Lily Corcoran is a 40-year-old researcher at the University of Wisconsin whose pursuit of her Ph.D. in neuroscience has long been waylaid by the work of parenting her 10-year-old daughter Rosie. This task has now been made more difficult by the fact that Lily and her husband have recently separated. One wine-soaked night as Lily battles loneliness in her quiet house she’s startled by the arrival of her mother who doesn’t seem to have aged a day in 30 years. In the 1980s her mom Patty Rose left a holiday party early and died in a car accident on the way home. So the question is obvious: How could she be here now? Over the next few weeks Lily adjusts to life with her mother’s apparition including the smell of her 1980s hair spray her attachment to shoulder pads and her heavenly home cooking. Disguising her mom as her long-lost “Cousin Trish” they both attend holiday gatherings repaint Rosie’s room and even go shopping at Target. But as Lily finds out life with a ghost can be challenging: Patty bursts into flames when she’s angry and becomes transparent when she’s nervous. Her mother’s advice ranges from the dated (she pressures Lily to wear a push-up bra to win back her husband) to the genuinely caring (suggesting Lily cut back on candy and booze). But as happy as Lily is to have a second chance with her mother she can’t help resenting her too. Then one disastrous night changes everything between them: Lily realizes that she and Patty are more alike than she’s ever realized. Keller’s writing is bright and witty and the speculative details of the haunting are entertaining. Although the side characters are a bit flat and some conclusions feel too tidy the story remains somehow impressively grounded. The novel’s greatest success however comes from its depiction of the tender relationship between a daughter and the mother she lost too soon.

Russell Quant now approaching his 55th birthday is confronting the painful fact that his 84-year-old mother Kay is showing signs of increasing dementia. He visits her farmhouse to begin sorting out her lifetime’s worth of assorted possessions. Kay is paying a condolence call to her friend Cecilia (CeeCee) Toth whose husband Clem has recently died. Quant heads over to CeeCee’s house where he learns that Clem left a suicide text on CeeCee’s phone—the message includes a confession about committing some sort of crime. Quant also learns that two weeks before Clem’s death somebody sprayed poison over all the plants in some greenhouses in the neighboring town. CeeCee also owns a greenhouse and when the police discover empty containers of Roundup in CeeCee and Clem’s yard they assume that Clem was getting rid of the competition and feeling guilty died by suicide—but CeeCee is convinced he was murdered. And so Quant and his investigative partner JP Taine (who’s also his husband) have their next case. Bidulka’s ninth entry in his Russell Quant detective series offers a twisty mystery with enough red herrings to keep readers engaged. It’s also a touching tale of an adult coming to terms with the gradual mental decline of a beloved parent. The author sensitively limns well-observed small lapses—like ingredients missing in Kay’s much-loved recipes—and larger ones as when she mistakes Quant for his deceased father. (“I’ll always remember that moment the first time my mother misidentified me. Part of me wanted to turn and run away. Part of me wanted to engulf Mom in a hug until she knew it was me. I did neither.”) Despite the tale’s inherent poignancy Quant’s edgy and often self-effacing sense of humor adds giggles and a delightful positive energy to the mix.

Everything seems to be going wrong in Tenley Ward’s life. It’s January 2027 and the draft has been reinstated; she fears that her college-aged son Chance could be drafted into a seemingly imminent third world war. Her marriage is also crumbling: After 21 years and four children the drudgery of everyday life has dulled her relationship with her husband Harrison. She enjoyed a promising career in television news before giving it up to raise her children. Recently however she’s found renewed purpose: The organization she directs Mothers Opposing More Senselessness (MOMS) has acquired over 250000 followers on social media. Outside the home she feels empowered. When she meets a handsome former Marine known as Privately who served in Iraq (a man young enough to be her son) she immediately wants to make him the face of her movement. The chemistry between them is palpable; Privately is the first man in ages to pay her any real attention. But he has secrets of his own including several arrests and the growing bond between them eventually threatens to sink not only MOMS but also her marriage. This is an exceptional look at a latter-day Mrs. Jellyby (Dickens’ matronly philanthropist in Bleak House) a woman so devoted to saving the children of strangers that she inadvertently neglects her own. Hinz excels in portraying the interior struggles of a woman at midlife especially Tenley’s constant questioning of whether she is still beautiful; she feels a sudden flush of warmth when a man approvingly appraises her body eagerly seeking one last romance. The will-they-won’t-they tension between Privately and Tenley powers the novel to its finish culminating in scenes of chaste but erotically charged passion. The central question readers are left with is this: Will the resolution allow Tenley to find long-term fulfillment and love in a world that so values youth?

