Book Awards, Editorial Reviews & More!
Book Awards, Editorial Reviews & More!
Thoroughly entertaining with enough will-they, won’t-they tension to keep readers fully invested. It’s not unusual for people to carry the weight of emotional baggage, but Rylee Lynch has an overflowing suitcase dragging her down. The relationship with her mother has been thorny in the decade since her dad died. Her younger brother was diagnosed with […]
A sentimental trip down memory lane that will leave you eager to spend time with family. A growing boy and his mother share a touching moment in Christina M. Carroll’s charming picture book, The Things I Love. As the little boy settles into bed for the night, they consider the pictures in a memory book,
A sentimental novel that cuts to the heart. “My breath catches. Do I love Nick? The answer terrifies me.” For most people, the notion of being in love warms the soul like a steamy mug of tea, but not so much for Robin. Instead, love is a painful memory that tethers her to the past.
Well-executed, instantly engaging, and lively enough to keep readers interested and eager. Time is an unyielding force, but how we respond to this progression looks different for everyone. And though time is a constant element, our experiences are not quite as consistent. “Are we all born young or are some of us born old?” This
Cuts to the heart in so many ways that are personal and profound. Every sport has its storied rivalries. The Celtics and the Lakers. The Red Sox and the Yankees. The Buckeyes and the Wolverines. High school football has Stonewall and Briggs, a matchup the whole city turns out for. But this year’s most highly
An arresting goldmine of emotive poems that strikes a delicate balance between fragility and durability. Pause for a moment and reflect on five words. “We’ve been intimate without touching.” It is with this sort of evocative simplicity that Ana Dee conducts the symphony of emotion that exists within her love-themed treasure chest, Untouched. This bare
Magnetic storytelling and innocent charm. Imagine the scene: You’re a young child just home from a typical day of school when you catch a glimpse of a photo lying on the coffee table. To your horror, you realize the image shows your father bloodied and battered, propped against a collapsed wall. Does your heart rate
A novel that will wholly transport you to another time and place. There is more to Holden Thompson than meets the eye, though he is quite fetching to behold. Recuperating from mental and physical battlefield wounds collected toward the end of the First World War, he decides to spend some time catching up with his
An energetic memoir that will motivate, educate, and help you find your own inspiration. Charles Moore might just be the most driven person you’ve never met. A willing transplant to New York City, this Detroit-born Black man has been competitive from as far back as his memories stretch. “A passion to compete and win burned
An emotional and introspective experience. Over many decades of marriage, Frank and Angie Raffaelo have created a home filled with love and family. But the years have not been entirely carefree for this aging couple. Grief, depression, and regret are their constant companions and time proves to be an unrelenting force. When Frank falls from
A tender tale that will steal your heart. For most people, life is a tapestry woven with meaningful moments and swirling memories, but these have all been lost for Vickie. When a terrible accident leaves her suffering from retrograde amnesia, nobody seems to care. Nobody except the Hollywood heartthrob who accidentally hit her with his
A touching read with the poignant message that love starts within. You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family, as the saying goes. Unfortunately, good choices and solid decision-making are two skills Kim Kincaid has yet to master. Her best friend happened by accident, her boyfriend happened by surprise, and her only
A collection that will tug on heartstrings while leaving readers with a sense of longing. A progressive story told in unpretentious verse, Loving Strays by Franco Cardiello is a collection of poems that explores life’s tempestuous journey with a grain of salt, a dose of truth, and the benefit of self-reflection. Divided into cleverly named
Wildly suspenseful and impressively innovative. When a person is unsure of what he is or how much he is truly capable of, how can he ever trust himself? How can he love himself? For Thomas, these questions form the violent storm swirling in his troubled mind. After a nuclear explosion at an underground testing facility,
A gripping tale of sacrifice, deception, and devastating secrets. Chinasa at birth, First Lady Zayani Ada is now in a unique position to help her Ijun people. A revered philanthropist and wife of the president, Zayani is outwardly the picture of grace and an example of human triumph. But those outward perceptions stop when the
An irreplaceable journey that will not soon be forgotten. Imagine the setting: it is 1962 and Earl Vincent de Berge and a few friends are looking for the kind of summer that will sharpen their personalities and broaden their horizons. With just a homemade camper, a rough map, and a $400 loan, the young men
An utterly delightful novel that maps out a moving journey. Without her permission, Karen Whittington has unceremoniously become a woman of a certain age, someone staring into the eye of looming retirement. Looking forward to leaving her library job and routine about as much as a root canal, Karen still has lots of life ahead
A balm to the soul for anyone striving to find joy in their family and balance in their life. “One cannot find happiness in the negative. It’s found by focusing on and going toward what you love, not by reacting to and running away from fear.” Have you found this to be true? Negativity can
Poignancy can be found in even the simplest of phrases. Beautiful in its simplicity and bold in its truthfulness, Deep Craving, A Collection of Poems contains dozens of delectable poems that speak to the core of our shared connection as living, loving, and learning beings. By means of verse, Joe Giampaolo reflects on love, loss,
You’ll want to share these outrageous true stories with everyone you can. “There is no black and white, there is only gray. Everyone has a story and it’s up to us to find the truth in the gray area.” That is exactly the challenge Rae Scott and Amber Allen tackle in Our Stories: Tales From
It seems like humans are divided on virtually everything, with as many contradicting opinions as there are distinct choices. Social issues, political topics, or even what to eat for dinner can generate an endless array of viewpoints and preferences, so it’s no wonder we struggle to find a sense of inner calm. Yet, despite our
Her mother is an alcoholic with a taste for expensive things. Her father has a gambling problem and spends too much time at work. And Laura Johnson is the vulnerable teenager struggling to hold things together within this dysfunctional family. More acrimony than matrimony, the relationship between Laura’s parents is a constant source of frustration
Particularly earnest and incredibly powerful. How would you sum up the American experience? There is really no simple answer to that question, as we are all shaped by our background, upbringing, experiences, and outlook. And these criteria differ wildly from one person to the next, one location to the next, one time period to the
An intelligent guide to keep you grounded and leave you feeling refreshed. To say that life in our fast-paced, digitally connected world is challenging would be an underestimation of modern problems. We all face obstacles in our personal lives, but the pressures mounting against the entire human race can feel suffocating at times. From environmental
