Having a book list, a detailed glorified book list is the key to talking about books you haven’t read and this blog post is myself handing you that key.

Mark Wilson-In Defense Of Book Lists 

I like to keep up with books and who is writing what. Each year more and more authors add written words telling a story or explain something educational to the great library of humankind. Last year I highlighted some non-fiction that came out from 2023 – 2025. It covered every section of the Dewey Decimal system. I didn’t cover any Fiction & Literature books published during the same period.

Until now.

It’s easy to miss new books because there are so many coming out. I took the time to research some new fiction books that came out from 2023 – 2025 to give book lovers a look at what new authors are turning out.

In this booklist you’ll find books from some of the major fiction categories.
A description of that book from either Amazon, Goodreads, and Wikipedia.
The anniversary of a particular book that still is published today.
A Non-Fiction equivalent.
You’ll learn about book awards from the award a particular genre puts out every year.
You’ll find novels and short stories.
You’ll find main-stream books and independent books.
You’ll find books from Catholic authors who write fiction.
You’ll maybe find something to add to your book list.

This is only a sampling of what is out there.

Here is what I found.

General Fiction/Literary Fiction

The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories and Essays
by Harper Lee

The Land of Sweet Forever combines Lee’s early short fiction and later nonfiction in a volume offering an unprecedented look at the development of her inimitable voice. Covering territory from the Alabama schoolyards of Lee’s youth to the luncheonettes and movie houses of midcentury Manhattan, The Land of Sweet Forever invites still-vital conversations about politics, equality, travel, love, fiction, art, the American South, and what it means to lead an engaged and creative life. – Goodreads

Mona’s Eyes
Thomas Schlesser (Author), Hildegarde Serle  (Translator) 

Ten-year-old Mona and her beloved grandfather have only fifty-two Wednesdays to visit fifty-two works of art and commit to memory “all that is beautiful in the world” before Mona loses her sight forever.

A Guardian and a Thief
by Megha Majumdar*

In a near-future Kolkata, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After procuring long-awaited visas from the consulate, they pack their bags for the flight to America. But in the morning they awaken to discover that Ma’s purse, containing their treasured immigration documents, has been stolen.

Set over the course of one week, A Guardian and a Thief tells two stories: the story of Ma’s frantic search for the thief while keeping hunger at bay during a worsening food shortage; and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes whose consequences he cannot fathom. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope, each discovering how far they will go to secure their children’s future as they stave off encroaching catastrophe.

A masterful new work from one of the most exciting voices of her generation. – Goodreads

My Friends
Goodreads Winner for Readers’ Favorite Fiction (2025)
Goodreads Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Audiobook (2025)
by Fredrik Backman
Neil Smith (Translator)

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art. – Goodreads

James 
2024 Kirkus Prize,
the National Book Award for Fiction,
2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
by Percival Everett

he novel is a reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain but narrated by Huckleberry’s friend on his travels, the fugitive slave Jim, rather than by Huck, as in the original. 

A Century of Fiction in The New Yorker: 1925-2025
by Deborah Treisman

Edited by The New Yorker ‘s fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, a celebratory selection from one hundred years of short stories in the magazine which has been the most influential and important showcase for the form and has launched dozens of stellar careers in fiction

The Best Short Stories 2025: The O. Henry Prize Winners
by Edward P. Jones (Editor),
Jenny Minton Quigley(series editor)

The prestigious annual story anthology, featuring prize-winning stories by a diverse and exciting array of writers.

Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year’s edition contains twenty prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year.-Goodreads

Including

“The Stackpole Legend”
Wendell Berry, The Threepenny Review

“Winner”
Ling Ma, The Yale Review

“Strange Fruit”
Yah Yah Scholfield, Southern Humanities Review

95th Anniversary
March 2, 1931

The Good Earth
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1932)
Pearl S. Buck

The Good Earth is Buck’s classic story of Wang Lung, a Chinese peasant farmer, and his wife, O-lan, a former slave. With luck and hard work, the couple’s fortunes improve over the years: They are blessed with sons, and save steadily until one day they can afford to buy property in the House of Wang—the very house in which O-lan used to work. But success brings with it a new set of problems. Wang soon finds himself the target of jealousy, and as good harvests come and go, so does the social order. Will Wang’s family cherish the estate after he’s gone? And can his material success, the bedrock of his life, guarantee anything about his soul?- Amazon

ALSO

January 10, 1931 – A rare copy of Edgar Allan Poe‘s Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Other Poems and first editions of The Scarlet Letter and Moby-Dick are stolen from New York Public Library by Samuel Dupree, on behalf of a crooked New York antiquarian book dealer, Harry Gold.

Literary Non-Fiction

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf:
A Rare Book Collector’s Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend
by Rebecca Romney

From rare book dealer and guest star of the hit show Pawn Stars, a page-turning literary adventure that introduces readers to the women writers who inspired Jane Austen—and investigates why their books have disappeared from our shelves.

What We Remember Will Be Saved:
A Story of Refugees and the Things They Carry
2023 Christopher Award Winner
2024 Excellence in Religion Reporting Award Winner for Nonfiction
by Stephanie Saldana

Eggplant seeds, a lullaby in a vanishing language, an embroidered dress. When people flee their homes, the things they save speak of beauty and suffering and the indomitable human spirit.

In an era of mass migration in which more than 100 million people are displaced comes this lyrical portrait of Syrian and Iraqi refugees and the belongings they carry. What We Remember Will Be Saved is a book of hope, home, and the stories we hold within us when everything else has been lost. –Goodreads

Christian & Amish Fiction

Out of Ireland
2024 CMA Book Awards Gallery
Faith–Based Novel Second Place
by Marian O’Shea Wernicke

In the late 1860s in Bantry, Ireland, sixteen-year-old Eileen O’Donovan is forced by her family to marry an older widower whom she barely knows and does not love. Her brother Michael, at age nineteen, becomes involved with the outlawed Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret organization dedicated to the violent overthrow of British rule in Ireland. Their fates intertwine when they each decide to emigrate to America, where both tragedy and happiness await them.

An exciting coming-of-age story of a brother and sister in an Ireland still under the harsh rule of the British, Out of Ireland brings alive the story of our ancestors who braved the dangers of immigration in order to find a better life for themselves and their families. -Goodreads

The Rise and Fall of Miss Fannie’s Biscuits
by Wanda E. Brunstetter

Mysteries have a way of following Fannie Miller, so when she makes it into the finals of the Tuscarawas County Baking Contest and contestants start disappearing, she calls on her old friend Foster Bates, a retired cop and part-time private investigator. Could it be that other finalists are somehow responsible for these disappearances, thinning out the competition? Like the couple on verge of divorce who need the prize money, or the three Beiler sisters, always in a huddle whispering. One thing is for certain—Foster and Fannie will stay on the case until the end, and everyone involved will have learned something important about baking contests, solving mysteries, and life.

New York Times Bestselling Author Wanda E. Brunstetter and Emmy-Nominated Author Martha Bolton have teamed up to deliver a delightful whodunit from Ohio’s Amish country. – Goodreads

A Song in the Dark by Kimberley Woodhouse

Against the simmering backdrop of the impending WWII, blind virtuoso pianist Chaisley Frappier embarks on a concert tour through a rapidly changing Europe despite the dangers. When she learns that Hitler’s escalating regime of injustice is targeting other disabled people, Chaisley realizes she is in a prime position to help those who are threatened reach safety. But the Führer’s growing fascination with the celebrated musician endangers her undercover mission and forces her to walk a tightrope between her fame and her calling.

When Rick Zimmerman receives his next assignment from the British Secret Intelligence Service, he’s surprised to learn he’ll be acting as the personal driver of a world-renowned pianist as she traverses Europe. The role gives him the perfect cover to complete side missions of sabotage and intelligence-gathering, but he soon suspects the brilliant, alluring pianist has secrets of her own. As Chaisley and Rick confront evil at every turn, it will take every bit of faith and courage they possess to triumph over hate–and survive.

Bestselling author Kimberley Woodhouse crafts a stirring story. -Goodreads

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure
by Angela Bell

Miss Clara Marie Stanton’s family may be eccentric, but they certainly aren’t insane.

London, England, 1860
When Clara’s ex-fiancé begins to spread rumors that her family suffers from hereditary insanity, it’s all she can do to protect them from his desperate schemes, society’s prejudice, and a lifetime in an asylum. Then Clara’s Grandfather Drosselmeyer brings on an apprentice with a mechanical leg, and all pretense of normalcy takes wing.

