“This was love: a string of coincidences that gathered significance and became miracles.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun
Allegro by Ariel Dorfman
fiction / historical fiction / mystery.
In 1789 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart visits the grave of Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig, looking for a sign, a signal, an answer to an enigma that has haunted him since childhood: Was Bach murdered by a famous oculist? And years later, was Handel a victim of the same doctor?
Allegro follows his investigation, from the salons of London to the streets of Paris, recreating an enthralling and turbulent time, full of rogues and brilliant composers, charlatans and presumptuous nobles. Running parallel to this search is the rise of Mozart, his knowledge and fame, his trials and losses.
“…luminous… The entrancing, sumptuous eighteenth-century European backdrop is contrasted with the undertow of political revolution developing in France and the US… the book’s heady passion for music heightens the plot while enlivening the joys and sorrows of each character.” – Meg Nola, Foreword Reviews
“…lovely… [it] reads like an 18th-century picaresque, about tragedies but not itself tragic, charming, and somewhat distanced. For all the poverty, illness, loss, and death surrounding him, this Mozart delights the reader with his effusive appreciation of food, drink, women, and music, music above all. Music, he believes with a bone-deep optimism, can change the very shape of the world. I loved viewing that world through his eyes.” – Melissa Bissonette, Historical Novel Society
“[A] study in contrasting elements: beautiful and profane, amusing and infuriating, exhilarating and heartbreaking. It shows us a Mozart we’ve never seen (or, likely, imagined), moving about in a world that feels unlike any late-1700s environment we’ve previously encountered. It’s a brilliantly constructed mystery, a love letter to classical music, and a gripping character study. Narrated by Mozart himself, it’s a story that’s so captivating that we really wish it were true.” – David Pitt, Booklist
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall ★
fiction / historical fiction / romance / mystery / suspense.
“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.”
Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.
A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.
“[A] beautiful book… Both aching and thrilling, Broken Country is a masterful book by an accomplished author.” – Lily Hunter, Booklist
“A marriage shrouded in secrets and a town pulsing with tension, this is a love story unlike any other… Both passionate and propulsive, Broken Country is a poignant tale of love, loss, guilt and grief.” – Isabelle McConville, B&N Reads
“English writer Hall serves up twist after twist in her canny U.S. debut… This sharp morality tale will stay with readers.” – Publishers Weekly
“An elegantly written historical novel with a compelling love triangle and a couple of clever twists.” – Kirkus Reviews
Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon
fiction / mystery / historical fiction.
Minnesota, 1970s: It’s spring in the Red River Valley and Cash Blackbear is doing fieldwork for a local farmer—until she finds him dead on the kitchen floor of the property’s rented farmhouse. The tenant, a Native field laborer, and his wife are nowhere to be found, but Cash discovers their young daughter, Shawnee, cowering under a bed. The girl, a possible witness to the killing, is too terrified to speak.
In the wake of the murder, Cash can’t deny her intuitive abilities: she is suspicious of the farmer’s grieving widow, who offers to take in Shawnee temporarily. While Cash is scouring White Earth Reservation for Shawnee’s missing mother—whom Cash wants to find before the girl is put in the foster system—another body turns up. Concerned by the escalating threat, Cash races against the clock to figure out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse.
Broken Fields is a compelling, atmospheric read woven with details of American Indian life in northern Minnesota, abusive farm labor practices and women’s liberation.
“[A] tragic, unforgiving crime novel that emphasizes the perils of the foster care system for Indigenous children.” – Lesa Holstine, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“…riveting… An outstanding contribution to the growing mystery genre starring Indigenous American women sleuths.” – Connie Fletcher, Booklist
“…combines a shocking whodunit with an insightful exploration of guilt… Rendon excels at balancing plot and character, taking time to probe Cash’s psychology while orchestrating a deliciously complicated mystery for her to solve. Readers will be rapt.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Count My Lies by Sophie Stava
fiction / suspense / mystery.
Sloane Caraway is a liar.
Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting.
So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can’t help herself—she tells the girl’s (very attractive) dad she’s a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl’s foot.
With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.
But maybe Sloane isn’t the only one lying, and all that’s picture-perfect harbors a much more dangerous truth. To say anything more is to spoil the most exciting, twisty, and bitingly smart suspense novel to come out in years.
The thing about lies is that they add up, form their own truth and a twisted prison of a world. And in Count My Lies, Sophie Stava spins a breakneck, unputdownable thriller about the secrets we keep, and the terrifying dangers that lurk just under the images we spend so much time trying to maintain.
Careful what you lie for.
“A page-turning thrill ride of a story…” – Kirkus Reviews
“…devilishly plotted… Stava keeps the pages turning. This is good fun.” – Publishers Weekly
“…gripping… The author has taken on quite a challenge here, and she pulls it off spectacularly. You won’t soon forget Sloane.” – David Pitt, Booklist
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ★
fiction.
Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until—betrayed and brokenhearted—she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America—but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve.
In Dream Count, Adichie trains her fierce eye on these women in a sparkling, transcendent novel that takes up the very nature of love itself. Is true happiness ever attainable or is it just a fleeting state? And how honest must we be with ourselves in order to love, and to be loved? A trenchant reflection on the choices we make and those made for us, on daughters and mothers, on our interconnected world, Dream Count pulses with emotional urgency and poignant, unflinching observations of the human heart, in language that soars with beauty and power. It confirms Adichie’s status as one of the most exciting and dynamic writers on the literary landscape.
