-
For fans of McCarthy’s Bar, a debut memoir about a woman’s humorous and poignant solo adventures of self-discovery on Ireland’s backroads following a painful divorce. When an introverted, divorced, middle-aged mother and school librarian from the Midwest decides to leave her comfort zone and travel alone to Ireland, her desire to fulfill her dream overcomes her fear as she immerses herself into what will become an adventure of courage and self-discovery. Motivated by her love of Irish music and Celtic spirituality, along with her desire to find healing from depression and divorce, Diane sets off for Ireland, a country she’s been obsessed with for years. Her romantic preconceptions of the Emerald Isle quickly clash with reality, however, and while there she faces many obstacles, including driving the narrow, ill-marked roads throughout the countryside she traverses. Nevertheless, this first sojourn leads to three more trips over the next six years, and she gradually learns to navigate Ireland’s back roads—not to mention her own personal and spiritual roads toward self-discovery and acceptance. This heartfelt and humorous account of Diane’s adventures—including hanging out with an Irish rock band, traveling remote roads in search of a hermit nun, and meeting her favorite Irish musician not once but twice—is sure to inspire readers to get outside their own comfort zones and take some rewarding risks of their own. Author: Diane Hartman Publishing Date: September 30, 2025
-
Fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild will root for Anne Abel as she intrepidly sets out alone for Australia at the age of sixty, seeking to capture some Bruce Springsteen energy and fight off her lifelong, debilitating depression. At the age of fifty-nine, Anne has never been to a concert. Then, she reluctantly goes to a Bruce Springsteen concert—a man she knows nothing about—to spend time with her son and daughter-in-law. For three-plus hours Bruce Springsteen’s energy, humanity, and enthusiasm lift her out of her lifelong depression and makes her feel alive. A year later, due to increasing classroom violence where she taught, Anne walks out the door thinking, I’m never coming back. But, getting into her car to go home, she realizes that because she suffers with severe recurrent depression, without the structure and focus of teaching she will be at risk for falling into a deep depression. She’s been inpatient twice at a psychiatric hospital, had three regimens of electroconvulsive shock therapy, and tried over twenty medications. Anne needs a new and different plan. Then she remembers: in four months Bruce Springsteen will be touring in Australia. So even though Anne hates to travel and be alone, she books the trip. Eight concerts, five cities, twenty-six days. She hopes that harnessing some of Bruce Springsteen’s energy will keep her out of the abyss. Anne doesn’t go on this trip to change. But much to her surprise, she returns home a different person. Author: Anne Abel Publication Date: September 23, 2025
-
For anyone interested in the intersection of feminism and politics comes this inspiring, base-on-a-true-story tale of fighting back against sexism in the labor movement, set against the backdrop of Harvard in the 1990s. As soon as courses at Harvard begin, Ana, a White female, finds herself being stalked by Aaron, a Black male classmate. Word quickly gets out to the rest of the cohort—but not wanting to get anyone kicked out, Ana refuses to name names. With their program director insisting there’s nothing she can do to intervene if no one will name the perpetrator, the class becomes engulfed in a campaign to protect Ana that splits the group into two camps. Some of the men join the women to fight the harassment; some of the women join the harassers. In short order, the conflict becomes a fight for power that divides along race, sex, LGBTQ, and class lines—mirroring the heartbreaking history of the labor movement, and serving as a precursor to our current political landscape. A galvanizing behind-the-scenes look at the labor movement of the 1990s, Scabmuggers is ultimately a triumphant tale of women’s empowerment. Ana and her friends may be outnumbered—but they won’t go down without a fight. Author: Yvonne Martinez Publication Date: September 16, 2025
-
