Michael, Daniel Mendoza's younger brother, has died, and most of his family members are heading to California for the funeral. Some have been estranged for years and aren’t looking forward to the pilgrimage. In each chapter, we meet a different person. Lucia, Michael, and Daniel’s...

Inspired by real-life events, Flaco the Owl Spreads His Wings is a heartfelt drama by Jacqueline Simon Gunn. Since he was a two-month owlet taken from his native land, Flaco, an Eurasian eagle owl, had lived thirteen years in a small enclosure in the Central...

Michael Allan Scott's Facing North, Headed South: Introducing Sonja and Lance Underphal explores life’s unpredictability, a character-driven narrative about two people struggling to leave adolescence behind. This recent historical novel examines the early days of two central characters—Sonja and Lance—curated meticulously with inspirations from actual...

In Frozen Girl of Spirit Lake by Meg Lelvis, the small-town community of Eklund is struck when Barbara Gruen, a college student, is found frozen to death on the shores of Spirit Lake. The assumption is that she succumbed to a snowstorm while walking home...

Thoughts come and thoughts go; sometimes they flit through the mind and leave nothing behind but a whisper of ideas or, worse, the frustrating randomness of a void slate. Life is like that: random, fleeting, and even at times flighty. As Hermione Lee shares in...

Finding Sarah: A Phoenix to Behold by Nina Purtee is a gripping young adult coming-of-age novel. It follows Sarah Wilkinson as she rises from the ashes as a phoenix and discovers what she has to live for and offer to the world. At ten years...

An extraordinary literary novel driven by incredible characters, First Sons and Last Daughters by Samar Reine intimately explores the intricacies of family relationships and marriage. As her biological son, Gideon, comes up with new ways of destroying the family, Peyton Chase feels torn between protecting...

Frank's Shadow by Doug McIntyre revolves around Danny McKenna, whose recent loss of his father, Frank, occurs on the same day as Frank Sinatra's death. Danny is tasked with delivering his father's eulogy, but Frank, a WWII veteran, is a man Danny struggles to fully...

Leslie Tall Manning’s novel Feral Maril and Her Little Brother Carol is divided into five different parts and narrated by Marilyn. The first section tells how Carolyn, despite being a boy, was given a female name. Marilyn and Carol were placed in a foster home...

Final Lullaby by Sasha Lauren centers around Angela, an empathetic woman who crosses paths with Tucker, an unassuming yet incredibly talented widower. Their swift bond grows stronger, although Angela's attraction is complicated by Tucker's late wife's memory and they eventually separate on good terms. Angela's...