Book picks similar to
After Light by Catherine Hunter


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The Sudden Weight of Snow


Laisha Rosnau - 2002
    Seventeen-year-old Sylvia (Harper) Kostak is caught between her mother’s regrets and the strictures of small-town life in the interior of British Columbia. When Harper meets Gabe, an intense and enigmatic young man living on the ’60s-style arts commune outside of town, she is transfixed. Gradually we learn Gabe’s story and what led him to join his estranged mother on the commune, where, in a bid for freedom, Harper eventually finds herself, setting in motion a series of events leading to tragedy. Resonant with longing and a sense of isolation, the novel brings alive the agonies and ecstasies of growing up, sexual discovery, and how the need to belong can shape both decisions and destinies.Author Biography: Laisha Rosnau was born in Pointe Claire, Quebec, and grew up in Vernon, British Columbia. She has worked as a child-care worker, a landscaper, a waitress, a fruit picker, an interpretive guide, a journalist, and an editor. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, where she was the Executive Editor of PRISM international. Her poetry and short fiction have been published in literary journals and anthologies in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The Sudden Weight of Snow is her first novel. Laisha Rosnau lives in Vancouver, where she is at work on a collection of poetry and on her second novel.

Her Mother's Daughter


Lesley Crewe - 2010
    Widowed mother Bay has never lived anywhere but Louisbourg; restless Tansy left the town as a a teenager and stayed away for years.And now, Tansy is home. Home, and unwittingly falling in love with her sister's almost-boyfriend. Home, and befriending Ashley when all Bay can do is fight with her teenaged daughter. Home, and desperately hiding the real reason she fled all those years ago.When crisis hits the family, the sisters draw closer. But the closer they are, the more explosive their relationship, and soon their troubled history threatens to shatter what's left of their family forever.Complex and heartwarming, Her Mother's Daughter is an exploration of family and friends and the tangled skeins of love, mistakes, and secrets twisting between us all.

Badlands


Robert Kroetsch - 1975
    Fifty years later, his daughter, Anna, enters these same badlands. In her visit to the expedition site, she exposes not only the absurdity of her father's work, but also the folly of his male ambition.

House of Hate


Percy Janes - 1992
    Set in the stark, confining atmosphere of a Newfoundland milltown, this semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of the Stone family-caught in relentless poverty and tyranized by Saul Stone, an illiterate man whose primitive fury warps and twists his wife and children. A brilliant portrayal of existence bereft of tende ess, House of Hate is a Tale of human ordeal and of an anguished striving for love in the midst of bitte ess. It is, as Farley Mowet has observed, a book unique in Canadian Literature. Percy Janes is a Canadian author who was raised in Newfoundland and retu ed there to live after extended travels in Europe.

Barrelling Forward


Eva Crocker - 2017
    What happens when the man interviewing you for a job takes you on a date to see a hypnotist? How do you get rid of a psychosomatic case of bedbugs? What’s the best way to get rid of a beaver dam? How do you tell someone you just started seeing that you didn’t know you had scabies when you hooked up? In the Cuffer Prize–winning story, “Skin and Mud,” two boys have an intimate encounter as they wander through the barrens one day after school.Barrelling Forward is packed with unforgettable characters, vibrant humour, and acute insight into the overwhelming anxieties of new adults living their lives in the midst of a crumbling old economy.

The Beothuk Saga


Bernard Assiniwi - 1999
    It begins a thousand years ago in the time of the Vikings in Newfoundland. It is crammed with incidents of war and peace, with fights to the death and long nights of lovemaking, and with accounts of the rise of local clan chiefs and the silent fall of great distant empires. Out of the mists of the past it sweeps forward eight hundred years, to the lonely death of the last of the Beothuk.The Beothuk, of course, were the original native people of Newfoundland, and thus the first North American natives encountered by European sailors. Noticing the red ochre they used as protection against mosquitoes, the sailors called them "Red-skins," a name that was to affect an entire continent. As a people, they were never understood.Until now. By adding his novelist's imagination to his knowledge as an anthropologist and a historian, Bernard Assiniwi has written a convincing account of the Beothuk people through the ages. To do so he has given us a mirror image of the history rendered by Europeans. For example, we know from the Norse Sagas that four slaves escaped from the Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. What happened to them? Bernard Assiniwi supplies a plausible answer, just as he perhaps solves the mystery of the Portuguese ships that sailed west in 1501 to catch more Beothuk, and disappeared from the paper records forever.The story of the Beothuk people is told in three parts. "The Initiate" tells of Anin, who made a voyage by canoe around the entire island a thousand years ago, encountering the strange Vikings with their "cutting sticks" and their hair "the colour of dried grass." His encounters with whales, bears, raiding Inuit and other dangers, and his survival skills on this epic journey make for fascinating reading, as does his eventual return to his home where, with the help of his strong and active wives, he becomes a legendary chief, the father of his people.

The Manifestation of Caleb Lewis


Timothy D. Tims - 2015
    Caleb himself falls into a dark place. Brilliant, athletic, and charismatic, he begins to use his talents to manipulate those around him. Turning his back on everyone, Caleb descends into a world of drugs, sex, and violence. Rising to be the greatest college quarterback in the nation and playing for the National Championship, Caleb has power, wealth, and women but he continues to inflict pain on everyone around him until in the depths of despair he finds hope. THE MANIFESTATION OF CALEB LEWIS is a magical story of triumph, hope, love and perseverance

The Widowed Bride


Stella Clark - 2019
    Orphaned at 16 and widowed at 23, she longs to escape poverty, start a new life, and find true love. When she corresponds with mercantile owner, Jake, she feels drawn to him. But Jake only wants a marriage of convenience and a helper in his store. Believing she will come to accept a loveless marriage, Virginia travels to California. But her dreams of a peaceful life soon fade. Nothing will melt Jake's cold heart, and when Virginia finds herself falling in love with Jake, she realizes she must leave California, and all that she's ever wanted, behind.

