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A Stellar Spy
by Maya Darjani
Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy / Spy & Espionage
ISBN: 9798349511370
Print Length: 316 pages
Reviewed by Erin Britton
An explosive sci-fi thriller where magic and technology collide with devastating consequences
A Stellar Spy mixes espionage tension with the intrigue of near-future galactic exploration and the wonder of magic in this compelling tale of double agents, vengeful mages, and corrupt politicians.
A Navasi mage has attacked the Rose Palais, seat of the Rulani government, marking it with a cerulean blue shimmer that exposes the planet’s vulnerability. “I stare at the brilliance as it slices through the night, an illuminated sigil telling me everything’s changed.” Tessa Daevana—ex-wife of Premier Finn Daevana and mother of his two children, Morgana and Sage—rushes to the scene.
Tessa’s desperation to find out what has happened is certainly due to concern about her family, but it’s also due to duty. She’s the Planetary Security Counselor and is responsible for the safety of the regime and its figurehead. Despite this, Tessa has no desire to be swept up in the thirst for vengeance that is sure to consume Rula. “Save me from the bloodlust, the hawkishness, the need to punch back ten times harder.”
Of course, Tessa has to keep the reason for her reticence secret from those around her—she’s a sleeper agent for Elitha, a rival planet, “home to a host of unchipped Navasi, who have been taught to control their powers.” Every aspect of her cover has been planned to perfection, even her drab home. “Like every other facet of my life, it’s curated to portray a certain lifestyle, a certain milquetoast vegetable of a person.” And it’s worked well so far.
However, the attack on the Rose Palais prompts Finn to consider implementing Operation Paradoxum, a “way to destroy the magic of unchipped Navasi on the planet.” It’s supposed to be a doomsday plan to prevent planetary collapse, not a means of revenge against a lone attacker, and it has the potential to spread to other planets and effect chipped Navasi too, including Tessa.
The situation places her in an impossible position. “I stand on a precipice, under which roils a river of magma.” Tessa knows she needs to protect the Navasi throughout the Human Consortium, but she also still loves Finn and wants to safeguard their children. Which way will she leap from the precipice?
Maya Darjani has crafted a universe in the not-so-distant future that is both delightfully fantastical and recognizably human. A great deal of thought has clearly gone into the backstory of the Human Consortium, which was formed “after humanity escaped the gravitational well of Gaia and stumbled its way to interplanetary civilization.”
Such details establish the background to the story well and ensure that a certain sense of realism and logical technological progression is maintained throughout. The worldbuilding in terms of the individual planets is also richly detailed and convincing. For instance, “Rula’s a planet of ash and regolith, of granite and basalt. Indestructible like polymer, but as volatile as lava.” This makes it easy to imagine the environments that the characters face.
Darjani also ensures that the unusual combination of chimerical magic and technological innovation seems organic and flows throughout the story. While both are woven into the fabric of life on Rula, magic is strictly controlled—save for the escapades of the occasional would-be assassin—whereas technology is abundant. Amusingly, the latter even facilitates multilevel marketing: “Buy one, get the second half off on NanoImprove smoothies!”
On a more serious note, despite being the subject of far less suspicion than magic, Darjani stresses that technology can be equally dangerous. From the REALM machine—the gateway to a highly advanced virtual reality environment—found in every home hosting meetings between spies and their handlers to Operation Paradoxum comprising “a technological virus with an activated biological component,” there is peril lurking everywhere.
And then there’s all the espionage and counterespionage. A Stellar Spy is just as much a spy thriller as it is a sci-fi novel, and Darjani provides plenty of detail about the spycraft of the future. From clandestine meetings to dead drops to covert listening devices, all the key aspects of the spy genre are present, albeit in more advanced forms. There are also a few tongue-in-check nods to the classics: “Covert Ops 101, always keep blackmail material, even if you plan on never using it.”
As for the main spy, Tessa is certainly good at what she does, although she doesn’t like it. She ditched her handler and got out of the game years ago, assimilating into her fate life on Rula as best she can, but her conscience pulls her back in following the attack on the Rose Palais. “I have to make a choice. Protect my family, or prevent a war crime.” This sense of conflict permeates the story, adding to the tension.
Darjani provides real insight into Tessa’s thoughts, motivations, and doubts, establishing her as a conflicted and rather surly character who wants to do what is right and save as many people as possible. And despite all the lies and fake background details, she really does care about Finn and love her children. Such emotions exacerbate the difficulty of her situation.
Like all good spy novels, there are double agents and double crosses aplenty in A Stellar Spy, making it difficult to know who to trust and where things might be heading for Tessa. What’s more, the magic-filled action scenes are exciting and the exposition is well handled. A Stellar Spy is a stellar choice for your next read.
Thank you for reading Erin Britton’s book review of A Stellar Spy by Maya Darjani! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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]]>by Eric Mayrhofer
The final quarter of 2025 is upon us.
Autumn—the season when we start pulling out cozy sweatshirts, putting pumpkin in everything, and getting started on our Christmas lists (if we’re ambitious). If you’d rather binge Gilmore Girls for the ninetieth time, you have my blessing, but I also highly recommend checking out this season’s new book releases instead.
The books coming out between October and December 2025 are gearing up to freak you out and give you hope. They’re getting ready to show you the magic in the world and remind you that it’s a wild place to live. In a season of so many extraordinary reads, these are some of the best indie books to add to your TBR.
Here are 12 new release books you won’t want to miss.
1. Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theatre
Author: Brandie June
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: October 7
ISBN: 9780744311792
Publisher: CamCat Books
To me, autumn is the season of writing. From the motivation of the former beast known as NaNoWriMo to the coziness of drafting by hand while watching the leaves change beyond the window, nothing feels quite as right as writing. But when you add forbidden magic? Now that makes a story worth savoring.
Those elements are the starting point in Brandie June’s new release Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theatre. Playwright Violet Ashmore lives in the shadow of her sister Iris, who has promised to protect Violet and her dangerous magic from from the Crown. But when bounty hunter Alec Morgan infiltrates the theater and begins falling for Iris, their life—and the theater—could all come undone.
With a literary protagonist longing for more, the danger of books like Caraval and the lyrical magic of The Night Circus, Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theatre has the potential to be the most enchanting read of the end of 2025.
2. But the Wicked Shall Perish
Author: Catori Sarmiento
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Fantasy
Release Date: October 7
ISBN: 9781960018762
Publisher: Running Wild Press
More than a few years ago now, The Golem and the Jinni used Jewish folklore to incredible effect, creating a lush and heartwarming fantasy about the immigrant experience in America. This year, Catori Sarmiento incorporates the culture’s mythology to paint a blood-red portrait of a woman seeking her murderer—and revenge.
But the Wicked Shall Perish slips readers into Tziporah Curiel’s resurrected shoes. When she comes back to life in 1920s Venice, Italy, she begins a quest for justice that will leave a trail of souls in her wake and lead to a deal with a demon, forcing her to come to terms with what happened and what she has become. Supernatural, heart-wrenching, and pulse-pounding, this might be exactly the early Halloween treat you’ve been looking for.
3. The Scald Crow
Author: Grace Daly
Genre: Literary Fiction / Horror
Release Date: October 14
ISBN: 9781951971311
Publisher: Creature Horror
“This isn’t a dream… This is really happening!” Could that iconic quote from Rosemary’s Baby be the inspiration for a new spooky season favorite? It may seem like it when you read The Scald Crow by Grace Daly. Offering laughs and scares in equal measure, the novel asks, “Can a sick woman ever be trusted?”
The sick woman in question is Brigid, a self-doubting protagonist living with chronic pain so severe it cost her her job. To add misfortune to injury, her mother goes missing, a turn of events that forces her back into her childhood home. Soon, a crow starts following her, a painting returns no matter how often she rids herself of it, and nightmares of her mother keep startling her awake. Is it all in her head? After all, her pain has no identifiable cause, and that must be her own fault too…right?
A book that confronts readers with the one thing that is all too often our own worst enemies—the negative voices in our heads—The Scald Crow is a spine-tingling, ultimately empowering entry in the horror genre.
4. The Ten Thousand Things
Author: Debbi Flittner
Genre: Memoir
Release Date: October 7
ISBN: 9798992424218
2025 isn’t all about the scares though. Any time is a good time for beautifully written memoirs. This memoir on silence and belonging is the author’s lifelong attempt to understand her “elusive, unnerving” mother.
Lauren Hayataka of IBR says it’s the lyricism of the prose that elevates the memoir. She says, “Flittner writes with the precision of someone who has carried these memories for decades, shaping them into vivid, almost cinematic scenes: hiding beneath plastic during a sudden storm, watching rain blur the world into a secret cave; lying in the plastic-covered back seat of the family’s Buick as the desert slid past; screaming for help in a kitchen where no one came.”
For all those looking for moving true stories about complex family in lyrical prose, find out why Hayataka calls it “radiant” and “unforgettable.”
5. Bloodletting a Butterfly
Author: Alec B. Hood
Genre: Poetry / Dark
Release Date: Oct 14
ISBN: 9798891328266
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Okay, back to the dead. But with a twist.
Alec B. Hood’s poetry is “visceral, devastating, and brilliantly gory,” says Mandy Bach of IBR. The speaker of the collection is completely preoccupied with death and dying and discusses it with raw, physical imagery.
“Hood expertly uses surreal descriptions of the body to help readers understand the disturbing nature of this preoccupation with suffering and death. He writes, ‘there are insect eggs / embedded in my esophagus // parasites peering / through my pupils // my lungs / flooded with webs // my blood / blinking with lightning bugs.‘”
Feast your eyes on roadkill, ghosts, and more in this “beautifully ugly” collection.
