Thursday, December 4, 2025

Good Hair Days by Grace Helena Walz


 A modern twist on Steel Magnolias meets Hello Beautiful with some extra Dolly Parton flair.

The Louise women have squabbled for years, but they've always agreed on one thing: Georgia would be the one to make them proud. Years--and failed dreams--later, Georgia only wants to come home to the small Southern town of Whitetail, back to the family salon, June's Beauty Shop, but to do so would mean dashing their hopes by admitting she's fallen helplessly short.

When little sister Junie lands the beauty shop in hot water by way of a renovation gone wrong, reliable big sister Georgia returns to save the day. June's Beauty may look like an outdated hole-in-the-wall slathered in Dolly Parton memorabilia, but to the women in town, it's a sacred space. To Georgia and Junie, it is their family legacy. For generations, the shop has been passed down to every first-born daughter--always named June. It's what's left to anchor them to their late mother's memory.

Without enough money to repair the shop, the sisters, along with their maternal aunts, jump into a series of money-making schemes. From setting out gambling tables at June's to selling Aunt Tina's pies at the fair, they will stop at nothing. But when Junie receives a life-altering diagnosis, the very world the Louise women could always rely on is turned upside down. They are forced to dig deep, finally tell the truth, and rely on the part of their family legacy that has never wavered: the deep love between them.

Bursting with energy, heart, and sass, Good Hair Days is about a family pulling together for a common purpose, finding healing from the past, and moving forward courageously as they face their hardest trial yet.
Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                   Good Hair Days: A Novel: Walz, Grace Helena: 9781400345663: Amazon.com: Books

          
Grace Helena Walz received a master’s in social work at the University of Houston and worked with children in foster care, as a medical social worker, and in a mental health capacity. She currently resides outside of Atlanta, GA, with her husband and two young children. She writes women’s fiction in the moments between sticking Band-Aids on scraped knees and coordinating pint-sized social engagements.                                                                                                                    

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Anneke Jans in the New World by Sandra Freels


 Timed perfectly to publish just as New York celebrates its 400th birthday, a riveting story of a spirited young mother who faces the unknowns of seventeenth-century New Amsterdam after fleeing the Old World in search of a better life.


It’s 1630, and Anneke Jans has just arrived in the fledgling colony of New Netherland with her husband, Roelof, and their two young daughters to create a new life for herself and her family. One of very few women in the colony, Anneke quickly realizes that she will need to make her own rules if she is to survive.

When Roelof dies, Anneke marries Everardus Bogardus, the flamboyant minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. With this marriage, Anneke joins the elites of the colony—but when the colony’s new director provokes war with the region’s American Indians and her new husband emerges as the head of the anti-war opposition, she also finds herself in the midst of political turmoil. As difficulties mount, she must rely more than ever on her quick wits to protect herself and her growing family.

Based on real events, Anneke Jans in the New World tells the story of an ordinary woman who lived an extraordinary life.

Pick up your copy here...

Originally from Indiana, Sandra Freels majored in Russian at Indiana University and completed a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Stanford University. The author of three textbooks, she headed the Russian program at Portland State University for many years. An interest in genealogy led her to the Council Records of New Netherland and the delicious stories of the people who once lived there. She claims descent from Anneke Jans and sixteen other major and minor characters in Anneke Jans in the New World. At present, Sandra lives with her husband Joel and their two cats in Portland, Oregon.

One Beautiful year Of Normal by Sandra Griffith


 Some memories protect you. Others imprison you.


When August Caine receives a phone call from a Savannah attorney, she is blindsided by the news—her Aunt Helen has passed away. But how can that be, when August’s mother insisted Helen died in a car accident fifteen years ago? Determined to uncover the truth, August returns to the deep South, where the ghosts of her past—both real and imagined—await her.

Plagued by a memory splintered by her father’s unsolved murder when she was a child and further tangled by psychiatric treatments for the debilitating depression she struggles with, August realizes her survival depends on unraveling the mystery surrounding her father’s death. This means returning to the one safe place she remembers from the childhood she has mostly locked away inside her mind: Aunt Helen’s home, and the ghost tours they created together.

