Five of the best female leads in fiction

Born in New Zealand, Sarah A. Parker now lives on Australia's Gold Coast with her husband and three young children.

At the Waterstones blog she writes:

When the Moon Hatched—the first book in my Moonfall Series—[is] a new fantasy romance that takes place in a rich world full of dragons and unique creatures, the story itself centred around resilience, grief, and the eternal power of love.

First things first, I love strong female leads. I find them endearing, inspiring, and thought provoking. As some of you may know, the FMC in my own story is a strong female protagonist with quick wit and a dark past, and writing her has been an incredible journey that has challenged me in the most surprising ways.

Parker tagged "five other stories with strong female leads," including:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

No discussion of strong female protagonists is complete without Elizabeth Bennet—a timeless heroine, embodying intelligence, wit, and an unwavering sense of self. In a society that places heavy pressure on women to conform, Elizabeth shines for her refusal to compromise on her principles, her strength subtle yet so profound. An enduring icon for women past and present, and forever a favourite of mine.

Read about another entry on the list.

Pride and Prejudice also appears on Kerry Wolfe's list of ten of the greatest love stories in novels, Annabelle Thorpe's top ten list of aunts in fiction, Harriet Evans's top ten list of close families in literature, Amelia Morris's top ten list of captivating fictional frenemies, David Annand's list of the top ten buildings in fiction, Off the Shelf's list of ten of the most fantastical (and sometimes fanatical) parties imaginable in novels, KT Sparks's seven best graceless literary exits, Lit Hub's list of twenty-five actually pretty happy couples in literature, Ellie Eaton's list of eight of literature's notable mean girls, Sarah Vaughan's list of nine fictional bad mothers in fiction, Jessica Francis Kane's top ten list of houseguests in fiction, O: The Oprah Magazine's twenty greatest ever romance novels, Cristina Merrill's list of eight of the sexiest curmudgeons in romance, Sarah Ward's ten top list of brothers and sisters in fiction, Tara Sonin's lists of fifty must-read regency romances and seven sweet and swoony romances for wedding season, Grant Ginder's top ten list of book characters we love to hate, Katy Guest's list of six of the best depictions of shyness in fiction, Garry Trudeau's six favorite books list, Ross Johnson's list of seven of the greatest rivalries in fiction, Helen Dunmore's six best books list, Jenny Kawecki's list of eight fictional characters who would make the best travel companions, Peter James's top ten list of works of fiction set in or around Brighton, Ellen McCarthy's list of six favorite books about weddings and marriage, the Telegraph's list of the ten greatest put-downs in literature, Rebecca Jane Stokes' list of ten fictional families you might enjoy more than the one you'll actually spend the holidays with, Melissa Albert's lists of five fictional characters who deserved better, [fifteen of the] romantic leads (and wannabes) of Austen’s brilliant books and recommended reading for eight villains, Molly Schoemann-McCann's list of ten fictional men who have ruined real live romance, Emma Donoghue's list of five favorite unconventional fictional families, Amelia Schonbek's list of five approachable must-read classics, Jane Stokes's top ten list of the hottest men in required reading, Gwyneth Rees's top ten list of books about siblings, the Observer's list of the ten best fictional mothers, Paula Byrne's list of the ten best Jane Austen characters, Robert McCrum's list of the top ten opening lines of novels in the English language, a top ten list of literary lessons in love, Simon Mason's top ten list of fictional families, Cathy Cassidy's top ten list of stories about sisters, Paul Murray's top ten list of wicked clerics, John Mullan's lists of ten of the best housekeepers in fiction, ten great novels with terrible original titles, and ten of the best visits to Brighton in literature, Luke Leitch's top ten list of the most successful literary sequels ever, and is one of the top ten works of literature according to Norman Mailer. Richard Price has never read it, but it is the book Mary Gordon cares most about sharing with her children.

The Page 99 Test: Pride and Prejudice.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Oliver Rosales's "Civil Rights in Bakersfield"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Civil Rights in Bakersfield: Segregation and Multiracial Activism in the Central Valley by Oliver Rosales.

About the book, from the publisher:

A multiracial history of civil rights coalitions beyond the farm worker movement in twentieth-century Bakersfield, California.

