Guilt weighs heavily on Ann Putnam as she watches the consequences of her lies, but what sets the novel apart is Murphy’s heartening examination of later events, as minister Joseph Green becomes an appointed preacher in Salem Village years later and transforms the famously miserable town into a space for healing and community. He meets Ann and other participants in the dark history and helps them navigate ways in which they can find confession and forgiveness amongst one another.
When Light Breaks Through is a showcase for Murphy’s mastery of historical events and their consequences over years, with a special emphasis on questions of belief in New England at that time as Joseph endeavors to shepherd his fractious new flock. Written with clear, engaging prose and a strong sense of what life actually felt like, this offers an intimate and hopeful take on a horrific patch of history.
Takeaway: Humanizing, hopeful novel of the Salem witch trials and their aftermath.
Comparable Titles: Chris Bohjalian’s Hour of the Witch, Richard Francis’s Crane Pond.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
One author is a natural expert on Costanzo’s biography—Palmer is his daughter and figures into key life events. Recounted in Joe’s first-person point of view, his voice exudes local color and nostalgia about his choices. In addition, celebrity visits, bar fights, and newspaper articles filled with culinary accolades enliven descriptions of the everyday life of a restaurant owner and manager. Readers will celebrate with the Costanzo family when the Primadonna garners a much-coveted five-fork review from a hard-headed food critic and bite their nails as Costanzo faces the possible loss of everything he has strived to build.
Perhaps most enjoyable are details of Italian cuisine such as meeting patrons’ demand for tiramisu after the release of Sleepless in Seattle, mouth-watering descriptions of Joe’s fried zucchini hors d’oeuvre, and his famous salad dressing, eventually stocked in grocery stores. Joe’s ceaseless generosity, sensitivity to criticism, and harsh temper reveal a complex, compelling individual. Palmer and Robbins portray over two decades in the life of a vivacious man who brought high-class, authentic Italian food to a community and beyond.
Takeaway: Tantalizing peek at a notorious restaurateur’s life and culinary art.
Comparable Titles: Daniel Meyer’s Setting the Table, Bill Buford’s Heat.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
The pleasures of this crisply told page-turner come from O’Connor’s deft handling of reader expectations, especially as what Mason is facing seems connected to the highest echelons of global power. As Mason and intern Molly investigate, in brisk and tantalizing scenes, a secret society and the manipulation of dreams, on both sides of the Atlantic, seemingly nefarious political forces are keeping secrets: the U.K.’s home secretary monitors an experiment involving the brain waves of the comatose, and in Dallas a megachurch pastor turned senatorial candidate takes dark action when an investigative journalist starts asking tough questions about the Church of the Reformation.
Bursts of action, creepy rituals, head-spinning revelations, and intimations of the supernatural deliver genre thrills, while O’Connor smartly games out the impact these developments could have on fictional but plausible political situations. Planting mysteries enough for the series to come, O’Connor draws on UFO abduction lore (including weird implants), the alternate realities of cyberthrillers, and even fun cults-and-demons hokum to conjure a horror-tinged urban fantasy that does something rare: it truly surprises, especially as a mismatched group faces the Others and an impossible machine. Despite the swift pace, the book’s hefty length and sweeping plot is at times daunting, though the companionable characters help (especially techie Zach). A promising start to the series.
Takeaway: Creepy, ambitious thriller of conspiracies, other realities, and major surprises.
Comparable Titles: Paul Cornell, Charles Stross.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: A-
Then Ibrahim offers Anas a wrenching deal: the Ahmeds will clear the generational debt if Anas’s daughter Sareena marries Ibrahaim’s son Asif. But Sareena, a Sunni dreamer with bold ideas about women’s roles in society, is already in love with Calvin, a Lebanese Maronite Christian—and also the novel’s narrator. Bhattacharjee invests this classic setup with a ripe sense of poetry, as Sareena and Calvin express their love in rich metaphorical dialogue: “I must sip the honey of your deeps, so you’ll bloom in my fondling.” That’s matched by incisive considerations of the religious and class conflicts shaping these lives, as Bhattacharjee addresses, with clear eyes, economic concerns, the rights of women, cross-faith romance, and more—even “Beirut’s biggest art heist.”