A chilling exploration of mental illness, mother-daughter bonds, and generational secrets, 
One Beautiful Year of Normal follows August as she pieces together the long-buried truths that shaped her family’s tragic past and confronts the question that has haunted her for years: Can the truth set her free, or will it unravel everything she thought she knew?

Pick up your copy here....


Sandra K. Griffith is a doctorate-level psychologist with extensive clinical and forensic experience, the owner of a behavioral health agency, and an adjunct instructor at Marshall University. Her expertise in mental health, trauma, and the complexities of memory informs her deeply psychological and atmospheric storytelling. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling, antiquing, cooking and spending time with her family, friends, and too large collection of pets. She splits her time between Kenova, West Virginia and Tybee Island, Georgia, just outside of Savannah.

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

A Tiny White Light by Linda Bass


 From an author with a psychology background, a candid memoir about the interior of her own psychotic episode and its origins in guilt, lost purpose, conflict between mothering and career, and the ambiguity in her relationship with her therapist.


After the culture shock of moving from a small Wisconsin town to the tumult of Los Angeles in 1967, Linda’s family disintegrates: her parents decide to divorce, and she and her younger brother, Brian, suddenly must fend for themselves. While she finds a foothold in academic pursuits, Brian spirals downward into schizophrenia and, finally, commits an irrevocable act. Plagued with guilt, Linda loses her sense of purpose, abandons a promising career in psychology, and finds herself in a life she never envisioned—poor, alcoholic, an accidental parent in an unhappy marriage, feeling invisible and alone.

When Linda sees a psychologist, Sam, he helps her recover what she has lost: her sense of self. Feeling truly seen, she falls in love with him and suspects her feelings might be reciprocated. This ambiguity, mingled with other overwhelming stresses, triggers her descent into a

psychotic episode—one that echoes her dreams, Brian’s experience, and Sam’s own phobia.

Will Linda follow in her brother’s footsteps, or is this the wake-up call she needed to correct her course?

Pick up your copy here...

Linda Bass holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCLA and a master’s degree in psychology from UC Berkeley. She worked in the workforce development field for thirty years, most recently as the executive director of a regional workforce board in Cambridge, MA. Now retired, she devotes her time to writing, painting, solving puzzles, reading, singing (to herself), enjoying friends and family, and feeling grateful for the life she has now. She currently lives in South Hadley, MA, and is working on a second book.

Monday, December 1, 2025

Sleep Habits Journal


 A bedside journal for better sleep from a board-certified doctor, featuring proven, faith-informed tactics and soothing devotions for those who struggle with falling asleep


Sleep Habits is a comforting companion from someone who understands your sleep frustrations and invites you on a journey toward better sleep and overall well-being. Board-certified sleep doctor Benjamin Long offers hope for anyone who needs help falling asleep or quieting the anxieties of the day while longing for rest. In addition to brief biblical devotions, this guided journal also features

  • tips and simple exercises for getting a good night’s sleep
  • soothing and encouraging verses
  • prayers for sleep
  • habit trackers
  • questions and reflection prompts

Organized according to the Sleepless Night Rules, Sleep Habits Journal will equip you with practical tools inspired by CBT-I to improve your sleep quality. Whatever your nights look like, may this guided journal invite you into experiencing more peace, rest, and comfort.

Pick up your copy here...


Benjamin Long is a sleep medicine physician with dual board-certification in sleep medicine and pediatrics. He is an assistant professor of pediatrics with expertise in sleep disorders for all ages. As a seminary student, Ben enjoys writing at the intersection of medicine and Christian theology. He lives with his wife and son in San Antonio, Texas.

Friday, November 21, 2025

Days at the Torunka Cafe' by Satoshi Yagisawa


 From the internationally bestselling author of the Morisaki Bookshop novels comes a charming and poignant story set at a quiet Tokyo café where customers find unexpected connection and experience everyday miracles.

