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New Adult Fiction Releases — October 2023

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

As the leaves don their fiery autumn attire and the air takes on a crisp, inviting chill, we bibliophiles know that it’s time to cozy up with a book that promises to whisk us away to distant realms, provoke thought, and maybe even raise an eyebrow or two. Enter October 2023, with a dazzling array of literary delights for the discerning reader. From pulse-pounding thrillers to introspective tales of love and self-discovery, this month’s book releases are poised to cater to a variety of tastes. Prepare to be drawn into the world of these upcoming adult fiction releases, whether you have a penchant for well-established authors or an insatiable appetite for fresh voices in the literary scene.

So, grab your cherished blanket, brew that steaming cup of tea or coffee, and join us on a journey through the pages of these remarkable stories that are sure to make your October nights all the more enchanting. Welcome to the realm of October 2023’s literary treasures; you’re in for a treat!

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

The Leftover Woman is a gripping novel that weaves together the lives of two remarkable women in the bustling backdrop of New York City. Jasmine Yang, a determined Chinese immigrant, seeks her lost daughter while escaping her oppressive past, while Rebecca Whitney, a seemingly privileged publishing executive, faces the unraveling of her picture-perfect life. As their paths intersect, this suspenseful and emotionally charged story delves into themes of identity, motherhood, and the unbreakable bonds that transcend cultural and economic divides in a city of contrasts.

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

In Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward, readers are taken on an emotional journey through the harrowing world of American Slavery, guided by the resilient Annis. From the Carolina rice fields to the New Orleans slave markets, and the brutal Louisiana sugar plantation, Ward’s storytelling paints a vivid portrait of a dark and painful history. Annis’s story, shaped by her memories of her mother and the tales of her African warrior grandmother, is a testament to the enduring strength of heritage and the human spirit. Ward’s narrative blends history with elements of the supernatural, offering a profound exploration of resilience and hope amidst unimaginable adversity.

My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon

In Jennifer McMahon’s spine-tingling psychological thriller, a woman named Alison, initially resistant to the approaching holiday season, is compelled to confront her traumatic past when her estranged, terminally ill mother, Mavis, seeks reconciliation. Despite her reservations stemming from a history of alcoholism and abuse, Alison reluctantly agrees to welcome Mavis into her Vermont home, hoping for a chance at healing and a better relationship. However, as mysterious and paranormal events unfold upon Mavis’s arrival, Alison becomes increasingly suspicious of her mother’s true nature. The holiday festivities take a nightmarish turn, forcing Alison to grapple with the unsettling possibility that something malevolent is targeting her family, leading to gut-wrenching choices to protect her loved ones.

The Exchange: After The Firm by John Grisham

In The Exchange by John Grisham, readers are reunited with Mitch and Abby McDeere, the courageous couple who exposed the criminal activities of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke in the previous blockbuster thriller, “The Firm.” Fifteen years have passed, and the McDeeres have relocated to Manhattan, where Mitch has risen to the rank of a partner at the world’s largest law firm. However, their peaceful life is upended when a mentor in Rome calls upon Mitch for a favor that propels him into a web of intrigue with global repercussions. As he becomes entangled in a sinister plot that threatens not only his own life but also the safety of his colleagues, friends, and family, Mitch must once again rely on his wits and cunning to outsmart his adversaries. In this high-stakes sequel, Grisham keeps readers on the edge of their seats as Mitch McDeere faces an adversary with nowhere to hide, showcasing his unparalleled talent for crafting gripping legal thrillers.

What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

In What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim, a family’s secrets and the enduring consequences of their choices unfold across two timelines. In 1999, the Kim family grapples with the mysterious disappearance of Sunny, their mother, leading to an unexpected discovery in their backyard—a stranger’s lifeless body clutching a letter addressed to Sunny, unleashing a cascade of questions about the stranger’s connection to their mother. Meanwhile, in 1977, we follow Sunny, pregnant and disillusioned in Los Angeles, as she yearns for the American dream she had envisioned, her isolation punctuated by a fateful encounter at a bus stop. This powerful and suspenseful narrative explores the family’s profound secrets and the intergenerational silence that shapes their lives, all while meditating on themes of identity, migration, and the enduring pursuit of dreams in the American landscape, offering both a captivating page-turner and a poignant family saga.