Theodore Kingsley, a shame-chased vagabond haunted by the war, wants a fresh start far from Kingsley Court and the disappointed father who declared him dead. Upon returning to England, Theodore meets clockmaker Drosselmeyer, who hires him as an apprentice, much to Clara’s dismay. When Drosselmeyer spontaneously disappears in his secret flying owl machine, he leaves behind a note for Clara, beseeching her to make her dreams of adventure a reality by joining him on a merry scavenger hunt across Europe. Together, Clara and Theodore set off to follow Drosselmeyer’s trail of clues, but they will have to stay one step ahead of a villain who wants the flying machine for himself–at any cost.-Goodreads

The Legacy of Ruby Sanchez
2025 CMA Book Awards Gallery
Christian Romance First Place
by Andie Andrews (2024)

When the Esmeralda, a trading vessel under the command of Captain Clayton Carlisle, wrecks off the coast of New Hampshire’s Isles of Shoals in the winter of 1837, survivor Gabriella Montez, a desperate stowaway from Málaga, Spain, finds herself at the mercy of an enigmatic light keeper, Ian McCabe, and his troubled Irish clan. With no safe passage available to the mainland until the spring, she becomes a reluctant guest on the romantic, rocky shores of Star Island, where she must bide her time in pursuit of the mysterious legacy of her great-grandmother, Ruby Sanchez. There, she finds herself engulfed in the strange and tempestuous affairs of Ian’s four contentious sisters, who make no secret of their disdain for Gabriella and her exotic, gypsy-like ways. A prisoner on an island of stone, Gabriella is forced to confront the dark rumors and chilling lore that surround the Isles of Shoals and the notorious Keeper of the Light—a tortured poet whose presence she finds both frightening and irresistible.

Will she overcome the hidden perils of these legendary, ill-fated shores—or will her very life and legacy succumb to their quixotic, silvery mist? -Goodreads

40th Anniversary 

This Present Darkness (1986)
Frank E. Peretti

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12

Ashton is just a typical small town. But when a skeptical reporter and a prayerful, hardworking pastor begin to investigate mysterious events, they suddenly find themselves caught up in a hideous New Age plot to enslave the townspeople, and eventually the entire human race. The physical world meets the spiritual realm as the battle rages between forces of good and evil.

This Present Darkness is a gripping story that brings keen insight into spiritual warfare and the necessity of prayer. Since its original publication more than 2.7 million copies have been sold. The companion volume, Piercing the Darkness, continues the story of the battle between spiritual forces.- Goodreads

ALSO

• Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805–1871) is Beatified (canonized on November 12, 2014). He is the first canonised Catholic male saint of Indian origin and was a member of the Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic church.
• Alphonsa Muttathupadathu (1910–1946) is Beatified (canonized on October 12, 2008). She is the first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church, and the first canonized saint of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.

April 13. 1986 –Pope John Paul II officially visits the Great Synagogue of Rome, the first time a modern Pope has visited a synagogue

Christian Non-Fiction

Francis of Assisi: The Life of a Restless Saint
by Volker Leppin, Rhys S. Bezzant (translator)

An award-winning historian reconstructs the life of Francis of Assisi, uncovering the man behind the myths

One of the most famous figures in Christian history, Francis of Assisi (1181/82–1226) was revered as a miracle worker during his life and quickly canonized after his death. He has inspired generations of Christians and other spiritual seekers, from medieval ascetics to 1960s hippies and modern environmentalists. The “poverello” wrote poems praising the sun, moon, and stars, spoke to the birds, and—so the story goes—even tamed a wolf. But what do we know for sure about who he was, and what is simply legend?

Drawing on centuries of scholarship, Volker Leppin pieces together fragments of Francis’s life story to find a seeker who never reached his destination, a man whose extraordinary charisma drew others in yet who was uncomfortable in the spotlight. Amazingly, Francis stayed within the fold of the church while offering a new and radical vision of Christianity that proved wildly popular.

Leppin’s Francis of Assisi sets Francis’s inner emotional and spiritual world against a broader historical background to show how the message of this inspiring and often vexing medieval saint continues to resonate in our contemporary world. – Amazon

Historical Fiction

All Ye That Pass By: Book 1: Gone for a Soldier  (2024)

“If you don a scarlet coat at the price of your conscience, the color will only remind you of the wound in your own soul! If you sign away the faith of your fathers, all lesser goods will be forfeited too!”

Young Edmund Southworth could not have foreseen the path his life would take upon befriending Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne, British military veteran and parliamentarian. As Catholic recusants from the north of England, Edmund’s once noble family has struggled to survive for centuries in the shadow of the Anglican ascendancy. But General Burgoyne offers him the chance to put past humiliations behind him by joining the Church of England and donning a scarlet coat as an officer of King George III. Although his conscience is uneasy, Edmund embarks upon Burgoyne’s March to subdue the American revolutionaries by splitting the colonies in two. He finds unexpected love in the arms of Abby Vanderkamp, a supporter of American independence, who will do anything to free her father from a British prison hulk or, failing that, strike a blow for the hard-pressed rebel cause. As the British advance through the New York wilderness devolves into increasing brutality and instability, Edmund will have his already divided loyalties tested to the breaking point under the influence of this hostile land which presents him with new challenges and opportunities alike. -Amazon

From the Valley We Rise
by Elizabeth Musser

Loyalty during Peril
In the heart of war-torn France, Isabelle Seauve’s resolve is tested after her father sacrifices his life to protect her involvement in the French Resistance. Heartbroken, Isabelle becomes more dedicated to hiding Jewish children in and near the village of Sisteron despite the growing danger when she discovers a traitor within the Resistance ranks.

Truth amid Deception
As the shadow of betrayal looms, Isabelle’s world collides with that of US Army Chaplain Peter Christensen, who carries emotional scars from his first position in Kentucky and his service in North Africa. Together, they face the brutal reality of war as the second D-Day—the Allied invasion of Provence—unfolds.

Bravery through Trial
Fifteen-year-old René Amblard narrowly escapes a devastating German attack that claims the lives of his mother and their fellow Maquis fighters. With a Jewish orphan girl at his side, René seeks out his cousin Isabelle for refuge while he contemplates revenge.

When the bombs of Operation Dragoon begin to fall, this unlikely group of heroes must first find freedom in their souls before they can rebuild what has been destroyed.

A master of evocative historical fiction, Elizabeth Musser takes you to Southern France for an emotionally gripping World War II tale you won’t soon forget. -Goodreads

90th Anniversary 

June 30, 1936

Gone with the Wind
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1937)
by Margaret Mitchell 

The story is set in Clayton County and Atlanta, both in Georgia, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. It depicts the struggles of young Scarlett O’Hara, the spoiled oldest daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of poverty following Sherman‘s destructive “March to the Sea“. This historical novel features a coming-of-age story, with the title taken from the poem Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae by Ernest Dowson. –Wikipedia 

November 23, 1936 – Life magazine begins to appear as a weekly news magazine in the United States, under the management of Henry Luce.

ALSO

January 8, 1936 – Jewish booksellers throughout Nazi Germany are deprived of their Reich Publications Chamber membership cards, without which no one can sell books.

Historical Non-Fiction

The Sea Captain’s Wife:
A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World
by Tilar J. Mazzeo

The true story of the first female captain of a merchant ship and her treacherous navigation of Antarctica’s deadly waters, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow Clicquot

Westerns

Cowboys and Pirates: A YA Western Novel
by Ash Lingam 

Ten young outlaws. No one to trust. Nowhere to turn.

In 1850s Texas, three restless boys make one reckless mistake and find themselves fugitives. When a desperate decision near the Galveston docks leads them to help two runaway slaves, the stakes skyrocket.

Across the ocean, in the cold and damp slums of Saint Guiles in London, five homeless teenagers are snatched off the streets by grimes who impress young vagrants into the Queen’s Royal Navy—innocent children indentured by wicked men.

When fate throws all ten orphans together aboard a ship bound for lawless waters, their only path to freedom is a treacherous one: piracy. From cannon blasts to double-crosses, they must navigate the high seas…where loyalty is tested and every port hides a trap.

Will these makeshift mates rise as legends of the sea—or be swallowed by the very violence they sought to escape? -Amazon

 A Newborn to Mend Their Hearts:
A Historical Western Romance Novel (Brave Hearts of the Frontier) 
Part of: Brave Hearts of the Frontier (12 books)
by Ellen Knightley 

Sylvie Morrow has always known her path—follow in her father’s footsteps as a healer and bring her skills to a frontier community in need. But when an abandoned baby is placed in her arms, her plans shift overnight. And as she opens her heart to a wounded man, her future becomes less certain than ever…

Injured and stripped of memory, Blue awakens in the care of a gentle nurse who gives him his name. Soon, he finds himself drawn to her quiet strength and the child she fiercely protects. Yet each fragment of his past that returns carries shadows of violence, leaving him unsure if he is the protector she needs—or the threat she fears.

With a ruthless gang closing in and long-buried secrets rising to the surface, Sylvie and Blue must fight to keep the child safe. Passion soon sparks between them, but when the truth of Blue’s past collides with the threat at their door, will their fragile bond survive—or shatter forever? -Amazon

Tom’s Crossing
by Mark Z. Danielewski

The best-selling author of the million-copy classic House of Leaves returns with a magisterial, page-turning epic, about two friends determined to rescue a pair of horses set for slaughter.

Dust-Covered Lies
2025 Spur Awards Best Western Traditional Novel
by Catherine O’Connor

Set in Texas during the 1870s and in the 1930s at the height of the Dust Bowl, Dust Covered Lies tells the story of Frances Abbott, or Frannie, an orphaned immigrant who faces a terrible choice that will haunt her the rest of her life. Frannie is a teenage champion markswoman when she and her autistic and artistically gifted brother, Juan Esteban, set off on a scientific hunting expedition on the Colorado River led by a dangerous con man who claims to be a French zoologist.

