Enjoy these February recommendations from our friends at Bookish, Fort Smith, Arkansas’ only independently owned bookstore.
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
A wild blend of Western and Irish wit, this story is filled with lyrical prose, dark humor, and raw emotion. Set in 1890s Montana, it follows Tom Rourke, a poet and ballad-maker turned doper and degenerate, as he drifts through a rough-and-tumble mining town. His life takes a sharp turn with the arrival of Polly Gillespie, the new bride of a devout mine captain. Sparks ignite between them, leading to a thunderbolt love affair that compels them to steal a horse and flee.
Their journey across the badlands of Montana and Idaho is a breathtaking mix of wild romance and gritty survival. For a moment, they find a fragile idyll, but a posse of unhinged Cornish gunmen is closing in fast. As they race toward the distant promise of safety in San Francisco, the choices they make carry profound consequences. Both a love story and a tragic farce, this novel explores freedom, desire, and the haunted beauty of flawed lives.
Ne’er Duke Well
by Alexandra Vasti
Peter Kent has recently become the Duke of Stanhope and Lady Selina is set on finding him a wife. While keeping secrets of her own – Lady Selina secretly runs a library for women only – she can’t deny her chemistry with Peter. Sparks fly as love proves the biggest scandal of all.
Good Dirt
by Charmaine Wilkerson
This novel weaves family secrets, identity, and history into a rich, evocative tapestry. After tragedy invades Ebby’s world, she flees to France, only to confront her painful past. With an heirloom’s mystery at its heart, this multi-generational tale explores race, resilience, and the enduring pull of ancestral ties.
Water Moon
by Samantha Sotto Yambao
This enchanting tale takes readers to a Tokyo pawnshop where life choices and regrets can be traded. As Hana Ishikawa searches for her missing father and a stolen treasure, she embarks on a mystical journey through surreal worlds, confronting secrets, courage, and the power of second chances.
words SARA PUTMAN, BOOKISH // images RECOMMENDED BOOKS
