Eight titles exploring real life crimes

Megan Cooley Peterson is an author, editor, and coffee drinker. As a teenager, Peterson was part of a cult-like doomsday church that didn’t like to be questioned. She questioned anyway. She has written more than 200 nonfiction books for children on a wide variety of topics, including dinosaurs, sharks, urban legends, and haunted objects. She is also the author of two young adult thrillers, The Liar’s Daughter (2019) and Dead Girls Talking (2024). Peterson lives in Minnesota with her husband and daughter.

At CrimeReads she tagged eight books exploring real life crimes in fiction and narrative nonfiction. One title on the list:

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Sadie is the story of a girl trying to find her sister’s murderer, and a male podcaster telling their story. Summers’s choice to make the podcaster a man is no coincidence. Her novel is a fascinating, cutting exploration of how society in general, and the true crime genre in particular, exploits women and girls and turns their pain into entertainment.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Sadie is among Lisa Schroeder's seven top mysteries about teens, Kate McLaughlin's seven top fictional characters who are bent but not broken and Kate Kessler's six top revenge thrillers featuring female protagonists.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thirteen fierce & unforgettable women in fiction

At the Amazon Book Review the editors tagged thirteen of their "favorite novels that showcase fierce and fiery female protagonists," including:

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

If you’re looking for a story of a feisty female bootlegger

Sallie has grit and gumption, and is a narrator to root for—not just because she defies convention by wearing pants, carrying a gun, and refusing to marry—but because she genuinely wrestles with her family legacy, however good, bad, and ugly it may be. Set in Virginia during Prohibition, Hang the Moon charts the life of Sallie Kincaid, sent away by her stepmother at a young age, who returns home nine years later as a woman to be reckoned with.
—Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top titles about boxing

Declan Ryan is a poet and critic in London. His first collection is Crisis Actor.

His reviews and essays have appeared in journals including New York Review of Books, The Baffler, Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, The Observer, Poetry, The Irish Times, The Telegraph, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Review of Books, and New Statesman.

At Electric Lit Ryan tagged ten "books use boxing as their entry-point to tell stories of loyalty, corruption, greed, luck and endurance," including:

Sporting Blood: Tales from the Dark Side of Boxing by Carlos Acevedo

Acevedo is one of the most talented boxing writers working today and this is a book in the lineage—and spirit—of some of the great

boxing compendia, McIlvanney on Boxing, or A.J Liebling’s round-ups. Acevedo’s choice of subject, as well as his mix of expertise and knack for character dissection, makes him compelling company in these essays about—often forgotten, or at least marginal—fighters. He is especially drawn to the tragic, the unseemly, and the backwards-facing sides of the sport. Despite shining a light into dark places his is not a spirit of relishing, but rather an attempt to get to the root cause of these often desperate, cornered and self-annihilating figures, as well as those who sought to benefit from their gifts while keeping their own hands clean.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five thrilling sports titles even non-fans might like

Lindsay Powers is a book lover, writer (bylines include The New York Times and The Washington Post), and author of You Can’t F*ck Up Your Kids: A Judgment-Free Guide to Stress-Free Parenting.

When not devouring narrative nonfiction, fiction, memoirs, and essays, Powers can be found out and about in Brooklyn, where she lives with her husband and two young sons.

At the Amazon Book Review she and Al Woodworth tagged five "thrilling sports books even non-fans will cheer for." One title on the list:

A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper

If you’ve seen George Clooney’s adaptation of bestseller The Boys in the Boat, then you have to read A Most Beautiful Thing—an unforgettable story about mentorship and personal investment, triumphing over adversity, sports and endurance, and about faith—in yourself, in others, and in your team. Arshay Cooper was part of the first all-Black high school rowing team, a feat that landed him on the cover of the Chicago Tribune, and catapulted his life, which at one time seemed destined for destruction, to higher education and the professional world. As he put it, “It takes a village to raise a child, and our village is gang members, drug dealers, drug addicts, and prostitutes. It’s easy to become a product of this.” At first, the thought of a Black rowing crew was laughable to Cooper and his friends, but the commitment of his coaches offered him something more: “I am done with my old life. I choose rowing. I choose a future.” And so began the pursuit of rowing in unison, which would expose Cooper and his teammates to college campuses in different states, internships, and jobs. In some ways this is a memoir of underdogs fighting their way to the top, but it’s also about how an entire population is left out of the opportunity loop and how a seemingly small thing like sports can change lives.
—Al Woodworth, Amazon Book Review

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six titles that draw inspiration from folk tales

Amanda Jayatissa is the author of My Sweet Girl, which won the International Thriller Writer’s Award for Best First Novel, and You're Invited.

She grew up in Sri Lanka and has lived in the California bay area and British countryside, before relocating back to her sunny island, where she lives with her husband and two Tasmanian-devil-reincarnate huskies.

Jayatissa's new novel is Island Witch.

