Dear reader,

Our booksellers have been reading a lot lately and, if you are in any other part of the country experiencing a winter like ours, you understand why it's been easy to do a lot of reading lately.

We hope you'll sit back with your warm beverage of choice this morning and peruse our many reviews in this newsletter. Let's be honest though, right now there is one thing equally as important as books, and it goes well with a warm beverage too.

Today, February 27th, is . . .

While supplies last, and they don’t last long, people!

In store purchases only. (Obviously. That would be messy.) One slice per shopper. 

See you soon and happy reading,

Katie

Welcome to Between the Cover’s latest Bookmark Series! 

Theme:

“The Quotable Reader"

Please take a moment to read through all of the guidelines for submission. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to let us know. Our customers and readers are always so excited when new bookmarks arrive. It is a wonderful way for a miniature reproduction of your art to end up in the hands of many. Thank you for submitting your artwork for consideration.

Guidelines:

1. All entries must be received by 8:00 pm on June 1, 2026. The series will run from July 2026 through June 2027. $100 cash prize for the winning series!
2. Artists must submit two to four designs within the series’ theme. The theme is open to interpretation, so be as creative as you’d like (but do keep at least one design child friendly!). Please submit all designs at the same time.
3. Any media that can be transferred in some way to paper is acceptable. Black-and-white, full color, or grey scale—that is up to you. (Bookmarks are NOT printed on photo paper.)
4. Art should be created for bookmarks whose dimensions measure 2 1/4” x 6”. This includes a 1/4” bleed surrounding the entire image, which must be allowed for printing purposes. 
5. Bookmarks are single-sided.
6. Do not include bookstore information on the bookmark. Our in-house graphic designer will add digitally before printing.
7. Designs must be submitted in a jpg format via email to books@btcbookshs.com. If your artwork has not been created in a digital way, you may scan and send as a jpg file. If your designs are chosen for the series and the printers require any adjustments, we may ask for your assistance in resizing or reconfiguring a file.

Have fun, let your imaginings wander, and thank you again for making each reader’s visit to Between the Covers a little more special.

Store Hours

Monday - Friday 

9:30 am - 5:30 pm 

Saturday

10 am - 5 pm

Sunday

11 am - 4 pm

For every $100 spent in most small businesses, $68 stay in local downtowns and their environs. Between the Covers continues to give away an average of

2 months of profits

every year.

Thank you for joining in our efforts to support arts, culture, general welfare and literacy by buying your books from local booksellers and returning dollars to our town.

SUMMER READING BOOK BONANZA IS BACK AND WE CAN'T DO IT AGAIN WITHOUT YOU!

In our continued efforts to support literacy, combat summer slide, and offer resources for local students and educators, Between the Covers is pleased to announce the return of Summer Reading Book Bonanza!

Our goal, once again, is to provide every Harbor Springs student in grades

preK through 8th with a book to read

this summer.

Titles will be selected by Between the Covers' booksellers and will focus on authors and illustrators with whom students may be less familiar. The featured titles will be spring 2026 releases of high interest to young readers, and catered appropriately for grade level.

While we firmly believe it is part of our mission as an indie bookstore to share a love of reading, we cannot take on the financial commitment alone. This is when we turn to you—our friends, readers and customers.

We are now asking for sponsorships to make this program a reality!

• Contributions may be made in any increment.
• $350 sponsors an entire classroom (not grade level).
• You may sponsor a particular grade level (preK-8th) or designate for area of greatest need.
• Between the Covers is not a nonprofit organization. Your contribution is NOT tax deductible.
• Contributions may be made in-store or by phone.

We hope you will help us in meeting a goal of $11,500 by April 1st. This ensures that each preK through 8th grade student receives a new book before the end of the school year, and allows ample time for the selection and ordering process.

Any funds in excess of the goal will be distributed towards classroom libraries in the childcare facilities in Blackbird Elementary, which was enthusiastically appreciated last year.

Thank you for your support in helping us to put good books into the hands of good young readers!

I went back and forth on how to describe this book, but to me, the feeling that the cover image evoked is what Benjamin Wood crafted in the story, anemoia: a deep feeling of nostalgia for a time I’ve never experienced. 