When a murder is committed and Juan Esteban’s life is in danger, Frannie lies to protect him. Determined to take her secret to the grave, Frannie and her brother flee to the dust-covered Texas panhandle to escape the one person who could reveal the truth about their past. -Goodreads

The Hungry and the Haunted ”
including “That Grief, That Fury”,
2025 Spur Award Nominee
Best Western Short Fiction
by Rilla Askew

From the author of The Mercy Seat and Fire in Beulah comes a new collection of six stories troubled by ghosts that linger in our present moment. Set primarily in eastern Oklahoma during the 1970s, The Hungry and the Haunted is Rilla Askew’s testament to young women and other outsiders navigating relationships, social change, and the power of place during increasingly precarious times. Some haunted by ancient wrongs, others yearning to escape or reckoning with primal griefs, each character wrestles with the bonds that wound them and the places that keep them tethered to their roots. This collection is not to be missed by anyone interested in questions of what becomes of our stories as we struggle to write them ourselves.

Known for her award-winning historical fiction, Askew evokes with resonant period detail the lives of earlier generations in these stories that speak to our current era of fragility and change. -Goodreads

55th Anniversary

The Day the Cowboys Quit (1971)
Spur Award Best Novel
Elmer Kelton
Seven-time Spur Award-winning author

The Day the Cowboys Quit, set in the Texas Panhandle in 1883, tells the story of a different kind of range war between cowboys and ranchers. The cowboys, refusing to be stigmatized as drinkers and exploited by cattle owners who don’t pay liveable wages, face a new threat. The ranchers want to take away the cowboys’ right to own cattle, believing it would lead to thieving.

When rumors of this dictum spread – if you’re a cowboy, you can’t own a cow – the cowboys decide to rally and fight for their rights. They gather together and strike against the ranchers’ oppressive rule.

From seven-time Spur Award-winning author Elmer Kelton comes a Western novel of a fierce battle where cowboys stand their ground, fighting for respect and fair treatment in the unforgiving wilderness of the Wild West. -Goodreads

November 4, 1971 –They Call Me Trinity An Italian Western Comedy opens in the U.S.

Also

January 27, 1971– The author of this book list (Mark S. Wilson) is born at 3:53 PM in Beverly Massachusetts to Harold and Louise Wilson

Western Non-Fiction

The Gunfighters:
How Texas Made the West Wild: (2025)
by Bryan Burrough

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Big Rich and Forget the Alamo comes an epic reconsideration of the time and place that spawned America’s most legendary gunfighters, from Jesse James and Billy the Kid to Butch and Sundance

Romance

Counting Miracles
by Nicholas Sparks 

Tanner Hughes was raised by his grandparents, following in his grandfather’s military footsteps to become an Army Ranger. His whole life has been spent abroad, and he is the proverbial rolling stone: happiest when off on his next adventure, zero desire to settle down. But when his grandmother passes away, her last words to him are find where you belong. She also drops a bombshell, telling him the name of the father he never knew—and where to find him.

Tanner is due at his next posting soon, but his curiosity is piqued, and he sets out for Asheboro, North Carolina, to ask around. He’s been in town less than twenty-four hours when he meets Kaitlyn Cooper, a doctor and single mom. They both feel an immediate connection; Tanner knows Kaitlyn has a story to tell, and he wants to hear it. To Kaitlyn, Tanner is mysterious, exciting—and possibly leaving in just a few weeks.

Meanwhile, nearby, eighty-three-year-old Jasper lives alone in a cabin bordering a national forest. With only his old dog, Arlo, for company, he lives quietly, haunted by a tragic accident that took place decades before. When he hears rumors that a white deer has been spotted in the forest—a creature of legend that inspired his father and grandfather—he becomes obsessed with protecting the deer from poachers.

As these characters’ fates orbit closer together, none of them is expecting a miracle . . . but that may be exactly what is about to alter their futures forever. -Goodreads

Mystery

The Deadly Book Club
by Lyn Liao Butler

Five of the most prominent book influencers in the US make up an exclusive virtual book club that’s the envy of the online book world. Once a month, they get on a video call to sip cocktails, chat about social media campaigns and book events, and discuss their monthly book club pick.

Until one meeting, when all of their screens freeze and they listen to gut wrenching screams as one of them is brutally attacked. It feels like an eternity before the video call drops—and thus begins the frantic texts and phone calls as they try to figure out who was murdered and why.

As the investigation unearths secrets each of them need to keep buried, the jealousies, hidden resentments, and trouble in their personal lives begin to surface. The remaining four women are suspicious of each other, pointing fingers to take the heat off their own indiscretions. But if they want to figure out who killed their friend, they need to band together and put past hurts behind them. Or one of them will be next. – Goodreads

The Murder at World’s End (Stockingham & Pike, 1)
by Ross Montgomery

Secrets, murder, and mayhem collide as this unlikely sleuthing duo—an under-butler and a foul-mouthed octogenarian—hunt a killer in a manor sealed against the end of the world.

Cornwall, 1910. On a remote tidal island, the Viscount of Tithe Hall is absorbed in feverish preparations for the apocalypse that he believes will accompany the passing of Halley’s Comet. The Hall must be sealed from top to bottom—every window, chimney, and keyhole closed off before night falls. But what the pompous, dishonest Viscount has failed to take into account is the danger that lies within… By morning, he will be dead in his sealed study, murdered by his own ancestral crossbow.

All eyes turn to Steven Pike, Tithe Hall’s newest under-butler. Fresh out of Borstal for a crime he didn’t commit, he is the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time. His unlikely ally? Miss Decima Stockingham, the foul-mouthed, sharp as a tack, eighty-year-old family matriarch. Fearless and unconventional, she relishes chaos and puzzles alike, and a murder is just the thrill she’s been waiting for.

Together, this mismatched duo must navigate secret passages, buried grudges, and rising terror to unmask the killer before it’s too late… -Goodreads

Death in Black and White:
2025 Reader’s Choice Awards | Catholic Reads Runner’s Up
by Michael Brisson

Father Christopher Hart, a young New York priest and classic film buff, is unwittingly drafted by the mob to hear the confession of a man slated for execution. This was not one of the duties he expected when he became a first-time pastor. Learning how to balance the books and safely navigate parish politics, yes; but playing a key role in the White Death—a mafia ritual in which a person condemned to death is allowed to confess his sins before he’s killed—was not included on the Parish Leadership 101 curriculum. Should he just do his job and collaborate with the mob for the sake of souls or find a way to stop the violence?

Unrelentingly comparing his life to his favorite classic movies, Father Hart wishes he could just play the role of Father O’Malley from Going My Way, but he ends up playing a character more akin to Philip Marlowe from The Big Sleep. This riveting page-turner will entertain, but it will also drive the reader to grapple with important themes such as identity, purpose, justice, sin, and, ultimately, redemption. – Amazon

Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp
by Charlotte Vassell

100th Anniversary

G. K. Chesterton
The Incredulity of Father Brown

In “The Incredulity of Father Brown,” G.K. Chesterton treats us to another set of bizarre crimes that only his “stumpy” Roman Catholic prelate has the wisdom and mindset to solve. As usual, Chesterton loves playing with early twentieth-century class distinctions, “common-sense” assumptions, and the often anti-Catholic biases of his characters. He loves showing, through his characters, how those who hold themselves superior to the “fantasies” of Brown’s Catholic faith themselves devolve into superstitious blithering when faced with the tiniest of mysteries. In this collection, Brown finds himself as the main event at his own funeral (The resurrection of Father Brown), contemplating the possibility of death from the sky (The arrow of heaven), piercing the mystery of a dog’s “prophetic” behavior (The oracle of the dog), and facing off against a curse hanging about a medieval burial (The curse of the golden cross). A collection of excellent tales from one of the finest British mysteries written.  – Goodreads

Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Considered to be one of Agatha Christie’s greatest and also, most controversial mysteries. ‘The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd’ breaks the rules of traditional mystery.

The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. The widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of Veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling case involving blackmail and death that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells” before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his career.- Goodreads

December 3, 1926 – The English detective story writer Agatha Christie disappears from her home in Surrey. On December 14, 1926 she is found at a Harrogate hotel by the journalist Ritchie Calder, staying under her husband’s mistress’s surname.

ALSO

January 16, 1926 – A British Broadcasting Company radio play by Ronald Knox about workers’ revolution in London causes a panic among those who have not heard the preliminary announcement that it is a satire on broadcasting.

May 11, 1926 – C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien first meet in Oxford.

True Life Mysteries

The Carpool Detectives:
A True Story of Four Moms,
Two Bodies, and One Mysterious Cold Case
by Chuck Hogan

The incredible true story of a group of moms who, united by their love of true crime, attempt to solve a fifteen-year-old cold case

A lot of us like to think we could solve a murder mystery. Could these stay-at-home moms actually do it?

Science Fiction 

The Ministry of Time (2024)
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Readers’ Favorite Science Fiction (2024),
Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Debut Novel (2024
by Kaliane Bradley

Space Traipse: Hold My Beer:
Season Nine (Space Traipse Hold My Beer Book 9) (2025)
Book 9 of 9: Space Traipse Hold My Beer
by Karina Fabian 

When Yours Truly gets too logical about an old episode, the parody gets grim! Get ready for this season of Space Traipse: Hold My Beer.