“…superb… Adichie riffs brilliantly on what feminism means to her characters and renders each woman’s story in a distinctive voice—Omelogor’s rants in particular provide a thrilling contrast to the cool autofiction of Chiamaka’s sections. This is well worth the wait.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] rich, complicated book that spans continents and classes… the extraordinary sympathy of Adichie’s storytelling makes Dream Count deeply compelling… The lives of Chia, Zikora, Omelogor and Kadiatou unfold here in different tones, but all benefit equally from Adichie’s ability to plumb their particular desires, their hopes and anxieties.” – Ron Charles, Washington Post
“What elevates the story is, as ever, the emotional acuity of Adichie’s writing… this latest book is infused with something new and distinctive in Adichie’s prose: a crystal-clear purposefulness, moral and furious… In her ‘Author’s Note’, Adichie admits to seeking ‘to ‘write’ a wrong in the balance of stories’, offering ‘clear-eyed realism, but touched by tenderness’. Realism, yes, but tenderness most of all.” – Shahidha Bari, Financial Times
“Every aspect of this transfixing, intimate, and astute group portrait is ablaze with scorching insights into the maddening absurdities and injustices that continue to plague women’s lives. Adichie’s magnificently vital, sharply forthright novel will be one of the year’s most sought after and resounding titles.” – Donna Seaman, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami ★
fiction / science fiction.
Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.
The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.
Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.
“Laila Lalami’s brilliant and anxiety-provoking novel The Dream Hotel… makes you question why we aren’t doing more to protect our privacy right now.” – Ann Patchett, theSkimm’
“Lalami’s new novel has one of the best high-concept hooks of the year… It feels like a mix between Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report and Wim Wender’s Until the End of the World, written in Lalami’s silky and celebrated prose.” – Adam Morgan, Esquire
“…intriguing… The Dream Hotel does not feel like science fiction but rather a commentary on a near future that seems frighteningly close, just out of view.” – Shiyam K. Sriram, Pop Matters
“[A] stirring dystopian tale of dwindling privacy and freedom in the digital age… balances high-concept speculative elements with deep character work. This surreal story feels all too plausible.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid
fiction / young adult / fantasy / romance.
By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet.
Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.
When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs—the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she’s had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother she might stand a chance of staying alive.
For Melinoë, this is a game she can’t afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.
As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there’s more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she’s capable of more than killing.
And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.
“Lusciously evocative and dripping with verbal texture.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“An immersive setting rendered via descriptive prose ferries this invigorating story, which questions the nature of humanity, survival, and memory.” – Publishers Weekly
“…Reid’s tale touches on the dangers of debt and late-stage capitalism, the addiction to screens and technology, and the realities of corporations buying out governments. Suzanne Collins fans, meet your new favorite dystopia.” – Kelly Ferreira, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano
fiction / mystery / comedy / romance.
Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go… except Finlay’s house, right across the street.
Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.
When the focus of the investigation widens to include Finlay’s ex-husband, Steven, though, Finlay and Vero are left with little choice but to get closer to Mrs. Haggerty and uncover her secrets… before the police start digging up theirs. But who will solve the mystery first?
“Series fans will enjoy the opportunity to get to know recurring character Mrs. Haggerty in greater detail. This is good fun.” – Publishers Weekly
“…cosy, entertaining, gripping, and laugh-out-loud funny…” – Andrea Reid, The Nerd Daily
“What a hoot!… [an] amazingly propulsive read, with just the right amount of suspense, intrigue, and fun.” – Lou Jacobs, Mystery & Suspense
Galway’s Edge by Ken Bruen
fiction / mystery / suspense.
Edge, a shadow organization made up of the most powerful figures in Galway society, exists to rid the city of criminals and abusers who have evaded the law. Long wary of the organization, the Vatican is not pleased when rumors start swirling that one of the Catholic Church’s own priests has joined its ranks. And who better to ask to intercede than the whiskey-swigging ex-cop who always seems to have one foot in the pub and another among Ireland’s clergy?
Lately, Jack has been spending his days sitting at the bedside of a man he put into a coma and taking care of a little dog named Trip, bequeathed to him by a dead nun. Then an envoy to the Archdiocese shows up at his door, asking Jack to go speak to a priest named Kevin Whelan and dissuade him from any involvement with Edge. Jack accepts the mission, but the next day Father Whelan is found dead, hanging from a rope in his own backyard.
Would Edge really kill one of their own? And if not, who else would be bold enough to take on the most powerful organization in the city? As more Edge members are murdered, the Vatican grows alarmed that someone even worse will take their place. It’s up to Jack Taylor to nail the culprit before Edge is dissolved completely and Galway is thrown into chaos.
“Fans of the brilliant detective noir of James Ellroy and Jo Nesbø are in for a treat with the latest Jack Taylor novel.” – Philip Zozzaro, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“A shaggy, wonderfully evocative lineup for a hero whose ‘modus operandi [is] to retaliate first.’” – Kirkus Reviews
“[A] wild-eyed and far-ranging crime novel written as only Ken Bruen can: a splash of poetry; a dash of morality, or the absence of morality, perhaps; a pinch of madness; and a dollop of justice… interesting, thought-provoking, and in equal parts ugly and redemptive.” – Ben Boulden, Gravetapping
A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames
fiction / fantasy / romance.
Everyone in Foss Butcher’s village knows what happens when the magic-workers come; they harvest human hearts to use in their spells. That’s just how life in her kingdom works. But Foss, plain, clumsy, and practical as a boot, never expected anyone would want hers.