Tucked away on a narrow side street in Tokyo is the Torunka Café, a neighborhood nook where the passersby are as likely to be local cats as tourists. Its regulars include Chinatsu Yukimura, a mysterious young woman who always leaves behind a napkin folded into the shape of a ballerina; Hiroyuki Numata, a middle-aged man who’s returned to the neighborhood searching for the happy life he once gave up; and Shizuku, the café owner’s teenage daughter, who is still coming to terms with her sister’s death as she falls in love for the first time.

While Café Torunka serves up a perfect cup of coffee, it provides these sundry souls with nourishment far more lasting. Satoshi Yagisawa brilliantly illuminates the periods in our lives where we feel lost—and how we find our way again.

Pick up your copy here...



Eric Ozawa is a writer and translator. His translation of Satoshi Yagisawa’s novel Days at the Morisaki Bookshop was an international bestseller that was short-listed for the British Book Award for Debut Book of the Year. His translation of the sequel, More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, was published this summer by HarperCollins. His other writing includes fiction in Granta, Electric Literature and Columbia, and coverage of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima for The Nation where he interviewed and translated authors including Banana Yoshimoto and Koji Suzuki. He lives in New York, where he is a professor at New York University.

Thursday, November 20, 2025

What Medicine Can Do by Gabrielle Balkan


 An accessible, informative, and humorous introduction to the power of medicine for young readers.


Uh-oh—Raccoon feels blerg and ick. Read along as he and his friends do symptoms checks, get examined, get diagnoses, and each, in turn, get the medicine they need. Readers will learn that medicine can make you feel more comfortable, help you heal, help prevent you from getting sick, and more. Written by nonfiction maven Gabrielle Balkan, and vetted by both a pediatrician and a nurse practitioner, this conversationally informative text incorporates comfort and humor, in partnership with Alberto Lot’s emotive, comical character art. A truly enjoyable read that will leave readers better equipped for their next germy experience!


Pick up your copy here....


Hello! I am Gabrielle Balkan--it's true!

I absolutely adore and am inspired by books and children and education and so have spent some 20 years writing and editing and brainstorming books for readers ages 0 - 12.

I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana and now live in Germantown, New York with my husband, twin girls, and orange cat.

I am also the author of The Dog Rules by CoCo LaRue.

You can visit me at www.GabrielleBalkan.com and www.facebook.com/gabrielle.balkan

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Dolly Paron's Billy the Kid Dances His Heart Out


 Billy the Kid has done it all. He's moved to Nashville, he's formed a band, and he's rocked from coast to coast. But there's one thing Billy hasn't done...dance on stage. Dancing makes him nervous. And dancing in front of an audience? No way.


That all changes when Billy and his band nab an exciting gig as the opening act for Dolly Parton's Doggy Dance Pawty. Now, Billy is roping his friends into dance lessons. On the first day, he watches dogs whirl and twirl. But one dancer stands out: his dance teacher, Bella, who is as graceful as she is beautiful, with her auburn curls and a voice as sweet as pie.

Soon, Billy is trying to win Bella's attention. But that's difficult when he's stumbling through dance moves and tripping over his paws. Can Billy nail the dance routine 
and catch Bella's eye, all before the big dance pawty? 

Pick up your copy here...




Dolly Parton is a singer, songwriter, actress, producer, businesswoman, and philanthropist. The composer of over 3,000 songs, she has sold over 100 million records worldwide, and given away millions of books to children through her nonprofit, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Echoes of a Silent Song by Amanda Wen


 A split-time romance from an award-winning author

When a choral composer and conductor falls victim to creative block, he resorts to his fallback plan of teaching high school choir. Callum Knight's goal at Peterson High is simple: rediscover his muse, extract himself from teaching, and get back to Boston as quickly as possible.

As the long-suffering accompanist at the high school, Peterson-native Blair Emerson has watched the revolving door of choir directors and their negative impact on her choirs over the last few years. She is less than impressed when a disheveled Callum stumbles in on his first day.

But then they discover an unsigned, unfinished, and handwritten choral composition by a clear musical genius. Blair recalls rumors of Iris, a Peterson student from the 1970s who composed music but was found dead during her senior year. Blair and Callum work to determine if the piece is hers, and the truth they uncover shakes both of them to the core.

Pick up your copy here...