The prose alternates between the strikingly evocative and the uncertain and hard-to-parse: “Hurling barbarous reminders at her would be his final throw if savagery ever laid its claim on him!” There’s many lines like that, diminishing clarity and narrative momentum, meaning there’s unfortunate barriers between readers and the heart of this humane, ambitious novel.
Takeaway: Romantic tragedy of class, exploitation, and love in war-torn Lebanon.
Comparable Titles: J.D. Neill’s Disintegration, Hanan al-Shaykh's Beirut Blues.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: B+
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: C
Marketing copy: B
Fans of good old-fashioned geopolitical spy thrillers will find a lot to like with Croft's array of quirky spies, informants, and agitators. Croft loves the mechanics and jargon of spy stories so much that he injects phrases like "back in from the cold" to let the reader in on the joke. He spends a lot of time on the inner workings of MI6, both as a way of detailing the particulars of operations like this but also to show how bureaucracy, office politics, and personal rivalries impact international espionage as though it were a typical office job. Vaux is smooth and unflappable but also relatable, more clever everyman than superhuman hero. His greatest ability is being able to read others and act accordingly. Croft also gives all of the supporting players distinct personalities and motivations, creating a colorful cast that avoids clichés.
The action on the boat is appropriately tense and exciting, so much so that the final part of the book feels like a bit of a letdown, though that seems Croft's intent: not every spy caper has a clean beginning and ending. Most of the time, it's not about abductions and shoot-outs; instead, it's about paperwork and documentation, realpolitik rather than derring-do. Fortunately, Vaux is the right man for spy hijinks as well as spy drudgery, and Croft makes both entertaining.
Takeaway: Exciting but down-to-earth international spy thriller.
Comparable Titles: Olen Steinhauer’s The Cairo Affair, Mark Greaney’s Gunmetal Gray.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A
Dietrich’s exciting account of everyday wildlife while growing up will delight readers who are more familiar with the steel and concrete landscape of the island today, though the funny story of encountering an apple-stealing rat in their Wilde Avenue home the night after her wedding remains entirely contemporary. Such engaging details transport readers into the era-defining hardships the family endured, like lack of work and having to glue new soles onto worn shoes during the Depression, or the attack on Pearl Harbor three months after her wedding to Henry Dietrich. (A draft notice inevitably follows.) Also moving is Dietrich’s account of the premature birth of their firstborn, and Dietrich’s daily bus trips to nurse the infant at the hospital.
Dietrich’s photos serve as timestamp milestones for readers to visually experience these moments, including the couple on their wedding day, with Dietrich in a classic lace dress, and all their hopes pervading from youthful smiles. Dietrich’s family continued to grow, and the memoir captures the essence of their lives, loves, successes, celebrations, and the starting of families of their own. Through it all, Dietrich shares the things that fascinated her, from the gadget that allowed an aunt with a broken neck to read books, to a closing insight into how nature endlessly renews itself.
Takeaway: Touching memoir of life and love on Staten Island, from the 1920s to Covid-19.
Comparable Titles: George T. Wright’s Starting from Staten Island, T.H Watkins’s The Hungry Years.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
Berning-Bowman notes in an “About the Author” section that the story is inspired by her family’s experience fostering (and later adopting) when she was a teenager. Berning-Bowman writes from the point of view of an adopted child, describing a family’s tradition of celebrating adoption day, the “day I met my father and mother,” mostly in upbeat generalities: “Love makes a family / no matter where you start.” Despite the first-person narrator, there’s not much story here, as Berning-Bowman depicts a diverse array of kids and families, united in the warmth and love of her inviting illustrations, both remembering the day of adoption and relishing togetherness in the present. The emphasis in the art is on the kids themselves, as the adults’ faces are out of frame save for hints of smiles.