The CIA sends Artemis Aphrodite Procter to become their chief of station in London and help “rebalance things with the Brits.” She accepts the assignment reluctantly as she’s dismissive of the British in general and London in particular. Told that the city is lovely she replies that’s the problem. The Brits are pickpockets she claims who often do good work but will usually rob Americans blind. Anyway she prefers to run ops and “likes to get her hands dirty out in the field” and is “a lunatic…[w]ith a stellar reputation.” The first challenge is that the allies have lost four Chinese assets and now China’s Ministry of State Security Officer Gao Shiyan is in town as part of a trade delegation. Against the Brits’ explicit request not to do so Procter surprises Gao on a London street and cold pitches him to betray his country. The result is a scene that highlights Procter’s lunacy but not her competence. Read about a “suddenly bald woman with an armpit sprouting breasts” following a collision with an e-bike while she’s wearing a disguise and you might reasonably expect goofiness throughout. Mostly though it’s a standard thriller with its share of murders and one spectacular death. Mimir an intelligence gathering firm sells intel to various rivals and the good guys chase a bad guy to nigh-on the Earth’s end—and the novel’s. But at its core the story is about an old married couple that hasn’t suffered a serious tiff since 1812 and the occasional tensions work themselves out. Procter who’s had stints in Moscow (Moscow X 2023) and Afghanistan maintains a mental “violence jar” to which she contributes every time she resists beating the crap out of an annoying colleague. Even her back displays her dedication when she’s not covered up. Ten tattooed stars stretch from scapula to scapula each representing a CIA comrade fallen since her days in Afghanistan.

Elver guardian of the Jih Forest continues to journey alongside the monk Artair who when he’s sleeping shares his body with the soul of Lucian previously a mage of the god the Bloody Claw. They’re accompanied by Sunay a mage of the god of lies Tisk and Fleet the keltraxia cub Elver rescued. The group must evade attacks by Mother Maura who has absorbed and can wield some of the Bloody Claw’s power; she’s determined to hunt down and kill Lucian who has absorbed the rest of it. Elver experiments with new powers after once again being killed and resurrected by the Queen of Serpents. Her newfound abilities and physical transformations make her a fierce enemy of Maura and the god of purity Trilot but they also force her to question who and what she is. Encountering strange characters and challenges along the way the determined adventurers search for the First of Monsters the only weapon rumored to be capable of killing a god in order to finally defeat Maura. This volume resolves cliffhangers from the earlier entry. Fantasy readers will enjoy the comprehensive worldbuilding of Tlevrae while romance fans will savor the complicated love triangle that develops among Elver Artair and Lucian. Characters largely present white.