Book Review | The Death of Us by Lori Rader-Day

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

From the publisher: The discovery of a submerged car in a murky pond reveals betrayals and family secrets that will tear a small town apart.

The Death of Us has a great premise. A man cheats on his young wife, and the woman he slept with has a baby. One night, his wife answers the door, and the other woman hands the wife the baby and promptly disappears. Although fifteen years pass for the characters, the mystery of her disappearance is solved quickly in the book. A submerged car is found in an old flooded quarry on the family property. Inside is a baby carrier and some bones.

The husband and wife are now separated, as his ability to stay faithful hasn’t improved. They’ve been raising the child that was left behind together. Liss, the wife, loves her stepson fiercely. Because of the unknown status of his birth mother, Liss has never formally adopted Callan, but she IS his mother. Her husband Link is a man-child, spoiled by his mother, but Liss has broken things off with a man who loves her to try to salvage her damaged marriage.

The Death of Us is a great, fast read. The character development is good – I liked and sympathized with Liss and felt sorry for the teenager who is not quite sure how to handle his emotions when his missing mother is discovered. The marshal investigating the discovery is Liss’s recent lover; the man he replaced is the husband Link’s father. It’s a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business.

I guessed one of the big bads early on, but that did not affect my enjoyment of the book. The author still had to spin out her plot, and I liked watching it unravel. There’s a bit of Hollywood blockbuster nonsense at the end, but the author paints some great pictures. Surprisingly, this is my first book by Rader-Day, but it won’t be my last.

I read an advance reader copy of The Death of Us. It is scheduled to be published on October 3, and the Galesburg Public Library will own the book in print, as an ebook, and in audio. The library owns Rader-Day’s previous six books, if you want to try one now. 

Book Review | Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

From the publisher: A perplexing murder in a renowned Oxford University library and a suspicious fire at a famous inventor’s London laboratory set Wrexford and Lady Charlotte on two separate investigations in this masterfully plotted, atmospheric Regency-set mystery.

Are you looking for a new historical mystery series? Check out Wrexford and Sloane by Andrea Penrose. Charlotte Sloane is a widowed lady of quality with a secret. She is a satirical cartoonist under a pen name. She uses her pen to cast light on injustices and misbehavior. Circumstances bring her together with two orphaned guttersnipes who she comes to love as her own, and with the intimidating Earl of Wrexford. This series has a nice mix of mystery, historical details, and found family. The relationships feature romantic love, parental love, family love, and deep friendships.

The book that introduces these characters and other series regulars is Murder on Black Swan Lane, and book seven in the series is due out in September. This is a great time to start reading, because if you like the first book, you can move right on to the next, but the number of books already published is not intimidating. Set in Regency London, the author likes to spotlight legitimate scientific innovation of the time period. Real scientists make occasional appearances in her stories.

Book seven, Murder at the Merton Library, starts with the murder of an Oxford librarian. It deals with fallout from the Napoleonic wars and intrigue around competition to create a marine propulsion system utilizing steam engines. (If that sounds boring, don’t worry – the author makes it interesting.) The Regency details seem perfect, and the author believably makes her female characters as important to the action as the male characters. I’ve found some of the other books in the series a bit draggy at times, but this one moved along briskly for me.

This series is a lot of fun for the serious historical mystery reader.

I read an advance reader copy of Murder at Merton Library from Netgalley. It is scheduled to be published on September 26. The Galesburg Public Library will own it in multiple formats, and we already own the first six books in the series.

Book Review | Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

From the publisher: Inheriting your uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who’s running the place.

Charlie, the narrator of Starter Villain, is something of an affable idiot. Divorced and living in the childhood home he doesn’t even own due to complications with his siblings after his father’s death, he was laid off from his job as a journalist and is now working as a substitute teacher. He wants to buy a beloved local pub, but he has no money and no collateral. The best thing he has going for him is his relationship with his cats.

