Chris Hamilton, a Virginia-based builder, seems to have his life on track, with an exciting new lover, Sophia, in this sequel to Tree of Redemption. But there are hints that all is not well: his recent past includes his "mysterious" father, a burned-out house and a treasure. Also, he's getting bizarre haiku poems that appear threatening. Then an otherwise good worker accuses Chris of betraying him. Then there's an ongoing problem with Hairfield Gess, a dishonest land developer, and the treasure is also leading to family squabbles. Meanwhile, Sophia's father, Garcia, who's also a partner in the treasure dispersal, is worried about the safety of his daughter. Slowly, Chris's life starts spiraling out of control.

Davidson is a master of the slow burn. He does an effective job of interspersing Chris's daily life in rural Virginia with the "dark side" of his life, centered on the treasure. We get a thorough introduction to Chris's large and often oddball family, such as his mother taking food to her soon-to-be-ex son-in-law since, as an artist, he couldn't take care of himself. Best of all is the growing romance with Sophia, described with tenderness. The large cast and complex plot will often prove challenging to keep up with for readers who haven't read the first book, but the setting and main characters are always engaging.

As the treasure plot gradually unspools, the book gets darker, with Chris's life becoming more complex and hints that something is very wrong here ramping up the tension. Davidson toys with readers’ expectations, leading us to believe that a seemingly inexplicable death is a tightly held secret, but then jolting us with the truth, all as greed threatens to tear the family apart and Chris comes ever closer to collapse. The resolution is a great surprise and perfectly plotted—a wonderful catharsis that will have readers cheering for Chris.

Takeaway: Sharply plotted thriller of family, treasure, and secrets.

Comparable Titles: K.P. Gresham, Reavis Z. Wortham.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Snowfall in Virginia

McAvoy (The Galileo Gambit) spins an easygoing novel, seventh in his Vatican Secret Archives Thrillers series, that's as much a historical procedural mystery as it is a thriller surrounding clashing religious ideologies. The story follows a priest named Michael who travels to England with various friends in order to put the finishing touches on an exhibition of Vatican artifacts for the British Museum. However, a chance discovery at his friend Robbie's estate leads him and his friends into a series of riddles, mysteries, and conspiracies surrounding lost texts whose discovery would shake the foundations of Catholicism.

The texts center on the existence of a woman who, disguised as a man, was Pope during the 9th century. While this is a legend in real life, McAvoy presents it as true in the Vatican Secret Archives universe, as one of the key texts is the diary of Pope Joan herself, which reveals that her tenure ended after she gave birth to her son in public. Another text is the "lost" gospel of Saint Salome, which advocates for women having an equal role in the church. Michael, who struggles to keep his relationship with his investigative journalist friend Hana platonic in order to keep his vows, fully understands how much of a game-changer this could be. Opposing him is Lord Pelham, the head of a secret group devoted to suppressing this information. In a series of schemes involving murder, elaborate museum heists, car chases, sabotage, and other skullduggery, Michael and his associates race to outwit Lord Pelham and find a way to bring the books to public attention.

McAvoy's focus on what he imagines would be a message of greater inclusiveness and compassion is at the heart of the narrative. He spices this up with puzzles, action sequences, technological wizardry, and passionate self-discovery from a key villain. The result is a clever, uplifting, and detailed imagining of what could be regarding his historical legend.

Takeaway: Hopeful, fastidiously researched thriller of lost religious texts and secrets.

Comparable Titles: John Lyman’s God’s Lions series, John I. Rigoli and Diane Cummings’s The Mystery of Julia Episcopa.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B+

Click here for more about The Confessions of Pope Joan (Vatican Secret Archive Thrillers Book 7)

Blending the familiar with the allegorical and wholly unexpected, this polished fantasy of a doomed future Earth from O’Farrell (author of The Kingdom of Nought) finds four brave orphans receiving the divine gifts necessary to prepare for the approaching end times. Siblings Tyersel, Simon, and Clough alongside their friend Shifter, are baptized as the L’amie, the chosen ones, by an angelic woman and bearer of celestial endowments or gifts, Magdell, whose name translates to “Sacred Feminine.” As their planet faces its imminent death, a time when “fire and water, earth and sky, light and darkness, time and gravity will become Korb” (or “singular”), the L’amie come face-to-face with a variety of nefarious foes including a vampiric witch, militant police, and a power-hungry king. Armed with surprising new abilities and gear, the L’amie must carry out an urgent but surprising mission before humanity becomes extinct.

Their goal: not to prevent the apocalypse but to help usher the faithful into the peaceful and welcoming void when the event occurs. O’Farrell uses religious allegory to tell a story about faith, friendship, and family in a world shattered after atomic wars and a “silent phase,” a period when humanity could no longer hear the guidance of the “silent one.” The children bring renewed hope to humanity that the “silent one” has not abandoned humankind. O’Farrell explores other surprising elements, like the survival of some Earthly tech (an “IBM orb”) and artifacts (the Holy Grail itself), and the dichotomy between the Inner City, a technology-rich haven for the wealthy, and the desolate Outer Zone, which leads to tension between the rich and poor.

O’Farrell comments on the relationship between science and faith and the importance of family and friendship. He also provides a glossary as a reference to help readers navigate the new angelic language spoken by the L’amie. Readers looking for intriguing religious allegory, expansive worldbuilding, and inventive takes on fantasy archetypes will enjoy this tale.

Takeaway: Epic fantasy blending allegory, surprise, and chosen-one tradition.

Comparable Titles: Andrew Peterson’s On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Donita K. Paul’s Dragon Keepers Chronicles.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B

Click here for more about Decede's Dream

Cromwell’s debut tells the story of her career as a correctional officer, walking the “toughest beat in the state”: in men’s prisons for twenty-one years. As a Black single mother, she wanted to provide well in a stable career for her daughter and she grew tough and committed in the job as she advanced in her career, from going through the Academy and starting as a Correctional Officer at California State Prison in Los Angeles County, to where she ended her career, as a Healthcare Captain at the Chino Institution for Men. She describes physically and emotionally draining work, being on guard for challenges from both inmates and betrayals from her fellow correctional officers.

Cromwell’s story provides valuable insights into prison life for everyone, specifically details of the work of correctional officers. She doesn’t assume that the reader has existing context but spells out definitions, including a helpful glossary. Photos of Cromwell and the places she worked through her career also help humanize her and her coworkers. As her story continues, the reader begins to feel the stress and emotional exhaustion rising in themselves as well, making her desire to retire very relatable. She is rightfully proud of her career, advancing up the prison hierarchy and building a secure life for herself and her daughter.

Through her years working in prisons, Cromwell faced challenges of many types, and Time Served is a compelling record of how she overcame them. She took on difficult jobs, opted for more responsibility, tried to be fair to those she managed and to inmates. Even though she felt disrespected and physically overmatched at times, she built a strong emotional armor to keep doing her job. Her story is an inspiration: as a Black woman in a field without many role models, she succeeded and built a community for other women to follow. Readers interested in California prisons from the perspective of a correctional officer will appreciate this memoir of one Black woman’s career.

Takeaway: Gripping memoir of life as corrections officer in California prisons.

Comparable Titles: George Gregory’s Alcatraz Screw, Ronnie Thompson’s Screwed.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: B
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Time Served

“Our Chenda is dead. His body is under the bridge." So declares a resident of a village in Kerala, an Indian state sometimes described as “God’s own country,” near the start of this tragic tale of a young Indian musician in the 1960s with a dream of playing at Carnegie Hall. In an effort to connect with someone with the pull to help him secure an American visa, Chenda partners up with a local medicine store manager, Vijayan, and becomes his manager in a campaign to become a Member of the Legislative Assembly, with the proviso that Vijayan, if elected, will help Chenda get to America. But Chenda and Vijayan both realize they are in over their heads when their bid catches the attention of the powers that be, including the district president, who demands payment. With this threat and impoverished communities of Kerala backing them, Chenda and Vijayan decide to run under a new party, the People’s Power Party.

With the hopes of impacting not only their situations, but the community’s, the two embark on this political journey, but readers know from the opening pages what the protagonists only suspect: politics can be a deadly business. Rich with insight, feeling, and playful wit, Tears in God's Own Country is a heart-breaking story of unfulfilled dreams, colorism, politics, status, and hard choices, set in a town that had long “celebrated all religious festivals as one people, which made Chenda smile and play the kettledrum every day” but now faces sectarian violence. Anthony shines at memorable characterization and a fast-moving plot. Through Chenda's life and story, a touching exploration of what one person will dare to better his lot and help his village, readers are immersed in local history, politics, and economic standards.