Barrett the president of the leadership-development company Success-Minded Leader draws on decades of experience as a coach across multiple industries for this work. The author addresses leaders at all levels arguing that modern organizations can no longer afford to ignore the financial and productivity costs of ineffective leadership. Poor leaders also can’t cultivate the skills that modern work requires such as creativity problem-solving collaboration and discretionary effort. He points out that management is about systems and efficiency but leadership is a different thing; it’s “the art of understanding what drives human beings.” Management and leadership serve different functions Barrett writes and successful organizations require both. The author presents a logical leadership-development sequence asserting that mindset shapes behavior; self-awareness exposes ingrained habits triggers and blind spots; and emotional intelligence builds self-regulation intrinsic motivation empathy and social skill. This all leads to the author’s “9 Success Mindsets” derived from his research partner Julie Miller’s interviews with high achievers from varying backgrounds and industries. “Vision” “Passion” and “Perseverance” are the “Big Three” mindsets he writes and “Creativity” “Compassion” “Risk-Taking” “Self-Motivation” “Seizing Opportunities” and “Positive Thinking” support this trio. Later sections apply his ideas to specific leadership activities including coaching building teams with complementary strengths cultivating workplace culture and sustaining worker development. Two substantive appendices provide questions to help readers identify and activate the aforementioned mindsets. Barrett’s work offers accessible stories of personal failures and coaching cases as well as examples drawn from the lives of well-known figures such as Florence Nightingale Spanx founder Sara Blakely and coach Herb Brooks. His straightforward prose orderly structure and ready-to-use questions make for a practical guide. That said the mindset framework draws on familiar ideas about trust emotional intelligence team dynamics and continuous growth that readers of the genre will have encountered elsewhere. Also the author doesn’t explain the methodology of Miller’s research in depth which makes the framework’s empirical basis difficult to assess.

The author an award-winning speaker trainer and consultant presents a robust step-by-step guide for exhibitors to showcase their products at trade shows. In addition to setting goals Davis presents five steps of an expert framework for achieving a successful trade show: Event Selection Initial Planning General Preparations On-Site Efforts Follow-Up and Evaluation. The author explains the importance of researching the event knowing the specific audience identifying the resources determining goals of needs or wants reviewing the contract and trade show–related information booking the hotels and considering travel. Davis suggests strategic questions for exhibitors to consider for successful trade shows such as “What Makes You Different or Special?” and “Why Should Your Audience Visit Your Booth Instead of Doing Literally Anything Else?” In addition to their personal experience Davis cites a 2025 survey of more than 1000 attendees of whom “Thirty-five percent of key decision-makers said commerce is the most important part of a trade show for them.” Readers will find the pencil drawings engaging and enlightening such as a Venn diagram to help the reader determine the future audiences at a trade show. As a follow-up of a trade show Davis suggests the calculation of the return on investment (ROI) return on objectives (ROO) and net impact in addition to the balanced scorecard method. The reader will find the professional advice and ideas contained in this book written in clear digestible language to be helpful: “Exhibiting can and should produce real value for your company. You should set goals and make choices that bring you closer to achieving those goals.”

In her excellent biography of Houston cultural critic Lordi contrasts the legendary singer and actor with other Black cultural innovators like Nina Simone writing that Houston “appears not as a visionary but as a femme object we gaze at or gape at asking what happened to her not what she did.” She has a point. Houston despite recording some of the most memorable songs of the late-20th century has become a cautionary tale to some and a punchline to haters who mock her struggle with substance use. In Lordi’s well-researched book she traces Houston’s life back to her childhood in New Jersey the daughter of Cissy Houston herself a famed singer. As a young woman the author writes Whitney Houston smoked pot and did cocaine once in a while but kept it together enough to release a remarkable string of hit singles including “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”; she was already a superstar when she starred in The Bodyguard (1992) which spawned her career-defining single a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” Her fortunes began to decline in the late 1990s when her escalating drug use and tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown made her a frequent tabloid target. When she died of an accidental drowning in 2012 at 48 her fans were devastated—but few sadly were much surprised. Lordi convincingly makes the argument that Houston didn’t fit into the archetype of “the famous doomed woman whose only agency appears to be the power to self-destruct.” Rather she writes Houston was savvy and smart but had burned herself out after years of hard work giving her all to her art: “She could tend to her own light or she could fire it up for us but she could no longer do both.”