6. The Mongoose
Author: Joana mosi
Genre: Graphic Novel
Release Date: October 14
ISBN: 9782925114475
Publisher: Pow Pow Press
Pow Pow Press is doing some amazing work! After the unique power of The Jellyfish and Botanica Drama, I couldn’t help but get excited about The Mongoose.
This black and white graphic novel about grief and ghosts and, oddly, a phantom mongoose combines what I’ve come to expect from Pow Pow Press: thoughtful and moving visual stories with a dash of strange.
7. A Blood Witch
Author: Joseph Stone
Genre: Fantasy / Dark
Release Date: November 5
Joseph Stone is no stranger to captivating dark fantasy. From the alluring darkness of The Lykanos Chronicles, which we included in our list of best book series of the past few years, to the first book in the Haunted Women series, which Alexandria Ducksworth raved about, Stone writes evocative fantasy with “jaw-dropping” and “downright scary” results.
And now, book two! Victoria Lilly of IBR called it “a chilling, layered, and intelligent gothic piece that tackles the genre from a distinctly feminist angle… Not a comforting read, but a valuable one.”
8. The Sofa
Author: Sam Munson
Genre: Horror / Literary
Release Date: November 11
ISBN: 9781953387974
Publisher: Two Dollar Radio
Mr. Montessori goes downstairs one morning to find his sofa is different. The doors are all locked. Windows too. Nobody’s broken in. So how did this get here, and where did their old, perfect couch go?
Suddenly, the image of a man in a bowler hat starts popping up all around him. His son’s drawing used to only have the new sofa in it. The mirror used to be only him staring back.
The Sofa by Sam Munson is a surreal piece of everyday horror that nails down obsession in an eerily painful way. Man, what if Montessori just stepped away from this fascination? What if he accepted this weirdly outdated sofa as his own and moved on with his perfectly fine life? It surely wouldn’t turn out like this.
9. A Gathering Place
Author: Vicki salloum
Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date: November 18
ISBN: 9798999042286
Publisher: Silent Clamor Press
Sometimes faith is all but a voice.
81-year-old Blue Hamieh follows her faith to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, believing that the Virgin Mary wants her to open a gathering place, a cafe, for downtrodden people in the devastated city. Is this a true calling, or is her family right and she should return to Mississippi?
Vicki Salloum imbues this community-driven novel of faith and resilience with artful, meaningful prose and a big heart. I dare you not to fall for Blue by the novel’s end.
10. Hotel Melikov (Citizen Orlov Book 2)
Author: Jonathan Payne
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Crime
Release Date: November 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780744311808
Publisher: CamCat Books
What better way to prepare for the oncoming winter chill than to immerse yourself in the chilling espionage of a mountainous, central-European country?
In Hotel Melikov, the second book of Jonathan Payne’s Citizen Orlov series, readers find Orlov as the Minister for Security of a nation on the verge of collapsing. When tension between the government and revolutionaries erupt, all he wants is to return to his former life as a fishmonger. But when he discovers a sinister plot that threatens everyone, what will he choose?
Featuring tense thrills, political intrigue, nuns who are more than they seem, and a comedic twist, Jonathan Payne returns us to the world of Citizen Orlov in style.
11. Hope
Author: Sommer Schafer
Genre: Literary Fiction / Short Stories
Release Date: November 25
ISBN: 9781963115475
Publisher: Unsolicited Press
Previously published in Best American Short Stories, Sommer Schafer returns with Hope, a story collection to keep you warm as winter approaches.
Set in the small island community of Hope, Alaska, Hope offers an experience that will delight fans of small-town, big-emotion collections like Olive Kitteridge. Linked stories show the hopes and dreams the townsfolk have for the future, all while questioning how well (or how much) they can bury the past.
With precise descriptions, sharp insights, and subtle humor, Schafer’s collection holds all the promise of an uplifting read on these lengthening nights.
12. Dark Matter
Author: Kaja Kothe
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: December 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781946154972
Publisher: Meerkat Press
Bunny Graves has to make this list. Kathe Koja’s Dark Factory series has already been praised for its wild and mind-bending prose, the esoteric experience it gives readers, and its thrilling combinations of art, technology, and a willingness to explore both reality and virtual reality.
Readers might just have their minds blown in Dark Matter. Here, Bunny and Koja’s array of characters wind through a cyberpunk-ish landscape to break the rules, chase ancient myths into virtual reality and back again, and make it through in a world where corporate wars can be life and death. It’s set up to be a rewarding finish for longtime fans of the acclaimed Koja and a bold new world for readers in search of a Snow Crash-meets-Cyberpunk 2077 fix.
What new release books are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!
Author Bio
Eric Mayrhofer is a marketing creative living in Connecticut with his partner and their three cats, Frosty, Korra, and Zoe. A lifelong reader, Eric is working on his first novel in between illustrating, watching spooky movies, and pretending he knows how to bake after watching reruns of The Great British Baking Show.
Thank you for reading “Forthcoming & New Release Books You Won’t Want to Miss (2025)!” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
Book Reviews | IBR Blog | Resources for Writers
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The Great Meadows
by Christopher Walsh
Genre: Literary Fiction / Mystery
ISBN: 9798992867626
Print Length: 272 pages
Reviewed by Peggy Kurkowski
A deeply spiritual story of two men on different paths meeting at a crossroads
A man running from his past and a man hitchhiking toward his future intersect in rural Kentucky in The Great Meadows, leading to the discovery of a decades-old mystery.
Levi Motley returns to his native state of Kentucky, barreling down a highway in his pickup, hungover and heading toward his next destination because “who doesn’t want the feeling of motion fueled by the aphrodisiac of hope?”
When he sees a hitchhiker with a sign reading “Gethsemani,” something inside tells him to turn around. His new passenger is Moussa Diab, a young man hitching a ride to the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani to discern God’s purpose for his life.
Captivated by Moussa’s impressive certainty that his journey is a quest, Levi drops him off at the monastery—unaware that the next time he sees him, Moussa will be dead.
Levi rolls into Bardstown, Kentucky to meet his college friend, Dominick, a reporter at the local paper. With the promise of freelance work, Levi chooses to rent a house and find a whale of a story for his new editor. He ranges around town, reporting on local festivals and personalities, when a police call takes him and Dom to a river bend close to the monastery. This is where Levi discovers the dead man is Moussa.
When a mysterious investigator named Regina Sandoval shows up on his doorstep, asking Levi questions about his connection to Moussa, the novel kicks into high gear. Levi is a likable Lothario whose scruffy good looks get him into some trouble, but his nebulous connection to Moussa leads his journalistic instincts to investigate the investigator: after all, Moussa’s death has been solved, with a man admitting to killing him. But something does not smell right, and Levi decides to help Moussa’s mother by finding out what really happened to Moussa in the beautiful countryside of Kentucky that locals call “The Great Meadows.”
Walsh spins a deep mystery in this novel, one that takes its time unraveling. Levi must negotiate a raft of barriers: from the suspicious Sandoval whose end game is unclear, to the wealthy and connected Westcott family whose patriarch, Conrad Westcott, is the founder of the Westcott Bourbon Company. As Levi pokes his nose around town, he finds disturbing clues about why Moussa came to the abbey and why anyone would want him dead. Along the way, he also wrestles with the ghosts of his past, including an older brother, Declan, housed at the Manchester Federal Correctional Institution nearby.
Levi slowly learns that he is not only uncovering Moussa’s quest, but his own. Will this rolling stone finally let go of the guilt he runs from and allow a little moss to grow?
The answer is skillfully tied to not only Moussa, but also to a family secret from World War Two that only time will reveal. The story and the mystery are a slow burn, but the people and personalities Levi meets in town make this a delightful read with punchy dialogue and clever quips.
Walsh writes with authenticity and obvious love for the “great meadows” and natural beauty of the Bluegrass State, with his precisely drawn characters embodying both the best and worst of a community steeped in its past. The spirituality of the story resonates throughout as Levi accepts that in finding out what happened to Moussa—no matter how sad—he will also find out what happened to him from their brief, consequential encounter along that highway.
“The sadness comes from finding out that nothing turns out exactly as you had hoped it would be, and the gratitude comes from knowing it was worth the ride all the same.”
The Great Meadows is a moving philosophical tale with the veneer of a small town murder mystery. Lyrical and gritty in turns, it’ll leave you feeling hopeful for a return of its Odysseus-like protagonist who is just trying to find home—for good this time.
Thank you for reading Peggy Kurkowski’s book review of The Great Meadows by Christopher Walsh! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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]]>The post What Should I Read Next? Indie Book Recommendations Based on Your Mood appeared first on Independent Book Review.
]]>by Nick Gardner
Answering the inevitable question.
I used to have a stack of about twenty books beside my reading chair, but last year I graduated to an entire to-be-read bookshelf. Now that shelf is two titles deep and I still find myself wondering, what should I read next?
The problem isn’t so much that I don’t have time to read all of the books I’ve collected—I’m not overwhelmed—but rather that sometimes I visit a new bookstore and a fresh plot catches my eye. Or I read a blurb or review and think, “This is the book that fits my mood!”
Even though I have a backlog of what I’m sure are perfectly wonderful titles, oftentimes it’s not the quality of the book as much as my mood that decides which author’s world I will lose myself to in that moment.
When a book fits my mood, it takes me where I want to go. My wanderlust overpowers me, so I read a travelogue or adventure story or my disgust with a certain contemporary event drives me to horror. Maybe I just want to see words used in sentences that are beautiful concoctions of sound and motion, so I read something lyrical, musical.
Though there are many reasons to read any book, if an author can drop me smack-dab into the middle of a place I’ve been yearning for, then their book rises to the top of my stack.
Below, I’ve arranged several books I’ve come to love based on moods, or, more specifically, where my mood drives me to get lost. Because if you’re going to lose yourself, you may as well know what you’re losing yourself to. And bonus points
—they’re all indie books!
Here are some book recommendations to answer the inevitable question, “What should I read next?”
(Book lists on Independent Book Review are chosen by very picky people. As affiliates, we earn a commission on books you purchase through our links.)
What should I read next if I want to get lost On a journey?
Oregon, Montana, Vermont, Kevin Maloney’s protagonist finds himself slumming it in some of my favorite cities and wild lands.
Joe Walters, in his review at Independent Book Review, calls The Red-Headed Pilgrim “escapist fiction. You can’t convince me otherwise. It’s not a fantasy, a sci-fi, any other mystical land to travel to (unless you count Portland). It’s just a break from this wild real life, a visit to a funny world, an entrance into someone else’s reality.”
And it’s weird, even though that “someone else’s reality” is not necessarily the “lap of luxury,” it is meaningful enough to wander the streets of Burlington, broke, with a cowboy hat and a corncob pipe, pretending to be some preposterous other. It’s somehow enough to know that you’re somewhere else.
Amaranthine Chevrolet
Another book filled with similar wanderlust, Amaranthine Chevrolet by Dennis E. Bolen, follows fifteen-year-old Robin, who takes off in his boss’s field truck on a thousand-mile trek across Western Canada. The book is based in 1967, so it plays doubly on my transportation in both space and time. Sometimes it’s enough to just mentally trek across North America and meet the strangers who live there in order to get you lost.
What should I read next if I want to get lost In nostalgia?
It’s nice to think back on the past—a car ride through the country with a long-lost lover, the joy of a high school soccer game. Nostalgia is everything you’ve physically lost but still carry with you.
Issa Quincy’s Absence is the story of a poem that follows the narrator from his childhood bedroom where his mother first read it to him. Over the years, the poem pops up time and again to remind him of his past, of his mother, a memory he will carry with him forever.
Amy Brozio-Andrews calls Issa Quincy’s Absence, “A tender and thoughtful novel that illuminates the power of memory and how it shapes us.”
Bonus nostalgia recommendation: Andrew Bertaina’s long essay, Ethan Hawke & Me: The Before Trilogy, tracks how the Ethan Hawke films shaped him as a man, a thinker, and a writer.
What should I read next if I want to get lost In language?
There are plenty of wonderful books out there written in simple language. A perfect plot or intriguing character is often enough to make a book worth reading. But then there are those writers who really lean into the rhythms of speech, the flow of their language. They may use beautiful imagery, some rhyme, some esoteric words, but the words themselves have the tendency to sweep you up and take you away.
Whitney Collins’ prose has wowed me since I read Ricky and Other Love Stories earlier this year. A collection of love stories that aren’t always only love stories, Collins is a smooth talker, throwing humor and wit into her prose. Shark attacks, sperm banks, a Ham Depot, Collins’ stories are always a heartfelt, if sometimes weird, wild ride.
Bonus recommendation in this mood: Claire Hopple’s Echo Chamber is bizarre and beautiful, sure to take you to unexpected places.
What should I read next if I want to get lost In the grotesque?
I’m late to the indie horror game, but thanks to David Simmons, I’ve found myself enjoying the description of a Dobson Fly eating its way through Jada’s insides. Simmons’ latest novel, The Eradicator features a twenty-four-year-old NICU nurse who likes parties, drugs, sex, and sometimes murder. As her own body deteriorates and lashes back at her, she takes her discomfort and her hatred of the world out on strangers around her in vicious ways.
Simmons describes the most disgusting parts of bodies in a manner that makes me cringe but also want to read on. It’s a mystery, in a way. It makes you wonder what is actually wrong with this person, with people.
Bonus recommendation in this mood: While David Ohle’s The Death of a Character is a vastly different story, the obsession with breaking-down bodies, with the strangeness of bodies is also there and also incredibly fascinating to read.
What should I read next if I want to get lost In the West?
I love a good Western. Boundless land to ride through, heroic escapes, a clear sense of good and evil, white hats versus black hats. The Western is, in many ways, a simplified world with clear laws about humanity.
Kendall Roberts’ Gunslingers is a story about cowboys in the wild plains of the West defining their own personal brand of justice in a dangerous world. Of course Gunslingers features shoot-outs and bar brawls, posses, and long rides through the desert, but Roberts’ take on the Western goes beyond the thrill of dead-eye gunmen and near escapes.
With deft prose, Roberts paints a fictional landscape spotted with fictional towns that comment on traditional views of the American Frontier while also showing its natural beauty. It’s wonderful to get lost in the plains.
What should I read next if I want to get lost In the mind?
Sometimes a mental landscape can be just as interesting as a physical landscape, even if the mind you’re reading is filled with small anxieties and paranoia. As an anxious person myself, it actually feels nice to lose myself to someone else’s paranoia. Or, rather, to see the anxieties of another character and laugh at how similar they are to my own. It’s healthy to laugh at yourself, and easy to do when you see your same follies in others.
Bennett Sims Other Minds and Other Stories is a collection of quiet, intellectual stories, often taking place over no more than a couple hours of the character’s life in which very little action actually occurs. However, as the characters spiral, the tension grips tighter. As suspicions snowball into certainties and questions mushroom into conspiracies, the simple process of writing an essay or reading a book turns into a question of life and death.
What should I read next if I want to get lost For a short amount of time?
I read on the metro sometimes, or in stolen moments before and after work. Maybe on an airplane, which is where I powered through Michael Bible’s powerful, moving, heartbreaking book about a tortoise, Little Lazarus (Clash Books). The book shows the world through the eyes of a turtle who cares very deeply for everyone around him. It’s a quiet book, but a short read, taking up not much more than an afternoon.
I’ve talked with several readers of Bible’s novella who have cried at the end. I also teared up. The prose is fantastic, but the heart is what drives this hundred-or-so-page novella.
Bonus recommendation in this mood: Ryan Rivas’ Lizard People is another short book with a lot of heart that’s definitely worth sitting with for a couple hours some afternoon.
No matter what your mood, there’s a book to match it because writers, like readers, often change. Whether you want to transport yourself to outer space or into the subconscious depths of your mind, there’s a book made for you.
About the Author
Nick Gardner is a writer, teacher, and critic who has worked as a winemaker, chef, painter, shoe salesman, and addiction counselor. His latest collection of stories from the Rust Belt, Delinquents And Other Escape Attempts, is out now from Madrona Books. He lives in Ohio and Washington, DC and works as a beer and wine monger in Maryland.
Thank you for reading Nick Gardner’s “What Should I Read Next? Indie Book Recommendations Based on Mood.” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
The post What Should I Read Next? Indie Book Recommendations Based on Your Mood appeared first on Independent Book Review.
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TRACKRS
by Michael A. Jacobs
Genre: Nonfiction / True Crime
ISBN: 9781736253403
Print Length: 544 pages
Reviewed by Melissa Suggitt
Cold cases aren’t just stories—they’re unfinished nightmares. TRACKRS unravels the long, frustrating hunt for a predator who thought he’d never be found.
Michael A. Jacobs pens a masterclass of the true crime genre with TRACKRS—a book that will pull you so deep into the case that you’ll start questioning your career choices. I think I may have just found a new true crime favorite to pair with Ann Rule.
TRACKRS chronicles the brutal crimes of Gerald Parker, the so-called “Bedroom Basher,” a monster who terrorized Orange County in the late 1970s and early 80s, slipping through the cracks of law enforcement for far too long. What makes this story particularly gripping is how close Parker came to getting away with it all—how forensic failures, bureaucratic red tape, and sheer bad luck allowed him to remain a phantom for decades.
What I appreciated about Jacobs’ approach here is that he never loses sight of the victims. Sandra. Debra. Kimberly. Debora. Marolyn. Chantal. Their names, their lives, their stories—he ensures they aren’t forgotten in the retelling. It’s a stark contrast to the justice system, which at times seemed to treat them as case numbers rather than people who deserved better. The moment that the pieces come together—when the weight of years of investigative work finally lands—is deeply satisfying but a simultaneous reminder of how many similar cases still sit unsolved, waiting for their TRACKRS moment.
This isn’t just a recounting of horrific crimes—it’s a painstakingly detailed, boots-on-the-ground examination of cold case investigations, police politics, forensic advancements, and the sheer perseverance it takes to bring a serial killer to justice.
With no initial suspect, no coordinated investigation, and a frustrating lack of urgency from law enforcement, Jacobs walks us through the grind of piecing together a fragmented puzzle that had sat unsolved for far too long.
The narrative is immersive to the point of making you feel like you’re sitting in an interrogation room or rifling through decades-old case files. Jacobs doesn’t just tell us what happened—he shows us, with pages of verbatim witness statements, interview transcripts, and courtroom proceedings. I could almost feel the stiffness of a police station chair and smell the old paper in those files, the stale coffee going cold in the styrofoam.
By the end, I was nearly convinced I could launch my own investigation into a cold case, simply based on how methodical and thorough Jacobs was in explaining the process. (Spoiler: I absolutely cannot. But the illusion was strong.)
One of the book’s strongest points is its attention to forensic advancements. The mid-90s is shockingly recent when you realize that DNA tracking was still in its infancy back then. Jacobs lays out the painstaking process of creating a DNA database, the uphill battle detectives faced to get labs to prioritize testing, and the grim reality that many violent criminals were still freely walking the streets simply because the technology to catch them didn’t exist yet. It’s both fascinating and infuriating to see how long it took for cases like these to gain any momentum.
A fair warning—this book does not shy away from the brutality of these murders. Maybe I’m getting a bit more squeamish with age or maybe the descriptions were just that intense, but there were moments I had to pause. Jacobs doesn’t exploit the violence for shock value, but he doesn’t gloss over it either. If you like your true crime on the forensic-heavy, investigative side rather than the sensationalist side, you’ll appreciate the approach. But for those with weaker stomachs, consider yourselves warned—this one gets graphic.