Knowing Chenda’s fate creates suspense, while Anthony still crafts unexpected plot twists and betrayal. Fans of politically charged historical fiction and contemporary works rich in cultural narratives will find this captivating.

Takeaway: Emotionally charged tragedy of Indian politics and village life.

Comparable Titles: Manoranjan Byapari; Annie Zaidi’s Prelude to a Riot.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Tears in God's Own Country

Humorist and author Keillor (Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80) delves into the different faces of positivity and “the great American virtue” of cheerfulness in this playful and resolutely upbeat offering. Though lighthearted, this spirited celebration of a sunny disposition takes on monumental issues, albeit in a jaunty, tongue-in-cheek way; Keillor, that self-described “writer of homely tropes and truisms,” juxtaposes the everyday mechanics of being 80 years old with a sobering look at what his future may hold. Dead-serious themes of aging and death pop up throughout, but Keillor plumbs them for humor and insight in his customary style, an approach that will of course please A Prairie Home Companion devotees but also buoy the spirits of readers who feast on wordplay, witticism, and squeezing the best out of life.

Cheerfulness saunters through Keillor’s daily routines and sifts through past recollections, even those that bring pain with the remembering. He touches on the fallout from Minnesota Public Radio cutting ties with him in 2018—it was “oddly liberating to be canceled,” in his words—and recalls the death by suicide as an adult of a childhood girlfriend, a tragedy that still leaves him breathless. His willingness to examine aging under the microscope is laudable, as he explores the feelings of obscurity that come with growing older and especially the change in status that comes with aging in America (once you’re past 70, he writes, you become ”a waste of good shelf space”).

But, as the title suggests, good cheer prevails. The more touching moments involve Keillor’s deep devotion to his wife and his musings on the lucky breaks he’s had throughout life—including the wonders of modern medicine that have gifted him longevity in spite of an inherited heart condition. His gratitude is often expressed through his spirituality, and his desire for meaning in his later years is palpable, as is his encouragement to fully embrace life. In his own words, “You’ll never get a life if you wait until you’re ready.”

Takeaway: Upbeat but clear-eyed look at aging and gratitude, with tongue in cheek.

Comparable Titles: Michael Kinsley’s Old Age, Jamie Varon’s Radically Content.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Cheerfulness

This deeply humane autobiographical novel from Sen (author of America in the Year 2048 and Other Stories) chronicles the life of a young man, also called Sen, beginning with his Bengali family’s forced exodus from eastern Pakistan to Calcutta, India, amid the “Hindu-Muslim carnage” of the infamous Partition, and traces his relocation, marriage, and adoption of a daughter in the United States some 25 years later. Along the way he and those he loves face unfathomable loss from sectarian gangs out to kill Hindu families, but Sen also seizes opportunity, securing a visa to the U.S. to continue his study of botany. The Sen depicted here is a bright young man with close ties to the family he reluctantly leaves behind, and his steady, touching introspection drives the book as he matures from a promising student to a successful teacher to a thoughtful husband and father. Still, what he’s left behind is never far from his mind.

The result is an honest portrait of a scientist as a young man—and what it took to survive and thrive when “Blood painted its grotesque marks on streets, communities and lives of many families because of religious differences.” Despite the ups and downs of his personal odyssey, Sen spends a considerable amount of time thinking about the fate of his people in India as well as others who suffered unnecessary and unimaginable cruelties. His time in Europe and his first stateside landlord’s stories of the segregated south, the Great Depression, and World War II, further deepens Sen’s sense of humanity.

Those experiences deepen Sen’s sense of humanity, so much so that he endeavors to write stories of the oppression faced by Black Americans. In the novel’s romantic episodes, narrated by the characters with “with admiration, fascination and amorous lust,” the conversation tends toward the poetic but also the curiously clinical. Still, as he faces atrocity and the loneliness of starting anew, Sen’s empathy and compassion shine through, forged in tragedy.

Takeaway: Touching novel of Partition, immigration, and thriving in a world of violence.

