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.
]]>The post 7 Contemporary Beach Reads to Pack This Summer appeared first on Independent Book Review.
]]>by Addison Ciuchta
A beach read lives outside genre.
With summer fully upon us, the annual discussion of what makes a beach read a beach read is back in full force. Some say beach reads are lighthearted romances to speed through by the surf. Others say a sucker punch of a thriller is the best for those sand-filled afternoons. I, however, think a beach read is any and all of the above. As long as it fits a few criteria.
A beach read must be absorbing. It must keep you hook you at the start and keep you engaged until the end. But should you get interrupted by a mid-afternoon ice cream break or a dip in the water, it should be easy to dive back into. It probably shouldn’t be too sad either, but that one’s up for debate.
This list is made up of dazzling romance, the spectacular adventure, and twisty-turny mysteries, all of which are easy to breeze through. And bonus points: they’re all indie books!
Here are 7 books perfect for your beach bag.
(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.)
1. Empire of Shadows
Author: Jacquelyn Benson
Genre: Fantasy / Romance
Print Length: 476 pages
ISBN: 9781958051337
After she is arrested at a women’s rights protest, Ellie Mallory is fired from her archivist job. Her archeological dreams crumbling before her, she finds a map that documents the route to an ancient, mythical city. She’s not the only one interested in what lay at the end of the x, a sleekly vicious villain named Jacobs hot on her heels as she spontaneously decides to sail to Honduras to investigate. There, she meets a local surveyor Adam Bates, a rough-around-the-edges rascal who agrees to help her navigate the dangerous route.
It’s a thrilling adventure full of dense brush, ancient history, and unexpected connection between Ellie and Adam who both, in their own way, fight against a society that tells them who they should be, lending a sincerity to the narrative even as gashes, gore, and gun fire erupt. Fair warning, it’s on the longer side, so don’t forget to reapply that sunscreen!
2. Make a Scene
Author: Mimi Grace
Genre: Romance
Print Length: 230 pages
ISBN: 9781999108236
Bakery-owner Retta Majors is thrown off kilter when, at a family gathering, her cousin announces she’s engaged to Retta’s ex-boyfriend. As her family congratulates the couple, Retta tries to keep her composure. Wanting to show everyone how fine she is with it all, Retta agrees to attend the wedding against her better judgement, making up a boyfriend who is supposed to come along with her.
After a few failed attempts, she finds her fake boyfriend in the boxing gym next to her bakery; one of the owners, Duncan Gilmore, is the perfect candidate. All she has to do is give up a coveted parking space and a recipe to get him to say yes.
As Retta and Duncan get to know each other so they can ace their act at the wedding, real chemistry blooms between them. Through descriptions of pastries you can practically taste, not-so-pretend dates, and background family drama, you’ll be smiling through it all.
Need gifts for your book-loving kid? Check out these gifts for kids who love to read.
3. Lucky Secrets
Author: B.T. Polcari
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery / Cozy
Print Length: 414 pages
ISBN: 9781509261420
Amateur sleuth Sara Donovan is heading into finals before college graduation when two envelopes arrive, one with an invitation to take part in a mysterious competition and the other containing doctored blackmail photos that suggest Sara doesn’t have a choice in whether to agree.
With her best friend Zoe and her loyal sidekick sleuth dog Mauzzy, the trio report to a mansion where the competition will take place. Under strict non-disclosure agreements, vague threats from the unknown organizer, and the pressure of seven other contestants, Sara’s investigating skills are pushed to their limits as she tries not only to win but to unmask the person pulling the strings behind it all.
Sara’s sleuthing skills, her adorable sidekick Mauzzy, and riddles galore make this an excellent cozy mystery to read beach-side. But just because it’s lighthearted doesn’t mean the stakes aren’t high!
Blackmail, white collar crime, and violence raise the tension to keep you guessing.
4. Tap Dancing on Everest
Author: Mimi Zieman
Genre: Memoir / Climbing
Print Length: 244 pages
ISBN: 9781493078431
Tap Dancing on Everest is part adventure, part inspiration—perfect for a sunny break from your daily life.
Mimi is still in medical school when she accepts the invitation to be a doctor that accompanies a team of climbers striking out a new path on Mt. Everest. But they have limited resources and no possibility for rescue.
Fighting her own self-doubt, the rough conditions, and the biting cold, Mimi recounts her experience with the climbers, reflecting on her childhood, her education, and her heritage as she does.
What makes this unique is the perspective, Mimi approaching the narrative of her trek from more of a layperson’s point-of-view rather than a technical take on the climb. It’s also full of vulnerability as she reflects on her upbringing as the child of Jewish immigrants, her insecurities in studying medicine, and her true dedication to help others.
