Millions of new books hit the market every year. Most of them will never make their authors rich and famous. But that doesn’t diminish the intelligence, creativity and craft found within them.
BookTrib is in a unique position because we have the good fortune of coming in contact with such authors every day. And while they are hardly household names in the literary world, their work has provided us with hours and hours of spellbinding and thought-provoking pleasure as we eagerly jump into their pages.
Here is my 2024 list of 20 books from authors you might not have heard of — but now, with our help, you have. Happy reading — and be sure to tell your friends about these great titles!
OUR LIVES IN BETWEEN by Billie Kowalewski
“My world is your world – only you can’t remember any of it. A barrier exists between what you think is real and what you know to be. It had been put in place during the transition into the world you currently know and will be removed upon your return. In other words, this is not your real life.” “Huh,” I said to myself about this YA novel. But “huh” gradually changes to “aha” as the author let readers into a fascinating plot, a protagonist you care about, some heady theories and philosophies for the YA mind, and enough futuristic intrigue to keep readers glued. Read Our Review.
SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS by Thomas Garlinghouse
“Imagine a string of pearls. Each pearl is a life, yet yon string connects each pearl. We are, ultimately, that string.” Therein is just one piece of philosophy from William Shakespeare — or, shall we say, the ghost of William Shakespeare, an apparition who plays a key role in the plot and in helping to explain matters of the human soul in Thomas Garlinghouse’s entertaining and inventive novel. Read Our Review.
ABANDONED AT BIRTH by Janet Sherlund
“I’ve always been grateful that Grandma treated you kids like you were real grandchildren.” Those words, while meant as a compliment, go a long way in understanding the lens through which adopted children must see the world and manage their emotions. They were uttered by the mother of a young Janet Sherlund, author of Abandoned at Birth: Searching for the Arms that Once Held Me, a memoir in which she traces her upbringing and search for her biological mother. Read Our Review.
LITTLE BOY, I KNOW YOUR NAME by Mitchell Raff
There’s a school of thought that argues how important it is for the remaining Holocaust survivors to discuss their experiences while they still can, so that subsequent generations can learn from the past. But try to imagine the pain for them to relive the atrocities of the past that they witnessed firsthand. Psychologists say the silence surrounding their experiences could also affect the next generation. Children of survivors were often raised in environments marked by unspoken trauma, often leading to anxiety, hyper-vigilance and PTSD symptoms in the children themselves. That’s how Mitchell Raff grew up. His family, sufferers of the Holocaust, “believed that silence could cauterize their wounds and insulate” he and his sister. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Read Our Review.
THE RAINBOW DIARY by Mitch Maiman
Maybe it’s that I’m at an age where I ponder mortality more than others. Regardless, The Rainbow Diary, a novel by Mitch Maiman, hit an emotional nerve and had me thinking long and hard about his truly intelligent and insightful protagonist, his story and the message he delivers about one of our greatest mysteries. Readers get a sense of what they are in for from the very first words of Kenneth Talbot: “I know, now, that I am dying. Not someday soon, or a week or two. No, I am dying right now. I know this for a fact.” Read Our Review.
BE A SCRIBE! by Michael Hoffen, Dr. Christian Casey and Dr. Jen Thum
Be a Scribe! by young 16-year-old Michael Hoffen and co-authors, is not a thriller. It’s not contemporary fiction, or a romance, biography, sci-fi, action-adventure, fantasy, horror, or anything motivational. No, it likely won’t be your book club’s next read. Yet it might be the most unique, fascinating, entertaining, informative and educative book you’ll read this year. Teachers should scrap their current lesson plans and make this book part of every ancient history curriculum in every elementary school around the country. Read Our Review.