Amanda Wen’s novels have released to both reader and critical acclaim, including a 2023 Selah Award for The Songs That Could Have Been and a Foreword Indies Gold Award and a Christy Award nomination for Roots of Wood and Stone. In addition to her writing, Amanda is an accomplished professional cellist and pianist who frequently performs with orchestras, chamber groups, and her church’s worship team, as well as serving as a choral accompanist. A lifelong denizen of the flatlands, Amanda currently lives in Kansas with her patient, loving, and hilarious husband, their three adorable Wenlets, and a snuggly Siamese cat.

Monday, November 10, 2025

Journey with a Giant By Lori G. Melton


 Take the next step in your spiritual formation and embark on a year-long journey alongside a “giant” of faith, inspired by the author’s year of studying the life of Mister Fred Rogers, America’s favorite neighbor.


So many of us want to go deeper in our faith. We long for a clearer sense of God’s calling in our lives, but knowing where to start can be more than half the battle. What if we could learn from a trusted guide who’s already walked the path? If you’re in leadership, what would you give to shadow someone like Queen Elizabeth II? Or if you’re an artist, what would you give to spend a year with Madeleine L’Engle or Michelangelo? What if you’re longing for courage and you could take notes from George Washington or Harriet Tubman? How might God shape you through the example of faithful believers and strengthen you to become who He created you to be?

Journey with a Giant introduces the transformative practice of walking with a spiritual giant. Based on the “cloud of witnesses” described in Hebrews 12 and illustrated through the author’s experience walking with Mister Fred Rogers—America’s favorite neighbor—spiritual director Lori Melton guides readers on a one-year adventure that offers a unique approach to spiritual formation.

This structured yet flexible guide includes:
• weekly reflections
• testimonials from fellow pilgrims
• monthly instructions and tasks
• prompts for recording your focus, goals, resources, and insights
• guided prayer to end each month
• reflection questions
• journaling space

Whether you choose to learn from Mister Rogers or select your own spiritual mentor, this journey will help you cultivate a closer relationship with God, uncover new insights about yourself, and take meaningful steps toward pursuing God’s unique calling for you.

Pick up your copy here...

No author bio or headshot

Sunday, November 9, 2025

Society Women by Adriane Leigh


 Some invitations are meant to be declined. . . .

Ellie works as an accountant at her father’s successful investment company in New York City. She enjoys all the comforts her privileged lifestyle affords—a two-bedroom apartment overlooking Central Park, a generous trust fund, and a devastatingly attractive if often absent husband who works long hours for her father as well. Yet the introverted young woman who wants for nothing feels aimless and untethered. Ellie lost her mother at a young age and still has nightmares about her death. She sometimes sleepwalks at night and finds herself stumbling through the days.

But Ellie’s life takes a turn when she receives an anonymous invitation in the mail, asking her to join an elite women’s club known only as “The Society.” Intrigued, she begins to attend their lavish gatherings where she meets her new close companion, Aubrey, and enjoys the benefits of belonging to the group—friendship, sisterhood, and support from other successful and glamorous women. Then Ellie makes a horrifying discovery about the society and its “philanthropic work.” The women of The Society harbor dark, dangerous secrets—secrets that may implicate Ellie’s own family.

Wickedly twisty, Society Women is a gripping story of prestige, power, and dirty secrets that will hook you with every surprising turn and leave you questioning every truth until the final, shocking end.


Pick up your copy here...

Society Women: A Novel: Leigh, Adriane: 9780063473928: Amazon.com: Books



Adriane Leigh is a USA Today bestselling author of multiple novels and novellas. With appearances in publications such as Vogue Magazine and The Montreal Gazette, the award-winning author, in addition to writing, founded RARE: Romance Author & Reader Events, a community of internationally-renowned book conventions that draw thousands of readers and #1 bestselling authors to events around the world each year. 

She hosts a podcast, The Rebel Artist, and her books are translated into French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

She lives on Lake Michigan with her family.

For more information and for a schedule of events, please visit adrianeleigh . com.