5. His Third Victim
Author: Helen H. Durrant
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Print Length: 235 pages
ISBN: 9781912106196
After the death of his partner in an ambush last year, Detective Inspector Matt Bridle is taking a break from investigative work, maybe forever, to heal his own injuries from the attack.
But after a young boy goes missing and five seemingly unconnected people turn up dead in Yorkshire with the same Chinese symbol on them, his boss needs him back. Now paired with a new sergeant, Lily, the pair must find out who the killer is before there are more bodies to be found.
With glimpses into the meticulous, chilling mind of the killer, you’ll be rooting for D.I. Brindle to put a stop to this before it’s too late. With leads that go nowhere, suspicious witnesses, and his own trauma, though, Brindle’s up against more than a simple open-and-shut case. A truly thrilling beach read!
6. Looks Good on Paper
Author: Kilby Blades
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Genre: Romance
Print Length: 310 pages
ISBN: 9798849930459
Zuri Robinson likes paper. Okay, maybe she loves paper. It’s kind of her thing. Pen pal letters written on that fancy paper? There’s nothing better. One of the only things that keeps her pushing through her customer service job, fielding calls from disgruntled users of a not-so-respectable dating app, is knowing a package of wonderful stationary or a letter from her Italian pen pal, Alessandro, is waiting for her.
What she doesn’t know is that the person writing the letters is actually Nico, Alessandro’s brother. When Zuri jets off for Italy for a much-needed vacation, the secret can’t stay secret for long.
With beautiful descriptions to Italy (and Italian men), this is an adorable romance between Zuri and Nico, framed by the touching letters they sent each other. What’s stunning about this one is the way love can bloom amongst every day, mundane topics, the small details of each other’s lives where they find a deep connection in each other before they ever meet.
7. Murder in First Position: An On Pointe Mystery
Author: Lori Robbins
Publisher: Level Best Books
Genre: Mystery
Print Length: 260 pages
ISBN: 9781947915749
Leah Siderova, a ballerina, is knocked from top billing and lead roles after a knee injury requires surgery. Her competitor, a younger ballerina named Arianna, is now in the spotlight, taking Leah’s place. Back in action, Leah’s determined to knock Arianna down a peg.
But when Leah finds Arianna stabbed to death, Leah’s shocked to find she’s prime suspect number one in the police’s eyes. Everyone knows ballet is cutthroat, and sure they may have had an altercation or two, but she’d never actually murder anyone. Now, as the company turns on her, Leah must solve the case and prove her innocence before bars keep her from dancing again.
With many a possible murderer, Leah has her work cut out for her. Juxtaposed between the seemingly soft and pretty world of ballet and the harsh light of a murder, Leah finds out quickly just how similar the two worlds are. Plus, author Lori Robbins’ knowledge of ballet shines through, showing a backstage look at what really goes on in a ballet company, flaws and all. This is a fun, cozy mystery, especially for those interested in dance.
And of course…those kids need books too!
About the Author
Addison Ciuchta is a reader first, a writer second, and an everything else third. She spends her days hiding from the Arizona heat, spending time with her fluffy cat, enjoying any sweet or sour candy she can get her hands on, and making plans to travel anywhere and everywhere.
Thank you for reading “7 Contemporary Beach Reads to Pack This Summer!” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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]]>The post STARRED Book Review: Fires Burning Underground appeared first on Independent Book Review.
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Fires Burning Underground
by Nancy McCabe
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction / Supernatural
ISBN: 9781646035601
Print Length: 158 pages
Publisher: Fitzroy Books
Reviewed by Eric Mayrhofer
Spirits prowl at the corners, but tender vulnerability and small rebellions make the haunting, beating heart of Nancy McCabe’s middle-grade novel.
Anny, the main character of Nancy McCabe’s Fires Burning Underground, has grown up on a collection of the books her mother loved as a child—shelves of Nancy Drew and Anne of Green Gables. But oh, how I wish she could find a book about pirates, about their rebelliousness and their bravery; their stories might embolden her. She deserves all the encouragement and love in the world as she moves through McCabe’s lovely, thoughtful story and starts coming into her own.
When the book opens, Anny is facing a multitude of problems. First, she finds out that Robert, a boy who asked her out once, has died. Then, his passing triggers big questions; she says, “I keep having random inappropriate thoughts, like maybe Robert might have been the person who would have helped me figure out if I’m gay or straight.” And all of that is before leaving homeschool and starting public school, where “it’s as if everyone else has known each other forever.”