• Operation Denervate (parody of ST:TOS “Operation – Annihilate!”): The colony of Denerva is attacked by snot pancakes! Dubbed “nikimixas,” these pandimensional beings are more than just gross; these sadistic little buggers want to use humans to spread their kind across the galaxy, and they’ll torture the humans into submission or kill them trying. The Impulsive has a tight timeline and a difficult line to walk between saving the colonists and protecting the universe. But when Captain Jeb Tiberius’ brother is killed by the nikimixas, can he keep his perspective to lead his crew?
• Mistrials and Tribulations (parodying every court martial episode in the Star Trek universe): So, apparently, Union Fleet didn’t think Jeb did so good. In fact, when the captain of the USS Energetic Efficiency accuses Jeb of genocide, he’s got one shot to save his reputation. Unfortunately, the prosecution is one of the meanest, smartest, slyest attorneys in Union Fleet. Jeb chooses for defense, not another hotshot, but the Impulsive’s own JAG—a brilliant lawyer with unorthodox thinking…and crippling social anxiety. The Prosecution will never see him coming—but is he up to the task or will his lack of self-confidence result in his captain getting sentenced to a mind-wipe?
• Laundray Day (parody of ST:TOS “Return of the Archons”): Commander Smythe is in command of the Impulsive! (Don’t worry; Jeb’s on vacation!) When they investigate a 40-year-old distress signal from a missing HuFleet ship, they discover a civilization under complete control of Laundray, a computer program hell-bent on preserving the peace and employing laundry metaphors.

This season has a little of everything: adventure, grief, high stakes…even romance! – Amazon 

Worth Dying For (Heaven’s Hunter Book 2)
2025 Reader’s Choice Awards | Catholic Reads 4th Place
by Marie C. Keiser

Mark, a talented young mechanic, lives on a garbage world where richer planets dump their trash, and he hates everything about it.

One day a stranger offers him a job that will get him off his planet and pay more than Mark ever dreamed of making.

There’s a catch, of he’ll be working for an interplanetary corporation that implants its own tech into the brains of its employees. But maybe it’s worth it anyway—Mark needs the money to help his sister.

One thing leads to another, and soon Mark and his new friend Evan will have to decide what—if anything—is worth dying for.

Worth Dying For is the second book in the Heaven’s Hunter series. – Amazon

Mark and Evan’s calamitous career kept me enthralled as I waited to see what would go wrong next—or occasionally right—for our beleaguered protagonists. In the course of their non-stop adventure, the pair learn a great deal about themselves and come face-to-face with some of the deepest questions of life. A fantastic read for all fans of intelligent sci-fi.
CORINNA TURNER, author of the Carnegie-nominated I Am Margaret series and other books

“…everything Catholic sci-fi should be.” KARINA FABIAN, —author of the Rescue Sisters series

1966 Sci-Fi Films/TV

• June 22, 1966– Around the World Under the Sea starring Lloyd Bridges, Marshall Thompson, Shirley Eaton, Gary Merrill and David McCallum. It follows the adventures of a crew of the deep-diving nuclear-powered civilian research submarineHydronaut making a submerged circumnavigation of the world to plant monitoring sensors on the ocean floor that will help scientists predict impending earthquakes.
• August 16, 1966 (Los Angeles) –Fantastic Voyage –Bantam Booksobtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it.^[8][9] Because the novelization was released six months before the film, many people mistakenly believed that the film was based on Asimov’s book.
• September 16, 1966 (United Kingdom) Fahrenheit 451 -Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury,
• August 5, 1966 –Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 AD – It stars Peter Cushing in a return to the role of the eccentric inventor and time traveller Dr. Who. The story is based on the Doctor Who television serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964), produced by the BBC. The film was not intended to form part of the ongoing storylines of the television series. Elements from the programme are used, however, such as various characters, the Daleks and a police box time machine, albeit in re-imagined forms.
• September 8, 1966 – The first episode of Star Trek (“The Man Trap”) is aired.

Fantasy

Overdue:
Mystery, Adventure, and the World’s Lost Books – (2024)

Throughout history, great books have been lost or are remembered only as myth and legend. Now, the mysterious Booker Foundation has announced it is willing to pay handsomely to have these lost works brought back into the light. These are the stories of those who answered the call.

Overdue: Mystery, Adventure, and the World’s Lost Books presents nine stories of brainy, resourceful, and sometimes unlikely protagonists on quests to retrieve these lost pieces of history. Tales of mystery, adventure, horror, intrigue, and even romance will carry you to every corner of the world. And reveal that there is much more to these lost books than meets the eye. – Amazon

by Norris, M.H., Black, Jon, Dennison, Kara, Hewett, Heidi J., Hogan, Liam, Mulhare, R.C., O’Brien, Michael, O’Dea, Sean Michael, Thrower, Karen, Trethewey,

From the Wizarding Archive (Volume 1):
Curated Writing from the World of Harry Potter
by J.K. Rowling, Evanna Lynch (introduction)

If you’ve ever wondered what happened when Vernon Dursley first met James Potter, wanted to know more about the magical properties of wand cores or pondered whether the Malfoys were always wealthy and firmly anti-Muggle – then From the Wizarding Archive (Volume 1) should go straight to the top of your must-read list. Containing 45 articles written by J.K. Rowling for the original Pottermore website, Harry PotterTM fans everywhere are in for a treat.

If there’s one thing Harry Potter fans have in common (apart from impeccably good taste), it’s questions… so many questions. How do the Hogwarts staff know where every magical child lives, and are mistakes ever made when sending out admittance letters? Why don’t wizards just use phones? From the history of wizarding schools to background on magical transportation – this is a veritable treasure trove of answers. – Goodreads

ALSO

Graphic Novels  and Manga

The Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse, Vol. 2 (2025)
by Haruo Iwamune (Author),
John Neal (Translator),
Madeleine Jose (Letterer)

As Saya continues to pick through the ruins of civilization, a single robot appears before her. The library it manages may be bereft of visitors, but it devotes itself to its task out of respect for the late librarian’s wishes. In the face of such loyalty, the girl can’t help but ponder her own seemingly endless mission. Are there still any survivors left for her to find? – Amazon

Kindred Dragons (Kindred Dragons, #1)
by Sarah Mensinga

Anne of Green Gables meets How to Train Your Dragon in Kindred Dragons, a middle-grade graphic novel about a brave young girl and the dragon whose life depends on her

Alice has been unhappy ever since her parents sent her to Prince Edward Island to live with her strict grandmother. Alice is fanciful, prone to telling tall tales, and absolutely obsessed with dragons! Fairies deliver dragon eggs to a select few, known as Kindreds, but no egg has ever arrived for Alice.

While wandering the woods alone she finds and secretly befriends a mysterious, old dragon named Brim. Alice is excited to finally have a dragon friend of her own, but there’s something strange about him—he doesn’t have a Kindred. When Brim suddenly falls ill, Alice sets out on a desperate quest to save him.

As Alice searches for a cure, she discovers that her connection to dragons is unlike that of any Kindred—but will her new power be enough to save her friend?This heartfelt story of friendship, family, and learning to love who you are is perfect for readers who loved Snapdragon, Witch Boy, and the City of Dragons series. – Goodreads

Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm
by Charlie Mackesy

The brand-new book from Charlie Mackesy, revisiting the much-loved world of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES INSTANT BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER

‘One day you’ll look back and realise how hard it was, and just how well you did’

Charlie Mackesy’s four unlikely friends are wandering through the wilds again. They’re not sure what they are looking for. They do know that life can be difficult, but that they love each other, and cake is often the answer.

When the dark clouds come, can the boy remember what he needs to get through the storm?

The hugely anticipated new book from Charlie Mackesy, revisiting the much-loved world of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – the internationally bestselling book, with over ten million readers around the world.

This beautiful paper-over-board hardcover includes a dark blue satin ribbon, textured blue quarter bind, illustrated endpapers, and cream sketchbook-quality paper. – Goodreads

Vatican City
by Mark Millar*

Mark Millar and Per Berg’s hit new horror comics series where the world has been destroyed by a billion vampires and the last humans alive are holed up in the only place they’re safe—behind the walls of Vatican City where no vampire dares to tread!

The world has been overrun by a vampire apocalypse, every man, woman and child dead except the two thousand tourists safe behind the walls and holy relics of Vatican City.

But as the vampires gather in their millions outside, how long can they hold out? Because the monsters can wait forever.

Collects Vatican City #1–#3. – Goodreads

25th Anniversary 2026
July 12, 2001

1st Issue Fullmetal Alchemist
Hiromu Arakawa

Breaking the laws of nature is a serious crime!

In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical “auto-mail” limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother’s bodies…the legendary Philosopher’s Stone.

the mystical power to alter the natural world; something between magic, art and science. When two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, dabbled in this power to grant their dearest wish, one of them lost an arm and a leg…and the other became nothing but a soul locked into a body of living steel. Now Edward is an agent of the government, a slave of the military-alchemical complex, using his unique powers to obey orders…even to kill. Except his powers aren’t unique. The world has been ravaged by the abuse of alchemy. And in pursuit of the ultimate alchemical treasure, the Philosopher’s Stone, their enemies are even more ruthless than they are… -Goodreads

July 20, 2001 – Spirited Away opens in theaters.

ALSO

February 2001 – Belgian cartoonist Baudouin de Duve is arrested on the accusation of making an illegal The Adventures of Tintin comic book, Tintin in Thailand in Thailand. He is later cleared from all charges, as he had no intent to plagiarize the franchise and illegal copies were made without his permission or control.