Then Charlie’s estranged Uncle Jake dies, and his lawyer shows up asking Charlie to attend his uncle’s memorial. Charlie is hesitant, and finds the request a little weird, but he agrees. And so his life as a starter villain begins. Yes, his uncle owned a large chain of parking structures, but he had other, bigger, more nefarious interests as well (mwa ha ha).

I enjoyed the Chicago area setting, and our narrator is an affable naïf who is fun to spend time with. Scalzi is clearly a cat lover and that certainly resonated with me. In the super villain business, it’s not dogs who spy for villains on other villains. (Yes, the cats are intelligent spies who can type on a computer using a special keyboard. Including Charlie’s cats.) I learned a new word – quisling! (“A traitor who collaborates with an enemy force occupying their country” according to the OED.) The narrative is pro-union, and against cats murdering birds. Intelligent talking dolphins also come into play, and I couldn’t stop myself from singing “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish” every time they made an appearance.

Charlie does better handling the various super villains that he meets than one might expect, and as he doesn’t take things seriously it was hard for me as the reader to take things seriously either. I perhaps did not enjoy Starter Villain as much as I enjoyed The Kaiju Preservation Society; the whole thing came off as a little less original, and the “starter villain” idea began to wear a little thin. Still, Starter Villain was a fun read with some genuine laughs for me.

 I read an advance reader copy of Starter Villain from Netgalley. It is scheduled to be released on September 19 and will be available at the Galesburg Public Library.

Book Review | The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

From the publisher: Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

Fair to say I’m not the #BookTok demo — for my taste, tropes are bugs, not features, books older than five years are a-okay, and I’m not being sponsored to promote Barnes & Noble. And then we have to consider the genre’s favorite trope: the spicy scene, which, in my experience, few authors know how to actually write in a way that doesn’t rely on repetitious language encounter after encounter. In other words, the whole phenomenon seems fundamentally limiting from a reading perspective, located within some venn diagram nexus of fantasy, young adult, and lightly erotic rom (plus maybe some com). That said, I decided to give Fourth Wing a go anyway, based largely on the then (insanely inflated) Goodreads 4.8 star rating. (*Check notes* — it’s still at a 4.66 with just under 390,000 ratings.)

In fairness, the novel starts off pretty well. Briefly, Fourth Wing follows Violet, a frail 20-year-old aspiring scribe in a violent, war-mongering world where she is forced by her general mother to join an elite school wherein students either become bonded with a dragon and take up the coveted mantle of warrior riders, or they die. Of course, there’s also a dangerous bad boy who also happens to be pathologically irresistible to Violet, as these things go. Given the presence of dragons and schools of fantasy and broody young men, it’s no surprise that the novel is marketed to the #BookTok-endorsed New Adult genre that straddles the Adult/Young Adult line. But make no mistake: we’re pretty firmly in YA territory from the get — meaning the psychological and emotional continuums presented are fairly histrionic and unhealthy.

For all that, the world-building is actually pretty intriguing, even if the structural skeleton in the early going is entirely cribbed from Divergent, which is a woof of a novel in itself. But much like Stephanie Meyer — yes, I’m just name-checking a bunch of YA touchstones here so you understand exactly how derivative this is — Yarros shows skill with ending chapters, encouraging readers to push through with speed, even if there’s a bevy of eye rolls along the way. But the organization of the world built here is fairly appealing from a fantasy perspective, at least enough to encourage investment in watching it unfurl further.

But given the marketing angle, I’d be remiss if I didn’t get to the spice. Sorry, let me be more specific to this novel: the deranged approximation of some pubescent fantasy of sex, which feels dredged up from the perspective of some middle school diary. We’ll keep it PG here, but suffice it to say that the book’s attempts at an R-rating are not likely to please readers going in for such books. The brooding #badboi also claims that the main character here “is going to be the death of” him a dozen or more times, because Yarros just doesn’t seem to have any idea how to write characters who aren’t operating from a place of emotional stability. Instead, she just keeps recycling the same cliches ad nauseam, all of which indicate the need for therapeutic intervention rather than wedding bells. The whole thing scans more like the abandoned script for some SNL sketch sending up super-nerd fanfiction. I’ve read sexier phonebooks.