When she meets Larissa, however, she discovers a kindred spirit beyond the wall of her home. Larissa is fascinated with the paranormal, and as she draws Anny into her explorations of clairvoyance, telepathy, and the beyond, Anny begins pushing back on everything she has ever known.
Throughout the book, Anny’s random thoughts might surprise her, but feel true and universal; it’s so natural for someone else’s death to make us turn inward, to look at how we’re living our own lives. In a religiously dominated household, her inability to find space for herself also rings true.
More interesting, however, are the small ways that Anny’s venturing into the world threatens a status quo quietly dominated by religious conservatism. When she brings Larissa home for the first time, she notices that “Mom smiles stiffly. I get the feeling that she’s made up her mind not to like Larissa…Mom is all bulgy and embarrassing, so I don’t know why she’s so judgy.” Her mother balks at Larissa exposing her to Ouija boards, warning that they can expose Anny to demons, and making her concerned. Anny notices later, though, that “in the bright, noisy cafeteria, my uneasiness seems kind of dopey.” Leaving her home environment, seeing new perspectives, and letting new voices into her life helps her see, in small ways, that not everything she’s been taught should be trusted.
But most interesting of all is the use of the supernatural as a symbol for personal power. With each experiment, Anny pushes back a little more against the world she has been brought up in and explores a little more deeply into her nature. As they start practicing mind reading, Larissa says, “ESP is like that. You have to practice a while every day to keep your talent active.” The same is true of self-discovery and self-determination—especially for queer children—it takes constant practice to be fully yourself when it may seem the rest of the world is telling you your truth is wrong.
It’s a tale of empowerment with emotion that runs deep, rendered with grace, empathy, and a brave little girl that will haunt readers long after they leave her on the final page.
Thank you for reading Eric Mayrhofer’s book review of Fires Burning Underground by Nancy McCabe! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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]]>The post Book Review: Punch Line appeared first on Independent Book Review.
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Punch Line
by Richard A. Danzig
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Legal
ISBN: 9798333138965
Print Length: 306 pages
Reviewed by Peggy Kurkowski
Chance Cormac’s return to trial law is no laughing matter when a comedian is brutally stabbed for telling the wrong jokes.
Punch Line is the second entry in Richard A. Danzig’s series following pugnacious pugilist and litigator Chance Cormac. After a six-month suspension, Chancereturns to his practice to deal with two heavyweight cases that have the potential for devastating personal and professional fallout.
Chance, fresh from an involuntary hiatus that led to his book about his experiences— titled Facts Are Stubborn Things—returns to work happy to find his colleague and IT expert Damian Pressler earning straight As at Fordham Law in the evenings.
Still feeling the absence of his longtime paralegal (and love of his life), Sally McConnel, Chance asks Damian to scout for a part-time law clerk, and soon the office is humming along with the addition of Susan Chu, a fellow Fordham student and former Manhattan District Attorney trial prep assistant. She is also a third-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu—a perfect fit among a boxer and an ex-Navy Seal. “Chance felt he was finally back where he was supposed to be, working with a team he could trust.”
Meanwhile, an organization called the TRANS ACTION GROUP (TAG), has a problem of their own: a member on their steering committee wants the group to confront their vilifiers in a more direct way. Known only as Red—the committee has foregone gender identifying names for colors—he is in actuality New York City police officer Roland Wolff and he must hide his true identity at work.
When he learns that Verne Slater, a local stand-up comedian, is telling jokes about trans people, he decides to act and brings Green, a reluctant fellow committee member, along to The Joke Factory. Red cannot abide “another insensitive comic ridiculing the trans community for cheap laughs. A comic using Red, and people like him, as a punchline for his sick jokes.”
Leaving the club in the wee hours, Verne is viciously stabbed in the back in the dark parking lot, but he survives. Unfortunately, he is left paralyzed below the waist and faces a long and expensive road to recovery before him. Along with his wife Rose, they reach out to Chance for help to legally claim indemnity against the club and its owners.
But while Chance and team begin their investigation for a lawsuit, word gets back to Red, leaving him with one mission: to tie up loose ends before he is found out. Even TAG is afraid of him, as the president of the committee realizes “there is a very fine line between being a man who is mad and a madman.”
Danzig weaves a complex, tightly paced plot that is contemporarily relevant and edgy, more serial killer thriller than legal adventure. Readers will find it hard to stop reading as Red’s circle of targets shrinks closer around Chase and his team. Eschewing talk for action in Punch Line, Danzig hits all the marks in the latter—with devastating and shocking results. But Danzig knows when to use a scalpel instead of a hammer when it comes to writing about LGBTQIA+ and trans issues—his characters display thoughtfulness, empathy, and a willingness to learn.
