace, Evan has not applied for conscientious objector status. When Evan departs for Vietnam, his twin sister Ellie is bereft and turns to her best friend’s brother, Sol Bontrager, to support and guidance. Unlike Evan, Sol is a committed conscientious objector, and Ellie finds herself increasingly drawn to his calm and steady demeaner. The potential relationship is complicated by the fact that Ellie is officially courting a neighbor named Menno, who happens to be Sol’s cousin. As things progress, Ellie is forced to discover just how brave she is capable of being and just how much she is willing to sacrifice for happiness. Beverly Lewis’s The Orchard is a heartwarming romance set in Amish country during the time of the Vietnam War.