In Francina Simone‘s vibrant #ownvoices, body-positive debut SMASH IT! (Sept. 22, Inkyard Press), a teen girl’s surprise part in a hip-hopera high school production of Othello leads to a transformational journey of self-empowerment…and Kirkus Reviews just awarded the book with the shiny star that it already is: ⭐“Simone’s prose masterfully crafts an honest and likable voice in Olivia that is bolstered by the cast of diverse supporting characters and combines (read more…)

For fans of STATION ELEVEN and THE ROAD, Alison’ Stine’s Road Out of Winter [Sept. 1, MIRA] is an apocalyptic novel about a young marijuana grower who, in an endless winter, is forced to travel the dangerous backroads of Appalachia in search of family and a new way to survive. Says Library Journal of the book in their starred review: ⭐“Stine blends a rural thriller and speculative realism into what (read more…)

For a temporary reprieve from the summer heat, how about cozying up with a cozy mystery by John Banville (also known in the crime fiction world as Benjamin Black)? The incomparable Booker Prize winner’s next great crime novel, SNOW [Oct. 6, Hanover Square Press] is the story of an aristocratic family whose secrets resurface when a parish priest is found murdered in their home. Snow is a classic procedural mystery, perfect (read more…)

The Dazzling Truth [Graydon House, August 2020], Hellen Cullen’s poignant novel chronicling an Irish family’s saga across three decades, has been described as “a love letter to family and to the arts” by Maggie Smith, author of Good Bones. It has also earned an incredible starred review from Library Journal, which says: “Perfectly drawn by Cullen (The Lost Letters of William Woolf), an Irish author living in London, whose time (read more…)

Janet Schneider of the Peninsula Public Library has called Deb Spera’s cinematic debut and LibraryReads pick Call Your Daughter Home [Park Row Books] “a truly transformative reading experience and book club gold. “ So librarians rejoiced when we finally released the paperback version of the book, and we would be remiss not to let you know there’s also a shiny, updated book club kit to go with it, free to (read more…)