Along with a corrupt and murderous cop on the loose, Danzig has bandwidth for a subplot that brings Sally back to Chance’s brownstone office. Unsettled by a petition from her anonymous sperm donor for visitation rights, she seeks Chance’s legal help. The news leaves him “fighting mad,” and he will do anything to protect Sally and Melody from “a clumsy attempt by some stranger” to disrupt their lives. After all, Melody, now a feisty nine-year-old, is Chance’s goddaughter whom he still hopes to make his own. Danzig lets his protagonist twist a bit longer, hoping Sally will accept his proposal and make the family he longs for. One hopes a final romantic reckoning is in the stars.
Danzig escapes the dreaded sophomore slump in this second book of the series. Indeed, his craft hits another level. The pearl-clutching climax takes no prisoners, and Chance will feel the full force of how “sometimes the law provides a remedy but it doesn’t mean there is justice.”
Punch Line crackles with intensity, challenging readers to get inside the mind of a killer and go toe-to-toe with evil. Who will be left standing in the last round?
Thank you for reading Peggy Kurkowski’s book review of Punch Line by Richard A. Danzig! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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]]>The post 13 Witchy Books Perfect for Fall Reading appeared first on Independent Book Review.
]]>by Carley Carver
Ring in the spooky season with these magical fall reads.
Autumn is here! Halloween is nipping at its heels. It’s time for witches, ghosts, and all manner of spooky creatures to arrive in our homes, on our screens, and in our books.
Some believe the supernatural veil is thinner this time of year. They go looking for inspiration. I’ve got it. If you just want a happy haunt to get into the spirit of the season, I’ve got that too. No matter your motivations, here are some spooky, witchy books I’d be glad to recommend.
And best of all, they’re all indie books!
Here are 13 witchy books to bask in Fall vibes.
1. Yew Hallow
Author: Alexandria Clarke
Subgenre: Paranormal / Romance
Print Length: 300 pages
ISBN: 9798339593270
Yew Hollow is a cozy mystery with a magical twist. Paranormal detective Morgan Summers hates working with ghosts, but she is tasked to work with one. When she gets entangled in the secrets behind the ghost’s untimely death, she herself is considered a suspect. And she’s going to have to work against town gossip to solve it. This book is quippy with just the right amount of mystery and romance woven in.
2. Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble
Author: HP Mallory
Subgenre: Witches & Vampires / Romance
Print Length: 245 pages
ISBN: 9798509712531
The first book of H.P. Mallory’s 39 part collection of magical romances, Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble, feels like you’re hearing a story from your witchy best friend. Jolie, a witch living in Los Angeles, is hired by a handsome warlock to help a ghost. As they work together, they create more chaos when they accidentally raise the ghost from the dead.
This book has all the feels of a cozy romance with a generous amount of laughs along the way.
What do you want for Christmas? Get these gifts for book lovers!
3. Fat Witch Summer
Author: Lizzy Ives
Subgenre: Witches / Friendship
Print Length: 318 pages
ISBN: 9780996232456
Publisher: Sounds True
Osmarra is a plus-sized witch about to come of age and receive her magical gifts, chosen by her mother. The only problem is that her mother is a slim glamor witch convinced that gifting Osmarra with the glamor gift will solve all their familial issues. Osmarra sets out on a summer road trip with other young witches on a mission to set their own destinies.
This is a light-hearted, comical book with body-positive messages and unexpected lessons.
4. The Forgotten Witch
Author: Jessica Dodge
Subgenre: Romance
Print Length: 434 pages
ISBN: 9781737696650
Helen is burned out and tired of living in the city, so she makes a knee-jerk purchase and finds herself the new owner of a 500-year-old cottage in Scotland. In the cottage, she is introduced to a world of magic that she never knew was there. With the help of her handsome neighbor, she works to solve the mystery of this curious new home.
This book will keep you riveted! It’s got the right balance of genuine mystery and romance, and it’ll check all of your autumnal boxes.
5. Dead Witch On a Bridge
Author: Gretchen Galway
Subgenre: Urban Fantasy
Print Length: 3388 pages
ISBN: 9781939872418
Another supernatural murder mystery to add to your reading list! Alma is a demon-hunting witch who finds herself at the center of a murder investigation thanks to some meddling fairies. In order to save herself, Alma must solve the murder and challenge a slew of unsavory (and dangerous) magical characters.
