Lewis Sinclair and the Gentlemen Cowboys by D.M.S. Fick
With a full cast of crooners and misfits, Fick keeps you guessing until the last. Written with the cadence and twang of a good old country western song, the dialogue is sharp and the action fast-paced.
Clouded Waters by Dianna Hunter
CLOUDED WATERS is a well-written mystery that addresses issues near and dear to those of us living in the Arrowhead Region of Minnesota and beyond. If you are a socially conscious reader, go forth, my friends, and pick up a copy of CLOUDED WATERS. Highly recommended for mystery fans looking for stories with depth and heart.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
YOU COULD MAKE THIS PLACE BEAUTIFUL is not a tell-all as Smith assures us -- it is a contemplation on modern love, a reckoning with expectations, and an excavation of self. It is a lyrical meditation on hope and what is left when all seems lost. Maggie Smith does indeed make something beautiful -- a life lived with integrity and love and possibility.
A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power
Mona Susan Power has written a heart-rending book about three generations of Dakota women spanning from the 19th century to the present day in in her newest novel, A COUNCIL OF DOLLS, available from booksellers August 8.
California Golden by Melanie Benjamin
Author Melanie Benjamin is a master of historical fiction. Her best-selling novels include THE AVIATOR’S WIFE, SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE, and THE CHILDREN’S BLIZZARD. Her newest, CALIFORNIA GOLDEN IS SET IN the 1960’s surf culture of California. Described as a mash-up of the Beach Boy’s , Gidget, and the counterculture of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, CALIFORNIA GOLDEN is Benjamin at her best. From her deep dive research into trailblazing surfing icon Marge Calhoun and other pioneering female surfers to 1960’s popular culture – the music, movies, television, and fashion of this iconic era -- Benjamin sends you back to your beach blanket, listening to music on your transistor radio.
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
Rachel is a college student working in a bookstore in 2009 at the height of the financial crisis in Cork, Ireland. James is her co-worker and though they seem an unlikely match, they soon become the best of friends and roommates. The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue is witty and warm and full of the angst of young adulthood.
The Midnight News by Jo Baker
The Midnight News is unlike any other World War II era novel I’ve read. Part love story and part mystery, I found Jo Baker’s plot intriguing, her characters engrossing, and the twist at the end of the novel masterful. A riveting story about resiliency and survival.
The Art Thief, A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel
The Art Thief, A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession is a propulsive read, meticulously researched and compellingly told. I look forward to Finkel’s future books.
Still Life at Eighty, The Next Best Thing by Abigail Thomas
You won’t find the secret of life buried here among the sentences and paragraphs, what you will find, however, will be transparency and authenticity – you’ll find a woman who has come to terms with being referred to as elderly … because, frankly, Abigail Thomas’s eighty is nothing you’ve experienced before.
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE LAKESIDE SUPPER CLUB will feel like home to Midwesterners – grab a stool at the bar and settle in for a warm and witty read.
A Hundred Lives Since Then by Gail Rosenblum
Rosenblum’s collection of essays is a delightful way to end a day – with each essay encompassing a mere 2-3 pages, it’s the perfect nightcap to end a long day.
The Other Family Doctor; A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us About Love, Life, and Mortality by Karen Fine, DVM
Brimful of touching, joyful, heartbreaking, and life affirming tales, THE OTHER FAMILY DOCTOR is a must-read for animal lovers and pet owners.
On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
McDaniel’s strength lies in her lyrical prose and character development. I cared for the twins and their ragtag family of friends, but I also despaired for their future, and raged at a world where the women were not considered victims, but somehow implicated in their own demise. Women in abusive relationships are often told they deserve to be mistreated and women who use drugs and prostitute themselves to make a living are told they are asking for it. ON THE SAVAGE SIDE is a testimony to missing women everywhere. Bravo to McDaniel for lifting up these silenced voices.
The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives by David Mura
The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and our American Narratives by David Mura should be required reading in all high school and college classrooms – and for all Americans. Mura presents a cohesive, comprehensive, and uncompromising look into how white stories about race erase our true historical narrative and foster racism in the present.
Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan
BROTHERLESS NIGHTS is an engrossing and heartrending read, and Sashi is a heroine for the ages. Ganeshananthan writes brilliantly about a complex subject, casting a spotlight on the forgotten heroes and victims of war.
The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be by Shannon Gibney
Transracial adoption is never tidy, and cannot be encapsulated in an individual story, but Gibney does a masterful job of helping the reader understand the complexities of identity and the machinations of the adoption industrial complex. A writer with courage and heart, Gibney lays bare her experience for the benefit of us all.
Not the Camilla We Knew; One Woman's Path from Small-Town America to the Symbionese Liberation Army by Rachael Hanel
A shocking and well-researched portrait of a pastor’s daughter from St. Peter, Minnesota, whose life took a radical turn when she joined the Symbionese Liberation Army, ultimately dying in a shootout with the Los Angeles Police Department in 1974.
Demon Copperhead By Barbara Kingsolver
Demon is resilient, he’s Teflon, he’s going to suffer, and the people he loves are not all going to make it out alive, but Demon, Demon is going to be all right.
Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon
Cash Blackbear is one of my favorite anti-heroes — a brash beer-drinking, pool-playing Ojibwe woman who has aged out of the foster care system.