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“Like Bookish People, the novel sparkles with kooky details plucked from literary culture. A comedy of errors that gets it just right.” —Kirkus
THE LITERATI
The Literati by Susan Coll
An unexpected catastrophe of literary proportions . . .
Aspirant, bookish, and close to broke, 26-year-old Clemi steps into her dream job at a prestigious literary nonprofit and finds herself in the bull’s eye of a financial, legal, and existential calamity. The executive director has disappeared, leaving behind an inscrutable cat to which she is highly allergic. Meanwhile, the bank accounts have been overdrawn, the FBI is asking questions, and she has three days to pull off the annual fundraising gala, a glamorous affair filled with famous writers and local literati.
On the upside, she will get to meet her all-time favorite writer, who has won the award. Clemi has read and reread her novels, pouring over her every word. But her interactions with the author and her eight-year-old son, as well as with the nonprofit’s Board Members, leave her wondering whether certain writers are better on the page than in person.
All the while, Clemi is trying to sort out her own life: her current boyfriend is, like every boyfriend before him, a pompous poseur, and the clock is running on her apartment-sitting gig. She finds herself wondering what all the goings-on in this dysfunctional, scandal-plagued nonprofit have to do with literature. And if it’s time to let go of her literary aspirations and apply to law school.
In the week in which this madcap story unfolds, USA TODAY bestselling author Susan Coll weaves together a charmingly witty and warm comedy of manners that offers a peek behind the literary curtain–one that anyone who’s ever been a little bit uncertain of what the future might hold can relate to.
Purchase Links
Harper Muse | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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The winning book club will receive up to ten digital copies of:
FATHERS BEFORE SONS
Fathers Before Sons by Ksenija Popovic
A man dies in a bar fight. A family vows revenge. And Igor, former athlete and newly-qualified doctor, finds his life violently disrupted by a blood feud.
Montenegro, 1998. Igor escaped his father’s cruelty early in life and built a future for himself, first as an athlete, then as a doctor. But when his younger brother kills a man in a bar fight, Igor becomes the target of a blood feud and must make an impossible choice: stand by the family that will lead him to certain death or run and live with the shame of abandoning them.
Twenty-three years later, an old ID card belonging to a stranger sends young footballer Johnny Peyovich digging into the past and into the same deadly conflict that once destroyed Igor’s life.
Fathers Before Sons is a layered and fast-paced family saga about identity, inherited legacies, and the few who dare to break them.
Purchase Links
Bookshop.org |Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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From bestselling, beloved author Harriet Evans, a moving, page-turning saga about one family’s journey across half a century—and about the extraordinary house that they call home.
THE TREASURES
The Treasures (The Seven Stones Trilogy, 1) by Harriet Evans
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Alice Jansen collects her treasures—the keepsakes, figurines, and mementos that help her make sense of her fragile family. But the next day her heart is broken, and the final treasure, a gift from her father, is lost. Two years later, Alice answers a phone call from a stranger and runs away to New York, trying to forget her last golden summer at the orchard on the banks of the Hudson.
Tom Raven can’t understand why he keeps losing so many of the things and people that really matter to him, but he knows for certain that something important is missing from his life. One day, he remembers a forgotten letter and makes a phone call, then leaves Sevenstones, the only place that feels like home, for a strange city.
Gripping and beautifully written, this story follows a family and a house over fifty years and three generations, of their beginning and their ending, and of finding the treasures that symbolize the most important memories in our lives.
Purchase Links
HarperVia | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Discover how to find healing from the pain and heartbreak in your life when you allow God and His people to come alongside you.
DON’T TRY THIS ALONE
Don’t Try This Alone: How to Build Deep Community When You Want to Hide from Your Pain by Toni Collier
Author and founder of Broken Crayons Still Color, Toni Collier shows you that it’s not only possible to heal from the things that have broken you but that you can build a strong, life-giving community to support you, be with you in the valleys, and speak love and truth into your life as God puts you back together again.
There’s no avoiding pain in this world. Whether it’s in the form of betrayal, trauma, illness, grief, or abandonment, we’ve all experienced the kind of pain that completely consumes us and transforms how we show up in the world. Whatever pain is felt, we’re often left feeling alone, ashamed, and unsure where to turn for help. We’re not sure we can trust others again, we pull back from social engagement, and we feel as if our hearts may never recover. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
In Don’t Try This Alone, Toni Collier shares how you can have hope in the midst of your most difficult days when you let others in. Opening up about her own experiences of walking through heartbreak, betrayal, and suffering, she shows you the importance of being vulnerable and allowing others to come alongside you as you heal—instead of trying to do it on your own—and gives you practical advice for how to actually heal.