6. The Last Witch of Scotland
Author: Philip Paris
Subgenre: Historical / World Lit
Print Length: 352 pages
ISBN: 9781785305245
Publisher: Black and White Publishing
This one is excellent for those always seeking more about real life witch hunts, as it follows the true story of the last person executed in the witch trials of Britain. Alia and her mother are left in pieces after a fire takes the life of her father. In an attempt to start over, they move to the small community of Loth. When a mysterious troupe of entertainers arrive, Alia is quickly drawn to them, churning up gossip from the people of Loth.
Bedtime reading is the best time reading. Get yourself one of the best e-readers for the job.
7. The Sapling Cage
Author: Margaret Killjoy
Subgenre: Adventure / LGBTQ
Print Length: 321 pages
ISBN: 9781558613317
Publisher: Feminist Press
When a disease begins to kill trees in the forest, Lorel is keen to join up with the witches to find out why and how to stop it. But witches are all women, and Lorel was born a boy. Sapling Cage follows Lorel on her journey of identity, witchcraft, and covens in a novel Audrey Davis called, “a delight for anyone with a love of magical stories and high fantasy” [Review].
8. Burned: A Daughters of Salem Novel
Author: Kellie O’Neill
Subgenre: Historical / Salem
Print Length: 520 pages
ISBN: 9798989244348
A newly anointed witch, Eleanor, is balancing her normal life with witch lessons in the famed witchy town of Salem. When some of her fellow coven witches go missing, Eleanor teams up with her familiar to solve the mystery and in turn unearths a story that dates back to Salem’s infamous 17th century witch trials. Fans of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will love this story.
9. The Good Witch of the South
Author: T.C. Bartlett
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy
Print Length: 354 pages
ISBN: 9781733908627
Publisher: Sandhill Publishers
Set in L. Frank Baum’s magical land of Oz, this story focuses on Samantha, daughter of Glinda the Good Witch. Samantha sets out on her own adventure to save the Land of Oz from a dark force rumored to be building an army to overthrow Oz. This book is great for any middle grade reader who is left wanting more from the world of Oz after Dorothy saves the day.
10. I Escaped the Salem Witch Trials
Authors: Juliet Fry & Scott Peters
Subgenre: Historical / Adventure / Ages 8-12
Print Length: 118 pages
ISBN: 9781951019174
Another installment from the popular, “I Escaped” series, this 3rd grade level chapter book tells the story of Hannah, a young orphan who finds herself at the center of the suspicion and frenzy of her village’s witch hunt. Hannah, who is most certainly not a witch, must use her might and brains to escape her own witch trial.
Surprise your kids with some of the best gifts for kids who love to read.
11. The Pomegranate Witch
Author: Denise Doyen
Subgenre: Spooky
Print Length: 40 pages / 4-8 year olds
ISBN: 9781452145891
Publisher: Chronicle Books
When a spooky tree begins to bloom juicy pomegranates on the property of the neighborhood witch, a group of children are tempted to harvest a few for themselves. By doing so, they invoke the great pomegranate war against their witchy neighbor. This story is silly and fun and perfect for readers looking for tricks and treats this Halloween season.
12. Witchy Paths
Author: Cecily Ravenwood
Genre: Mysticism / Magic
Print Length: 52 pages
ISBN: 9798840474105
Half educational, half bedtime story magic, Witchy Paths introduces different types of witches to children in a fun and enlightening way. This quick read-aloud transports young readers into the world of magic and gently exposes them to all the ways of practicing their own magic. In addition to the storytelling, the watercolor art work is whimsical and breathtaking.
13. The Witch’s Cat
Authors: Kirstie Watson & Magdalena Sawko
Genre: Picture Book / Ages 2-6
Print Length: 38 pages
ISBN: 9781914937064
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Sure-fire witchy fun for the littlest readers you know. This is a lighthearted rhyming story about a house cat who lives as a witch’s familiar and loves to stir up magic and mischief. A read-aloud story with quirky illustrations and fun imagery, you can bet any reader will be excited for Halloween after this one.
What are your favorite witchy books of all time? Let us know in the comments!
Author Bio
Carley Carver is an editorial lifestyle writer and aspiring novelist. She is based in North Carolina where she resides with her husband and their puppy, Daisy, and is a proud graduate of University of South Carolina. Carley is a lifelong bookworm who enjoys reading everything from the classics to modern romances. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling, getting outside and trying new recipes at home.
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Loden’s Children
by Paul Chandler
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Action
ISBN: 9798358949737
Print Length: 264 pages
Reviewed by Warren Maxwell
A private detective with elite military training teams up with cutting edge AI technology to solve a decades-old kidnapping.