When a sorcerer snags a piece of Foss’s heart without meaning to, she is furious. For once a heart is snagged, the experience is… well, unpleasant. So, Foss finds herself stomping toward the grand City to keep his enchanted House and demands that he fixes her before she keels over and dies, or whatever happens when hearts are Snagged.
But the sorcerer, Sylvester, is not what she expected. Petulant, idle, and new to his powers, Sylvester has no clue how to undo the heart-taking, or how to do much of anything really, apart from sulk. Foss’s only friend is a talking cat and even the House’s walls themselves have moods.
As Foss searches for a cure, she accidentally uncovers that there is much more to the heart-taking—and to the magic-workers themselves—than she could have ever imagined…
“[A] modern fantasy with the deep moral core of an old fable.” – Publishers Weekly
“Eames’ debut features an enchanted house, a moody (and clueless) sorcerer, and a no-nonsense protagonist all set in a compelling world reminiscent of Howl’s Moving Castle. Fans of cozy fantasy will enjoy this one.” – Leah von Essen, Booklist
“Eames offers a delightful modern fairy tale in which the heroine is determined to save herself. The atmospheric setting and layered plot will please fantasy readers.” – Kristin Chadwick, Library Journal
The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley
fiction / historical fiction / romance.
It is the year 1613, and King James is sending his messenger Andrew Logan into Scotland with secret orders to arrest Sir David Moray, close friend and advisor of the late Prince Henry. Secrets are second nature to Andrew, who must hide his Second Sight to stay alive. Joined by a court scrivener and the scrivener’s spirited daughter Phoebe, Andrew slowly untangles the true purpose of his mission—to frame Sir David for Prince Henry’s murder. But Andrew is unwilling to betray an innocent man.
Phoebe Westaway dislikes Andrew, and their history makes it hard for her to trust him. But as their journey draws them deeper into the dark web of court intrigue, Phoebe begins to suspect that she might have more need of the King’s Messenger and his unusual gifts than she could ever have foreseen.
“Although the book opens with tension and darkness, the story progresses to become warm and uplifting, replete with kindness, friendship and romance. But to quote the book: ‘Happy endings are of little comfort to characters who die afore the tale is done.’ This is a well-told historical adventure leavened with a classic romance.” – Eleanor Swift-Hook, Historical Novel Society
“Kearsley’s latest has everything her readers have come to expect (and love) from her—a well-researched setting (here, 1613 Scotland and England), a hero whose still waters run deep, romance, and a hint of the supernatural. Seamlessly integrating historical details, this slow-burn road-trip novel is a real gem.” – Susan Maguire, Booklist
“[A] noteworthy historical… A detailed afterword lays out the historical record and where Kearsley has taken creative license, and her reveal of how Henry died is both surprising and logical. Kearsley’s deep character work includes flashbacks depicting Moray’s close relationship with Henry and an unexpected but convincing bond between Logan and Phoebe.” – Publishers Weekly
Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s First South Asian Star by Mayukh Sen
nonfiction / biography / history / film.
A beautiful reclamation of a pioneering South Asian actress captures her glittering, complicated life and lasting impact on Hollywood.
Merle Oberon made history when she was announced as a nominee for the Best Actress Oscar in 1936. Hers was a face that “launched a thousand ships,” a so-called exotic beauty who the camera loved and fans adored. Her nomination for The Dark Angel marked the first time the Academy recognized a performer of color. Almost ninety years before actress Michelle Yeoh would triumph in the same category, Oberon, born to a South Asian mother and white father in India, broke through a racial barrier—but no one knew it. Oberon was “passing” for white.
In the first biography of Oberon (1911–1979) in more than forty years, Mayukh Sen draws on family interviews and heretofore untapped archival material to capture the exceptional life of an oft-forgotten talent.
Born into poverty, Queenie Thompson dreamt of big-screen stardom. By sheer force of will, she immigrated to London in her teens and met film mogul Alexander Korda, who christened her “Merle Oberon” and invented the story that she was born to European parents in Tasmania. Her new identity was her ticket into Hollywood. When she was only in her twenties, Oberon dazzled as Cathy in Wuthering Heights opposite Laurence Olivier. Against the backdrop of Hollywood’s racially exclusionary Golden Age and the United States’s hostile immigration policy towards South Asians in the twentieth century, Oberon rose to the highest echelons of the film-world elite, all while keeping a secret that could have destroyed her career.
Tracing Oberon’s story from her Indian roots to her final days surrounded by wealth and glamor, Sen questions the demands placed on stars in life and death. His compassionate, compelling chronicle illuminates troubling truths on race, gender, and power that still resonate today.
“An extraordinary biography of an extraordinary South Asian woman.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Though Sen covers the tragic elements of Oberon’s story, he emphasizes the stirring determination she showed in scrapping her way to the film industry’s upper echelon. It’s a poignant account of the sacrifices that enabled an extraordinary career.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“A devout and dedicated fan, Sen anchors Oberon’s complicated story and spotty filmography within the racism and classism of the early twentieth century, crediting her as a pioneer for the growing cadre of South Asian actors only now breaking through filmdom’s capricious prejudices. Sen finally gives this oft-overlooked actor her due.” – Carol Haggas, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Mothers and Other Fictional Characters: A Memoir in Essays by Nicole Graev Lipson
nonfiction / essays / memoir.
