Holiday Issue 2020

Page 1

Grand Prize

WINNER! INTERVIEWS, BOOK REVIEWS, 2020 TOPSHELF BOOK AWARD WINNERS, FINALISTS & MORE!

READ ABOUT LISA REGAN AND HER AWARD-WINNING BOOK ON PAGE 24

Holiday Edition, 2020

The Most Trusted Guide to TopShelf Authors & Books!


"...perfect for fans of Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven" ~Pacific Book Review

"An imaginative tale of redemption after death." ~Kirkus

"This simple, sweet tale about trust and transformation will touch the hearts of those who believe in angels on Earth and in heaven." ~Booklife

ISBN: 978-1462412136 $11.99


table of contents

masthead

interviews

CEO

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Robert G. Penner Edward Willett Elizabeth Eckford, Dr. Eurydice Stanley and Grace Stanley

reviews 17 17 17 19 19 19 21 21 21

Lillian’s Fan Murder on the Metro Overland Overcoming The First in Line The Lincoln Conspiracy The Secrets of Hawthorne House The Worst First Day Ridicula

48 49 49 49 51 51 51 53 53 53

Keith A. Katsikas Jr.

keith@topshelfmagazine.net

President & Publisher

Rebecca Katsikas

becky@topshelfmagazine.net

Lead Editor Kyle Magnus

editor@topshelfmagazine.net

Assistant Editor Sharon Isbell

editor@topshelfmagazine.net

Social Media Specialist

Stephan Katsikas

Contributors & Reviewers

In the Key of Nira Ghani Twelve Hours on the Block Destination North Pole Spirit Sight From Daylight to Madness The Children of Red Peak Strange Labour The Moonlit World Salamis Mommy, Why?

editorial policy TopShelf Magazine is a bookseller-focused trade journal packed with the crème de la crème in indie and traditionally published authors and books. There’s no junk here!

subscriptions TopShelf Magazine is o ered to bookstores and public libraries across the United States free of charge, and to any bookseller and library in the English speaking world for a

Mickey Mikkelson, Creative Edge Media Grady Harp Serena Soape Jenn Taylor Phyllis Pisanellie Linda Keenan Michael Rowland Bobby jo Calder Kris Miller Kyle Magnus Kathrin Hutson Miranda Oh Jenna Greene

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Hippie has always been carefree. Wherever life leads him, he goes. George Cramwell lived a normal New York City life, and he hardly ever left the city - until one fateful night. Freckles is one cool Rottweiler. And he always loved a good chase.

Their hearts were strong, and courage endless. Pearl Harbor survivor, Black Cat radioman, and decorated WW 2 veteran. ARM H. P. Lawrence, tells the true story of the ght against the Japanese in this compilation of his memoirs.

Though they travel di erent routes, their paths will align… And it will all be Ridicula Genre: Satirical Fiction Price: $11.99

According to the Wall Street Journal, teachers are leaving their positions in greater numbers than ever before. Truth: educators do not commit their passion to teach believing untold wealth awaits them. The purposely concealed story: national teacher shortage is due to a dominating hostile work environment, created by the people educators serve.

Genre: Education Administration Price: $19.99

What if you had the power to get every homeless person off the streets and give them shelter and support? What would you do?

Genre: Short Story Price: $4.99

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Genre: Military History Price: $11.99

“Shattered Earth provides both a big-picture look at our planet's environment in crisis along with a more individualistic-personal perspective, evident in his own experiences shared throughout this book.” ~Michael B. Davie, author of Great Advice!

Genre: Environmentalism Price: $14.95

It is the story of Tony, a bank branch manager who is addicted to casino gambling and as a consequence, is heavily in debt. He spends his time trying to figure a way to embezzle from his own bank then convinces a young man and woman to become modern-day Bonnie and Clyde and help him get back on his feet and fulfill a dream of moving to Las Vegas.

Genre: Crime Thriller Price: $18.75

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TOPShelf Spotlights


"Riveting... Impossible to put down." ~Barbara Monajem, USA Today Bestselling author of the Lady Rosamund Mysteries

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"With a novel approach and unforgettable charm, Kelly Oliver gives us an enticing mystery with unique characters who bring the World War 1 era into sharp focus. Fans of Susan Elia MacNeal will gobble up this series! Highly recommend." ~L.A. Chandler, author of the Art Deco Mysteries

"Take a plucky sleuth, a handsome soldier, a shady stranger, add mystery and a dash of espionage, shake well and you have Betrayal at Ravenswick. Fans of traditional mysteries will root for Fiona Figg as she navigates the treachery of London and a seemingly bucolic English country manor at a time when everything in England was changing." ~Liz Milliron, author of The Homefront Mysteries

"Betrayal at Ravenswick is a riveting start to Kelly Oliver's World War 1 mystery series. After a devastating divorce, the brilliant but insecure Fiona Figg throws herself heart and soul into espionage, and almost immediately finds herself investigating a murder. Oliver skillfully balances Fiona's wry humor and occasional downright comedy with heartrending reminders of teh appalling casualties of war. Readers will find this story impossible to put down and will eagerly await the sequel." ~Barbara Monajem, USA Today Bestselling author of the Lady Rosamund Mysteries

 

www.kellyoliverbooks.com


PFC Bell, a newly-minted U.S. Army MP, quickly discovers that there’s more than a war going on along QL 4, the main road from Saigon into the Mekong Delta. It’s old-fashioned crime and corruption. He doesn’t want to get involved, just serve out his time and go home, but life for an American MP in Vietnam in 1970 doesn’t work that way. QL 4 leads Bell deep into a swamp of deception, mayhem, and death that insinuates its way both into towns the MPs patrol each day and into the old French villa where they live.

A seasoned con-artist named Jimmy lands himself in a new high-end senior living complex, and is looking forward to hanging out with a hot chick he meets the first weekend there, when he suddenly drops dead of a heart attack, and arrives in Heaven.

Genre: Historical Fiction Price: $15.99

Genre: Inspirational Religious

Some things are better than living. Some things are worse than dying.

When Lochlann becomes nervous about his upcoming Rite of Wands ceremony, his brother Mierta McKinnon reassures him everything will be okay. But when Lochlann staggers out of his ceremony and refuses to use magic, Mierta McKinnon is determined to find out what really happened. Meanwhile, the kingdom of Vandolay is under attack by a dangerous, unidentified creature, and Mierta’s father, Mortain McKinnon, requests his son’s assistance to help aid the injured.

What matters most is how you meet the moment when history hangs in the balance.

Genre: Political Fiction Price: $19.99

Emily thought her college scholarship was a step forward… But it turned out to be a step backward... IN TIME Dear Maude is a multi-genre novel that blends time travel romance, mystery and intrigue, set in di erent time periods, with enough twists and turns to keep you turning the pages. It's the multi-award winning story of a naive college graduate, whose rst job is anything but conventional. Genre: Time Travel Romance Price: $14.99

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If you're wondering what Angels do all day, immerse yourself in a charming, inspirational story about the adventures in Heaven when an ordinary couple go about their lives on earth, while being watched over, prayed for, and loved every day. Fiction

Price: $11.99

Genre: Teen & YA Epic Fantasy Price: $10.95

Skyla Overland is proud to work for Overland Insurance, the company founded by her grandfather. Besides one nervewracking insurance fraud case in the past, her sheltered life is uneventful and just the way she likes it. Until one day, everything changes and she finds herself on the backseat of her own car, with her hands tied behind her back. Is she getting kidnapped? Who is he? And where is he taking her?

