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The Hold List: A blast from the past

Feature by Yi Jiang

The Headless Cupid

Big families are common in children’s literature, yet I am willing to argue that there is none more charming than the Stanleys, the stars of a four-book series by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Their story begins in The Headless Cupid, which won a Newbery Honor in 1972. Eleven-year-old David Stanley has a new stepmother, but it’s her daughter, 12-year-old Amanda, who really shakes things up for David and his three younger siblings. Amanda arrives wearing “ceremonial robes” and carrying a crow she calls her familiar, leading the Stanley children in occult rituals that feel like a game—until what might be an actual poltergeist shows up. Alongside that mystery and the hilarious antics of the younger siblings, Snyder explores the grief that follows a parent’s death and the growing pains of a blended family with subtlety and wisdom, making this series one that will continue to resonate with new generations.

—Trisha Ping, Publisher 

Marie Antoinette

Like many a millennial nerd, the Royal Diaries were my entry point to the joys of history; finding a fellow fan is still a shortcut to friendship. A series of fictional diaries of iconic royal women such as Cleopatra, Elizabeth I and Seondeok, the Royal Diaries were as rigorously researched as they were highly entertaining. In Cleopatra: Daughter of the Nile, I learned that she shaved with razors made from seashells and breathlessly watched her foil assassination plots. Because the books always took place when their supposed authors were quite young, it was easy to empathize with otherwise intimidating figures such as Eleanor of Aquitaine or Nzinga. The books always included back matter that offered more information about the period and the later life of their main subject, which either thrilled or broke my young, optimistic heart. I was particularly enamored with Kathryn Lasky’s Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles and was devastated to learn of the fun-loving, light-hearted French queen’s ultimate fate. (Don’t even get me started on how I felt when I realized that my beloved Elizabeth I had another of the series’ heroines, Mary Queen of Scots, executed.)

—Savanna, Managing Editor

Sabriel

Growing up, my sister, Anna, and I were known in the neighborhood for our over the top, obscure Halloween costumes. We loved to read, and we chose our costumes based on which characters we most wanted to transform into—not what would be the most recognizable. After falling in love with Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series, and especially the amazing heroine of the first book, Sabriel, Anna dug up a beautiful blue coat, slung a belt across it diagonally, and pinned on seven bells hanging across her chest. I thought it was a slam dunk. When we trick-or-treated, however, our neighbors were nonplussed. Memorable comments included: “What are you supposed to be? A crumpled up Union soldier?” and “You look like you have the junk drawer strapped to your chest.” Ouch. But our enjoyment of the book was undented. Sabriel’s a wonderful character because she charts her own path and follows the call of her destiny—taking up the mantle of her necromancer father, the Abhorsen, using her bells to travel beyond the gates of death, fighting demons and saving souls—and we took after her. 

—Phoebe Farrell-Sherman, Associate Editor

Into the Wild

The Warriors series by Erin Hunter (pen name for Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry) originated with Into the Wild, which kicked off a massive universe with dozens of installments, including supplementary field guides, graphic novels, novellas and more. Warriors follows the lives of four cat clans—ThunderClan, WindClan, RiverClan and ShadowClan—as well as StarClain, a fifth, mystical clan of cat ancestors who conveniently sends prophecies to help the living cats navigate conflict. Each clan has a leader, a deputy and a medicine cat, and they all operate under a set of rules called the warrior code in order to live separately but harmoniously—for the most part. They look down upon kittypets (housecats) and fear the dreaded TwoLegs (humans). The stories are filled with love and chaos, defending one’s home, and maintaining order in the charming brutality that one may imagine happens when large groups of feral cats attempt to coexist. Readers won’t ever find themselves bored, thanks to the massive series’ ever-shifting perspectives and clan rivalries. Hunter gives kids a sense of wild adventure from the perspective of a well-loved and familiar animal.

—Jena Groshek

Dive into nostalgia with these four beloved children’s series picked by BookPage staff.
Science Fiction & FantasyRomanceFictionSpeculative FictionHistorical FantasyFantasy RomanceFantasy

What to read after ‘Onyx Storm’

Feature by the editors of BookPage

If you want an intense enemies-to-lovers romantasy

How’s this for a meet-cute? In Milla Vane’s A Heart of Blood and Ashes, barbarian warrior Maddek fully intends to kill Princess Yvenne to avenge his parents’ death. But he changes his mind after she kills her own brother in front of Maddek and proposes marriage to him so that they can team up to kill her father and win back her kingdom.

If you want a story with an epic scale 

If what you love about the Empyrean series is having a whole lot to dig in to—lots of pages, lots of characters, lots of drama and a vast world—pick up Samantha Shannon’s A Day of Fallen Night. It’s not only 880 pages, but also the prequel to Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree. You’ll find exquisite dragons and angsty enemies-to-lovers subplots, too.

If you want to read one of the OG dragon fantasy series

Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight kicks off her iconic Dragonriders of Pern series. Be warned: Some of the aspects of this series, particularly in regard to sexuality, have not aged well, but there’s no denying that modern science fiction and fantasy takes on dragons owe a huge debt to McCaffrey.

If you want even more dragons

Naomi Novik‘s  is the start of a nine-book series that boasts one of the most lovable and complex dragons in fantasy. A polymath with a heart of gold and an increasingly radical social consciousness, Temeraire completely upends the life of stalwart naval captain William Lawrence when he chooses him as his rider.

