The surprising second entry in Porto’s 1990s-set supernatural Moon Mountain trilogy continues to chronicle the increasingly complicated life of Morgan Thomas, now facing a true nightmare in her charming North Carolina hometown: a mysterious entity has occupied her body as a “vessel” while her mind languishes “deep inside” a subconscious prison. Stranger still, adversary-turned-ally Vera Gallagher, the mother of a friend, actually shares Morgan’s body, and must explain this situation, through Morgan’s own mouth, to those Morgan trusts most. Soon, Morgan embarks on a perilous, twisty quest for survival against elusive foes who possess humans and wreak havoc. She unearths new mysteries, forges surprise alliances, and carries g the burden of those who have given all in the fight against an elusive invasion that, she learns, is led by a “cold and calculating” entity “with no qualms about torturing and punishing its enemies and using those around it for its own pleasure or gain.”

The saga unfolds at a swift pace with ever-rising stakes as Morgan faces the “slithering fingers” of a blankness she could fade into, and possessions continue in the outside world, which powers a strong sense of uncertain anxiety. Pages devoted to Vera explaining things about these “foreign essence”s and “the Beyond” to Morgan—and to readers—find Porto taking full advantage of this imaginative setup, as Vera conjures visions of her own life and Morgan’s efforts to control her own memories kicks up literal storms. Porto skillfully defies conventional good vs. evil tropes by imbuing the invaders with shades of gray, and the subconscious realm and surrealist liminal spaces through which Morgan journeys are, as the title suggests, inventive and evocative.

At its core, this inward-looking thriller is a journey of hope and self-discovery, psyche and sacrifice, a story concerned with what it’s worth risking everything to save. (A character declares, “One word: humanity.”) The characters make clever use of Porto’s worldbuilding, and the ending satisfies, while pointing to revelations to come. New readers should start with the first book.

Takeaway: Tense, effective thriller of body takeovers and what’s beyond consciousness.

Comparable Titles: Sara Gran’s Come Closer, Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter.

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

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Clark’s captivating historical journey into the life of Hypatia, a woman of many talents, delves into a pivotal period when Christianity and power were making significant inroads into the world in the early A.D. years. Clark, author of The Alexandrian Scrolls, demonstrates meticulous research into the clash between different Christian sects and pagan beliefs and how one woman left an immense legacy. The novel opens with an intriguing note from a translator, Brandon Blake, who reports having discovered five ancient papyrus scrolls in a North African cave during “a harrowing session of past life regression.” In that lifetime, as an Arab hydrologist in the 10th century, Blake did not live long enough to retrieve the scrolls. Through international intrigue and spiritual reckoning, he found them now and translated Hypatia’s own handwritten story in which she shares her tumultuous life from her girlhood as Tuya and Catherine to her middle age as Hypatia.

Structured like the five scrolls, Hypatia shares her insurmountable losses and details the struggles of her time. A woman ahead of her time, Hypatia experiences olive picking and papyrus manufacturing, while arriving at realizations like “There is no security in life. There is no one and no thing to rely upon.” Yet she still believes that “Life is so utterly beautiful.” Her goal is to “counter-balance the crowd mentality” as she navigates history, philosophy, astronomy, and geometry. She faces formidable opponents and dangers, and benefits from mysterious assistance, not always choosing the easy or popular way.

Clark skillfully highlights name changes, reflecting the transformations in the characters’ lives. Jason, the camel driver, transitions into Theophilus, whose ambition and Christian piety reflect the uncertainty Alexandrians faced in a time of external threats and internal corruption. Clark disparages the “literary legend” of Hypatia, offering a thought-provoking and engaging narrative that brings to life the complexities of a fascinating period that, in Clark’s handling, connects to the present with some urgency.

Takeaway: Vivid historical novel of Hypatia, pagan beliefs, and the tumult of Late antiquity.

Comparable Titles: Ki Longfellow’s Flow Down Like Silver, Hypatia of Alexandria, Faith L. Justice’s Selene of Alexandria.

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

Click here for more about Hypatia

In this emotional family saga and thriller, Kain (author of Secrets In The Mirror) explores PTSD and childhood trauma in a narrative blending psychological suspense with hard-won emotional breakthroughs. Gavin DiMasi is trying to move on with his life after the heartbreaking discovery of the death by suicide of his twin brother, Devon. Living in the peaceful paradise of Kauai with his wife, Katie and his toddler, Maggie, Gavin struggles daily with this loss as well as the trauma of his abusive childhood. When Gavin receives news that he needs to settle his late father's estate back in Boston, both Gavin and Katie have reservations about his return to his childhood home, understanding that this visit could set into motion emotional triggers that can send Gavin over the edge.