Genre: Dark Romantic Suspense Thriller Price: $14.99

REMINDER This is an interactive magazine. Click on a book cover to learn more or to purchase.

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TOPShelf Spotlights


~Kirkus


 

TOPShelf Discoveries

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REMINDER This is an interactive magazine. Click on a book cover to learn more or to purchase.


Australian author, Victoria Capper, takes us on a magnificent journey across the outback, giving the feeling of actually being there. Full Page Ad ISBN: 978-1925271492

ISBN: 978-1925962055

ISBN: 978-1925962062

 

www.victoriacapper.topshelfinsider.com


How does it feel to have your first full-length novel recognized and supported? Exciting and unexpected. To be named by Publishers Weekly as one of the best novels of 2020 is mind blowing. Its weird to even just say it out loud. I feel like we got lucky, the right reviewer picked it up on the right day and saw something there they liked.

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AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH BEST SELLING AUTHOR, ROBERT G. PENNER


It was inspired by a dream about the whole of our society leaving the cities to dig up the earth into strange monumental labyrinths. The book is a working out of what the ramifications of such an occurrence would be, written from the perspective of those who were excluded from this uncanny revolution.

being negotiated and renegotiated as we live, and it is a mistake to pretend they are xed or permanent, even if in the course of one particular life they do not seem to change very much.

As an author, asking your favorite part of your book, is like asking you to choose a favorite child, so what is a highlight in your book that you think will capture anyone who reads it? The main character Miranda is pretty remarkable. Self-contained, totally independent, observant, quiet. I think for the readers that have enjoyed the book that enjoyment begins with Miranda.

You call this book a “meditation on the meaning of humanity?” What does that mean? What I mean is that while it is in some ways a relatively straightforward road story it is ultimately not about a single character’s heroic journey but a story about the way we construct and reconstruct our identities depending on the circumstances we nd ourselves, and how ultimately the universe that does not appear to care about those identities one way or another.

As an author, asking your favorite part of your book, is like asking you to choose a favorite child, so what is a highlight in your book that you think will capture anyone who reads it? The main character Miranda is pretty remarkable. Self-contained, totally independent, observant, quiet. I think for the readers that have enjoyed the book that enjoyment begins with Miranda.

Is there a particular message you are trying to convey by telling this story? I think basically what I said above. One of the things that is most interesting to me about postapocalyptic situations is the disintegration of old social relations and the creation of new ones. What we can learn from thinking about such situations is that what seems xed about ourselves and our identities, mother-father-son-daughterwriter-nurse-teacher-lawyer-extrovertintrovert-Canadian-American-white-blackstraight-gay, are identities that are constantly

TOPShelf Interviews to-day life changes, how rapidly we get acclimatized to certain things, the way zoom became such a part of life so quickly is the obvious example, but also the countless myriad of traumatic and stressful experiences that shape the way people interact with each other. The way we think about childcare changed. The way we think about what it means to be at work. What does radical dislocating change do to our families? To our sense of selves? To our ethics? How does trauma play out in such situations? Those are themes in a lot of postapocalyptic writing but I pursue them pretty single-mindedly in Strange Labour without paying too much attention to the usual fantasies about dudes with mohawks and crossbows blasting about on a motorbikes.

You are the founder and editor of “Big Echo: Critical Science Fiction”. What is “critical” science fiction?

You’re Canadian, what is the one thing you miss the most since you moved? Universal health care. Don’t screw it up, Canada.

What prompted your move to the United States? My partner got a job teaching at a university down here so we up and moved.

Where does your love for science fiction come from? I think it is quieter. It is not as interested in the big how and why and what now questions, in who gains power and who loses it, so much as it is in the day-to-day consequences of major change. If we think about covid, the big policy issues and the numbers and the science are all very interesting and important, but just as surprising and unexpected are the ways day-

The short answer is “less fun.” A longer answer would be that the “critical” means writing that pays attention to contemporary power dynamics and how science ction can help us see things about our society that we might not see without it. Star Wars, for example, is fun, but because it is constructed almost entirely out of stereotypes it has tended to reinforce our ideas about the world in which it was created rather than question them. The Handmaid’s Tale on the other hand, makes for deeply uncomfortable reading because it deliberately is showing us how deeply embedded in our worldview sexism and misogyny are, and how religion can be used to make sure things stay that way. That is what the critical does. It makes you think about who you are right now, not about who you would like to be in a galaxy far far away. Read the complete interview with Robert G. Penner at:

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Holiday Edition 2020

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Tell us about your book and where the idea came from?


First, congratulations on the release of your latest book The Moonlit World, Book 3 in the Worldshapers series, just this last September. You now have over 28 Sci-Fi and Fantasy works under your belt. Was there anything with this newest release that surprised you? If you haven’t “grown used to” the process of a big new release in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, do you think you ever will? It didn’t surprise me, but it pleased me. I had a ton of fun writing this, and it's full of my sense of humor, so I hope it will be a ton of fun for readers, too. And have I grown used to being published in science ction and fantasy by a major publisher like DAW? I suppose I’m used to it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t nd it cool! 12

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AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AWARD WINNING AUTHOR, EDWARD WILLETT


I hope there will be more, but for the moment, this will be the last one from DAW books. My next book for them will be a big space-opera adventure called The Tangled Stars. Book 4 of the Worldshapers series is all planned out, though, so I hope to get it written and published next year, though I might be publishing it myself through my own Shadowpaw Press (www.shadowpawpress.com).

arise from the interaction of the characters, so in that sense, the story has de nitely morphed alongside them.

Do any genres of your currently published works come easier to you when it’s time to sit down and write? If so, why?

What inspired you to create this series based on alternate world and universes and the idea of Shaping these worlds within the Labyrinth? I set myself the task of designing a fictional universe in which I could tell many different kinds of stories set in many different kinds of worlds, but with a continuing character. I like to compare it to Doctor Who, which I think has the greatest storytelling conceit at its center of all time. Within the framework of Doctor Who, you can tell any kind of story, set in any time or place that has or will exist, or never has and never will exist. I wanted something like that, and the Labyrinth of Worldshapers was what I came up with.

Where did you come up with the idea for the Worldshapers series from the beginning? Has that initial spark of inspiration remained true throughout all three books, or has is morphed along the way as the story grew with your characters? Beyond the Doctor Who inspiration mentioned in the last questions, the seed from which Worldshapers grew was the idea of authors living inside the worlds they create. Now, in all honesty, I wouldn’t want to live in most of the worlds I’ve created, since horrible things are often taking place within them, but then again, if I were designing a world I was going to physically inhabit, I’d design them differently than when I’m designing them for maximum adventure. What would that be like, I wondered? That continues to be the heart of the story. Each world was Shaped by someone who now lives within that world, with varying degrees of ability to continue to Shape the world. That raises all sorts of interesting questions about reality and ethics and personal responsibility that I continue to explore while also, I hope, telling a riproaring story. Those questions were inherent in the design of the world, but they weren’t something I planned to talk about; they

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TOPShelf Interviews your novels would you direct them to first? That’s a hard one, so I’ll be wishy-washy and name a bunch of titles. If you like science fiction, either Marseguro (which won the Aurora Award for Canada’s best science fiction novel in 2009), or The Cityborn, my most recent stand-alone SF novel, both from DAW. If you like fantasy, then the Masks of Aygrima trilogy, which I wrote as E.C. Blake, or if you want a standalone, Magebane, which I wrote as Lee Arthur Chane. Again, both are published by DAW. If you like modernday YA fantasy, then the Shards of Excalibur series, which I just re-issued in e-book, with new print editions to follow eventually. And if you like something that feels like fantasy but also has a soupcon of science fiction—plus jokes!—then Worldshapers is for you.

