Janis

Weller’s debut novel, seven years in the making, is an extraordinary and memorable work of historical fiction. During the Civil War, Abel Trueman ends up on the wrong side of the Battle of the Wilderness and comes out emotionally scarred. Later in life, Abel and his dog set out on foot to cross the Olympic Mountains. This journey evolves into one of redemption, discovery and renewed hope through encounters with heart-strong characters along the way. Weller possesses incredible talent and I already look forward to his next book. ~ Janis

Trofimuk is a talent to watch. With his first novel, he delivers a main character who washes up on a beach off the Strait of Gibraltar and is committed to a mental institution in Seville. He believes he is Christopher Columbus, and his nurse, Consuela, becomes part of his tapestry—but is it in the process of weaving or fraying? Trofimuk asks us to consider this: What, exactly, makes a person stay in character? ~ Janis

I run a risk when writing about Pablo Neruda, because to me he is the poet master and I am admittedly smitten. What he writes, I devour. Full Woman, Fleshy Apple, Hot Moon abounds in adjectives and nouns as the title suggests. Throw in a dash of passion, angst, soul and intellect – classic Neruda. ~ Janis

Think of Cormac McCarthy's The Road and plunk that right in the middle of the teenage market. Hunger Games delivers without a doubt: a page-turning futuristic reality show with 16-year-old Katness Everdeen as the star. Representing her district, the poorest of the twelve districts of the new nation Panem in the annual Hunger Games, Katness is pitted in brutal trials against the other contestants. The winner of the game is the last contestant alive. Collins gives on-the-edge reading for the adventurous in this slightly chilling, brilliantly plotted and paced book. ~ JANIS

In a book made to sit down and read without interruption, the great literary master E.L. Doctorow creates a novel around the real-life Collyer brothers, Homer and Langley, siblings loyal to each other who were infamously eccentric hermits born in the 1880s. The historical details of New York in a grand age lend authenticity to the inventive story of these fascinating characters. ~ Janis

To open the cover of this memoir is to enter the intimate, admirable, mournfully beautiful life of the Weber family. Damon is the center of this family, a larger-than-life teenager who was born with a potentially fatal heart defect. He was also born with an unstoppable personality and the heart of a lion. His father, Doron, tells the family story in an accessible and open manner, one that makes you feel as though you are in the car with the family on the way to another operation, or sitting around the dinner table telling jokes, or clenching your fists as another kid makes your kid feel small, or rooting when Damon yet again rallies. This is a story that makes your heart stronger for reading it. ~ Janis

Fans of historical fiction will not want to miss the latest from Russell (The Sparrow and Children of God.) Russell writes in her masterfully entertaining style as she lays out the story of John Henry Holliday—Doc Holliday—beginning on a Georgia plantation, where John Henry was born to a well-educated mother. We then follow our hero briefly through the Civil War and then to Texas, where he earns his D.D.S. and meets the literate, classic-quoting prostitute-turned-lifelong-companion Kate, and finally to Dodge City, Kansas. Doc is a gentleman and a professional gambler, a smooth talker and an alcoholic, generous to a fault and deathly ill with tuberculosis, which will end his life at the age of thirty-six. The Earp brothers make a strong showing as supporting characters in this true-to-life tale of western heritage and adventure. I wanted more after turning the last page. Ace-high! ~ Janis

Bed: where 40-50% of our lives unfold… unless you are 25-year-old Mal Ede, disenchanted with life and how it locks individuals into predictable tracks. Then the bed becomes 100%. Mal is part philosopher, part hot-blooded teen, part railing son and brother. But he is full-on confident in his decision to drop out of typical life. He takes to his bed on his 25th birthday, never again to rise. Mal’s body grows to garish proportions, perhaps in line with the atrocities apparent in his personal relationships, primarily with his parents. Bed scores on many levels: kudos to Whitehouse for compassion, good storytelling, character development, and magnification of society and humanity. I anxiously await a second work from this author. ~ Janis