Kain handles the heavy topics of abuse, grief, and facing old wounds with sensitivity that doesn’t dilute the story’s impact. Gavin will resonate with readers interested in healing, even as he spirals further into his mental anguish. Exploring the effects of mental illness on not only the individual suffering from it, but those closest to him, What Lies Buried is a humane and engaging story that’s frank about the challenges of recovery. Gavin not only has to deal with his PTSD and grief but also the nagging possibility that someone is watching him as he deals with his family's estate. After discovering his family's surprise connection to the local mob syndicate, he enlists the help of his high school best friend, Trayvon, who works with the FBI.

Adding to the tension, everyone around notices Gavin's descent—his grandparents, his wife, his best friend, and his psychiatrist—but by the time they realize he might be a danger to himself, their efforts to help may come too late. Kain has crafted a fast-paced contemporary thriller that delves with insight into themes of mental health. Readers who enjoy unreliable narrators and jolting plot twists will enjoy this.

Takeaway: Psychological thriller digging into PTSD, family secrets, and generational abuse.

Comparable Titles: Erin Kelly’s Stone Mothers, Liane Moriarty’s The Husband’s Secret.

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

Click here for more about What Lies Buried

This passionate, uproarious gay romance from Lawrence (author of Hugh) unfolds in the Georgian era, when marital unions carried immense societal weight and the pursuit of forbidden love proved a nearly insurmountable challenge. Daniel Thornton diverts his woes from his philandering ex-lover Clarence Hopper to care for his ailing uncle in the bustling town of Grantham, England. Amidst the societal expectations of securing a suitable bride as a promising bachelor who is about to earn his uncle's inheritance, Bridget Morley, daughter of a tradesman, emerges as a potential candidate. However, Daniel's attention is unexpectedly diverted to Bridget's brother, Luke, who has harbored a profound infatuation with him for the past five months.

The affair is made more complicated by the arrival of Clarence, desperate to win Daniel back, and the anonymous blackmail notes that threaten to expose both Daniel and Luke's sexuality. In a series of secret rendezvous, heated arguments and affairs, and repeated reminders of familial obligations, Lawrence deftly navigates the excruciating shame and guilt in concealing one's sexuality from an all-too-often judgemental society. "There is no place for me, or you, in a town like this. Perhaps in a city, where we could be anonymous. But that isn't truly being accepted, is it?" Luke says, an urgent and still all-too-timely reminder of the importance of accepting one’s self first and foremost.

Indeed, beyond the struggle for acceptance, Lawrence crafts a romance that rouses, with twists, surprises, and a randy wit. Blackmailer’s Delight does not extensively dwell on the falling-in-love phase, introducing complications early on, and lingering with playful precision on erotic romps. The bittersweet love triangle unfolds as a tale of being seen and understood, accepting queerness, taking no love for granted, and allowing oneself to indulge in the youthful pleasure of loving and being loved. Perfect for readers fond of LGBTQ+ romances with an erotic edge.

Takeaway: Randy, heartfelt winner of a gay Georgian romance.

Comparable Titles: Cat Sebastian’s The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, K.J. Charles’s The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen.

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

Click here for more about Blackmailer's Delight

Mandell stuns with a riveting debut memoir chronicling her grief at the death of her husband, Herb—and her eventual rebirth into “a whole tree again inside and out, standing tall, for now.” Through heartfelt letters to her deceased husband, Mandell recounts their deep love affair and years of intimate time together swimming, taking yoga classes, and traveling, remembering Herb’s determination to stay fit and strong into his later years. That determination came crashing down around them on the heels of Herb’s pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis—a disease, that, according to him, was “worse than cancer” and led to his death shortly after.

Mandell writes of Herb’s rapid deterioration in intimate, hushed tones, recalling his pneumonia (“the end of the road for anyone with pulmonary fibrosis”) and her looming “sixty-something” birthday, reflecting on Herb’s unconditional love and, to the very end, concern for her: when he declares “this is not what you signed up for,” Mandell replies “This is our love story… “there is no place else I’d rather be.” That love forms the backbone of the memoir, even after Herb’s death, as Mandell grapples with her new life amid bone-crushing grief. An emergency hospital stay of her own leads her back into yoga, and, as she questions her identity without Herb, she eventually experiences the kindling of a new love, with John, a college professor.