For fans of Ann Patchett and Louise Erdrich, a contemporary women’s fiction novel set in northern Wisconsin about one grief-stricken family’s journey toward redemption and forgiveness in a rural town divided by the past. After years away, Margaret Payne returns to her rural northern Wisconsin hometown on a work assignment, only to find it still haunted by the tragic accidental shooting of her younger brother, Bean. Amidst the lingering pain, Margaret uncovers plans for a development on Dell Landing, a hill home to generations of Indigenous people—including Mr. Kipp, the reclusive man responsible for Bean’s death. With her mother trapped in denial, her father consumed by anger, and a town bitterly divided, Margaret must confront both the past and the present, rising tensions. Facing Mr. Kipp will test everything she believes, but before it’s over, Margaret will discover the freeing power of unconditional forgiveness—even for her brother’s killer. A poignant, redemptive tale, Mercy Town reminds us how forgiveness, even in the deepest sorrow, heals wounds, binds us as human beings, and remains truly unconditional. Author: Nancy Chadwick Release Date: September 16, 2025
-
For fans of Ruta Sepetys’s Salt to the Sea, this coming-of-age tale of one fourteen-year-old girl’s escape from early-seventeenth-century Portugal’s Inquisition, achieved with the help of a clandestine band of allies, will thrill and inspire. In early-seventeenth-century Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany, dangers are plentiful—especially for those of Jewish heritage. Non-Catholics have been expelled from Spain, and the Inquisition has now come to Portugal to impose its prohibitions. Fourteen-year-old Isabela, an obedient “New Christian” with a talent for needlework, believes she has nothing to fear from the Inquisition. But when a mysterious woman arrives with a message from Isabela’s traveling father, the girl must leave her home and embroider her way along the clandestine network of sanctuaries created to conduct Conversos, or secret Jews, to safety. A host of supporters and spirit guides, as well as one special young man, assist Isabela as she escapes the Inquisitors and makes her way across countries and cultures. Along the way, she learns of the danger and importance of her work and is shocked to discover her family’s true origins. In this enthralling coming-of-age tale of resistance, love, and danger, Isabela employs her talent and fierce determination to find her way despite the powerful forces that buffet her every step of the way. Author: Barbara Stark-Nemon Release Date: September 16, 2025
-
For readers who found comfort in Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, a 9/11 widow’s memoir of rediscovering joy and finding love again after the violent loss of her husband. One sunny Tuesday morning, Maryellen Donovan’s beloved husband, Steve Cherry, lost his life in the 9/11 attacks—rocking her to her core, and changing her family forever. Maryellen’s life and love with Steve was all she could have hoped for; in the wake of his death, she was inconsolable. But ultimately, she had no choice but to be strong for her two young sons—and even when deep in the grip of hopeless despair, she found solace in her deep faith and belief that, with the support of friends and family, she would eventually find love and happiness once again. Her route to her happy ending proved long and winding and full of obstacles—cancer, family conflict, even more loss—but she always found a way forward, no matter the setbacks she encountered. An inspirational story that will provide hope to anyone who’s experienced unfathomable loss and loneliness, The Road to Yesterday is a testament to the idea that there is always a path to love and joy—if only you’re determined enough to keep yourself open to it. Author: Maryellen Donovan Publication Date: September 9, 2025
-
A debut memoir for fans of Love Warrior—a candid account of the emotional and psychological pain of infidelity and divorce; and the journey of a lifetime that one woman took to heal. Few things can shatter our hearts like expectations. Sarah expected to live happily ever after. She expected her husband to honor his vows. She expected his military helicopter to land safely. But when the unimaginable occurred and her world unraveled so magnificently, the undoing of her expectations left her on her knees, fighting for her life. When everything we “expect” crumbles like ash after a fire, how do we reconcile what was lost? One courageous step at a time. Sarah packed her car, then set out to hike and camp across the country. But pain, codependence, and trauma challenged her as she moved forward. From a sailboat to a yoga studio, a therapist’s couch to a shaman’s ceremony, from selling everything and moving into a van—on the ashes of her former expectations, Sarah rebuilt, from the inside out. She Journeys is a testament to the transformative power of healing. From darkness to light, from a marriage ended to a life reclaimed, we are reminded that it never matters how we begin. Only that we do. From wounds to wisdom, She is every woman who must find her way from heartbreak to homecoming. Author: Sarah May Publication Date: September 9, 2025