Comparable Titles: Anjali Enjeti’s The Parted Earth, Rakesh Satyal’s No One Can Pronounce My Name.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about Innocence

This inviting one-volume history of the United States, from pre-history to the probable 2024 presidential election matchup, has been crafted to illuminate the nation’s past and present for its newest arrivals. “Many scratch their heads over the lack of universal healthcare, the costs of college tuition, home prices and sales tax,” writes Serocold, also noting the tendency for discussions with Americans about “politics, gun control, abortion, immigration, and race relations” to quickly grow heated. Serocold’s history, written in direct and conversational language, illuminates the roots of these features and flashpoints of American life while touring readers through a brisk, to-the-point, era-by-era summation of its development over centuries.

Accessible but nuanced, Serocold’s history proves admirably thorough as it sweeps from early settlement to colonial life to revolution, expansion, and Americans’ wars against indigenous peoples and each other. Serocold honors the history while often placing emphasis on the practical, offering charts showing American place names derived from the languages of various groups of settlers, and demonstrating connections between key examples of perennial American tensions—between federal and state power; innovation and religious fundamentalism; a founding principle of equality and the reality of prejudice—to readers’ contemporary experience. A discussion of the Populist Party notes, with amusing understatement, “Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have both been labeled populists despite standing for very different things.”

Serocold’s guiding impulse when surveying this complex and often still-contested history is resonance: what do readers need to know to understand the nation’s present? That’s not to say this history is streamlined, as he describes, often with excitement, many individual battles of America’s wars, the ethos and accomplishments of the presidents, romantic myths of the West, the logic behind the electoral college, the roots of “American Exceptionalism” in Puritan preaching, and countless other data points that reveal how life in the United States became what it currently is, right up to Billy Beer, waning religious affiliation, and the January 6 insurrection.

Takeaway: Accessible, illuminating one-volume history of the U.S. for new arrivals.

Comparable Titles: Scholastic's Guide to Civics, Roya Hakakian’s A Beginner's Guide to America.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about A History of the United States for Newcomers

Treadgold returns for the third visit to her inviting Port Townshend setting and the casually wealthy and very close O’Connell family for a romance filled with soap opera-like drama and themes of breaking down barriers. At Teresa O’Connell’s wedding, there are some gentle sparks between her brother David, returned from a stint as a doctor in Africa, and emerging actress Madeleine Leftwood, the daughter of a family friend. But on hearing that David is engaged to Sylvia, a doctor he met abroad, Maddie goes for a fling with Teresa’s ex, local yoga instructor and surprise theatrical costar Kilo. Though the family is on-board with David and Maddie as a couple once it’s clear Sylvia’s no longer a romantic prospect, it takes a lot for the couple themselves to get over their rough start.

Treadgold manages the complex relationships within the O’Connell family with grace, inviting in new readers while ensuring that veterans of the earlier books in the series will be rewarded with updates on earlier couples beyond just supporting the new pairing, including some warm and connected married sex scenes. Maddie’s characterization is strong, and her conflict about making it as an actress but not wanting to do nudity on screen feels authentic. The basic setup for the couple’s conflict works well, though David is difficult, prickly, and somewhat bland.

Secondary plots proceed unevenly: the brief reappearance of Ali and Liam’s homeless birth mother is emotional but, but it and the soft breakup and resolution between Teresa and Liam draw focus from the primary couple, who at times can feel a little lost in the story. A supernatural plot development is treated as an awkward quirk and a career challenge, and it risks making the story implausible to realist readers, but also underwhelming to those ready to lean into mystical stories. Still, the parade of seasonal celebrations in the household continually brings the family and these couples together in engaging moments of connection.

Takeaway: Big romance with lots of characters and heart, in which the main couple gets a little lost.

Comparable Titles: Nora Roberts’s MacGregors series; A. M. Hargorve’s West Brothers series.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B

Click here for more about The Magic Man

“It’s group performance art, moved to the next level,” explains Jed, a theater director, to the cast he has assembled, in an Episcopal church’s meeting hall, to put together The Sex Show, an exploratory theater piece “About hypocrisy and ecstasy, gender and role-playing. About sexuality and fetishes and power” and “The whole hodgepodge that made them human sexual beings.” This sprawling, surprising novel from Maxwell (Rafael Jerome) lives up to that heady promise, as Jed’s cast sheds inhibitions, reveals their sexual selves, and launches into searching improvised scenes together, all while insisting to the public that these rehearsals are a twelve-step program. But outside of rehearsals that Jed comes to think of as “his utopia, artificial though it was,” the real world of 1997 rages on, upending Jed’s life—and demonstrating why committing to such a bold, impassioned project feels so urgent. At the high school where he teaches drama, a new principal crusades against Jed’s production of Cabaret.

