One Great Lie


Deb Caletti - 2021
    Writing is her passion, she loves Bruni’s books, and going to that romantic and magical sinking city gives her the chance to solve a long-time family mystery about a Venetian poet deep in their lineage, Isabella Di Angelo, who just might be the real author of a very famous poem.Bruni’s villa on the eerie island of La Calamita is extravagant—lush beyond belief, and the other students are both inspiring and intimidating. Venice itself is beautiful, charming, and seductive, but so is Luca Bruni. As his behavior becomes increasingly unnerving, and as Charlotte begins to unearth the long-lost work of Isabella with the help of sweet, smart Italian Dante, other things begin to rise, too—secrets about the past, and secrets about the present.As the events of the summer build to a shattering climax, Charlotte will be forced to confront some dark truths about the history of powerful men—and about the determination of creative girls.

Death Ain't But A Word


Zander Marks - 2012
    And they've been haunting him since he was seven years old. Mostly he ignores them.But when the ghost of his childhood friend shows up at the local motel, Wilkin can't ignore the call of friendship. And when his friend's killer buys the motel so he can destroy the remains, Wilkin can't ignore that, either.Wilkin steals his friend's skull before the killer can destroy it and is plunged into a hot mess of a supernatural thrill ride.A death-race pursuit of a child's skull. A ghost-talking trucker hauling plush toys to Kansas. Five demonic farm-kids in a housing project. A Dodge City marshal with justice on his mind. And a graveyard full of snitches.It's enough to make you want to hit the crackpipe. All leading to a climax where staying alive is the least of Wilkin's worries.Because when most of the people around you are spirits anyway, DEATH AIN'T BUT A WORD.

Better Than This


Cathy Zane - 2018
    Her quirky best friend and fellow high school teacher, Maggie, marvels at her luck—and envies her happiness. But Sarah is far from happy. She feels empty and on edge, harangued by a critical inner voice—and as the truth about her marriage and details of her past emerge, her “perfect” life begins to crumble. But just when it seems all is lost, a long forgotten, unopened letter changes everything, and with the support of friends, Sarah begins to rebuild her life. Can she quiet the critical voice in her head and learn to value herself instead?

Daisy in the Doghouse


Joe Barrett - 2019
    Meanwhile, Daisy, his precocious twelve-year-old daughter, has recently garnered a substantial following for her new blog, documenting surreptitious “social experiments” performed on her unaware family. When Daisy’s blogging activities are outed, Jack decides to leverage his daughter’s popularity with American youth to communicate the greed and hypocrisy inherent in the corporate professions of many parents. Inspired by her father’s rants, the popularity of Daisy’s blog soars, resulting in an unlikely sequence of events that ultimately has a very positive impact on way that people treat each other in American society.

The Postwoman


Michael Kenneth Smith - 2018
    In 1940, Andrée “Dedee” de Jongh, a twenty-four-year-old Belgian nurse, is horrified by her country’s quick surrender to Nazi Germany. Every week she observes Germans inspecting the infirmary for injured Allied soldiers to ship off to work camps. Every day she witnesses new atrocities in the streets, such as Jewish countrymen being brutally beaten. Outraged at the injustice, Dedee devises a strategy with her father to aid in the resistance effort against the Germans. They hatch a plan to help downed Royal Air Force fliers escape Belgium and France and return to England, where they can rejoin the fight. It’s a dangerous endeavor and guaranteed death sentence if they’re caught, but Dedee is determined to do her part to defeat the enemy. Over time, the secret organization becomes one of the most successful wartime escape lines, saving more than eight hundred Allied fliers. Dedee manages to outwit the Nazis for a time, but with German soldiers hunting for the group and its leaders at every turn, will she be able to escape with her life?

Spoken


Melanie Weiss - 2019
    A relationship with his father. When Roman’s life gets turned upside down, (thanks, Mom!?), he is forced to leave his pampered Hollywood lifestyle and move into his grandparents’ Midwestern home. Sleeping on a lumpy pullout sofa and starting at a new high school is the worst, but Roman’s life starts to look up when his pink-haired friend, Zuzu, and his crush, a classmate named Claire, introduce him to performance poetry through the high school's Spoken Word Club. While his mom is flying back and forth to L.A., trying to return them to the life they had, Roman becomes part of a diverse group of characters who challenge his rather privileged view of the world. Through Spoken Word, Roman recognizes the hole in his own life he needs to fill and discovers his voice. Spoken Word leads Roman on a journey of new friendships, first love, and finding the dad he never knew. “Spoken” is an uplifting, funny, and heartfelt coming-of-age story that captures how the honesty of performance poetry binds together students from all different walks of life and forever changes Roman’s life.

The Golfer's Carol


Robert Bailey - 2020
    Four heroes. Four life-changing lessons.On the morning of his fortieth birthday, Randy Clark believes the only way he can help his family is to end it all. Standing on the Tennessee River Bridge in Decatur, Alabama, with his dreams of a pro golf career long gone, his marriage struggling, and facing financial ruin, Randy sees no other alternative to help his wife and daughter but to jump, which he plans to do in the next twenty-four hours.But his plans are put on hold when the ghost of his best friend--who did live out the fantasy of playing the PGA tour--reveals to Randy that he will be given a wonderful gift: four rounds of golf with his four heroes, the champions he's looked up to his whole life, each with a life-changing lesson to impart.For anyone who has ever dealt with tragedy, adversity, or failure, The Golfer's Carol will bring grace that stays with you long after you've turned the last page.