March 21, 2001: The Nintendo Game Boy Advance handheld is released.

March 31, 2001: Universal Studios Japan opens in Osaka

Graphic Novel Non-Fiction

Comic Strips

The Catholic Cartoon Collection:
No. 2 – Voyage Comics
by Joshua Masterson

Fr. Otto and friends are back with more laughs and holy moments in this second collection of the Catholic Cartoon!-Voyage Comics

Walt Disney’s Donald Duck “Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold”:
The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 1 
Part of: The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library

At last, Fantagraphics presents Carl Barks’s very first Donald Duck stories!  This is where it all started, as Carl Barks took control of Donald Duck’s comic book adventures and began a series of clever, creative, complex, and comedic stories that would continue under his cartooning brilliance for more than 20 years — and guarantee his place in comics history.Volume 1 in The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library is, naturally, filled with firsts: Barks’s first comic book story (starring Pluto), the first Donald Duck story created for an American comic book (and also the first to see Donald and his nephews go on a treasure hunt), Barks’s first Donald 10-pager, Barks’s first truly solo Donald Duck story, and Barks’s first solo longer-form Donald Duck adventure (“The Mummy’s Ring”). With more than 200 pages of story and art, each meticulously restored and newly colored, and the insightful story notes by an international panel of Barks experts, this long-awaited collection of stories makes clear what generations of Disney fans have always known: Carl Barks’s work as The Good Duck Artist is some of the greatest American cartooning in the history of the medium. -Amazon

And to Think We Started as a Book Club 
by Tom Toro 

What can Leonardo DiCaprio, Bernie Sanders, Greta Thunberg, and Elon Musk all agree on? That Tom Toro’s cartoons belong in their social media feeds. Now, with this debut collection by one of The New Yorker’s contemporary stars, everybody can enjoy the timeless witticism and thigh-slapping wisecracks of Toro’s cartoons without needing to go online.

In Tom Toro’s hilarious world, the Grim Reaper binges television while Superman shops for health insurance. The collection features original chapter art that sets the perfect tone for these brilliant cartoons and what they reveal about the absurdity of modern life, all drawn in the author’s wry and winsome style

Showcasing hundreds of Toro’s greatest hits from his fifteen-year career at the New Yorker, as well as previously unpublished cartoons that we shouldn’t shy from calling “undiscovered masterpieces,” this book is sure to delight readers—if not outright corrupt them. – Amazon

Road Trip: A Baby Blues Collection (Volume 42): 
by Rick Kirkman (Author), Jerry Scott (Author)

Dive into the delightful family adventures of the MacPherson household with Baby Blues! This book includes all of the 2024 daily and Sunday comic strips by the award-winning duo Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott.

Darryl and Wanda MacPherson are two brave parents navigating the wild adventure of raising three kids. There’s Zoe, the eldest, who’s always full of questions and sass; Hammie, the energetic middle child with a knack for getting into mischief; and Wren, the adorable baby who’s the center of everyone’s attention. Every strip is a snapshot of the hilarity and unpredictability of family life. Whether it’s Darryl trying to assemble a toy with too many parts, Wanda juggling work and home duties, or the kids creating their own brand of chaos, Baby Blues captures the ups and downs of family life with a perfect blend of humor and heart. – Amazon

35th Anniversary 2026
April 1991

The 5th Calvin and Hobbes printed collection
The Revenge of the Baby-Sat
by  Bill Watterson

Calvin is back—and so is his dreaded babysitter! Revenge of the Baby-Sat is the sixth collection packed with Bill Watterson’s trademark style in black-and-white and full-color Sunday strips. The wild, witty brilliance of Calvin and Hobbes is perfect for fans of comic brilliance, thoughtful reflection, and childhood nostalgia.

Calvin’s epic battles with babysitter Rosalyn headline Revenge of the Baby-Sat, spanning December 1988 to September 1989. Stupendous Man bursts onto the scene, mutant snowmen wreak havoc, and cardboard-box inventions spark endless adventures. Rosalyn’s struggle for control collides with Calvin’s relentless mischief, setting the stage for some of the strip’s most memorable showdowns.

Through black-and-white dailies, Watterson captures schoolyard rivalries with Susie Derkins, household chores turned upside-down, and daydreams that spiral into dinosaurs, treehouse wars, and early rounds of Calvinball. Packed with sharp wit, expressive characters, and thoughtful undertones, this collection blends action and insight in a way only Calvin and Hobbes can, making it an enduring favorite.

Highlights

• Debut of Stupendous Man
• Calvin’s epic battles with babysitter Rosalyn 
• As always, mutant snowmen and sledding adventure
• Rivalry (and occasional peace) with Susie Derkins
• Early Calvinball games
• Dinosaur daydreams and treehouse strategy sessions
• Expanding Spaceman Spiff adventures
• Homework avoidance schemes
• Black-and-white daily strips 
• Satire on family, school, and consumer culture

-Amazon

75th Anniversary 2026

Als0

Dr. Seuss, (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) American children’s novelist, illustrator, animator and comics artist (Hejji), dies at age 87.

March 12, 1951 – Hank Ketcham‘s Dennis the Menace makes its debut.

Also

An 18-year-old sailor is fined for kissing in public in Stockholm, Sweden. The law court calls his actions “obnoxious behavior repulsive to the public morals”. – “Year by Year 1951”. History Channel International.

Comic Strip Non-Fiction

Comic Books

The Phantom Phoenix #4 – Voyage Comics

Caught stealing a chalice, a mysterious acrobatic criminal eludes Martin Claver’s intense pursuit.

Who is this new crook and why is even Flambeau after him?

Is he a friend? Or foe?

There is more than meets the eye in another exciting chapter in the story of the Phantom Phoenix!

See what’s next in Issue #4 – Cat Burglar!- Voyage Comics

 Amazing Spider-Man (2025-) #1 

ALIVE & THWIPPING! The next era of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN has arrived! Peter is, shockingly, without a job and looking for gainful employment, but his job search is interrupted by a RAMPAGING RHINO who is but the tip of a sinister iceberg. What major Spider-Villain is working behind the scenes weaponizing other Spider-Villains including one we haven’t seen in OVER SEVEN YEARS?! Also, what is that Goblin-free Norman Osborn up to anyway? -Amazon

Superman Treasury 2025: Hero for All (2025-)
#1 (Superman Treasury (2025))

Legends collide as the Man of Steel goes supersized for the Summer ofSuperman! In this all-new treasury edition, quintessential Superman writerDan Jurgens pairs with the modern master of sequential art, Bruno Redondo,to craft a larger-than-life story of power, tragedy, action, and, aboveall—hope. When a vicious armada of extraterrestrial extremists launchesan all-out invasion of Planet Earth, only Superman can stand in the way oftotal annihilation. But there’s something different about this attack—it’sdeadly from both without…and within? It’s a tale so titanic we had to tellit at treasury size to celebrate the Summer of Superman in style! Featuringimages and info from the brand-new Superman movie, plus a special photovariant cover!– Amazon

70th Anniversary

Showcase #4 (October 1956),
generally considered the start of the Silver Age of Comics

Showcase is a comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of the series was to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring untested characters in their own ongoing titles. Showcase is regarded as the most successful of such tryout series, having been published continuously for more than 14 years, launching numerous popular titles, and maintaining a considerable readership of its own. The series ran from March–April 1956 to September 1970, suspending publication with issue #93, and then was revived for eleven issues from August 1977 to September 1978.

Showcase featured characters in either one-shot appearances or brief two- or three-issue runs as a way to determine reader interest, without the financial risk of featuring “untested” characters in their own ongoing titles. The series began in March–April 1956^[2] and saw the first appearance of several major characters including the Silver Age Flash, the Challengers of the Unknown, Space Ranger, Adam Strange, Rip Hunter, the Silver Age Green Lantern, the Sea Devils, the Silver Age Atom, the Metal Men, the Inferior Five, the Creeper, Anthro, Hawk and Dove, Angel and the Ape, the Silver Age Spectre, and Bat Lash. – Wikipedia

ALSO

The first episode of Charles M. Schulz‘ Young Pillars is published. It will run until 1965.

• June 5, 1956 – The text of Nikita Khrushchev‘s February attack on Stalin‘s reputation, “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences“, is first published in the West, in The New York Times.

Non-Fiction Comics

Little Missionary: St. Thérèse of Lisieux – Voyage Comics
Little Missionary: New comic celebrates St. Thérèse’s legacy

St. Thérèse of Lisieux wanted to be a missionary, heroically proclaiming the faith in faraway countries, even to the point of death.

This desire only increased after she joined a cloistered, Carmelite convent, and was nearly fulfilled when her convent received a request for missionary sisters.

Due to poor health, she never left the four walls of the convent.

Yet, St. Thérèse was proclaimed by Pope Pius XI as a co-patroness of the missions, along with St. Francis Xavier.

Why is that? How could a Carmelite nun become a little missionary?

Discover how St. Thérèse was a missionary both during life and after death in this entertaining historical graphic novel on the life of the Little Flower! -Voyage Comics

Kids & Teens

Picture Books

In Every Life
2024 Caldecott Honor
by Marla Frazee

A simple and profound meditation on the many wonders of life from two-time Caldecott Honor recipient Marla Frazee.