Thursday, November 6, 2025

By The Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle


 Before 2020, American Indian reservations made up roughly 55 million acres of land in the United States. Nearly 200 million acres are reserved for National Forests—in the emergence of this great nation, our government set aside more land for trees than for Indigenous peoples.

In the 1830s Muscogee people were rounded up by the US military at gunpoint and forced into exile halfway across the continent. At the time, they were promised this new land would be theirs for as long as the grass grew and the waters ran. But that promise was not kept. When Oklahoma was created on top of Muscogee land, the new state claimed their reservation no longer existed. Over a century later, a Muscogee citizen was sentenced to death for murdering another Muscogee citizen on tribal land. His defense attorneys argued the murder occurred on the reservation of his tribe, and therefore Oklahoma didn’t have the jurisdiction to execute him. Oklahoma asserted that the reservation no longer existed. In the summer of 2020, the Supreme Court settled the dispute. Its ruling that would ultimately underpin multiple reservations covering almost half the land in Oklahoma, including Nagle’s own Cherokee Nation. 

Here Rebecca Nagle recounts the generations-long fight for tribal land and sovereignty in eastern Oklahoma. By chronicling both the contemporary legal battle and historic acts of Indigenous resistance, By the Fire We Carry stands as a landmark work of American history. The story it tells exposes both the wrongs that our nation has committed and the Native-led battle for justice that has shaped our country. 


Pick up your copy here...




Moments in Time by Dr. Theresa Brightman


 Moments in Time is a deeply personal and profoundly inspiring journey that delves into the defining experiences of

Dr. Theresa C. Brightman’s life. Through a heartfelt narrative, Theresa weaves together stories of Family, Love, Loss, Faith, Forgiveness, Healing, and the invaluable Lessons Learned along the way. Her reflections reveal how life’s pivotal moments—both the joyous and the painful—play a crucial role in shaping personal growth.

At its core, this book tells a story of resilience. Theresa recounts hardships such as teenage motherhood, family struggles, and the heartache of personal loss, demonstrating how strength is often forged in life’s most challenging moments. These trials serve as a testament to her belief that adversity can lead to profound inner growth.

Family and legacy form another central theme. With deep reverence, Theresa pays tribute to her roots, especially the unwavering love and sacrifices of her mother and grandparents. These figures stood as the foundation of her family, providing a sense of stability and strength that carried her through life’s storms.

Faith emerges as a guiding light throughout her story. In times of uncertainty and despair, Theresa’s unshakable belief in God offered her solace and direction. Her journey underscores the importance of spiritual strength, showing how faith can be a source of hope and clarity.

Equally powerful is her exploration of forgiveness and healing. Theresa opens her heart to confront past pain, broken relationships, and personal mistakes. Through this courageous act, she reveals the transformative power of forgiveness—not just for others, but also for oneself. Her journey of reconciliation inspires readers to seek their own path toward healing and renewal.

Above all, Moments in Time is a celebration of empowerment and personal growth. Theresa encourages readers to embrace their unique journey, find their voice, and take control of their destiny, no matter the societal or personal obstacles they face. She writes with an unflinching honesty that not only shares her truth but also invites readers to reflect on their own defining moments in life.

Through relatable anecdotes and vulnerable storytelling, Theresa inspires individuals to find strength in their struggles, cherish the relationships that shape them, and seek healing and forgiveness to move forward. Her words leave readers with a renewed sense of hope and the understanding that life’s trials, no matter how difficult, can ultimately lead to transformation. Moments in Time is more than a memoir—it’s a guide for anyone searching for meaning, growth, and redemption in their own lives.  

Pick up your copy here...


Monday, November 3, 2025

Princess Bride by William Goldman


 A gorgeously designed limited edition of William Goldman’s beloved classic, featuring sprayed and stenciled edges, and a gold foil cover.—a tale of true love and high adventure, pirates, princesses, giants, miracles, fencing, and a frightening assortment of wild beasts that is a modern storytelling classic.

A perfect gift book for those who have already fallen in love with and those still yet to discover the magic of Westley, Princess Buttercup, and their cherished crew.

