Reading lists

The Best Books from Small Presses Spring 2022

Updated: Jan 25, 2023

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Author

Caitlin Hamilton Summie

Happy Spring! It is time for the latest in small press book news from bookclubs! Here are some hammock-worthy reads from the independent presses.

 

Survival Can Be Deadly 

Survival Can Be Deadly (Amphorae Publishing) Cameron Chandler’s first assignment at Penny-wise Investigations is to locate a runaway girl. The trail leads to a survivalist camp on a remote island in northern Puget Sound. Armed with only a Swiss Army Knife and her quirky on-the-job training as a suburban sleuth, Cameron uncovers more than she bargained for. She soon finds herself in a fight for her own survival in this lighthearted mystery set in Seattle and the San Juan Islands to the north.

Home at the Office: Working Remotely as a Way of Life 

Readers looking for flexibility, freedom, and independence in their work hours and schedule, lifestyle, and mindset would enjoy reading Home at the Office: Working Remotely as a Way of Life. (Atmosphere Press) Whether people want to work from home so that they could spend more time with their children and family, or travel, or save more for retirement, or pay down debt, this book encourages readers to create the work and lifestyle that is the best fit for them and their goals.

The Devil’s Half Acre

In The Devil’s Half Acre, (Seal Press) New York Times bestselling author Kristen Green draws on years of research to tell the extraordinary and little-known story of young Mary Lumpkin, an enslaved woman who blazed a path of liberation for thousands. She was forced to have the children of a brutal slave trader and live on the premises of his slave jail, known as the “Devil’s Half Acre.” When she inherited the jail after the death of her slaveholder, she transformed it into “God’s Half Acre,” a school where Black men could fulfill their dreams. It still exists today as Virginia Union University, one of America’s first Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Shelf Life of Happiness

Virginia Pye’s award-winning short story collection, Shelf Life of Happiness (Press 53), is remarkable not just for its prose but also its varied subject matter and protagonists. Kirkus Reviews said it’s “…a deeply moving meditation on the complexity and potential generosity of love.”

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The Book of Jeremiah

Julie Zuckerman’s The Book of Jeremiah (Press 53), is a touching and memorable debut novel-in-stories about the life of Jeremiah Gerstler, from boyhood to retirement. The Times of Israel called the book “very enjoyable.”

Sponsored by Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity

 

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