What comes easier for you, writing standalone novels or writing consecutive series? The effort is the same for the rst book in a series as for a standalone novel. After that, series become harder because you have to make sure you don’t contradict what you said in earlier book. Continuity is the bugbear, for sure.

I’m fortunate in that my stories and ideas ow smoothly for the most part. I’m a massive plotter, which I think really helps me in this process. I nd I’m less likely to stumble or develop writer’s block if I have the majority of the story planned out.

What is your favorite element of The Moonlit World? What do you anticipate readers enjoying the most? In all of these books, my favorite element is the sense of humor. Shawna Keys is as steeped in geek culture as I am. She knows Star Trek and Star Wars and Buffy and The Lord of the Rings and Dracula and all of that kind of stuff (plus musical theatre!), and she makes jokes about them, sometimes just to herself, sometimes to the often bewildered Karl Yatsar (whose own pop-culture references are current as of around 1910, but no later). I get to indulge in wordplay and other such amusements, which are near and dear to my heart.

For readers new to Edward Willett, which of

What would you say is the most important aspect of writing fantastic Sci-Fi and Fantasy that sweeps readers off their feet into different worlds—or dimensions—while still maintaining that believability of character that still makes your novels feel so real and relatable? No matter when or where a story is set, what makes it work for readers is the believability of the characters. Human nature is a constant throughout history, however technology, laws, and even morality may change. As the author, you have to get inside your characters’ heads deeply enough to understand what motivates them and how they would feel in the situations you put them into. If you can grasp that accurately and convey it to readers, they, too, will identify with those characters. And once they’re locked into a character and invested in their actions, and as long as you keep that character behaving like an actual human being and not just a plot-puppet, readers are willing to buy into whatever fantasticality you may have imbued the world they inhabit with. Read the complete interview with Liz Butcher at:

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Is The Moonlit World the final book in the Worldshapers series, or will there be more?

Holiday Edition 2020

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The Worst First Day: Bullied While Desegregating Little Rock Central High introduces the next generation to Civil Rights Icon Elizabeth Eckford, a modern-day heroine. Eckford of the Little Rock Nine was the rst African American student to arrive at Central High September 4, 1957 to desegregate the school. An iconic image by photographer Will Counts captured Eckford surrounded by an enraged mob of segregationists, showing the world the “face of racism”, and it did not like what it saw. Eckford shared her tumultuous experiences at Central High after 60 years with mother-daughter team Dr. Eurydice and Grace Stanley to create their six-time award-winning book. The Worst First Day is written in verse and features graphic artwork, captivating photography from the era and compelling essays. Readers are encouraged by Eckford's resilience as she navigates a challenging year at Central High enduring hatred and bullying with grace and dignity. She and the Little Rock Nine understood the importance of their success on future generations. Readers are inspired to follow Elizabeth's lead and #WalkPastHate. Learn more at www.worst rstday.com.

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AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH 1ST-PLACE TOPSHELF AWARD-WINNING AUTHORS, ELIZABETH ECKFORD, DR. EURYDICE STANLEY AND GRACE STANLEY


What will people learn from this book about the power of resilience? (Eurydice) The entire book conveys the power of resilience. Readers are encouraged as they follow the devastating experiences endured by Civil Rights Icon Elizabeth Eckford of the Little Rock Nine while merely a teen. She withstood some form of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse every day while desegregating Central High in 1957, but she kept coming back to school (and serving as the poster child of resilience) because she and the Little Rock Nine knew how important it was for them to succeed. Although the Supreme Court ruled against segregation in 1954 in the Brown v. Board of Education case, many states refused to put the decision into effect. Elizabeth, the Little Rock Nine and the other “first” African American students to attend schools across the country were the trailblazers who implemented change. They did not quit and proved that Black and White children could attend school together, opening the doors to the beautiful diversity seen in schools today.

What has Elizabeth Eckford learned during these historic events and since? Has her perception changed over the years? (Elizabeth) Yes, my perception has changed. As a child, I didn’t realize that change would take such a long time to come. It came when more and more people took risk in order to force change such as the Freedom Riders and the Voting Rights Campaign in the rural south. Local people who became involved were aware of the possible economic costs to their families and that they could be killed. Another thing that continues to surprise me is that there are people who continue to deny what happened, both in Little Rock and in the Civil Rights movement. For example, there continues to be attempts at voter suppression. School desegregation was a long struggle that continued for decades in the courts and is still a battle. Obtaining equal access for all in the schools has been a continuing struggle.

What is your definition of a ‘hero’ or an ‘icon’? (Grace) Although we aren’t related by blood, I call Elizabeth Eckford “Auntie” because she has

mentored me my whole life. An icon is a symbol of something, and the photo of Auntie Elizabeth being surrounded by segregationists as she attempted to attend Central High is truly iconic. In fact, it was voted as one of the most iconic photographs of the twentieth

century! Auntie Elizabeth is a Civil Rights Icon because of what she endured as a member of the Little Rock Nine to help desegregate America’s schools. My Mom and Auntie Elizabeth both served in the Army. I consider both to be my “Sheros” due to their determination and the positive impact they have had on the lives of so many.

What is it like living in the public eye and being a part of history? (Elizabeth) Most of the time my life is very private except for the times when I am speaking in public, or when I am visiting on the campus of Central High School. When students recognize me on campus, it is very pleasing to me because it lets me know that the students are learning about what happened to us (the Little Rock Nine) at Central High and they are aware of American history. The questions they ask are insightful and engaging. I enjoy speaking to students.

Why did you join this trio to write this book, and what did you learn from the teamwork, sharing the story and the final outcome of launching the book? (All Three) Elizabeth noted, “Examining the past sometimes has been a painful struggle, but also that examination has helped me to eventually talk about it more freely. Hopefully, the book can be a way of showing young people their

TOPShelf Interviews voices too are important and what they do matters. Failing to act has consequences, too. Doing nothing counts.” We wrote this book as a multigenerational project. Each one of us brought something different to the table. There was great synergy that took place between the three of us. Elizabeth was happy that Grace and I were helping her tell her story, but how could we not? We consider it to be an important part of American history. The final outcome turned out to be wonderful and has opened so many doors of opportunity. For example, when we presented the book for the first time at the Little Rock Central High National Park Site in Little Rock, Arkansas in January of 2018, Professor Wendel Hunigan was in the audience with his wife Elvrie. He worked at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and was visiting his father-in-law in Little Rock at the time. After listening to our presentation, Professor Hunigan went back to Knox College and told the University President Dr. Teresa Amott about our book and Elizabeth’s life because Elizabeth was a Knox College alumna who attended for a year after she left Central High. He also shared Elizabeth’s contributions to society and recommended that she be given an Honorary Doctorate. His request was granted, and Elizabeth received an Honorary Doctorate from Knox College for her contributions to the civil rights movement on October 15, 2018! In 2019, Elizabeth and Eurydice travelled to New Zealand to share “The Worst First Day” with more than 4,000 students across the country. It was an incredible experience! We’re looking forward to Covid clearing up so we can get back on the road, but in the interim, we are open to Zoom presentations. Personally, Grace and I see every “Worst First Day” presentation as an opportunity for Elizabeth to receive the appreciation and adoration that she deserves from grateful students, teachers, and organizations. It is long overdue. Elizabeth Eckford’s sacrifices for this country were substantial. Every American should know her incredible story! Read the complete interview at:

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Holiday Edition 2020

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ISBN: 978-1468180213

ISBN: 978-1480030237

ISBN: 978-1495322334

ISBN: 978-1537610757

ISBN: 978-1619848498

ISBN:978-1642375824

"The streets of Washington, D.C. come alive. The book's intense action, realistic tone and memorable characters will keep readers engrossed in this thriller with a superb payoff."