And then there’s Gerald Parker himself—a name that should haunt true crime history books more than it does. The deeper Jacobs goes into Parker’s psyche, the more horrifying the picture becomes. Whether he was mentally ill or simply pure evil (I’m voting the latter), Parker was a predator of the worst kind—lurking in the shadows, manipulating the system, and evading suspicion while brutally murdering five women, an unborn child, and savagely attacking five others. Following the case from its dead-end beginnings to his eventual capture is a ride filled with equal parts frustration, heartbreak, and sheer exhilaration when justice finally starts to take shape.
TRACKRS is one of the best true crime books I’ve read in a long time. It’s a slow burn in the best possible way—dense with detail, gripping in its execution, and as much a story about the evolution of forensic science as it is about solving a string of cold cases. If you like fact-driven and unapologetically real true crime, you’re going to love this one.
Just maybe don’t read it alone at night. And please…lock your windows.
Thank you for reading Melissa Suggitt’s book review of TRACKRS by Michael A. Jacobs! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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Intrinsic
by W.H.B.
Genre: Literary Fiction
ISBN: 9798317462994
Print Length: 364 pages
Reviewed by Timothy Thomas
Great expectations, heartbreaking disappointment, and love that endures life’s great lows
Intrinsic tells a story of passionate, enduring love in the shape of a romantic tragedy, but it becomes much more than that by the end.
Themes of identity, manhood, dignity, kindness, and destiny permeate this work of literary fiction. Coming from the mind of an author known only by their initials, W.H.B., this book shares much wisdom through a stirring narrative that sweeps you away and doesn’t let you forget it.
Christopher Franklin is on top of the world. As the most popular student at the private school he attends and the son of literary giants in New York City, Chris’s destiny is apparent, with the heavy weight of expectation sitting comfortably on his shoulders. As he and his friends celebrate their graduation from high school, he is prepared to embrace adulthood, starting with telling Meghan how he feels about her. Theirs was a match made in heaven: two only children who met in first grade and were since inseparable, their desire for and compatibility with one another are unmistakable to anyone who sees them together. But the night of their school’s big graduation party at the Waldorf Astoria brings with it an unexpected surprise—Mary.
With his ego and his feelings bruised by Meghan’s drunken, disrespectful behavior, Chris is entranced by this alluring stranger from the moment he hears her voice. He is at her side all night, unable to keep his eyes off her, while an increasingly despairing Meghan looks on, powerless to stop the love of her life from falling under the spell of this enchantress. After beginning the night as the best of friends, they end it as bitter enemies, a seemingly impassable chasm opening and all their hopes and dreams falling into it.
In his grief over their dead friendship, Chris invites Mary to the Hamptons, and there, a single mistake marks his first steps into adulthood, leading to an abrupt and brutal fall from grace and utter loss of control of his life. Divorced from the comforts, connections, and privileges of the life he inherited, he must rely on the help of a stranger whose life has been inexplicably intertwined with his own, and whose wisdom gives Chris the courage to build up from rock bottom.
This story is raw and real, probing the consequences of Chris’s actions for every crumb of misery, and yet somehow it manages to stay hopefully optimistic. The depth of emotion will leave a lasting impact as the reader becomes an unwitting passenger on a rollercoaster propelling them forward with the belief that things will turn around for our protagonist.
Part of the tragedy of the story is in its relatability. Ultimately, Meghan ends up being relegated to the-one-who-got-away status simply because they were both too fearful to admit their love for one another. Sometimes, words unspoken can be just as damaging as those you say and can’t take back.
The writing style is direct, on the nose. This can result in the occasional lack of nuance and with some unnatural dialogue and transitions. Thankfully, this issue is not so severe as to make reading it a difficult task, and the content more than makes up for the irregularities of the style.
Intrinsic leaves a bittersweet aftertaste on the heart’s tongue, but this is often the case with great stories. It is not just a story to be read, but a drama to be experienced. If love stories or riches-to-rags stories are your thing, this is definitely worthy of your consideration. Author W.H.B. has created something truly memorable here. It’s been a pleasure to experience it.
Thank you for reading Timothy Thomas’s book review of Intrinsic by W.H.B.! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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Stopping to Feel
by S.L. Collins
Genre: Memoir
ISBN: 9798988975786
Print Length: 280 pages
Reviewed by Samantha Hui | Content warnings: cancer
A vital memoir about the dangers of inheriting silence
S. L. Collins’ Stopping to Feel is an intimate memoir that explores the long-casted shadow of generational trauma, the complex ways we inherit emotional habits, and the courage it takes to unlearn them. At its heart, the book is an examination of grief and deep emotional suppression.
Through lyrical prose and poignant metaphors, Collins delves into the internal fractures that result when love and pain coexist unspoken. She invites readers to reflect on how much of our identity is shaped by what we avoid, and what we can become for others when we finally allow ourselves to feel.
“I was so grateful to have a dad who could fix up the physical wounds, but I wouldn’t realize for two more decades how bad he was at acknowledging and healing emotional ones.”
The memoir centers on Sasha’s relationship with her father, Boris Romanowsky, a devoted police officer admired by his community but emotionally distant at home. As a child, Sasha sees him as a strong and dependable hero, always willing to help others. But his strength doubles as a mask, hiding deep grief and a refusal to confront his own pain and past.
When he is diagnosed with a cancer that has taken the lives of many of his own family members, he faces the disease with a mix of stoicism and denial. As his illness advances, Sasha begins to recognize how his coping mechanisms of avoidance, emotional withdrawal, and constant busyness have shaped her own ways of dealing with life. In her effort to better understand her elusive father, she also uncovers troubling truths about his childhood that shed light on his behavior. The memoir follows Sasha’s path through burnout, therapy, and ultimately, forgiveness, as she strives to break generational patterns and build a healthier emotional legacy for her own children.
“I held on for dear life and kept pedaling–Dad was right, if I just kept moving, I wouldn’t crash.”
The structure of Stopping to Feel enhances its emotional resonance. Divided into four parts—Collins’ childhood and early brushes with family loss followed by her father’s colon cancer diagnosis, his recovery, and the cancer’s return—the book traces not just events but emotional evolution. Told mostly chronologically, the narrative allows readers to witness the slow unfolding of patterns that repeat over generations.
Collins’ talent lies in her ability to reveal, over time, how she and her father mirror each other, how his need to “just keep moving” becomes her own, and how both of them crash under the weight of avoidance. As the book spans decades, we also witness the cumulative effect of anxiety, showing how small emotional habits calcify into lifelong struggles. The structure allows the reader to not only see the cycle but feel how difficult it is to break.
“I remember the stories she told me, but otherwise, my memories come to me as feelings, rather than visions. Confusion. Disgust. Disbelief. Relief. Sadness. Fear. But most of all, shame.”
One of the book’s most powerful strengths is in Collins’ poetic storytelling. A particularly unforgettable image involves her father as a child landing on a stick that breaks off inside his foot, and never telling his parents out of fear of being a burden. Decades later, she wonders whether that fragment still lived inside him as he was cremated: “Did the piece of wood ignite, finally free after all those decades of being ignored?” It’s a haunting metaphor for the buried pain that defines this memoir; wounds left unspoken don’t disappear, they fester, they shape us, and sometimes they become our legacy.
“How could I parent small children and nurture their big feelings and emotions when I could barely understand my own? How could I be a loving parent and a distressed child at the same time?”
Ultimately, Stopping to Feel is about confronting grief, facing uncomfortable truths, and daring to feel in a world and a family where avoidance means survival. It’s a memoir for anyone grappling with emotional inheritance, caregiving, or the silent toll of trauma. Readers who appreciate honest explorations of mental health, family complexity, and emotional resilience will find themselves deeply moved by this story. More than anything, the book is an invitation to pause, reflect, and feel…before it’s too late.
Thank you for reading Samantha Hui’s book review of Stopping to Feel by S.L. Collins! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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An Ocean Life
by T.R. Cotwell
Genre: Science Fiction / Marine
ISBN: 9798990583719
Print Length: 346 pages
Reviewed by Peter Hassebroek
Balanced storytelling and evocative descriptions elevate a seemingly implausible premise to a convincing, palpably absorbing adventure.
The stresses of entrepreneurialism are encroaching on Mark Forster’s home life. To assuage his wife and two daughters, Mark takes the family to Hawaii for a week of snorkeling and poolside relaxation. If on his own, Mark would spend the entire time scuba diving. He does pack his gear but promises to limit it to early morning trips to maximize family time.
Two days in, Mark rises early to join a scuba tour group. He isn’t enamored with its participants, particularly a younger man on a scooter with propellers. Once in the water, however, the tranquil sea life allows him to disregard the others. He shares his observations, enhanced by an almost encyclopedic level of knowledge about diving, the ocean, and its inhabitants. The real payoff comes with a tense, up-close encounter:
“Its rows of gills were fully open, giving me a ringside seat to gaze into its massive maw. Bloody hell, it was so silent. We watched with great interest as it turned and made a few passes before swimming onward.”
Only the great white doesn’t swim onward. Instead, Mark finds himself isolated, as if primed to become the shark’s prey. A disorientating hit from what he assumes is the shark, but could be the scooter, dislodges his equipment prior to losing consciousness.
When he comes to, he sees his tour boat ready to return, but it ignores him. In fact those divers are not the ones from his tour and they, along with others in the area, avoid Mark. He’s confused until realizing all they see a great white shark, but not the man inside looking out.
Abandoned, there’s nothing Mark can do but coordinate with his host. The first order of business is adapting to the complications of his new anatomy. For instance:
“My arms were now pectoral fins, which explained why I could not see them. I could control them, and they affected my orientation in the water, but I lost the fine dexterity I associated with individual finger movement. Now, it felt like I was wearing mittens all the time.”