-
For fans of Kristin Hannah and Jennifer Chiaverini, a novel about a Polish immigrant woman who fights against worker oppression in Depression-era Detroit despite opposition by many—even her own husband. In this gritty, cinematic story, hardworking Florence and her best friend, Basia, are enraged by the poor treatment, low wages, and unsafe working conditions they endure in the factory where they hand-roll cigars. Florence is as reserved and compliant as Basia is fiery and forthright. During a time when their choices were between bad and worse, this is an underdog story of a woman who must search for her voice in order to lead a labor movement against her husband’s violent efforts to silence her. Set in turbulent 1937 Detroit, this novel portrays the Eastern European immigrant struggle when difficult economic times, xenophobia, “Fordism,” secret societies, and Communist-led labor organizations buffeted the demographic. Will Florence and her husband resolve their conflicts both inside and outside the home? At what cost? Author: Janis M. Falk Release Date: September 9, 2025
-
For readers inspired by Margaret Busby’s New Daughters of Africa, Juliet Cutler presents a stunning testament to a group of Maasai women who are claiming their voices and shaping a future of lasting change. In this inspiring collection of interviews and portraits, over twenty Maasai women share the ways education has transformed their lives by giving them the tools to overcome poverty and empowering them to make profound differences in their communities. Through their stories, the women featured in Lessons in Hope lay bare the overwhelming challenges many Maasai women and girls continue to face. For some, hunger hovers nearby, only one bad drought away. Many must raise children without running water or electricity. Most struggle to gain a basic education, see a doctor, or earn an income. And too many Maasai girls still endure female genital mutilation, early forced marriages, and other forms of violence. Yet these remarkable women have overcome the odds. As graduates of the first school for Maasai girls in East Africa, these thriving leaders now hold positions in education, health care, nonprofits, government, and business. Their stories reveal a cadre of Maasai women working toward positive change within their own culture and offering a compelling, optimistic vision for the future. Proceeds from the sale of this book support education for Maasai girls. Author: Juliet Cutler Publication Date: September 9, 2025
-
For readers in search of emotional and spiritual healing, a courageous, gripping memoir of one woman’s journey of gradually healing her traumatized memory through poetry, swimming, and the intuited guidance of a spiritual presence named Voice. Words Make a Way through Fire is an intimate, courageous memoir of a woman shattered by witnessing her eldest brother’s horrific suicide when she was a teenager. The book traces her creative journey of recovery and healing with poetry as a constant companion. The primary means of Cyra Dumitru’s healing process, from age sixteen through adulthood, is writing poetry and journaling. During this decades-long journey, Cyra experiences a transcendent, loving presence called Voice who guides her and helps her imagine wholeness. She finds community with others through the sharing of poems. She studies poetry as craft and as medicine—becoming a published poet with multiple books, an award-winning college instructor of poetry writing, and a certified practitioner of poetic medicine who creates spaces where others can heal through poetry. In Words Make a Way through Fire, Cyra explores the specific medicinal properties of poetry—giving order to interior anxiety, trusting the wisdom within—and invites her brother David to speak through her as he reflects upon his final hours. In doing so, poem by poem, she shifts gradually from being traumatized and feeling haunted to feeling empowered and spiritually expansive. Author: Cyra Sweet Dumitru Publication Date: September 2, 2025
-
