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Forgotten Sisters (2024) by Cynthia Pelayo is an eerie, otherworldly ghost story that takes place in present-day Chicago. Sisters Jennie and Anna live in a historic bungalow in the Ravenswood neighborhood, with the north branch of the Chicago River right in their backyard.

In a Cottage in a Wood (2017) by Cass Green offers readers a gripping tale of suspense and mystery. Set against the backdrop of a secluded cottage in the woods, the novel follows Neve as she unravels a dark and sinister secret hidden within its walls.

Rebecca, Not Becky (2023) by co-authors Christine Platt and Catherine Wigginton Greene, is a thoughtful and entertaining story about two wealthy stay-at-home moms, one Black, one white, dealing with the complexities of race and privilege in a post-George Fl

How would you feel if you woke up tomorrow with a small wooden box containing a string the length of your life inside? Would you change the way you live your life or would you remain the same? In The Measure (2022) by Nikki Erlick, the entire world wakes up one day with identical boxes at their doorstep. Some open it while others ignore it.

A Trojan Horse. That's how author Xochitl Gonzalez describes her debut novel, Olga Dies Dreaming (2022), a work of contemporary fiction set in Brooklyn and Puerto Rico, primarily in 2017.

This lovely and magical story features three book lovers who become entwined with a lost bookshop that spans 19th and 20th century Ireland. Opaline attempts to break the barriers that aim to confine and subjugate women as she runs from a forced marriage; Martha is running from an abusive husband; and Henry is trying to find an elusive break into the book world.

Meet Aubrey, a somewhat spoiled young girl living in Paris in the late 1800s, who one day comes down with a mysterious, life-threatening illness. She speedily discovers that if she keeps moving location, the illness disappears. And so, she begins her adventurous life of endless travelling around the globe, trying to outrun her unique disease.  

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a tremendous book that is an enjoyable read while having deep themes of racism, sexism, and pride.

When I read that Palace of the Drowned was set in Venice, Italy, off-season, and reminiscent of the novels of Patricia Highsmith, in that the prose is lush, the plot suspenseful in a kind of nagging, slow-burn way, I thought it sounded like my cup of proverbial tea.

The Gone series, written by Michael Grant, is a very interesting yet intense read. The author designs a society where the parents are removed from a town and put outside of a bubble.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets written by J. K. Rowling is a fantastic read.