If you're having trouble viewing this email, you can see it online.
Welcome to the Late-May edition of MWPA's Ex Libris Maine.
This edition offers new books by Maine authors in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction,Poetry, and Children's.
For more information on any title below, simply click on the book's cover.
Happy Reading!
Family: Ties that Bind
Maggie Whittemore
Westbow Publishing
Follow the story of Judy, orphaned at the tender age of 17, and witness her fight for survival in the early days of frontier life. Observe her reluctance to accept earnest love and her journey into motherhood. Finally, get to know Judy's daughter, born with a disability, who embarks on her own quest to please God and her parents by doing something no one thought she could do. Family is the heartwarming story of how faith shapes the lives of this tightly-knit little group and governs all they do. The twists and turns will keep you guessing all the way through, and you will experience triumph and tragedy along with each member of Judy's clan. Laugh, cry, rage, and root for our heroines and their loved ones in this original work of historical Christian fiction.
American Breakdown: Our Ailing Nation, My Body's Revolt, and the Nineteenth-Century Woman Who Brought Me Back to Life
A Silent Spring for the human body, this wide-ranging, genre-crossing literary mystery interweaves the author’s quest to understand the source of her own condition with her telling of the story of the chronically ill 19th-century diarist Alice James—ultimately uncovering the many hidden health hazards of life in America. In this meticulously researched and illuminating debut, Lunden interweaves her story with Alice’s, exploring the history of medicine and the effects of the industrial revolution and late-stage capitalism to tell a riveting story of how we are a nation struggling—and failing—to be healthy. Although science—and the politics behind its funding—has in many ways let Lunden and millions like her down, in the end science, offers a revelation that will change how readers think about the ecosystems of their bodies, their communities, the country, and the planet.
After experiencing sudden blind spots in her right eye, Maureen Thorson is diagnosed with AZOOR (acute zonal occult outer retinopathy), a rare condition that has no known cause and is surprisingly difficult to confirm. Faced with the possibility she may lose her sight, Thorson goes looking for answers, reading and thinking her way through art history, science, poetry, folklore, myth, and film. She engages with Aristotle, who claims that menstruating women stain mirrors red simply by looking at them. When authoritative sources turn out to be mistaken, what then? When oft-quoted wisdom is revealed to be apocryphal, can it still ring true? And when her vision mysteriously clears, as unexpectedly as it dimmed, can she even claim she’s been ill? Throughout the essays in On Dreams, Thorson finds herself repeatedly asking not only “what is reality?” but “whose reality?”
The 22 poems in Not all are Weeping, many of them written in the years following the death of the author's parents, are organized around issues of aging, loss, and grief, as well as the painful reckonings we must sometimes make with ourselves. Woven among these profound themes are whimsical moments like fantastical adventures with an orchestra full of trees and a confounding sleigh ride into the woods in winter.
“The poems of You are Ruining my Loneliness are love letters, queries, elegies, and excitements that address the elemental and hard art of living. Kate Kearns, with an unbeliever’s gratitude, instructs us toward belief. You’ll want to read these poems over and again for the truth of their surprises” – Janet Sylvester, author of And not to Break.
Suicide is often framed as betrayal, even though we live in a world that betrays us. When this world tells us that death is better, what does it mean to have faith in life? Judas & Suicide is a poetry collection navigating religion and suicidality. It approaches these topics through the lens of Black family and community, sadness, medication, sexual violence, the prison industrial complex, media, and Bible verses. Judas & Suicide explores how to be convinced to stay alive without feeling obligated to.
Toby's Island Visit is the third volume in the series A Puppy in Maine, which features a happy young pup who loves to embark on adventures all over his home state. In this story, Toby takes a boat to an island and meets up with a puffin friend. And just as Toby arrives, a puffin family discussion about responsibility ensues. Suddenly, a family member gets into trouble and the friends need to act quickly. Come along with Toby and his pals and as they get to know this special puffin family and try to save the day!
Beatrice is content with her daily routine and her life in the garden. But when she receives a surprise invitation, along with some exciting news, she has to make a decision. Will she choose to stay comfortable? Or will she be brave and take a chance on an adventure? In Be Brave, Beatrice!, readers are invited to follow Beatrice on a journey of discovering how much is possible when we choose to be brave.
SUBMISSIONS If you are a current Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance member, and you would like to announce your new book in ExLibris Maine, click HERE. If you are not a member, click HERE to learn more about our member benefits.
.jpg)
