aired the week of August 22, 2022

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho is a book spin off of the author's You Tube series of the same name.  In the book Acho answers questions that a white audience would have for a black man.  The goal is to open a dialogue and start a conversation to work on ending racist attitudes and behaviors.

 aired the week of August 15, 2022

Good Company by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney is the author's second novel.  Flora is searching for a picture when she finds her husband's lost wedding ring in a drawer.  This can only mean one thing, their great marriage is not what Flora thought it was.  How will she be able to reconcile what she has learned with the life she thought she had, especially as their only daughter is graduating from high school and leaving the nest.  For fans of domestic fiction like Belva plain, Jennifer Haigh and Sue Miller

 aired the week of August 8, 2022

Tear Me Apart by J.T. Ellison is a thriller that involves teen downhill skier Mindy Wright.  When she falls and breaks her leg on the course the doctors discover she has leukemia.  She needs a stem cell transplant but when the tests are run none of her family is a donor match and even worse they aren't related to her.  What is happening and who is hiding the truth? 

 aired the week of August 1, 2022

The Lost Girls by Jessica Chiarella is a dark thriller about what it is like to be the sister that is left and grappling with survivor's guilt along with not knowing if your sister is alive or dead.  It has been more than 20 years since Marti Reece's sister Maggie got in the car with a stranger and Marti has created an award winning podcast about looking into the cold case and trying to find out what happened to Maggie.  Now there is a new case that might be related but is Marti ready for what she may find along the way?

 aired the week of July 25, 2022

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden introduces Virgil Wounded Horse who is an enforcer on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.  He has been asked to take care of a man named Rick Crow who has been accused of bringing heroin to the reservation.  This seems routine until Virgil's nephew gets mixed up with the drugs.  Virgil grapples with how to keep his nephew safe and take care of these problems on the reservation. For fans of William Kent Krueger, Craig Johnson and Brandon Hobson.

 aired the week of July 18, 2022

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman introduces four septuagenarians as they work together to solve two murder cases that happen in their own backyard.  The police aren't sure how the foursome manages to get all the information first but they are well on their way to figuring it all out. Wonderful characterization and a first rate mystery.

1. The Thursday Murder Club

2. The Man Who Died Twice

3.The Bullet that Missed (Sept 2022)

 aired the week of July 11, 2022

This Shining Life by Harriet Kline is told from multiple points of view, but mainly revolves around Ollie who is eleven, his mother Ruth and father Rich who has just died of brain cancer.  Ollie is certain his dad gave him one final puzzle before his death and if Ollie can just figure it out he will know what it means to be alive.  For fans of Phaedra Patrick, Hazel Prior, Freya Sampson and Jojo Moyes' Me Before You.

 aired the week of July 4, 2022

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a classic work of the Beat Generation published in 1957.  In the book the main character Sal Paradise who is Kerouac himself travels the country from New York to San Francisco via Denver and back again working odd jobs, hitchhiking and meeting up with friends, sharing drugs and philosophizing.  It captures an era although not my favorite read.

 aired the week of June 27, 2022

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is a coming of age story that involves a cross country road trip.  Set in 1954 brothers Emmet and Billy set off from their family farm in Nebraska to travel the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco to find their mother.  But when Emmet's friends from the work farm he was on in Kansas show up plans get changed and they end up heading for New York City on the unforgettable road trip of a lifetime.

 aired the week of June 20, 2022

The Words Between Us by Erin Bartels introduces us to Robin Windsor who has spent her whole life in hiding thanks to her father's treasonous acts.  As a teenager she moves to Michigan to live with a grandma she has never met and meets Peter a high school senior who befriends her and they share books and dreams.  Now Robin is back in River City and the owner of a used bookstore that is about to go under if she doesn't do something to save it.  Can she step out of her shell long enough to save her dream and learn to accept help from others.  For fans of inspirational women's fiction.

 aired the week of June 13, 2022

Gods of Howl Mountain by Taylor Brown tells the story of Rory Docherty a wounded veteran of the Korean War who returns home to the hills of North Carolina to run bootleg whiskey.  Rory is trying to find the one-eyed man who attacked his mother and killed his father before he was born. A southern gothic tale full of quirky characters.  For fans of Wiley Cash, Charles Frazier or Brian Panowich.