Throughout, Mandell traces the threads of life that continue to interlace, long after Herb is gone—the presence of their two adult children, her eventual marriage to John, the COVID lockdown, and her most challenging job yet: letting Herb go. Her relationship with John is sweet to watch, as the couple navigates the future while remembering the past, and her growth from lost to regenerated is an arresting reminder to be “open to all that comes [your] way.”

Takeaway: Heart-wrenching, life-affirming memoir of love, grief, and regeneration.

Comparable Titles: Laura June’s Now My Heart Is Full, Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking.

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

Click here for more about And Always One More Time: A Memoir

This compendium of inspiring quotations offers a guided tour through ideals of wisdom, humanity, love, creativity, and other urgent subjects explored in depth through the words of philosophers, athletes, presidents, and more. In Consolidated Wisdom, Jones (author of Younger and Wiser) considers the evolution of thought and wisdom across the ages of human civilization from biblical times to current day. With an eclectic mix of selections, from sources ranging from King Solomon to Bruce Lee, Jones has gathered often surprising musings, each “an insight drawn from someone’s lifetime of experience,” to provide insight into taking ownership of one's life with the goal, as he notes in an introduction, of offering “diverse blueprints for people of all ages, ethnicities and nationalities to pursue maximum success and happiness."

Each chapter features an engaging introduction from Jones and a section of quotes that fit the chapter's category, which include "Nature & Native American Wisdom,” "Humor & the Immortal Yogi Berra,” and more. Jones quotations sourced from books, magazine interviews/articles, cultural proverbs, the Bible, and even Twitter posts. In recurring section "Great Minds Think Alike,” quotes that share the same sentiment or message are grouped together, showing different perspectives over the ages on shared convictions and enriching understanding–Consolidated Wisdom quotes Lincoln, Yeats, Copernicus, Mandela, Donna Brazille, and the Indian mystic Kabir on the same page.

The chapter "Wisdom Meditations" finds Jones, a creativity consultant, introducing the art of autobrainstorming, a method of meditation intended to help readers to “tap” into “inner wisdom.” Jones offers original, flexible guidance and examples, coaching readers through, and studding the inviting instructions with more quotes. Each chapter ends with tools leading readers to related material. Consolidated Wisdom is an inspiring, well-organized resource guide that finds common cause with thinkers across millenia. It’s suited for readers wanting to explore wisdom through multiple frames of reference running the gamut of the human experience.

Takeaway: Inspiring exploration of wisdom through quotations and meditative practices.

Comparable Titles: Julie Fournier's Daily Wisdom, D.W. Brown's 2500 Years of Wisdom.

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

Click here for more about CONSOLIDATED WISDOM

Murders, mobsters, intelligence agency intrigue, and a touch of old-Hollywood glamor power this accomplished crime noir novel from Fayman (author of the Rolly Waters mystery series). In the 1950s, San Diego police officer Jake Stirling’s career is off to a successful start after he prevents the suicide of harboiled author Raymond Chandler, whose titles are echoed by this novel’s. The next year, Jake, assigned to La Jolla, is called to investigate the theft of Zsa Zsa Gabor’s diamond necklace and the train case it was stored in from the Del Charro Hotel room she shares with her latest paramour, Artie Corcoran. Working the case, Jake meets FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who seeks Jake’s loyalty, asking him to update Hoover about the investigation rather than Jake’s boss, Captain Wade Lennox. Jake recovers the missing necklace, but not the train case, but the body count rises, with gangsters like Meyer Lansky seemingly involved.

Uncertain who to trust, Jake—a good cop who joined the force “to serve and protect”—endeavors to find the truth before anyone else winds up dead, including him. Fayman adds authenticity to this brisk, twisty mystery with a richly evoked milieu, from beach mansions to sea caves to a Hollywood premiere, and historical figures with a real La Jolla connection. Their fictionalized dialogue and motivations feel fitting to the genre—Chandler even tips Jake off to classic noir elements like the possible corruption of the police department and the captain he works for.

The story finds Jake’s faith in institutions tested as he learns that even Hoover is not upstanding in either how he treats others or in his blatant racist remarks. Bursts of action and romance are effective, but it is Fayman’s stunning conclusion, with Jake faced with the reality of not trusting anyone in his professional life, and the hint of future installments, that will resonate most with readers.