In every life, there is love and loss, hope and joy, wonder and mystery. With glowing art and spare, powerful text, Caldecott Honor–winning creator Marla Frazee celebrates the moments, feelings, and experiences, both big and small, that make up a life. – Amazon

The Truth About Dragons
Caldecott MedalWinner, 2024
by Julie Leung

An unforgettable lyrical picture book that celebrates biracial identity from the award-winning author of Paper The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist.

Lean in close,
my darling bao bei,
and I will whisper
a most precious secret
about a powerful magic
that lives inside you.

Brought to life with lavish and ornate illustrations, The Truth About Dragons follows a young child on a journey guided by his mother’s bedtime storytelling. He quests into two very different forests, as his two grandmothers help him discover two different, but equally enchanting, truths about dragons.

Eastern and Western mythologies coexist and enrich each other in this warm celebration of mixed cultural identity. – Goodreads

The Bakery Dragon (The Bakery Dragon, #1)
by Devin Elle Kurtz

The heroic tale of a tiny dragon with a heart of gold and a taste for treats! A scrumptious picture book for fans of funny fairytales and fantastic beasts.

Ember has always been different from the other dragons. His fearsome roar sounds more like a polite sneeze, and when he breathes fire, the villagers just pat his head and say awwww.

Ember fears he’ll never collect a respectable hoard of gold until a chance encounter with a baker causes his fortunes to turn (and his stomach to grumble). As the little dragon soon discovers, the gold you make is way better than the gold you steal—and gold that is shared? That’s best of all.

Magic shimmers on every page of Devin Elle Kurtz’s feel-good picture book that celebrates baked goods, dragons, and generosity in equal measure. Filled with adorable illustrations, this is a perfect read aloud for bedtime or brunchtime! -Goodreads

The Most Boring Book Ever
by Brandon Sanderson (Author)
Kazu Kibuishi Illustrator)

n this humorous epic adventure, a boy is, on the one hand, having an ordinary day. He does his math homework and his chores and takes a nap…all while a surprising adventure unfolds around him involving pirates, dragons, and other unexpected perils. With clever interplay between text and art and an expansive, imaginative arc, this modern classic is a landmark fantasy picture book. – Goodreads

Willow and Bunny
75th Annual Christopher Awards 2024
by Anitra Rowe Schulte,
Christopher Denise (Illustrator) 

From a Caldecott Honor winner and New York Times bestselling artist and a Christopher Award–winning author, a beautiful, heartfelt tale of friendship, community, and hope after a difficult experience. Bunny needs a new home. After a long journey, he meets Willow and knows he will be safe beneath her branches. Every day is theirs to share. Just Bunny and Willow, Willow and Bunny. Then, one evening, an angry spiral whips through the wood. Every creature in the forest runs to Willow for shelter. As the storm rages, Willow shields and protects them with all her might. But when the calm returns, Willow’s beautiful branches are tattered, twisted, and forever changed. Bunny and the other creatures know it is their turn to help. This beautifully told tale by a Christopher Award–winning author and a Caldecott Honor artist offers messages of friendship, community, and hope after a difficult experience. -Goodreads

45th Anniversary

Jumanji (1981),
a Caldecott Medal winner
Chris Van Allsburg.

The game under the tree looked like a hundred others Peters and Judy had at home…

But they were bored, restless and looking for something interesting to do… so they thought they’d give Jumanji a try. Little did they know when they unfolded its ordinary-looking playing board that they were about to be plunged into the most exciting and bizarre adventure of their lives.

In his second book for children, Chris Van Allsburg again explores the ever-shifting line between fantasy and reality with this story about a game that comes startlingly to life. His marvelous drawings beautifully convey a mix of the everyday and the extraordinary, as a quiet house is taken over by an exotic jungle.

Chris Van Allsburg (1949-) is an American illustrator & author born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, among other awards, for ‘Jumanji’ (1981) and ‘The Polar Express’ (1985), both of which he also wrote. These two books were later adapted as successful motion pictures. -Goodreads

ALSO

July 21, 1981 – Panda Tohui is born in Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, the first panda to ever be born and survive in captivity outside of China.

Picture Non-Fiction

To Walk the Sky:
How Iroquois Steelworkers Helped Build Towering Cities –
A Beautifully Illustrated History of Mohawk Skywalkers and Their Legacy
by Patricia Morris Buckley,
E B Lewis (Illustrator)

Look to the sky!

High above the ground, generation after generation, Native workers called skywalkers have sculpted city skylines, balancing on narrow beams, facing down terrifying heights and heartbreaking loss. These skywalkers who dared to touch the heavens have built a legacy of landmarks all over the North American continent—and even today, there are Native Americans still climbing up among the clouds, brave enough to walk the sky.

With impactful and illuminating prose, Patricia Morris Buckley (Mohawk) tells the soaring story of the remarkable skywalkers, whose bravery and tragedies are warmly captured in moving watercolors by award-winning artist E. B. Lewis (Lenni-Lenape). – Goodreads

Middle Grade & Children’s Books

The Eyes & the Impossible
2024 Newbery Medal
by Dave Eggers

The illustrated story of a dog who unwittingly becomes a hero to a park full of animals.

Johannes, a free dog, lives in an urban park by the sea. His job is to be the Eyes—to see everything that happens within the park and report back to the park’s elders, three ancient Bison. His friends—a seagull, a raccoon, a squirrel, and a pelican—work with him as the Assistant Eyes, observing the humans and other animals who share the park and making sure the Equilibrium is in balance.

But changes are afoot. More humans, including Trouble Travelers, arrive in the park. A new building, containing mysterious and hypnotic rectangles, goes up. And then there are the goats—an actual boatload of goats—who appear, along with a shocking revelation that changes Johannes’s view of the world. – Goodreads

Juniper’s Christmas (The Juniper Lane Adventures #1)
by Eoin Colfer

A brand-new Christmas classic adventure about the science behind the magic of Christmas, set in North London and the North Pole – from the bestselling author of Artemis Fowl IT ALL STARTED IN CHRISTMAS PAST . . . It’s been ten years since Santa Claus performed his Christmas duties, but when Juniper Lane discovers the mysterious Niko, who lives in her local London park surrounded by Christmas trees and reindeer that can fly, she steps into a Christmas story like no other. When Juniper’s mum goes missing and the park comes under threat from an ambitious park keeper, Juniper enlists Niko, who is surely Santa Claus, to help. As the countdown to Christmas begins, Juniper must find her mother, restore the festive spirit, bring to life the true magic of the season and learn to ride her very own reindeer. A brand-new festive classic, Juniper’s Christmas is a rip-roaring magical adventure filled with heart and humour – where one girl’s love might just be strong enough to save her family and Father Christmas himself. – Goodreads

Tales From Wakken Wood
Ignatius Press
by E. P. Cowley

Bullies love to pick on Peter Thornburg because of his shining silver eyes. When Peter’s dad sends him to live with relatives on the island, Peter finds himself just miles away from his best friend, Pixel Rilson, who has also moved to the island to be treated for an inherited blood disease. Why are they both there? Is it a coincidence, or a plan?

Something on the island does not add up. All is normal on the surface: cars, shops, and offices. Yet strange creatures appear and disappear out of the corner of the eye. Stores are ransacked in the dead of night. And sadly, Pixel’s supposed treatments only make her worse. As Peter settles into his new life at Wakkenburg House, he learns that his glinting silver eyes carry with them a great power―and a great responsibility. An old woman emerges to unveil the truth: Pixel is in horrible danger, and the whole island with her. Together, Pixel and Peter discover that Wakken Wood is a borderland where wonders walk and myths unfold.

This dramatic and delightful saga immerses young readers in an enchanted world that touches and illuminates our own, drawing from the folklore and language of the Isle of Man. Readers will learn about courage, prudence, faith, hope, temptation, and the discernment of spirits. In Wakken Wood, the battle between good and evil requires not only bravery, but also careful attention and a love of wonder.-Amazon

Ember and the Ice Dragons
by Heather Fawcett 

A stunning middle grade fantasy about a girl who used to be a dragon and her adventure to save her new home—from Even the Darkest Stars author Heather Fawcett. Perfect for fans of the Nevermoor and His Dark Materials series.

Ember St. George is a dragon. At least she was before her adoptive father—a powerful but accident-prone Magician—turned her into a human girl to save her life.

Unfortunately, Ember’s growing tendency to burst into flames at certain temperatures—not to mention her invisible wings—is making it too dangerous for her to stay in London. The solution: ship Ember off to her aunt’s research station in frigid Antarctica.

Though eccentric Aunt Myra takes getting used to, Ember quickly feels at home in a land of ice storms, mischievous penguins, and twenty-four-hour nights. She even finds herself making friends with a girl genius called Nisha and a mysterious orphan named Moss.

Then she discovers that Antarctica is home to the Winterglass Hunt, a yearly tradition in which rare ice dragons are hunted for their jeweled scales. Furious, Ember decides to join the hunt to sabotage it from the inside.

But being an undercover dragon isn’t easy—especially among dragon hunters. Can a twelve-year-old fire dragon survive the dangers that come her way in the Antarctic wilderness and protect the ice dragons from extinction? -Amazon

The First State of Being (2024)
2025 Newbery Medal
National Book Award for Young People’s Literature 2024
by Erin Entrada Kelly

When twelve-year-old Michael Rosario meets a mysterious boy from the future, his life is changed forever.