What Chosen from the Heart lacks in nuance it makes up for with heart, offering a kind-hearted and joyous celebration of a big day for any family who chooses to adopt. The retro style colored pencil illustrations add to the overall twee feel, which is played up by the simple rhyming text and the dainty drawn hearts in the corners of every text page. Well-meaning family members looking to welcome adopted children into their family or those looking to support parents adopting children will certainly find validation and positive reinforcement of this major life change.
Takeaway: Heartfelt call for the day of adoption to be commemorated with celebration.
Comparable Titles: Todd Parr’s We Belong Together, Ame Dyckman’s Wolfie the Bunny.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A-
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

The Fireweed Moon touchingly contrasts the Americas of 2017 and the 1950s, especially when it comes to race and faith. Leon, Willow, and her half-brother agree to exhume Lily’s grave, while more messages from the past, in the form of letters and family testimonial, reveal Lily and Raymond’s interracial love affair in the ‘50s, which resulted in Raymond’s murder. Unfortunately, the same biases haven’t gone away in the novel’s present, as exhibited by the Crosswinds of Eden Community Church megachurch members and Reverend Tommy Brookdale, who fuel the flames of racial hatred and “In-vaders!”
Meanwhile, Lily’s letters reveal how Reverend Roberts preached eloquently generations ago a message that still urgently resonates, how “To be a sensitive person is to suffer” and that transcending the human impulse toward fight or flight means “trusting in each new moment of each new day, not in yesterday, not in tomorrow, but in right now—where God is.” Readers of humane stories that don’t shy away from life’s darkness will be moved as Willow, too, must decide whether to fight or flee again as the community threatens her sobriety and safety. This entry compels on its own, but readers are advised to start with the first book
Takeaway: Resonant finale to a humane multi-generational saga of American families.
Comparable Titles: Maisy Card’s These Ghosts Are Family, Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s The Shape of Family.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

Readers unfamiliar with the earlier books in the Mortsafeman Trilogy will feel quickly welcomed into this one, though reading the earlier entries (starting with Dead Scared) is a pleasure. Blake efficiently draws in new readers by sprinkling concise background details and summations of past events throughout the harrowing story at precisely the necessary moments, without slowing momentum. Chris serves as a complex protagonist with intriguing and unique supernatural abilities. Several familiar faces return in welcome encores, while enticing new villains and heroes drive the suspense forward and raise the dynamic stakes. Together, this large ensemble cast explores themes of power, revenge, and redemption.
Elements of Jewish folklore sit at the heart of this gripping mash up of fantasy and horror. These unique elements serve as a creative foundation for thrilling twists, rancorous ghosts, and rage-filled demons, all of which make this fast-paced, deeply engrossing tale a welcome—and thoughtful—genre bender. In addition to the potent suspense, some gnarly descriptions will jolt and delight fans of visceral imagery masterfully invoking a delicious dose of stomach-churning nausea. Readers will settle into this riveting narrative and enjoy the gripping ride.
Takeaway: Thrilling fantasy-horror series comes to a strong end steeped in folklore.
Comparable Titles: Bari Wood’s The Tribe, Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

The appealing heroes have been best friends since birth, hardly ever apart, living in adjacent cottages beside a river that is their source of joy and play. Their bond strengthens even more after a surprise discovery in the forest leads them on a treasure hunt with much higher stakes than mere material wealth. Sherr blends strong characterization and the quest plot with real-world concerns. Due to the town’s economic hardships related to rural gentrification and the local textile factory’s closing, Carol’s family is being forced to sell their house and shatter the girls’ lives for good. That makes the hunt all the more urgent: the only way to save their town is to find the treasure.