Takeaway: A young cop can trust no one in this superior 1950s California noir.

Comparable Titles: Steph Cha’s Follow Her Home, Jordan Harper’s Everybody Knows.

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

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In this sixth outing in the Detective Hiroshi series, the Tokyo accountant/police officer and his team navigate multiple levels of fraud: low-level hoodlum Takuya, whose gang swindles the elderly; a daring scooter-riding thief; and a secretive criminal named Kurono with his own agenda. The various threads come together in a major plan to redevelop Tokyo. Meanwhile, Hiroshi's girlfriend Ayana is pregnant, and he wonders if he can be both a detective and family man. Takuya finds that even criminals can face a midlife crisis, as he mulls over his romance with restaurateur Misaki.

A wonderfully twisty plot holds readers' attention, but the greatest joy comes from the characters as police and criminals move toward personal and professional reckonings. Pronko deftly moves Hiroshi from crime solving to coping with the hormonal Ayana and her mother. Hiroshi also must work with his fellow detectives, such as the old-fashioned detective Takamatsu with a penchant for European clothes and Ishii, a female detective who is both progressive and traditional. Pronko likewise crafts criminals who prove just as well-limned, stirring reader sympathy for the criminal Takuya, and hope for his redemption rather than his capture. The subtly effective character development elevates the story far beyond the usual police procedural.

The best character may be Tokyo itself, which Pronko neatly introduces to Western readers, from old-fashioned ramen restaurants with their dingy charm to the skyscrapers homogenizing the city. Pronko does as good a job of taking us on a trip through Tokyo—and a sweet and mournful journey it is—as Simenon does through Inspector Maigret's Paris. He also suffuses the story with Japanese ritual and tradition. The overall effect is a book that operates on multiple levels—and is successful with each of them. The clever plot, engaging characters and haunting themes will stay with readers long after they read the last page.

Takeaway: Clever, haunting procedural with a resonant cast and a vivid Tokyo milieu.

Comparable Titles: Keigo Higashino; Georges Simenon.

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

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This illuminating biography of Amedeo Modigliani, the Italian painter and sculptor who died at age 35 with a reputation as a Cassanova-esque bad boy of fin-de-siècle art, urges a reconsideration of the artist’s life by emphasizing the reality of tuberculosis and what it’s like to live with a deadly diagnosis and a wrenching, tell-tale cough certain to prompt one’s ostracization in society. “To hide his cough, he invented for himself an almost hysterical laugh,” the sculptor Ossip Zadkine wrote. Colt, Emeritus Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the University of California, bolsters such testimony with thorough examinations of tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and other diseases, over history and in Modigliani’s moment in Paris’s Montmartre district in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, making a compelling case that the artist’s consumption of alcohol and opioids was, at heart, a way to control his symptoms.

Modigliani contracted the disease in his youth—as his sister put it, “the doctor’s diagnosis held no hope”—and entered the world of Belle Epoque Paris at a time when, as Colt writes, “even kissing was to be avoided” due to contagion. Colt takes on the romanticized legend of Modigliani’s hedonism and substance abuse (“there is no hard evidence Modigliani spent his days in a drunken and drugged stupor”) without downplaying contemporary accounts of the artist’s “rowdy behavior.” The Modigliani that emerges in this telling is a relentlessly productive genius, given to muses and lovers, all too aware of his own mortality, an awareness heightened as war ravages Europe.

Colt balances extensive considerations of the history, treatment, and effects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other illnesses with considerations of Modigliani’s work that draw smartly from a host of sources, critics, and contemporaries. A chapter on nudes is incisive, as are exploration of the artist’s relationships with his lovers and friends. Also strong: his rich evocation of bohemian life and the Montmartre, the storytelling tinged with romance but never lost in it.

Takeaway: Myth-busting biography of Modigliani, with an emphasis on the tubercular life.

Comparable Titles: Meryle Secrest’s Modigliani: A Life, David S. Barnes’s The Making of a Social Disease.

