Topical and refreshingly up to date, Edwards’s (18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile) latest is ideal for those seeking to make small changes that can have a big impact. In this highly practical self-help guide, crafted as an “invitation” to live with purpose and courage, Edwards coaches readers on personal growth topics such as self-awareness, self-empowerment, and leadership. Her expertise as a world traveler and communication professional, among many other experiences, shines through in her unique spin on somewhat atypical self-improvement content: along with influencing others and one’s own empowerment, she addresses issues like how to face and find solutions to the climate crisis. For those readers who want to achieve contentment, tweak their health habits, or find encouragement to keep bettering themselves and the world, Uncommon Courage is accessible and engaging.

The guide is long, but it stays highly digestible, with short chapters that can be consumed while riding down an elevator, taking a break from chasing the kids, or in a more concentrated, meditative manner. That approach seems by design: Edwards’ structure allows readers to dip in and out according to their interests or needs. The guidance can be deep or breezily superficial (“buy wine that’s at least four years old”); like all good advice, it can even be irksome when she hits the right button and tells a truth you might not yet want to face. The book’s busy, with some potentially distracting elements—such as the adages Edwards calls “wisdoms” that relate to another project, unconventional hashtags, and QR codes introduced for further reading—but Edwards takes pains to expose readers to fresh ideas and possibilities beyond the purview of the average self-help book.

As Edwards introduces new habits and mindsets, helpful footnotes suggest opportunities for further research, and workbook pages encourage contemplation of the material. Her style is highly narrative, with dishy anecdotes bursting with practical advice delivered in her funny, straightforward, and entirely supportive fashion.

Takeaway: This wide-ranging, of-the-moment self-help guide urges readers to live with purpose and courage to make a difference.

Great for fans of: Shad Helmstetter’s Negative Self-Talk and How to Change It, Jon Gordon and Damon West’s The Coffee Bean.

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

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Beech’s lyric debut opens in 1994, with Jake Crawford returning to Marcosta Island, his childhood home off the coast of Florida, after 23 years. As a bio-scientist who has discovered a drug to further the treatment of cancer, his disgust for the greed and callousness of the pharmaceutical industry has fueled his decision to try out a quieter lifestyle. In his first hours back, Jake meets up with Simon Bronson, the reclusive, hermit-like tender of the original wooden bridge to the island, who was a father figure to him in the past. From Simon, Jake learns that the “old Florida” way of life is being threatened by Derek Nielsen, a multi-billionaire who wants to develop the island into a tourist resort. The conflict between Nielsen and the islanders who oppose his plan forms the rest of the story.

Beech delves into questions about the true value of development, especially its cultural and environmental costs. His love for Florida comes through in the detailed descriptions of the island, its beauty, and “the sound of the gulf waves mixed with the soft whistling of the trees.” The character of Simon is well-etched, as are his internal conflicts and the reason for his reclusive way of life, and the symbolism of the bridge, its nature, and its ultimate fate add depth to the narrative. The relaxed pacing is in tune with the rhythms of life on the island, with a subtle weaving of the concept of karma from the Bhagavad Gita threaded throughout the story.

Beech succeeds in bringing out the inherent conflicts between development and conservation, reinforcing the idea that much American development, as defined by the rich and the influential, is a mixed bag, not beneficial to all concerned. His treatment of these themes (and the practicalities of local politics) is nuanced yet impassioned, resulting in a novel that will engage thoughtful readers fascinated by environmental issues.

Takeaway: A thoughtful, lyric drama of coming home again—and fighting to preserve it from development.

Great for fans of: Nancy Burke’s Undergrowth, Ron Rash’s Above the Waterfall.

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

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In this thought-provoking leadership guide, Harris (The Servant Leader’s Manifesto) challenges CEOs and business leaders to stand up to “the dark force”—or colonialism, imperialism, and toxic bias—to “create a world that values self-actualization” and change the status quo to one that benefits all. Harris warns that, due to recent historical events like the global pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and record-breaking hurricane seasons and wildfires brought upon by climate change, the bar for effective leadership is higher than ever before. To combat the dark force and these escalating crises, Harris asserts that a new class of leader is required–J.E.D.I. leaders concerned with justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Harris’s purpose is clear: to encourage readers to adopt a new approach that deepens understanding of injustice and inequality—and fosters a commitment to eradicating them. Coined the “6As of J.E.D.I action”, this new framework urges business leaders to first question their leadership motives and eliminate their ego before attempting to respond to issues of race, acceptance, allyship, and sexism. He lays bare how many toxic leadership practices are rooted in systematic racism, inequality, and the disenfranchisement of marginalized communities and makes the case that contemporary leadership demands facing this truth and these issues with clear purpose and without fear.