The author a writer based in San Francisco didn’t get off to a strong start when it came to familial stability: Her biological father Juan left when her 18-year-old mother got pregnant in 1975. Heartbroken her mother married a harsh man named Kurt who moved their small family from suburban Oregon to an Army base in Hawaii. That tenure was short-lived—by 1983 they had moved to Seattle where her mother met her third husband Hamid who per Lorente “didn’t know how to be a stepfather.” The author discusses the ways in which trauma—both inherited and experienced—has defined the course of her life. “Women were taught to hold it in and turn it on themselves” she writes describing her mother and herself. “What else can we do with all that rage?” In short sometimes-disjointed chapters chronicling five decades she returns to the impact of her formative years while reckoning with her experiences of parenting and her unhealthy cycles of heartbreak. After her own divorce in 2010 she worried about what she was passing on to her three sons. She moved her kids to Eugene where she studied English at the University of Oregon; boyfriends came and went over the years to the point that her kids started poking fun at her. By her mid-40s the author had come to believe that “every relationship with a man will end either in heartbreak or apathy.” Lorente’s prose is light and intentional. The author transitions gracefully between past and present sensitive to the meanings that emerge from repetition (often in the form of mistakes she made before learning to do better). The memoir’s most compelling thread is her slow realization that she is truly her “father’s daughter” not only in looks but in avoidant behavior. This revelation—decades in the making—has brought her to a place where she can begin to process her past grief and learn to trust her sense of self.

Helene Weaver is a familiar figure in fiction (and memoirs): the larger-than-life charismatic mercurial possibly mentally ill mother. Her daughter Gerry’s completely absent father is of zero importance in a novel so female-centered that male characters barely register. Helene takes temp jobs to support the duo’s wanderings up and down the West Coast while casually home-schooling Gerry. As Helene swings from manic to depressive and back mother and daughter remain totally wrapped up in each other until Helene strikes up a flirtation with a young Australian man and ships Gerry off for a long weekend in Connecticut with her college friend Bonnie Vowell a divorcée who has bailed them out of financial trouble in the past. The weekend becomes weeks then months. A typically precocious coming-of-age heroine only more cynical and less innocent Gerry is angry about her mother’s abandonment but enjoys the easy comfort provided by the genuinely nice Bonnie. Gerry also connects with Helene’s estranged sister Nell a serious-minded artist in New York City. Attending a party with Nell Gerry meets Finley Albright a wealthy art collector with an exquisite Gracie Square apartment. Soon the three women are vying for Gerry’s loyalty. Through their separate efforts she enrolls in a private girls’ school and receives prestigious internships. Bonnie offers an optimistic approach to life; Nell teaches the value of a sense of focus; Finley mothers with nonjudgmental generosity. Basking in their attention Gerry manipulates the women whose flaws she sees—but she also loves them. The author obviously feels the same way about New York City which she describes with verve. Meanwhile the still-absent Helene lurks in Gerry’s consciousness stirring up conflicting loyalties and ambitions. Despite the fairy-tale aura provided by the three godmothers the author’s intent is clearly social satire—in fact Gerry compares herself to Oliver Twist.

Based in part on his own family history Goldman’s novel follows the Kaners a Jewish family in St. Paul Minnesota former owners of a liquor store shuttered in 1920 with the passage of the 18th Amendment. When they fear the mob will order a hit on the family’s eldest son Willie because of his involvement in a competing bootlegging operation parents Red and Emma sister Rose and uncle Lewis an actor and playwright stage an elaborate fake execution. That event which unfolds in the novel’s opening pages launches a story that exposes crime and the casual official corruption that permits it in the Minnesota capital. The story shifts intermittently to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where Rose lives and where Willie meets Pearl a young Black woman later forced to flee after the speakeasy owner who had given her refuge—one of Willie’s customers—is gunned down by the mob. Through her character and those of Emma and Rose Goldman illuminates the lives of women in this era and explores the stirrings of an incipient feminism. Without sacrificing the momentum of his story he touches on other aspects of American life a century ago: its open racial religious and ethnic bigotry; the curious alliance between suffragists and the Ku Klux Klan that helped secure Prohibition’s approval; and above all how banning alcohol for all its moral pretensions fostered an environment that drove otherwise law-abiding citizens to concoct elaborate schemes to evade the law’s impact. A prime example was the profusion of “rabbis” like Red’s brother Isaac who provided cover for the sale of wine. Apart from an unnecessary subplot involving Mabel a girl forced into prostitution who becomes the subject of Rose’s rescue effort the novel’s plot is well paced and features several romantic entanglements with some satisfying twists packed into its concluding pages. All of this combines to build a sturdy work of historical fiction.