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

Click here for more about Becoming Modigliani

What is it like to love someone in unbearable pain and to parent them through it? Yokas’s unflinching but generous and ultimately rousing memoir plumbs this question with uncommon insight, digging into generational trauma, self-harm, disordered eating, and above all else how to face loved ones’ painful mental health issues with understanding. Yokas recounts feeling unmoored in the aftermath of her mother’s death, an unexpected loss that hit as Yokas already was worried about her eighth-grade daughter, Faith, facing an adolescence of bullies and misery due to being slightly overweight—an adolescence like Yokas’s own. Soon, Faith begins to forego meals “I had to beg her to eat the broiled chicken breast and steamed broccoli dinner”) and, one evening, intentionally thunks her head against her bedframe while lamenting her size.

Determined to save her daughter but with no idea how to make that happen, Yokas navigates a medical system and society that consistently fails people in need, straining her relationship with the emotionally volatile Faith and also her husband, Theo. Meanwhile, despite wrenching scenes and an “emotional pendulum” that swung from “rage to despair, desperation to worry,” Yokas looks into her past to examine and understand the emotional scars handed down from her parents, finding the courage and wisdom to persevere—and to both give and receive compassion, love, and support. Ultimately, it’s only when Yokas begins the hard work of standing up to her own history of rejection, low self-esteem, and neglect that healing becomes possible, for both mother and daughter.

Sharing a raw, honest look at facing and enduring a history of trauma, Bloodlines shows that the road to recovery is paved with acceptance, hope, and love. Yokas’s story, told with power and warmth, will help parents who are navigating mental health crises understand that the chains that bind us up in narratives often were forged long before we were born—and that they can be broken.

Takeaway: A mother’s raw, hopeful account of a daughter’s disordered eating.

Comparable Titles: Harriet Brown’s Brave Girl Eating, Hadley Freeman’s Good Girls.

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

Click here for more about Bloodlines

An adorable young penguin overcomes stage fright and learns self-confidence in the second of Nutley’s Pengwee & Ruby picture book series. When the glacier’s Talent Show rolls around, Ruby—a fledgling penguin who marches to her own beat—declares she’s “nexcited,” a combo of nervous and excited, to her friend, Pengwee. Being nexcited is no small thing, either, as Ruby goes on to explain it makes her “body feel all jumbly wumbly” and causes her heart to beat too loudly—so loud, she’s worried she’ll be a flop on stage.

Pengwee, in true best friend fashion, coaxes the value of having an extra strong heart out of Ruby, building her up with chummy assurances that his heart does the same thing when he’s uneasy, and the two discover they have quite a lot in common, as Ruby announces her heart “hip-hops when I’m happy, sinks when I’m sad,” just like Pengwee’s heart “dances when I’m delighted [and] burrows when I’m bummed.” Pengwee helps build Ruby’s confidence to take the stage, and, sure enough, a familiar face in the crowd gives her the self-assurance she needs to steal the show. Rusu’s cheery hued illustrations evoke the frosty feel of glaciers against a brilliant blue sky, and Ruby and Pengwee’s expressive eyes shine as they navigate the ups and downs of self-esteem.

Younger readers will fall for the fun words and sounds Nutley introduces: Ruby dances the “Jiggly Wiggly” after her stellar performance and “joggly woggly[s]” to Pengwee for a celebratory hug, declaring her heart is “as big and warm as sunshine.” For musical-minded readers, Nutley collaborated with a songwriter to bring Ruby’s Talent Show song to life. This is a cool tale with a warm, fuzzy center.

Takeaway: Warm-hearted tale of a penguin who finds the courage to be herself.

Comparable Titles: Rachel Bright’s The Lion Inside, Jacqueline Woodson’s The Day You Begin.

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

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Making the case that heart disease is, in truth, “a disease of the arteries,” author and journalist Driscoll offers an illuminating guide to keeping arteries—and the bodies and brains they nourish —healthy. Driscoll offers a clear-eyed and helpful guide to heart and brain health, laying out a path to forestall “poor aging,” strokes, slowed down brains, vascular dementia, and more, with an emphasis on limiting clogging and other preventive measures for the life-threatening heart diseases that are "the leading cause of death both in the United States and worldwide.” Your Arteries covers how and why clogging occurs, early stage detection of cardiovascular diseases, and exciting new treatments featuring statin drug therapy.

"This book is designed to be an owner’s manual for your arteries," Driscoll writes, a claim born out by illustrations demystifying blood flow and plaque build-up and the presentation of eight healthy habits that can promote artery health such as eating better, being more active, and getting healthy sleep. Writing in crisp, clear sentences, Driscoll provides actionable advice and knowledge about atherosclerosis ("which literally means artery clogging"), strokes and dementia, and more, from the four diets recommended by cardiologists to the steps it takes to arrange for carotid artery ultrasound screening. The how-to advice for adopting healthy habits and taking charge of hearts (and arteries) is presented with a minimum of fuss, a wealth of clearly cited medical authorities, and a welcome focus on the bottom line: what readers can do now to add quality years to life.

In fact, the approach is highly practical, documenting the availability of screening for artery clogging across a host of health care systems and companies, with of-the-moment breakdowns of price, processes, and what to expect. Straight-forward and concise, Driscoll’s information is clearly organized and presented, and his case for proactive care, especially preventative screening as early as the age of 20, is quite literally heartening.

Takeaway: Practical guide to taking charge of artery and heart health.

Comparable Titles: Sian E. Harding's The Exquisite Machine, Gene McDougall's Unclog Your Arteries.

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

Click here for more about Your Arteries--An Owner's Manual

In this inviting and pragmatic guide, McClure and Wilde share a fresh way of thinking about innovation and launching new projects: ecosystem innovation. As business coaches and entrepreneurs themselves, they provide a helpful background in traditional means of innovation (optimization, waterfall, agile) and then demonstrate how taking a holistic view of the ecosystems in which “wicked problems” are embedded can help us in solving them. The authors urge readers to think of themselves as “choreographers”—that is, someone who “applies big-picture thinking, builds connections, and does some rule-breaking”—guiding a team’s disparate actors in accomplishing those “bigger things” of the title. Most helpfully, McClure and Wilde include a practical roadmap to implementing ecosystem innovation, from casting a bold vision to making sure that “everyone gets a pony” (that is, all the participants benefit).

McClure and Wilde pack Do Bigger Things with real-life examples of people using ecosystem innovation to tackle difficult social and business problems and reach for big opportunities: from AirBnB revolutionizing the hotel industry to providing education in refugee camps to COVID vaccination campaigns in Mexico. Together with clear diagrams, “ecosystem maps,” as they call them, these examples make the process of applying the lessons of the book clear and flexible. Although part of the planning process involves setting ethical guardrails, the ethical concerns raised by some of their examples, such as Uber, are not explored in depth.

This guide would serve a reader well who is facing a challenging problem, in business or in their community, and looking to solve it outside of the usual models for innovation. McClure and Wilde emphasize that some projects demand other models of innovation, such as big ones with well understood parameters (engineering innovation) or small projects with unknown restrictions (agile pilots), leaving ecosystem innovation for big, complex problems. Whether an experienced “choreographer,” or someone new to the field entirely, the guidance here will help any reader accomplish transformation in pursuit of their goals.

Takeaway: Clear, actionable guide to “ecosystem innovation” for facing challenging projects.

Comparable Titles: Jeff Sutherland’s The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time , Leah Kral’s Innovation for Social Change.

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

Click here for more about Do Bigger Things

In this riveting historical thriller, biblical archeologists, hired guns for the Russian mob, and the Vatican are scrambling to get their hands on the ancient relic of Saint Nicholas, purportedly a “manifestation of God’s majesty” believed to have uncanny healing powers. Maggie Shepherd and her mentor, Professor Sizel Bruscoli, are tasked with retrieving the relic for the Vatican as a peace offering to end a millennia-spanning conflict between the Eastern and Western Catholic Church. Maggie has faith, but Bruscoli is a skeptic who often “jumps on” Maggie for letting religion “interfere” with her work, though a surprise diagnosis and a series of dreams will test the professor’s certainty. Complicating matters: Maggie and her team aren’t the only ones on the chase. Malachi Popov is on a mission to recover the relic at the behest of a dying Russian mob boss, who believes it will heal him.

Kelly pens an intricate historical adventure that spans millennia as he weaves in factual details of Nicholas' life in historical flashbacks and exciting travelogue elements as Maggie and Malachi touch down in Rome, Bari, and Moscow in search of answers. No one is safe in Kelly's narrative, and readers who appreciate a blend of archaeological exploration, mysteries of faith, and international chases will find much to enjoy, never quite knowing who to trust. Kelly escalates the tension as more interested parties are revealed, a host of secrets and lies face exposure, and Bruscoli faces the possibility of the miraculous.