 aired the week of June 6, 2022

The Fields by Erin Young is set in Black Hawk County, Iowa.  Sergeant Riley Fisher is sent to investigate the body of a young woman found in a corn field. Riley quickly realizes it is the body of childhood friend Chloe Miller and vows to do whatever she can to bring the killer to justice. Riley is getting strange vibes off Chloe's husband but is repeatedly told to back off.  When another woman is found dead the tensions mount.  Recommended for fans of Jane Harper, Linda Castillo and Margaret Mizushima.  

 aired the week of May 30, 2022

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells is the story of a stranger who arrives at the inn in a small village.  He won't give anyone his name and remains wrapped up from head to toe.  When strange things start happening in the village he reveals that he has rendered himself invisible and thus begins a brief reign of terror on the shocked English countryside.  Written in 1897 this is a classic tale of science fiction.

 aired the week of May 23, 2022

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion is a humorous look at what life is like when you march to the beat of your own drum.  Associate Professor Don Tillman is fine with being different but he wants to find a wife.  That is when he comes up with the Wife Project as a way to weed out unsuitable candidates.  Then he meets Rosie who is everything he thinks he doesn't want.  If that is the case, why is he so drawn to her? 

1. The Rosie Project (2013)

2. The Rosie Effect (2014)

3. The Rosie Result (2019)

aired the week of May 16, 2022

Shadow Ridge by M.E. Browning opens with an apparent open and shut case of suicide.  But Detective Jo Wyatt has her doubts and the more she digs the more she realizes something sinister is going on with the group of college students who are working on their final project for their visual arts class.  Two have died of an apparent suicide and one of the others is receiving threatening emails.  A twisty police procedural for fans of Emily Littlejohn, John McMahon, Robert Dugoni and P.J. Tracy.

Jo Wyatt series

1. Shadow Ridge

2. Mercy Creek

 aired the week of May 9, 2022

Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig follows eleven-year-old Donal on his cross-country trip from Montana to stay with relatives in Wisconsin while his Gram is having surgery for female trouble.  Filled with an eclectic cast of characters that Donal meets along the way to what will be the adventure of a lifetime.  For fans of William Kent Krueger's coming of age stories.

 aired the week of May 2, 2022

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson references a blog post that bookstore owner Malcolm Kershaw wrote years ago compiling a list of 8 books that he thinks exhibit the perfect murder.  Now it seems that someone is using his list to commit murder.  But does Malcolm know more than he is letting on to FBI Special Agent Gwen Mulvey?  Recommended for fans of A.J. Finn and B. J. Parris.

 aired the week of April 25, 2022

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger is a coming of age story set in 1932.  Odie and Albert are brothers who are living at the Lincoln Indian Training School in southern Minnesota.  When something horrible happens to Odie the boys decide to run away taking their best friend Mose who is from the Sioux tribe and little Emmy Frost the daughter of one of the school's teachers with them.  They strike out for St. Louis where the boys only living relative resides.  A beautiful coming of age story set along the banks of the Gilead River. For fans of Ivan Doig, Louise Erdrich and Donna Everhart.

 aired the week of April 18, 2022

My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni introduces Seattle Police Detective Tracy Crosswhite.  Tracy became a police officer so she could work to track down the killer of her younger sister Sarah 20 years prior.  When Sarah's body is finally uncovered by hunters it opens a whole new case and calls into question the conviction from years earlier. For fans of J.A. Jance, Lisa Gardner and Heather Gudenkauf.

1. My Sister's Grave

2. Her Final Breath

3. In the Clearing

4. The Trapped Girl

5. Close to Home

6. A Steep Price

7. A Cold Trail

8. In Her Tracks

9. What She Found (August 2022)

 aired the week of April 11, 2022

Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews is the first title in the Meg Langslow cozy mystery series.  Meg who is a blacksmith takes the summer off to try to bring order to the three weddings she is playing maid of honor for during the season.  When the sister-in-law of one of the grooms is found dead and other strange things start happening to people in the wedding party Meg takes it upon herself to track down the killer and save the day.  There are currently 30 titles in this series which debuted in 1999.  For fans of Ellen Byron's Cajun Country mysteries and Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series.

 aired the week of April 4, 2022

The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts is the meticulously researched story of 63-year-old Annie Wilkins of Minot, Maine who along with her horse Tarzan and little dog Depeche Toi embark on a cross country journey on horseback to see the Pacific Ocean in November of 1954.

Other titles include:

- The Perfect Horse

- The Eighty Dollar Champion