In Carter Sickels’ The Prettiest Star, set in 1986, a young AIDS patient encounters bigotry when he returns to his hometown in Ohio
Set in 1986 during the height of the AIDS epidemic, Carter Sickels’ The Prettiest Star depicts a sick young man returning to his hometown in rural Ohio and confronting ignorance and prejudice, the worst of it coming from his own family.
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Jenny Offill’s Weather is a guidebook for finding hope in the dark
Jenny Offill’s latest novel, Weather, is a meditation on the challenges of our times and a lesson in maintaining optimism despite our worst fears.
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To the Bones sets a satisfying thriller in small-town Appalachia
In To the Bones by Southern author Valerie Nieman, the dystopian horror is a chilling reminder of what can arise from the vast distances between human beings, as well as the vast mysteries within an individual.
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Don Winslow’s action-filled collection is layered with emotion
In his new novella collection, Broken, Don Winslow takes a breather from the intensely dark depictions of violence in his Cartel crime trilogy, but he still provides plenty of action to satisfy readers.
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Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry explores human connectedness in On the Horizon
In On the Horizon, her new novel in verse for young readers, Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry reflects on World War II by drawing on her childhood memories of life in Honolulu and Japan.
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Cave expert Larry E. Matthews takes readers on a remarkable tour of the Middle Tennessee underground
For over 40 years, Nashville resident Larry E. Matthews has produced a slew of specialized books chronicling some of Tennessee’s 10,000 known caves. His latest, the lavishly illustrated Caves of the Highland Rim, may be the most accessible to general readers, revealing hidden worlds through Matthews’ clear prose and detailed photographs by Bob Biddix.
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