Books

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Explore outstanding fiction and non-fiction books from independent authors. Browse history, science, psychology, business, biography and more to find your next favourite book.
Books

Books

Guides, reviews and our full library of titles — the books we’re reading and recommending.

Book Guides & Reviews

60
Book Review

The Catchings Press, by Robin McMillion | Book Review

The follow-up to The Children of the Children (reviewed here), The Catchings Press is a literary coming-of-age novel set in 1967-68, in the fictional small town of Catchings, Texas. It’s McMillion’s second novel, and it shares its interest in institutional…

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Book Review

Sol Canyon, by Michael Wolf | Book Review

Sol Canyon by Michael Wolf is a Los Angeles detective novel that starts out as a light character piece and gradually turns into something quite a bit darker. Released September 2025, it’s the first book in Michael Wolf’s series following…

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Book Review

Syracuse Will Burn, by Jim Loughran | Book Review

Ancient Sicily is, in large part, criminally underused in historical fiction. Everyone wants to write about the fall of Troy or Caesar crossing the Rubicon, but Syracuse rarely gets a mention outside academic texts. That gap is exactly what Irish…

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Book Guide

How Do You Live Without Love? | Book Guide

How Do You Live Without Love? is a literary fiction drama that tackles tough questions through the lens of institutional decay, grief, and faith. It's written primarily for a Christian or spiritually questioning audience, given its setting deep within church…

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Book Review

Love Me Do, by Meg Macy | Book Review

There’s something satisfying about sequels, and Meg Macy’s Love Me Do, published 15 December 2025, delivers exactly that pleasure. This continuation of the “All You Need Is Love” series proves unafraid to tackle the messy complexities of LGBTQ+ relationships. It’s…

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Book Review

Black River, By Yvonne Osborne | Book Review

Black River by Yvonne Osborne, the follow-up to 2024’s Let Evening Come, is a literary rural noir set in the lowlands of Michigan farm country. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Where the Crawdads Sing sat down for a drink with…

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Book Guide

Medicine for the Blues, by Jeff Stookey | Book Guide

The 1920s are often remembered as a decade of jazz, economic prosperity and social change. Images of flapper dresses, speakeasies and bustling cities dominate popular culture's understanding of the era. Yet beneath this glamorous image was a reality that many…

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Book Review

I Fall to Pieces, by Dani Lewis | Book Review

First published in November 2025, I Fall to Pieces is the first entry in Dani Lewis’s Cassie Hunt series, and it is one of the most hilarious mysteries I’ve read in quite some time. Blending dark humour, crime and an unforgettable narrative…

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Book Review

Without a Face, by Lonnie Busch | Book Review

We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing Lonnie Busch’s books before here on the site, recently Assimilation, so when Without a Face landed on our radar we were already familiar with what this author is capable of. For those new to…

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Book Review

Rubedo, by Leona Caelestis | Book Review

Rubedo by Leona Caelestis is the first instalment in the Necrocene series, two words I had to look up before even starting the book! Published a couple weeks ago, I was immediately drawn to the surreal cover, something warped yet…

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Book Review

Tall Boy Sun, by Neal Holtschulte | Book Review

Neal Holtschulte’s second novel Tall Boy Sun was published last month, and it follows on the heels of Crew of Exiles, a book that won the sci-fi category in our first Bookshelfie Awards. This novel marks a confident step forward from his debut, and…

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Book Review

Vendetta, by Wes Davis | Book Review

Published independently in November 2024, Wes Davis’s Vendetta is a character-driven thriller that asks a deceptively simple question: is revenge ever truly worth it? The novel follows Barrett Coleson, a wealthy and celebrated actor living in Malibu, as he reflects…

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Book Review

Alterity, by Jules | Book Review

The writer who goes by Jules’ debut opens with a simple declaration: “Magic isn’t real, except when it is.” From that first line, the book signals what kind of story you’re getting into, one where the boundary between reality and…

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Book Review

Love Me Do, by Meg Macy | Book Review

There’s something satisfying about sequels, and Meg Macy’s Love Me Do, published 15 December 2025, delivers exactly that pleasure. This continuation of the “All You Need Is Love” series proves unafraid to tackle the messy complexities of LGBTQ+ relationships. It’s…

Read
Book Review

Silks and Stones, by Quinn Lawrence | Book Review

The second book in Quinn Lawrence’s Cinna and Hokuren series, Silks and Stones is a cozy combination of the fantasy and detective genres. The book follows two women detectives: Hokuren, a sharp and reserved private investigator, and Cinna, her fearless…