If you want to be a dragon

If reading Fourth Wing and Onyx Storm left you wanting to be a dragon yourself, pick up Kelly Barnhill’s fiery and subversive adult debut, When Women Were Dragons. Part Lessons in Chemistry, part Left Behind, the novel stars a young heroine who’s trying (along with the rest of the world) to understand the Mass Dragoning of 1955, during which thousands of ordinary women grew scales, talons and wings and launched into the sky, never to be seen again.

 

Hot for Rebecca Yarros’ smash hit Empyrean series? These 5 read-alikes will keep the fire burning.
Mystery & SuspenseSuspenseMysteryHistorical Mystery

One of Anne Cleeves’ early mysteries is now available in the US for the first time

Feature by Bruce Tierney

The Railway Conspiracy

The Railway Conspiracy by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan is the follow-up to their critically acclaimed historical mystery The Murder of Mr. Ma, the first book in the Dee and Lao series. The Chinese central characters, Judge Dee Ren Jie and Lao She, are, um, not exactly detectives, not exactly spies, but well-equipped with the skill set to be either should the situation demand. Their kung fu skills range from decent to exemplary, their disguises are easily Mission: Impossible-class and their powers of deduction run the gamut from exceptionally insightful to exceptionally flawed, depending upon the beauty and/or the deviousness of the women in their sphere(s) at any given moment. The narrative is set in 1924 London, where Chinese Communists are gaining a bit of traction and influence following the success of the Russian Revolution a few years earlier. Real-life figures Zhou En Lai, Bertrand Russell and banker A.G. Stephen figure strongly in the story, albeit with a markedly different take regarding the death of the latter, whose murder kicks off the story. The villainy is delicious in an Agatha Christie sort of way, with rare poison and Japanese katanas as the means of dispatching unwanted rivals. It is always a good sign when a book in a series makes the reader want to dive back into the one(s) that preceded it, and that is definitely the case for me with The Railway Conspiracy.

The Reluctant Sheriff

It is kinda hard to imagine a suspense novel set in both small-town Kentucky and the French island of Corsica, but Chris Offutt makes it work rather well, actually. The Reluctant Sheriff begins in the town of Rocksalt, in the eastern hills of the Bluegrass State. Mick Hardin is the temporary (and as the title suggests, reluctant) sheriff of Eldridge County until his sister, who was shot in the line of duty, is cleared to resume her work. When a murder rocks the town, the prime suspect is none other than the current husband of Mick Hardin’s ex-wife, which dredges up all the emotional and conflict-of-interest baggage one might expect. Meanwhile, in Corsica, Johnny Boy Tolliver, former deputy of Eldridge County, is lying low in a one-room stone cottage deep in the countryside. We don’t know why, but we do know that someone is after him. It takes remarkably little time for him to “get into it” with some talented—but not talented enough—adversaries, sending them on their way, alive but battered. What little we do glean about his situation is that he has an on-site handler named Sebastien, whose services Mick has secured for some reason. Offutt toggles between these two distant locales, chapter by chapter ratcheting up the suspense levels until just before the snapping point. A very well-rendered action novel, The Reluctant Sheriff is sure to appeal to Jack Reacher fans.

A Lesson in Dying

A Lesson in Dying is the first book of Ann Cleeves’ successful Inspector Ramsay series. Originally released in the U.K. in 1990, it is now, 35 years later, being released for the first time in the U.S., and it has aged quite well indeed. You may be surprised to find that Inspector Ramsay plays a less conspicuous role than he does in later installments, but don’t let that put you off: The book is strong in other aspects, and Ramsay has ample amateur assistance. The mystery centers on the murder of Harold Medburn, a thoroughly despised school headmaster in the Northumberland village of Heppleburn. Adding a sinister element of suspense to the proceedings, the events surrounding the murder take place on Halloween or, as the English refer to it, All Hallows’ Eve. There is no dearth of suspects; the victim in question was universally loathed, so much so that if none of the villagers would do the deed, the reader would be sorely tempted to do so on the villagers’ behalf. A Lesson in Dying, like the five books in the series that followed it, is a very English mystery, beautifully written, neatly splitting the difference between, say, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ruth Rendell.

★ The Impossible Thing

Belinda Bauer’s magnificently executed The Impossible Thing has my vote for the most unusual crime novel in recent memory. The narrative spans a century or so and involves a brace of oologists, both then and now, bent on pursuing their quite illegal hobby. Do you know what an oologist is? Or a guillemot? Neither did I. An oologist is a collector of eggs (seriously), and a guillemot is a North Atlantic seabird known for its eggs, the most colorful in all the avian world. Red ones are the rarest and thus the holy grail of oologists. In the modern day, Nick, an avid gamer living at home with his mum, prowls their attic in search of things to sell so that he can buy a pricey new gaming chair. When he happens upon a carved wooden box containing a pointy red egg, he figures he can offload it on eBay. A respondent to the ad gets Nick’s address to view the egg, but before that can happen, the egg is stolen. Nick’s analytical friend Patrick leaps to the quite reasonable hypothesis that the would-be buyer must be the thief, so they concoct a scheme to expose the miscreant and retrieve the egg. Subplots abound—some of them dating back to the years between the World Wars, when a plucky young Yorkshire lass made the startling initial discovery—with the egg as the unvoiced yet central character of them all.