Again, a good half of this offers easy-reading and propulsive fantasy fun; plus the ending introduces a wrinkle that promises an expansion of the established world, which should appeal to fans of expansive series development. And readers inclined to this sort of thing already aren’t likely to find the faults I did; it’s classic mileage-may-vary kind of book, and I’m absolutely not the intended audience. But as a quick PSA to curious but perhaps hesitant fantasy fans: if you’re happy to take your novels sans loonies slobbering all over each other and decrying life’s meaning in the absence of unhealthy obsession, you should probably pop on over to the next shelf.

Cooking the Books — Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

 Welcome to Cooking the Books, where we try recipes found in, well, books! This month, Technical Services Supervisor Anne tried out a recipe from one of her recent favs: I first read J. Ryan Stradal’s The Lager Queen of Minnesota this spring and I couldn’t put it down. When it was announced that Stradal was stopping by Galesburg’s Wordsmith Bookshoppe literally days after I finished the novel, I hustled on over. Stradal was polite, unassuming and kindly posed for a photo with me. (I’ll not share the photo as my Saturday-doing-chores look was not my best.) Soon after, I found myself purchasing an autographed copy of his 2015 novel Kitchens of the Great Midwest. The storyline follows the coming of age of Eva, a chef with a select palate, who’s life is woven through a cast of characters, all tied together by food. The book begins with memories of lutefisk, meanders Read more »

Book Review | The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

From the publisher: What happens after we save the world? In the near future, humanity hasn’t avoided the worst of climate change—wildfires, rising oceans, mass migration, and skyrocketing inequality have become the daily reality. But just when it seems that it can’t get any worse, remarkably, a movement of workers, migrants, and refugees inspires the world to band together, save the planet, and rebuild a society for all. This is The Great Transition. This astonishing debut is a remarkable story of struggle, change, and hope.

Parts of The Great Transition are some of the best climate fiction I have read. In this book, climate change happened. Fires, floods. Massive numbers of climate refugees. Massive extinctions. All the terrible things that we know are coming came. Then a movement took back the planet from the climate deniers and criminals and humanity reached net zero emissions.

This is a remarkable debut novel. The writing is assured. The author clearly did his research on climate change. The planet reached the brink but was pulled back, but only at incredible cost in lives and species. There is one section where the author describes the effort to save the last stand of giant sequoias that moved me to tears. What are we doing to the only planet that we have?

No mistaking, this book has an agenda. The author wants us to look in the mirror and confront what’s coming, make some changes so the worst is changed to not quite the worst. Hold accountable the people who are responsible for the climate damage. But the book also has at its center a family. Mom and dad were heroes in the effort to save the planet. Both lost their parents and families to climate change. Their daughter Emi suffers from anxiety and an eating disorder. Her mom despairs that Emi doesn’t appreciate how good she has it.

The author is a teacher and I feel like the book really shows that he knows young people today. Emi feels very believable. Her mother is still fighting the climate fight; her father has moved on and wants to appreciate the good things. This conflict causes a lot of family drama. The author uses a homework device to tell parts of the backstory; Emi is writing a report on the Great Transition. I didn’t find this wholly effective. Parts 1-3 are the best part of the book. I was wholly immersed. I did not find Parts 4-6 as effective. The family drama gets to be a bit much and the plot turns a little too Hollywood. Also, I thought the book had ended two times before it finally did. It might have been more effective to leave some things unsaid.

Still, I found this book easy to read and very thought provoking, both hopeful and terrified for our common future on planet Earth. I highly recommend it for fans of climate fiction and dystopia.

I read an advance reader copy of The Great Transition. It is scheduled to be published on August 15, and the Galesburg Public Library will own the book in print, as an ebook, and in audio.

New Adult Fiction — August 2023

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

Embrace the literary magic of August as we dive into the exciting world of recent book releases hitting the shelves! With pages brimming with untold stories, gripping narratives, and thought-provoking insights, these new releases promise to transport readers to captivating realms and challenge their perspectives. Dig into one of these titles today!

