The only family drama you’ll want more of—no group chats required, just great fiction!
LIFE, AND DEATH, AND GIANTS by Ron Rindo
9781250375339 | 9/9/25
A young, unmarried Amish woman, attended by the country veterinarian, delivers an enormous baby, and no one in Lakota, Wisconsin, knows what to make of the boy. Raised by his brother on a struggling farm, Gabriel Fisher walks at eight months, communicates with animals, and possesses extraordinary athletic abilities. When his brother dies, Gabriel is taken in by devout Amish grandparents, and for a time, he disappears into the anonymity of Amish life. But at age seventeen, and nearly eight feet tall, Gabriel is spotted working in a hay field by the local football coach, and his life changes.
In LIFE, AND DEATH, AND GIANTS, Gabriel’s remarkable story is told by those whose lives are transformed by him: Thomas Kennedy, the veterinarian who delivers him and becomes his mentor; Hannah Fisher, Gabriel’s Amish grandmother, who is troubled by deep gaps in her faith; Billy Walton, the salty bar owner and bridge between the Amish and English communities in Lakota; and Trey Beathard, the football coach, who tries to counsel Gabriel as his fame explodes—with consequences that no-one can predict.
Threaded through with the poems of Emily Dickinson, LIFE, AND DEATH, AND GIANTS weaves together an unforgettable story of faith, family, buried secrets, and everyday miracles.
ONE OF US by Dan Chaon
9781250175236 | 9/23/25
It’s 1915 and the world is transforming, but for thirteen-year-old Bolt and Eleanor—twins so close they can literally read each other’s minds—life is falling apart. When their mother dies, they are forced to leave home under the care of a vicious con man who claims he’s their long-lost uncle Charlie, the only kin they have left. When, during a late-night poker game, one of his rages ends in murder, they decide to flee.
Salvation arrives in the form of Mr. Jengling, founder of the Emporium of Wonders, and father to its many members. He adopts Bolt and Eleanor, and the twins travel by train across the vast, sometimes brutal American frontier with their new family, watching as the exhibitions spark amazement wherever they go. There’s Minnie the three-legged lady, and Dr. Chui who stands over seven feet tall; Thistle Britches, the clown with no nose, and Rosalie, who can foretell the death of anyone she meets.
After a lifetime of having only each other, Eleanor and Bolt are finally part of something bigger. But as Bolt falls in deeper with their new clan, he finds Eleanor pulling further away from him. And when Uncle Charlie picks up their trail, the twins find themselves facing a peril as strange as it is terrifying, one which will forever alter the trajectory of their lives.
An ode to the misfits and the marginalized, ONE OF US is a riotous and singularly creepy celebration of the strange and the spectacular and of family in its many forms.
THE IRISH GOODBYE by Heather Aimee O’Neill
9781250408150 | 9/30/25
It’s been years since the three Ryan sisters were all home in Long Island at the same time. Two decades ago their lives were upended by an accident on their brother Topher’s boat: a friend’s brother was killed, the lawsuit nearly bankrupted their parents, and Topher spiraled into a depression, eventually taking his life. Now the Ryan women are back for Thanksgiving, hungry to reconnect, but each of them carrying a heavy secret. The eldest, Cait, still holding guilt about the crash, rekindles a flame with her high school crush. Middle sister Alice’s been thrown a curveball threatening the career she’s restarting, and faces a difficult decision. And the youngest, Maggie, is finally taking the risk of bringing a woman she loves home to her devoutly Catholic, often judgmental mother. Infusing everything is the grief for Topher that none of the Ryans have figured out how to carry together.
When Cait invites a guest to Thanksgiving dinner, old tensions boil over and new truths surface, nearly overpowering the flickering light of their family bond. Far more than a family holiday will be ruined unless the sisters can find a way to forgive themselves—and one another.
TRIP by Amie Barrodale
9780374617349 | 9/2/25
Sandra dies suddenly at a death conference in Nepal attended by academics and mystics. Meanwhile, back in America, her teenage son, Trip, runs away with a man who picks him up on the side of a road. Sandra tries to get a message back to Trip through the mystics, but the mystics are distracted, and her son and the strange man set out to sea.
Amie Barrodale’s first novel features restless souls, Buddhist deities, divorcees in recovery programs, arguing academics, uncomprehending school principals, and treatment centers for troubled teenagers. It journeys from body to body, through life and death and back again. It tells the story of a mother and son who find other people hard to understand and who are themselves misunderstood. Guiding this wild, unpredictable journey is deep devotion: the desire to save a child and to be a good mother despite it all.
Wide-eyed with wonder, blazingly funny and achingly moving, TRIP brings us the deeper meaning of THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD: the past is a memory, the future is a projection, the present is gone before we can see it.
KAPLAN’S PLOT by Jason Diamond
9781250385918 | 9/16/25
Elijah Mendes was hoping for a more triumphant return to Chicago. His mother, Eve, is dying of cancer, his business flamed out, and he has nowhere else to go. So he returns to Chicago feeling listless and shattered, worried about how he’s going to help his mother despite their chilly relationship. He finds some inspiration when he discovers that their family owns a Jewish cemetery and that a man he’s never heard of, his great-uncle Solomon Kaplan, is buried in a plot there. With a new sense of purpose—and an excuse to talk more deeply with his mother—Elijah begins pursuing a family mystery of extraordinary proportions.
Elijah discovers his grandfather Yitz, Eve’s father, was a powerful gangster in the 1920s. She was ashamed and never spoke about him to Elijah. As secrets unravel, the past and present become intertwined, and Yitz’s story forces Elijah and Eve to bond in ways they never have before and begin to accept each other, not as who they wish they were but as they both are.
KAPLAN’S PLOT is an astonishing balancing act between the ruthless and the tender, the superficial and the truth, by a writer with tremendous promise.
The owner of this website has made a commitment to accessibility and inclusion, please report any problems that you encounter using the contact form on this website. This site uses the WP ADA Compliance Check plugin to enhance accessibility.
