Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For August, we’re looking at historical fiction that ranges from interwar England to 1930s New Jersey to 16th century China, a new Nordic Noir series, a cute romance that hinges on DNA, an eerie audiobook about summer in Long Island, and a nonfiction profile of Arkansas libraries that highlights a couple of our sister branches.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Historical Fiction Galore, Nordic Noir, Romance with a DNA Twist, Audiobook Suspense, and Small Arkansas Libraries”Category: historical fiction (books)
Book Buzz: Book Codes, Mysterious Happenings, Haunted Crows, Environmental Disasters, Garden Composts, Awkward Vacations, and Audiobook Romances
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For July, we’re looking at a puzzle-style mystery about books and codes, a gothic mystery set in the Victorian era, a contemporary Canadian literary horror novel, a nonfiction story about an infamous environmental disaster in the 1970s, a guide to composting, and audiobooks about romances.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Book Codes, Mysterious Happenings, Haunted Crows, Environmental Disasters, Garden Composts, Awkward Vacations, and Audiobook Romances”Walk a Mile In My Shoes: July
This year, our theme is “Walk A Mile In My Shoes.” The idea that you can’t understand someone (and shouldn’t judge them) until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes is a pretty common sentiment. And research has shown that reading fiction is one way to really get such a walk going. So, that’s what we are going to do this year: use fiction (and some nonfiction when we just can’t resist) to take walks in someone’s shoes. We hope you join our journey. For July, our theme is disability.
Continue reading “Walk a Mile In My Shoes: July”Book Buzz: Scandinavian Historical Fiction, WWII in Singapore, Murder in Spain, Fantasy Romance, Western Librarians, Antarctica Adventures, and Moonshining Entrepreneurs
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For May, we’re looking at historical fiction that spans everything from the 19th century to WWII, a new mystery series out of Spain, a fun fantasy romance, an ode to librarians out West, a nonfiction chronicle about the Shackleford Expedition, and an audiobook that’s being billed as the Tudors during Prohibition.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Scandinavian Historical Fiction, WWII in Singapore, Murder in Spain, Fantasy Romance, Western Librarians, Antarctica Adventures, and Moonshining Entrepreneurs”Book Buzz: Bookish Romance, Historical Fiction, Magician Secret Societies, Drawing, and Cricuts
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For April, we’re looking at a bookstore-centered romance, novels about the Civil Rights Movement and Renaissance Italy, a new-ish dark academic fantasy series, and some books that will help take your arts and crafts to the next level.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Bookish Romance, Historical Fiction, Magician Secret Societies, Drawing, and Cricuts”Book Buzz: Little Women Redux, Yorkshire Fiction, Eerie Residences, Joy, Horse Girls, Gullah Foodways, and Classic Mysteries
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For March, we’re looking at Little Women from Marmee’s point of view, a heartwarming tale set in the Yorkshire Dales (that’s not James Herriot), a gothic novel that should appeal to Silvia Moreno-Garcia fans, an anthology that’s all about joy, a historical mystery centered around the horse racing industry, a cookbook devoted to recipes from the Sea Islands, and an audiobook rendition of some classic Agatha Christie mysteries.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Little Women Redux, Yorkshire Fiction, Eerie Residences, Joy, Horse Girls, Gullah Foodways, and Classic Mysteries”Amor Towles’s A Gentleman in Moscow

Count Alexander Rostov is lucky to escape the tumultuous Russian Civil War with his life. When a Soviet tribunal sentences him to, essentially, house arrest in the Moscow luxury hotel he’s been living in, Rostov knows he’s been spared, but life as he knows it is still over. That is, until he meets an unusual little friend. . . .
Continue reading “Amor Towles’s A Gentleman in Moscow”Book Buzz: Romances Galore, Dual-Timeline Historical Fiction, WWII Nurses, Serial Killers, Mining Mayhem, and Storytellers
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For February, we’re looking at four different romances (right in time for Valentine’s Day!), historical fiction that spans from the Civil War to World War II, a true crime memoir from a cold case specialist, and audiobook novels about turn-of-the-twentieth-century labor strikes in Colorado and the intersection of secrets and stories.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Romances Galore, Dual-Timeline Historical Fiction, WWII Nurses, Serial Killers, Mining Mayhem, and Storytellers”Book Buzz: 20th Century Family Sagas, Mysterious Disappearances, Short Story Collections, Native American Nonfiction, and Westerns Galore
Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For December, we’re looking at a family saga set on the cusp of WWII, a suspense novel about mysterious disappearances in an Appalachian resort town, a short story collection about veterans, a Western from Geronimo’s perspective, a history centered on Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, and an audiobook about a Chinese woman’s saga in the 19th century American West.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: 20th Century Family Sagas, Mysterious Disappearances, Short Story Collections, Native American Nonfiction, and Westerns Galore”What Have You Been Reading? Detective, Detective, Spy Edition
When left to my own devices, I tend to binge-read about subjects or to binge-read authors and/or series. That works well for me, but it’s something I try to avoid inflicting on the readers of this blog because I seriously doubt anyone else is as interested in some of these literary rabbit trails as I am. (You’re welcome.)
Lately, however, I’ve been exploring some mystery and espionage thriller series I’ve been meaning to read for a while, and I did want to share those.
Continue reading “What Have You Been Reading? Detective, Detective, Spy Edition”