"No one in the world is writing better than Marc Rainer, with pitchperfect prose full of intrigue, a favorite in suspense, elegant by anyliterary standard!"

~Kirkus Reviews

~ MCS Film Review Team

"A masterfully written thriller that left me longing for more. Five Stars!"

www.marcrainer.com

~ Donald Richard TopShelf Magazine


TOPShelf Reviews

Teen & YA

Paperback

$9.94

A FAMILY… A FAN… DESTINIES INTERTWINE IN THE UNIQUE TALE

Thriller

Hardcover

$27.99

Thriller

Paperback

$14.99

I COULDN'T READ FAST LIGHTS AN ADRENALINEFILLED, SLOW-BURNING FUSE! ENOUGH… A PAGETURNER… ENGROSSING What I loved about Murder on the Metro is

Liliana is 12, and like most 12-yearolds, believes that she is now old enough to make her own decisions. She has always wanted to explore the forest but has been told that she isn't old enough. She believes that the fan her mother gave her will help her find her way in the woods and keep her away from danger. One day while in the forest, she finds a magical tree that she believes holds secrets. She also believes that it has something to do with her fan. Her mother suddenly gets ill and has to go leave for treatment. Will this fan be the key to healing? What life lessons will Liliana learn along the way in this quirky tale of a wise young girl and the happening of family life and balance.

how Land uses a slow burn. The action begins immediately, but then the intricacies and plot twists sizzle until the heart-pounding and explosive climax. Jon Land does what no thriller author does better. Multiple plot lines have nothing to do with one another, magically weave into an intricate tapestry that makes perfect sense. Murder on the Metro takes us from the beaches of Isreal, where a terrorist drone strike kills hundreds and draws the attention of Ex- Mossad agent Lia Ganz, better known as the Lioness of Judah. We then meet Robert Britton, Ex SITQUAL agent, who accidentally stops a suicide bomber on the Washington Metro. Our heroes are eventually brought together in a political storm, ending in a race to save humanity. Jon Land grabs the reins of one of the best thriller franchises and lights an adrenaline- filled, slow-burning fuse that will ignite the world in explosive fury!

~JoAnna McGarvie, TopShelf Reviews

~Mark Aducci, TopShelf Review

Skyla works at her grandfather's insurance agency and has a nice lifestyle she probably takes for granted. When she finds herself in the backseat of her own beloved Jeep, racing down the road with an unknown man at the wheel yelling obscenities at her, she panics and wonders if she will live to see the next day. What happens next will keep you riveted to your seat as you feel her hope. And then, hopelessness, in equal measure. This is a "stay-up-late-until-you-finish-it" read in the best sense. Please note, though. Ramcy Diek explains at the beginning of the book that there are intense scenes of sexual assault that you might find disturbing. If that's something that triggers terrible things for you, don't read this book. As for me, I found those scenes necessary to explain the dire, helpless circumstances she faces as she struggles through her ordeal. This is a page-turner, and I found it to be very engrossing. My guess is that you will too. ~Linda Keenan, TopShelf Review

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Quill and Ink is a podcast for book lovers where hosts Miranda Oh and Jenna Greene take you behind the scenes to see how stories are created.

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Self-Help

Hardcover

$28.00

Thriller

Hardcover

$27.99

Historical

Hardcover

$29.99

STAYS WITH YOU LONG IMMENSELY DEEP AND ELOQUENTLY WRITTEN… AFTER THE FINAL PAGE SATISFYING READ…HIT HOME MESMERIZING STORY ON SO MANY LEVELS!! ‘Lead ins’ – that magical moment that The Lincoln Conspiracy begins with backstory Overcoming was an immensely deep and satisfying read. It showcases several stories - including the author’s - to inspire others to push through their own struggles with the information on what helped each individual highlighted in the book. It's relatable to everyone, even if your struggles aren't the same and I was impressed with the “retrospection" at the end of each story. Each story highlights an outstanding tenacity and resilience that is inspiring and motivating, as well as how the person got through their struggle - so that the reader can build their own toolbox. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The author’s story was my favorite! ~Linda Keenan, TopShelf Reviews

opens a fresh book with a few sentences that magnetizes the readers attention – are a learn through experience skill that is certainly one of Hank Phillippi Ryan’s polished tools Read one of Hank Phillippi Ryan’s novels and an addiction ensues. Not only is the prose eloquently written, but also the author’s ability to maintain suspense throughout this mesmerizing story makes this a completely satisfying journey into legalese and psychological confrontations. She ranks in the top tier of contemporary mystery authors. Highly Recommended. ~Grady Harp, for Creative Edge

about Abraham Lincoln's rise in the political landscape. Even in the early stages of the book, I was glued. Then Brad and Josh began to write about Lincoln's win in the Democratic presidential primary and the political upheaval between the north and the south, and I was riveted. The Lincoln Conspiracy tells the story about the rift between the slave-owning south and the anti-slave sentiment in the north and how Lincoln's win in the 1860 presidential race threw gas on the flames of this political fire. Many in the south band together to make sure Lincoln never makes it from Illinois to Washington DC to take office. I was amazed to discover who the major players were on both sides of this conspiracy to kill the president-elect. From Lincoln's early years to his rise in politics to his incredible and frightful railroad trip from Illinois to Washington D.C. for his inauguration, The Lincoln Conspiracy will have you spellbound and losing sleep as you breathlessly turn pages towards an absolutely stunning climax. ~J.M. LeDuc, TopShelf Review

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Holiday Edition 2020

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"...Thanks to the entertainment level and the rhyming literacy skills it encourages, Do Ants Wear Pants? makes a great at-home or classroom read-aloud." ~The Children's Book Review

"...Do Ants Wear Pants? is a wonderful book with illustrations that children will love. It also inspires young imaginations and is a great tool for introducing new words to a child's vocabulary." ~ Edith Wairimu, Readers' Favorite $11.99

ISBN: 978-1948822497

"...I think this is a book that all young children could fall in love with as they read it, and I would recommend that parents and kids read it together. This book gets a five-star rating from me!" ~ Rylanne Burdette for Readers' Favorite


TOPShelf Reviews

Fantasy

Paperback

$14.99

History

Paperback

$19.99

Satire

Paperback

$11.99

A HAIR-RAISING TALE… HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

CAN’T REMEMBER A BOOK THAT MOVED ME SO MUCH!