Meanwhile, Jed’s mother moves in with Jed and his partner, Matt, and discovers the pleasures of weed, and a series of tragedies and injustices will see Jed on the road with the most unlikely person. While much of the novel concerns Jed’s vividly drawn nightmares and complex close relationships, Maxwell pens strong, extended scenes of The Sex Show cast exploring, with welcome frankness, sexual desires, taboos, and hypocrisies, a liberating contrast to the situation Jed faces at school: an effort to stage a Cabaret without “sexual overtones.” The prose blends incisive observation, earnest outrage, and bright comic sparkle (on a genial round of group sex: “The trio shifted positions like they were accommodating a fourth for a sociable game of bridge.”)

For all the laughs, though, a spirit of anxiety powers the book, as Jed and company continually face forces of repression. This provocative, hilarious, sometimes wrenching story’s second half gains momentum as America’s policing of sex and drugs inspires desperation, with several characters on the run—and discovering themselves.

Takeaway: Bold, funny novel of theater, sex, taboos, and American hypocrisy.

Comparable Titles: Stephen McCauley, Andrew Sean Greer.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about The Sex and Dope Show Saga (Revised Edition 2023)

Lacy’s inspiring memoir centers family, growth out of adversity, and beating all the odds to accomplish a long line of impressive "firsts.” Lacy immerses readers into her life from childhood in a predominantly Black neighborhood and in the politically charged city of Washington D.C. during the 1950s and ‘60s, through an adulthood of self-discovery, success, and life-changing academic achievements. Lacy touchingly cites her upbringing as the stepping stones to her tenacity, growth, and lofty educational ambitions that saw her becoming “the first and only African American female to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in her specialized business field of industrial relations."

From the Civil Rights movement to attending HBCU life to romance, family, and education, Lacy chronicles it all in her powerful life story. The tone is upbeat, though Lacy frankly addresses challenges she faced, from “tough times, a broken home, bullying, and the mean streets” to being bullied by her peers who accused her of being smart and thinking she was better than them. A message of resilience powers the book: "I learned that no matter how smart you are or how hard you try to do the right thing, you will get knocked down and life will kick you around,” she writes. “When that happens, you have to pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and keep on walking.” Dealing with not only being marginalized for being Black, but also attempting to excel in a male dominated field, Lacy put that hard-won knowledge into practice, never letting setbacks and letdowns stop her from achieving her goals.

Fans of Black history, stories of Black excellence, and women making strides in male-dominated fields will be enthralled by Lacy's story of success. Full of transparency and nostalgia, with firsthand recollections of historical events such as the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Watergate scandal, Madame Ph.D. is the captivating story of a life well lived.

Takeaway: Rousing memoir of a trailblazer who always kept walking forward.

Comparable Titles: Elaine Welteroth's More Than Enough, Cynt Marshall's You've Been Chosen.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Click here for more about Madame Ph.D.: Growing Up Black in DC and Beating the Odds

Blending history, adventure, and a hunt for secrets involving a lost mine, Huffman’s time-crossed novel centers on Susan Kingsley, an ambitious assistant acquisitions specialist at the Smithsonian. In 1982, Susan lucks into a series of letters from 1870 detailing a wagon train’s journey down the Old Spanish Trail to the “Deseret Territory,” a stretch of the American southwest that the Mormons once sought to claim as a country of their own. As Susan begins to grasp the promise and significance of this find, and to hope it might lead to her long-deserved promotion, Huffman also dramatizes the experiences of the original letter writer himself, William Mitchell, a natural leader arranging a wagon train headed for “the fertile valleys of Vernal” to “carve out a homestead.”

Like readers will be, Susan is intrigued, eventually embarking on a journey to unravel the tantalizing mysteries in William’s letters, all while her ex-husband, Andrew Harrison, spirals into bitterness, closely monitoring her every move and making nasty cracks about “career women.” Huffman skillfully weaves narratives spanning across a century, between the post-Civil War West, prior to Utah statehood, and the chauvinistic 1980s, of Reagan’s war on drugs and rumors about J. Edgar Hoover’s sexual orientation. Huffman demonstrates throughout how each era’s ethos shape the choices of the characters, while their travels come with vibrant descriptions, enriching the dual quests. The temporal transitions are smooth and clear, and the different perspectives and vocabularies keep the novel feeling varied.