It’s August 1999. For twelve-year-old Michael Rosario, life at Fox Run Apartments in Red Knot, Delaware, is as ordinary as ever—except for the looming Y2K crisis and his overwhelming crush on his fifteen-year-old babysitter, Gibby. But when a disoriented teenage boy named Ridge appears out of nowhere, Michael discovers there is more to life than stockpiling supplies and pining over Gibby.

It turns out that Ridge is carefree, confident, and bold, things Michael wishes he could be. Unlike Michael, however, Ridge isn’t where he belongs. When Ridge reveals that he’s the world’s first time traveler, Michael and Gibby are stunned but curious. As Ridge immerses himself in 1999—fascinated by microwaves, basketballs, and malls—Michael discovers that his new friend has a book that outlines the events of the next twenty years, and his curiosity morphs into something else: focused determination. Michael wants—no, needs—to get his hands on that book. How else can he prepare for the future? But how far is he willing to go to get it? – Goodreads

50th Anniversary

 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976)
Mildred D. Taylor

The novel is the first book in the Logan family saga, which includes four sequels (Let the Circle Be Unbroken (1981), The Road to Memphis (1992), The Gold Cadillac (1987), and All the Days Past, All the Days to Come (2020)) and three prequels (The Land (2001), The Well: David’s Story (1995), and Song of the Trees (1975), as well as two novellas (Mississippi Bridge (1990) and The Friendship (1987)). In the book, Taylor explores the struggles of African Americans in 1930s Mississippi through the perspective of nine-year-old Cassie Logan. The novel contains several themes, including Jim Crow segregation, Black landownership, sharecropping, the Great Depression, and lynching. – Wikipedia 

ALSO

Mary Ronnie became the world’s first female national librarian, at the National Library of New Zealand.

100th Anniversary 

Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)
A. A. Milne

The book is set in the fictional Hundred Acre Wood, with a collection of short stories following the adventures of an anthropomorphic teddy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, and his friends Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, and Roo. It is the first of two story collections by Milne about Winnie-the-Pooh, the second being The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Milne and Shepard collaborated previously for English humour magazine Punch, and in 1924 created When We Were Very Young, a poetry collection. Among the characters in the poetry book was a teddy bear Shepard modelled after his son’s toy. Following this, Shepard encouraged Milne to write about his son Christopher Robin Milne‘s toys, and so they became the inspiration for the characters in Winnie-the-Pooh. – Wikipedia

Children’s Authors Non-Fiction

Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear:
A. A. Milne and the Creation of “Winnie-the-Pooh”
by Gyles Brandreth

For the 100th anniversary of the publication of “Winnie-the-Pooh,” Gyles Brandreth chronicles the writing of this beloved classic and the life of its creator, A. A. Milne.

Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear tells the remarkable story of A A Milne, a playwright, a bestselling crime writer, poet, polemicist, humorist, and the man who created Winnie-the-Pooh.

Gyles Brandreth explores “Winnie-the-Pooh,” a bear beloved by his genesis, his life across a hundred years, his special philosophy, and the reasons for his worldwide popularity. Brandreth’s book is also the intimate biography of three generations of the fascinating and troubled Milne family, which knew fame and fortune, despising both for a time, but a family that ultimately found a profound reason to be grateful for the riches Pooh brought them.

With an extraordinary cast list that includes Elizabeth II and Walt Disney, Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear moves from idyllic childhood games in the English countryside to New York in the 1930s and the love affairs, litigation, and heartrending family rifts that touched the life of one of Britain’s most brilliant writers and his most famous creation. – Goodreads

Earthrise:
The Story of the Photograph That Changed the Way We See Our Planet
by Leonard S. Marcus

From award-winning historian Leonard S. Marcus, Earthrise is a unique middle-grade nonfiction book about the astonishing photograph taken during the Apollo 8 mission that forever shifted the way we view ourselves and our planet.

Gazing out the window of the Apollo 8 spacecraft on Christmas Eve, 1968, NASA astronaut Bill Anders grabbed his camera and snapped the iconic color photo of our planet rising over the lunar horizon. Not long after the crew’s safe return, NASA developed Anders’s film and released “Earthrise” to the world. It soon became one of the most viewed and consequential photographs in all of human history, inspiring the first Earth Day in 1970 and boosting the global environmental movement.  -Goodreads

Teens & YA

Sunrise on the Reaping (2025)
2025 Recipients – The Dragon Award
Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Readers’ Favorite Young Adult Fantasy & Sci-Fi (2025)
by Suzanne Collins

Joan of Arkansas
by Sarah Robsdottir 

“Terrified, I do it anyway…”

Joanie Smith’s mom is a heroin junkie who prefers a pet hamster to her own daughter. Joan of Arc’s dad once got drunk and demanded his sons kill their sister: Drown that witch! But other than dysfunctional families, what else do these teenagers have in common? Because Joanie’s grandma has been insisting they’re so much alike for years.

Join Joanie as she faces challenges large and small: from caring for a sick grandmother, to dealing with an abusive mom, to battling bullies at school—all while dealing with the flutters of first love and finding her unique voice in the most crucial human rights movement of our time. Get to know a different side of the infamous Joan of Arc while you’re at it—the ordinary peasant whose dad tried to force her into an arranged marriage; the simple farm girl who faced exclusion from peers and cried to go home to her family after proving herself as a soldier.

Figure out for yourself what these young women have in common and ponder how you too—an ordinary person—can be used by God (if you’re willing) to do the extraordinary. – Amazon

“This gritty, challenging tale of poverty, integrity, and one girl’s against-the-odds battle is a worthy follow-up to Robsdottir’s first novel Brave Water.” —Corinna Turner, Carnegie nominated author of the novel series I Am Margaret

75th Anniversary

The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 American coming-of-age novel by American author J. D. Salinger. It was partially published in serial form in 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst and alienation, and as a critique of superficiality in society.^[4][5] The novel also deals with themes of innocence, identity, belonging, loss, connection, sex, and depression. The main character, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion.^[6] Caulfield, nearly of age, gives his opinion on a wide variety of topics as he narrates his recent life events. -Wikipedia 

The 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held from August 5 to 19,  1951 in East Berlin, capital city of the then German Democratic Republic, and organised by World Federation of Democratic Youth. The motto of the festival was “Peace and Friendship against Nuclear Weapons”

15th Anniversary

Akata Witch (2011)
2019: American Library Association’s (ALA)
Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
2012: Amelia Bloomer Book List
2012: ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults
2011: Shortlisted for the Andre Norton Award
By Nnedi Okorafor

Twelve-year-old Sunny Nwazue was born in America yet lives in Aba, Nigeria. She is Nigerian, Black and albino, and cannot go out in the sun for long periods because of her albinism.

Sunny discovers that she has magical abilities which makes her a “free agent” in the magical community called the Leopard People in West Africa. As a free agent, she needs to learn about the magical community. Her magical teachers connect her with three other magical students to become an Oha coven, a group of Leopard People assembled to pursue a purpose. The group is cultivated by leaders in the magical communities to try to capture Black Hat Otokoto, a Leopard serial killer. -Wikipedia

June 7,2011 – Ransom Riggs publishes his young-adult novel Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which pins its narrative around a series of earlier private photographs he had collected. It remains top of The New York Times Children’s Chapter Books list for 45 weeks and founds a series of five novels.

ALSO

July 2011 – J. K. Rowling ends her relationship with her long-standing agent Christopher Little and joins his rival, Neil Blair.

Young Adult Non-Fiction

A Most Perilous World:
The True Story of the Young Abolitionists and Their Crusade Against Slavery
by Kristina R. Gaddy

The stories of the four teenage children of prominent abolitionists before and during the Civil War combine to form a surprisingly familiar tapestry of struggle, disappointment, and ultimately hope.

“Impeccable research and incredible details bring the stories of these four young people to life as they come of age in the years leading up to and during the Civil War.”—Kip Wilson, award-winning author of White Rose

Flowers in the Gutter author Kristina R. Gaddy tells the story of America’s tumultuous years leading up to the Civil War and of the war itself from the viewpoints of four children of famous abolitionists, including those of Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. Gaddy crafts a surprisingly contemporary coming-of-age narrative, supported by meticulous research and featuring dozens of primary documents. Each of these four young people—two white, two Black—was strongly committed to the anti-slavery cause but felt just as keenly a need to make their own names, away from the often over-protective or disapproving shadows of the famous adults in their lives. This is a true story of how a torch of resistance is passed and how a new generation makes its mark. – Goodreads

Poetry

Mexicans on the Moon:
Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future
2024 Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection (Bram Stoker Award)
2025 Book (Elgin Award)
2025 Dwarf Stars Award
by Pedro Íñiguez

Weaving science-fiction, Mexican folklore, and magical realism, this 50-poem collection explores the wonders and pitfalls of humanity in a future yet to come. Experience a faraway world where sapient flora sing melodic tunes; behold orbit-plunging taco trucks as they make planetfall; observe as El Cucuy becomes a stowaway on a space shuttle; witness a neurologically-enhanced lobster become President of the United States; bear the agonizing wave of shrink-ray-gun violence plaguing public schools. All these sights and more await in Mexicans on the Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future! – Goodreads

The Blue Mimes: Poems
Winner of the Academy of American Poets First Book Award.
by Sara Daniele Rivera

Sara Daniele Rivera’s award-winning debut is a collection of sprawling elegy in the face of catastrophic grief, both personal and public. From the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election through the COVID-19 pandemic, these poems memorialize lost loved ones and meditate on the not-yet gone—all while the wider-world loses its sense of connection, safety, and assurance. In those years of mourning, The Blue Mimes is a book of grounding and heartening resolve, even and especially in the states of uncertainty that define the human condition.