At CrimeReads she tagged six books that span "across many genres and hail from different corners of the world, but they all draw inspiration from popular myths, lore, and folk tales." One title on the list:

Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Set in Mexico in the 1920s, the story follows Cassiopeia Tun, the granddaughter of a small town patriarch. Cassiopeia’s mother eloped with Cassiopeia’s dark-skinned father, disgracing the family, but had to return to home when her husband died. Cassiopeia is ordered to work as the family maid, and her future seems bleak until she opens a locked chest in her grandfather’s bedroom, and releases an imprisoned Mayan god of death, Hun-Kamé. Hun-Kamé sends Cassiopeia on a life-changing quest— one which features demons, evil spirits, sorcerers and flappers dancing the Charleston.

Read about the other entries in the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven horror titles where the setting is a monster

Chase Dearinger is an Oklahoma native who now lives in Kansas with his wife and two daughters. His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in magazines around the country, including Bayou, The Southampton Review, Short Story America, and Heavy Feather Review. He currently serves as the Chief Editor of Emerald City, a quarterly online fiction magazine, and directs the Cow Creek Chapbook Prize, an annual poetry chapbook contest. He is a professor of creative writing and literature at Pittsburg State University. This New Dark is his first novel.

At Electric Lit Dearinger tagged seven horror novels "in which the setting lurks in the shadows just as much as the monster," including:

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

Harlem in the Jazz Age: Hustler and street musician Tommy Tester’s life is upended when he meets a rich and enigmatic man who draws him into darkness and the occult. What he finds when he gets there: ancient rituals, eldritch horrors, and a cosmic showdown that could alter the fabric of reality. New York itself is full of no less horror, though; Tommy must confront poverty, police brutality, and racial injustice as he transforms over the course of the novel. LaValle weaves a gritty tale that at once deconstructs Lovecraft’s racist work and honors his legacy of cosmic horror.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Ballad of Black Tom is among Colleen Kinder's ten titles about chance encounters with strangers.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top books about grief

Sophie Ratcliffe is professor of literature and creative criticism at the University of Oxford and a fellow and tutor at Lady Margaret Hall. In addition to her scholarly books, including On Sympathy, she has published commentary pieces and book reviews for the Guardian, the New Statesman, and the Times Literary Supplement, among other outlets, and has served a judge for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and the Wellcome Book Prize.

Ratcliffe's forthcoming book is Loss, A Love Story: Imagined Histories and Brief Encounters.

At the Guardian she tagged five books about grief that can help provide comfort and perspective, including:

Sad Book by Michael Rosen

Grief might not always be beyond words, but it sometimes needs little elaboration. This spare book, written about the sudden death of Rosen’s son, Eddie, illuminates how grief’s complexity can be rendered through seemingly simple words and images. “Who is sad?” , Rosen writes. “Sad is anyone. It comes along and finds you”. This is not strictly a children’s book, but a book that recognises how acutely grief can speak to the child within us. Quentin Blake’s grey wash illustrations create a space for sadness to breathe.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Four books juxtaposing the beauty & ugliness of ballet

Tammy Greenwood is the acclaimed author of fifteen novels and a four-time winner of the San Diego Book Award. Six of her novels have been Indie Next Picks, including her most recent, The Still Point, an “intimate journey into the exclusive world of ballet” (Mary Kubica) inspired by her own experiences as the mother of a professional dancer. Revolving around the cutthroat hothouse of a California dance school, it is both a love letter to the world of ballet and a challenge to its toxic hierarchies, intense competition, and dark drive towards perfection that pushes girls – and their families – to their physical and emotional extremes. Greenwood and her family split their time between Vermont and San Diego, where she teaches creative writing for The Writer's Center and San Diego Writers, Ink.

[My Book, The Movie: Rust and Stardust; The Page 69 Test: Rust and Stardust; Writers Read: T. Greenwood (August 2019); The Page 69 Test: Keeping Lucy; My Book, The Movie: Keeping Lucy; Q&A with T. Greenwood; The Page 69 Test: Such a Pretty Girl]

At CrimeReads Greenwood tagged four ballet "books—two novels and two non-fiction—which seek to peel back the satin and reveal the tender pain beneath." One title on the list:

Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself by Chloe Angyal

Journalist, Angyl, takes on the darker side of ballet in this meticulous exploration of an artform that is only now beginning to reinvent itself. A keen examination of a world that demands so very much of the dancers who embrace it, Turning Pointe is a must read for all ballerinas and consumers of dance. However, it is particularly informative for young dancers pursuing careers in the dance world—and those hoping to be agents of change within it.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven titles celebrating the healing magic of birds

Sarah Ruiz-Grossman is a writer and former reporter at HuffPost, where she covered the climate crisis and other social justice issues. Born and raised in New York City, she currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Her debut novel is A Fire So Wild.