Beryl and Carol’s journey takes them mountain biking through the woods, boating down the river, caving behind waterfalls, and burrowing into the hollows of old trees, and though they face various hardships along the way, they follow their motto no matter what: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Kids in the middle-grade age group will easily fall in love with Sherr’s fast-paced, lively writing style and his two unlikely, ice-cream-loving heroes who “dared to follow an empty can into the unknown.”
Takeaway: An exhilarating treasure hunt to save a town from economic ruin.
Comparable Titles: Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time, G.M. Savage’s Jack Mathias and the Boonetown Bandits.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Narrated in a straightforward, often conversational prose, O’Neill’s account of his life story brings out two outstanding qualities: his positive attitude and his commitment to working hard. Despite setbacks, he moves forward relentlessly, both in living life and in telling the story. He exhibits little regretful or dwelling upon the past, whether about wrong decisions, injuries, or disruptions due to reasons outside his control. He takes stock, evaluates his resources and moves forward with determination, never shy of working hard. His upbeat, get-it-done attitude, the hallmark of a coach, remains the same even when it comes to fighting cancer.
Another heartening element of Don’t Back Down is the love story at its heart, as O’Neill frequently acknowledges that he is extremely lucky to have found a soul mate in Beth. Without an understanding and supportive spouse, his life’s most dramatic transitions—from a highly paid corporate job to following his dream into the comparatively lower paid job of a teacher—would not have been possible. Disappointingly, the narrative does not describe the transformative process of slowing down post diagnosis even while the author admits that both he and his wife have lived life in the fast lane. Though heavy on coaching jargon, O’Neill’s memoir is an inspiring, fast-paced memoir as exciting as a tightly contested game.
Takeaway: Inspiring memoir of high school football coach’s fight against cancer.
Comparable Titles: Edward Ulloa’s 27: A Football Coach’s Memoir, Michael DiMatteo’s Confessions of a High School Football Coach.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
While the book's structure is slightly disjointed, with a collection of anecdotes that resemble individual vignettes more than a cohesive narrative, it doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the book. Readers will feel as if they’re right there with her, as Lowengard's writing style is light-hearted and conversational, making it easy to connect. Whether she's discussing waste removal processes, introducing new urbane habits to Bucknoll (she jokingly refers to herself as “the Baroness of Bucknoll Yoga”), considering the challenges of naming a cottage, or exploring the local games and traditions, her sharp eye and winning comic timing always shine through. She wonders if one succeeds at a “Mensa Select” board game like Blokus, “might one bypass the tedious Mensa Admission Test and gain entry into this club to which you might or might not want to be a member?”
It's worth noting that this book may be most appealing to those specifically interested in cottage living or looking to gain insights into the unique challenges and joys of life in a place like Bucknoll, which enjoys just three seasons: Winter, Mud, and Summer. For those in the target audience, The Bucknoll Cottage Chronicles is a big-hearted yet sharp-witted companion to navigate the world of cottage living.
Takeaway: Sharp-witted look at a New York writer’s Pennsylvania cottage life.
Comparable Titles: Chris Stewart’s Driving over Lemons, Christopher Ingraham’s If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
Adult readers, too, will find much to appreciate here. Fashion’s history is explored, as is the background of United States patents, including several noteworthy patents obtained over the years. Of particular note are the authors’ vignettes on different fashion-related items and their transformations over time: sunglasses have been around since prehistoric days, when the Inuits of Canada utilized them to protect their eyes from the sun’s glare; women’s nylons skyrocketed in popularity during the 1939 World’s Fair; and neckties have been transformed from their role in Croatian military uniforms to their eventual white-collar job usage around the turn of the 20th century. Ronquillo’s graphics are as colorful and dynamic as the book’s fashion choices.
Brooke and her family, of course, get to learn fashion’s secrets firsthand—and share in Delfi’s excitement when she wins runner up in her competition. When Brooke shares her admiration for Delfi’s success, her mom wisely advises her to follow her own dreams much like her cousin has: “No dream is too big, no dreamer too small. Everyone starts somewhere.” To build on that theme, the authors include a link to their Young Inventor’s Club with monthly STEAM activities.
Takeaway: A chic journey through the history and present of the fashion world.
Comparable Titles: Dana Thomas’s Fashionopolis, Katey Howes’s Be a Maker.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Marie’s love for these small but powerful birds is evident throughout as she brings their fiercely fragile existence to life. Readers will learn about the birds’ appetites, the half-dollar sized nests they build, and their fondness for baths, among other fascinating facts, all set against the backdrop of kaleidoscopic nature shots of vivid parks, flower gardens, and more. The book’s central hummingbird speaks in reverent tones of being saved by Marie—“swaddled in warmth, a tiny, healing cup”—and shares the lifesaving measures that restored its health, including special dropper feedings. That spirit of kindness flits across every page, as the narrator shares several ways readers can help hummingbirds—and other important creatures—to not only survive, but thrive.
Despite some minor structural issues, the book is as charming and vibrant as the birds it features, and Marie includes a glossary and traceable outlines of common hummingbird types at the end for readers to color: whether it’s Rivoli’s brilliantly hued hummingbird or the jeweled Mexican Violetear, young fans will relish the chance to get up close and personal with these tiny legends—a gentle reminder that, in the end, “we matter one and all.”
Takeaway: Kaleidoscopic exploration of the gentle power of hummingbirds.
Comparable Titles: Patricia A. Thorpe’s Harry the Hummingbird, Robert Burleigh’s Tiny Bird.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: B+
Editing: B+
Marketing copy: A

Rose’s prose is evocative and captures the beauty of rural Vietnam, tropical Africa, and urban and temperate San Francisco with grace and precision. It also portrays all-too-human dilemmas and confusions with clarity as the novel surveys Coty’s passage through bumptious years, as dark rooms give way to computer manipulation of images, and as tragedy comes to her family. Coty is a remarkable character, her personality, hopes, concerns, and art will grip the interest of readers fascinated by the lives of trailblazing women. The supporting cast, too, is varied and engaging, especially Madeleine, Coty’s crossword solving friend, NaaNaa Joshi, the master carpenter, and Matheo Aubert, another French-speaking priest and a compelling love interest for Evelyn.
Split into four parts, the novel’s form is as bold as its protagonist, leaping over decades, at times giving just a page or two to devastating developments but investing great imaginative energy into the everyday textures of life, such as how a character holds a newspaper or uses a phone. This richness of detail suggests Coty’s way of seeing the world: one crucial image at a time, each suggesting the complex context of a moment, era, or life.
Takeaway: Vivid, formally inventive story of a photographer and her family, over decades.
Comparable Titles: Mira Jacob’s The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Perhaps since Varner anticipates his readers to be less familiar with the Qur’an and Hadith than other religious texts, he spends more pages discussing Islam’s relationship with religious rules than Christianity and Judaism, taking care to show the broad scope of legal and faith traditions within Islam and including a helpful appendix with extensive quotes from the Qur’an and Hadith, plus extensive bibliographic notes. He also touches on Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism but doesn’t deal with those traditions in as much depth as the monotheistic traditions.
A History of Religious Rules is well researched and respectful of all the different traditions it discusses, even in its occasional tangents—in a discussion of the “'Woke’ narrative” debated in contemporary U.S. politics, he strives to present complex positions and contested history evenhandedly. Varner is well aware of diversity within and between religions and sketches them out clearly for an educated lay audience. Throughout, Varner endeavors to spread tolerance by making it easier for people to communicate about where they disagree. His typology provides a valuable tool for that communication. Readers of any faith will appreciate Varner’s care as he lays out different types of rules within religions and how they serve our societies or sow dissent.
Takeaway: Illuminating survey of the typology of religious rules across the great faiths.
Comparable Titles: Gil Barrett’s A History of World Religions, John Bowker’s World Religions.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B+