Rivera’s poems travel between Albuquerque, Lima, and Havana, deserts and coastlines and cities, Spanish and English—between modes of language and culture that shape the contours of memory and expose the fault lines of the self. In those inevitable fractures, with honest, off-kilter precision, Rivera vividly renders the ways in which the bereft become approximations of themselves as a means of survival, mimicking the stilted actions of the people they once were. Where speech is not enough, this astonishing collection finds a radical practice in continued searching, endurance without promise—the rifts in communion and incomplete pictures that afford the possibility to heal. -Goodreads

A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker: 1925-2025
by The New Yorker, Kevin Young (editor)

Edited by the magazine’s poetry editor, Kevin Young, a celebratory selection from one hundred years of influential, entertaining, and taste-making verse in The New Yorker.

30th Anniversary

Falling Up 
1996 Booklist Editors’ Award
Shel Silverstein

Millie McDeevit screamed a scream, so loud it made her eyebrows steam.
She screamed so loud, her jawbone broke,
Her tongue caught fire, her nostrils smoked…

Poor Screamin’ Millie is just one of the unforgettable characters in this wondrous new book of poems and drawings. Here you will also meet Allison Beals and her twenty-five eels; Danny O’Dare, the dancin’ bear; the Human Balloon; and Headphone Harold.

Shel Silverstein, the New York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound.

So come, wander through the Nose Garden, ride the Little Hoarse, eat in the Strange Restaurant, and let the magic of Shel Silverstein open your eyes and tickle your mind. -Goodreads

ALSO

April. 1996 – National Poetry Month established by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.

35th Anniversary 

Questions About Angels (1991)
1991 Winner -National Poetry Series publication prize
by Billy Collins

Over the past decade, Billy Collins has emerged as the most beloved American poet since Robert Frost, garnering critical acclaim and broad popular appeal. Annie Proulx admits, “I have never before felt possessive about a poet, but I am fiercely glad that Billy Collins is ours.”This special, limited edition celebrates Billy Collins’s years as U.S. Poet Laureate. Questions About Angels—one of the books that helped establish and secure his reputation and popularity during the 1990s—is remarkable for its wry, inquisitive voice and its sheer imaginative range. Edward Hirsch selected this classic book for the National Poetry Series, and each of Collins’s poems-from his meditation on forgetfulness to his musings on the behavior of angels-is an exploration of imaginative possibilities. Whether reading him for the first time or the fiftieth, this collector’s edition is a must-have for anyone interested in the poet the New York Times calls simply “the real thing.” – Amazon

ALSO

Dana Gioia, writing in The Atlantic Monthly suggests (in an article titled “Can Poetry Matter?”) that poets recite the works of other poets at public readings

Life (or death) of a Poet

A Mystery of Mysteries:
The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe
by Mark Dawidziak

A biography of Edgar Allan Poe that examines the renowned author’s life through the prism of his mysterious death and its many possible causes.

Public Domain

1930 Is Public Domain In 2026
| A List Of Public Domain Materials From 1930
Entering The Public Domain In 2026.

War in Heaven
by Charles Williams

Williams gives a contemporary setting to the traditional story of the Search for the Holy Grail. Examining the distinction between magic and religion, War in Heaven is an eerily disturbing book, one that graphically portrays a metaphysical journey through the shadowy crevices of the human mind. -Amazon

A Rose for Emily • non-genre • (1930) • short story by William Faulkner The Forum, April 30, 1930. Collected in The Golden Argosy: A Collection of the Most Celebrated Short Stories in the English Language/The Bedside Book of Famous American Stories

Non-Fiction

 A List Of 25 Catholic Books Published In 2025

Sent: How to Evangelize
Wherever You Are, Whoever You Are: 
by Casey Cole OFM 

For decades, Christians comforted themselves with the belief that young people drifting from church would eventually return when life got serious and they needed something to fall back on. But what happens when a generation comes of age that never went to church in the first place? Increasingly, young people today are looking for meaning but don’t know where to find it. In Sent, Franciscan friar and Catholic priest Fr. Casey Cole, OFM offers a practical guide for living out the original mission of the Church: evangelization. Drawing from Scripture, Catholic tradition, and years of pastoral experience, Fr. Casey presents sixteen actionable steps, from preparing your own heart to building authentic relationships that any Christian can follow to share their faith in the world. This is not a book for someone else to read. It’s for you. The Church’s mission will rise or fall on the willingness of ordinary Christians to live and share the Gospel in everyday life. -Amazon

 Some Non-fiction Books That Have Been Published Between 2023 And 2025
From Knowledge 000 – Science 500.

Why Plato Matters Now
by Angie Hobbs

Professor Angie Hobbs proves in this persuasive and intelligent book that Plato is more relevant than ever.

Does Plato matter? An ancient philosopher whose work has inspired and informed countless thinkers and poets across the centuries, his ideas are no longer taught as widely as they once were. But, as Angie Hobbs argues in this clear-sighted book, that is a mistake.

If we want to understand the world we live in – from democracy, autocracy and fake news to celebrity, cancel culture and what money can and cannot do – there is no better place to start than Plato. Exploring the intersection between the ancient and the modern, Professor Hobbs shows how Plato can help us address key questions concerning the nature of a flourishing life and community, healthcare, love and friendship, heroism, reality, art and myth-making. She also shows us how Plato’s adaptation of the Socratic method and dialogue form can enable us to deal with contested issues more constructively.

Plato’s methodology, arguments, ideas and vivid images are explained with a clarity suitable both for readers familiar with his work and for those approaching Plato for the first time. This book shows why Plato really matters, now more than ever. – Goodreads

Some More Interesting Non-Fiction Books From 2023 – 2025 |
From Technology 600 – Literature, Rhetoric & Criticism 800

Word of the Day:
Transform Your Writing in 15 Minutes a Day
by Marilyn Horowitz

Offering a unique creativity-and-time-management technique, Word of the Day is a practice that assists writers to create at will, write as much as they want, and acquire accurate self-acknowledgement in the process. The practice immediately connects writers with their innate storytelling ability as reflected in their dreams. The techniques synthesize the right and left sides of the brain so that writers can draw upon the entirety of their creative tools, fusing the verbal and visual mind, unleashing structural instincts and creativity, allowing them to dance together. Writers are asked to put a notebook by their bed so they can write first thing in the morning when they wake up and just before bedtime. Studies have shown that our most creative moments happen immediately upon waking and just before falling asleep. Writing adjacent to these moments, even briefly, gives writers access to their unlimited imagination, powerful tools of imagery, and the full scope of their memory. – Goodreads

A List Of History, Biographical And Travel Books
Published Between 2023 – 2025.

On the Shadow Tracks:
A Journey through Occupied Myanmar
by Clare Hammond

‘On the Shadow Tracks harnesses the railway lines of Myanmar’s complicated past to its turbulent present, and the result is part travelogue, part history and completely absorbing. An astonishing achievement’
Joanna Lumley

In 2016, while working as a journalist in Yangon, Clare Hammond discovered an obscure map that showed a web of new railways spanning the length and breadth of the country – railways not shown on any other publicly available maps. She was determined to uncover the railways’ origins, purpose, and most of all, the silence that surrounded them. She would spend three months travelling on these mysterious railways, and the next five years piecing their story together.

Her journey would take her from Myanmar’s tropical south to the embattled mountain towns that border India and China. In dilapidated carriages, along tracks in disrepair, through contested ethnic states and former sites of forced labour, visiting temples, tea shops and festivals, Clare encountered a colourful and contradictory Myanmar through the stories of its people. Simultaneously a lush and evocative travelogue, an unsparing account of Myanmar’s recent history, and an astonishing, conversation-shifting engagement with Britain’s colonial legacy, On the Shadow Tracks is that rare and necessary a book that finds and tells the truth. -Amazon

When the Light Finds Us:
From a Life Sentence to a Life Transformed
by Judy A. Henderson

Single mother and small-business owner Judy Henderson’s world fell apart when she was sentenced to life in prison for a crime she did not commit, separating her from her three-year-old son and thirteen-year-old daughter. During three decades in the inhospitable prison system, she faced violence, mistreatment, and even live snakes and scorpions, all the while pleading her case to the legal system and passionately parenting her children from a prison phone. Never giving up hope that she would be set free, she committed to self-education and self-healing, worked with nonprofit prison programs, earned her GED then paralegal degree, participated in the passing of the first battered women’s bill in MO, and shepherded women and mothers through the clemency process. With the help of the prosecutor on her case and the Missouri governor, Judy was granted clemency and received a full pardon after almost thirty-five years behind bars.     Filled with keen insights into how Judy overcame incredible obstacles, the power of faith and the “coincidences” that fortified her, When the Light Finds Us is compelling narrative nonfiction from an award-winning writer that will motivate readers to persevere through hard times and bolster their confidence in redemption, faith, and the power of a mother’s love. – Goodreads