UPBEAT, ENTERTAINING… THROUGHLY ENJOYABLE!

The Secrets of Hawthorne House is a hairraising tale perfect for young readers and lighthearted adults looking for an enjoyable and easy read. Fifteen-year-old Matt Mitchell is having one of the worst summers of his life. His torment starts when his mother dies in a tragic car accident. Matt's grief-stricken father cannot remain in the family's seaside cottage, so he moves Matt and his twin sister as far away as possible––far from the place they all loved. But their relocation to the small town of Hawthorne only makes life more challenging for Matt. There are bullies at his new school who are going out of their way to make Matt's life unbearable. Making matters worse, rumors have crossed his ears that an evil, murdering witch inhabits the run-down Victorian mansion next door. There is a lyrical, almost playful quality to the author's voice. Most of the time, I would say this is a problem; however, in this case, it not only works; it's a real joy to read. I must confess, the copy of the book that we reviewed did have a few typographical errors. However, in good conscience, I cannot rob this fantastic book of the rating that it deserves. Now we wait for book two! Please, Mr. Firesmith, do hurry!

I cannot remember reading a book that moved me so much, evoking so many emotions, from anger to disbelief, which made me stop and think about my own approach to life. To read about the experiences the black community was going through in the 1950s from someone's perspective, living through the bullying, intimidation, and fearing for their lives, put's one's life in view. The segregation was unbelievable, and the visceral hatred and violence and injustice incredible. Yet despite the many injustices the black students faced, they continued to hold their heads up high and with dignity. This book is written from the voices of the authors, just before the reforms initiated by the protests of Rosa Parks in 1955 and Martin Luther King's "I have a dream', speech in 1963. Thank you, Mrs. Eckford and Ms. Stanley, for such a great read. I admire your reserve and dedication in having to relive the horrors and showing that your beliefs can overcome the adversities you came across is a true testament to your character and legacy.

A really upbeat, entertaining book that is throughly enjoyable! Hippie has always been carefree. Wherever life leads him, he goes. George Cramwell lived a normal New York City life, and he hardly ever left the city - until one fateful night. Freckles is one cool Rottweiler. And he always loved a good chase. Though they travel different routes, their paths will align… And it will all be Ridicula! Ridicula is truly an entertaining read! With several unique and fun stories, seemingly separate, that end up coming together in a crazy and wild ride!

~Keith Katsikas, TopShelf Reviews

~Jenn Taylor, TopShelf Review

~Michael Rowland, TopShelf Review

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Holiday Edition 2020

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The Alaska Territory, 1925. When Yura Noongwook’s husband abandons her and her thirteenyear-old son, she vows to win him back and destroy the woman who stole his heart. They embark on an epic cross-country quest that leads them to the Nevada desert, where they meet a man who has turned into the last thing anyone expected him to become …

No one believed it was possible to commandeer an airliner in ight from a landbased location, then Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean, giving rise to The Drone Theory among U.S. intelligence agencies. Since that fateful ight, dozens of other airliners have gone missing without a trace. Is it coincidence? The Drone Theory Taskforce has one directive: Determine whether U.S. Top Secret technology—lost when a CIA drone went down in Iran—is being used to hijack airliners in ight, and if so, recover the technology.

Genre: Christian Fiction Price: $12.95

Genre: TechnoThriller Price: $11.99

Abandoned and left at a local shelter, a Maine Coon kitten awaits an uncertain fate. During his stay, Khan befriends a wise old tomcat, who speaks about his experiences of life on the streets, bringing comfort to the frightened kitten. Four days later, to Khan's horror, the shelter workers take his friend away to the Big Sleep, as the tomcat called it, leaving Khan scared and alone. Just before Khan's time is up, a man enters the shelter and adopts Khan, bringing him to a new home…

On holiday in Scotland, Lara MacInnes discovers the journals of a woman who loved Lara's own very-great grandfather, Lachlan, in the mid-eighteen hundreds. With the help of Iain Glendenning, a handsome Highlander, Lara traces the path of this long-ago romance. Their research unearths mystery and murder. Uncovering the truth, a hundred and fty years later, is a torturous and frustrating trail. Along the way, Lara and Iain fall in love. Can they put an end forever to the feud between the MacInnes and Glendenning Clans that has persisted since the Battle of Culloden?

Genre: Christian Fiction Price: $12.95

Genre: Historical Romance Price: $17.99

Fifty years ago this year, six friends and I were determined to get away from the predictable, miserable summer weather in Great Britain. We wanted to venture further for our holidays, traveling to a country where we were guaranteed blue sky, endless sunny days, warm nights, golden sand, Azure crystal waters, bikini clad bronze bodies, and ice-cold beers...To commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime holiday I have recounted our experiences from a journal written as we drove through the heart of France and Spain in 1969.

Set in a world where women of the KKK betray their neighbors, horrors of unscrupulous foundling homes come to light, and buried mysteries are not all that hidden. It's 1921 in Georgia. Mute since birth, fteen-year-old Willow Stewart has one task to complete—to leave her Appalachian homestead and nd a traveling preacher and her brother, Briar. When a peddler kidnaps her, she escapes only to face an unjust arrest and penal servitude. The laws are not on her side…

Genre: Memoir Price: $7.80

Genre: Historical Fiction Price: $12.50

Seven Lives Inexorably Intertwined. Over Eighty-Six Years. That Will Bring a Revelation Beyond What Any of Them Could Imagine.

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TOPShelf Spotlights


~Amazon Reviews Reviews ~Amazon

"...the book I wish I would or could have written." ~Thomas Olsen, Olsen, PhD PhD (Clinical (Clinical Psychologist) Psychologist) ~Thomas

"Great read. Plenty of useful skills and a great resource for understanding why they work." ~Jon Ahern, Ahern, PhD PhD (Clinical (Clinical Psychologist) Psychologist) ~Jon

Integrating the best of eastern philosophy and western science, psychologist Bryan Bushman provides easy-to-remember steps to help people overcome emotional and physical pain and develop a more balanced approach to living. The perfect book for the treatment of depression, anxiety, chronic illness, emotional trauma, relationship problems or addictive behaviors. 'One of the best self-help books I've ever read' and "Perfect for those who aren't usually fans of self-help books," per reader reviews. Find it on Amazon (Kindle price $3.99), Barns and Noble.com (Nook price $4.99) and Ingram. Read the first two chapters for free at www.drbryanbushman.com.


With his career on thin ice and fresh ink on his divorce papers, Sacramento PD Detective Connor Parks goes searching for solace at the bottom of a bottle… and winds up in the arms of a beautiful woman. By morning she’s gone, and the one clue she left behind sends Connor on a desperate mission to unravel a decade-old mystery—her abduction. Presumed dead for the last ten years, Claire Fletcher has been living her life as “Lynn,” a woman in the terrifying grip of her captor. After her unforgettable night with Connor, Claire clings to the hope that she’ll see him again, that he’ll follow her into the dark. But anyone who gets close to Claire has a way of turning up dead…and she’s unwittingly made Connor next on the list. Before long, it becomes disturbingly clear: nding Claire Fletcher isn’t just going to be dangerous—it could be deadly.

Lisa with Mr. Phillip

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See our exclusive Interview with Lisa Regan and o cial TopShelf Review of Finding Claire Fletcher in our next issue of TopShelf Magazine!