What does it take to escape the plotlines mapped onto us? Searching for clues in the work of her literary foremothers, Lipson untangles what it means to be a girl, a woman, a lover, a partner, a daughter, and a mother in a world all too ready to reduce us to stock characters. Whether she’s testing the fragile borders of fidelity, embracing the taboo power of female friendship, escaping her family for the solitude of the mountains, grappling with what to do with her frozen embryos, or letting go of the children she imagined for the ones she’s raising, Lipson pushes beyond the easy, surface stories we tell about ourselves to brave less certain territory.
As Lipson journeys through this thorny terrain, literature becomes her lodestar. Kate Chopin’s erotic story “The Storm” helps her reckon with the longings stirring below the surface of her marriage. Watching her son absorb the stifling codes of manhood, she finds unlikely parenting inspiration in Philip Roth’s most cartoonish overbearing mother. Summoning Gwendolyn Brooks, she asks, Can destroying one’s frozen embryos be understood as a maternal act? And accompanied by Shakespeare’s gender-bending heroine Rosalind, she seizes on the truest meaning of loving her oldest child.
Risky and revealing, nourishing and affirming, rigorous and sexy, Mothers and Other Fictional Characters is a shimmering love letter to our forgotten selves—and the ones we’re still becoming.
“With empathy and grace, Lipson unravels the tangle of ‘illusory standards’ that weigh on any marriage and any woman’s sense of self. Deftly crafted essays likely to resonate with grateful readers.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] sharp, sparkling collection [that] triumphs at its mission… [it] educates, entertains, inspires — and richly rewards rereading. Mothers is a keeper.” – Joan Frank, San Francisco Chronicle
“Oh, the writing! Graev Lipson’s prose isn’t only gorgeous, it’s skillful—dare I say masterful. Each sentence sculpted with grace, each paragraph constructed with careful planning. Each essay using a range of literary techniques, stunning in their execution… Those looking for honest and thoughtful explorations of womanhood should check out Mothers and Other Fictional Characters.” – Rachel León, Chicago Review of Books
Oathbound by Tracy Deonn
fiction / young adult / fantasy / romance.
Severed from the Legendborn. Oathbound to a monster.
Bree Matthews is alone. She exiled herself from the Legendborn Order, cut her ancestral connections, and turned away from the friends who can’t understand the impossible cost of her powers. This is the only way to keep herself—and those she loves—safe.
But Bree’s decision has come with a terrible price: an unbreakable bargain with the Shadow King himself, a shapeshifter who can move between humanity, the demon underworld, and the Legendborn secret society. In exchange for training to wield her unprecedented abilities, Bree has put her future in the Shadow King’s hands—and unwittingly bound herself to do his bidding as his new protégé.
Meanwhile, the other Scions must face war while their Round Table is fractured, leaderless, and missing its Kingsmage, as Selwyn has also disappeared. When Nick invokes an ancient law that requires the High Council of Regents to grant him an audience, the Order’s Merlins imprison him. No one knows what he will demand of the Regents… or what secrets he has kept hidden from the Table.
As a string of mysterious kidnappings escalates and Merlins are found dead, it becomes clear that no matter how hard Bree runs from who she is, the past will always find her.
“…thrilling…” – Emma Dwyer, Libby Life
“Oathbound masterfully blends magic, loyalty, and destiny.” – Jessi, The Bookish Mom
“…sensational… a dazzling contemporary fantasy world that blends Southern Black Girl Magic with secret societies and the legend of King Arthur!” – Simon Teen
One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter
fiction / historical fiction.
1940, Emilia Romagna. Lili and Esti have been best friends since meeting at the University of Ferrara; when Esti’s son Theo is born, they become as close as sisters. There is a war being fought across borders, and in Italy, Mussolini’s Racial Laws have deemed Lili and Esti descendants of an ‘inferior’ Jewish race, but life somehow goes on—until Germany invades northern Italy, and the friends find themselves in occupied territory.
Esti, older and fiercely self-assured, convinces Lili to flee first to a villa in the countryside to help hide a group of young war orphans, then to a convent in Florence, where they pose as nuns and forge false identification papers for the Underground. When disaster strikes at the convent, a critically wounded Esti asks Lili to take a much bigger step: To go on the run with Theo. Protect him while Esti can’t.
Terrified to travel on her own, Lili sets out on an epic journey south toward Allied territory, through Nazi-occupied villages and bombed-out cities, doing everything she can to keep Theo safe.
A remarkable tale of friendship, motherhood, and survival, One Good Thing is a tender reminder that love for another person, even amidst darkness and uncertainty, can be reason to keep going.
“[A] stirring novel of bravery and sacrifice in WWII Italy… Fans of Hunter’s previous book and the miniseries based on it will be pleased.” – Publishers Weekly
“An unforgettable story of friendship and resilience… One Good Thing is a testament to courage, sacrifice, and unbreakable bonds. Readers will be reminded of the extraordinary power of love even in the darkest of times.” – Morgan Menzies, SheReads
“[A] beautiful, compelling novel… As with her earlier book, there’s a feeling of forward momentum at the conclusion—a defiant hopefulness that may well bring tears to your eyes.” – Trish Macenulty, Historical Novel Society
Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
fiction / young adult / fantasy / romance.
They’ve loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They’ve killed each other in every one.
Evelyn can remember all her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being linked to her soul. The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life before they find her first, figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse, and try not to fall in love… again.