He learns to rely on his host’s instincts for hunting and other basic survival while asserting his human will and wit to steer it to discover what’s going on, then what can be done about it. The detail in which all this is put forth earns the suspension of disbelief that makes his long passage through the Pacific Ocean, on a quest for answers and solutions, such an enjoyable read.
He struggles to ensure he and his host—with an instinctive will of its own—keep moving in his preferred direction while contending with threats along the way. Never mind the emotional toll of separation from his family. This odyssey mixes adventure and observational tour as Mark encounters sea life and sea vessels, with the episodes ranging from humorous to harrowing, from compelling to informative. Each whets one’s appetite for the next.
Alas, there is always the fear of a letdown in how such a drama concludes, let alone is explained, especially with such a tough act to follow. But the resolutions are satisfying and, like everything else in the novel, clearly articulated.
An Ocean Life challenges one’s suspension of disbelief, then rewards it with an exciting firsthand experience that exceeds its humble title. Mark is a tour guide sharing an experience rather than merely imparting facts. The reader truly shares his wonder at seeing and experiencing things otherwise inaccessible to humans.
Thank you for reading Peter Hassebroek’s book review of An Ocean Life by T.R. Cotwell! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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]]>The post The Best Books We Read in 2024 appeared first on Independent Book Review.
]]>by Joe Walters & the IBR Staff
“Unforgettable!” “Perfect!” The best books we read in 2024.
We do things a little differently here at Independent Book Review.
We review indie books only, and we throw publication date out of the window. This best of the year book list ranges from 1899 to 2025, because what matters most is quality. Relevance is wrapped up in that, regardless of release date.
In previous years, we’ve asked our reviewers to include 3-5 of their best books of the year, but we’re bigger now. Our reviewer list has grown, and we’ve got all the more reason to zero in on the best of the best.
21 reviewers, only 2 books to choose as their best reads of 2024 (with some honorable mentions thrown in for good measure). Did your favorite indie make the cut?
Here are the best books we read in 2024.
1. Fire Exit
Author: Morgan Talty
Genre: Literary Fiction / Native American & Aboriginal Fiction
ISBN: 9781959030553
Print Length: 256 pages
Publisher: Tin House Books
In which a life can transform in the quiet
Charles Lamosway watches his daughter live a better life across the river from him. One where she fits in. Where she doesn’t know she’s half-white, half-unwelcome. Should Charles tell her he’s her father, or does not knowing what runs through her blood provide more for her than the truth would?
Fire Exit is one of those novels that comes across as quiet, but in the context of these people’s lives, it is earth-shattering. What is more powerful than blood? I left this novel knowing real people, ones I was sad to say goodbye to. This is an exquisite gem and one I’m proud to place at #1 on my list.
2. Nothing Left to Lose, or How Not to Start a Commune
Author: Jeff Richards
Genre: Memoir
ISBN: 9781953639202
Print Length: 268 pages
Publisher: Circuit Breaker Books
All your favorite 70s stereotypes come to life in this laugh out loud hippie memoir
Memoirs can be about nothing and everything. Or they can be Nothing Left to Lose, one person’s story that represents so many people’s stories.
How could author Jeff Richards possibly have done all of what we imagine the 70s counterculture movement to do? Drugs, sex, road trips, communes, you name it. Jeff Richards has done it. Some memoirs are about the content; some about the prose. This is both.
I didn’t want to put a book with a 2025 release date in my best reading of 2024 list, but once I finished Nothing Left to Lose, I had no choice. Put this on your radar now before it floors it out of town.
Honorable Mentions:
- My Father Once Told Me by Blas Telleria (Bookshop | Amazon | Review)
- A Mouthful of Air by Amy Koppelman (Bookshop | Amazon)
- The Jellyfish by Boum (Bookshop | Amazon)
1. Ohmigod!
Author: Aaron Asadi
Genre: Literary Fiction / Humor
ISBN: 9781399985819
Print Length: 234 pages
A funny, inventive story about a man with anxiety and the return of god
How many people have thought about what life would be like if their god came back to Earth as he’s promised? What would you say? What would you wear? Aaron Asadi takes the return to places you’ve never imagined (and won’t expect) in Ohmigod!
I’m still debating what I think everything means in this story—the mark of a damn good, thought-provoking novel. A couple times, my mouth hung wide open. I gasped. Laughed. And yet, the writing style is so casual that things feel calm right before they explode. It makes big reveals feel even bigger.
I read Ohmigod! with haste and excitement. Asadi takes what could be a common or simple idea and transforms it into something creative and digestible and funny and kinda scary but also somehow super chill. I could talk about this book for a long time. Someone ask me!
2. Until the Streetlights Come On
Author: Ginny Yurich, M.E.d.
Genre: Nonfiction / Parenting
ISBN: 9781540903402
Print Length: 224 pages
Publisher: Baker Book House
The PERFECT read for parents looking to simplify their lives with the outdoors.
Slow down and enhance your natural rhythm from being outside more! There are so many parenting books to read as a new parent, but this has been far and away the most impactful one for me. Your kids need to go outside at any age. Matter of fact, I do too. Learn how and why in this supremely important, accessible book.
Give to yourself this holiday season! Here are the BEST gifts for book lovers.
1. Apocalypsing
Author: Jason Anderson
Genre: Science Fiction / Satire
ISBN: 9798990230972
Print Length: 308 pages
Publisher: Roadside Press
Death and the apocalypse is as good a time as any to take charge of your life.
Domestic foibles. Impending armageddon. Aliens in the transdimensional afterlife. Jason Anderson’s Apocalypsing is a quick-witted, pop-culture savvy, sci-fi satire that is equal parts absurd and introspective.
The apocalypse will not simply be a tragedy to live through, but an active verb of what the people will do to save each other’s souls in the end times. This book is hilarious, current, and—at times—tender. An excellent choice for fans of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Good Omens.
2. The Peril of Remembering Nice Things
Author: Jeffrey Wade Gibbs
Genre: Memoir
ISBN: 9781953932297
Print Length: 284 pages
Publisher: April Gloaming Publishing
A powerful memoir reminding us to find the truth in our stories when both history and memory fail us
History is rarely captured in its nuanced entirety; the full truth often lies in the shadows of the stories left untold. Jeffrey Wade Gibbs’s memoir shines a light on repressed memories and warped histories through an investigation guided by the heart.
Well researched & beautifully written, this memoir is as much an ode to the American South as it is an indictment of it. Here, readers will come to see that to truly love something is to also be critical of its failings.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Where When It Rains
Author: John F. Duffy
Genre: Literary Fiction
ISBN: 9798218456955
Print Length: 302 pages
Hedonism meets consequences in this sumptuously devastating literary novel.
Where When It Rains is a devastating study of the consequences of living as though the world and everything in it is meaningless. While the characters are a lost, numbed, and nihilistic lot, there’s an underlying thoughtfulness to them that makes them feel incredibly authentic. These are people who have been disappointed by life time and time again, who don’t have the language for the emotions they’re feeling. So they brush them away with drugs and alcohol and the companionship of others who care as little as themselves.
While other novels explore this sort of hard-nosed cynicism, few show the raw vulnerability and deep humanity lying under the façade. As painful as it can be at times, Where When It Rains is lovely. Dark, bleak, and hopeless, but lovely nonetheless.
2. Whiskey Wars
Author: Sherilyn Decter
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Historical
ISBN: 9781777515171
Print Length: 358 pages
The stakes just keep climbing in this satisfying prohibition-era mystery series.
The thing I’ve admired in every one of the Moonshiner Mysteries so far is the fact that the formula changes so drastically. The characters grow in each novel; there’s no systematic paint-by-numbers plot line. The story follows whatever trajectory it needs to reach a satisfying conclusion.
This latest installment has all the charm and excitement that fans will expect and enough historical clout and action to hook new readers. It’s about a moonshiner in Montana whose moonshine still is destroyed, and she turns to prohibition icon Mickey Duffy for help.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Glitches of Gods
Author: Jurgen “Jojo” Appelo
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
ISBN: 9789083423616
Print Length: 524 pages
A genius engineer cultivates the next big thing in AI and keeps rebooting himself into different realities
Julien may be my favorite fictional character of the year. I remain in awe of him like a professor whose work I just discovered, and I also really want to be his friend. Julien is laugh-out-loud funny even when he’s having miserable banter with his AI assistant. He’s just doing his best in an impossible situation.
I can’t thank the author enough for Glitches of Gods existing as a reminder there’s always human-made art out there for those who seek it; that there are still people who care about humanity and who care about creating clever stories that convey a powerful message. I could not recommend this story more, especially if you love sci-fi and imaginative future-tech, but are feeling overwhelmed or disheartened by the current mainstream conversation around AI and how it has permeated the zeitgeist.
2. A Bitter Pill (The Bookshop Mysteries, 1)
Author: S.A. Reeves
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Cozy
ISBN: 9781068720932
Print Length: 306 pages
A charming, bookish modern mystery
Bitter Pill never loses focus from its charming setting and instantly adorable leading ladies: bookshop employees chasing leads and questioning potential suspects, while trying to brim up sales for their beloved Bookworm.
I feel as though I’ve found my new favorite bookshop. Only caveat is that I’ll have to open Bitter Pill to visit it again and again. Fans of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building are a perfect match for this novel, as t is brewed with an intergenerational detective duo and a balanced blend of time-honored wisdom and considered insight from its older characters.
Honorable Mentions:
- Sundown in San Ojuela by M.M. Olivas (Bookshop | Amazon | Review)
- Jigsaw of Light by J.C. Button (Amazon | Review)
1. The Wood Sprite
Author: James Dobie
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Paranormal
ISBN: 9798987133835
Print Length: 358 pages
About as wild as thrillers get
The Wood Sprite by James Dobie is filled with surprises. It drips with murder, horror, and strange family secrets straight out of a V.C. Andrews novel.
Each chapter in this alluringly dark novel is a cliffhanger. You’ll struggle to catch your breath, just as Dobie’s characters do. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, but you won’t stop reading despite the heart-pounding trepidation. Paranormal thriller fans should definitely pick this up.
2. Mimic
Author: T. Kolodziej
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Supernatural
ISBN: 9781738779758
Print Length: 320 pages
An exciting paranormal adventure with a swirl of the macabre, mystery, and some downright creepiness
Content creator Damion Beck is last seen on a livestream playing with a spirit board. His whereabouts are unknown from the moment his camera malfunctions. Initially, people believe the culprit behind Damion’s death is an ordinary human criminal, but the more that psychic Dee King dives into the case, the more she realizes the murder suspect might be a multi-dimensional monstrosity.
Mimic’s mystery and plot twists are its sparkling stand-out features, and this mystical creature makes it a real page-turner, especially once you venture through the puzzle of its purpose.
A fun, fast-paced joyride. Mimic has it all.
Honorable Mentions:
1. A Sense for Memory
Author: R.H. Stevens
Genre: Science Fiction / Illustrated
ISBN: 9780645922424
Print Length: 371 pages
An unforgettable immersion—smart science fiction at its very best
Immersive details yield a great narrative experience for the reader in this collection of two novellas. The book’s worldbuilding is impressive, exquisitely detailed in every aspect from geography to biology to cultural norms. The individuals and societies portrayed would be called “alien” by humans, but we’re not there. While the conflicts are relatable to planet Earth, there are no Sol system explorers to weigh in with opinions.
A Sense for Memory raises important political and ecofiction themes too: How does society balance individual rights with society’s needs? What is cruel punishment? What are sentient beings’ responsibilities to the land and “lower” animal and plant life?
This book is a real pleasure to read.
2. Deluge
Author: Carolyn Watson Dubisch
Genre: Middle Grade / Graphic Novel
ISBN: 9781312369603
Print Length: 50 pages
Laura’s new town is cursed in ways both obvious and hidden.
In Deluge: The People That Melt in the Rain, a stranger comes to town. Yet it’s the town itself that’s strange; the new girl, Laura, appears to be perfectly normal. Laura and her mom move to Deluge for a new, perhaps too-good-to-be true, job. But they are immediately confronted by a frog-infested rain shower, a wonderful opening scene for the graphic novel.
Deluge’s illustrations are phenomenal. The drawings are realistic, with palettes ranging from muted to colorful, depending on the needs of the narrative. Deluge will appeal to readers young and old, both for its interesting story, appealing characters with real problems, supernatural and mysterious aspects, and beautiful graphics.
Honorable Mentions:
- Who Killed Leeanne? by Mira Gibson (Bookshop | Amazon)
- Alien Nation by Raymond King (Amazon | Review)
Bookify your wardrobe with some of our favorite book shirts!
1. The Tower of Love
Author: Rachilde
Translator: Jennifer Higgins
Genre: Literary Fiction
ISBN: 9781962728003
Print Length: 176 pages
Publisher: Wakefield Press
Gothic, gorgeous, thrilling, unnerving, and deliriously ahead of its time
The Tower of Love is a strange, 125-year old book by a transgressive French author who was known for cross-dressing (illegal in France at the time), spent two years in prison for the publication of one of her novels, and otherwise broke every imaginable rule. Given Rachilde’s undertakings, I was floored by the simple narrative force of this novel about two men locked in a lighthouse together.
There are echoes of Melville’s Ishmael in the shifting naivety of the lighthouse-keeping narrator Jean Maleux. But behind his naivety are reverberations of a knowledge he won’t share, histories we don’t have access to. Frankly, the book is as deep as a well and the definition of a must read.
2. Tap Dancing on Everest
Author: Mimi Zieman, MD
Genre: Memoir / Climbing
ISBN: 9781493078431
Print Length: 244 pages
A riveting memoir about the travails of growing up, the trauma of mountain climbing, and the elation of being in the great outdoors
Beginning at the dramatic climax of a years-in-the-making expedition to climb Everest’s east face without oxygen for the first time, Zieman’s memoir doubles back to trace the bumpy path that led her to become the team medical officer as a twenty-five year old medical school student.
What materializes is a deep portrait of Mimi’s youth and milieu in New York as the ambitious daughter of two Holocaust survivors.
The overall quality of the writing in this book is exceptional. The memoir’s many large and small vignettes, its minor characters and central ones all leap into focus. Whether Zieman’s haunted, psychotherapist father or a boy that she rescues in a climbing accident, personality and life abound. A beautiful, wrenching story about the trials that we endure and the rewards we reap.
Honorable Mention:
- The Thinking-About-Gladys-Machine by Mario Levrero (Bookshop | Amazon)
- The Hidden Power of Rising Dividends by Greg Donaldson (Amazon | Review)
1. No One Left
Author: Lisa Boyle
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Crime
ISBN: 9781736607794
Print Length: 348 pages
Deception and discrimination threaten life and liberty on a Navajo reservation in this stellar crime thriller.
No One Left is an intricately plotted and action-packed sequel to In the Silence of Decay. As the first book makes clear, life in New Mexico in the late 1970s is far from paradise, especially for the Native American community living on the reservation near Sanostee.
The murder mystery at the heart of No One Left proves to be even more complex and convoluted than it initially appears, giving way for a number of twists and turns as the story progresses. The story imparts with some keen social commentary and historical insight along with its compelling thriller aspects.
A rip-roaring and conspiracy-filled crime novel with good characters and even better curveballs.
2. Blood and Mascara
Author: Colin Krainin
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Detective
ISBN: 9798989986804
Print Length: 292 pages
A hard-boiled detective story set in the late 1990s but with more than a hint of classic noir like The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon
Colin Krainin’s Blood and Mascara traverses the seamier side of Washington, DC and exposes all the blood, gore, and corruption to be found there. Through pitch-perfect PI dialogue and a plot packed with political duplicity, sleaze, and casual violence, Krainin presents a fiendish murder mystery that shines a light on both the best and worst of humanity.
An old-school detective novel with modern sensibilities and a healthy dose of nastiness, Blood and Mascara pairs an engagingly flawed PI with an eclectic supporting cast and pits them against both a complex plot and a host of nefarious villains.
Honorable Mention:
1. Patterns
Author: H.L. Gaydos
Genre: Memoir / Art
ISBN: 9798891321861
Print Length: 198 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
A beautiful take on how the moments that make up the story of a life can only be fully revealed with the perspective of time
In Patterns: The Mystical Journey of an Ordinary Life, visual artist, professor, and long-time psychiatric nurse Honey Lee Gaydos combines memories and collage art in a look back at pivotal moments in her life.
Though to outsiders these moments would seem mostly unremarkable, they are laden with a rush of feeling for the author, and they lead to changes in her life that are at times small and at times large, from adjusting her outlook to uprooting her life and moving to another state.
Patterns is an exquisite combination of powerful art and evocative prose. It’s a journey into beauty and emotion by embracing one’s own complicated nature and the confounding forces of the world we inhabit.
2. The Last Whaler
Author: Cynthia Reeves
Genre: Historical Fiction / Literary
ISBN: 9781646035083
Print Length: 326 pages
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
A dark, emotional tale about facing the harshness of grief while living through a brutal, sunless Arctic winter
Astrid thought she could do it. She thought she could accompany her husband, Tor, to his beluga whaling station for the hunting season. In some ways, she was right. In others, not quite.
Just as they think their trials in the harsh north are over, one miscalculation leaves them stranded, facing the long cold period of 24-hour darkness, when the sun doesn’t rise for months.
The Last Whaler touches on themes of isolation, faith, and storytelling to process life’s darker moments. It meditates on the effect humans have when engaged in large-scale hunting in delicate ecosystems. It’s about these big themes, but it’s also about the struggle of a single person to stay alive despite overwhelming grief. Then to stay alive despite overwhelming odds. It’s about how the dangers that lurk within us are as terrifying as those to be found without. And the dogged impulse of the living to keep on living.
Honorable Mention:
- The Insistence of Memory by Susan Quilty (Amazon | Review)
- But I Digretch by Gretchen Astro Turner (Bookshop | Amazon | Review)
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1. Bad Foundations
Author: Brian Allen Carr
Genre: Literary Fiction / Absurdist
ISBN: 9781955904865
Print Length: 256 pages
Publisher: Clash Books
A working-class White Noise, a story about family, crap jobs, paranoia, and an uncertain future
Cook works in crawl spaces, inspecting them for rot, but even when he emerges from the claustrophobic confines, driving across Indiana to the next client, the crawl follows him.
From the canon of working-class literature and literary family stories comes Bad Foundations, an unputdownable dive into the crawlspace sludge of a working man’s life and the inevitable rebirth that comes when he emerges to see his family in a not-so-blindingly-fluorescent light.
2. The Body Is a Temporary Gathering Place
Author: Andrew Bertaina
Genre: Essays
ISBN: 9781957392301
Print Length: 184 pages
Publisher: Autofocus Books
Bertaina is at his best in this collection of meditative essays on fatherhood, marriage, and self
Each essay is incredibly personal, holding nothing back, bearing all. It’s funny. It’s deep. It will glue you to your seat pondering your own life, finding those strange connections between the internal and external worlds that make up a life.