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Finding Claire Fletcher


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Lisa Regan is the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series as well as several other crime ction titles. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master of Education degree from Bloomsburg University. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, and Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, daughter and Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip.

BIO

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Children/Action

Children/Adventure

Young readers will love the legend of the great American aviator, Chuck Yeager, who grew up from humble beginnings to become the first person to fly a plane faster than the speed of sound. This beautifully illustrated book shows scenes of Chuck as a boy in rural West Virginia, describes his wild flights as a test pilot in the U. S. Air Force, and recounts the terrifying bumping and rattling flights as he neared the "sound barrier." The book presents a chapter on what the sound barrier is and why it is so dangerous. The reader can experience, with Chuck, the…

Exploring a mysterious cave in the mountains behind their house, John and his sister Sarah are shocked to discover they’ve time traveled to ancient Egypt!

Children/Animals

Children/Coming of Age

Help, there is a groundhog in my backyard! Is it dangerous? Discover the secret world of the groundhog through the eyes of Margot the woodchuck while gaining a close-up view of wildlife in whimsical photo illustrations. Do you want to know more about the woodchuck? Then this book packed with information about groundhogs (who are also called woodchucks), is for you! Margot the woodchuck reveals all her secrets. She describes how groundhogs are born, what they look like and who is in their family. She talks about how…

Charley's Horse is the story of a young girl's journey through obstacles, isolation, and trials of courage. It's about the chasm between dreams and reality, about the difficulty of fitting in, overcoming fear and insecurity, and finding a way to stay true to herself. It's also about horses and riding, from an author who spent twenty-five years doing nothing but. This is not just a novel for horse-mad girls. Their mothers and grandmothers will find themselves in this honest and heartwarming coming of age story…

Now they must work together to find a way back home from an ancient civilization of golden desert sand and a towering new pyramid, without parents to save them. The adventures abound— cobras, scorpions, a tomb robber, and more! The two kids have to trust each other, make friends who can help, and survive the challenges thrown at them…

REMINDER This is an interactive magazine. Click on a book cover to learn more or to purchase.

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Pages 26 - 44 list all the Top-Placing Winners from the 2020 TopShelf Book Awards!


All winning books will be reviewed and will ultimately appear online or in a future issue of TopShelf Magazine.

www.TopShelfMagazine.net

Children/Concept

Children/Educational

Norman the Button loved his job. He helped keep his coat closed and his person warm. This made Norman feel needed and that made him very happy. But after falling o his coat Norman feels depressed, he is convinced he must nd a new job to feel needed again. He tries several new jobs but none are a good t. After being burned as a re ghter and nearly drowned as a plumber, Norman almost decides to give up and let himself be recycled. Once Norman realizes his greatest strength is in being a button…

The Dragon Grammar Book is the perfect grammar study guide to help readers learn the rules of grammar and improve language art skills with ease and enjoyment. From multi-awardwinning children's fantasy author, Diane Mae Robinson, The Dragon Grammar Book provides a fun and engaging approach to learning English grammar through easy-to-follow lessons, humorous example sentences, and chapter quizzes to conquer all those tricky grammar rules…

Children/Fable

Children/Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Junah Tales o ers animal stories like Aesop did but now with life lessons that are modern, universal, and wellness-oriented. Like other classic fables, each fable is a story within a larger story -- in this case of Junah's heroic quest to nd the secret of the garden. The fables are written for 5th grade (age 10) and up, although younger kids may enjoy having the fables read to them. These stories are a great way to teach natural, holistic values to children. The detailed illustrations will help them imagine what's happening in…

D.J. and her dad moved far from the small town and only home she ever knew. Now she’s starting middle school in the city with kids she’s never met. She tries to make friends, but they all appear to be slaves to screen time. D.J. just likes to garden, nurturing plants, watching them grow and thrive. It seems she’ll never nd a way to t in, but then she awakens in a gorgeous garden where she meets Persephone, Goddess of Spring. She must be dreaming; her new friend can’t possibly be real— and what could she know…

TOPShelf

Holiday Edition 2020

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Winners are listed by category, in alphabetical order, for the category the book won.


Children/Grade 4th-6th Exploring a mysterious cave in the mountains behind their house, John and his sister Sarah are shocked to discover they’ve time traveled to ancient Egypt! Now they must work together to find a way back home from an ancient civilization of golden desert sand and a towering new pyramid, without parents to save them. The adventures abound— cobras, scorpions, a tomb robber, and more! The two kids have to trust each other, make friends who can help, and survive the challenges thrown at them…

Children/Grade K-3rd ”A truly unique tale about Santa's reindeers falling ill and a group of dolphins coming to the rescue to save the day! The story demonstrates the themes of team work and resourcefulness in a positive and effective way. In addition, the illustrations were a nice compliment to the story, perfectly depicting what happens as the story progresses. Overall, this book is a comical, upbeat story that is perfect for children and families to read during the holiday season together!" - Elite Choice

Children/Mystery

Children/Mythology/Fairy Tale

Legend has it: anyone who sees the Demon Cat of Capitol Hill will be cursed with bad luck. 10-yearold Fina Mendoza just saw it. And the last thing her family needs right now is more bad luck. Fina’s mom just died. So she and her older sister Gabby just moved to Washington, D.C. to live full-time with Papa, a congressman from California. Fina loves riding the Capitol subways, grabbing snacks in congressional o ces, and especially spending more time with Papa – even though he’s always on the phone. But…

D.J. and her dad moved far from the small town and only home she ever knew. Now she’s starting middle school in the city with kids she’s never met. She tries to make friends, but they all appear to be slaves to screen time. D.J. just likes to garden, nurturing plants, watching them grow and thrive. It seems she’ll never nd a way to t in, but then she awakens in a gorgeous garden where she meets Persephone, Goddess of Spring. She must be dreaming; her new friend can’t possibly be real— and what could she know…

Children/Non-Fiction

Children/Picture Book

The Worst First Day is an antibullying book that promotes resilience and encourages those being bullied. Eckford shares her harrowing experiences at Central High to embolden readers sharing the tenacity of the Little Rock Nine despite constant attacks. They remained tenacious and survived the ordeal with dignity despite indescribable fear. Eckford and the Little Rock Nine are true inspirations. Eckford shares how an unlikely friendship with two empathetic students saved her life. Their example encourages…

Paul is a fun-seeking snowman who loves going on adventures with friends. In this introductory volume to the award-winning Snowman Paul series, Paul meets Dan for the rst time, and they become best friends in an adventure- lled winter wonderland. This rhyming picture book teaches your little ones the valuable lessons of true friendship, courage and being comfortable with who you are. Stunningly illustrated with fullpage watercolors by awardwinning illustrator Joanna Pasek, this adorable story in verse…

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Children/Preschool

Children/Religious

Cami Kangaroo loves sweets. In fact, she can't stop thinking about them. She loves them sooo much, that even after Mommy catches her eating from a bucket of ice cream, she still nds ways to sneak them. Will Cami ever be able to follow the rules about junk food? Cami Kangaroo is a funny, uplifting story about the importance of honesty and following the rules, even when you don’t want to! Changing our health habits and those of our children doesn’t happen overnight. It helps to have supportive friends and…