“We have experienced enough of selfish and self-centered leadership,” Harris writes, and he’s direct in his criticisms of hierarchical power structures within corporations. Drawing compelling examples from Apple, Wells Fargo, and other Fortune 500 companies, Harris highlights the differences between traditional toxic leadership styles and the J.E.D.I. approach, which prioritizes an atmosphere of inclusion, humility, and collective purpose. This forward-thinking leadership guide offers clear steps to help leaders rise to the occasion of defeating toxic practices and work environments to ensure a better future for us all.

Takeaway: This impassioned guide challenges business leaders to dismantle toxic and racist leadership practices by promoting allyship, humility, and diversity.

Great for fans of: Jennifer Brown’s How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive, Jason Isaacs and Jeremy Isaacs’s Toxic Soul.

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

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Hazen’s polished debut, the first in The Black List urban fantasy series, introduces readers to a delightful Seattle where magic is real and the mysteries are plentiful. Bartender-turned-private-investigator Alex Whittaker, a human, is having a very bad life. She and her powerful Otherkin girlfriend, Maeve, have just broken up; she’s investigating her sister’s disappearance; and now she has to scrape her new, highly unwilling partner, Finnegan Black, out of yet another bar and sober him up. Former police officer Finn is no lover of Otherkin–he blames them for another disappearance, his fiancée’s. Now, thanks to Maeve, he’s saddled with Alex as his new partner/boss, and he couldn’t be more upset. Yet the pair manage to come to a detente when a former coworker of Alex’s goes missing, and a Daemonkin artifact that should never have been in our world escapes.

Crisp prose and fascinating world building set The Black Mark apart. Save for rare instances of an info dump, the peculiarities of this fantastical Seattle and its Otherkin community (the Seattle PD’s occult division employs witches) are teased out as the story unfolds, offering a glimpse into a world much like this one–yet not. Intriguing secondary characters–Nikki and Dr. Hammersmith, in particular–add depth and provide perfect foundations upon which the main characters can develop.

Those leads, though, are promising but less assured in this first volume than the world around them. Both Alex and Finn are flawed, complex people with intricately detailed back stories and motivations. Yet it feels as though some pieces of crucial information are missing–how Alex developed her investigative skills and how Finn deals with his alcoholism, for example. Small hints are dropped about Alex’s background, but a fuller accounting would likely help connect readers more strongly to this intriguing lead. Still, this memorable debut marks the arrival of a strong new voice in the genre.

Takeaway: This promising urban fantasy debut boasts strong world building and promising characters.

Great for fans of: BR Kingsolver, Seana Kelly, Annette Marie.

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

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Beckerman’s brief, charming memoir shares the story of Riley, a Flat-Coated Retriever and “one-dog wrecking ball,” and his impact on the family of Beckerman, creator of the syndicated humor column Lost in Suburbia. The story opens with Beckerman taking a plunge familiar to many suburban families: getting a puppy. Riley, nicknamed ‘Mellow Yellow,’ by the breeder, turns out to be anything but mellow. The puppy eats everything–socks, upholstery–and the situation is made even more complicated by the addition of a lizard, chinchilla, and multiple fish named Larry.

Like many mothers, Beckerman is ultimately left to take care of this menagerie, and in this comic and tender account she touchingly considers what it means to have a dog and a family. Any pet lover will recognize the challenges–vet bills, urine where one does not wish there to be urine, fleas, “award-winning gas,” attempts to put a dog on a diet–and also the joys. Nothing of outsize consequence happens in this everyday story–Riley never rescues anyone from a well–and readers not fascinated by pets might wonder if much new is being said here about animal-human bonds, but the affection between the dog and his family is palpable and engaging. Beckerman is a skilled writer who paints a vivid picture of Riley and her family in crisp, memorable sentences and anecdotes that build to well-crafted punchlines.

Her thesis is fairly straightforward: We love our dogs. They love us. Sometimes they drive us crazy. Their journey towards mortality is a faster-paced version of our own. As in some parenting memoirs, moments that seem particularly resonant to the author can at times feel familiar to the reader, though Beckerman elevates the material by writing frankly about the difficult emotions that come with life transitions, such as realizing children eventually will turn to sources other than their parents for comfort. Readers who relish pet memories will be more than satisfied by Beckerman, who pulls off this shaggy dog story with aplomb.

Takeaway: Dog lovers will find laughs and heart in this suburban puppy tale.

Great for fans of: Lauren Fern Watt’s Gizelle’s Bucket List, Julie Klam’s You Had Me at Woof.

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

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The latest historical romance from Fielding, author of the Andalucían Nights series and more, finds Aida El Masri, having spent World War II working as a nurse in England, returning home to her native Egypt to take up the long-neglected management of her family’s estate. Almost immediately she finds herself confronted with the expectation that she’ll fulfill an understanding between her late father and their neighbor to marry the neighbor’s son, Phares Pharaony. Though Phares is a successful surgeon, Aida can’t see herself agreeing to marry into the family that she suspects is responsible for the death of her father. She refuses, he gives aggressive chase, and that chase gets upended when Aida is abducted by a Bedouin prince whom she comes to find enticing.