THE CANTICLE OF IBIZA by Justin Kurian
There’s a passage in author Justin Kurian’s ambitious novel The Canticle of Ibiza where John, who has abandoned his life in New York as a high-flying financial whiz to seek answers on the mystical island of Ibiza, Spain, explains to a budding love interest, Diana, how he ditched his previous rich and elitist lover because she had no true feelings for him — just a desire for money and society. Diana’s reaction? She smacks him in the mouth. “Maybe you should have considered her feelings,” she adds. That is worth pondering in this all-encompassing work of passion, reflection and discovery — sprinkled with magic, mystery, a magnificent venue and most unusual cast of characters. Read Our Review.
SEVEN DAYS OF SHIVA by Marc Gellman
“We didn’t grow old together. We stayed young together.” Who’s to say — was Marc Gellman’s fairytale love affair with Barbara really that extraordinary? They were married for 40 years. She died of cancer just short of her 60th birthday. He was from Brooklyn, she from the Bronx. They met at a young age. Had three children. Good careers. Good friends, fun times, amusing tales. But it is the very ordinary about their life and their relationship that makes Seven Days of SHIVA such a poignant and powerful story, a sweet and simple love sonnet to the other pea in Marc’s pod, a deep love readers can feel and embrace in every word. Read Our Review.
THE LAST TALE OF NORAH BOW by J.P. White
It’s on the very first page: Fourteen-year-old Norah is told by her father that they share a “demon switch,” whatever that is. Readers don’t have to wait long to find out: The demon switch means she can do hard things that others can’t. In this case, it’s 1926, during Prohibition. Norah lives in Sandusky, Ohio, which as it turns out, is the prime location for rum runners from across the Canadian border. During a night walk along the beach, Norah stumbles into the rum runners, only to recognize her father among them. Read Our Review.
HARD BARGAIN by Donald. G. Denihan with Jon Land
“Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.” That nugget was the last item in a list of 45 life lessons offered by Regina Brett, legendary newspaper writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. It’s also the last sentence in Donald G. Denihan’s new book Hard Bargain, best described as part gripping true adventure story and part self-reflection on how three near-death experiences helped him get a better grasp on what is really important in life. Read Our Review.
THE REMAINS OF THE CORPS, VOLUME II by Will Remain
I wrote in a 2020 review that The Remains of the Corps Volume I: Ivy and the Crossing was one of the most unique and innovative books I had read in a long time. It was the military history of a family of Marines, the Remains, taking place during World War I and told by author Will Remain, family historian and Vietnam veteran. The author creates 80 characters, all with scars and backstories so believable you forget this is fiction. Fiction about the characters, but dramatic accounts of people at war— the events, battles, strategies, conversations and emotions. Yet Remain, too, is a fictional character, a pseudonym for the real-life Tom Hebert, a former Marine in his own right. And he created a world with such description and through such beautiful language that readers should surely take note. On to Volume II! Read Our Review.
CASALVENTO by Gudrun Cuillo
It’s a beloved memoir of self-discovery, taking chances, loving a house and the pleasures of food, set against the spectacular Tuscan countryside — so powerful as to inspire many to embark on their own journeys. That easily could be the perfect way to describe Gudrun Cuillo’s Casalvento, in which a successful New York City businesswoman stumbles into an inheritance of a majestic house, hotel and vineyard in Tuscany, Italy from a grandfather who she never knew. Actually those words were written in praise of Frances Mayes’ all-time tale Under the Tuscan Sun. If Cuillo was hoping to replicate some of the magic generated from that classic story, she is well on her way with Casalvento. Read Our Review.
TELL THE STORY by Terrell Tannen
By many standards, the career of Hollywood screenwriter Terrell Tannen could be viewed as a resounding success. Writing screenplays for Oscar-winning directors. Living the classic Hollywood lifestyle. Porsche. Oversized house. Dinners. Wild parties. For Tannen to describe it, his is a story of almosts – of seeing promising projects miss out due to unforeseen financial issues, actor egos, casting disputes, politics, or the sheer whim of Hollywood’s power brokers who simply need to flex their executive muscles to be heard. Perhaps it is Tannen’s tales of residing in entertainment-industry obscurity that make his memoir even more fascinating than a traditional American success story. Read Our Review.