For fans of Geraldine Brooks’s Year of Wonders, a story set in 1400s Provence about a young, passionate doctor who falls in love with a mentally ill young woman—and soon finds himself immersed in a web of danger, deceit, and mystery. Roland, a young man from Barcelona who inherited a passion for healing others from his deceased mother, has rebelled against his family’s wishes and chosen to attend medical school in France. The university in Montpellier is the most prestigious medical school in all of Europe, and yet Roland is quickly disillusioned by his professors’ false teachings. Seeking more accurate knowledge of the body, he leaves Montpellier and apprentices himself to a surgeon in nearby Arles for the summer. Roland soon finds himself with two mentors in Arles—Hubert, a master surgeon, and Isaac, a Jewish doctor who advocates searching for remedies in ancient texts and testing them on patients—both of whose lessons he absorbs readily. But when he falls in love with Magali, a young woman suffering from a mental illness, he extends his quest for the truth about the body to include the truth about the mind. Readers who loved Rachel Kadish’s The Weight of Ink will be drawn to Roland’s story as he follows the woman he loves into her “labyrinth of the spirit”—one filled with wonder, mystery, betrayal, and love—and find themselves enthralled by this finely wrought depiction of the beauty and danger of life in early Renaissance Provence. Author: Anne Echols Publication Date: September 2, 2025
-
If you believe in the power of dreams and intentions, this inspirational coming-of-age memoir set in 1950s Australia where an immigrant girl swimmer turns challenges and disappointments into opportunities for success is for you. Henny was just a little girl when she experienced brutal violence and hunger in WWII Amsterdam, but she is now a teenage immigrant swimmer in 1950s Australia where she must learn to turn challenges into success. She is smart, she swims fast, and she has definite opinions about the kind of woman she intends to be. She hears the timeless Land speak and sees the Southern Cross as a beacon when she walks in the bush with her father. She enjoys swimming star fame and championship victories and turns to the pool in her search to belong, to face fears and dashed hopes, until at every turn she sees more clearly her unique path ahead. “Intentions are like prayers, if you pay attention they come back as destiny,” her mother has taught her. Is it intention or destiny that propels this young New Australian into her future long life? Author: Hendrika de Vries Publication Date: September 2, 2025
-
For fans of Tessa Bailey and Hannah Grace, Cinematic Destinies is a feel-good, contemporary romance about a trio of adult children searching for love and beauty in the shadow of their parents’ legendary Hollywood fairy-tale romance. Legendary actor Finn Forrester and his wife philosopher Ella Sinclair Forrester met on the location shoot for Jean Mercier’s film Celebration. The world has been captivated by their fairy-tale romance since Finn famously proposed on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. As the couple now prepares to celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary, they wonder if their children will ever find love. Eldest daughter Betty is excelling in a medical residency program in New York City—and has convinced herself that distancing herself from emotions is the path to success. Youngest son Albert, a recent college graduate, is trying to find his footing in Boston as he struggles with his identity. Free-spirited Georgia, her mother’s spitting image and an actress following in her father’s footsteps, has been cast in Jean Mercier’s final film, mysteriously titled Beauty. When she arrives on set in Iceland and meets her costar, sparks fly. Is history repeating itself? How has growing up in the shadow of the world’s most iconic love story affected each of the Forrester children? In this highly anticipated conclusion to The Location Shoot and After the Red Carpet, we see how Finn, Ella, and their children fulfill their cinematic destinies. Author: Patricia Leavy Publication Date: September 2, 2025
-
For fans of Kate Quinn’s The Rose Code and Jacqueline Winspear’s The Consequences of Fear comes a gripping novel, set in post–WWII San Francisco, about a young female newspaper publisher and a story that could change the course of her city’s future. In the jubilant aftermath of Japan’s surrender in World War II, San Francisco erupts in celebration. But for Sandy Zimmer, the thirty-two-year-old widow publisher of the Prospect newspaper, the revelry masks a darker truth. In the chaos of the VJ Day Peace Riot, eleven deaths and six rapes take place. Driven by journalistic integrity and battling her own instincts to maintain peace, Sandy directs her paper to investigate the riot. Her quest for truth pits her against formidable adversaries: her controlling civic-leader father-in-law, the newspaper’s resistant board, and authorities desperate to bury the scandal as they vie to attract the United Nations Headquarters to San Francisco. Based on little-known historical events, An Unlikely Prospect follows Sandy’s fight to find her voice in the male-dominated world of 1945 journalism. As she navigates power dynamics, gender roles, and the steep price of printing the truth, Sandy must confront her own transformation from a people-pleasing widow into a determined publisher willing to challenge the status quo.Author: Shelley Blanton-Stroud Publication Date: August 19, 2025