Wine People by Michelle Wildgen

A rich, intoxicating escape into the hedonistic and cutthroat world of wine and what happens when two ambitious women, opposites in every way, join forces to succeed in a competitive male-dominated industry. In their late 20s, Wren and Thessaly land coveted jobs at a glamorous New York City boutique wine distribution company where they’re expected to have an exquisite wine palate, endless tolerance for alcohol and socializing, and the ability to sell, sell, sell. Hardworking, by-the-book Wren comes from a modest background and has everything to prove. Thessaly hails from a family of California wine growers. Her natural charm is shadowed by an overwhelming sense of self doubt. On a fateful business trip to Europe, the unlikely pair forge an alliance and launch a friendship that changes the course of their careers and lives.

Under the Cover of Mercy by Rebecca Connolly

The Great War has come to Brussels, the Germans have occupied the city, and Edith Cavell, Head Nurse at Berkendael Medical Institute, faces an impossible situation. As matron of a designated Red Cross hospital, Edith has sworn an oath to help any who are wounded, under whatever flag they are found. But Governor von Luttwitz, the ranking German officer, has additional orders for her. She and her nurses must also stand guard over the wounded Allied prisoners of war and prevent them from escaping.

Edith feels that God called her to be a healer, not a jailer. How can she heal these broken boys, only to allow them to be returned to the hands of their oppressors to be beaten again?

So when members of the Belgian resistance, desperate for help, bring two wounded British soldiers to her hospital in secret, she makes a decision that will change everything: she will heal the soldiers, and then attempt to smuggle them out of the hospital to freedom.

With her loyal friend and fellow nurse, Elizabeth, by her side, Edith establishes her hospital as a safe house for the resistance, laboring tirelessly to save as many soldiers as she can. Working under the watchful eyes of the German army, Edith faces challenging odds and charges of treason–which carries the death penalty if she is caught–as she fights alongside the resistance to bring–and keep–hope to her small corner of a war-torn world.

The Way From Here by Jane Cockram

Three generations of women. Three generations worth of secrets. Will a cache of letters from beyond the grave hold the key to unravelling them all? The answer to that question lies at the heart of this addictive and atmospheric novel from the author of The House of Brides.

Growing up, the Anderson sisters could not have been more different. Susie, the wild one, had an adventurous life while Camilla— Mills—followed a safer path. When Susie suddenly dies, Mills falls apart. Until she receives a bundle of mysterious letters from her estranged sister to be read in the case of her death. Each letter instructs her to visit a place special to Susie, both to spread her ashes but also to uncover some truths Susie has long kept hidden from her family.

The Say So by Julia Franks

Edie Carrigan didn’t plan to “get herself” pregnant, much less end up in a Home for Unwed Mothers. In 1950s North Carolina, illegitimate pregnancy is kept secret, wayward women require psychiatric cures, and adoption is always the best solution. Not even Edie’s closest friend, Luce Waddell, understands what Edie truly wants: to keep and raise the baby.

Twenty-five years later, Luce is a successful lawyer, and her daughter Meera now faces the same decision Edie once did. Like Luce, Meera is fiercely independent and plans to handle her unexpected pregnancy herself. Digging into her mother’s past, Meera finds troubling evidence of Edie, and also of her own mother’s secrets. As the three women’s lives intertwine and collide, the story circles age-old questions about female awakening, reproductive choice, motherhood, adoption, sex, and missed connections.

The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem

Ten years ago, the kingdom of Jasad burned. Its magic outlawed; its royal family murdered down to the last child. At least, that’s what Sylvia wants people to believe.

The lost Heir of Jasad, Sylvia never wants to be found. She can’t think about how Nizahl’s armies laid waste to her kingdom and continue to hunt its people—not if she wants to stay alive. But when Arin, the Nizahl Heir, tracks a group of Jasadi rebels to her village, staying one step ahead of death gets trickier.

In a moment of anger Sylvia’s magic is exposed, capturing Arin’s attention. Now, to save her life, Sylvia will have to make a deal with her greatest enemy. If she helps him lure the rebels, she’ll escape persecution.

A deadly game begins. Sylvia can’t let Arin discover her identity even as hatred shifts into something more. Soon, Sylvia will have to choose between the life she wants and the one she left behind. The scorched kingdom is rising, and it needs a queen.