Rich in culture, themes of belief, and the grand implications of its relic, The Malachi Covenant exemplifies its genre, blending brisk plotting, action-packed sequences, and jolting betrayals with thoughtful spiritual inquiry, keeping the suspense potent up to a satisfying conclusion. Fans of historical fiction with biblical context and globe trotting adventure will be engaged and immersed in this intricately woven story with larger than life characters.

Takeaway: Memorable thriller of the hunt for a relic and possible miracles.

Comparable Titles: Gary McAvoy; Raymond Khoury.

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

Click here for more about The Malachi Covenant

Gouveia delivers a fanciful fantasy for young readers, the second in her Drifters Realm series (after Drifters Realm). In the realm, Roe is a Life Giver from Paradise Farm, working with other gifted teens to thwart the evil Zane’s determination to destroy their peaceful way of life—something her father went to his death to protect. Determined to preserve their valued way of life, triplets Roe (who is a Life Giver), Ori (a Sorcerer), Tora (a Storm Catcher), and their older brother, Theo (who spends most of the book as the Lion) join with others to defeat their evil uncle, Zane, who is determined to consolidate power for his nefarious purposes. To make matters even worse, Zane used one of the menacing Guardians years earlier to raise Tora as his own daughter rather than his late brother—before Tora truly knew her own identity.

The series blends surprising magic with emotional resonance and an emphasis on "the collective strengths ... of friends and family" to accomplish great things. Magical backpacks, a clever and appealing invention, provide power to the valiant teens, who each have different but complementary powers—or so they believe, until one teen attempts to steal someone else’s special gift, something that the evil Zane is determined to acquire for himself. Secrets, mysteries, and surprises abound, some seeded in the earlier entry, though Gouveia does a fine job of succinctly summarizing the relevant plot points from book one.

In some instances, paragraphs are so long as to be visually intimidating, especially for a middle-grade audience. However, the skillful world-building, bursts of inventive magic, well-drawn characters, and touchingly realized relationships will make readers forgive that, even as she ends on a tantalizing cliffhanger. Lovely paintings by Branislav Sosic punctuate the chapters, bringing the author’s world-building to breathtaking life. A host of compelling supporting characters, especially Emma (formerly known as the Ghost of Ruin) and brave Hao, add depth. Those who enjoy inventive school-age fantasy will devour Gouveia’s engaging tale.

Takeaway: Vividly imagined fantasy with an appealing magic and life-bringing heroes.

Comparable Titles: Christina Wallace’s The Light Keeper, Anna Garnet’s The Seasons.

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

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In this heart-stopping thriller from Pepper (author of You Will Know Vengeance), 20-year-old Ruth “Rook” Kellum goes from running from the law to running for her life in a history-making ice storm in the Mississippi Delta. In despair over her Gramma’s heart attack and lack of insurance, Ruth takes the advice of a friend and steals a dying woman’s insurance. This one bad choice leads to others, eventually bringing her to a small-town bar in Mississippi—alone with the bartender, sheriff, and a guy from town, Riley—as the storm comes in, closing roads. From there, things get increasingly scarier and weirder for Rook, with the source of danger not always clear and Rook regularly relying on her Gramma’s “Sit-Rep” training to assess each situation quickly and help her make it out alive.

Never letting readers stop to breathe, Pepper paces the story relentlessly, never allowing a slow moment. There’s always something happening, usually something shocking, as every character Rook comes into contact with is suspicious in some way, with Pepper leaving readers, like Rook, to wonder who can be trusted. But even as Rook regularly ends up in wild situations, going from one immediately to the next, Pepper keeps the escalating perils down to Earth enough to be believable. Adding to the suspense, each chapter often changes time periods (from “last year” to “then” and to “now”), with each section offering its own urgent mini cliffhangers.

As the title suggests, miserable, cold, icy weather is a constant. Pulling from his own experiences of the real-life Delta Ice Storm in 1994, Pepper conjures a chilly sense of terror, showcasing the real dangers of the storm, from icy roads and pelting ice to tree limbs–and then entire trees–raining down everywhere, smashing into homes and cutting off electricity. One Icy Night’s frightening exploration of the perils of both mother nature and human nature will keep readers quickly turning pages.

Takeaway: Non-stop thriller of one woman’s attempt to survive a Mississippi Delta ice storm.

Comparable Titles: Luanne Rice’s Last Night, Alice Feeney’s Rock Paper Scissors.

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

Click here for more about One Icy Night: 30th Anniversary of the '94 Delta Ice Storm Edition