Huffman crafts a thoughtful but well-paced adventure, with Andrew’s inner turmoil and deceptions raising the stakes, right till the end. This novel is as much a journey of self discovery and newfound determination as it is a quest for retracing a historical trail. The welcome character of Kat, turning up deep into the story, represents female solidarity, guiding Susan’s growth, making it a tale of empowerment that will resonate with anyone interested in an exciting quest and convincing explorations of bygone socio-cultural moments.

Takeaway: Thoughtful, well-paced story of a Smithsonian acquisitionist on the Old Spanish Trail.

Comparable Titles: Serena Burdick’s The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey, Lisa Wingate’s The Book of Lost Friends.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about The Deseret Reckoning

Ambinder’s charming picture book for young children introduces readers to the joys of the natural world. The story centers around a little girl named Maya who loves exploring—walking along the beach with her father, searching a backyard garden for butterflies, enjoying nature-based sensory play with her friends. As the seasons change, Maya and her family go apple picking, play in piles of leaves, and paint pumpkins on the back porch. The singsong, rhyming prose reinforces Maya’s contentment: “See rainbows made by sun and rain, all with bright colors, yet no two the same, a rainbow just for you with your special name.”

This book succeeds in demonstrating the tremendous mental and emotional benefits nature holds for people of all ages. Seeing Maya delight in a variety of activities that don’t involve screens will give kids and parents new ideas to try. Importantly, many suggestions are accessible for everyone —for instance, not all families live near the beach or can take a day off to go hiking in the woods, but most people can find a moment to pause and appreciate autumn’s changing leaves or the tickle of a cat’s whiskers on their leg. Each page also features an inspiring nature-based quote to energize adults, since their participation will be required.

Soderberg’s crisp, colorful illustrations show brown-haired, blue-eyed Maya mostly looking calm and serene as she walks, sprawls, and digs in idyllic locations. Each scene is rich with texture and detail —one picture shows Maya and her friends playing beside a stream, with one child holding binoculars, one sharing apples with a squirrel, and another wearing polka-dot galoshes. There’s no shortage of wildlife, either, including friendly deer, turtles, pigeons, and even dolphins. Maya’s sweet adventures will encourage kids and their families to get outside—even if only in the backyard.

Takeaway: A little girl demonstrates the many ways to enjoy the outdoors.

Comparable Titles: David Covell’s Run Wild, Micha Archer’s Wonder Walkers.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about As Maya Grows in the Natural World

True to his one self, Paul (author of the epic-length A Philosophical Treatise of Reality) offers commentary upon all 37 of the (extant) plays of Shakespeare, with an eye toward philosophy, psychology, theology, and what wisdom the Bard offers us in an era of “social media, the internet, smartphone applications, endless technology, and virtual reality” where “morality, ethics, and religion have diminished in their standing.” Each chapter offers a brisk summary of the genre, story, and themes of each play, and then considerations of key quotations, presented in the order in which they appear in Shakespeare’s text. Paul then extrapolates thoughts—and much practical life advice—from the playwright’s words, taking the opportunity to explore the sweeping host of concerns that power the dramas, comedies, and tragedies that form the very headwaters of the English language.

Paul’s exegeses are singular and personal, unburdened by the concerns and controversies of contemporary scholarship, interested above all else in timeless lessons and “the nuance and finesse of the human condition.” The Merry Wives of Windsor, for example, finds him contemplating what we each owe in our various relationships, how children’s observations of the world shape their development, the travails that come with wealth, the virtue of patience, the elusive qualities of love, the urgent power of prayer, and the nobility of “Honour, morality, reputation, conscience, character, integrity, steadfastness, righteousness, and trustworthiness.”

His approach is to consider these quotations less as the words of characters—with their own agendas, perspectives, and failings—then as a source of general wisdom, offering nourishment and illumination of all that matters most in life. Hamlet inspires him to celebrate the power of confession (“the opportunity to reflect on our shortcomings and improve our self-awareness”), while King Lear provokes thoughts on the imperative “to secure the ‘right’ balance between [individuals’] never-ending ambitions and their true potential.” The result is an accessible, encouraging, and companionable study.