Honorable Mentions:
- Of Fathers and Gods by Jim Roberts (Bookshop | Amazon)
- You Could Be That Kind of Girl by Téa Franco (Bookshop | Amazon)
- Leasing by D.T. Robbins (Amazon)
1. 1986
Author: Will Stepp
Genre: Literary Fiction / Short Stories
ISBN: 9798991503600
Print Length: 164 pages
Atmospheric & real—a recollective mood on childhood, family, and friends in the 1980s, coated with the nostalgia of times gone by
1986 is a collection of interlinked short stories following an unnamed boy—turned teen, turned man—and his ever-so-relatable childhood, filled with Nintendos, G.I. Joe’s, Garbage Pail Kid cards, and all the things they could get in trouble for when they’re bored and have friends they want to impress.
This book is about the feeling. The atmosphere. The time. The things we can’t forget, well into adulthood. We can learn so much from kids, as long as we’re willing enough to listen. This is the only childhood they’ve got, and they’re doing things you’re too afraid to do. Jump back in time with your old self in this knife-sharp story collection.
2. What We Tried to Bury Grows Here
Author: Julian Zabalbeascoa
Genre: Literary Fiction / Historical
ISBN: 9781953387530
Print Length: 300 pages
Publisher: Two Dollar Radio
A dynamic tale built of different voices and the comprehensive struggles of war
In 1936, Isidro Elejalde leaves his Basque village in Northern Spain to join the combat against the fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War. While Isidro serves as the story’s central figure, his journey unfolds through a web of compelling voices, all telling of his life and simultaneously exposing the larger story.
Zabalbeascoa’s debut is a sharply compelling exploration of complex war-time themes, featuring a propulsive narrative structure and a story that challenges readers to consider the need for human empathy in the most difficult times.
“I want this war to end,” I said, “but I want to preserve life. Are both things possible?”
Honorable Mentions:
- Fathers and Fugitives by S.J. Naudé (Bookshop | Amazon | Review)
- Writing for Money & Meaning by Julie Anne Eason (Amazon | Review)
1. Children of Madness
Author: Jarrett Brandon Early
Genre: Fantasy / Epic
ISBN: 9781734231489
Print Length: 684 pages
Stranger Things meets Lord of the Rings in a new generation’s classic fantasy epic.
Children of Madness is an epic adventure led by a new group of heroes that will capture even the coldest of hearts. Readers will fall in love with the Sour Flower Gang almost instantly. As a group, they’re whip-smart and skilled. They vote for things as a group, swear profusely, and often are filled with joy despite considerable circumstances.
Early manages to balance light and dark throughout an immense journey, not only by including scenes where kids can be kids, but also by infusing supporting characters with some measure of both good and evil.
With winning characters and fantastic creatures and locations, Children of Madness feels like it could be read straight from a leather-bound book with gold leaf edges and all. Timeless.
2. Bomb Island
Author: Stephen Hundley
Genre: Literary Fiction / Coming of Age
ISBN: 9798885740258
Print Length: 224 pages
Publisher: Hub City Press
A tense coming-of-age tale about a boy’s last few weeks in a commune off the coast of Georgia
Fish lives on an island with his found family: Whistle, his “sage-mother;” Reef, the “young man;” Nutzo, “the old man;” and Sugar, a full-grown white tiger. But Sugar’s behavior becomes more predatory, and Nutzo goes missing. When Fish meets a girl on the mainland, he finds himself stuck between vastly different worlds.
Bomb Island is packed with evocative symbolism and big-hearted character dynamics, making for a cataclysmic, fast-paced story that kept me reading through the night.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Our Daughter Who Art In America
Editor: Mukana Press
Genre: Short Story Anthology / African
ISBN: 9798989694617
Print Length: 144 pages
Publisher: Mukana Press
Smart, heartfelt stories that challenge norms and spark important conversations
From the bustling and chaotic atmosphere of Lagos markets to the dark shorelines of South Africa to the hot territory of Kenya, Our Daughter, Who Art In America is a diverse, poignant, and engaging anthology that transcends borders and invites readers into the heart of human experience and African culture.
The book—collectively authored by eleven talented African writers from different parts of the world—navigates the theme of grief with a nuanced and multifaceted approach. Across the anthology, grief is explored not merely as a standalone emotion but as an intricate part of the human experience, intertwined with other themes like motherhood, resilience, cultural identity, and societal norms. It’s a thought-provoking kaleidoscopic view of the human experience.
2. The Significance of Curly Hair
Author: Kara L. Zajac
Genre: Memoir / Grief & Loss
ISBN: 9798891322868
Print Length: 364 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
A poignant story about the bond between a granddaughter and her grandmother
The Significance of Curly Hair is a heartwarming and enlightening memoir that reminds us to cherish our time with our loved ones. Through a six-day account, author Kara L. Zajac takes us on a journey of grief, healing, family bonding, and hope.
The Significance of Curly Hair is more than a memoir of loss; it is a celebration of life, love, and family. It serves as a special reminder to appreciate the present and hold our loved ones close.
1. A Thousand Tiny Stitches
Author: Stephanie Claypool
Genre: Literary Fiction
ISBN: 9798891324183
Print Length: 314 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
A tender tale about making a late daughter’s dreams come true
After a tragedy takes the lives of her daughter Amanda and her son-in-law Matt, Lily Wolfe becomes the caretaker of her heartbroken eight-year-old granddaughter Emma. Lily is left to deal with Amanda’s estate, including the house she dreamed of turning into a quilt shop.
A Thousand Tiny Stitches takes the mentality of “it takes a village to raise a child” and applies it to a bigger picture concept: it takes a village to make dreams happen. Throughout the novel, the compassion and aid from others is endless. I loved the emotion and interpersonal lives of her cast of characters, and I’m confident you will too. Stephanie Claypool pens a masterful story of grief, love, and hard work with this one.
2. Not the Same River
Author: W.A. Polf
Genre: Short Story Collection
ISBN: 9798891323056
Print Length: 316 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Discover the profound within the ordinary with this impactful collection.
W. A. Polf’s Not The Same River explores the timelessness of the ordinary experiences that make life extraordinary. Polf’s stories traverse the terrain of turmoil and triumph, even when triumph looks a little more commonplace than you might expect.
Not the Same River exemplifies what depth of character and emotion can look like on the page. Each story will give you something real & genuine to think about. There’s something absolutely wonderful and haunting about these stories and how they make you look at life.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Strings
Author: Joseph Edwin Haeger
Genre: Literary Fiction / Speculative
ISBN: 9798325616952
Print Length: 295 pages
An intricately woven exploration of one man’s journey through the splintered possibilities of fatherhood
Fatherhood is redefined through speculative glimpses of love, fear, and uncertain futures in Joseph Edwin Haeger’s Strings. In the aftermath of an explosion, William, our protagonist, is consumed by an overwhelming fear for his unborn child, a fear that unravels his mind across three distinct narratives.
Despite the fear and uncertainty, despite the heartbreak that inevitably comes with bringing a new life into the world, William’s love for his child is the one constant across every reality. It’s a love that transcends the narrative and consumes and defines him, even as he struggles to reconcile it with his own sense of self.
Haeger’s portrayal of William’s fragmented realities offers readers a glimpse into the universal fear of parenthood—the fear of failing, of losing control, of not being enough. And yet, within this fear lies a quiet hope, a recognition that, while we may not be able to control the world around us, we can still choose to love fiercely, even when the future remains uncertain.
2. Angry Daughter
Author: Nanci Lamborn
Genre: Memoir / Religious
ISBN: 9798218372965
Print Length: 216 pages
A remarkable memoir where the path from resentment to redemption unfolds with stark honesty and unwavering faith
Nanci Lamborn’s debut is an introspective exploration of forgiveness, redemption, and the transformative power of faith from a Christian perspective. Through her raw and poignant narrative, Lamborn invites readers into the tumultuous landscape of her past, where buried wounds of shame, rejection, and abandonment festered beneath the surface.
Lamborn’s narrative serves as a testament to the transformative potential of compassion and empathy, offering readers a glimpse into the profound beauty that can emerge from the depths of pain and suffering. In the end, Lamborn’s journey toward forgiveness is an inspiring reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the boundless capacity for healing and reconciliation.
Honorable Mentions:
- The Water Stricken by Rina Olsen (Bookshop | Amazon | Review)
- Sabine & Vincent Van Gogh (The Dream Collectors) by R.W. Meek (Amazon)
- 180 Days by Alfred Bottello (Bookshop | Amazon | Review)
1. Flicker
Author: Matthew J. McKee
Genre: Literary Fiction / Mystery
ISBN: 9798891321854
Print Length: 254 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Flicker ignites thrill and excitement while examining humanity’s chaos and despair.
The Northern District has an arsonist who is consistently burning down houses in the middle of the night. This arsonist is Flicker‘s narrator and protagonist, Heat Agaki, a teenage girl who dreams of setting everything aflame.
The passion for fire lives within Heat, and soon that drive to burn it all down begins to take on a mind of its own. When the fireball within her takes more control, Heat continues to self-ignite and spin out of control. Her emotional turmoil feels intimate and raw, especially when she talks directly to the reader.
Flicker adeptly explores the human psyche—an additive thought-provoking layer to the novel. One thing’s for sure: It will leave you with a burning desire for the sequel.
2. Sacred Blood
Author: C.T. Clark
Genre: Science Fiction / Action & Adventure
ISBN: 9781962600002
Print Length: 367 pages
Fascinating technology, crazy schemes, and a bit of freaky science
Adam is part of a technically discontinued experiment: The Phoenix Elite Initiative. It is made up of seven individuals cloned from historical figures who are tasked with saving the world against nuclear destruction.
Lovers of of history, science, and military strategy will be floored at all of what this fast-paced, action-packed story does.
Honorable Mentions:
1. No Good Deed
Author: Jack Wallace
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Crime
ISBN: 9798891320529
Print Length: 268 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
A novel with a soul that entertains as it educates about sex trafficking and the individuals sucked into its diabolical orbit
Inspired by true events, Wallace’s impressive sophomore novel No Good Deed examines the seedy criminal underworld of sex trafficking in the American South. It’s a compulsive story of everyday people selflessly sacrificing to help those in need among us.