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All Books

60
Fantasy Romance

Her Bloody Creature

There's comfort in what you know. Stable work, steady pay, food and shelter to go back to... routine, structure: quiet. It all seems perfect, until comfort invites boredom. And as five young lives learn, boredom breeds stagnation and stagnation breeds…

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Literary Fiction Fantasy

Wisp Hollow: The Necromancer

After surviving a brutal car crash on the fog-covered roads outside the small town of Wisp Hollow, seventeen-year-old Scott Endore wakes up with impossible strength, violent blackouts, and memories of a monster with human eyes. As strange attacks spread through…

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Romance Mystery

AcClaim: A Sultryverse story

Beatrix Winslow-Hale built her career by writing women who own their desire. Then a man turns hers against her. A bestselling novelist on the verge of a bigger life, Beatrix is brilliant, controlled, and finished with accepting the future her…

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Romance Mystery

Re:Claim: A Sultryverse Story

They counted on her silence. They should have counted the wolves. After her Paris school punishes her for defending herself against an attempted assault, eighteen-year-old heiress Manon de Rochemaure is exiled to Le Rolle Academy—a Swiss boarding school where powerful…

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Science Fiction

King of Blades

Steel will flash. Pixels will spill. But only one can be crowned… King of Blades. It’s the year 2338, time for the orbiting megacity of Arcadia to host one of the biggest sporting events in the world: Children of the…

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Non-fiction

Embracing the Local: Extension Cords and All

He didn’t set out to become a civic leader, he just wanted a glass of wine. After two, he found himself in charge of a scrappy, all-volunteer Chamber of Commerce in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills. After twenty years solving complex…

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Literary Fiction

Where the Water Falls

25 year old Hunter Strong is determined to figure out how to build a perfect life. What he learns is that to pursue that life, it takes one step outside of his comfort zone as a result of Marge's guidance.…

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Non-fiction, Self-Help

Der Mensch, der ich wurde

Wer bist du wirklich? Warum denkst du so, wie du denkst?Warum fühlst du, was du fühlst?Und wie viel von dem Menschen, der du heute bist, hast du eigentlich selbst gewählt? Der Mensch, der ich wurde ist eine Reise zu diesen…

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Romance, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism

Devotion

Emma Truesdale, flamboyant and fashionable, follows an inner call to return to her somewhat fey but sturdy sister, Alice, at the family’s Manse in Virginia. The two have always grounded each other. But will this be a real honeymoon or…

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Non-fiction, Self-Help

THE FALSE VERDICT

A rejection can close a door. The more dangerous loss begins when you turn it into your name. When failure becomes identity, the next action gets distorted. A missed promise becomes proof you cannot be trusted. A bad result becomes…

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Non-fiction, Self-Help

PBX Und seine Gedanken

  PBX und seine Gedanken is a deeply personal collection of thoughts, reflections, and stories about the questions and experiences that shape us as human beings. The book invites readers to pause, feel, reflect, and discover something about themselves. Across…

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Young Adult (YA)

Looked Down Upon: The Exiled Kin

Born into a world that misunderstands him as much as he misunderstands it, Lucas Ramirez struggles to find his footing as an autistic teenager. Dealing with poverty, prejudice, faith, trauma, and love, he feels at odds with everyone and everything.…

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Thriller

Looked Down Upon: A Masked Wickedness

It’s been two years since Luke came face-to-face with his demons and put his long-lost, psychotic father behind bars. With the Masked Hunter from his nightmares gone, Luke strives to move on with his life, but heading off to college…

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Literary Fiction Historical Fiction

The Fourth Courier

It is 1992 in Warsaw, Poland, and the communist era has just ended. A series of grisly murders suddenly becomes an international case when it's feared that the material out of the defunct Soviet Union. The FBI sends an agent…

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Science Fiction, Romance, Adventure

Aardis

Traveling through “The Gateway to Aardis,” Author T. Stevens takes readers on an interstellar adventure that begins with a dream and leads to an extraordinary journey.Scott, an independent corporate investigator, finds himself on the planet Aardis, where he was recruited…

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Mystery, Literary Fiction, Short Story

Short Story Club

This is a comic that I’ve recently finished titled ‘Short Story Club’ with three sub-chapters that are neither a continuation or directly related, yet they’re intertwined, this is more ‘manga-like’ in terms of presentation and style but it utilizes that…

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Fantasy, Romance, Adventure

Unmasked

Unmasked is the prequel to a gritty character-driven fantasy romance series, perfect for fans of paranormal and urban fantasy. A stolen mask. An ancient spirit. Halloween in Salem. What could possibly go wrong? Salem is the last place a 330-year-old vampire…