Riley Callen is no ordinary detective. Young, athletic, and trained in top secret combat techniques by her Marine Colonel father, she is far more formidable than others might expect. After rescuing the daughter of a powerful business magnate, Callen finds herself flooded with publicity and appreciation, the new expert in missing persons.
Behind her stunning success is a powerful new artificial intelligence system nicknamed Molly. Relying on this technology and her battle-hardened intuition, Callen embarks on her most difficult case yet: a decades old multi-kidnapping cold case that implicates priests, marines, and a violent paramilitary task force.
When the three Loden children were lost in a burning house on December 23, 1994, their parents assumed they had died. Further investigation provided a tragic twist—they were not in the house when it burned down, they were missing, but the police failed to find any evidence of where they went and the case was forgotten. In a desperate last measure, Vera Loden puts all her hope in Callen’s hands.
“All she could see in the narrow beam of her flashlight was rot and ruin. Where in this whole abandoned mess could you stage a hostage?”
Propelled by vivid scenes of action and Callen’s clinical analysis of her investigation and the various suspects she encounters, this books provides a classic boost of adrenaline along with insightful descriptions of criminality and grief. Callen is not a broken, complex hero in the vein of other famous PIs. She is a model of discipline, efficiency, and careful planning. Indeed, the book’s modern twist, providing a computer system for a partner, complements Callen’s unforgivingly direct approach to solving crime quite well. Something is lost in the absence of inner turmoil and struggle in this novel’s protagonist, but the strength and discerning mind of this female detective makes for an engaging character, reminiscent of a more reliable, less peculiar Sherlock Holmes.
“A lie. Riley had no doubt. Whitmer had maintained eye contact during their entire conversation, but he looked away when he told her he hadn’t spoken to Asher since shortly after the priest had left St. Mathews.”
In keeping with its character portraits, the novel is written in clear, direct language. This style is ideally suited to the extended action scenes that range from full marine force battles to surveillance missions and hand to hand fights. On the other hand, this choppiness detracts from casual dialogue and character development. Conversations and literary observations can lack a sense of authenticity and slip into occasional cliches. Still, mystery and high-energy animate this story and drive it forward. The novel is aided greatly by its heart-thumping pace and the entertaining relationship between Callen and her technological sidekick Molly.
In the end, Loden’s Children is a satisfying thriller following a strong female detective unraveling the twisted truth behind an unsolved Christmas Eve kidnapping.
Thank you for reading Warren Maxwell’s book review of Loden’s Children by Paul Chandler! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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Magically Better Me!
by Barry Shin
Genre: Middle Grade / Short Stories
ISBN: 9781662938580
Print Length: 74 pages
Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell
An unexpected insect makes a big impact in this feel-good story collection
There are lessons to be learned with every obstacle. Or, at least that’s how one ladybug sees it.
Magically Better Me is a collection of two short stories that center around an impressive insect who can not only speak, but acts as the positive voice that two characters need during a time of upheaval and change. In this work of “common sense stories,” Barry Shin takes readers on a passage through gorgeous natural environments, tough times, and the possibilities that come with changing your mindset.
The two stories in Magically Batter Me center around a main character working through a time of change.Both are experiencing a kind of change that they haven’t had to tackle before, and it shifts their reality to a place where they cannot fully be themselves.
In the first story, “Tiny Beliefs,” a character named Flynn is trying to navigate an unexpected move. After realizing that his family is planning to relocate without him, we learn that Flynn is a dog whose life is about to change forever. While roaming the woods alone, he runs into Lady Mady Bug, who quickly turns into a guru of sorts for Flynn. This little critter speaks words of affirmation to his new dog friend, teaching him to return his thinking to a place of positivity and assuring him that with the right mindset and a bit of patience, he can find happiness in unexpected places.
The second story, whose title is also the title of the collection, a young boy named Paka moves from the city to the countryside. He’s thrown into a new environment and is unsure how to make the friends and how to adjust in this new place. He too is lucky enough to run into Lady Mady Bug, who has the answers to how he can open himself up to friendship at school. Together these two stories create a useful tool for children who are also going through times of change.
It is difficult to decide which age range this book is best suited for. Shin’s writing style is descriptive and in a way that older children and adults would have the patience and appreciation for. It’s enjoyable for me, as Shin does an excellent job with natural scenery.