-
For fans of Lori Gottlieb’s Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, a contemporary memoir by a psychologist whose sexual conflict with her screenwriter husband threatens to destroy her marriage. Can a loving relationship endure career setbacks, infidelities, and mismatched sexual desires? This is the question psychologist Bonnie Comfort grapples with as she navigates her unpredictable thirty-year marriage to Hollywood screenwriter Bob, while she provides marital therapy to others. Bob is affectionate, brilliant, and hilarious—but his sexual desires are incompatible with Bonnie’s. Despite her misgivings, she indulges his kinks, which often include photographing her in lingerie. Their Hollywood life is exciting, but eventually Bob’s growing career frustrations lead to his complete sexual shutdown. Tensions rise, and Bob suggests Bonnie have discreet affairs and not tell him. She does just that—but when she confesses her infidelities five years later, his sexual demands become more extreme. When she complies, Bonnie feels shame; when she refuses, as she increasingly does, their fights threaten to tear their marriage apart. Bonnie understands the rhythm of disconnection and repair that is common in love relationships. With honesty and vulnerability, she recounts the highs and lows of her own marriage which sadly ends with Bob’s death. As she grieves, Bonnie reflects on her role in their marital struggles and offers profound insights from personal and professional experience. Her story lays bare the complexities of love, the ongoing challenges women face in intimate relationships, and how even difficult marriages can find a way to thrive. Author: Bonnie Comfort Publication Date: August 19, 2025
-
For fans of Jeannette Walls, Jodi Picoult, and Alice Sebold, a heartening memoir about a girl who survives abuse and molestation to become a powerful advocate against gun violence in America. The inspiring memoir of a woman who overcomes the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of her early life to blossom into a gun violence prevention activist. Growing up in a toxic, male-centered household where she’s repeatedly told, “Don’t be a dumb girl,” Heidi’s abused by her dad—starting with a punch in the face at five years old—and left to fend for herself by her alcoholic mom, who neglects to protect her from either her violent father or her brother who molests her. For years, Heidi’s traumatized and without a voice. Then comes Columbine. Thirteen years after Heidi graduates from Columbine High, this horrific school shooting rocks the nation—and gives her a sudden sense of purpose. Despite her childhood wounds, or perhaps even because of them, she becomes determined to stop gun violence. Gradually, she finds her voice: organizing vigils and protests, joining the Brady Campaign Board to battle the NRA, and eventually writing a book and directing a documentary about the after-effects of gun violence. In doing so, she finds her inner strength and resolve and overcomes her fear of conflict—and learns that when you frame it the right way, even being “dumb” can be a superpower. Author: Heidi Yewman Publication Date: August 19, 2025
-
A debut contemporary memoir about a young woman struggling to understand her identity as the daughter of a Jewish mother and Christian Palestinian father, coming of age in Colombia as increasing violence and the instability of the 1980s engulf her country. Sonia Daccarett grew up with a Jewish mother and a Christian Palestinian father in Colombia during the drug-war 1980s. When she asks her parents questions about their family’s ethnicity and religion they answer evasively, defining their family religion and ethnicity as “nothing.” Grandparents and family members who speak Yiddish, Hebrew, and Arabic and fled from places called the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia, Bethlehem, and the Ottoman Empire, does not sound like “nothing” to Sonia. At the same time, Sonia grapples with her American education at school. She is both enchanted and challenged by the tropical landscape of her childhood in a remote suburb of Cali, which is rapidly changing as cocaine trafficking and drug cartels begin to dominate the city’s life. As she tries to discover what her family is, Colombia begins unraveling around her through violence, kidnappings, and the death of acquaintances and friends. At the same time, her parents’ marriage and their personal identities are rocked by the faraway Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Soon, she will have to decide whether to stay in Colombia with her family or leave them behind to find the answers she seeks. Author: Sonia Daccarett Publication Date: August 12, 2025