Seascraper follows a young man with an old soul named Thomas, who has taken over his family’s generations-long career of shrimping. Complete with horse and cart, he toils his life away on the shores of the Irish sea. One day, a famous movie producer sees Thomas and decides immediately that he is to be the vision behind his new movie, thus ripping Thomas out of his routine and throwing him opportunities he never thought possible. This story is a beautiful example of contentment in everyday life, but also the yearning for more. 

-avarie

Evelyn in Transit follows the lives of Evelyn Budnart and that of Tsering Lekpa. From a young age, both awaken to the fact that they are both alive, and separate from everything else.

This awakening prompts Evelyn to abandon her Catholic roots and childhood home, driving her to seek answers to nagging existential questions. Quirky, sometimes funny, but always serious Evelyn meets a complete cast of characters on her journey. She takes on many jobs where her motto is that hard work is of utmost importance. When she becomes pregnant, Evelyn returns home to raise her son.

At a young age, Tsering is named to be the third reincarnation of Norbu Rinpoche. This elevated position separates him from his peers, causing him to doubt if he truly deserves it. His involuntary departure from Tibet, triggered by the Chinese occupation, launched a transformative journey that eventually brought him to the United States. When Tsering and Evelyn’s worlds collide, she is confronted with a pivotal choice, one that promises to reshape her future and fundamentally alter the life of her son.

Guterson’s Evelyn in Transit, is a beautifully balanced, thought-provoking journey with flashes of wit that I thoroughly relished.

-liz

Longlisted for The 2025 Booker Prize, this slim volume is meditative yet conversational, sharp-witted and lovely. 

When Teresa’s mom died nine years ago, she happened upon a small coastal town in Greece. This place allowed her to grieve and to fall into the rhythm of its daily life.

Now Teresa returns to this place of familiar comfort following her father’s death. She is welcomed to the hotel where she had previously stayed and seeks out the people she remembers. Jonathan Buckley creates a beautiful tapestry by weaving Teresa’s past and present encounters together with the reflections she writes in her notebook.

Conversations among the characters can be as uncomplicated as daily pleasantries, achingly and profoundly questioning, or as thought provoking as to question the meaning of consciousness. A beautiful and insightful novel.

-susan

Probably one of my favorite works of fiction in 2025. Like Sarah Winman’s incredible novel Still Life, there is a hint of the improbable, but also a grand tale of those who are both ordinary and extraordinary.

Gabriel Fisher is born in northern Wisconsin. His young mother, Amish by birth but struggling with the ways of the Amish community, dies in child birth and Gabriel is left in the care of his older brother. At Gabriel’s birth we meet veterinarian Thomas Kennedy. He too has a story that has brought him to Lakota, Wisconsin. Doc Kennedy assists in the birth and forges a lifelong friendship and mentorship with Gabriel.

Gabriel physically grows in epic proportions, walking before he is a year old, exceptionally strong, and athletic. Gabriel has great empathy for the world around him, with a heightened gentleness and ability to communicate with animals. He loves the time he spends with Doc Kennedy but Gabriel’s size does not go unnoticed by the athletic community.

When Gabriel’s brother dies, his mother’s devout Amish parents take custody of Gabriel and he all but disappears from the “English” world. Gabriel’s grandmother, Hannah, is strong yet stoic, and faithfully embraces the Amish way of life. Gabriel’s grandfather, Josiah, is strict but fair with Gabriel, yet holds deep secrets of his own.  

The English and Amish communities live parallel lives in Lakota with the curmudgeonly local bar owner Billy Walton bridging the communities.

When Gabriel is 17, his size and athletic ability is recognized by coaches beyond. He goes from a quiet existence to a stardom with all the glories, trials and heartaches.

Hannah too begins to question the Amish life, the only life she has ever known. Doc Kennedy’s empathy and love for the animals he cares for spills over to a community which has embraced him. Gabriel will need the support of both as his fame cracks and secrets are told. What actions are truly not worthy of acceptance or forgiveness?