The Inspector Ramsay series will thrill Vera and Shetland devotees, plus an intriguing look into the highly illegal world of egg collecting in this month’s Whodunit column.
NonfictionNature

4 inspiring reads to take your book club back to nature

Feature by Julie Hale

In Birding to Change the World, Trish O’Kane shares the story of how she became a committed bird watcher after losing her New Orleans home during Hurricane Katrina. Relocating to Madison, Wisconsin, following the storm, O’Kane begins surveying the birds in Warner Park, haven to 141 species, and becomes involved in local preservation efforts. Her touching memoir is a testament to the magic of nature and the power of one individual to make a difference. Themes of personal evolution and community revitalization make this a terrific pick for book clubs.

The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship With Our Wild Neighbors by Erika Howsare is a shrewd evaluation of humanity’s complex relationship with deer and the greater natural world. Through skillful, accessible analysis of science, history, mythology and folklore, Howsare sheds fresh light on our fragile coexistence with deer and how that bond has evolved through the centuries. Howsare also interviews deer hunters, ecologists and other experts as she explores our multifaceted connection with the timeless creature. She writes with authority and heart in this lively, revealing book.

Paleontologist Thomas Halliday considers the amazing ways in which the Earth has adjusted to change across the ages in Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth’s Extinct Worlds. Halliday visits 16 fossil sites around the world, from Kenya to Antarctica and Australia, as he looks at the major shifts that have taken place in the life of the planet. Along the way, he zeros in on processes like species migration and examines the impact of geologic activity over time. Filled with fascinating talking points on topics such as climate change and extinction, Halliday’s wide-ranging book will generate great dialogue among readers.

Sy Montgomery’s Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell is a moving chronicle of the author’s involvement with the Massachusetts-based Turtle Rescue League. As volunteers with the organization, Montgomery and nature artist Matt Patterson dedicate themselves to the preservation of turtles who are threatened by poachers, environmental hazards and busy roadways. In this intriguing account of their work, Montgomery (How to Be a Good Creature) delves into the history and symbolism of turtles and their significance around the world. Nature enthusiasts will savor her unique insights into the culture of the revered reptile.

From ancient fossils to sea turtles to backyard wildlife, immerse yourself in the natural world on Earth Day—and every day.
RomanceHistorical RomanceContemporary Romance

Go to Italy, fall back in love—try not to get assassinated

Feature by Christie Ridgway

★ Code Word Romance

A down-on-her-luck chef takes on a lucrative assignment as a body double for the CIA in Carlie Walker’s delicious combination of romance and suspense, Code Word Romance. Approached by the government because of her resemblance to the prime minister of the Nordic island nation of Summerland, Margaux “Max” Adams only has to masquerade as the prime minister during her annual Italian vacation while the authorities smoke out a would-be assassin. Sounds simple enough, until Max’s handler turns out to be none other than Flynn, the first love who ghosted her long ago. Cue awkward conversations, sizzling chemistry and a car chase or two as the simple assignment grows complicated. Max and Flynn realize they have not left their love in the past against the backdrop of cities like Positano and Rome, and readers will feel the Italian sun and taste the cuisine. Walker’s tight pacing and Max’s first-person viewpoint fuel the excitement, and the supporting cast adds smile-worthy comedic touches in this winning romance.

Sweet Obsession

Katee Robert takes readers away in Sweet Obsession, another engrossing and erotic installment in the Dark Olympus series. Thirteen powerful leaders rule Olympus, a city-state that has modern technology but is cut off from the rest of the world. Circe, the city’s great enemy, has positioned ships in the waters around Olympus that appear ready for attack. Rugged and determined Poseidon pledges to protect his people, but the politics involved in dealing with the ruling council takes all his patience. Then there’s the problem of Icarus, who, as the book opens, has just failed in killing him. The spoiled playboy prince becomes Poseidon’s captive, then his dominant lover, then his true love. But can Icarus be trusted with the plans to save Olympus, not to mention Poseidon’s heart? Teeming with intrigue and smoking hot sex scenes, Sweet Obsession is a showcase for Robert’s compelling and imaginative storytelling.

A Duke Never Tells

Suzanne Enoch’s latest offering, A Duke Never Tells, is a Regency romance with a delightful trading-places storyline. Meg Pinwell’s parents have always admonished her to be proper, so she’s shocked when her father promises her in marriage to the very improper James Clay, Duke of Earnhurst. Before committing herself, Meg decides to anonymously visit the duke’s country estate with her beloved Aunt Clara to get a better understanding of the man. But to their dismay, the duke is in residence. So, in great rom-com tradition, aunt becomes lady, Meg becomes maid and, well, the duke and his man of business, Riniken, make their own switcheroo in order to test whether “Meg” is a fortune hunter. Then the fun and games really begin in this kisses-only tale that keeps spinning in new directions as the cast falls in love. Multiple viewpoints add depth and humor to this feel-good story.

Carlie Walker’s action-packed new rom-com is utterly delicious, plus the latest from Katee Robert and Suzanne Enoch in this month’s romance column.
Science Fiction & FantasyFictionScience FictionLiterary Fiction

There’s a book in this book!

Feature by the editors of BookPage

If We Were Villains

When my book club recently selected M. L. Rio’s If We Were Villains, I was initially hesitant. I hadn’t read any Shakespeare since college, and wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy a novel so heavily influenced by his work. I was pleasantly surprised when I was drawn in right away by the characters, seven actors in their final year at an elite performing arts college. As they immerse themselves in Shakespeare’s tragedies, the lines between reality and performance begin to blur. When one of the students dies mysteriously after a Halloween-night production of Macbeth, the rest, now suspects, must confront the roles they play both on and off the stage. Oliver, often typecast as the “sidekick,” narrates the story 10 years later. The plot deftly mirrors the thematic elements of the plays the group is performing, including Romeo and Juliet and King Lear—exploring ambition, betrayal and revenge. Even if you’re not a Shakespeare buff, the connections between the characters’ lives and the plays they perform are easy to grasp. If you do love the Bard, the parallels will be icing on the cake.

