BookTrib’s tagline is “Where Readers Discover.” And in case you forgot, editors like us are readers too. One of the great joys of being part of BookTrib is having the chance to learn about authors that most people have probably never heard of. It’s a pleasure reading their stories, focusing on their themes and characters, and hearing their messages.
In our annual holiday feature (Check out the 2022 list), we once again bring you some of the favorite books we’ve read in the past year from authors you probably haven’t heard of — but probably should.
There Are Still Unknown Places by Ron Morris
What John, a young man who has just arrived in Thailand to conquer his demons and find success for which he couldn’t in the States, comes to realize is that life is nothing like that which we are led to believe in the movies. As E.M. Forster’s classic tale of prejudice and misunderstanding, A Passage to India, is the consummate novel of that land, maybe someday There Are Still Unknown Places will take its place as the unmitigated literary anthem to Thailand. It’s that good. Review.
The Last Professional by Ed Davis
One critic said that author Ed Davis “has done for American railroads what Kerouac did for American highways and Steinbeck did for American nomads.” In The Last Professional, the rambling trains are a metaphor for an American journey, a frenetic yet serene search for identity. Is it a train to freedom or a train to survival? Either way, Davis captures the filth, stench, hunger, exhaust, sickness, grit, ingenuity and character of the hobos – in a magnificent story. Review.
The Boy In The Rain by Stephanie Cowell
It is 1903 in the English countryside when Robbie, a shy young art student, meets the 29-year-old Anton who is running from memories of his brutal childhood and failed marriage. Within months, they begin a love affair that will never let them go. This is a love story of the highest order, so powerful for advancing important issues from a historical perspective but more significantly for vividly and elegantly capturing the passion, beauty and despair of a forbidden (at the time) affair between two men. Review.
The Politzer Saga by Linda Ambrus Broenniman
“When I was 27, I accidentally discovered that my father was Jewish. And that much of what I knew about him and his family was a lie.” In this riveting memoir, the author has pieced together a family tree dating back to 18th century Hungary, eight generations. The book reads like a fictional family saga; the characters come to life in beautiful clarity, making readers easily forget that they were actually thoroughly researched and not the figments of someone’s vivid imagination. Review.
Aldek’s Bestiary by Romuald Roman
This is the unofficial study into the psyche of beloved animals and pets, as told in a collection of 21 connected short stories appearing in English for the first time. The author shares his affection, respect and downright admiration for animals. By working animals into his various narratives, he not only portrays them with human-like qualities but positions them as key figures in helping us understand the fragile human mind and its many foibles. Review.
Hero Of The Day? by Henry D. Trett
Would you be willing to watch a stranger’s senseless death, or would you be willing to kill and protect a life? This is the simple choice presented to a normal guy with a day job, social security card and living an ordinary life in a rather ordinary world. The book poses difficult questions for its protagonist David and raises bigger issues about societal norms, stereotyping, prejudices, political posturing and gun laws, to name a few. Review.
Dead To Rights by Bailey Herrington
Author Bailey Herrington could have stuck to the craft of being a mystery writer, which he does so well in Dead to Rights, his latest David Elliott Mystery. And anyone intrigued with a crisp, fast-moving, twist-and-turn narrative will go home happy. But he is frying bigger fish in this one, raising the stakes on issues like questionable overt CIA operations, homosexuality (when it was still pretty much in the closet back in the Fifties) and sexual love between blood cousins. Review.
Made In Maine by Shawn Samuelson Henry
This marvelous debut YA novel is a multi-pronged, issues-jammed teenagers’ search for their true selves and souls. Consider the themes: teenagers uncomfortable in their own skin, terrified by the effects and acceptance of their physical beings, fitting in with the in-crowd (or with any crowd), sexual orientations, love, abandonment, parent-child struggles, coping with tragedy, economic hardship, moral codes, trust, the importance of community, bullying — get the idea? Review.
The Sacrifice by Caroline Steiger
You have to reread the first few pages of this psychological thriller to make sure you’ve got it right, that a cool cucumber named John is casually explaining how he just murdered a girl in a swimming pool in Cancún during Spring Break in 1989. The Sacrifice has a lot going for it. As the author explains, “It’s a series of people who did unconscionable things, for reasons they thought were right.” Review.
SQL Quest by Neha Saini
This totally delightful book covers what likely is a fascinating topic for some but an intricate and complicated one for many. Yet the author’s writing conveys such enthusiasm, positivity and love for her subject I’m convinced she could pretty much get readers to try anything, in this case making the SQL (Structured Query Language) relational database accessible to young readers. Review.
The Idea People by Mike Lubow
You’re hooked from the very beginning when an ad agency whiz strolls to the back of the room during his own presentation, leans against a panel, falls back, tumbles underneath it, exits out the back, presumably to reenter the presentation, but instead leaves the building, boards a plane to L.A. and is never seen again by his ad team. Next step – he becomes an unlikely detective. And we’re just getting started. Review.
These Things Happen by Michael Eon
As a kid, you barely notice them. Maybe it’s at a restaurant. Maybe it’s in your own basement, where your parents have set up a bar in the downstairs game room. Just collecting dust – that is, until they take over your life like a monster you can’t control. Michael Eon tells a heartbreaking story of a Brooklyn family wrestling to overcome its demons and members struggling to barely come to terms with their emotions and navigate the difficulties brought on by life’s daily challenges. Turning to the bottle is far more than a mere curiosity; it’s a breaking point from the pressures brought on by parents, careers and relationships. Review.
