Orphans of the Living by Kathy Watson centers on the Stovall family’s fractured struggle for survival and belonging across several decades and locations. Lula Stovall and her husband, Barney, move from Montana homesteading to Mississippi sharecropping, then to California farmland, battling poverty, racism, and family...

Priscilla Speaks by Kirk Ward Robinson is a powerful and poetic coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of rural hardship, familial abandonment, and the search for meaning in the margins. The central character is born into a world marked by her mother’s addiction and societal...

A Bag Full of Stones by A. Molotkov is a crime novel that paints a deeply human, sociopolitical portrait of modern America. We find ourselves in Portland during the turbulent months of 2019, where the story interweaves the lives of immigrants, minorities, and damaged detectives...

The Syndicate Executive by Robin Alden Howard is a gripping psychological thriller steeped in control, obsession, and the brutal complexities of power dynamics. Rachel is scarred by her past and surrounded by predators cloaked in wealth and charm. She finds herself caught in the possessive...

In The Place, E.B. Sullivan tells the story of Luella, who is a child when the novel begins but grows into a young woman navigating survival and self-worth in 19th-century Placerville. After a desperate act sends her down an unexpected path, she finds herself in...

Cynthia and the Blue Cat's Last Meow is an engrossing adventure novella by Jeffrey Penn May. The story follows an unnamed twenty-two-year-old narrator as he embarks on a hike into the forest, trying to reach Cynthia's cabin by the blue river. Cynthia is a mysterious...

Humph's War by Wayne Clark is a captivating story set in 1941, New York City, at the height of World War II. The protagonist, private investigator Humphrey (Humph), is a patriotic man eager to contribute to the war effort. He investigates a camp that teaches...

The Others by T. C. Weber follows Will Myers, a marine scientist investigating the suspicious drowning of Galen Álvarez, a teenager with aquatic adaptations. With the help of Galen’s sister Andréa, who belongs to the secretive underwater Mazi clan, they uncover that Galen’s death may...

Carlita Kosty's delightful book Training Freddie is told from the narrator’s point of view, plus Merle, the very relatable heroine, and Freddie himself. With a different typeface for each, it makes every thought quite clear. A slightly misleading title, however, as Freddie does not take...

Conditional Love by L.A. Arbuckle is a gripping and intense novel that dives into the heart of a family in crisis. The story centers on Neva Stevenson and her three children as they try to survive a night of terror at the hands of Neva’s...