SO YOU LOST YOUR JOB, WHAT NEXT? by William Alexandre
“A cold-hearted system that doesn’t need you.” Make you feel good? It wasn’t supposed to – yet. A company, writes William Alexandre, does not have feelings, is never happy or sad, can’t lose or hate anyone, judges no one, and experiences no suffering.” Once you understand the realities of what companies are and realize they are not all lovely morning coffee breaks, hearty chuckles at brainstorming meetings, and after-hours bowling parties, the better your chances of getting past the stereotypical baggage associated with losing your job and being able to start a new exciting journey. Read Our Review.
THE BLUE IN YOUR EYES by Humberto “Bear” Garcez
“Dreams are a cryptic maze, but the emotions they stir up are real.” The first time I spoke with author Humberto “Bear” Garcez, he was telling me about his new book based on very detailed recollections of one of his own dreams. That book is a most unusual and intriguing novel that, just like dreams themselves, blends elements of reality with imagination and desires. Read Our Review.
PUNCH LINE by Richard A. Danzig
If in another life author Richard A. Danzig decided to become a standup comic, well, he could probably do a lot worse, given his spot-on talent for writing funny monologues for his comedian character Verne Slater in this recently released legal thriller. Despite what the book’s title might infer, Punch Line is anything but a comedy. Yet what Danzig shows in his ability to reel off one-liners for one of his central characters is his gift for the written word, which he employs to the fullest in this captivating, fast-paced and multilayered New York City narrative that neatly intertwines several storylines and characters with some heavier societal and cultural themes. Read Our Review.
KILLING GENIUS by D. Allen Henry
D. Allen Henry has captured the feel of Leonardo da Vinci’s time, reveled in some of the mysteries surrounding his life, and given readers a crackerjack current-day mystery as well sure to please on many levels. In a masterful work with particular appeal for amateur sleuths, historians and art aficionados, the author has crafted a thoughtful novel based on the premise that Leonardo da Vinci’s death was a murder. Read Our Review.
NAVIGATING ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE AGE OF AI by Annette Buhler
Artificial Intelligence is penetrating wider applications in today’s world, quite often providing faster and more accurate results. But without The Human Factor, there is always a chance for error. So how do those humans evaluate a situation from an ethical standpoint and take the proper action? Good question. But not without good answers. That’s because Annette Buhler, raised in Switzerland and always fascinated by the reliability and functionality of the Swiss Army Knife, has authored a new book, the cornerstone of which is her so-called Ethic Pocketknife, to guide AI professionals in making hard AI-related ethical decisions. Read Our Review.
BROADCAST BLUES by R.G. Belsky
It’s a subtle point, but the following quote tells you what the world of Clare Carlson is all about and, in turn, what R.G. Belsky’s sixth Clare Carlson mystery, Broadcast Blues is all about. Well into the story, Carlson, the news director for a New York TV station whose true passion is uncovering scoops of her own, recalls her questioning of a suspect in a huge murder case: “No, what I said was ‘what if I told you I had cell phone records showing Wendy Kyle making calls to your number?’” Students of investigative journalism will pick up the difference from Carlson telling the suspect that she did in fact have records of those calls – which of course she didn’t. Read Our Review.
THE ART OF MARTINIS by Bill VanPatten
“People are people. They love, they hate, they soar, they pine, they elate, they grieve – and on occasion, they kill.” Author Bill VanPatten tends to capture all those acts and emotions in his characters, drawing heavily on gay themes and Latino heritage in and around the small, fictitious town of Manana, situated in California. His latest collection of short stories is true to his vision and his brand, with 15 new narratives that focus on the struggles of people trying to come to terms with their inner selves and questioning and seeking their identity. Read Our Review.