“An intriguing romantic fantasy with characters readers will root for.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Lovers of The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue and This is How You Lose the Time War will surely devote their time to devouring this tale… Packed with adventures, love and danger, this is our top pick if you’re looking for a young adult fantasy.” – Syameen Salehaldin, Harper’s Bazaar
“Steven navigates a high-stakes setup that demands a satisfying payoff, adeptly delivering a gratifying end to a story that seems like it could be endless. The skillful rendering of this ambrosial feast of a tale is well supported by equally accomplished prose and character development. A truly masterful blend of genres that is equally heartful and cerebral…” – Abby Hargreaves, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
The Ragpicker King by Cassandra Clare
fiction / fantasy / romance.
Kel Saren, body double to Conor, crown prince of the dazzling city of Castellane, is caught between two worlds. In order to protect his beloved prince, Kel must find the culprits responsible for a massacre at the royal palace—and the only clues are held by the Ragpicker King, the notorious criminal who rules Castellane’s underworld. The trail Kel follows leads back to the Hill, where among decadent nobles and glittering parties a dark conspiracy to destroy the royal family has taken hold—a conspiracy headed up by the monstrous Artal Gremont, the man engaged to marry the woman Kel adores.
Meanwhile, Lin Caster must face the aftermath of the greatest risk she’s ever taken. To save the life of a dying friend, Lin has falsely claimed to be the Goddess Reborn, the legendary heroine destined to save her people. Now the terrifying—but strangely magnetic—leader of her people has arrived to test her powers. The price of failure is exile, and only through her alliance with the Ragpicker King can she continue to access the magic that may save her.
Then Prince Conor reappears in her life, demanding that she use her healing powers to cure the madness of his father, the King. Lin soon realizes the King is gripped by an ancient and terrible magic, one whose lure she cannot deny any more than she can deny her growing passion for Conor.
As the simmering tensions in Castellane reach a fever pitch, Lin and Kel must decide who to trust when any false move means death—or worse.
“This series provides the perfect escape from reality.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Clare gracefully juggles many narrators and plotlines while expanding her detailed worldbuilding and keeping the pages turning with plenty of intrigue and action. Fans will be more than satisfied.” – Publishers Weekly
“The Ragpicker King does everything a sequel is supposed to do. Clare expands on the world-building that made Sword Catcher so compelling, further exploring Castellane’s political landscape and the murky conspiracies simmering beneath its surface… [the] ending sets the stage for what promises to be explosively fun times in the journey ahead.” – Mogsy, The BiblioSanctum
Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the Surrender of Japan by Richard Overy
nonfiction / history.
With the development of the B-29 “Superfortress” in summer 1944, strategic bombing, a central component of the Allied war effort against Germany, arrived in the Pacific theater. In 1945 Japan experienced the three most deadly bombing attacks of the war. The firebombing of Tokyo in March burned the city’s most densely populated sector, killed some 85,000 residents, and left more than one million homeless. The attack was part of a months-long campaign of incendiary bombing that destroyed almost two-thirds of Japan’s cities. The two atomic blasts in August killed hundreds of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, most of them civilians. The bombing brought a destabilizing devastation that, combined with a declaration of war by the Soviet Union, induced Japan, as they put it, to terminate the war.
Many at the time and since have credited American air power, and especially the two atomic bombs, with Japan’s surrender. But Richard Overy tells a different, more dimensional story. Drawing on his expertise on the war and its bombing campaigns, he delivers a precise recounting of these aerial attacks, and a balanced, informed assessment of how and why they occurred. Overy is astute on the Allied decision-making, and, notably, integrates the Japanese leadership as well. He ably navigates the dramatic endgame of the war, which featured factional infighting within the Japanese cabinet, a scramble by American officials to formulate an acceptable version of “unconditional surrender,” and the crucial role played by the emperor, Hirohito. The atomic bombing emerges as impactful but not decisive in this rich, multilayered history.
“A fresh and persuasive outlook on one of the great moral crossroads in world history.” – Kirkus Reviews
“[A] compelling reconstruction of how morality fares amid total war…” – Christopher Harding, The Telegraph
“In a period where nuclear threats are thrown about almost casually, looking back at this history is a sobering exercise—and it serves as a reminder that the ultimate weapon, once widely considered a necessary evil, should never be unleashed again… The last thing the world needs is for states to turn to modern thermonuclear bombs, which would achieve a level of destruction well beyond Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Everyone must hope that the first use of nuclear weapons will remain the last.” – Richard Overy, Foreign Policy
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar ★
fiction / fantasy.
In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.
There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.
But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…
“El-Mohtar’s solo debut is a heart-wrenching fairy tale about the bonds of love and family. It’s a murder ballad in book form that will linger long after the final page is turned.” – Kristi Chadwick, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“…extraordinary… a marvelous story that pulls on old Grimm fairy tales of violence and truth telling, of what it means to be sisters in a story of fae and folklore, and of the kind of true love that exists between sisters.” – Leah von Essen, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“This book is a delight… El-Mohtar employs wordplay of the most sumptuous variety from page one, in a world where grammar is magic and nature, from trees to storms to the very people, are always more than they appear… A faerytale of delicious tropes, from magic to riddles to metamorphoses, whose narrator doesn’t so much break the fourth wall as knock it down, sweep it aside, and come and sit in your lap in a brief but delightfully deep look at love, sisterhood, and what we would sacrifice for them both.” – Doron Klemer, The Southern Bookseller Review
“…El-Mohtar delivers a meditation on love – between sisters and between lovers – on language, magic, loyalty, and transformation… El-Mohtar is a fantastic prose stylist, with an ear for poetry and a very apt sense for rhythm and metaphor, more inclined to the understated than the overblown… At times elliptically, at times explicitly, this is a story about truths, and change, and choices: about family, and love. It is both haunting and joyful. It made me cry. And then its ending offered a deserved katabasis, warm and loving and generous.” – Liz Bourke, Locus
Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope by Amanda Nguyen ★
nonfiction / memoir.