His protagonists are good people facing unspeakable brutality and evil; they are ordinary people thrust into becoming the heroes they never knew they were. No Good Deed is a superbly written and propulsive story with an unforgettable climax.
2. Half the World
Author: Leissa Shahrak
Genre: Historical Fiction
ISBN: 9798891323803
Print Length: 292 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
An enchanting historical novel set in a deeply suspicious society ripe for rebellion
In 1977, newlyweds Angela and Doug Weston arrive in Iran for an opportunity to build a nest egg and enjoy the beauty of Persian culture, but they are not prepared for awaits them in Half the World.
This is an authentic story, lushly told, perhaps because Shahrak experienced the Iranian Revolution firsthand. Her depictions of pre-Revolution Iran with its walled gardens, majestic mosques, and the squalid living conditions of the have-nots of Esfahani society are well-drawn and compelling, painting a portrait of an oppressed society on the cusp of overthrowing the shackles of one regime, only to choose the shackles of another.
What makes Half the World so enchanting is not only Shahrak’s fertile prose and convincing characters, but her obvious love of Persian society and culture that blooms on every page, leaving a whiff of bittersweet nostalgia for a world that no longer exists.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Chained Birds
Author: Carla Conti
Genre: Memoir / True Crime
ISBN: 9781964730066
Print Length: 436 pages
A compelling true crime exposé of a corrupt prison program and the lives forever changed when it was brought to light
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist and staunch prison reform advocate. In Chained Birds, Conti becomes part of the story herself.
It all started with a snowball, and it would, pardon the pun, snowball into something more. One inmate launched a snowball at a corrections officer before assaulting him—the officer’s revenge led to an orchestrated rec cage assault that involved Conti’s subject, Kevin Sanders, through no fault of his own. This is the event that brought him to Conti’s attention, as well as the prison’s Special Management Unit, which turned out to be rife with abuse, corruption, and violence.
Conti writes with an endearing balance of humor and passion, and she is a driven and intelligent advocate for those without a voice. Without her assistance on Sanders’s case, he might have disappeared into the system and the SMU program may have gone unnoticed.
Chained Birds is like two great books in one: a captivating true crime story that exposes a deplorable prison program and an engrossing memoir of a journalist making a difference.
2. The Reverse Tower
Author: Fay Lanark
Genre: Fantasy / Dark
ISBN: 9798871588307
Print Length: 381 pages
A dark fantasy with lyrical prose, vibrant characters, and a harrowing mystery
The world of Asp is one of wonder, magic, and violence where mages can command bones, blood, and gore to their bidding. But as dark and ominous as Asp is, there is another land that pulls people into a hellscape. An endless desert stretching beyond the horizon and nothing in sight save a singular tower. A tower that hangs in the sky pointed downward with no apparent end. And all are drawn to it.
The worldbuilding is intense, deep, and engrossing. The world of Asp has a fantastic but familiar feel to it, almost as if it were Earth but centuries beyond some apocalypse. The Reverse Tower is dark and fascinating, a building that’s part community and part otherworldly being.
For every touch of normalcy, there’s a pool of unreal magic and wonder. It’s a dark tale of mystery and violence with broken people driven to survive under the watchful eye of a sentient tower hanging impossibly in the sky.
Honorable Mentions:
- Heavy Weight of Darkness by J.M. Erickson (Bookshop | Amazon)
- In Pursuit of the Giant Sable Antelope by John Manuel (Bookshop | Amazon | Review)
1. Taxonomic Vignettes
Author: Alan Cohen
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 9798891324237
Print Length: 192 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
A powerful, well-crafted, and intelligent collection reflecting the realities of life and relationships
Taxonomic Vignettes dissects life and loss with genuineness.
This poetry collection’s mastery is most evident in the portraits it paints of all the people who come and go in our lives. Peppered with pop culture and literature references, every stanza is smart and vulnerable simultaneously. Not only is it enjoyable to pick out all the references you’re familiar with, but the reference always adds a layer of deeper understanding to the surrounding stanzas.
There’s such heartbreaking brilliance, vulnerability, and relatability in these poems.
2. Kat Girl
Author: Sarah Lahey
Genre: Literary / Romance
ISBN: 9780645835854
Print Length: 380 pages
A sexy romance that celebrates the power of second chances
Kat Girl gives all the romantic scenes you could hope for from the genre—from sweet to steamy—inviting us in on the action of a budding relationship.
Still, it might be the focus on internal conflicts that attracted me the most. Kat’s still reeling from three failed marriages and an unspeakable loss. She’s trying to trust something good in her life while she’s facing her grief and baggage from her past to get the future she’s always wanted.
On the Bridgerton scale of steamy, this one is definitely season three—except maybe a little steamier. Reach for Kat Girl if you’re looking for something hot to rev your power drill.
1. Tennis Players As Works of Art
Author: David Linebarger
Genre: Nonfiction / Sports
ISBN: 9798891324671
Print Length: 284 pages
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Like a museum exhibit in a book—an impressive collection of art and prose celebrating tennis.
It took seven years for David Linebarger to assemble this collection of nearly seventy artworks by over forty artists, all directly connected to the sport of tennis. Each one is augmented by a brief page or two of original writing, with some quotes and excerpts creatively sprinkled in.
This book packs in a lot. Facts and biographical information mix comfortably with emotions spanning joy, anger, sadness, frustration, and even pathos. The common thread is a reverence for a sport anyone can play that comes across as genuine, not sentimental.
Tennis Players as Works of Art is as rewarding as an absorbing museum exhibit, without having to leave your sofa or armchair. And not just for tennis aficionados.
2. The Sum of All Things
Author: Seb Doubinsky
Genre: Science Fiction / Satire
ISBN: 9781946154392
Print Length: 200 pages
Publisher: Meerkat Press
An intricately woven plot about saving Earth’s freedom with disparate, personable characters
In a not too distant future (the Internet and Google Translate are still current), Earth is on its way to yielding its freedoms to the Subliminal Empire. Other planets have already done this, and Vita is determined to not let Earth suffer her planet’s fate.
The poetic economy of often very brief chapters amps up tension and propels the conflicts forward. Their symmetry brings cohesiveness in a prose showcase of the author’s apparent poetic talents.
This is a deftly packed & poetic novel that you’ll be glad you picked up.
Honorable Mentions:
What were the best books you read this year? Let us know in the comments!
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Strings
by Joseph Edwin Haeger
Genre: Literary Fiction / Speculative
ISBN: 9798325616952
Print Length: 295 pages
Reviewed by Lauren Hayataka
An intricately woven exploration of one man’s journey through the splintered possibilities of fatherhood
Fatherhood is redefined through speculative glimpses of love, fear, and uncertain futures in Joseph Edwin Haeger’s Strings. In the aftermath of an explosion, William, our protagonist, is consumed by an overwhelming fear for his unborn child, a fear that unravels his mind across three distinct narratives.
This literary work offers more than just speculative fiction—it provides a raw glimpse into the essence of parenthood and the existential dread of shaping another human life.
At its core, Strings poses a harrowing question: Should I bring a child into this world? Throughout the novel, William’s life splinters into various versions of himself—William, Will, Bill, and Billy—each navigating distinct circumstances yet all bound by the same sense of helplessness.
In BEGIN, William is an English teacher with a reserved, analytical mind, grappling with the end of his marriage to his pregnant wife, Mandy, while obsessing over the nurture-versus-nature debate.
In MORNING, Will works at a fast-food joint called Taco Taco, struggling with sleepless nights and a deteriorating relationship with his wife Julie, while trying to manage the overwhelming responsibility of caring for their baby Celia.
In AFTERNOON, Bill, a data input supervisor, faces the disintegration of his long marriage to Kim and a widening gap with his teenage son Sam, all while fearing mysterious energy-draining orbs that hover in the background of this speculative world.
And in EVENING, Billy and his partner Charlie are struggling to survive the end of the world. Living in poverty, they’ve never had a child, being too young and uncertain, but now they grapple with whether they should have considered it, even as the world collapses around them.
Haeger carefully explores how, despite his life’s vastly different paths, William remains trapped by his internal flaws, particularly his inability to understand his partners—Mandy, Julie, Kim, and Charlie. Each relationship becomes strained as William fails to fully connect with them, leaving him isolated in his anxieties about fatherhood. His desire to mold his child’s future reflects a sense of nurturing and his attempt to quell his fears of powerlessness and loss of control.
Haeger’s prose is sharp and evocative, capturing the quiet despair of each character’s internal struggle. The novel’s structure, broken into three speculative novellas, mirrors the fragmentation of William’s psyche, as each narrative offers a glimpse into alternate realities where William is forced to confront his deepest fears.
From the peeling yellow paint that haunts Will’s home in MORNING to the sci-fi touches like the orbs in AFTERNOON, Haeger effectively weaves speculative elements into the story, blurring the lines between reality and William’s growing sense of dread.
Strings is about the thankless sacrifice that comes with parenthood. This is a concept that weighs heavily on William in all his forms—each version of himself grapples with the notion that children will always take more than they give back. And yet, despite the fear and uncertainty, despite the heartbreak that inevitably comes with bringing a new life into the world, William’s love for his child is the one constant across every reality. It’s a love that transcends the narrative and consumes and defines him, even as he struggles to reconcile it with his own sense of self.
Haeger’s portrayal of William’s fragmented realities offers readers a glimpse into the universal fear of parenthood—the fear of failing, of losing control, of not being enough. And yet, within this fear lies a quiet hope, a recognition that, while we may not be able to control the world around us, we can still choose to love fiercely, even when the future remains uncertain.
Thank you for reading Lauren Hayataka’s book review of Strings by Joseph Edwin Haeger! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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