But the concepts are a bit simplistic sometimes, especially in the second story “Magically Better Me.” Lady Mady Bug is the kind of rhyming character name you’d expect in a book for much smaller children, and the advice she gives to Paka might be a little too easy. The idea of making friends by asking for “friendship permission” ends up being about asking for help with a task. Paka seems to be at least 10, which is likely something a kid that age would know: if they want friends (or help), they’ll have to ask for it. The first story is strong, and it hits its goal head-on, while the second comes up a bit short for me. But in the end, I do admire the message behind both stories. Shifting your perspective from “I can’t” to “I can” through a boost in confidence and a positive mindset is a lesson that anyone can benefit from.
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American Roulette
by Matthew Best, Robert Bradshaw, et. al
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Political
ISBN: 9798888191422
Print Length: 256 pages
Publisher: Milford House Press
Reviewed by Warren Maxwell
A heartrending story about a small community as it hurtles toward a mass shooting
Steven Bradley is the CEO of a crisis management firm. When an old colleague tells him of a mass shooting in a small town mall, he is thrust into the aftermath and must navigate a maze of public grief and political strategy along with the property owner.
The book steps backward in time to trace seven characters through the ordinary and extraordinary events which lead them to the fateful mall foodcourt. Welding individual psychology and the politics of gun violence with a moving story, this searing novel confronts the reality of the United States’ most tragic epidemic.
Emma, a security guard at the Lincoln Mall, is trying to make ends meet so she can rent an apartment and move in with her children. Chris is a local pastor smothered in medical debt after a near-fatal case of COVID-19, and Caitlin is a teenager integrating back into normal life after staying in a psychological hospital for self-harming. Despite bullying at school and at home, Will is trying to hold everything together long enough to graduate high school, and Leah is navigating a relationship with her ex-husband and the plans for their daughter’s birthday. Earl and his wife are getting ready for their daughter’s wedding, and Roger, unemployed living in his mother’s house, is falling deeper into an angry, alienated haze. All of their days seem normal, until things change.
Moving chronologically from the early morning to a violent showdown and its aftermath, alternating chapters inhabit the perspective of each character—revealing the experiential gap separating them as well as their common bonds and struggles that go unspoken. A pervasive sense of loneliness and displacement afflict everyone in this community, but individual and family decisions could not be more different. Caitlin’s family embraces her when they discover she is hurting herself while Will doesn’t receive support at school no matter how much he reports his bully.
Each of the novel’s authors writes a single character, creating continuity, nuance, and an impressive diversity of voices. Combining the eclecticism of a wide-ranging short story collection with an epic sense of inevitability and dread as the day wears on, these eight authors achieve a subtle poetic harmony. Tropes and cliches are engaged (there is a scorned, anti-feminist, overweight incel; a conservative, gun-loving, factory worker; an overbearingly masculine CEO, etc.), but every character is given a protagonist’s space, empathy, and depth. Generalizing labels are undermined, and the true horror of public violence and lost innocence is placed center stage.
Politics are inseparable from this narrative, but its emphasis remains on the travesty that is lost life and the need for constructive help rather than simply placing blame on one group. Readers will find a complex, thought-provoking story about humanity and about modern society’s intractable failures rather than a polemic with prescribed solutions. This book embraces everyone, and as such, makes a case for people coming together against gun violence, loneliness, mental illness, and injustices of every kind.
Thank you for reading Warren Maxwell’s book review of American Roulette by Matthew Best, Robert Bradshaw, et. al! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.
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Third Wheel
by Richard R. Becker
Genre: Literary Fiction / Coming of Age
ISBN: 9798985381153
Print Length: 326 pages
Reviewed by Warren Maxwell
Raw and compulsive, a story of young manhood in 1980s Las Vegas
14-year-old Brady has lived through the suicide of his father, the death of his grandmother who raised him, and the torments of his sadistic mother. After moving from the gritty inner-city of Cleveland to a desert’s edge suburb of Las Vegas, he finds camaraderie and brotherhood with a scruffy group of older boys who love Dungeons & Dragons.
In the summer before his sophomore year, everything takes a turn for the worse when an ominous figure named Alex leads Brady’s tight knit group into a world of hard drugs, gun games, and cartels. Caught between preserving the sliver of belonging that he’s cultivated with his best friend Mick or doing what he thinks is right—either of which could get him killed—Brady navigates drug deals gone wrong, police at his house, his mother’s tyrannical rule, and the sudden attention of Cheryl, a beautiful girl six years older than him.
“She was like a ray of sunshine bleeding into this dingy establishment, a bright glow that cut through the darkness just like the one that encompassed us every time someone opened the front doors. It was a reminder, just like she was, that beauty can be found anywhere if you look hard enough. Except I must have been lucky because I wasn’t looking.”