In 2013, the trajectory of Amanda Nguyen’s life was changed forever when she was raped at Harvard.
Determined to not let her assault derail her goal of joining NASA after graduation, Nguyen opted for her rape kit to be filed under “Jane Doe.” But she was shocked to learn her choice to stay anonymous gave her only six months to take action before the state destroyed her kit, rendering any future legal action impossible. Nguyen knew then that she had two options: surrender to a law that effectively denied her justice, or fight for a change—not only for herself but for survivors everywhere.
A heart-wrenching memoir of survival and hope, Saving Five boldly braids the story of Nguyen’s activism—which resulted in Congress’s unanimous passage of the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act in 2016—with a second, beautifully imagined adventure, of Nguyen’s younger selves as they—at ages five, fifteen, twenty-two, and thirty—navigate through dramatic incarnations of the emotional stages of her path toward healing, not only from her rape but from the violent turmoil of her childhood. The result is a groundbreaking work that seamlessly blends memoir with a moving journey toward acceptance and hope, forging a path ahead that is as inspiring as it is instructive.
From one of the most influential activists (and now astronauts) of her time, Saving Five is at once a tribute to resilience, a celebration of healing through action, and a resounding cry to change the world.
“…affecting… The rational and emotional sides of the story combine for a nuanced view of her experience.” – Margaret Quamme, Booklist
“A troubling account of the obstacles our system places in the path of rape survivors.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen’s story of resilience, strength and defiance will illuminate and inspire.” – Isabelle McConville, B&N Reads
“This intimate, grit-infused true story is a testament to the power of honesty in the face of great challenges… In a time where disenfranchisement and suffering may feel increasingly inevitable, it’s vital to witness and embrace the possibility of a better world. With Saving Five, Nguyen insists you join her in doing so.” – Annie Harvieux, BookPage
Seven Social Movements That Changed America by Linda Gordon
nonfiction / history / politics.
How do social movements arise, wield power, and bring about meaningful change? Renowned scholar Linda Gordon investigates these and other salient questions in this “visionary, cautionary, timely, and utterly necessary book” (Nicole Eustace), narrating how some of America’s most influential twentieth-century social movements transformed the nation.
Beginning with the turn-of-the century settlement house movement, the book compares Chicago’s celebrated Hull-House, begun by privileged women, to a much less well known African American project, Cleveland’s Phillis Wheatley House, begun by a former sharecropper. Expanding her highly praised book The Second Coming of the KKK, the second chapter shows how a northern Klan became a mass movement in the 1920s. Contrary to what many Klan opponents thought, this KKK was a middle-class organization, its members primarily urban and well educated. In the 1930s, the KKK gave birth to dozens of American fascist groups—small but extremely violent. Profiles of two other 1930s movements follow: the Townsend campaign for old-age insurance, named for its charismatic leader, Dr. Francis Townsend. It created the public pressure that brought us Social Security, which was considered radical at the time, as was the movement to bring about federal unemployment aid for millions.
Proceeding to the 1955–1956 Montgomery bus boycott—which jump-started the career of Martin Luther King, Jr.—the narrative shows how the city’s entire Black population refused to ride segregated buses; initiated by Black women, their years-long, hard-fought victory inspired the civil rights movement. Gordon then examines the 1970s farmworkers struggle, led by Cesar Chavez and made possible by the work of tens of thousands of the primarily Mexican American farmworkers. Together they built the United Farm Workers Union, winning better wages and working conditions for some of the country’s poorest workers. The book concludes with the dramatic stories of two Boston socialist feminist groups, Bread and Roses and the Combahee River Collective, which influenced the whole women’s liberation movement.
Throughout the work, Gordon concentrates not on ideologies but on how millions of grassroots activists strategized and changed the United States. Separately and together, these seven narratives bring to life the creativity and hard work of social movements, and in doing so reveal how they have been central to American history, in stories that reverberate with today’s political activism.
“A timely, stirring history.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“This book—by a truly renowned historian—about the power that ordinary citizens can wield when they organize to make their community a better place for all could not come at a better time.” – Claire Kirch, The Millions
“Considering the impact these movements continue to have even in the present day, modern readers will not only derive historical value from these stories but also insights applicable to today’s social upheavals.” – Gary Day, Booklist
The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid
fiction / romance.
After moving back to his hometown ten years ago, Riley Tuck thought he had left his major league hockey career—and his broken heart—far behind. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes, it brings ex-teammate and former best friend with benefits Adam Sheppard back into his life.
Coming to the small town of Avery River, Nova Scotia, might have been a mistake. Adam’s not sure he’ll ever win back Riley’s trust after the way they left things—and the attention he’s getting as a huge hockey star isn’t exactly helping. Yet the chemistry that crackles between them is undeniable, even now.
As Adam helps Riley navigate his grief, long-buried feelings start to resurface. But they’ll have to square off with their complicated past if they’re going to have a real shot at a new beginning.
