Book Review: Still Waters

Liv and Gabe Ahlstrom are estranged siblings who haven’t seen each other in years, but that’s about to change when they receive a rare call from their older brother’s wife. “Mack is dead,” she says. “He died of a seizure.” Five minutes after they hang up, Liv and Gabe each receive a scheduled email from their dead brother, claiming that he was murdered.

The siblings return to their family run resort in the Northwoods of Minnesota to investigate Mack's claims, but Leech Lake has more in store for them than either could imagine. Drawn into a tangled web of lies and betrayal that spans decades, they put their lives on the line to unravel the truth about their brother, their parents, themselves, and the small town in which they grew up. After all, no one can keep a secret in a small town, but someone in Leech Lake is willing to kill for the truth to stay buried.

Book Review: What A Fool Believes

Doobie Brothers. Steely Dan. Chart topping soloist. Across a half-century of American music, Michael McDonald’s unmistakably smooth baritone voice defined an era of rock and R&B with hit records like “What A Fool Believes,” “Takin’ It to the Streets,” “I Keep Forgettin’,” “Peg,” “It Keeps You Running,” “You Belong to Me,” and “Yah Mo B There.”

In his candid, freewheeling memoir, written with his friend, the Emmy Award-nominated actor and comedian Paul Reiser, Michael tells the story of his life and music. A high school dropout from Ferguson, Missouri, Michael chased his dreams in 1970’s California, a heady moment of rock opportunity and excess. As a rising session musician and backing vocalist, a series of encounters would send him on a wild ride around the world and to the heights of rock stardom—from joining Steely Dan and becoming a defining member of The Doobie Brothers to forging a path as a breakout solo R&B artist.

Book Review: Troubled Water

The world is burning—and Corrine will do anything to put out the flames. After her brother died aboard an oil boat on the Mississippi River in 2013, Corrine awakened to the realities of climate change and its perpetrators. Now, a year later, she finds herself trapped in a lonely cycle of mourning both her brother and the very planet she stands on. She’s convinced that in order to save her future, she has to make sure that her brother’s life meant something. But in the act of honoring her brother’s spirit, she resurrects family ghosts she knows little about—ghosts her grandmother Cora knows intimately.

The world is burning—but it always has been. Cora’s ghosts have followed her from her days as a child integrating schools in 1950s Nashville to her new life as a mother, grandmother, and teacher in Mississippi. As a child of the civil rights movement, she’s done her best to keep those specters away from her granddaughter. She faced those demons, she reasons to herself, so that Corinne would never know they existed.

Book Review: I Want to End This Love Game vol. 2

The first step to winning the Love Game is saying “I love you.” So how do you lose? By admitting you’re in love!

Let the games begin! Since childhood, Yukiya Asagi and Miku Sakura have played the Love Game, where they try to fluster each other with a simple “I love you.” But after falling in love for real and refusing to admit it, neither of them can afford to lose this battle!

With the burning sensation of love in their chests growing hotter, Miku and Yukiya push the boundaries of the Love Game! Between a scandalous hand-holding competition and an after-school coffee date, it’s like they’re aiming for the world record in a love speedrun!

Book Review: Long After We Are Gone

"Don't let the white man take the house." These are the last words King Solomon says to his son before he dies. Now all four Solomon siblings must return to North Carolina to save the Kingdom, their ancestral home and 200 acres of land, from a development company, who has their sights set on turning the valuable waterfront property into a luxury resort.

While fighting to save the Kingdom, the siblings must also save themselves from the secrets they've been holding onto.

Book Review: If Something Happens to Me

For the past five years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. The car door ripping open. The crushing blow to the head. The hands yanking him from the vehicle. His girlfriend Ali’s piercing scream as she is taken.

With no trace of Ali or the car, a cloud of suspicion hangs over Ryan. But with no proof and a good lawyer, he’s never charged, though that doesn’t matter to the podcasters and internet trolls. Now, Ryan has changed his last name, and entered law school. He's put his past behind him.

Book Review: Writers of the Future vol. 40

Spine-tingling. Breathtaking. Mind-blowing.

Experience these powerful new voices - vivid, visceral, and visionary - as they explore uncharted worlds and reveal unlimited possibilities. Open the Writers of the Future and be carried away by stories and illustrations that will make you think, make you laugh, and make you see the world in ways you never imagined.