—Katherine Klockenkemper, Subscriptions

I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home

In Lorrie Moore’s beguiling 2023 novel, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home, a man and his dead ex-girlfriend take a road trip, he desperate to understand her suicide, she slowly decomposing (while telling stories and singing) in the passenger seat. Nested in this story are letters from Elizabeth—a Civil War-era mistress of a boardinghouse that has “lost its spank”—to her sister, long dead at the time of her writing. Elizabeth is a crackerjack writer: formal yet irreverent, self-effacing and self-aware. She is sympathetic to abolition, the poor and weary soldiers, and not opposed to mischief. She writes of a “handsome lodger” who is “dapper as a finch” and “keen to relieve me of my spinsterhood.” But after she hears of the assassination of President Lincoln, she starts to see her lodger in a different light. Moore suspends Elizabeth’s story for much of the novel, and readers may yearn to get back to the boardinghouse. It’s no surprise that Moore, a master of pacing and timing, delivers on Elizabeth’s story with an unexpected, delightful convergence of the two narratives.

—Erica Ciccarone, Associate Editor

The Blind Assassin

The Blind Assassin opens with Iris Griffen recounting the death of her 25-year-old sister, Laura, who drove her car off a bridge while, as Iris makes sure to note, wearing white gloves, as if “washing her hands of me. Of all of us.” Through prose interspersed with newspaper clippings and excerpts from The Blind Assassin—the posthumous novel that launches Laura into notoriety—Margaret Atwood’s puzzle of a book reels us in to an enigmatic life that is dotted by tragedy and death. However, it’s a true testament to Atwood’s genre-spanning talent that perhaps the most enthralling element is the pulp science fiction story told within the eponymous novel-within-a-novel. This third layer of the story explores Sakiel-Norn, a grand city on the planet Zycron that is famous for producing carpets woven by child slaves who inevitably go blind from the work. This loss of sight makes them highly prized assassins. Atwood is the rare jack-of-all-trades, master of everything: She dances effortlessly between the realistic and the speculative, while fashioning a narrative that is not only suspenseful and exciting, but also contemplative—an ability that elevated other works such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake to cultural phenomenon status, and is on full display here in The Blind Assassin.

—Yi Jiang, Associate Editor

A Tale for the Time Being

If you keep a journal, you may be familiar with an occasional prickling feeling —a feeling that makes you wonder, what would someone think if they read this? The act of writing seems to suppose a connection with an audience, even writing that you never intend to share. In Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being, novelist Ruth feels a powerful connection to a stranger when she discovers a diary washed up on the shore of her home on an island in British Columbia. In alternating chapters, we read from the diary, which belonged to Nao, a high schooler from Tokyo, and hear about Ruth’s life with her husband, Oliver. As she reads, Ruth becomes increasingly, desperately concerned for Nao. The teenager’s father is deeply depressed, and her classmates grotesquely bully her. She’s clearly suffering. Was the diary carried to Ruth by the 2011 tsunami in Japan? Or was it abandoned before that, and if so, what happened to Nao? Ozeki incorporates Buddhist spirituality in layers both explicit and subtle, meaning there’s always more to uncover in this complicated book.

—Phoebe Farrell-Sherman, Associate Editor

We love when authors get meta by placing a second text—a novel, play or diary—within the first. Here are our four picks for books featuring nested stories.
NonfictionMemoir

Memoir March 2025

Feature by the editors of BookPage
    
Bibliophobia by Sarah Chihaya

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Sarah Chihaya always thought books could save her from suicide. Her perceptive debut memoir examines why.

Read our Q&A with Sarah Chihaya:

‘All of a sudden, it was like a dam had burst’

 

 

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

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Chloe Dalton’s magical, endearing account of bonding with a wild hare is an enchanting meditation on what we gain when we allow the natural world to teach us.

Read our Q&A with Chloe Dalton: 

‘It’s freed me up to be gentler, more patient and more attentive to my surroundings’

 

 

Love, Rita by Bridgett M. Davis

Read the review:

Bridgett M. Davis’ riveting and heartbreaking memoir is a homage to her sister and a sober reflection on the devastating impact that medical racism has on Black women.

Read our Q&A with Bridgett M. Davis:

‘I feel proud of myself for facing my fears and writing the hard parts’

 

 

The Trouble of Color by Martha S. Jones

Read the review:

Martha S. Jones’ moving memoir traces her family’s history back five generations and will change the way readers understand race.

Read our Q&A with Martha S. Jones:

‘It has allowed me to discover how it feels to know that past and also live its inheritance’

 

 

Saving Five by Amanda Nguyen

Read the review:

Amanda Nguyen’s tenacious debut memoir recounts her experience navigating the criminal justice system as a rape survivor—and demanding better of our government.

Read our Q&A with Amanda Nguyen:

‘We all have lessons we can learn from our younger selves’

 

 

Connecting Dots by Joshua A. Miele

Read the review:

Joshua A. Miele survived an acid attack at age 4, but that’s not what he wants you to know about him.

Read our Q&A with Joshua A. Miele:

‘I consider myself a world expert on my own blind life’

 

 

Care and Feeding by Laurie Woolever

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Laurie Woolever details her decades hustling in NYC’s food world, including her work for Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali.