-susan

I was simply bowled over by Iida Turpeinen’s powerful amalgam of meticulously-researched natural history and narrative historical fiction which together tell the story of the discovery of the Stellar’s Sea Cow. A prehistoric relative of both the dugong and the manatee, this gentle giant grew to 30 feet and was first discovered in the Bering Sea in 1741. 

We follow the explorer and the naturalist credited with naming, illustrating and studying the Sea Cows before catapulting to the middle of the 19^th century, when

Alaska is a bargaining chip and has in place a European governor and his wife. The first lady, being unprepared for the doldrums brought on by the harsh winter landscape and the lack of “sophisticated” peers, finds some companionship in the collection of native flora and fauna housed in the governor’s manor. Her story of loneliness unfolds in that place before readers come to the third and final section of this novel.

We find ourselves in the Natural History Museum in Helsinki in the 1950s where a group of artists and scientists and preservationists have been tasked with reassembling the sole and complete fossilized skeleton of a Stellar’s Sea Cow (if you take a trip to Finland, make a stop—the skeleton is still there). 

The means by which Turpeinen has centralized this story of extinction through three centuries is remarkably agile and accomplished. In the acknowledgements, she highlights the nearly 380 animals which disappeared from Earth in the seven years of her researching and writing this novel, thereby pointing a finger at the destruction humanity has brought and continues to bring down on the natural world. Timely and stirring, this novel is unexpected and welcome.

-katie

They say dust is mostly made up of tiny bits of skin. People don’t like that, I know. But I find it comforting. They’re still here, on the lampshades, on the light switches, in little gray snowdrifts on the back of the doors and the skirting boards.

Thornwalk, the once lavish estate, has been purchased by the ‘hotel people.’ All that remains of the five Gilbert children and their mother are the things they’ve left behind: the ashes in the old stove, the purplish stain on a rug in the library, the splatters of a rust colored substance on the upstairs landing. In a stream of conscious, the narrator takes us around the property, through the eve of WWII to the early aughts, reflecting on the unfortunate family that decayed along with their fortune. 

I was ill prepared for the quiet devastation of such a mundane thing as a tangle of grass under a bed. Angela Tomaski’s debut novel was funny and entertaining, but left me a little gutted with the tragedy of the Gilberts’ end.

-avarie

Hwang Bo-reum studied computer science and was working as a software engineer when at age 30 she discovered it was no longer a suitable role. Her debut novel, Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, became an overnight sensation and spurred several translations from her native Korean tongue.

In Every Day I Read, Bo-reum displays her deep appreciation for literature. At its core, it is an intimate exploration of what it means to read for pleasure and purpose. The collection of essays not only compels us to diversify our literary palate, but also offers practical advice on how to do so.

Whether reading for leisure or deepening a lifelong passion, Every Day I Read, provides something for every literary appetite.

-liz

Mostly, Is This a Cry for Help? is Emily Austin’s love letter to libraries, and it truly does lay bare all the ways a public library serves its community. From providing equitable access to information to giving the homeless a place to get warm, libraries are the unsung heroes in the fight for equality. 

But Austin doesn’t simply hit us over the head with facts, of course. The main character, Darcy, is still coming to terms with the loss of her ex-boyfriend. Feelings of guilt that she had ruined his life leads to a mental breakdown and her journey of coming to terms with who she is now versus who she was then requires a lot of introspection, something Austin does well. In the meantime, the library is bearing the attacks of the religious right with all the vitriol and scare tactics these attacks seem to be famous for. 

The main characters, Darcy and her wife, live such a seemingly idyllic life with their cats in a cozy bungalow on a little lake. Darcy is quirky and committed to her job. She’s also just trying to make the world a little bit better by providing access and hope and answers to patrons’ questions with kindness and patience all while being personally and professionally attacked by the “right” who always think they’re right. The fight to exist and to fight for others to exist is truly exhausting and Darcy embodies this. But the book also reminds us of the power of sticking together, standing up for each other, and, ultimately, how finding a reflection of ourselves and others in the written word can literally save lives. Is there much of a plot? No. But is the journey to get to the message worth it? Absolutely yes. 

