Exposure                                                                 

Ramona Emerson

Soho Crime/PRH

    A great follow to Shutter, this finds Rita Todacheene recovering from her injuries  and rethinking her work with the police. But ghosts won't allow her to walk away easily. There are new bodies to consider, new questions to answer.

    Emerson does a great job engaging the reader with a world of the dead, never considered fantasy. She makes it all as real as the cold snow in the city and the time it takes to recover from horrible injuries.

    This is a very good series.

If you'd like to know more about these books or own them, please check with your local independent bookstore, or this fine place: bookshop.org .

 Fire Exit                               

by Morgan Talty

Tin House

     This is a strong, quiet, look at family, secrets, friendship, the price of truth and the price of culture. Charles is not a young man as he's trying to care for his long estranged mother, still torn about the daughter whose life he's not in, caring for an often lapsed AA friend, and trying to stay sober himself while facing all of his past, and the Native heritage that is not his.

     You'll think about this long after you finish.

If you would like to know more about, or own this book, please contact your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org .

 Wandering Stars

by Tommy Orange

PenguinRandomHouse

    This book deserves all the accolades it is getting. The family's history is beautifully done with never an overstatement. The hard-fought love and reliance of the contemporary family echoes back generations.

    The writing is beautiful and harrowing. The descriptions of getting high may force you to get up and take deep breaths to mediate their strength.

    An amazing work of art that should not be missed.

If you'd like to know more about this book, or purchase it, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place bookshop.org.

 Night of the Living Rez 

by Morgan Talty

Tin House

    These are stories of a family living in a Native American village in Maine. They are at times funny, but often heart-wrenching stories of people with too little money and hope but enough love and friendship. They are not in any chronological order which becomes a way of seeing the universal in the specific.

    It's awfully nice when a book you love wins awards (NBCC, among them) as this has. 

If you would like to know more about or own this book, please try your local independent bookstore or bookshop.org