Read our Q&A with Laurie Woolever:

‘I know now that every part of the process is a reward’

7 memoirists describe the power and pleasure of getting their stories on the page.
FictionInspirational FictionHistorical Fiction

Inspirational novels for spring 2025

Feature by Edith Kanyagia

Ace, Marvel, Spy

Jenni L. Walsh deftly fictionalizes the intriguing rise of real-life trailblazing tennis champion Alice Marble and her extraordinary life following the start of World War II in Ace, Marvel, Spy.

After her brother encourages Alice to trade baseball for tennis, which he regards as more ladylike, Alice picks up a racket for the first time and falls in love with the sport. But the chances of a career in tennis are slim for a teen whose family in Beckwourth, California, is struggling financially, especially after the death of her father. Through grit and diligence, Alice defies all odds, rising to unprecedented prominence in tennis. Her life is disrupted when war breaks out, and she suffers heartbreaking losses. Not one to give up, Alice joins the fight against the Nazis by becoming a spy.

Through a carefully crafted dual timeline, Walsh follows Alice’s story, including her early start in tennis playing in junior tournaments and her struggle to prove herself. Her journey to becoming an 18 Grand Slam tennis champion and the Associated Press Athlete of the Year in 1939 and 1940 is exhilarating. The story includes the wonderful relationship between Alice and her long-term coach and mentor, Eleanor “Teach” Tennant, who supports Alice through the tragedies she experiences.

After the war, Alice’s later accomplishments include becoming an associate editor with All-American Comics of their Wonder Women of History series, covering the stories of notable women in history. She also plays a role in the desegregation of tennis, writing an editorial piece in support of Black player Althea Gibson, who goes on to become the first African American player to play in the National Championships (and the first to win them).

With expertise and finesse, Walsh provides a complete picture of Alice’s life that celebrates her unrelenting determination to succeed and courage in the face of hardship.

 

Midnight on the Scottish Shore

Sarah Sundin is the bestselling author of Christian historical novels including Until Leaves Fall in Paris, which received a 2022 Christy Award, and the Sunrise at Normandy series. In Midnight on the Scottish Shore, she weaves a stunning story of a brave woman determined to escape Nazi control and find freedom in England.

Intent on establishing a new life and leaving the Netherlands following the German invasion, Cilla van der Zee develops a plan: She will become a Nazi spy, then desert the Germans after arriving safely in England, and begin a new life. Her plan is halted when Scottish lieutenant Lachlan Mackenzie finds and arrests her. To avoid execution, Cilla is forced to work as a double agent and partner with Lachlan in relaying false messages to the Nazis.

Blending a woman’s exciting journey across Europe and the unlikely, endearing romance between the novel’s main characters, Sundin underscores Cilla’s bravery and Lachlan’s devotion to the Allied cause. Cilla’s vivacity and humor enliven the story, and her compassion and willingness to put her life at risk for others’ sake are inspiring. Sundin also explores Lachlan’s background and chronicles his growth. Through his and Cilla’s experiences, themes of faith, forgiveness and strength in unity are examined.

Read more Christian fiction picks.

Set during World War II, Ace, Marvel, Spy and Midnight on the Scottish Shore chronicle the stories of two women whose lives are testaments to the power of courage during times of upheaval.
FictionLiterary FictionHistorical FictionFamily SagaFamily DramaDebut Fiction

Many voices, one story

Feature by Julie Hale

Headshot, Rita Bullwinkel’s powerful debut, focuses on eight teenage boxers—all women—who are contending for a title at Bob’s Boxing Palace in Reno, Nevada. Bullwinkel skillfully shifts points of view throughout this dramatic, often funny novel, developing a unique identity and personal history for each fighter, as she recounts their boxing bouts in wonderful detail. Against the backdrop of competitive sports, Bullwinkel probes the aspirations and inspirations of an unforgettable group of young women. Their differing motivations and struggles with self-determination will stimulate lively conversation among readers.

The Family Izquierdo by Rubén Degollado chronicles the lives of members of a close-knit Mexican American clan in McAllen, Texas. The novel follows the family across three generations as they contend with a curse they believe has caused the physical decline of Papa Tavo, the head of the family, and the marriage woes of Gonzalo, the eldest son. Narrated by different members of the Izquierdo clan, the novel examines family ties and traditions as well as life on the Texas-Mexico border. Degollado creates a rich chorus of voices in this moving, compassionate novel.

Intricate and enthralling, Megha Majumdar’s A Burning takes place in Kolkata, India, following a terrorist attack. Jivan, a Muslim woman, is implicated in the attack and jailed. Lovely, a trans actress, could clear Jivan’s name, but is reluctant to speak up. Jivan’s former gym teacher, PT Sir, who has been increasingly drawn toward right-wing politics, is also involved in the case. Each character provides a different take on the events at hand, and the result is a nuanced, multilayered tale. The tough questions it raises about justice make Majumdar’s novel a rewarding choice for book clubs.

In Wandering Stars, Tommy Orange continues the mesmerizing family saga that started with his acclaimed novel There There (2018). He resumes the stories of Orvil Red Feather and Opal Viola Bear Shield in modern-day Oakland, California, while also detailing the lives of their forebears, including Jude Star, a survivor of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. Told from the viewpoints of multiple characters, the book weaves together varied voices to create a complex narrative tapestry. Throughout the novel, Orange explores long-standing family conflicts and the enduring legacies of American Indigenous history.