-alison

Lillian Li’s sophomore novel is a cautionary tale about what happens when one person’s future begins when everyone else’s world is ending. It’s 2008 and The Great Recession has landed just as friends Errol, Justin, Diana and Vivian are graduating from college. The competitive pressures of their Chinese American upbringings have in no way prepared them (nor their family friends, neighbors and relatives) for moving back in with their parents, dropping out of graduate school, and being unemployed and unemployable. 

Partially out of boredom, partially out of frustration, the friend group's mutual acquaintance, Grace, decides to make a film about this foursome. The documentary will post on a little know platform called YouTube. It will give them something to do and a way to talk openly about their beefs with one another and the generations that got them into this mess. No big deal. It’s not like this YouTube thing is ever going to take off.

And then it’s viral. Any attempts to undo and unspeak become even more tangled and this group of young people will be forced to decide who they are, who gets to decide who they are, and how they will get there. 

With a heart, humor and honesty that could only have come from someone who was there, Bad Asians makes it clear that this century has afforded many opportunities for finger pointing—and perhaps for redemption too.

-katie

On the 18th of November, Nils Vik wakes with the realization that it is his last day living. He packs up his house, and writes a letter to his daughters. His sweetheart is long gone from this world. 

Nils boards his ferry for the last time.

As he’s traveling the fjord, he collects souls not unlike Charon of Greek Mythology. From a troublesome school boy, to an American photographer, to his ever loyal canine companion, Luna, they board the ferry for their final trip. Frode Grytten takes us on a journey through Nils’ last day, paging through his log books that have recorded an existence rich with the kind of experiences that give life a quiet, but profound sort of meaning. 

I could only hope that my life will be even a fraction of as full as the Ferryman’s. 

-avarie

In the beginning stages of Covid lockdown, Belle Burden’s husband of 20 years delivers a shocking revelation: he is having an affair and he wants a divorce. He does not want the house or the apartment, nor does he want any type of custody of their three children. This revelation leads Belle on a journey of introspection without accusation or blame. Strangers, underscores the inherent mystery of the person sitting across from us. From despair to personal triumphs, Burden's transformation is a compelling narrative.

-liz

Wow, what an intriguing stay up all night to finish debut novel. I read the advance readers copy which included a request from the editor for readers to flip to the contents. Part I, six chapters titled after artists. Part II, three chapters, each titled Maine, Maine, Maine and the editors note, “What happens in Maine?” It took a lot of discipline not to read the ending first, which I never do!

Readers are immediately drawn into Christine’s present world. Christine is on tour for her first novel, a cathartic revenge fantasy based on an ill-fated relationship with a professor while she was a student in art school. She has left the art world, along with several relationships to reinvent herself, no longer as a artist but as an author. 

The book tour takes her to many cities where Christine has encounters with past friends, strangers and ex-partners. Though she no longer paints, Christine continues to be drawn into the world of art. Her fractured memories of past relationships and friendships begin to surface, especially after receiving a cryptic text: that’s not how I remember it.”

As the book tour continues and begins to disintegrate, Christine accepts an invitation from the art professor to come to Maine. 

Larissa Pham is a master of crafting tension and precision in every word. I loved how the author wove art and artists into this novel, along with our tendency to perceive art differently. The same is true in life—we perceive narratives of the truth and relationships differently. Well worth the read.

-susan

Ah, young love. That coming-of-age college headiness of getting to know someone, ignoring red flags, maybe not quite trusting your instincts, perhaps not knowing quite what love is. Lily King captures those feelings with all the exact, concise words, weaving the first half of this novel into a love story. It’s taut and tense and so compelling I read the entire book in one sitting, staying up until 2am to do so. I haven’t done that since New Years Eve 2024! (And, for the record, that’s not happening again for a loooong while).

Heart the Lover reminds me of Listen to the Marriage and Dinosaurs—books that seemingly have little going on (no one is murdered, there are no great stakes like losing a kingdom or having a career ruined) yet the characters are so well written that we feel their very humanness and are so invested it’s impossible to stop reading. 