In Civil Rights in Bakersfield, Oliver Rosales uncovers the role of the multiracial west in shaping the course of US civil rights history. Focusing on Bakersfield, one of the few sizable cities within California’s Central Valley for much of the twentieth century in a region most commonly known as a bastion of political conservatism, oil, and industrial agriculture, Rosales documents how multiracial coalitions emerged to challenge histories of racial segregation and discrimination. He recounts how the region was home to both the historic farm worker movement, led by César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong, and also a robust multiracial civil rights movement beyond the fields. This multiracial push for civil rights reform included struggles for fair housing, school integration, public health, media representation, and greater political representation for Black and Brown communities. In expanding on this history of multiracial activism, Rosales further explores the challenges activists faced in community organizing and how the legacies of coalition building contribute to ongoing activist efforts in the Central Valley of today.

Learn more about Civil Rights in Bakersfield at the University of Texas Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Civil Rights in Bakersfield.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Adam Mitzner's "The Brothers Kenney"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Brothers Kenney by Adam Mitzner.

About the book, from the publisher:

From master of the mystery genre and bestselling author Adam Mitzner comes The Brothers Kenney, a murder mystery that pushes one family to the breaking point.

Former track star Sean Kenney used to be on top of the world, but that was a very long time ago. Now he's been estranged from his loved ones for the past two years--until the unthinkable calls him home.

While struggling to make sense of the devastating death that has shaken the Kenney family to its core, Sean grasps at the opportunity to seek forgiveness for his past mistakes--from his family and himself--while clinging to the belief that if he can discover what really happened that day, he might somehow be redeemed.

Both a family saga and a thrilling mystery, The Brothers Kenney searches for forgiveness and the meaning of home as assiduously as it does the identity of a killer.

Visit Adam Mitzner's website.

The Page 69 Test: A Conflict of Interest.

My Book, The Movie: A Conflict of Interest.

The Page 69 Test: A Case of Redemption.

My Book, The Movie: A Case of Redemption.

The Page 69 Test: Losing Faith.

My Book, The Movie: Losing Faith.

The Page 69 Test: A Matter of Will.

My Book, the Movie: A Matter of Will.

My Book, The Movie: The Perfect Marriage.

The Page 69 Test: The Perfect Marriage.

Q&A with Adam Mitzner.

Writers Read: Adam Mitzner (May 2023).

My Book, The Movie: Love Betrayal Murder.

The Page 69 Test: Love Betrayal Murder.

My Book, The Movie: The Brothers Kenney.

Writers Read: Adam Mitzner.

The Page 69 Test: The Brothers Kenney.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six female characters who defy traditional archetypes

Caroline Wolff is a writer and editor. She holds an MFA in Fiction from New York University, where she also taught undergraduate creative writing. She lives in downtown Manhattan.

The Wayside is Wolff's debut novel.

At CrimeReads she tagged six favorite female characters who

are chronically misunderstood and villainized for acting or believing differently. In the hands of another writer (and perhaps written in a different era), they could be boiled down to crazy and used for shock value. Instead, these women wield their differences in perspective with agency, and in the end, they’re proven right to disagree with the people in power.

One title on the list:

Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand

With Generation Loss, Elizabeth Hand introduced the world to one of the great literary anti-heroes. Decades after Cass Neary’s seminal photography book on the ‘70s punk scene earned her cult fame, she hasn’t managed to produce any work of note. With no other prospects, she takes the opportunity to interview an infamous, reclusive photographer holed up on a remote island in Maine—also the site of a former commune where people continue to go missing. There she discovers a world of terror, by turns bleak, phantasmagoric, and punctuated with the kind of body horror you’d see in a ‘70s B-movie. Her experience strains her grip on reality, but she emerges Pyrrhically victorious.

Cass is the definition of an “unlikable” character. She’s gnarly, nihilistic, and makes confusing decisions driven purely by the strength of her will. As a true punk rocker, she sees what the mainstream doesn’t—she zeroes in on the blind spots and is relentless in her pursuit to uncover them. Such is the beauty of a character with absolutely nothing to lose. I think a lot of readers bristle against her, and her self-destructive behavior is sometimes hard to read. That said, there’s no question that if Cass were a man her self-destructive behavior would be glamorized as a bad boy just doing his bad-boy schtick.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Michael P. M. Finch's "Making Makers"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Making Makers: The Past, the Present, and the Study of War by Michael P. M. Finch.