Charlotte is enjoying a holiday in Devon with Mrs. Watson Lord Ingram and a group of family and friends when Mrs. Watson’s estranged sister Justina Carstairs the lady of a family of consequence appears with ambiguous intentions. No sooner has she requested her sister’s presence at her home and suggested that something dangerous is imminent than she disappears leaving her concerned husband and children baffled. A corpse who resembles her washes up nearby but Mr. Carstairs insists it’s not his wife. Mrs. Watson and the intrepid band of sleuths led by Holmes and assisted by the police embark on a search for the missing Mrs. Carstairs and the identity of the corpse as well as other missing women who may or may not have a connection to these events. Is the devoted Mr. Carstairs guilty of infidelity and murder? Did one of their children have an axe to grind? Is Moriarty making a new move in his game against Charlotte? The game is afoot and the players chase several threads over the countryside while Mrs. Watson swings between worry and suspicion of her sister’s ambitions and motives. This newest addition to the Lady Sherlock series is a soap opera blended with a “whodunwhat” puzzle that requires patience and attention to detail. The story introduces a bewildering number of characters in different locales and belonging to different classes; the intricacies of their motives and the breadcrumbs Thomas scatters about their pasts will appeal to the British mystery and gothic fan but romance readers might be disappointed at the dearth of scenes between Holmes and her lover Lord Ingram. Passages on family dynamics and an occasional touch of melancholy show flashes of the author’s stylistic power and stiletto-like insights into love and heartache.

The author who entranced readers with her candor in Blackout (2015) a memoir of her years of alcoholism brings the same unsparing honesty to her search for true love. She explains that in her 20s she chose a big unconventional life: adventure a career and the things unavailable to her mother whose “small radius” existence Hepola semi-pitied always assuming this path “would double back at some point and deliver” her to a husband and a child. Instead at 45 in a therapist’s office chronically single she looks back at the three loves that “haunted” her: “a detective in New Orleans a married man a younger man” each of whom “roamed just beyond her fingertips.” The book unfolds in three parts one per man. First comes the married man a friend turned something more who proves surprisingly the steadiest and most emotionally present of the three until it becomes clear that he and his wife define the flexibility in their marriage differently. Part two belongs to the younger man 29 to Hepola’s 44 met on Tinder; once she gets past her disbelief that he wants her she falls hard for his movie-star looks and his life on a locomotive-factory line so unlike her own. Part three revisits the great love of her 20s the detective who dumped her unceremoniously and resurfaces decades later. She still finds him magnetic though her sobriety now casts his drinking in a stark light. It’s he who hands her the book’s title in a line that becomes its thesis: Desire feeds only on distance. Fans of Blackout will recognize the same fearless honesty and propulsive readability. The tone is so casual so conversational that it’s easy to miss just how good a writer Hepola is: The prose is precise even when it’s taking risks unexpected turns of phrase landing with the ease of a friend talking you through her worst nights.