In the second half—years after college when life is more settled—King revisits that love from the perspective of a mother and wife. She hits on every kind of love—love of a mother for a child, a daughter for her mother, a wife and husband, friends. It’s really just a beautifully crafted story of what it entails to be a living, breathing, conscious human with all of its heartache and hopefulness, sometimes occurring at the same time. 

-alison

I am all for a slim package that delivers a massive punch. Television does just that by playing with dialogue and timelines and narrators. Portraying a Hollywood that is at once immediately recognizable yet irrevocably warped, Lauren Rothery has invented a modern novel that conjures a laugh and a cringe in the same thought. 

The fractured bizarreness of the male lead—who, unbeknownst to his film studio (and perhaps illegally—it remains to be seen), has given away his TREMENDOUS royalties from his most recent mediocre franchise production to one lucky ticket buyer—and his relationships to an unnamed and impoverished screenwriter, the infantile model he is dating, and his oldest-bestest friend (who happens to be his on-again-off-again-lover-and-ultimate-voice-of-reason) drive the plot, such as it exists.

What really propels the story, however, are Rothery’s astute observations of the commodification of art, the decline of an industry that saw streaming services as their savior, and the belief that great loves can survive all the bullshit out there.

-katie

You’d do well to remember that Miriam Richter has never been human. Animal impulses melded with darkness have made a cruel, callous being. She always gets what she wants. 

After centuries of making deals for souls, Miriam is stunned in 1592. Cybil Harding has the brightest soul she’s ever seen; it is one that she must possess. The two have chemistry. Their banter and bite collide and the naive, cursed Cybil might have almost been convinced to give up her soul. 

However, a witch hunt cuts Cybil’s life short. On her dying breath, a bargain is struck: her light for reincarnation and the chance to break the curse that killed her. What Cybil didn’t anticipate is that she could have as many souls as stars and Miriam would still find her in every lifetime.

-avarie

Adi, a grieving father, answers an ad for a job with a noble cause: to remove a malignant growth that is steadily erasing some of the most vulnerable and least studied flora and fauna on the Pacific Island of Santa Flora. After failing to save his son, then his marriage, he believes this mission might just save himself. But as the story unfolds, Adi begins to question the validity of his actions. While Adi might be able to eradicate the growth, what he cannot eradicate is the truth.

A powerful pocket-sized narrative, Eradication

leaves a lasting impression.

-liz

The Flynns are a tad . . . unconventional. Harper, the youngest, is a multilingual genius with a propensity for deceit. Louise is the token middle child desperately seeking attention. She has found the love of her life in an online boyfriend, “Yours Truly,” who gets her put on the no fly list at the ripe age of fifteen. Not to be forgotten, the showstopping eldest child Abigail, is dating “War Crimes Wes,” a young veteran with a wretched case of IBS. 

And if you thought the kids were the ones with the worst of the problems, you’d be mistaken. Their father Bud is in a relationship with his work-mandated spiritual councilor. And their less than motherly matriarch Catherine? With the neighbor down the cul-de-sac that has a novelty brass rooster mailbox. 

The family is pulled into the criminal underbelly of their little town when Bud, at the behest of the ever snooping Harper, discovers a discrepancy in a yearly receipt of cargo. He resolves to investigate the suspicious activity, which may just involve the town’s resident billionaire, Paul Alabaster.

 If you frequently deploy humor as a coping mechanism, this book might hit a little close to home but in the best way. 

-avarie

Halfway through this novel by the author of The Turner House, I was surprised at how invested I’d become in the lives of Desiree, Nakia, January, and Monique. These four lifelong friends brave the wilderness of everything from assisted suicides to starting a business to living as an influencer to dealing with being a Black woman in America throughout the early 2000s into 2027. It’s a novel of friendship, of support and change and love and grief; and it’s a story of New York and Los Angeles, their different cultures and rhythms. Fair warning: the ending took me a couple of days to finish even though I only had a few pages left. It paints such a realistic portrait of what potentially is to come (or has already arrived) that I could only read it in small increments. Ultimately, this is a book that has continued to haunt me and make me consider what it means to be a friend and sister and daughter and citizen. 