About the book, from the publisher:

Making Makers presents a comprehensive history of a seminal work of scholarship which has exerted a persistent attraction for scholars of war and strategy: Makers of Modern Strategy. It reveals the processes by which scholars conceived and devised the book, considering both successful and failed attempts to make and remake the work across the twentieth century, and illuminating its impact and legacy. It explains how and why these influential volumes took their particular forms, unearths the broader intellectual processes that shaped them, and reflects on the academic parameters of the study of war in the twentieth century. In presenting a complete genesis of the Makers project in the context of intellectual trends and historical contingency, this book reflects on a more complex and nuanced appraisal of the development of scholarship on war. In so doing it also offers contributions to the intellectual biographies of key figures in the history of war in the twentieth century, such as Edward Mead Earle, Peter Paret, Gordon Craig, and Theodore Ropp. Making Makers contributes to an intellectual history of military history and contextualises the place of history and historians in strategic and security studies. It is not only a history of the book, but a history of the networks of scholars involved in its creation, their careers, and lines of patronage, crossing international boundaries, from Europe to the USA, to Asia and Australia. It is an investigation of ideas, individuals, and groups, of work completed and scholarship produced, as well as contingency and opportunities missed.

Learn more about Making Makers at the Oxford University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Making Makers.

--Marshal Zeringue

Deborah J Ledford's "Havoc," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Havoc (Eva "Lightning Dance" Duran) by Deborah J Ledford.

The entry begins:

Movies featuring Native American characters seem to be catching on more and more lately, which is great for my latest release, Havoc. My female lead, Eva, is a hard-edged yet fair Taos Pueblo tribal officer who has no compunction to cross the line if necessary while finding truth and justice for her people.

I cast my characters while building their profiles, so it’s not much of a brain break to decide who I would want to portray them. First choice is Lily Gladstone as Eva. As most know by now Ms. Gladstone is an Oscar nominee for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon and could easily slide into the law enforcer role—as she has for her role in Under the Bridge.

It seems that every reader I’ve heard from absolutely loves Kai. This would be a challenging role as the Pueblo young man is forced to navigate grown-up circumstances that cause him to grow up much too fast. Kai also is tasked with training his Belgian Malinois search & rescue dog, Shadow—not an easy mission! For nineteen-year-old Kai, I see...[read on]

Visit Deborah J Ledford's website.

Q&A with Deborah J Ledford.

The Page 69 Test: Redemption.

My Book, The Movie: Redemption.

The Page 69 Test: Havoc.

My Book, The Movie: Havoc.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight novels set in Philly with mostly happy endings

C.J. Spataro is an award-winning short fiction writer whose work has appeared in many literary magazines and anthologies including Taboos & Transgressions, Iron Horse Literary Review, december, Sequestrum, and Exacting Clam. She directs the MFA in Creative Writing and the MA in Publishing programs at Rosemont College and was a founding partner of Philadelphia Stories. Her debut novel, More Strange Than True, was published by Sagging Meniscus Press in June 2024 and was recently named to Reactor’s Can’t Miss Indie Speculative Books for Spring.

At Electric Lit Spataro tagged eight "novels set in Philly with mostly happy endings," including:

Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Okay, so Pat Peoples might want to fight you. He’s that rabid Eagles fan that if pushed too far, will definitely take a swing at you. If you’ve never read Quick’s novel it is well worth the time. While the film adaptation is wonderful all on its own and totally worth watching, the novel more fully explores the depths and severity of Pat’s mental health issues, exacerbated by a traumatic brain injury. It also more fully explores his beautiful but very strange relationship with Tiffany, a young widow struggling to come to terms with her own mental health challenges. Silver Linings Playbook also gives you a fairly accurate picture of an average Eagles fan, someone willing to do the chant or sing the fight song in almost any situation, whether it is appropriate or not. By turns, funny, sweet, and sad, this novel is, like all the others on this list, one that will leave you feeling satisfied and hopeful.

Read about another novel on the list.

The Silver Linings Playbook is among Jeff Somers's five most disastrous dinner parties in fiction, Lauren Passell's top eleven Manic Pixie Dream Girls in fiction, Jill Halfpenny's six best books, the Barnes & Noble Review's five top books on football, and the eight book adaptations that won 2013 Golden Globe awards.

The Page 69 Test: The Silver Linings Playbook.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Waitman Wade Beorn's "Between the Wires"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Between the Wires: The Janowska Camp and the Holocaust in Lviv by Waitman Wade Beorn.