Blood Brothers


Charles W. Sasser - 2017
    Richard “Rip” Taggart used to lead this unit, until after seeing and experiencing too much on the battlefield he snaps and executes an American in cold blood in Afghanistan. Now, two years later, he has been exiled from his brothers in Six and works for a private security group in Nigeria until he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and is captured by Boko Haram along with a group of Nigerian school girls.But the brotherhood of the SEALS runs deep. Once Rip’s unit finds out that he has been taken, they demand to be the ones to bring him back home. But as they mount their rescue operations, they find themselves squaring off against an enigmatic lieutenant of a rising terrorist group, someone who seems to have a particular interest in getting to Rip first.Based off the gripping new series from creators David Broyles, Special Operations veteran, and William Broyles, and inspired by the true stories and events involving SEAL Team Six, Six: Blood Brothers will give readers a visceral taste of what it means to be part of this squad, balancing their own personal demons and complications of family life with the need to serve their country and be there for their brothers-in-arms.

The Rainwater Secret


Monica Shaw - 2017
    Single and feeling there is nothing left for her in small-town England, Anna embarks on an adventure as a volunteer with the Medical Missionaries of Mary to teach the leper children in Africa. Life as Anna has known it, is forever changed as she learns the culture that would banish its sick, disfigured, and crippled to the jungles. Babies are left to die on roadsides, children are chased away to live by whatever means they can find. The aged are abandoned. Anna’s daily life is an adventure as she travels from one village to another across a hostile land with few passable roads, rickety bridges threatening to fall apart and cast its occupants on the jagged rocks far below, and weather that turns a calm river into a roiling death trap. In spite of the trials, Anna also manages to find love and family in this godforsaken land. Follow this adventure through disease, weather, strife, death and determination to turn a few acres of land into a loving home for the outcast lepers of Nigeria.

Very Like a Queen


Martin Lake - 2016
    As the King’s favorite, she enjoys his protection, but after seeing the downfall of three of his wives, she’s determined to avoid the same fate. Alice must walk a fine line between mistress and wife.She finds a powerful protector in Thomas Cromwell, and Alice has every reason to believe that she will continue to enjoy a life of wealth and comfort at Court…until she puts everything at risk by falling in love with a Frenchman, Nicholas Bourbon.When Cromwell is executed, Alice loses her only ally and flees to France. There she hopes to live in peace with Nicholas. But Alice is lured into a perilous game of treason, and peace doesn’t last long. Will Alice get back the life and love she’s fought for? Or will she lose herself to the whims of a capricious monarch?

Rants from the Hill: On Packrats, Bobcats, Wildfires, Curmudgeons, a Drunken Mary Kay Lady, and Other Encounters with the Wild in the High Desert


Michael P. Branch - 2017
    As a curmudgeonly, irreverent desert rat, Mike Branch shares his stubborn enthusiasm for the constant struggle to tough out living in an unforgiving landscape. In this collection of short, comic rants he explores various aspects of life in the remote, high-elevation, western Nevada Great Basin Desert. Ranging in topic from natural history (bees hiving in the walls of the house, flying ants filling the chimney, owls trying to eat the cat), parenting (raising two daughters in a wild, inaccessible place), eccentric neighbors (road captain, mail carrier, drunken Mary Kay Lady), and adventures in the surrounding canyons, playas, and mountains, Rants from the Hilloffers a humorous and fun glimpse into what domestic life looks like out in the wild."

The Spring Posy (Liverpool Brides Book 3)


Michelle Vernal - 2022
    

Missing Her More


Karen McQuestion - 2019
    But their seemingly perfect world is ripped apart when their younger daughter, eight-year-old Brenna, runs off after overhearing her parents’ arguing. Out on the streets, she quickly realizes she’s lost. Even more frightening, Brenna soon realizes that a man is following her. Meanwhile, in a townhouse in Brooklyn, Callie Griffin is throwing a birthday party for her one-year-old son, Oliver. The joy of the day is ruined by her sister Lauren’s too short, drive-by appearance. Once close, the two sisters haven’t been able to move past a falling out which took place three years before. When Brenna notices the strange man getting closer, she panics and takes refuge in the Griffin home, befriending their four-year-old daughter, Summer, who is waiting out the party upstairs. As family and friends search for Brenna, her absence helps her father realize the importance of family, even as her presence in the Griffin home unwittingly sets in motion healing for a mother’s heart.

The Woman and the Witch


Amanda Larkman - 2021
    The first in The Woman and the Witch TrilogyCan a little bit of magic save a woman trapped in darkness?Meet Angie and Frieda, two unforgettable characters who will live in your memory long after you turn the last page.Nothing ever changes in the village of Witchford until the day a hundred-year-old, bad-tempered witch falls and breaks her hip, and a fifty year old cleaner decides her life is over.Both are haunted by ghosts, but can Frieda help Angie find out what her long dead father is trying to tell her? And can Angie help Frieda fight off the wolf who circles ever closer?A story of empowerment and friendship, 'The Woman and the Witch' explores the freedom ageing can bring, and the power of the natural world.

Finding Ruth


Cynthia Hamilton - 2016
    While her author daughter shifts through Ruth's possessions prior to her move into a skilled nursing facility, she discovers a previously unseen photo from 1949 and realizes how little she knows of her mother's life.As Alzheimer's continues to warp Ruth's once sharp mind, she can no longer shed any light on the past. Yearning to know who her mother was as a person in her own right, the author painstakingly reconstructs Ruth's life from photos, letters, public records and firsthand memories.What emerges is a portrait of a bright, beautiful woman who is propelled through decades of broken promises and heartache, bouncing from one ill-fated relationship to the next, but always staying strong, always surviving. Through a timeline going back sixty years, the author gleans a much better understanding of the woman she had known only as Mom.