-alison

 Poppy is grief-stricken from the recent death of her enigmatic sister, Dandelion. When Poppy discovers a dating app on Dandelion’s phone, she gets pulled into a deceptive narrative where she assumes Dandelion’s identity, and begins to date an equally flawed Jake. What unfolds is a raw, unfiltered madness that makes this book incredibly compelling. A poignant mix of absurdity and heartbreak, it’s as thought-provoking as it is funny.

-liz

Beth Macy grew up in Urbana, Ohio in the ‘70s and ‘80s. She was dirt poor—they only had a roof over their heads because Beth’s grandmother owned the house next door and allowed them to live there. But Urbana had a solid middle class and good schools and Beth got the benefit of both—friends whose families would take her in and provide role models of a world where the dad wasn’t drunk and options were available to improve your life should you choose to take advantage of them. Education was her ticket out; with a Pell Grant, Beth went to college and then took off on a career in journalism. 

In 2020, as Beth’s mother’s health deteriorated, she began visiting more often, and as her exposure to her home town became more consistent, she wondered what had happened to her classmates and, frankly, her own family members, in the course of the prior 40 years. The election of Donald Trump led to a lot of revelations about people she had once been close to, but much of the current dissatisfaction could be traced back to earlier administrations and the adoption of legislation that made factory jobs scarce. Urbana was barely holding on. People were poorer and angrier, conspiracy theories flourished, mental health was deteriorating, school attendance was floundering, and local news and civic pride was all but completely eroded both in her town and in her immediate family. It’s an insightful look into how our country has failed our middle class while also celebrating the people who haven’t stopped trying to make their own little corner of the world better for everyone. 

-alison

Fresh off her adult debut, First Lie Wins, Ashley Elston’s newest thriller has the same “How will she get out of this?” vibe. When Ben Bayliss is found brutally murdered in his lavish Louisiana home, his wife seems to be a prime suspect. Except Camille was spotted at Chantilly’s Bar the night of his murder. Or was she? Turns out that although the woman at Chantilly’s Bar was dressed like Camille, drove Camille’s car, and carried Camille’s phone, she wasn’t actually Camille, but was Aubrey Price.

Aubrey Price, whose parents had been killed in a terrible accident when she was a teen. Aubrey Price, who was just realizing that the person found guilty of that accident may not have actually been the driver of the truck that killed her parents. The same Aubrey Price who visited the convicted killer and was now trying to find out the truth.

So who did kill Ben Bayliss? It’s not as if his background was lily white. His law office benefited greatly from the shady workings he had with law enforcement and the agreements he made with Camille’s controlling and dirty-dealing father. 

There were plenty of people who would benefit from Ben’s death. And many of them had alibis. But which alibis, even ones from a decade prior, would bear up under scrutiny?

-avarie

Rose built a global eco-friendly yogurt empire, but her personal life remains a work-in-progress. She longs for a close relationship with her nephew, Nathan, but her brother and sister-in-law doubt her childcare skills and fear her troublesome dog, Walter, makes her home unsafe. Rose sees Nathan’s parents’ upcoming Mexico trip as her moment to rise to the occasion and prove herself capable.

Immediately, a walk to the park turns fatal when Walter breaks free and kills a corgi named Hazel. With Hazel’s spirit possessing Nathan, Rose must find a way to exorcise the dog before his parents return. A brilliantly absurd and sardonic tale that highlights the hilarity of trying—and failing—to keep family dynamics under control.

-liz

Winter is not my favorite season of the year. Those who know me are painfully aware of my disdain for the cold, gray, short and sunless days this season brings to northern Michigan. And yet here I am writing a review for a book that embraces this season.

First, I was drawn in by the cover and illustrations by Scottish illustrator and printmaker Philip Harris. They are so reminiscent of illustrator Mary Azarian’s prints, for the Caldecott Award winning book, Snowflake Bentley. 

Secondly the book is written by world renowned Scottish crime writer Val McDermid. McDermid is an amazing writer, has a brilliant sense of humor, and is the recipient of many prestigious awards for her novels, short story collections and nonfiction work. Her writing career spans at least 40 years.