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Literary Fiction

Solivagant

The solivagant walks the streets of Edinburgh, the voice in his head incessantly active as, unbidden and unrelenting, it dissects his inner life. Occasionally other voices intervene but whether these are constructs of his own consciousness, or extraneous to it,…

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Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Adventure

Cyborg Contact

Cyborg Contact — A humorous first-contact, Cli-Fi adventure First Prize – International Firebird Book Awards for both Cli-Fi and Best Unconventional Love Story!Literary Titan Gold Book Award and Bookview Review Gold Badge Award! “offers far more than a typical science fiction adventure”“masterfully weaves sci-fi action with political…

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Fantasy

The Blackbird and the Ghost

The Boiling Seas are the mariner’s bane – and the adventurer’s delight. The waters may be hot enough to warp wood and boil a hapless swimmer, but their scalding expanse is full of wonders. Strange islands lurk in the steamy…

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Fantasy

Nightingale’s Sword

In the endless jungles of Tyria, the Blackbird flies again. Tal Wenlock and Max Odyn make a formidable team. The thief and the scholar have already unearthed one ancient scroll, filled with priceless knowledge and forgotten magic – and with…

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Fantasy

The Owl in the Labyrinth

Tal, Max and Lily might have sailed the deadly Boiling Seas, explored their mysterious islands, even flown through their steamy skies – but they’ve never ventured underneath them. Until now. Because Max is trapped, surrounded by the very secrets she…

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Fantasy

The Singer

The world is a dangerous place. War brews, plagues and famines destroy, kingdoms rise and fall – but not in the village of Quern. There, life is good. The air is clear, the town is peaceful, and the crops and…

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Fantasy, Children's Book

The Fire Within

The bad news is that Perce nearly set their house on fire. The good news is that they did it by magic. But they’re only a child, and their new powers are out of control. They need to learn, and…

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Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Crime

Paulie’s Pizza

Paulie’s Pizza: A Summer of Friends, First Loves, Fast Money, and Fatal Decisions Sixteen-year-old Cole Callander finally has everything he’s been waiting for: a driver’s license, a beat-up Ford pickup, and a summer job delivering pizzas. Paulie’s Pizza seems like…

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Dystopian, Young Adult (YA)

Sunnyside Dormitory

Population laws labeled Remi illegal at birth. Upon her capture, she is sent to Sunnyside Dormitory, a prison masquerading as an orphanage. The hallways weave an endless maze, and it’s not just the guards who watch her every move but…

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Mystery, Detective, Crime

Winter Kill

When a note with four cryptic words appears on his doorstep, Alaska P.I. Sidney Reed is sure it’s a clue to his wife Molly’s tragic death. He’s even more convinced when he finds red roses left on Molly’s grave and…

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Historical Fiction

A Cakewalk to Memphis

Big Sallie Morning, a determined Black cleaning woman from Memphis, becomes caught up in a desperate search for her pregnant niece’s missing husband. What starts as a personal mission quickly turns into a dangerous journey across a segregated South, where…

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Beautiful World, Where Are You

A novelist and her best friend exchange long emails on civilization's decline while navigating their own messy relationships.

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Antarctica

Stories exploring desire and moral transgression, its title story following a married woman's dangerous flirtation.

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Small Things Like These

A coal merchant discovers a disturbing secret about the local Magdalene laundry, weighing his family's safety against morality.

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Dept. of Speculation

A marriage unravels after infidelity, told in fragmented, aphoristic paragraphs rather than continuous narrative.

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A Psalm for the Wild-Built

A tea monk encounters a robot returning to check on humanity, and the two discuss purpose and contentment on a gentle journey.

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Long Island Compromise

A wealthy family's fortune unravels across generations after a kidnapping, exposing how inherited trauma warps everyone who touches it.

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The Man in the High Castle

In an alternate America where the Axis won WWII, a banned novel imagining an Allied victory circulates in secret.

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Yellowface

A writer steals her deceased friend's manuscript and passes it off as her own, becoming a bestseller built on theft.

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The Mark and the Void

A fictional version of the author becomes convinced a banker is planning a heist, skewering post-crash Irish banking culture.

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The Name of the Wind

A legendary figure in quiet exile tells the true story of his own extraordinary and tragic life.

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Hamnet

A fictionalized account of Shakespeare's son's death, centering not on the playwright but on his unrecorded wife.

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Zone One

A survivor clears the remaining zombies from lower Manhattan over three surreal days, in a literary take on the genre.

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Of Mice and Men

Two displaced ranch workers dream of owning their own farm, a fragile hope threatened by one man's strength.

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