“[A] complex, emotionally charged story… A beautifully written romance about finally finding oneself and a happy ending.” – Jenny Kobiela-Mondor, Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Reid expertly combines a charming small-town setting with an exceptional love story that is equal measures sensual heat and sweet emotion, all while deftly plumbing the romantic hopes and fears of two best friends who truly belong together.” – John Charles, Booklist
“Reid peppers her hopeful story with cozy scenes, such as a trip to a farmer’s market and dinner with Riley’s queer friends. These moments show Adam becoming more comfortable with being gay and finding the courage to come out publicly. Even more swoon inducing is the work Adam puts in to mending the hurt he caused Riley in the past. These two are sure to win fans.” – Publishers Weekly
Sucker Punch: Essays by Scaachi Koul ★
nonfiction / essays / memoir / comedy.
Scaachi Koul’s first book was a collection of raw, perceptive, and hilarious essays reckoning with the issues of race, body image, love, friendship, and growing up the daughter of immigrants. When the time came to start writing her next book, Scaachi assumed she’d be updating her story with essays about her elaborate four-day wedding, settling down to domestic bliss, and continuing her never-ending arguments with her parents. Instead, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Scaachi’s marriage fell apart, she lost her job, and her mother was diagnosed with cancer.
Sucker Punch is about what happens when the life you thought you’d be living radically changes course, everything you thought you knew about the world and yourself has tilted on its axis, and you have to start forging a new path forward. Scaachi employs her biting wit to interrogate her previous belief that fighting is the most effective tool for progress. She examines the fights she’s had―with her parents, her ex-husband, her friends, online strangers, and herself―all in an attempt to understand when a fight is worth having, and when it’s better to walk away.
“…deftly written… humorous and cutting…” – Alissa Bennett, New York Times
“Probing and strikingly candid, this is another winner from Koul.” – Publishers Weekly
“In her sophomore essay collection, Scaachi Koul delivers a story that is honest and on-point, sarcastic, sometimes heartbreaking, and downright side-splitting… her voice is fresh and wry, her sharp wit evenly dispensed. Sucker Punch is a welcome companion to read when life keeps coming at you, and you just can’t seem to catch a break.” – Felicia Reich, Paste
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events that Created New York and Shaped America by Russell Shorto
nonfiction / history.
In 1664, England decided to invade the Dutch-controlled city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York, had dreams of empire, and their archrivals, the Dutch, were in the way. But Richard Nicolls, the military officer who led the English flotilla bent on destruction, changed his strategy once he encountered Peter Stuyvesant, New Netherland’s canny director general.
Bristling with vibrant characters, Taking Manhattan reveals the founding of New York to be an invention, the result of creative negotiations that would blend the multiethnic, capitalistic society of New Amsterdam with the power of the rising English empire. But the birth of what might be termed the first modern city is also a story of the brutal dispossession of Native Americans and of the roots of American slavery. The book draws from newly translated materials and illuminates neglected histories—of religious refugees, Indigenous tribes, and free and enslaved Africans.
Taking Manhattan tells the riveting story of the birth of New York City as a center of capitalism and pluralism, a foundation from which America would rise. It also shows how the paradox of New York’s origins—boundless opportunity coupled with subjugation and displacement—reflects America’s promise and failure to this day. Russell Shorto, whose work has been described as “astonishing” (New York Times) and “literary alchemy” (Chicago Tribune), has once again mined archival sources to offer a vibrant tale and a fresh and trenchant argument about American beginnings.
“A bracing narrative of the international standoff that birthed America’s biggest city.’ – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“…lively, well-written, and well-researched… Shorto brings the period to vibrant life by portraying female Montaukett chief Quashawam, as well as many New Amsterdam residents whose lives are revealed in invaluable translations of Dutch records.” – John Rowen, Booklist
“Shorto’s storytelling is wry and accomplished, transforming a campaign of letter-writing and procedural legerdemain into a brisk and amusing saga. Readers will be wowed.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran
fiction / young adult / horror.
Since the hurricane, the town of Mercy, Louisiana has been overtaken by a strange red algae bloom. Noon and her mother have carved out a life in the wreckage, trawling for the mutated wildlife that lurks in the water and trading it to the corrupt harbormaster. When she’s focused on survival, Noon doesn’t have to cope with what happened to her at the Cove or the monster itching at her skin.
Mercy has never been a safe place, but it’s getting worse. People are disappearing, and the only clues as to why are whispers of underwater shadows and warnings to never answer the knocks at night. When the harbormaster demands she capture the creature that’s been drowning residents, Noon finds a reluctant ally in his daughter Covey. And as the next storm approaches, the two set off to find what’s haunting Mercy. After all, Noon is no stranger to monsters…
“A strange and grisly tale of what we can survive to get closer to our truest selves, deeply infused with Vietnamese cultural concepts.” – Allie Stevens, School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Tran fills the pages with sensory detail, creating a haunting setting that immerses readers in their worldbuilding… Overflowing with horrors—and with heart.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Tran makes deft use of horror genre conventions to construct a narrative about how trauma shapes and changes people… Noon knows what it means to suffocate under the pressure of oppressive norms that seek to punish their self-expression and neutralize its subversive potential. Freeing the monster in themself means confronting their traumatic past and embracing their own power of unsettling.” – Shenwei Chang, The Horn Book
Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali by Cassidy Randall
nonfiction / history / biography.
Cassidy Randall draws on extensive archival research and original interviews to tell an engrossing, edge-of-the-seat adventure story about a forgotten group of climbers who had the audacity to believe that women could walk alone in extraordinary and treacherous heights.
Grace Hoeman dreamed of standing on top of Denali. The tallest peak in North America, the fierce polar mountain loomed large in many climbers’ imaginations, and Grace, a doctor in Alaska, had come close to the top, only to be turned back by altitude sickness and a storm that took the lives of seven fellow climbers in one remorseless blow.