About the book, from the publisher:

Between the Wires tells for the first time the history of the Janowska camp in Lviv, Ukraine. Located in a city with the third-largest ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe, Janowska remains one of the least-known sites of the Holocaust, despite being one of the deadliest. Simultaneously a prison, a slave labor camp, a transit camp to the gas chambers, and an extermination site, this hybrid camp played a complex role in the Holocaust.

Based on extensive archival research, Between the Wires explores the evolution and the connection to Lviv of this rare urban camp. Waitman Wade Beorn reveals the exceptional brutality of SS staff alongside an almost unimaginable will to survive in prisoners facing horrendous suffering, whose resistance included an armed uprising. This integrated chronicle of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders follows the history of the camp into the postwar era, including attempts to bring its criminals to justice.

Visit Waitman Wade Beorn's website.

The Page 99 Test: Between the Wires.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Deborah J Ledford's "Havoc"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Havoc (Eva "Lightning Dance" Duran) by Deborah J Ledford.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this tightly paced sequel to Redemption, Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran joins the Taos Pueblo tribal police department to uncover a member of her community’s murder…and the conspiracy behind it.

It’s been over a year since the case that almost broke her, but when Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran is called back to duty, she doesn’t hesitate to answer. A bank robbery has left an officer down and a suspect on the run. Law enforcement is in hot pursuit, and residents are on the lookout―but before anyone can catch the criminal, tragedy strikes.

A member of the Taos Pueblo tribe has been shot and killed. The culprit? An untraceable 3D printed gun. With the support of fellow tribal cops, Eva breaks the news to the victim’s family and swears to find justice.

More violence follows, feeding the rising racial tensions between the Taos Pueblo people and the Hispanic community. New evidence forces Eva to consider the possibility that the bank robbery and 3D guns are related, but until she figures out how, there’s no telling how deep this crime ring goes…or how far its evasive ringleader will go to protect it.

Visit Deborah J Ledford's website.

Q&A with Deborah J Ledford.

The Page 69 Test: Redemption.

My Book, The Movie: Redemption.

The Page 69 Test: Havoc.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sixteen books for the summer of brat

At B&N Reads Isabelle McConville tagged sixteen books for the summer of brat.

You might be wondering: what exactly makes someone brat? It isn’t just the signature lime green accessories or nonchalant attitude — being brat is about being unfiltered, bold and most importantly, unapologetically yourself.

The list of some of the "brattiest books — stories that are a little bit edgy and oftentimes messy," includes:

Down the Drain by Julia Fox

What better way to start off our list than with the very muse of “360?” Julia Fox has been everywhere — from starting her own fashion line, to working as a dominatrix, starring in a blockbuster film, and dating our most notorious A-listers, Julia’s done it all.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Toni Alimi's "Slaves of God"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Slaves of God: Augustine and Other Romans on Religion and Politics by Toni Alimi.

About the book, from the publisher:

A provocative look at the central role of slavery in Augustine’s religious, ethical, and political thought

Augustine believed that slavery is permissible, but to understand why, we must situate him in his late antique Roman intellectual context. Slaves of God provides a major reassessment of this monumental figure in the Western religious and political tradition, tracing the remarkably close connections between Augustine’s understanding of slavery and his broader thought.

Augustine is most often read through the lens of Greek philosophy and the theology of Christian writers such as Paul and Ambrose, yet his debt to Roman thought is seldom appreciated. Toni Alimi reminds us that the author of Confessions and City of God was also a Roman citizen and argues that some of the thinkers who most significantly shaped his intellectual development were Romans such as Cicero, Seneca, Lactantius, and Varro—Romans who had much to say about slavery and its relationship to civic life. Alimi shows how Augustine, a keen and influential student of these figures, related chattel slavery and slavery to God, and sheds light on Augustinianism’s complicity in Christianity’s long entanglement with slavery.

An illuminating work of scholarship, Slaves of God reveals how slavery was integral to Augustine’s views about law, rule, accountability, and citizenship, and breaks new ground on the topic of slavery in late antique and medieval political thought.

Learn more about Slaves of God at the Princeton University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Slaves of God.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Adam Mitzner reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Adam Mitzner, author of The Brothers Kenney.

His entry begins:

Right now, I’m midway through Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Long Island Compromise, and loving it. I live on Long Island, so the terrain feels familar, but what makes the novel so great are the characters she’s able to write. They are people that you might know in your life, but who at the same time are so damaged that they’re laugh out loud funny.