Every Other Weekend by Anthony J. Mohr
In this touching memoir, the author’s father is a well-known radio actor before slipping to the Hollywood B-list thanks to the advent of television. He falls for the script girl and divorces Mohr’s mother, who goes on to meet and marry a credit card industry pioneer. This is the story of how young Anthony bounces from family to family and father to father every other weekend. Review.
Wild Bill Rides Again by Jim Antonini
Remember news anchorman Howard Beale from the classic 1976 Oscar-winning movie Network, who proclaims in the middle of a seemingly nervous breakdown that he is “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore?” Bill Moreland, a bank president, isn’t on a crusade to change the world — but rather make a major course correction in his own. He is successful, a family man, and lives in a nice home. But his inner demons cause a crack in that nice, neat equation, and Bill snaps. So he steals a million dollars from his bank and disappears. Review.
Nightweaver by R.M. Gray
Violet has lived her entire life on the sea. For the past six hundred years, a species called Nightweavers have claimed the land for themselves, making the water the only safe place for Violet and her family. The Oberon family is a force to be reckoned with, until the oldest brother, Owen, is murdered by a being even the Nightweavers have reason to fear. This is a story about family and the lengths they will go to protect and avenge each other. Review.
The Language of Kin by Lynne Hugo
In western Uganda, a young chimpanzee cowers in fear as she witnesses poachers shoot and kill every mother in a group of chimps nursing their young. Eve, a baby chimp, is sent to a laboratory. Years later, after testing, injections and surgeries, she is shipped to a zoo, where she will be rehabilitated and integrated with other members of her species. Eve’s keepers must compromise on their values and learn how to put the chimp’s needs before their own. The Language of Kin is a beautifully crafted story about what it means to care for others beyond barriers of language and understanding. Review.
Start Us Up by Lexi Blake
Is it dangerous to mix business and pleasure? Ivy Jensen has been burned once before, by her former boyfriend turned business partner, who watched the company go up in flames and let Ivy get blamed. So Ivy is not going to let her feelings for a man cloud her judgment and ruin her career again — she just needs a business idea to get her back on her feet. When Heath Marino shows up asking for help coding AI, Ivy sees the perfect opportunity for her next big break. As long as she doesn’t fall into bed — or worse, into love — with him. Review.
Storm Cloud Rising by Jason Lancour
In this first book in Jason Lancour’s Storm Cloud series, we are introduced to a colorful cast of characters as they receive a proposition for an open mercenary job, which they are all tempted to take for their own reasons — money, information, or something to pass the time. Their mission is to recover a golden disk kept in a magically sealed box that has been stolen from the Duke. But as the band sets off on their quest, suspicions grow that they’re being purposely left in the dark about this top-secret mission, and not everything is adding up as it should. Review.
The Island Mother by Jon Cohn
Leigh Ramos is always on the run. She has an itch that keeps her on the move away from a dangerous past and an abusive ex. In Kona, Hawaii, the Mahalo Club feels like a refuge full of misfits and runaways. But strange things start happening the day she arrives at the resort. And everyone can’t help but notice that Leigh is at the center of it — soon, everything goes careening into something far more sinister. Review.
She Who Rides Horses by Sarah V. Barnes
Horses and humans have a long history together, from work and war to sports and recreation, from the days before combustible engines to the modern equine-assisted therapies. Yet the details of their domestication — the when, where, why and how — remain shrouded in mystery. Historian and equestrian Sarah V. Barnes takes readers over 6,000 years into the past to witness the first person to ride a horse. Through the brave yet tender heart of young Naya, Barnes reveals that the bond between human and horse is spiritual, similar to our bond with people. Review.
Heart of Stone by David W Burns
Can a monster choose to be good? With snakes for hair and a gaze that turns men to stone, Kyra is a modern-day Medusa, making a living in Chicago as a hitwoman for hire. Feared and hated even by her fellow Mythic, she lives a solitary and bitter existence until a dying millionaire asks Kyra to protect her daughter from supernatural dangers. Eager to be more than just a dealer of death, Kyra takes the job. But the road to redemption will force Kyra to face all her demons– not just the monsters chasing them across the Windy City, but also the horrors that haunt her own evil past. Review.
Orbem by Scott V Adrian
Dr. Graeme Milford, a technologist and Japanese sword-fighting enthusiast, invents personal wormhole transportation at a secret research facility in Scotland full of scientific wonders using a laser that can cut through reality. His success turns into a nightmare as the unstoppable power-hungry tech CEO of ‘Foresight’ forces him and his new colleagues to run for their lives or risk being purged. Using Graeme’s device, they flee to Orbem, another universe full of fantasy. Meeting Elves, Fairies, Caninth (wolf humanoids), Harilizards (lizard humanoids) and a dark Sorcerer, they try to survive in hopes of discovering a way to return home and defeat the CEO. Review.
Murder Baby by GJ Stoutimore
Raffi Okamoto, last knight of the angel Sadira, is a thoroughly trained female Japanese warrior who lives and dies by the way she was taught — to act with instinct and avoid overthinking. Alongside a magic-practicing teenager, a child assassin and a host of benevolent and despicable characters she is constantly taunted by the ancient demon residing in the blade of her fabled sword. Raffi undergoes a perilous journey that will decide the outcome of the world as they know it. Review.
The Rule of Thirds by Jeannée Sacken
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 is the story of the decade that experienced photojournalist, Annie Hawkins Green, doesn’t want to miss documenting with the rest of her crew. But it’s not an easy decision to make. She has been suffering from PTSD since her last time in Afghanistan and still struggles with its effects. When Annie’s daughter, fresh out of college, takes a job with another news outfit heading to Afghanistan to cover the same story, Annie finds another reason to go … so she can keep an eye on her daughter. This novel is a gripping real-life story of war and terrorism, death and survival. Review.