Angel on Assignment follows the angels from the rst Christmas to Easter-- from the playground to bedtime and explores the ways guardian angels look out for boys and girls today. With beautiful illustrations and rhyming verse, award winning Angel on Assignment encourages children to act as angels in disguise for friends who may need help. This book is sure to be an enchanting addition to a young child's library including classics like God Gave Us Heaven and The Berenstain Bears & The Joy of Giving…

Children/Social Issues

Fiction/Action

When Sarah Simpkins is teased about her shadow in the school playground, she nds herself wishing she didn't have one. That night she has the chance to make the wish come true. But will losing her shadow really make her happy? Nick Jones' critically acclaimed debut children's picture book deals with issues such as bullying and self-con dence from a refreshingly original angle. Illustrated beautifully by Si Clark, Sarah s Shadow taps into the young reader s imagination and leaves them with a powerful…

Two years have passed since humankind faced extinction ... Two cousins are leaving the protection of their underground bunker for the rst time, after a cataclysmic war and unrelenting disease ravaged the earth. On the other side of North America, a young survivalist is leaving the seclusion of his cabin deep in the woods, traveling with his aging canine companion, Winston. For individual reasons, these men are traveling east, where the fragmented lives of a small number of survivors will soon be decided by the choices of a…

Fiction/Adventure

Fiction/Animals

Reeling from guilt and grief over a tragic loss, can an ambitious pilot earn the respect she craves? Tris Miles is held back by her job as a First Officer for tiny Clear Sky Airlines. She needs to be a Captain--the only way she knows to prove her worth as a pilot and atone for a deadly mistake that cost the life of a loved one. Tris accepts a prestigious job with Tetrix, Inc. where she hopes to advance quickly. But as the company's first woman pilot, she encounters resistance, marginalization, and harassment on a daily basis. Fortunately…

In ancient India, tragedy leads a young elephant trainer, Ashoka, to perilous adventures in distant lands. On the way, he befriends a special elephant. He and that elephant lead mighty Hannibal's elephant army over the Alps and down the back of Rome. Though a time of constant danger and uncertainty, Ashoka nds beauty and kindness while helping others enslaved for the pleasure of ruthless rulers. To survive this remarkable journey, the elephant trainer calls upon his unique ways with the great greys and a strength known only to…

TOPShelf

Holiday Edition 2020

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2020 TopShelf Book Awards


Fiction/Anthology

Fiction/Audiobook

A video store that transports you through time. Immortality from a microwave oven. A trip across the Atlantic, from the comfort of an armchair. From the mind of Shawn Patrick Cooke comes a collection of stories that brush gently against reality. Featuring both previously published works and never-before-seen stories, this debut collection ranges from America's industrial past to a potluck at the end of the world; from windswept moors to suburban homes, from fairy tales to harsh reality—while shining a light on the core of what it means to be human…

Who’s the greatest basketball player ever?Madness is the intriguing story of Hank Luisetti, the predawn of March Madness, and how modern basketball was born.FINALIST, 2019 TopShelf Book AwardsSOLO MEDALIST WINNER: Autobiography / Biography / Memoir - 2019 New Apple Summer eBook AwardsBRONZE MEDAL: Young Adult Category - 2019 Readers' Favorite Book AwardsFINALIST, Sports - 2019 International Book AwardsFINALIST - 2019 Topshelf Book Awards"I would say author Mike DeLucia is to the sports…

Fiction/Crime

Fiction/Cultural

With his career on thin ice and fresh ink on his divorce papers, Sacramento PD Detective Connor Parks goes searching for solace at the bottom of a bottle…and winds up in the arms of a beautiful woman. By morning she’s gone, and the one clue she left behind sends Connor on a desperate mission to unravel a decade-old mystery —her abduction. Presumed dead for the last ten years, Claire Fletcher has been living her life as “Lynn,” a woman in the terrifying grip of her captor. After her unforgettable night with…

Based on the archaeological and anthropological record, this story is a vivid and convincing drama depicting the lives of a small clan of ancient puebloans of northern New Mexico. It is set in the thirteenth century, long before Europeans reached the Southwest. The narrative is fresh, alive and fast-paced. The prose is highly polished and readable. Its strong, nely-drawn characters come to life showing us how they faced the challenges of climate, landscape, and survival. The themes of birth, death, love, hope, courage, fear, su ering…

Fiction/Drama

Fiction/Dystopia

On the highest point of an island, in a house clinging to the edge of a cli , live Mary Rose and Harold Grapes, a retired couple still mourning the death of their son thirty- ve years before. Weighed down by decades of grief and memories, the Grapeses have never moved past the tragedy. Then, on the eve of eviction from the most beautiful and dangerously unstable perch in the area, they’re uprooted by a violent storm. The disbelieving Grapeses and their home take a free-fall slide into the whitecapped sea and oat away…

Two years have passed since humankind faced extinction ... Two cousins are leaving the protection of their underground bunker for the rst time, after a cataclysmic war and unrelenting disease ravaged the earth. On the other side of North America, a young survivalist is leaving the seclusion of his cabin deep in the woods, traveling with his aging canine companion, Winston. For individual reasons, these men are traveling east, where the fragmented lives of a small number of survivors will soon be decided by the choices of a…

REMINDER This is an interactive magazine. Click on a book cover to learn more or to purchase.

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2020 TopShelf Book Awards Fiction/Fantasy

Fiction/General

The skein of Hank Jensen's fate seemed xed, riddled with pain, deceit, and loneliness. Two monsters wrapped in human esh took everything he cared about, warping his life's tapestry with a dark curse, abducting his family in the dead of night. Compelled by love, Hank must follow them across a shimmering portal into an unknown land. Unprepared for what awaits him there, he ounders…until he meets a gure straight out of Norse mythology who o ers to help. His quest is simple: overcome all the obstacles in…

He's a baseball player with dreams of pitching in the major leagues, but he also needs to make ends meet and take care of his family. It's America in the 50s and change is coming fast. September 1953… Dancer Stonemason is three days from his major league debut. With his wife and son cheering him on, he pitches the greatest game of his life. And then loses everything. Told against the backdrop of America's postwar challenges from Little Rock to the Bay of Pigs to Viet Nam, American Past Time is the story…

Fiction/Historical

Fiction/Holiday

Ariella Bannon has no choice: she must put her precious children, Liesl and Erich, on that train or allow them to become prey for the Nazis. Berlin 1939. When her husband doesn’t come home one day, Ariella realises that the only way she can ensure her Jewish children’s safety is to avail of the Kindertransport, but can she bear to let them go? A thousand miles away, Elizabeth Klein has closed herself o from the world. Losing her husband on the last day of the Great War, and her child months later, she cannot, will not, love again…

”A truly unique tale about Santa's reindeers falling ill and a group of dolphins coming to the rescue to save the day! The story demonstrates the themes of team work and resourcefulness in a positive and effective way. In addition, the illustrations were a nice compliment to the story, perfectly depicting what happens as the story progresses. Overall, this book is a comical, upbeat story that is perfect for children and families to read during the holiday season together!" - Elite Choice

Fiction/Horror

Fiction/Humor/Comedy

All passengers, please prepare for departure… An employee, a cop, and six passengers; a prisoner, a stowaway, and a madman. These are the people waiting at the Lawton bus terminal. Mostly late-night travelers who want nothing more than to get to their destinations, and employees who want nothing more than to get through the graveyard shift. But when a strange, otherworldly fog rolls in, the night changes to nightmare. Because something hides in the fog. Something powerful…