Before her book, I finished...[read on]

About The Brothers Kenney, from the publisher:

From master of the mystery genre and bestselling author Adam Mitzner comes The Brothers Kenney, a murder mystery that pushes one family to the breaking point.

Former track star Sean Kenney used to be on top of the world, but that was a very long time ago. Now he's been estranged from his loved ones for the past two years--until the unthinkable calls him home.

While struggling to make sense of the devastating death that has shaken the Kenney family to its core, Sean grasps at the opportunity to seek forgiveness for his past mistakes--from his family and himself--while clinging to the belief that if he can discover what really happened that day, he might somehow be redeemed.

Both a family saga and a thrilling mystery, The Brothers Kenney searches for forgiveness and the meaning of home as assiduously as it does the identity of a killer.

Visit Adam Mitzner's website.

The Page 69 Test: A Conflict of Interest.

My Book, The Movie: A Conflict of Interest.

The Page 69 Test: A Case of Redemption.

My Book, The Movie: A Case of Redemption.

The Page 69 Test: Losing Faith.

My Book, The Movie: Losing Faith.

The Page 69 Test: A Matter of Will.

My Book, the Movie: A Matter of Will.

My Book, The Movie: The Perfect Marriage.

The Page 69 Test: The Perfect Marriage.

Q&A with Adam Mitzner.

Writers Read: Adam Mitzner (May 2023).

My Book, The Movie: Love Betrayal Murder.

The Page 69 Test: Love Betrayal Murder.

My Book, The Movie: The Brothers Kenney.

Writers Read: Adam Mitzner.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top books that wine & dine

Laurie Elizabeth Flynn is a former model who lives in London, Ontario with her husband and their four children. She is the author of three young adult novels: Firsts, Last Girl Lied To, and All Eyes On Her, under the name L.E. Flynn.

Her adult fiction debut, The Girls Are All So Nice Here, was named a USA Today Best Book of 2021, sold in 11 territories worldwide, and became an instant bestseller in Canada. Her new novel for adults is Till Death Do Us Part.

At CrimeReads Flynn tagged five books "that will satisfy any craving—and perhaps drive you to open a bottle of wine, shake up a cocktail, or make a restaurant reservation ASAP." One title on the list:

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

This story, like the cake at its center, is layered, rich, and deep. Eleanor Bennett has recently passed away, and leaves behind for her two adult children, Benny and Byron, a long audio recording, and a family recipe for black cake. The more Benny and Byron learn about their mother and her life, the more the reader wonders whether they will be brought closer together, or pushed further apart, by a lifetime of secrets. Author Charmaine Wilkerson masterfully spins a multigenerational, sweeping tale, with a mystery both compelling and heartbreaking at its core. Will Benny and Byron be able to uphold their mother’s last wish, and share a black cake together? Beautifully written and evocative, with an overload of sensory details that will situate the reader fully in the story and its settings in the Caribbean, the UK, and California.

Read about another book on the list.

Black Cake is among Donna Hemans's eight books on love, loss, and betrayal in the Caribbean and Sally Koslow's five novels about families far worse than yours.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Susanna Ashton's "A Plausible Man"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: A Plausible Man: The True Story of the Escaped Slave Who Inspired Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Susanna Ashton.

About the book, from the publisher:

The remarkable story of the man behind the book that helped spark the Civil War, in a stunning historical detective story

In December of 1850, a faculty wife in Brunswick, Maine, named Harriet Beecher Stowe hid a fugitive slave in her house. While John Andrew Jackson stayed for only one night, he made a lasting impression: drawing from this experience, Stowe began to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin, one of the most influential books in American history and the novel that helped inspire the overthrow of slavery in the United States.

A Plausible Man unfolds as a historical detective story, as Susanna Ashton combs obscure records for evidence of Jackson’s remarkable flight from slavery to freedom, his quest to liberate his enslaved family, and his emergence as an international advocate for abolition. This fresh and original work takes us through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the restoration of white supremacy—where we last glimpse Jackson losing his freedom again on a Southern chain gang.

In the spirit of Tiya Miles’s prizewinning All That She Carried and Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s Never Caught, Susanna Ashton breathes life into a striving and nuanced American character, one unmistakably rooted in the vast sweep of nineteenth-century America.

Visit Susanna Ashton's website.