The promise of youthful nostalgia pulled me into this narrative right away, but just as quickly, Becker expands his story into something much bigger. Brady’s coming of age is seamlessly blended into a plot that veers from poignant first romance to hardboiled crime. Femme fatales, mobsters and ingenues populate the novel’s world. When it descends into a bleakness bordering on nihilism, Brady’s forthright, sensitive voice keeps the plot bobbing above the grim undercurrents. This is dark material indeed—pervaded with drugs and violence, fickle romances, friends stabbed in the back by one another, and a total absence of easy answers or responsible adults—but somehow Becker has woven a story that navigates the themes of humane cruelty in order to arrive at a sense of hopefulness and love.
“As one song drifted into the next, I kept trying to puzzle out the problem with people. Maybe it’s how everybody is portrayed in books and movies — defined others in one- dimensional terms. Good guys. Bad guys. Nice girls. Naughty boys. None of it’s true.”
Brady is the kind of narrator that doesn’t let you go. He can pull life lessons from Dungeons & Dragons, wax poetic about the desert landscape, or describe a fight in stomach-turning detail. Written from his perspective, an authentic, youthful voice emerges out of the prose, giving rise to nuggets of wisdom as well as refreshing naivety. Brady’s clumsy attempts to reciprocate Cheryl’s flirtation are a case in point—lifelike and startlingly fresh. He inhabits an awkward space between a naive child and a world weary adult. Direct, no nonsense writing sustains this tenuous balance and builds to a magnetic conclusion.
“Neither one of us said anything. We were locked in the moment. Two people on the fringe of nowhere, watching a city come to life while most other cities were drifting off to sleep. I could see what she meant now, daydreaming that all these little lights were flickering stars, and we were somehow standing above them all.”
The landscape and cast of characters are also beautifully rendered. A sense of place and time marks this story without ever relying on cliches or drawn out descriptions. The 80s exist as a mood that informs the story. Likewise, the suburban environment and lonesome desert locals are part of a gritty reality that doubles as a symbol for the crises taking place in Brady’s life. Subtle literary references link Brady to Dune’s Paul Atreides and Great Expectations’ Pip. In every case, the desert stands in for foreignness and isolation.
A remarkable debut, the harsh realism of Third Wheel packs a punch. Its deep insight into the human condition resonate long after impact.
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The Tenement Nurse
by Kate Gemma
Genre: Historical Fiction
ISBN: 9798393246679
Print Length: 280 pages
Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell
An enthralling historical novel set in NYC during the roaring 20s
Millie is not going to get married. She is going to devote herself to her chaotic job as a nurse in a tenement building made up mostly of immigrants. She is going to help them meet basic needs and improve their health as a sort of public servant, and she is going to keep her haunting memories behind her.
But things take a turn when one of her pregnant patients dies at the hands of her alcoholic husband. And Millie is capable of more. While navigating a complex rekindled relationship and coping with the reality of her brother’s death, Millie creates her own idea of justice. It’s up to her to decide what a woman should and should not do.
We learn pretty early on that Millie has been around death before. Having experienced some of the horrors of war in France a few years earlier and knowing what taking this man’s life would mean for other people, she can make peace with the idea of doing it. But she has no idea how closely crime and violence would follow her after that.
Newfound relationships with a few “bad men” take her on a journey through a darker side of New York. Lucky for us, she ends up being up to the task. Through flashbacks of her time in the war, we learn how she keeps her wits about her in trying times.
In case you couldn’t tell: I think this book is fantastic. I was constantly engaged, constantly questioning what was going to happen next. Millie finds herself in increasingly dangerous situations, and her circumstances are always changing. I was pulled along by the freshness of each succeeding chapter. She always has the option to disappear into the life of a housewife, and each avenue we take along the way ends up being as entertaining as the last. There’s not one paragraph I wanted to skip.
Gemma thrives in depicting womanhood. Millie is a standout protagonist, you already know this, but so are the secondary female characters. I would have gladly pivoted into their background whenever Gemma wanted to take me there. I’d read anything she wrote.
Millie’s best friend Betty is an independent woman who just happens to be dating a married man. Her mother is a grieving but hopeful woman who is coping with the death of her son in the war. A friend we meet later in the book, Etta, is a single woman who exudes confidence in every shape of the word. Each is in some way trying to hook an uncatchable man, while holding on to the pieces of themselves that make them unique. I cared about all of them.
Honestly, I could go on and on about The Tenement Nurse. This is undeniably one of the best books I’ve read this year. The time period, the setting, the characters, the storylines: they’re all sure to enrapture you.
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