I love that the book is small in size and is something I would read yearly. But what really drew me in was the author’s “soft spot” for winter. Her memories and thoughts come freely as though having a conversation with a dear friend. Her stories of winter traditions and the importance of community are a bright spot. I am still not fond of winter—it could be shorter and a bit sunnier—yet if we don’t experience the darkness perhaps the light is not as bright.

I would be remiss not to mention that the acknowledgments and notes, pages 139 to 160, are a lovely extension to the reading of this book!

-susan

Jeff Lemire’s style has always been characterized by a raw and melancholic palette, an often surprising depth of emotion and expression, and an uncanny ability to capture the realities of life in isolated places (think decrepit cities or rural landscapes). His work is unpretentious and avoids hyper-stylizing in order to ground readers and his characters, even as they are met with metaphysical or otherworldly elements.

Each volume of Lemire’s Minor Arcana corresponds to a different arc of the tarot, providing an entry point for those who may be interested in more than just the graphic form. But for those looking for the beating heart of the narrative, they will fall into the story of a young woman, Theresa, who returns to her hometown in order to care for her ailing mother. Mom’s psychic business is in the toilet, until all signs indicate that Theresa’s abilities are taking off. As her visions increase in frequency and complexity, our anti-heroine must confront her past in order to see a future.

-katie

 Arturo Perez-Reverte is often referred to as the master of intellectual thrillers and his newest novel, The Final Problem, does not disappoint. A war journalist for 21 years, Perez-Reverte astutely incorporates period history, intrigue and a journalist's eye into his novels. 

The setting is a locked room classic. It is June 1960 on an idyllic Greek Island where a group of strangers are stranded by a storm. A demure British woman is found dead. At first everyone suspects suicide, but the scene soon reveals something more sinister. Intricate clues resembling those found in Conan Doyle novels. And a once renowned actor, Ormond Basil, who had played Sherlock Holmes in the films, is among this stranded group. Everyone just assumes he must possess Holmes’s deductive abilities and reasoning.  

A clever nod to literature and to the golden age of detective mysteries. The tensions and twists between suspects, bystanders and sleuths will keep you turning the pages long into the night.

-susan

Just like his father and his father’s father before that, Everett Lindt will be a sheep farmer. Or that’s what he thinks he wants, until he meets Mary, a dreaming California artist, who wants to get the hell out of Chippewa County. Their summer and fall are a whirlwind, lush with county fairs, bonfires, and days spent in the abandoned Bonner Barn. They’re in love. 

But as the weather shifts, the cold winds bring change and reality crashes in, as Everett’s carefully laid plans begin to go awry. Farm living is brutal, and real life can be even worse. 

Good Animal is a tragic portrait of rural life in the Upper Peninsula, of a boy and a girl and the year that would shift their lives. Because, “In the end, the dirt gets everything.”

-avarie

Haunted by a twelve-year-old betrayal and facing an uncertain health diagnosis, Tom Layward has been merely going through motions, holding his marriage together for his daughter’s sake. But after dropping her off at college, the promise of freedom and the weight of his own life drives him away from home and onto a cross-country journey to reconnect with his past, potentially rewriting the final chapter of his life.

Heartfelt and poignant, the narrative strikes a perfect balance between simplicity and profundity. Tom’s introspective nature made for an enjoyable, and highly relatable reading experience.

-liz

I thoroughly enjoyed this tender, funny, thoughtful and sincere novel. Good, bad, or indifferent, people change, life changes. Sometimes you have to step back from your life to know what you really want from the rest of it.

Tom Layward is at a very pivotal momentk, personally and professionally. After dropping his youngest child, Miri, at college in Pittsburgh, Tom just drives west instead of returning to New York. No definite plans, just a need to go, to think or not think, just drive. 

I loved so many situations in this novel: the love-hate, mother-daughter tension; the amount of junk food Tom eats; Tom’s denial that he has a health issue; just turning off the phone and driving in peace; the places Tom chooses to stop and the people he selects to visit; the aching feeling when you know your kids aren’t kids anymore but they will always be kids to you. The fear of a marriage failing. Cheers to Ben Markovits for portraying life with dignity, flaws and heart.

-susan