LYNN M. ANDREWS

Isola is a novel based on a real woman, Marguerite de la Rocque, who was marooned on an island as punishment for falling in love with a man her guardian didn't approve of. This book wasn’t what I expected—its heavy emphasis on religion shapes nearly every part of the story. Characters are urged to submit to God and fear retribution for defiance. This reinforces the societal norms of the 1500s, where a woman’s place was strictly controlled: she was not to acknowledge her own

As a new year begins, I’m curious—what kind of reading are you hoping for right now?

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak is an expansive historical fiction story woven together using an ancient civilization, one of the oldest poems in literature, two major rivers and a single drop of water as the threads.

The newest novel from the well established writer Marissa Meyer. This novel is full of quirky characters.

The Nine by Gwen Strauss is the well-researched harrowing true story of nine female resistance fighters in WW II.

Real Americans is an Asian American story told in three parts, each narrated by a different generation of the Chen family.