-
For readers touched by Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air and anyone with a life-threatening illness seeking healing of body, mind, and spirit, a fellow patient shares her journey of choosing to have the best day of her life by working as though she will live and living every moment as though she might die. Waking to the stunning realization she had cancer, Jocelyn Rasmussen’s first thought was that she needed a miracle. Her second thought was that she didn’t want to die with any unspent love or grace inside her. Guided by this principle, she entered treatment with faith that she could accept any outcome—from a complete remission to death. As Rasmussen underwent chemotherapy and radiation, she plunged into the mysteries and certainties of life and death. All of creation, nature and humanity, became fodder for her reflections about healing, time, hope, dreaming, and loving. The deeper she went, the more she realized she was already living the miracle she’d asked for. It was being revealed in every sacred moment of her life—she simply hadn’t always recognized it. Life, she discovered, was radiant with the light of wisdom, the strong and gentle touch of caregiving, the gratitude for another breath, and the surprise of all that was arising. Tender and uplifting, This Day Won’t Come Again will encourage you to trust your own radiance and allow it to guide you into the unique meaning and purpose that is yours to share as you navigate treatment or caregiving for life-threatening illness. Author: Jocelyn Rasmussen Publication Date: August 12, 2025
-
Fans of Oliver Sacks and Gabor Maté will be intrigued by this journey into the human brain, full of fascinating stories—both personal and professional—by a neurologist who’s dedicated her life to understanding the body’s most complex organ. Do you hear them? The whispers that tell the untold stories of the human mind? In Whispers of the Mind, neurologist Carolyn Larkin Taylor shares stories, both professional and deeply personal, about her journey through the labyrinth of neurology. Composed of essays spanning from medical school to private practice, this memoir reveals Taylor’s growth as both a healer and a human being and, through vivid and compassionate storytelling, captures the essence of neurology—a field rarely associated with joy but rich in profound rewards. Each essay in Whispers of the Mind chronicles true events that highlight the intricate connection between the brain, heart, and soul and illustrate the resilience of the human spirit, lessons learned from patients, and the beauty found in the courage of those facing neurological challenges. In sharing her stories, Taylor invites readers into the mystique of the human brain, providing a heartfelt glimpse into the life of a neurologist dedicated to understanding and healing the most complex organ of all—the mind Author: Carolyn Larkin Taylor Publication Date: July 22, 2025
-
Written by a former arms control negotiator turned historical novelist, this epic WWII tale of betrayal and second chances details how a woman trapped in occupied Russia fights the Nazis—and her own demons. For fans of Kate Quinn and Mark Sullivan, a haunting World War II novel of mistakes and second chances, of courage and the search for forgiveness, and of finding peace with oneself. Driven by a blind devotion to the Communist Party, self-centered Katya Karavayeva has broken the most important rule in Soviet society: never say anything that can be used against you. On the heels of that betrayal, Nazi Germany invades and the Soviet Union mobilizes. Katya hopes to halt her downward spiral by joining the volunteer militia, but within a few short weeks finds herself under attack. After escaping with another volunteer, Katya spends weeks on the run before landing in a town under Nazi occupation. There, she finds a place and a purpose and learns to fight a different kind of war, repaying German brutality with a harsh justice of her own. All the while she struggles against her inner demons and dreams of reunion with her daughter and forgiveness from her husband—the one she betrayed. Author: Suzanne Parry Publication Date: August 5, 2025
-