Other expeditions denied her a place because of her gender, and when a letter arrived from a climber in California named Arlene Blum, who’d also been barred from expeditions—unless she stayed in base camp and cooked for the men, Grace got a defiant idea: she would organize and lead the first-ever all-female ascent of the frozen Alaskan peak.
Everyone told the “Denali Damsels,” as the team called themselves, that it couldn’t be done: Women were incapable of climbing mountains on their own. Men had walked on the moon; women still had not stood on the highest points on Earth. But these six women were unwilling to be limited by sexists and misogynists. They pushed past barriers in society at large, the climbing world, and their own bodies.
And then, when disaster struck at the worst time on their expedition, they could either keep their wits and prove their mettle, or die and confirm the worst opinions of men.
“Randall pays homage to six female trailblazers who deserve recognition for their historic achievements. Highly recommend.” – Brenda Barrera, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“…readers will be left in awe of the women’s enthrallment to the sport, their determination, and the bittersweet spirit of their life-changing experience. An entrancing tale of a harrowing adventure.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
Universality by Natasha Brown
fiction / suspense / mystery.
Late one night on a Yorkshire farm, in the midst of an illegal rave, a young man is nearly bludgeoned to death with a solid gold bar.
An ambitious young journalist sets out to uncover the truth surrounding the attack, connecting the dots between an amoral banker landlord, an iconoclastic newspaper columnist, and a radical anarchist movement that has taken up residence on the farm. She solves the mystery, but her viral exposé raises more questions than it answers. Through a voyeuristic lens, and with a simmering power, Universality focuses on words: what we say, how we say it, and what we really mean.
A thrilling novel from one of the most acclaimed young novelists working today, Universality is a compelling, unsettling celebration of the spectacular, appalling force of language. It dares you to look away.
“…terrific; a pin-sharp, savagely funny tale of class, wealth and manipulation… by the end of the novel, Brown has ingeniously turned what you think you know on its head.” – Alice O’Keeffe, The Bookseller
“…an instant classic… Written from the perspective of each character, Universality traverses class, wealth and power.” – Naomi May, Elle
“…ambitious and stimulating… As in Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise and Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry, part of the fun is in seeing where the story will jump to next, and the ways in which each new perspective changes the reader’s understanding. The result is a dizzying and fascinating tale.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
fiction / mystery / suspense.
A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.
Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.
But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.
A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.
“…remarkable… Raising issues of love and family and sacrifice, Wild Dark Shore is a beautiful examination of hope in the face of certain destruction.” – Sara Beth West, Shelf Awareness
“Readers won’t want to leave behind the imagined world of pain and beauty that McConaghy has conjured.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“…harrowing… McConaghy’s descriptions of nature’s glory and terror are galvanic, the psychological struggles wrenching, the suspenseful action spectacularly choreographed. McConaghy has attained new heights of intensity and lacerating ecological conviction in this complexly plotted, tragic, and all-consuming tale of the battle to survive in a catastrophically changing world.” – Donna Seaman, Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Woodworking by Emily St. James
fiction.
Erica Skyberg is thirty-five years old, recently divorced—and trans. Not that she’s told anyone yet. Mitchell, South Dakota, isn’t exactly bursting with other trans women. Instead, she keeps to herself, teaching by day and directing community theater by night. That is, until Abigail Hawkes enters her orbit.
Abigail is seventeen, Mitchell High’s resident political dissident and Only Trans Girl. It’s a role she plays faultlessly, albeit a little reluctantly. She’s also annoyed by the idea of spending her senior year secretly guiding her English teacher through her transition. But Abigail remembers the uncertainty—and loneliness—that comes with it. Besides, Erica isn’t the only one struggling to shed the weight of others’ expectations.
As their unlikely friendship evolves, it comes under the scrutiny of their community. And soon, both women—and those closest to them—are forced to ask: Who are we if we choose to hide ourselves? What happens once we disappear into the woodwork?
Detransition Baby meets Fleishman is in Trouble in this remarkable debut novel from an incisive contemporary voice. A story about the awkwardness of growing up and the greatest love story of all, that between us and our friends, Woodworking is a tonic for the moment and a celebration of womanhood in all its multifaceted joy.
“Pristinely characterized, this debut novel is by turns funny and heartrending.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“This story of a trans woman coming out in small town South Dakota in 2016 isn’t just earnest and moving, but surprisingly funny and joyful—all without pulling any punches about the struggle to be yourself in a world that may not want you to be.” – Crooked Media Reads
“…delightful… St. James enthralls with her depiction of what it’s like to be trans in a conservative and insular community, and the courage it takes for people to openly be themselves. This engrossing drama is a must-read.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
You Killed Me First by John Marrs
fiction / suspense / mystery.
It’s 5 November, and a woman awakens to a nightmare. Bound and gagged, she lies trapped in the heart of a towering bonfire. As the smoke thickens, panic sets in – she’s moments away from being engulfed in flames. How did it come to this?
Rewind eleven months: Margot, a faded TV star, and her long-suffering friend Anna watch as glamorous Liv and her flawless family move into their street. The three women soon fabricate the perfect pretence of friendship, but each harbours her own deadly secret – and newcomer Liv senses something is terribly wrong beneath the polished exteriors.
As cracks widen in the veneer of perfection and lies escalate out of control, tension ignites. Bonfire Night is approaching and someone is set to burn… But who will it be?
“Fun, thrilling and secretive…” – Syameen Salehaldin, Harper’s Bazaar
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