Book clubs will have plenty to debate with these multiperspective and polyvocal novels.
RomanceRomantic SuspenseHistorical Romance

TJ Alexander’s first historical romance is equal parts delight and pathos

Feature by Christie Ridgway

★ A Gentleman’s Gentleman

TJ Alexander (Chef’s Kiss) offers delightful surprises in their first Regency romance, A Gentleman’s Gentleman. According to his father’s will, eccentric Lord Christopher Eden will lose his inheritance if he fails to marry before his next birthday. But the aristocrat has no interest in women or marriage, and no idea how to go about finding a spouse during the London season. Enter a new valet, James Harding, with very traditional ideas as well as a secretive past. Christopher also has secrets, which keep the pair at odds even while they work together to aid another society romance. But what to do about the growing sexual tension between them? Can they ever act on it and how can they find a Happily Ever After? Pathos and painful backstories provide a heartaching emotional heft to this tender and witty love story. 

While the Duke Was Sleeping

Comedy ensues when a lady’s maid pretends to be her mistress in While the Duke Was Sleeping by Samara Parish. After her employer, Cordelia, runs from her wedding, Adelaide “Della” Rosebourne escapes with her to the countryside. A short while later, more complications arise when Cordelia persuades Della to take her place at a duke’s home—as his fiancée. Oh, and the duke is in a coma. The details really don’t matter; the fun is in the lengths Della will go to keep up her ruse, and the lengths the duke’s sexy scoundrel of a brother, Everett “Rhett” Montgomery, will go to expose her. Della and Rhett find themselves falling for each other, which seems so wrong even as it feels so right. Della is a worthy heroine, full of spunk and spirit, and Rhett discovers he’s much more than a rapscallion. Readers will root for them to find a way to forever and will enjoy the large, engaging cast in this utter charmer.

Dead Man’s List

The hunt for a serial killer nearly upends a burgeoning romance in Karen Rose’s third entry in her San Diego Case Files series, Dead Man’s List. Homicide detective Kit McKittrick has finally let down her guard and is actually looking forward to a second date with police psychologist Dr. Sam Reeves. But then a particularly gruesome case comes her way. As connected murders pile up, Kit and Sam dive into the details. Their attraction grows, but closeness isn’t possible while the danger to the community and Kit’s family (from another bad guy) is on the rise. As usual with a Rose whodunit, the gory specifics of the crimes are balanced by the wholesome family and friends who step up to help the protagonists solve the whodunit. Readers will enjoy armchair detecting while watching Kit and Sam at last develop a deeper relationship in this satisfying, kisses-only romantic suspense novel.

Plus, Karen Rose and Samara Parish return in this month’s romance column.
Mystery & SuspenseSuspenseMystery

The grand finale of Juan Gómez-Jurado’s Antonia Scott series

Feature by Bruce Tierney

Battle Mountain

A perennial figure in mystery and suspense novels is the “second banana,” a sidekick/bodyguard of a series’ central character who is often more skilled, more focused and more lethal. Think Spenser and Hawk, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike or Easy Rawlins and Raymond “Mouse” Alexander. And then, on an entirely different level of lethality, there is C.J. Box’s Nate Romanowski: a loner, survivalist and falconer who was originally a supporting character in the Joe Pickett novels, but has taken center stage over the past several books (so much so that he has acquired a sidekick of his own, Geronimo Jones). The latest in the Wyoming-set series, Battle Mountain, follows Nate in search of Axel Soledad, his wife’s murderer, who cheated almost certain death at the hands of Geronimo (you had ONE JOB, Geronimo). Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Nate, Soledad is a key figure in a case that Joe has become peripherally involved with. The governor’s son-in-law and his hunting guide have gone missing deep in the mountain wilderness. And somewhere within that wilderness are Soledad and his partners in crime, who are preparing for a massive criminal endeavor and have exactly zero desire to leave living witnesses to their presence. As is often the case with shifting narratives, the reader knows more than at least some of the characters at least some of the time, but do not let that put you off. There are still ample surprises in store.

Cold as Hell

Kelley Armstrong’s latest mystery, Cold as Hell, is number three in her, um, chilling series of novels about Haven’s Rock, a remote settlement in the Yukon—which is already quite remote by most measures—in which people can go off the grid, usually to hide from those who wish to do them harm. But predators have their own devious ways of seeking out prey: A Haven’s Rock woman gets drugged (maybe) and then abducted (definitely), only to be saved by the fortuitous intervention of a fellow villager who hears her screams above the noise of the heavy winds. The second victim is not so lucky. Complicating matters is the fact that Detective Casey Duncan, one of the chief law enforcement officers of the town, is deep into the third trimester of her difficult pregnancy. Further complicating matters is the fact that the other law enforcement officer, Sheriff Eric Dalton, is Casey’s husband, and the only one who can fly the small airplane that will take her to the hospital. That distinction may prove to be academic, though, as a raging snowstorm precludes air travel for the time being. Let it be said that there is no shortage of tension here: stolen drugs, baby imminent, phones not working, a killer on the loose and a village full of people with secrets, more than one of whom can become a loose cannon under pressure.

Leo

A tongue-in-cheek aphorism dating from medieval times (but often misattributed to Oscar Wilde) suggests that “No good deed goes unpunished.” As Deon Meyer’s latest novel, Leo, begins, that saying must be going through the minds of South African police detectives Benny Greissel and Vaughn Cupido. In their previous outing, The Dark Flood, the duo exposed a massive corruption scheme, for which they have been rewarded with banishment. The university town of Stellenbosch is some 50 kilometers—and 50 light-years—distant from the rampant scofflawism that makes Cape Town a fascinating place to be a cop. Although it is something of a demotion, that cloud has had a bit of a silver lining for Benny, as his upcoming nuptials make up one of the three subplots of the book. A second subplot features an old nemesis getting recruited for a pretty audacious heist, and the third involves the killing of a bicyclist and the subsequent murder of her suspected killer. Perspective shifts early and often in the narrative, but Meyer toggles seamlessly from one to the next, deftly tying them all together in a timely fashion. By the way, speaking of timely: For having such a short title, Leo is quite a hefty tome—464 pages—so book out your time accordingly. 