Don’t Try This Alone will encourage and guide you to:
- Discover that healing is a hard, nonlinear, but worthwhile journey
- Understand why being alone in your pain is dangerous
- Identify problematic thoughts and the misguided responses from others that keep you trapped in toxic patterns
- Recognize the qualities of safe people
Toni teaches you that in every tough circumstance, the way forward is always with God and his people. The hard stuff is coming, but we can get through it if we don’t do it alone.
Purchase Links
Faith Gateway | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Life is not easy, but it’s more difficult when we just put our head down, ignore everything and everyone around us, and try to push through till we get to the other side.
THE BUMPY ROAD TO BETTER
The Bumpy Road to Better: Unlocking the Hidden Power in Hard Things by Tim Timberlake
Identifying the reasons we don’t ask for help is the first step toward making real change and experiencing all that God has for us.
In The Bumpy Road to Better bestselling author and senior pastor of Celebration Church, Tim Timberlake, confronts head-on the human tendency to dodge the difficult and hide from the hard. He explains how an obsession with quick fixes, instant gratification, and a trouble-free existence holds us back from gaining wisdom and experiencing transformation. There is great power hidden in the things we are trying to avoid.
The road to growth and greatness is rarely smooth or easy, but it’s taking us where we need to go. Tim takes a practical approach to the topic by unpacking thirty unique “hard things” that everyone must face and opening our eyes to the positive results they can bring. With his characteristic blend of storytelling, biblical principles, and down-to-earth applications, Tim walks readers through the intricacies of each of these challenging realities, including
- difficult conversations,
- uncomfortable delays,
- hurtful criticism, and
- painful sacrifices.
The goal is not to simply grit our teeth and survive the discomfort. It’s to embrace the challenges, be changed by them, and receive the gifts they offer. What we really want in life is usually found on the other side of obstacles we’d rather avoid. On the other side of pain is progress, and on the other side of bumps is something better. If we’re going to live freely in Christ and experience the abundant life He promises, we must be willing to be uncomfortable. There is no other way.
Purchase Links
Faith Gateway | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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With a focus on Jesus Christ, Anne Graham Lotz brings clarity and understanding to the book of Revelation.
THE VISION OF HIS GLORY
The Vision of His Glory, Revised and Updated: Finding Hope Through the Revelation of Jesus Christ by Anne Graham Lotz
Experience the beauty of God’s divine plan with Anne Graham Lotz’s revised and updated book, The Vision of His Glory. Through a masterful exploration of the book of Revelation, Anne unveils God’s incredible blueprint for the future, offering clarity, hope, and reassurance.
Drawing from the apostle John’s powerful, eyewitness account, Lotz highlights God’s unwavering love and faithfulness, even in the face of life’s trials. If you’re feeling weighed down by challenges, personal doubts, or the uncertainties of choosing faith, this book serves as a beacon, pointing to God’s ultimate authority and His purpose for your life.
With heartfelt passion and deep scriptural understanding, Lotz walks readers step-by-step through the Revelation narrative, uncovering profound truths about God’s sovereign plan. Discover strength, encouragement, and the enduring hope that comes from trusting in God’s promises.
Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your faith and grasp the fullness of God’s vision for your life by walking confidently in the light of His Word.
Purchase Links
Faith Gateway | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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From award-winning actress and sports broadcaster Jayne Kennedy comes a compelling, inspirational, and unflinchingly honest memoir about her rise in Hollywood and beyond.
PLAIN JAYNE
Plain Jayne by Jayne Kennedy
Jayne Kennedy is one of the most photographed, glamorous, and intriguing women ever to set foot in Hollywood. Perhaps best known for her groundbreaking work in 1978–1980 on the Emmy Award–winning CBS program The NFL Today, she’s an icon and trailblazer in every sense of the word. From becoming the first Black woman to win Miss Ohio USA, to being the only woman to host the long-running syndicated television show Greatest Sports Legends, and pioneering the fitness industry with her bestselling Love Your Body exercise videos and fitness programs, nobody has had a career trajectory quite like Jayne. And she has never gone on the record about her personal experiences and the resulting joys and scars—until now.
Her candid and conversational storytelling will endear her once again to her existing fans as well as open her up to a new audience that will admire her message of resilience and empowerment. Jayne has long been a beacon of Black and female excellence and has opened doors for female talent and media executives. Inducted into the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in their Television and the Media Landscape exhibit, Jayne is indeed a pioneer. Tracing her upbringing in Ohio and her journey shattering glass ceilings in American contemporary culture, Plain Jayne is a breathtaking story of endurance, survival, and achievement.
Purchase Links
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Please fill out our super short registration form (click the “Enter Now” button above) by September 30th for a chance to win a set of up to ten copies of one of these great books for your book club! We will randomly choose a winner at the end of the month. This giveaway is open to clubs in the US only (our apologies to friends in other countries).