Takeaway: Inviting analysis of Shakespeare’s play, with practical wisdom.

Comparable Titles: Marjorie Garber’s Shakespeare After All, Norrie Epistein’s The Friendly Shakespeare.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B+

Click here for more about A Commentary on Shakespeare's Plays

Cochran’s accomplished novel debut paints a possible future of humanity on the brink of both first-contact discovery and societal collapse. At its heart is Evans Ezra Evans, an author who once poured all my “broken parts and anger” into a book also titled The Pollutant Speaks, “a long, punk epic of discontent.” Evans finds himself on the brink of eviction and being hunted by the “Cannots,” a cult that uses his book as a manifesto to justify their extreme actions. At a time when humanity has spread to “seven miserable, overpopulated systems,” Evans is rescued by the love of his life, Annie Bugatti, who assists him in securing a spot as a candidate at the prestigious Border Institute for Languages, whose mission is to understand Para, the intricate language of the alien world with which humans are desperate to establish contact, and to train ambassadors to communicate with it.

“Was it any wonder that an alien super-culture wasn’t interested in talking to us?” Evans wonders. But the Border still prepares, and the diverse supporting characters that surround Evans not only breathe life into the narrative but also prompt Evans to confront his beliefs and shift his worldviews. Crossley, a self-proclaimed messiah, proves a formidable antagonist, orchestrator of the devastating “Crush” incident that led to financial ruin for Evans and countless others, and now dedicated to sabotage the Border’s efforts. Cochran cleverly uses dark developments to catapult Evans from passive protagonist to determined leader, armed with knowledge and a “Para ring” as he plans a meticulous assault on the formidable g-Russ, a five-headed being who possesses the key to Crossley's downfall.

Telling this surprising story with brisk efficiency despite rich concepts, a sense of poetry, and welcome literary ambition, Cochran deftly portrays the power of human minds to learn, teach, and stand up to the worst of our species. Evans’s journey of self-realization and redemption features fascinating and sometimes head-spinning development of Para language and future technology. This will delight lovers of thoughtful, ambitious science fiction.

Takeaway: Ambitious first-contact novel with humanity on the verge of collapse.

Comparable Titles: Peter Cawdron’s Whatever Seeds May Fall, Nancy Kress’s Tomorrow’s Kin.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about The Pollutant Speaks

After writing his memoir, The Lottery of Life, Krueger discovered he needed to share more stories, in this case a series of globe-trotting adventures, musings on retirement, and the realities of “the harsh world of doing business.”From indulging in cigars and rum in Cuba, to freight forwarding and establishing new business in Vietnam, to learning how to pilot gliders, he sets a stage as vast and intricate as a kaleidoscope. This collection of tales could easily be called Well Traveled since his work as a freight forwarder covered three continents, with stops in Indonesia, Australia, and Europe with stints in Jakarta, Perth, and Singapore.

As the subtitle suggests, these wide-ranging stories (a weeping woman bangs on Krueger’s door late at night in Jakarta; his general practitioner orders a tour of his urinary tract) aren’t chronological and often have the feeling of pinned-down memories, those moments that it feels nourishing to revisit as life goes on. Krueger’s knowledge of dates, names, and events is remarkably detailed, and, thanks to his powerful memory and meticulous documentarian skills, stories from mid-century are narrated as if they happened yesterday. The most personal chapter, “Expat Kids,” features parents Kurt and Rebecca, whose family is challenged trying to earn a living and raise children in a foreign country. While most of the collection is written in the first-person perspective, here Krueger shifts to third, noting that he’s used fictitious names because at the time of writing it was difficult for him “to associate directly with that emotional time.”

He concludes with his epic adventure of learning to fly. His development of the finesse and skill it takes to achieve this dream is chronicled flight by flight, sometimes excitingly—“A weightless feeling in my stomach told me I was about to fall out of the sky”—and with the precision of detail you would expect from a pilot. Despite the perils, it’s gratifying to share the journey and insights.

Takeaway: Unexpected stories of flying high and a life well traveled.

Comparable Titles: Ken Anderberg’s Indonesia: An Expat's Tale, John and Edna Lewis’s One Adventure After Another.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Click here for more about WELL REMEMBERED