★ White King

The third and final installment of Juan Gómez-Jurado’s Antonia Scott trilogy, White King possesses the same “I cannot put this damn book down” allure as its two predecessors, 2023’s Red Queen and 2024’s Black Wolf. The main character, Antonia Scott, is an amalgam of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Keigo Higashino’s Detective Galileo, with perhaps a bit of Stephen Hawking mixed in for good measure. Her interests and knowledge are wide-ranging and eclectic; she speaks more languages than the typical mobile phone voice translator (Telugu, for example, an Indian language from which she conjures up an appropriate word to fit her situation at the moment—“rakṣakuḍuha,” which means, in her words, “the bodyguard without armor who throws himself naked into the path of the arrow”). Antonia has been tasked with solving three crimes by her longtime adversary, Mr. White, in order to save her partner and dear friend, Jon Gutierrez. Thankfully, she’s arguably the most gifted on-the-fly crime solver in the history of thrillers, making connections that stymie those around her (and the readers of her exploits), until the final reveal.

Plus the latest mysteries from C.J. Box, Kelley Armstrong and Deon Meyer in this month’s Whodunit column.
Mystery & SuspenseSuspenseMysteryHistorical Mystery

A Victorian con artist embarks on her greatest scheme yet

Feature by Bruce Tierney

Loose Lips

I have sometimes thought that the most difficult thing for a writer to do well is to write a novel from the first-person perspective of a person with a different gender. A year ago, I reviewed Kemper Donovan’s The Busy Body, the first in his series about an anonymous female ghostwriter, narrated from her perspective. There was not a single clue suggesting that a male had penned the novel; it was that seamless. (Thankfully, I happened to read his bio before submitting the review, saving myself the embarrassment of erroneous assumptions.) That holds true as well for the second installment in the series, Loose Lips, in which our protagonist accepts a gig as a guest lecturer on a literary cruise. It is a quintessential setup for a locked-room mystery, as there is no escape route for the guilty party, save for a lengthy North Atlantic winter’s swim back to New York City. Moreover, while the admittedly amateur investigation into the murder of author and cruise organizer Payton Garrett proceeds, more bodies will join the first in the ship’s galley freezer, adjacent to the celebrity chef’s signature lobster thermidor. The murder weapon is straight out of Agatha Christie or perhaps the board game Clue, and the tone is tongue-in-cheek a la Knives Out—an observation I made in my review last year, and one that still holds true this time around.  

Dead in the Frame

Stephen Spotswood’s noir detective series starring Lillian Pentecost and Willowjean “Will” Parker hearkens back to Rex Stout’s iconic Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin series. A cerebral crime-solver ensconced in her New York City mansion, Lillian mirrors Wolfe. Will serves as her Archie Goodwin: irreverent chronicler of the stories, perpetrator of assorted quasi-illegal deeds in furtherance of the investigations and smart-alecky nemesis of New York’s Finest. The latest, Dead in the Frame, features a second narrator for the first time in the series, which up to now was related by Will. Lillian is keeping a journal in her jail cell, where she awaits trial for the murder of longtime foe Jessup Quincannon. Meanwhile, Will madly scrambles through 1947 New York City to unravel a seemingly airtight case against her friend/employer. Rounding out the cast are an up-and-coming evangelist whose wife is perhaps more mercenary than missionary, a lethal female security consultant and a corrupt cop who dangles the key to Lillian’s exoneration, albeit at a price. Lillian’s multiple sclerosis makes her stay in prison even more difficult, and the tone of her journal is somber and introspective; Will’s voice, by comparison, is sassy and no-nonsense, although punctuated with rueful humor throughout. Without giving away anything here, the murderer is just about the last person you would expect. Well, perhaps not as far back in the queue as Lillian Pentecost, but pretty darn close.

The Queen of Fives

Alex Hay’s The Queen of Fives derives its title from an age-old, five-step primer on setting up a con, briefly summarized thusly: 1) Identify the mark; 2) Intrude on the daily life of the mark; 3) Tempt the mark with an offer too good to be true; 4) Encircle the mark with new friends and gently sever ties with old friends; 5) Cement the payoff and make the getaway. Bonus points if you can pull off the entire scam in five days, which is precisely what seductive Quinn le Blanc, the titular Queen of Fives, intends to accomplish. Her target is a midlevel royal, the Duke of Kendal. The year is 1898; the setting, Victorian-era London. The basic plan is disarmingly simple: Lure one of England’s most eligible bachelors into marriage, then abscond with the family fortune. It will be the most ambitious score Quinn has ever embarked upon. If she can pull it off. And that is a big if. It can be argued that desperation is never a good companion when plotting out a con, and there certainly is an element of desperation at play here. Deep in debt, Quinn really needs a big score. It’s a recipe for things going awry, at the worst times, in the worst possible manners (and manors). P.S. Of all the books this month, The Queen of Fives is the one that just screams to be adapted into a TV series, one sure to appeal to period drama fans, particularly those who might enjoy a spot of larceny with their afternoon tea.