Forgotten Fortress: The Complete Swordmaster Trilogy


Rutger Krenn - 2018
    He flees … and plunges headlong into an epic quest of even greater danger. Talon, ruthlessly pursued by the warrior band, returns to the land of his birth. He finds it threatened by an army. The mountain fortress that guards the narrow pass into the realm is undermanned. Worse, the kingdom’s soldiers are fighting a battle on another front. There are no reinforcements. The fortress will soon fall. When it does, the enemy will ravage an entire kingdom. Talon risks his life to bring word to allies who might help. But to reach them, he must somehow pass through the very army set to destroy his homeland. He begins the quest, but the warrior band has not given up the hunt. Nor is the invading army led by a man, but by a sorcerer ready to risk anything for victory. Talon is beset by enemies at every step, including a creature of dark power that stalks him. The road to safety is long, and the hope of success is short. Yet, in the darkest hour of his life, he finds an unexpected ally. A girl of striking courage helps him, and he falls in love with her. But if his quest fails, only smoke and ash will remain of the future they might have shared. This boxed set contains the entire Swordmaster trilogy, previously released as Fortress of the Forgotten. This is a remastered and expanded edition.

Timeless Series Boxed Set: Books 1-7


E.L. Todd - 2019
    In fate. Or in soul mates. But I believe in Hawke. My life has never been whole since my parents left forever. I have my brother, someone I can barely tolerate most of the time, and I have my best friend, Marie. And I have myself. But when Hawke walks into my life, there’s an immediate connection. Our eyes lock and an unspoken conversation is exchanged. For the first time in my life, I actually feel something. But he doesn’t. He keeps me at arm’s length and pretends there’s nothing between us when there clearly is. I’m not the kind of girl to wait around for any guy, so I don’t. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t in the back of my mind. Our paths cross again in a way neither one of us expect and it changes everything. Was it destiny that made it happen? Was it fate? Or was it something else? TUESDAY Getting over Hawke is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I couldn’t breathe, sleep, or eat. Every day was more agonizing than the one that followed. But somehow, after two years of suffering, I finally got back on my feet. And I moved on. Now I’m living in the city and running my own bakery. Life is good again. I’m surrounded by good friends that I love, and every day is even better than the last. Until everything changes. Now I have to face him after two years of silence. I have to look him in the eye and act like he has no effect on me. I have to hold my head high and pretend he didn’t shatter me into a million pieces. I have to act like he doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. Can I fool him? Can I fool myself? WEDNESDAY It took me a long time to forgive Hawke—a very long time. But now that I have, I feel nothing but unbridled joy. Everything is exactly as it should have been two years ago. He’s just what I need, and not just now, but forever. Until disaster strikes. We promised each other forever, but will Hawke honor that promise when his world comes crumbling down? When the ground cracks below his feet, will we still stand? Or will we fall?

Her Gangster, The Gentleman


B. Love - 2021
    He has one job left, then his debts will be paid, and his loyalty will only be to himself. When he gets to his last job and finds a damsel in distress, he chooses to prioritize her life over his freedom… and only time will tell if it costs him his life.In the streets of Memphis, Joy Dixon is known as Trouble. Trouble has seemed to follow her and her mother all the days of her life. The night Joy thinks her life is about to end, she’s rescued by Caliber. Used to men expecting a lot of something for nothing, Joy expects Caliber to demand the world. It catches her by surprise when he doesn’t ask for anything in return. In fact, he only offers to keep her safe. When she finds out exactly who he is, Joy embarks upon the hard journey of trusting and finding solace in her gangster… the gentleman.

Nantucket Coffee House: The Complete Sweet Romance Series


Sabrina Andrews - 2021
    

Addicted to the Hustle: A Carolina Love Thing


Zaii Renae - 2016
    With an absentee mother and alcoholic father Logan has the weight of the world on her shoulders. All Logan can really count on are her crazy ass friends Margo, April and her secret crush Ameer Sanchez to keep her sane. Ameer Sanchez is a young rich, and in demand. With a small circle that consists of his best friends Jacob and Daniel, he doesn’t need much else to hold him down, well except for that special someone. He's fine as hell and on his way to living out his dreams. He also has everything he wants and can have any girl he wants but ever since he laid eyes on Logan he knew that he had to have her. Unfortunately, for this bunch, life isn’t always as simple as it should be. Ameer is struggling to keep his head right, and do right by Logan but life keeps getting in the way. Keeping his past in the past is not working out as simple as he thought it would be. Friendships and relationships are challenged, and some may not survive. Not to mention that the streets are invading their circle with a vengeance. Roman is the plug that Jacob and Daniel work for and he has an offer that they can’t refuse, even if they should be running from it. With Roman about to step down will the guys step up and take his place or will unforeseen circumstances make it impossible. Will Ameer be able to handle a relationship and running the streets? Will Logan be understanding of his constant demanding schedule? Will outside forces as well as, the ones closest to them try to tear them apart? And ultimately, is being Addicted to the Hustle really worth it?

Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace


Joseph M. Williams - 2012
    A guidebook for those who want to write well.

Beautiful Billionaire Brothers: A Dark Billionaire Romance Series


Tiffany Foss - 2021