You gather your friends and the snacks. We have the books and the discussion covered.
As a small publisher, we pride ourselves on having a close relationship with our readers. We love hearing from you—whether you loved a book, want to chat with an author, or have questions about how we may be able to help you publish your book, too.
Our wonderful authors have put together discussion guides for their books. However, if you're reading a book, think it's perfect for a book club, but can't find discussion questions for it anywhere, please reach out. We're happy to connect you with the author to have them speak at your book club or get you a discussion guide as quickly as possible.
Looking for a generic discussion guide to supplement your reading? We've put together a list of general questions for both fiction and nonfiction.
And now, a few of the books we highly recommend for your next book club pick.
The Kill Floor
Mystery, Crime, Detective Fiction
Frank "Flash" Gordon knows it's a detective's duty to speak for the victim, even when the world would rather they turn their back.
When the brash CEO of a huge swine factory is found dead on the property, most of the rural town wants to say "good riddance" and let the world move on one billionaire fewer. Frank can't shake the feeling that something is off. How can he solve the murder when the whole town seemed to want the victim dead? To make matters more complex, most of the clues point to a dead man.
As the case twists and turns, Frank struggles to maintain his marriage to local environmental activist Stephanie. Frank's hunt for the truth puts him, his marriage, and his career on the kill floor.
Perfect for fans of police procedural novels, this small town murder mystery weaves drama and intrigue among the vibrant midwestern community members and the new industries throwing their way of life off balance.
Lost Souls Recovered
Historical Fiction
One man's journey toward a better life.
When the wife of a plantation owner dies on a fateful night in 1887, John Billingsley makes the gut-wrenching decision to leave his mother and everything he knows to flee their slave cabin in Richmond, Virginia. Instructed by his mother to find a cousin in Mt. Hope, Alabama, John wends his way south in hope of a better life.
With the plantation owner pursuing him every step of the way, his journey is perilous. One misstep could cost him his freedom—and his life.
Inspired by a true story, Lost Souls Recovered is a mesmerizing tale of loss and gain, survival and self-reinvention, and one family's fight for freedom in the midst of the post-Civil War American South.
The Finder
Historical Mystery
Missing women, a disbanded cult, and a dodgy inheritance put Beatrix Patterson to the test.
Beatrix Patterson wanted to spend a morning organizing her thoughts over a nice cup of coffee and the local newspaper. But her carefully curated day is quickly interrupted when a friend of a friend asks for her help. Their friend is dead, and he wants to make sure there's no foul play. Cases keep piling in, as another family friend seeks his wife. Then a body is found at the base of local cliffs with no one to claim her.
Beatrix is good at finding things—people, the truth, missing evidence. As more Jane Does appear at the base of the cliff, each with similar ceremonial markings, Beatrix grows more passionate.
The deeper she digs, the less the pieces fit together. From a strange, disbanded cult to the drag queen desperate to claim an inheritance, Beatrix is soon stretched thin.
Surrounded by new neighbors with shadowed pasts, she has to wonder: will anyone believe her?
This historical mystery novel is packed with intrigue and beauty, set four years after World War II ends. Follow familiar characters Beatrix Patterson and Thomas Ling as they settle into a new life in Santa Barbara, California. The Finder is the second book in the Beatrix Patterson novels, however each book can be read as a stand-alone or in order of publication.
Wait: Thoughts and Practice in Waiting on God
Christian Living
What are you waiting for?
Everyone has endured the endless traffic light, the queue that goes nowhere, the elevator music piped through the phone line. But what of those periods in your life when everything seems on hold? When you can't do the next thing in your professional or personal life because you can't get to it?
Waiting—be it for health, a life partner, a child, a job—can be an agony. The persistently unrealized goal feels like an endless road. And hope's constant deferment can be exhausting. A firm answer against the thing you're hoping for—"no"—might be easier than this constant lack of closure. It might be easier to give it up.
But what if waiting means to be something else? Waiting doesn't have to mean idleness. Our prolonged state of need might teach us to look beyond the desired goal to something infinitely better. We find lessons on this throughout the Bible and, if we are paying attention, in our own lives.
Rather than fostering frustration, periods of waiting might have great truths to tell us. It might show us that hope is worthwhile. Waiting might even be a gift in and of itself.
Following the Red Bird
Christian Living
"Rademacher’s memoir is an honest portrayal of the confusion of discernment and the comfort of abiding and trusting in God."
– Publishers Weekly
In Following the Red Bird: first steps into a life of faith Kate Rademacher describes how she came to embrace a relationship with God after maintaining a pick-and-choose approach to spirituality for many years. Raised in a staunchly secular, liberal community, Christianity was never a path she had seriously considered.
Married to a devout Buddhist, Rademacher was sitting on a cushion at her husband’s meditation center one day when Jesus appeared unexpectedly in her consciousness and called her to follow him. She was baptized a year later to the day.
Part memoir and part meditation on Christian teachings, Following the Red Bird explores not only the why of Christianity, but also the how. How do we learn to listen for God’s voice? How do we apply Christian teachings to everyday life? How do we develop and sustain a relationship with Jesus? The image from the book’s title becomes a metaphor for the ways Rademacher slowly discovers answers to these questions as she stumbles into a new life in the church. Both the searcher and the long-time believer will benefit from her experience and insight.
Ground Truth
Traditional Mystery
Kate Chambers knows that cold cases are almost always a lost cause.
So when two skeletons are discovered in Pittsburgh and Kate believes that she has insider information about the crime, she joins Chief Detective Stefan Jablonsky in his investigation. She's determined to find justice for the family.
It doesn't take long to identify the victims: two siblings who had gone missing twenty years ago. As Kate digs into the neighborhood and Jablonsky starts chasing down leads, the list of suspects grows.
With the cold case reopened and witnesses dying soon after coming forward, it's clear that someone has a lot to lose. Kate and Jablonsky must work together to unravel the mysteries and make sure that whoever killed the siblings doesn't get away with murder a second time.
Perfect for fans of Louise Penny, Ann Cleeves, and Kerry Greenwood, this mystery will keep you guessing all the way to the end.
Looking Within
Medical Nonfiction
What would it be like to have x-ray vision?
Beyond diagnosing illness or injury, can images of ourselves tell us more about life?
What if you could see that an accident victim will never walk again; that a young mother has breast cancer; or that a teenager is brain-dead and will be removed from life support? Can imaging help us better appreciate the complexity of existence, our strengths and vulnerabilities? Does looking into the body give insight into what it means to be human? Would it allow you, at least indirectly, to glimpse evidence of the human soul?
Looking Within is the first mainstream collection of dramatic non-fiction narratives about discoveries in patients found by medical imaging. Ruff highlights the wonder and mystery of the human body, literally and metaphorically looking inside of others. Each story describes a patient in whom a life-changing discovery is made: tumors, stroke, domestic violence, substance abuse, sterility, unexpected pregnancy, infection, surgical complications, evidence of criminal activity, mental illness, even impending death. Dr. Ruff’s words, images, and insights help us see ourselves like never before.
More suggested books for your book club:
