Satoshi’s Gift by Michael Hollomon Jr. argues that money is not a neutral backdrop to economic life but an active force that shapes power, ownership, and outcomes. Moving from early exchange to modern finance, the book shows how systems built on trust in institutions replaced...

Queer as Folk Tales by James Penha has interconnected and standalone stories that rewrite global folk tales, myths, and original narratives through a queer lens. Spanning Indonesia, China, Norse mythology, and European fairy tales, the book follows characters who move between everyday life and magic...

The Balkan Escape by Suad Jakupovic follows Dino Tutic, whose short family visit to Bosnia leaves him with no means back to North Carolina when power, transport, and law enforcement fail across the region. As villages arm themselves and militia groups roam freely, Dino relies...

Goldie Bird by Patty Ihm is a coming-of-age story that explores the complexities of family, friendship, and self-discovery. Set in the small town of Charlotte, Illinois, the narrative follows twelve-year-old Goldie Martell as she navigates a transformative year marked by loss, love, and unexpected connections....

Rosie the Silkie Hen is a children’s picture book written and illustrated by Marian Gardner. It follows Rosie, a black-feathered Silkie hen who wishes to wear clothes. She knows this has never been done before. Chickens did not wear clothes, but she was about to...

In Ari Magnusson's Knights Without Ceremony: Insurrection, Gorum is just coming out of war, and the kingdom’s peace is shaky and uncertain. The king allows boys from all classes to train as knights, which is a new decree. Ettan, a poor thirteen-year-old who looks after...

The Star Thrower by Kathleen Welton is a fast-paced mystery about three young graduates who are best friends. Sam, Leo, and Ava are uncertain about the career paths they want to pursue, so they decide to take an impromptu trip to Bali. They hope this...

In his self-help book Deleting Anxiety: Why Your Anxiety Is Lying to You and How to Push Back by Brian J. Fernandez, LMFT, anxiety is described as a survival alarm, misapplied in settings where it is wholly unnecessary. Fernandez explains how the brain converts the...

Open Water by Alex Dean is a brutally honest memoir of a young man trapped in a mind and body that would not do what he wanted. The author describes his journey through mental and medical misdiagnoses, bullying, and periods of severe depression and uncertainty....

Slipper Girl by Adele Royce is about Skylar Van Ness, a 27-year-old woman who discovers that her dark past has returned to torment her. Right before her father's wedding, Skylar reads a shocking email, and she learns that her mother knows everything about her and...

Smiley had a lot to learn. He didn’t know why he was in a dog shelter. Had he done something wrong? In Olena Kagui’s What Smiley the Rescue Dog Didn’t Know, Smiley is quickly adopted into a loving family, so he doesn’t have to feel...

Getting a kid into bed is usually a mission in itself, so making it a literal space mission is a genius move. In Zoom to the Stars, Megan Erin Hamilton shows how Aaron turns a boring bath and pajamas into an astronaut’s adventure. I loved...

Lion’s Den by Neil Citrin is about Johnny Salter, a teenage kickboxer dealing with life after a brutal attack on his family’s dojo takes his father’s life. Johnny and his older brother, Benny, are left on their own and must deal with their grief and...

In The Iron Tithe by Robert W. Riley, we meet Knight Commander Cedrik Theramond, who serves as the King’s Shield and has the grueling charge of collecting mandatory grain levies. The crux is that these come from famine-struck villages to supply the King's army of...

The Drowned Queen by Elspeth Gregorsdóttir introduces us to Myr’Caenith, a woman who survives a century of captivity in the deathless realm of the Duskhold. She goes into the Whispering Sea, where her body dissolves and reforms with command over shadow and starlight. She crosses...

A nurse searches for answers in an unexpected death in the thrilling historical mystery, One Remembers Yet by Raymie Martin. Winnie Watling is a volunteer in the Voluntary Aid Detachment caring for the soldiers in France. After suffering from pneumonia, Winnie is still too weak...

Adopted in 1955, T. Alex Blum’s memoir An Accident of Birth: A Story of Adoption and Identity describes a Manhattan upbringing by his adoptive parents, Nancy and John, who treat his adoption as a fact while keeping questions about his origins at a distance. At...

In Excess Baggage by Jodi Culliney, readers are introduced to Tess, who is a baker in Brooklyn. She is preparing to marry Josh, her longtime partner. But in the meantime, she is headed on a cross-country trip all the way to San Francisco by train...

Cutting Losses: Love, South Dakota Style by Jodi Culliney pulled me in immediately with its compelling premise. A man ditched at the altar has a lot to deal with emotionally and psychologically. Josh Livingston is left at the altar by his fiancée for his college...

Mixed Messages by Jodi Culliney is a heartwarming love story about Lana Miller and Liam Livingston, who met by fate. Unaware that Lana’s former colleague and crush at the hospital is Liam’s cousin, the two meet and have a magical night together. Their relationship is...