The Page 99 Test: A Plausible Man.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Elena Taylor's "A Cold, Cold World"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: A Cold, Cold World by Elena Taylor.

About the book, from the publisher:

A female sheriff tries to fill her late father's boots and be the sheriff her small Washington State mountain town needs as a deadly snow storm engulfs the town, in this dark, twisty mystery.

The world felt pure. Nature made the location pristine again, hiding the scene from prying eyes. As if no one had died there at all.

In the months since Bet Rivers solved her first murder investigation and secured the sheriff's seat in Collier, she's remained determined to keep her town safe. With a massive snowstorm looming, it's more important than ever that she stays vigilant.

When Bet gets a call that a family of tourists has stumbled across a teen injured in a snowmobile accident on a mountain ridge, she braves the storm to investigate. However, once she arrives at the scene of the accident it's clear to Bet that the teen is not injured; he's dead. And has been for some time . . .

Investigating a possible homicide is hard enough, but with the worst snowstorm the valley has seen in years threatening the safety of her town, not to mention the integrity of her crime scenes - as they seem to be mounting up as well - Bet has to move fast to uncover the complicated truth and prove that she's worthy of keeping her father's badge.

Visit Elena Taylor's website.

Q&A with Elena Taylor.

The Page 69 Test: A Cold, Cold World.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine transformative books about letting go & moving on

Mary Jones’s stories and essays have appeared in many journals including Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, Subtropics, EPOCH, Alaska Quarterly Review, Columbia Journal, The Hopkins Review, Gay Mag, The Normal School, Epiphany, Santa Monica Review, Brevity and elsewhere. The recipient of a summer prose fellowship from The University of Arizona Poetry Center, her work has been cited as notable in The Best American Essays and appeared in The Best Microfiction 2022. She holds an MFA from Bennington College and teaches fiction writing at UCLA Extension. Originally from Upstate New York, she lives in Los Angeles.

Jones's new collection is The Goodbye Process: Stories.

At Electric Lit the writer tagged nine books with empowering insights about embracing change with resilience and grace, including:

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Everything I Never Told You explores the aftermath of a teenage girl’s mysterious death in 1970s Ohio. It delves into the family’s secrets, misunderstandings, and the process of coming to terms with loss and finding a way to move on.

Read about another book on the list.

Everything I Never Told You is among Kasim Ali's nine books about interracial relationships and Rachel Donohue's seven “coming-of-age” novels with elements of mystery or the supernatural.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Jonathan B. Losos's "The Cat's Meow"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: The Cat's Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa by Jonathan B. Losos.

About the book, from the publisher:

The past, present, and future of the world’s most popular and beloved pet, from a leading evolutionary biologist and great cat lover.

The domestic cat—your cat—has, from its evolutionary origins in Africa, been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successful and diverse species on the planet. Jonathan Losos, writing as both a scientist and a cat lover, explores how researchers today are unraveling the secrets of the cat, past and present, using all the tools of modern technology, from GPS tracking (you’d be amazed where those backyard cats roam) and genomics (what is your so-called Siamese cat . . . really?) to forensic archaeology. In addition to solving the mysteries of your cat’s past, it gives us a cat’s-eye view of today’s habitats, including meeting wild cousins around the world whose habits your sweet house cat sometimes eerily parallels.

Do lions and tigers meow? If not, why not? Why does my cat leave a dead mouse at my feet (or on my pillow)? Is a pet ocelot a bad idea? When and why did the cat make its real leap off the African plain? What’s with all those cats in Egyptian hieroglyphics? In a genial voice, casually deciphering complex science and history with many examples from his own research and multi-cat household, Losos explores how selection, both natural and artificial, over the last several millennia has shaped the contemporary cat, with new breeds vastly different in anatomy and behavior from their ancestral stock. Yet the cat, ever a predator, still seems only one paw out of the wild, and readily reverts to its feral ways as it occupies new lands around the world.

Humans are transforming cats, and they in turn are transforming the world around them. This charming and intelligent book suggests what the future may hold for both Felis catus and Homo sapiens.

Visit Jonathan B. Losos's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Cat's Meow.

--Marshal Zeringue

Adam Mitzner's "The Brothers Kenney," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Brothers Kenney by Adam Mitzner.

The entry begins:

The Brothers Kenney begins with Sean Kenney as low as I can imagine a person – estranged from his family and nearly homeless. But it wasn’t always the case, as Sean was once upon a time a world-class 1,500 meters runner.