In It To Win It by Sharon Cooper

Spoiled, fickle, and flighty are only a few adjectives that have been used to describe Morgan Redford. She’s never had to worry about money, but she’s determined to build a career on her own and do something meaningful with her life—by helping children who are aging out of the foster care system. She has her eyes on a property that a family friend is selling, which is perfect for these young adults to live in, but her competition is someone she never expected…

When Los Angeles real estate developer Drake Faulkner learns that his eccentric mentor is selling property that is perfect for his portfolio, he jumps at the chance to buy it. But he soon learns the billionaire has other ideas: buyers must compete in an Iron Man competition of sorts for the property. Drake refuses to play along with this ridiculous demand…until he finds out Morgan, his ex who left him years ago without a word, is one of the potential buyers. No way is he letting her—Little Miss Self-Absorbed—win the property he wants. Bitter? Yes. Petty? Probably. But as the gauntlet of games heats up and forces them to face the past, they are met with a pull that feels all too familiar.

Now, if they could only keep their eyes on the prize and off each other—but who’s to say they can’t do both?

Book Review | All Our Hidden Gifts by Carolie O’Donohue

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

From the publisher: While in detention, Maeve finds an old, unopened package of tarot cards. She quickly learns the meanings of the cards in the deck and begins giving eerily on-point readings to her classmates. Maeve enjoys the attention and the fact that she’s finally found something she’s good at–until Maeve wishes her ex-best friend, Lily, would disappear and she actually does. Suddenly, Maeve must confront her emotions about Lily– while investigating her disappearance– on top of struggles with her new friends at school, navigating her relationship with Lily’s sibling, Roe, and discovering how deep her connection is with the tarot all at the same time.

I was drawn to this book for its unique premise. I started reading the print version of this book, and I enjoyed the font and the cool tarot card designs spread throughout; the art is very unique. However, I struggled with the fact that the book is written in present tense. I hadn’t realized it before, but most of the books I read are written in past tense. This book dragged for a couple of long stretches, punctuated by scenes of excitement. After reading a handful of chapters and getting stuck at one of the draggier parts, I checked out the Playaway version. Not only did this format help me finish the book more quickly, but it also helped me notice the present tense writing less. I also really liked the voice performer, Alana Kerr Collins. It was charming to witness the characters develop, some of them in surprising ways, throughout the course of the story, and the realistic dialogue keeps the story fresh. Since this is the first book in a trilogy, hopefully Maeve’s connection to the tarot will be explained in more detail in the later books.

Book Review | The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks

Published on by Emily DuGranrut

From the publisher: From the Academy Award-winning actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film . . . and the humble comic books that inspired it.

I admit it – I love Tom Hanks as an actor. I enjoy him in every part that he plays. His new novel however started out as a bit of a snooze fest. I had trouble getting into it, as Hanks introduces lots of characters and lots of backstory, meandering off into the past whenever he feels like it. Eventually I got in tune with the book’s rhythm and I really enjoyed it.

This is a master class in the movie business, told by a master and presented as fiction. There are a lot of details, including a lot of little details, about how movies are made. The story moves very slowly. It takes its time. The narrative contains stuff that could have been left out, but all those little interesting bits really made me feel like I was a part of the movie-making process.

I know there’s stuff in here that is true. I know there are things that happen that really happened. I’m sure some of the characters are inspired by people Tom Hanks knows. He’s been around the business so long; what he writes is so plausible. Hanks has a lot of fun not telling us the names of real movies and actors, writing things like NAME OF ACTOR HERE and THAT MOVIE WE MADE. He makes you wonder – who is BOLDFACE NAME #4 who made everyone’s life a living nightmare on NAME OF SUCCESSFUL FILM HERE?!? I want to know!

Once I got into The Making of, I was thoroughly engrossed. I also appreciated that a man’s love for his damaged uncle is important to the plot. The three sets of comic book pages are an eccentric touch.

A final note to authors everywhere: more chapter breaks! Please!

 The Galesburg Public Library owns the book in Large Print, regular print, and downloadable audio.