Open Season

Forensic psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD detective Milo Sturgis return for their 40th (!!!) adventure together in Jonathan Kellerman’s latest mystery, Open Season. The murder victim is a wannabe actor, funding the waiting period until her big break by serving as one of a bevy of glamorous attendees at various Tinseltown events. Her suspected killer is also a wannabe actor and occasional stuntman. But by the time suspicion falls on him, he has become a murder victim himself. They will not be the last victims, and as it will turn out, they are not the first either: Bullets from the rifle used to kill the stuntman match an earlier killing halfway across the country. What started out as a comparatively routine homicide investigation may be turning into a search for a serial killer, one who has stayed under the radar for years and who shows no signs of stopping any time soon. And then, as has happened often in the past, Dr. Delaware displays his gift for discerning patterns that nobody else has identified yet. Open Season is fast-paced, suspense-laden and boasts a true surprise ending, even for those who thought they had it figured out sooner. Like me.

Plus, the latest cases of crime-solving duos Parker & Pentecost and Delaware & Sturgis in this month’s whodunit column.
RomanceChildren's & YAYA FictionYAHistorical Romance

Our favorite romance tropes—and the books that best exemplify them

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Seize the Fire

An idealistic young woman puts her trust in a cynical rake. You probably think you know where a story with this opening might go. But Seize the Fire, the 1989 historical romance from the incomparable Laura Kinsale, is a unique and memorable twist on the trope. Sheltered and somewhat silly Princess Olympia St. Leger hires British naval hero Sheridan Drake to help her reclaim the throne of her home country. But Sheridan, a smooth-talking charmer, knows firsthand how concepts like liberty can be warped into violence for political gain. He’d be annoyed by Olympia’s lofty principles and permanently rose-colored glasses—if they didn’t make it so easy for him to take advantage of her. Yet Kinsale doesn’t set one of her leads above the other, instead taking a more realistic tack of highlighting the pitfalls of both viewpoints and setting up two very flawed characters. Olympia’s naivete is as dangerous, if not more, than Sheridan’s cynicism, and as necessary to change. As they wend their way through an absolutely unpredictable sequence of dramatic adventures—including pirates, a sultan’s harem, a shipwreck and a revolution—these total opposites are hewn into shapes that can only fit with each other.

—Trisha Ping, Publisher

Illuminae

Illuminae by Aime Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, the first installment of the Illuminae Files trilogy, is a recounting of an intergalactic invasion on the planet Kerenza in 2575 through a series of files including news reports and video footage analysis. Kady Grant and Ezra Mason break up just hours before the invasion. In the ensuing chaos, they both end up on different refugee ships attempting to outrun the invaders. The remainder of this sci-fi second-chance romance follows tech genius Kady aboard Hypatia and Ezra on the Alexander dealing with its mostly uncooperative AI system, AIDAN (Artificial Intelligence Defense Analytics Network). Amid coordinating a cross-galaxy journey for the three refugee ships, battling a plague and a rogue AIDAN, Kady and Ezra realize how miniscule the issues in their relationship were compared to the fight for survival—and that they are the only person the other can count on. The audiobook version is immaculate due to its full cast and sound effects, making the story utterly immersive. 

—Jena Groshek, Sales Coordinator

Any Old Diamonds

Morally grey hero this, morally grey hero that. Get you a guy that more than one character describes as “Mephistophelean.” KJ Charles loves an “upstanding gentleman meets an absolute reprobate”-type pairing, but Jerry Crozier of Any Old Diamonds is the king of reprobates—the reprobate all the other reprobates cross the street to avoid. A proudly amoral, single-minded jewel thief, Jerry arrives like an absolute wrecking ball into Alec Pyne’s life when the latter hires him to steal a set of diamonds from his father, a powerful duke. Charles has always been interested in how morality functions within immoral systems, and this theme finds its most extreme (and entertaining) expression in Jerry. Because he lives in 1895 Britain, Jerry’s talents for blackmail, theft, fraud and general intimidation are able to find a truly righteous outlet—robbing cruel, selfish aristocrats blind. His world is characterized by extreme wealth inequality and infuriating hypocrisy, which means that plenty of people deserve Jerry Crozier to “happen to them,” as he puts it. Actually, upon further reflection, I think Jerry would get along just fine in 2024.

—Savanna Walker, Managing Editor

Whitney, My Love

Tropes are the best part of the romance genre: You know what to expect, but skilled authors like Judith McNaught still find ways to reinvent them and make them exciting. Whitney, My Love, my favorite romance novel of all time, does just that, with McNaught employing a bevy of tropes at once: Fake relationship, check. Forced proximity, check. Arranged marriage, check. Hidden identity, check. This book’s many twists and turns make it a delightful read. Whitney Stone was sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Paris after being deemed an unruly child. When she returns home to Regency-era England after a triumphant launch in Paris society, she unknowingly catches the eye of the arrogant and mysterious Duke of Claymore, Clayton. Hoping to impress her father and finally be deemed good enough to marry her childhood love, Whitney tries to be the picture of a demure, refined woman. Clayton, her handsome but bothersome neighbor, pledges to help her appeal to her childhood love, but Whitney soon discovers that not only has her father promised her in marriage to Clayton, but he’s also a duke. McNaught cleverly twists together beloved romance tropes to create a complex story around intriguing characters that is impossible to put down. The best part is that finding passion and love isn’t the end of Whitney and Clayton’s story: There is so much more to discover about these two in this 577-page tome.

—Meagan Vanderhill, Brand & Production Designer

Because as we all know, execution is everything.

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