Book Summaries Little Hatchet When his brother is kidnapped from their New Mexico cabin, 12-year-old Walter Oakley sets off in pursuit, launching a multi-generational saga. Following the Oakley family from 1800s frontier life among Apaches and Comanches through Prohibition-era Texas, Little Hatchet chronicles their courageous struggle for survival amid unimaginable tragedy, violence, and determination. Runners […]
Read of the Month: “Massawa” by Pam Webber
July 1, 2026 by Leave a Comment
In a gripping World War II thriller based on true events, Massawa: A Tale of Espionage, Love and Illusion (She Writes Press 2026) by Pam Webber will keep readers turning pages to discover what happens next to a young American spy. Fans of The Alice Network, The Rose Code, A Woman of No Importance, The […]
“The Wondrous Lives and Loves of Nella Carter” by Brionni Nwosu
June 14, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Richly imaginative and provocative, The Wondrous Lives and Loves of Nella Carter (Lake Union 2025) is a time- and continent-spanning novel with social significance. Just as Octavia Butler’s Kindred revealed the depths of humanity’s racism through time travel, so does this debut novel by Brionni Nwosu. But the story goes far beyond exposing negative qualities […]
“The Swellest Wife Anyone Ever Had,” Poems by Jennifer Schomburg Kanke
June 1, 2026 by Leave a Comment
The Swellest Wife Anyone Ever Had (Kelsay Books, 2024) by Jennifer Schomburg Kanke chronicles the life of Enid, an Appalachian housewife born in 1919, through vivid imagery and keenly observed detail. The poet creates rich portraits not only of Enid’s personality and growth, but also of the people, landscape, and culture that shape her life […]
“The Burning Side” by Sarah Damoff
May 20, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Sarah Damoff’s second novel, The Burning Side, is just as rich in poignant moments and nuanced characters as her first, The Bright Years, which Southern Literary Review selected as its 2025 Book of the Year. The Burning Side explores two very different marriages, revealing both the best and the worst of committed love. One begins […]
“The Mango Tree” by Annabelle Towmetich
April 15, 2026 by Leave a Comment
Annabelle Tometich’s delightful sense of humor sweetens even the toughest, most humiliating moments of her life in her outstanding memoir, The Mango Tree (Little, Brown and Company, 2024). Beginning with an epigraph from her mother’s Facebook feed, the book announces its tone immediately: laugh-out-loud funny. “I shook my family tree and a bunch of nuts […]