Not just set in the past, Song of the Nile indulges in assumptions and relationship dynamics that many readers will believe should have been left there. After Aida’s initial rejection, Phares continues to turn up in pursuit of her, behaving possessively and frequently grabbing, touching, and kissing her despite her expressed refusal of consent. “You refuse me and yet your body does not,” he eventually tells her, and moments later she embraces him, “inviting his assault.” Aida, meanwhile, inevitably is enticed by the harem-owning Bedouin prince who has kidnapped her, reminding herself that he’s “A barbarian cloaked in a deceptive coat of civilisation.”

The most passionate love story in this romance is with historical Egypt. Fielding’s descriptions of the setting are detailed and lovingly rendered, at times overtaking the plot in importance. Readers will be swept away by enchantment with the desert and the culture of life along the Nile, but that beauty only makes the arrogant brutality of Phares all the more stark and shocking. This is a lovely exploration of a bygone time in a stunning land, but contemporary readers should be aware that the male hero doesn’t take no for an answer.

Takeaway: An old-school romance centered on an alpha male who sweeps an objecting heroine onto his steed.

Great for fans of: Lauren Smith’s Wicked Designs, Maya Banks’s In Bed with a Highlander.

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

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Seel provides a commentary on and paraphrase of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet sequence of poems, with a particular focus on how Donne’s nineteen sonnets, which were published two years after the poet’s death, model the experience of a person struggling with their faith. Seel acknowledges that spiritual conflict is at the heart of maturing faith, and Donne’s sequence serves as a helpful navigation through the various stages and moods of such conflict, as the poet explores such topics as the fear of death, hurtful romantic losses, and a lingering tension between God’s grace and works of faith. At the end of each sonnet, Seel provides introspective questions in a reflection format that can be used in small group discussions to incorporate scripture and invite readers to engage more deeply with Donne’s themes.

Conflicted Faith offers helpful paraphrases of Donne’s 17th century verses, which can be archaic in language and at times challenging for the contemporary reader to parse. The commentary is almost line-by-line, taking sections of each poem and reading them in light of the personal conflict that the poem expresses, and Seel closes each study with a modern poem, reflection, or hymn that parallels that sonnet’s theme. Some readers may wish for more background on the literary scholarship about Donne, at least as a guide for further exploration of the poetry.

Seel’s commentary originated from his own experience mentoring others through their faith journeys, and readers will feel almost as though they are reading along with him, listening to stories and engaging in introspection under a wise advisor. Conflicted Faith also delves deep into scripture as Seel explores wide ranging doubts and conflicts in faith–both scriptural encouragements as well as examples of paragons of faith who also faced struggles with God. This grounds the poems, as well as provides avenues for profound reflection, especially for believers. Donne is a sage teacher, and Seel is a discerning guide to these enduring—and still gripping—sonnets.

Takeaway: Christians seeking to grow in their faith or looking to explore John Donne’s Holy Sonnets more deeply will find this commentary invaluable.

Great for fans of: Philip Yancey’s A Companion in Crisis, Lina AbuJamra’s Fractured in Faith.

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

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Fox takes readers on an epic journey of murder and corruption in this heart-racing futuristic sci-fi thriller, the first book of the Sol Saga, an epic set in our near future. Just over two centuries from now, General Keith Brennan breathes, eats, and sleeps the military. When an assassination on Mars takes place moments before the planet’s official independence from Earth, Brennan is thrust into a web of conspiracies and lies that leave him questioning his values and loyalty. Brennan— along with a newbie pilot, the governor of Mars, a hot-shot fleet ace, a government homeland defense worker, and a low-level criminal—becomes the solar system’s only hope at preventing a war between Earth and Mars.

Brennan is one of many dynamic and sympathetic characters with flawed, engaging personalities that readers will quickly come to love. While Brennan is the type of man to follow orders without question, his growing suspicion of foul play mixed with a softness towards Helena Chu, the governor of Mars, chip away at his harsh exterior and make him a standout protagonist. Each point-of-view character holds a small piece of the larger puzzle that builds up to a big revelation, but they must come face-to-face with their own shortcomings in order to make the pieces fit together. The tension escalates quickly, as Fox balances action with scenes of reflection, immersing readers in the world and these lives while offering a welcome breather.

Fox creates a dynamic future where the colonization of Mars has led to a thriving economy. Sprinkled into the background are exciting elements such as genetic enhancement for Marines, organic food printers as an inexpensive alternative to real food, and a variety of transportation options—including individual seat vacuum tubes and autonomously piloted ground-air-vehicles. Mars and this future come to life in a truly immersive experience as Fox spins a dynamic story of conspiracy and action that will sweep away lovers of local space opera.

Takeaway: SF fans eager to explore a deep-rooted conspiracy with a vibrant cast will relish the first book in this promising saga.

Great for fans of: A.K. DuBoff, J. Barton Mitchell’s The Razor.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A+
Illustrations: : A.K. DuBoff , J. Barton Mitchell’s The Razor.
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-