BOOKLOVES

A tender love letter to a son about the grandmother he will never know Jocelyn Cox prepares for her son’s first birthday party as her mother lies ill in a hospital bed three hours away. Her mind half on the joy of her first child and half on the fear of what is to come […]

When the gods refuse to die, mortals have two choices: bow or break. Victory and Death follows the ones reckless enough to try something far more thrilling—fight back. Victory and Death opens on a war that’s been raging for centuries, covering exhausted soldiers, frightened kings, and a general who is finally done bleeding for immortal […]

Paula McLain has built her reputation on illuminating women’s stories that history nearly forgot. From Hadley Hemingway in The Paris Wife to Beryl Markham in Circling the Sun, she excavates lives that deserve remembering. With Skylark by Paula McLain, she ventures into her most ambitious narrative structure yet—a dual timeline spanning nearly three centuries, connected […]

A writing book that makes compassion a craft and agency a practice “You are worthy of writing your story simply because you exist.” As a poet grappling with my own nasty inner voice, paralyzing perfectionism, and fear of vulnerability, The Compassionate Writer seemed to arrive at just the right time. Writing is often framed as […]

A touching examination of life-changing loss and the long road toward something like closure In a moving triptych of loss and recovery, Fredricka R. Maister chronicles the three significant losses that have shaped her life. She frames them with a final series of reflections that acknowledge how far she’s come in facing the deaths of […]

A deeply human story about courage, solidarity, and what it takes to thrive in a world that isn’t fair Samantha dares to dream of a meaningful career despite the absence of encouragement in her childhood. Her two friends, Inga and Josephine, confront their own personal and societal struggles and claim the lives they believe they […]

Ann Patchett has built a distinguished career crafting novels that excavate the quiet devastations and unexpected grace notes of ordinary lives. Her latest work continues this tradition while venturing into more experimental territory. Whistler by Ann Patchett is a slim, contemplative novel that unfolds like a carefully preserved memory—luminous in places, shadow-filled in others, and […]