Enjoy these March recommendations from our friends at Bookish, Fort Smith, Arkansas’ only independently owned bookstore.
When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain
Sain will be at Bookish in conversation with Sara Putman, owner, on March 15th.
Set deep in the Ozarks, this novel thrums with atmosphere, its setting so vivid it becomes a character itself. The town of Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, has been plagued by disappearances—hikers vanishing without a trace until their bodies are unearthed. Seventeen-year-old Dovie, born into a family of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, doesn’t believe in magic. But she does believe in her gift, the one that helps the sheriff locate the missing, bringing grieving families closure.
Her best friend Lo, however, is haunted—literally. Shadows stalk him, restless spirits demanding answers. While the town whispers about the legendary Ozarks Howler, Lo and Dovie know something else is lurking in the mountains. The deeper they dig, the more they uncover the town’s buried secrets. As they follow the call of the dead, they must uncover a truth as chilling as the howling wind through the pines—before more lives are lost to the darkness.
The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds by Jennifer Moorman
When Josephine moves into her ancestral home, she never expects to uncover a literal doorway to the past. Stepping through, she finds herself in 1927, meeting her fearless great-grandmother, Alma, who runs a secret speakeasy beneath the house. But time is fragile, and Josephine’s journey alters history, putting both Alma’s fate and her own existence in jeopardy. Racing against time, she must set things right in a mesmerizing tale of family, love, and second chances.
Yours, Eventually by Nura Maznavi
A young doctor in a close-knit Pakistani-American community gets an unexpected second chance with her first love when he returns as one of California’s most eligible bachelors. Asma has built the life she always wanted—or so she thought—until Farooq, the college sweetheart her family once rejected, reenters her world. Navigating family expectations, gossiping aunties, and old wounds, Asma must decide if she has the courage to follow her heart before it’s too late.
A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler
A moving tale of love lost and found, this novel explores the weight of time and the resilience of the heart. After four decades apart, Charlie returns to Wisconsin, uncertain of what remains between him and Vivian. Their shared history is layered with tenderness, regret, and untold truths. With poetic prose and deep emotional insight, this story captures the beauty of second chances and the complexities of love that refuse to fade, even after years apart.