With Halloween still a week away Tinker’s Cove Maine is already gearing up for its Merrie Olde Christmas extravaganza. Undeterred by a nasty doxxing incident Chamber of Commerce Chair Corney Clark is teeing up costumes carolers and contests capped by a plum pudding bake-off. But visions of sugarplums don’t have sweet associations for all residents. Bank manager Bert Cosgrove remembers his early days working in Cleveland as a buyer for Bag ’o’ Bargains when he procured a contaminated shipment of plum puddings that caused several deaths. Bert too becomes the target of internet harassment and is ultimately found dead of a gunshot wound. The police rule his death a suicide but Courier reporter Lucy Stone isn’t sure. She worries not only about the harassment that led to Bert’s death but about social media misuse in general. She also finds herself at a crossroads. All of her children are living on their own some far away from Maine. As she faces the possibility of spending Christmas alone with her husband she considers the drawbacks and opportunities of her empty nest. Meier weaves her multiple plot strands skillfully and in the 63 days leading up to Christmas she shows that the holiday season can be a multifaceted gift to those who celebrate it. Her references to Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol remind readers that some people struggle financially and the exploits of a teenage hacker showcase the dangers of modern technology. Lucy’s current Christmas adventure has humor heart and just enough sleuthing to satisfy.

Juliet Capshaw may be heavily pregnant with twins but that doesn’t keep her away from her happy place—Torte the family bakery—where she’s elbow-deep in dough and eating everything in sight. Her close friend Lance Rousseau the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is planning an extravagant wedding after an extended engagement to partner Arlo but he’s just fired their wedding planner Maci Stephens an enthusiastic young talent who’s stood him up several times. Maci comes to Torte to beg Lance for a second chance and claim that someone sent her messages saying Lance had changed their meeting times. Maci’s replacement Tippy Bartlet is so snarky that the enraged Maci says she could kill her. Lance doesn’t like Tippy’s attitude either but he isn’t sure Maci’s accusations are well-founded. When Tippy’s assistant Carson joins them Lance loves his ideas for a wedding to be held at a local resort. Jules agrees to accompany Lance on his wedding expeditions to keep his wilder ideas in check. Meanwhile Jules gets a visit from Gareth Stokes a furious vineyard owner who’s looking for Tippy and also promises to kill her the minute he sees her. Despite a sudden snowstorm Jules heads out to deliver some cookies and is almost run into by the owner of Spring Lake Resort Lance’s chosen wedding venue. Walking back through Lithia Park she sees Tippy Bartlet’s body floating in the creek. Jules has helped her stepfather a detective solve many crimes and with all she knows about Tippy she just has to investigate.

Drawing on extensive archival sources memoirs and interviews Pawel (The Crusades of Cesar Chavez 2014) recounts the birth rise and ongoing transformations of the “ten campuses six health centers three national laboratories and hundreds of programs and research centers” that comprise the University of California. Begun as the College of California in an area named for the Irish philosopher Bishop George Berkeley the tuition-free university created by a federal land grant program was open to both men and women. The mission that has guided its evolution was pronounced by Daniel Coit Gilman at his inauguration as its president in 1872: “It must be adapted to this people to their public and private schools to their peculiar geographical position to the requirements of their new society and their undeveloped resources.” Pawel’s abundantly populated narrative focuses primarily on men and women whose lives were indelibly changed by their association with the university. Among them was Milicent Washurn Shinn who enrolled in 1874 encouraged by her high school English teacher and who became one of the university’s first professors. Nearly 100 years later David Masumoto followed her example: A third-generation Japanese Sansei whose parents had been interred during World War II he came to the Berkeley campus desperate to leave his father’s farm. Pawel examines too influential university presidents notably Clark Kerr known as “the Machiavellian Quaker” who became president in 1958. Author of the “Master Plan for Higher Education” he expounded on “the realities of the new ‘multiversity’”—including student activism budget cuts and controversy over affirmative action— “and the immense influence the federal government exerted on higher education through unprecedented investments in research.” Recent assaults on higher education make California’s story newly relevant.