As Florin and Guilder teeter on the verge of war, Princess Buttercup is devastated when her one true love dies at sea. But instead of being able to grieve in peace, she finds herself kidnapped by a mercenary and his henchmen, then rescued by a pirate, then forced to marry Prince Humperdinck, and finally rescued once again by the very crew who absconded with her in the first place.

In the course of this dazzling adventure, she'll meet Vizzini—the criminal philosopher who’ll do anything for a bag of gold; Fezzik—the gentle giant; Inigo—the Spaniard whose steel thirsts for revenge; and Count Rugen—the evil mastermind behind it all. Foiling all their plans is Westley, Buttercup's true love who survived after all, and became a very good friend to a very dangerous pirate. 
Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     Amazon.com: The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: 9780063458154: Goldman, William: Books

William Goldman (b. 1931) is an Academy Award–winning author of screenplays, plays, memoirs, and novels. His first novel, The Temple of Gold (1957), was followed by the script for the Broadway army comedy Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (1961). He went on to write the screenplays for many acclaimed films, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and All the President’s Men (1976), for which he won two Academy Awards. He adapted his own novels for the hit movies Marathon Man (1976) and The Princess Bride (1987).

Friday, October 31, 2025

Hearts in Circulation by Sarah Monzon


 

Can a rundown bookmobile be the vehicle that brings two unlikely hearts together?

Little Creek's bookmobile is more of a death trap on wheels than a vehicle of literary delights, and circulation librarian Hayley Holt is afraid it's going to careen down a mountainside with her in it. Yet she sees it as a way to serve her community and be worthy of the liver transplant that saved her life as a child. However, her fears come true when the bookmobile breaks down and a rockslide traps her in the small hollow of Turkey Grove.

Reclusive mechanic Levi Redding lives in tiny Turkey Grove to get away from people. He can handle getting the bookmobile running again, but the endless chatter and unsettling touches from the vibrant librarian leave him overstimulated. When forced proximity leads to a misunderstanding, a note of apology begins an epistolary friendship, proving that sometimes the happiest of endings aren't contained within the bindings of a book.

Pick up your copy here...


Books about books and a cute couple need I say more. The friendship was so fun and who would love a bookmobile owner and a mechanic, I recommend Haley and Levi's story. Monzon has a hit with this series. these books can read as standalone but why would you want to, they are such fun reads.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Thursday, October 30, 2025

The Bell Tolls at Treager Hall by Jamie Jo Wright


 In 1890, the ominous tolling of the bell announces that death has come to Traeger Hall, leaving orphaned Waverly Pembrooke to piece together the puzzle behind her uncle's and aunt's murders. Bound by the terms of her uncle's eccentric will, Waverly finds herself alone in a manor shrouded by death and questioning the reasons for her uncle's paranoia. A madness hovers over Traeger Hall, and Waverly--as well as the people of nearby Newton Creek--are ill-prepared for the woe that has descended.


In present day Newton Creek, whispers of a family curse still cling to the century-old, abandoned property of Traeger Hall. When Jennie Phillips takes possession of the estate after her mother's passing, she is intent on solving the mystery of the Traeger murders. Yet a modern cold case suggests that untimely deaths and mysterious occurrences still plague the property. And as thorny truths surface, Jennie realizes the dark legacy threatens not only the town and the Traeger descendants . . . but also, chillingly, Jennie herself.

Pick up your copy here...


Jaime Jo Wright, multi award-winning author--including the Christy and Daphne du Maurier awards--is a coffee-fueled and cat-fancier extraordinaire. She has entwined her life with the legendary Captain Hook, residing serenely in Wisconsin's rural woodlands. Her literary vocation involves penning chilling Gothic tales, a baffling change from that of Austenites, with a strong preference to the master of dark, Edgar Allan Poe. Two mischievous urchins adorn their family, who keep their mother on her toes - providing an exhilarating amount chaos.

Visit her at: http://www.jaimewrightbooks.com and listen to her podcast MadLit Musings on your favorite podcast player or at http://www.madlitmusings.com



If Creepy, kind of spooky, and scary atmosphere, is your thing then come on over to the dark side with Wright. Her latest dual timeline is not to be missed it's the perfect fall read.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.