Experience a year immersed in the healing power, adventure, and tranquility of the natural world, on sixteen acres of wild land in Southern Ontario, Canada. With personal vignettes and color photographs that track the seasons of a single year, Infinite Paradise connects readers with the wildlife on sixteen acres of forest and water meadow along the Conestoga River in Southern Ontario, Canada. Broken into seasons and then further into months and days, the book focuses on the buoyancy of life, showing readers that in a world battered by global warming, habitat destruction, and species extinction, many riches still remain. Interacting with nature can combat stress, heal the human spirit, and foster new and calming perspectives on life. As Infinite Paradise illustrates, the complexity, beauty, and power of the natural world is available to any reader who stays open to the splendid lifeforms they live among. Author: Dianne Beeaff Publication Date: July 22, 2025
-
For fans of Anne Tyler and Jojo Moyes, a tartly compassionate and contemporary tale of sibling love and conflict, marital challenges, and what personal fulfillment looks like—or doesn’t—in middle age. Mid-life: Its obligations and demands, its petty foibles and evasions. And sometimes, its crises. Dreams are deferred, shortcomings rationalized. Like favorite old clothes, petty misdemeanors may feel comfortable, but they’re not a good look. The Talley siblings are planning a family beach vacation—all four of them together for the first time in years. They suspect it will be their last. And God knows they all need a vacation. But wait, is it really such a good idea? Corina, with her recently diagnosed Alzheimer’s, can hardly manage to get through a day without a debacle. Pete is a just-barely-walking catalog of medical calamities stemming from his longtime addictions. Becca is reeling from her teenage son’s latest misadventure. And then there is Kathy, the eldest. After firmly avoiding going back to Rincón Bay, the beach town just a few hours south of the Arizona–Mexico border that has haunted her since a college spring break trip three decades ago, she’s determined to go back and face her ghosts—though she might be better off facing the fact that her marriage is in serious trouble. When the Talley siblings and their entourage (two spouses, added on at the last minute, and Corina’s Mexican housekeeper/caregiver) finally land in Rincón Bay, they all encounter unexpected consequences from the wounds inflicted by careless loving—but maybe, too, the seeds of healing and hope. Author: Linda Dahl Publication Date: July 22, 2025
-
An acclaimed author’s collection of short stories for fans of genre-bending fiction, Shot blends social impact fiction and activist fiction, tackling the gun violence crisis head on. Anna argues with her mom about a school science award. Ben discovers in his seventh decade that he is Jewish. Chester searches for his little sister in a snowstorm. Dixie is pregnant with her second child. Their stories and twenty-two others read like the ABC’s of everyday life. One way or another, the challenges that bring drama to our lives work themselves out, right? Or maybe not. Sometimes the ending isn’t at all what you expect. Shot is a collection of short stories about gun violence, organized as a dictionary, with a story for each letter of the alphabet. Each life is precious. And life itself is to be celebrated. Author: Jude Berman Publication Date: July 15, 2025
-
For fans of Liane Moriarty and Maria Semple, this contemporary debut novel weaves together romance, mystery, and adventure as a woman travels to the Grand Canyon seeking answers after uncovering an old family secret. After crashing into a devastating revelation, Cyd’s tranquil life on the Florida panhandle is further upended when she receives a letter announcing an inheritance from an estranged aunt. The inheritance contains mysterious “items of a personal nature” which Cyd must collect in person halfway across the country. In a last attempt to salvage her deteriorating marriage, Cyd agrees to travel with her husband on what he promises—and she questions—will be the trip of a lifetime. As they set out, a hurricane threatens their hometown. Soon, fueled by the growing threat of the storm and the tension brewing between them, the couple’s long-suppressed problems erupt. Cyd digs deep for the courage to continue the journey on her own, unsure if either her home or her marriage will survive. Once in Phoenix, Cyd learns the strange details of the inheritance and a decades-old family secret. But what was the whole truth? Clues and instinct lead Cyd to Sedona and then to the Grand Canyon. She descends into the vast chasm alone searching for answers to newly raised questions and age-old mysteries. She steps off the beaten path, literally, knowing she must make peace with her pain-filled past and her uncertain future. Author: Jayne Mills Publication Date: July 8, 2025