It’s the last day of sophomore year. Luis Menendez would love to spend his summer vacation creating content about local bands for social media to bolster his music journalism dreams. But hot days in Queens full of dishwashing and food deliveries for his family’s Cuban restaurant the Havana Express derail those plans. No matter how hard he works Luis can’t seem to shake off his overbearing father’s constant criticism leading to lots of conflict for the “second-generation kid in a working-class Cuban family.” Even worse rising food and rent costs throw the restaurant’s future into doubt. But fortune smiles upon Luis when he meets Yara a vivacious brown-skinned girl during one of his deliveries. Then an editor from his favorite music website Indie Hype extends an invitation for a fall internship. As his dad tries his hardest to get him to focus on “real things” like the restaurant Luis must determine what’s important to him. Leveraging a familiar premise Anta excels at unpacking the intergenerational struggles that at times define immigrant parents and their children. Though Luis’ tale ends with a glimmer of hope there’s no firm resolution between father and son an effective choice for this narrative. Dryer’s grounded artwork remains focused on the characters on each page using frame breaks during tense moments for greater impact.

Singer and pianist Connick couldn’t quite find the right word to describe his “special place that exists between reality and dreams where I go when I make art” so he invented one: “elaboratio.” He defines it in part as “a deeply personal state where I look forward to the past draw from the future and create within the present.” He admits that his mother Anita-Francis Livingston “Babe” Connick the subject of this book who died when he was 13 would have “burst out laughing” at the word—“such a gratuitous flex.” His book is meant to accompany a piece of music he wrote for big band and orchestra the story of her life in three parts: her childhood in New York; the time she spent overseas in Turkey and North Africa; and her final years in New Orleans where Connick was raised. He imagines himself as an observer of his mother in the years before he was born including on his parents’ wedding day: “I was sitting in the back of a small Baptist chapel when I heard them come in. I don’t remember how I got there. Elaboratio World has grown increasingly fuzzy.” He explains how his piece of music represents his mother’s life measure by measure going into detail about his composing process. Even readers who aren’t schooled in the intricacies of instrumental music will be able to follow along easily. Connick is refreshingly open about his memories writing “I carry her with me every day. The love we had for each other will last me my entire life.” The result is a sweet singular work that is both a fascinating look inside the mind of a composer and a valentine to the woman who raised him.

When Peri took part in the kingdom of Genta’s Apprentice Trials she displayed so much magical potential that everyone expected great things from her. Instead of being sent off for hero training however she’s chosen as the apprentice for the traveling shop that outfits adventuring parties with the equipment they need right when they need it. Peri is still waiting for her power to manifest as something other than super-fast knitting skills when hero Niam wayfinder Audra and wizard Bree arrive to collect the supplies they need for their quest. Shortly after their departure dark wizard Isric from nearby Osken shows up intent on kidnapping Peri for her magic potential. After Peri’s mentor Hema bargains with him to let her take Peri’s place Peri tracks down Niam Audra and Bree and they permit her to join them on their quest and even agree to help rescue Hema. The ensuing journey entangles them in Osken’s dark magic and the politics of Genta’s Hero Council but Peri’s most important journey is internal as she learns to resist the group’s constant infighting and stop underestimating her own capabilities just because they didn’t fit others’ expectations. With its magical items and roving adventurers the worldbuilding in Murphy’s debut will appeal to fans of tabletop role-playing games. Most central characters present white and Audra is cued Black. Final art not seen.

No radio. No talk. Just the hiss of a truck heater and a thermos of cocoa too hot to drink. Kunkel’s prose moves the way the journey does—unhurried and quiet. She trusts silence to do its work and it does. Goodale working in monoprint oil paint watercolor and gouache charts the colors of early morning with extraordinary fidelity: deep blue-black giving way to bruised indigo then sulfur gold then a blazing citrine sun erupting over the hills. The darkness has a particular texture—velvety and alive—while the arrival of light is hopeful and promising. Pop—broad-shouldered bald-headed in a plaid flannel shirt—and the small blond child move through these pages like a compass and its needle one steadying the other. Their tenderness is conveyed through gestures: a large hand reaching across a dark room to wake a sleeping child the child tucked under Pop’s shoulder while they wait two small red-capped figures standing side by side when the geese finally come in waves of white. The book’s quiet climax—a snowy-white goose-covered field a sun blazing gold the child certain the birds will return because they always have—is a triumph. The characters are pale-skinned.