An actor taking on the role of Sean would have to embody both extremes, and therefore I think it might be the most challenging acting role for any character I’ve written. Robert Pattinson could do the part justice, and I do love a good Batman crossover. Speaking of which, Jared Leto is a bit old, but he looks like a former track star too, and played the Joker too.

There are three strong female characters in the book: Sean’s girlfriend, Rachel, his ex-wife, Meghan, and his sister, Katie.

Rachel is the prom queen who still looks the part in her mid-thirties. Jennifer Lawrence, Alexandra Daddario, or...[read on]

Visit Adam Mitzner's website.

The Page 69 Test: A Conflict of Interest.

My Book, The Movie: A Conflict of Interest.

The Page 69 Test: A Case of Redemption.

My Book, The Movie: A Case of Redemption.

The Page 69 Test: Losing Faith.

My Book, The Movie: Losing Faith.

The Page 69 Test: A Matter of Will.

My Book, the Movie: A Matter of Will.

My Book, The Movie: The Perfect Marriage.

The Page 69 Test: The Perfect Marriage.

Q&A with Adam Mitzner.

Writers Read: Adam Mitzner (May 2023).

My Book, The Movie: Love Betrayal Murder.

The Page 69 Test: Love Betrayal Murder.

My Book, The Movie: The Brothers Kenney.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best books about Indian politics

Rahul Bhatia is an independent writer whose profiles of power brokers and investigations of technology adoption highlight themes of accountability and access in India. His reportage has been published by the Caravan, the Guardian Long Read, The New Yorker, and Reuters.

He was awarded a Harvard Radcliffe Institute fellowship in 2022-23, won the True Story Award in 2024, and received a Ramnath Goenka Award and a Mumbai Press Club Red Ink Award in 2015.

Bhatia's new book is The New India: The Unmaking of the World’s Largest Democracy.

At the Guardian he tagged five books that "speak to some of the themes dominant in India these days – caste, propaganda, political prisoners, the weaponisation of state machinery, listless youth and nostalgia for gentler times." One title on the list:

Gujarat Under Modi by Christophe Jaffrelot

Jaffrelot’s extraordinary book describes Narendra Modi’s centralised governance style before he was prime minister. It was written in 2013, the year before Modi’s national victory, and deemed too “high-risk” to publish for almost a decade. But 10 years later, the book could well be a record of Modi’s prime ministership. It’s a detailed study of how he outflanked rivals, thwarted investigations, reduced his dependency on the RSS – the organisation he rose from – and took his message directly to the people. Jaffrelot records how Modi tinkers with political systems and bureaucratic processes to make them align with his interests, and describes how these actions lend cover to Hindu nationalists as they embed themselves deeper into society, making their extrication increasingly difficult.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Abigail G. Mullen's "To Fix a National Character"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: To Fix a National Character: The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800-1805 by Abigail G. Mullen.

About the book, from the publisher:

A new history of the First Barbary War, a conflict that helped plant the seeds for the United States' ascent to a global superpower.

After the American Revolution, maritime traders of the United States lost the protection of Britain's navy, leading privateers from the Barbary States—Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and the Sultanate of Morocco—to prey on American shipping in the Mediterranean, kidnapping and enslaving American sailors. While most European countries made treaties to circumvent this predation, this option was fiscally untenable for the young nation, and on May 14, 1801, Tripoli declared war on the United States.

In To Fix a National Character, Abigail G. Mullen argues that the First Barbary War represented much more than the military defeat of an irritating minor power. The United States sought a much more ambitious goal: entrance to the Mediterranean community, as well as respect and recognition as an equal member of the European Atlantic World. Without land bases in the region, good relations with European powers were critical to the United States' success in the war. And because the federal government was barely involved in the distant conflict, this diplomacy fell to a series of consuls and commodores whose goals, as well as diplomatic skills, varied greatly.

Drawing on naval records, consular documents, and personal correspondences, Mullen focuses on the early years of the war, when Americans began to build relationships with their Mediterranean counterparts. This nuanced political and diplomatic history demonstrates that these connections represented the turning point of the war, rather than any individual battles. Though the war officially ended in 1805, whether the United States truly "won" the war is debatable: European nations continued to regard the United States as a lesser nation, and the Barbary states continued their demands for at least another decade.

Visit Abby Mullen's website.

The Page 99 Test: To Fix a National Character.

--Marshal Zeringue