At Electric Lit Ruiz-Grossman tagged "seven incredible books [in which] the authors find similar refuge in the company of birds, be they clever crows who visit them daily to play, or kingfishers with regal blue crowns to whom their human observers mean nothing at all." One title on the list:

Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott

In this classic in the writing advice genre, Lamott guides creatives in how to get out of their own way and get words onto the page. The titular example she points to for those stuck in a rut is that of her older brother, back when they were kids, who had to write a report on birds and felt overwhelmed by the gargantuan assignment. Her father advised him: “Just take it bird by bird.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Twelve top long books

The Amazon Book Review editors tagged twelve of their favorite long books, including:

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Hilary Mantel has captivated readers and critics alike with her rich historical novels about the schemer, dreamer, henchman, and political mastermind Thomas Cromwell. The first Cromwell book, Wolf Hall, won the Man Booker Prize, as did the follow-up, Bring Up the Bodies, the final in the series, and The Mirror & the Light, was a bestseller and one of the best books of 2020. Clocking in at 560 pages (more than 2,000 pages for the full series), Mantel recreates the drama of King Henry VIII’s court as he vies to divorce his wife and marry Ann Boleyn with the help of his indefatigable aid, Cromwell. A sweeping moody historical portrait that is perfect for winter time reading.
–Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor

Read about the other entries on the list.

Wolf Hall made Mark Skinner's top ten list of books featuring English and British monarchs, Emily Mitchell's list of five of the best historical novels to remind you how strange the past really was, Jody Hadlock's list of nine historical novels featuring real people as main characters, Benjamin Myers's top ten list of mentors in fiction, Jessie Burton's list of eleven of the best books about/with cats, Pete Buttigieg’s ten favorite books list, Ruby Bentall's six best books list, Rula Lenska's six favorite books list, Deborah Cadbury's top ten list of books about royal families, Peter Stanford's top ten list of Protestants in fiction, Melissa Harrsion's ten top depictions of British rain, the Telegraph's list of the 21 greatest television adaptations of novels, BBC Culture's list of the 21st century’s twelve greatest novels, Ester Bloom's ten list of books for fans of the television series House of Cards, Rachel Cantor's list of the ten worst jobs in books, Kathryn Williams's reading list on pride, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of books on baby-watching in Great Britain, Julie Buntin's top ten list of literary kids with deadbeat and/or absent dads, Hermione Norris's 6 best books list, John Mullan's list of ten of the best cardinals in literature, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on dangerous minds and Lev Grossman's list of the top ten fiction books of 2009, and is one of Geraldine Brooks's favorite works of historical fiction; Matt Beynon Rees called it "[s]imply the best historical novel for many, many years."

--Marshal Zeringue

Six top friends-to-frenemies thrillers

Leah Konen is the author of Keep Your Friends Close, You Should Have Told Me, The Perfect Escape, All the Broken People, and several young adult novels, including Love and Other Train Wrecks and The Romantics.

Her books have been featured in Vogue, Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, Reader’s Digest and The NY Post, among others.

Konen lives in Brooklyn and Saugerties, New York, with her husband; their daughters, Eleanor and Mary Joyce; and their dog, Farley.

At CrimeReads she tagged "six slick thrillers that also portray the friends-to-frenemies relationship," including:

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Perhaps no modern book illustrates the danger of friends who don’t have our best interests at heart quite like R.F. Kuang’s captivating exploration of diversity, racism and cultural appropriation. June Hayward can’t get her writing career off the ground, but her pal, Athena Liu, is a literary darling. But when Athena dies choking on not-quite-cooked pancakes, June jumps at an opportunity to steal Athena’s next book and pass it off as her own. June’s every action—and excuse—will make readers gasp and cringe in equal measure, and waiting for her comeuppance keeps the pages turning in this fresh literary thriller.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Yellowface is among Garnett Cohen's seven novels about characters driven by their cravings.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight dystopian novels that explore hope in the climate crisis

Scott Guild received his MFA from the New Writers Project at the University of Texas at Austin, and his PhD in English from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He served for years as assistant director of Pen City Writers, a prison writing initiative for incarcerated students. He is currently an assistant professor at Marian University in Indianapolis, where he teaches literature and creative writing. Before his degrees, Scott was the songwriter and lead guitarist for the new wave band New Collisions, which toured with the B-52s and opened for Blondie.

Guild's new novel is Plastic.

At Electric Lit he tagged eight novels with a theme of hope, a "core value that their characters need in order to endure and fight the climate crisis, but difficult to maintain in the face of so many challenges." One title on the list:

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Set in a near-future Florida, this vivid, intimate novel shows several decades in the life of Wanda Lowe, a woman born while a disastrous hurricane bears down on her state. In the years that follow Wanda’s birth, Florida will be largely abandoned and then finally “closed” as a state, “as if it were a rundown theme park with a roller coaster that was no longer safe to ride.” Wanda, however, will remain in Florida, along with her friend and teacher Phyllis, finding ways to survive amid the beauty and danger of a landscape returning to wilderness. A book that shows our deep bonds to nature even in the midst of climate disaster, the novel centers its optimism in Wanda’s enduring links to her environment, which—as the title suggests—remain radiant and luminescent despite the crumbling of human infrastructures.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue