Enjoy these June recommendations from our friends at Bookish, Fort Smith, Arkansas’ only independently owned bookstore.
My Friends
by Fredrik Backman
Louisa, a young aspiring artist, notices something in a famous painting, something everyone else seems to miss. While most see a depiction of the sea, Louisa spots three tiny figures at the end of a pier, and she becomes determined to uncover who they are. As she sets out for the coastal town depicted in the painting, readers are swept into a dual narrative that travels twenty-five years into the past, where a group of teenagers find refuge, connection, and heartbreak amid the isolation of their own lives. Backman’s talent for crafting distinct, emotionally resonant characters remains unmatched, and he threads humor and heartbreak with astonishing ease. With each page, he reminds us that even the quietest lives can leave an indelible mark, and that art, like friendship, can carry us home.
The Missing Half
by Ashley Flowers
Buried truths surface as Nic and Jenna join forces to uncover what happened to Kasey and Jules, a pair of missing girls whose cars were both found miles from home, untouched and abandoned, weeks apart. Seven years later, Nic is barely holding it together, until Jenna reenters her life, offering the chance to solve the mystery and reclaim herself in the process.
The River is Waiting
by Wally Lamb
Reading this novel is a commitment as Lamb’s emotionally intense characters and unflinching look at the American prison system will leave you breathless. But there is hope, this time in the form of a prison librarian and a troubled teen longing for connection. Can Corby rise above his imprisonment? Can his past ever be forgiven?
Fever Beach
by Carl Hiaasen
Hiaasen’s newest outrageous Florida adventure is centered on Dale Figgo, a hot-headed troublemaker whose road trip takes a bizarre turn when he picks up a mysterious hitchhiker with a familiar face. What follows is a wild ride full of crooked schemes, mayhem, eccentric characters, and poetic justice. It’s one of his zaniest and most entertaining novels yet.