Catriona Masterton's ancé, Ethan, is Normal. He plans trips six months in advance and arrives at the airport a minimum of three hours early. He purchases life insurance, luggage insurance, and always opts for the extended warranty. He's responsible, reliable, and would make any woman a wonderful life partner. In other words, he's the exact opposite of the Masterton clan. Cat's mother has a kitchen gadget fetish, a father whose best friends are taxidermied eld mice, and a super stoner man-child…

TOPShelf

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"The Necklace is really a wonderful fairy tale for adults with exciting twists and a breathtaking adventure in an unforgettable past." ~ Advise Books of Italy

"Wow! I read all the books in two days!!! I have never been so captivated by a book ever! Thank you so much!" ~ Amazon Review

www.lindasrice.com


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Fiction/Inspirational

Fiction/Intrigue

On the highest point of an island, in a house clinging to the edge of a cli , live Mary Rose and Harold Grapes, a retired couple still mourning the death of their son thirty- ve years before. Weighed down by decades of grief and memories, the Grapeses have never moved past the tragedy. Then, on the eve of eviction from the most beautiful and dangerously unstable perch in the area, they’re uprooted by a violent storm. The disbelieving Grapeses and their home take a free-fall slide into the whitecapped sea and oat away…

After a temperamental meltdown on stage, Sean Hightower, a regretful and resentful “one-hit wonder” rock musician hoping for a comeback, returns to his girlfriend’s condo seeking comfort from the woman he loves. But after letting himself in, he discovers her naked body on the bed, murdered from a bullet to the head. When the police detective arrives and sees the two taped pieces of paper on the wall with the word, “hello,” on one and “goodbye,” on the other, he realizes that the renowned…

Fiction/Literary

Fiction/Military

On the highest point of an island, in a house clinging to the edge of a cli , live Mary Rose and Harold Grapes, a retired couple still mourning the death of their son thirty- ve years before. Weighed down by decades of grief and memories, the Grapeses have never moved past the tragedy. Then, on the eve of eviction from the most beautiful and dangerously unstable perch in the area, they’re uprooted by a violent storm. The disbelieving Grapeses and their home take a free-fall slide into the whitecapped sea and oat away…

A broken man will be forged in the ames of war…It is late 1862, and the United States has been ripped apart by civil war for over a year with no end in sight. The war is a distant thought to Johannes Wolf, a young German immigrant with a crippled leg keeping him o the muster lists. Desperately dredging the gutters for recruits, Wolf cons his way into the depleted, demoralized, and poorly run Union army, and is promptly placed in the undesirable F Company of the 13th Michigan Cavalry. Wolf’s company nd…

Fiction/Mystery

Fiction/Mythology

Detective Harry Hunter of Miami PD’s homicide squad throws himself into a case no one asked him to solve. Four teenagers from one of Miami's a uent neighborhoods are murdered on a boat. Another is found in a dumpster. All ve of them go to the same school and are on a list of witnesses to another crime. Because he's in bad standing with his boss, Harry is given the task of protecting a possible future victim, but Harry isn't always known to follow his boss's orders. Soon, he'll risk everything while racing to…

The skein of Hank Jensen's fate seemed xed, riddled with pain, deceit, and loneliness. Two monsters wrapped in human esh took everything he cared about, warping his life's tapestry with a dark curse, abducting his family in the dead of night. Compelled by love, Hank must follow them across a shimmering portal into an unknown land. Unprepared for what awaits him there, he ounders…until he meets a gure straight out of Norse mythology who o ers to help. His quest is simple: overcome all the obstacles in…

REMINDER This is an interactive magazine. Click on a book cover to learn more or to purchase.

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2020 TopShelf Book Awards Fiction/New Adult

Fiction/Paranormal

Meet Edger (Ed-jer), a twentysix-year-old gadget retail dork destined to become the world’s rst superhero! His superpower: the ability to channel the Collective Unconscious, a psychic network connecting the living and the dead. In his arsenal are the skills of Bruce Lee, the strength of Samson, the wisdom of the ages...and the dancing chops of Michael Jackson—including that one twisty foot move, crotch grab, and fedora tilt. But there's a catch… Like every psychic…

Fifteen-year-old Matt Mitchell was having the worst summer imaginable. His misery started when his mother died in a senseless car accident. Unable to remain in the family's memorylled seaside cottage, Matt's grieving father moved Matt and his twin sister as far as possible from the ocean they loved. But their relocation to the small town of Hawthorne, Indiana only made Matt's life more di cult. Three bullies at his new high school dedicated themselves to making him miserable. To top it o , Matt heard that the recluse…

Fiction/Religious

Fiction/Romance

Seven Lives Inexorably Intertwined. Over Eighty-Six Years. That Will Bring a Revelation Beyond What Any of Them Could Imagine. The Alaska Territory, 1925. When Yura Noongwook's husband abandons her and her thirteenyear-old son, she vows to win him back and destroy the woman who stole his heart. They embark on an epic cross-country quest that leads them to the Nevada desert, where they meet a man who has turned into the last thing anyone expected him to become … David Gold. …

It’s Mardi Gras time in New Orleans. Attending a masquerade ball, wealthy fashion designer Caterine Doucette, dressed as a shimmering ice princess, has her cool façade shattered when she encounters Bayou-born ex-cop Remi Michaud, disguised as the darkly handsome pirate Jean La tte. Their true identities hidden, the princess and the pirate come together in an explosion of passion and desire. But when fantasy turns to cold reality, Caterine panics and disappears into the night…

Fiction/Romance (Clean)

Fiction/Science Fiction

The best dreams are those that come from the heart. Days before he must ship out to prepare for a dangerous mission in the Paci c, Lieutenant Zane West crosses Oregon to see a good friend who has been wounded in action. He arrives at the veteran’s hospital, only to discover the army captain has disappeared without a trace. As Zane searches for answers, he nds himself captivated by a beautiful and spunky nurse who o ers her help. Is she the key to his future, or an unwelcome distraction from his important…

Forget everything you ever thought was real… From the mind of freethinker, researcher, and author of Twilight's Last Glory, Stephen Perkins, comes a sci fantasy, historical ction novel that will make you question the ideas you believe in. What if... our entire history from the biblical Garden of Eden until now, is due to a love/hate relationship between two ancient gods named Apollonia and Artemis?When they're in love... peace reigns across the world. When they're in con ict... chaos and calamities are…

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Fiction/Short Story/Novella

Fiction/Social Issues

This exciting volume debuts two intriguing mysteries featuring the dapper and clever private eye, Armand Arnol ni, as he investigates ba ing art-related crimes entailing forgery and theft, a spine-chilling tale about John Vagis, a moving and edifying tale of two airmen during the Korean War with an unexpected twist, historical narratives featuring such notables as Augustus Caesar, FDR, and Winston Churchill, as well as other engaging tales.

In a world so full of lonely people and broken hearts, Chris Hawkins, a black sound engineer from Chicago’s south side, and Sidonie Frame―white, suburban-raised, the head manager of one of the city’s most elite venues―meet by work-related happenstance and fall quickly in love, convinced that by that act alone they can inspire peace, joy, and happiness in the world around them. The world, however, has other ideas. Their meeting is serendipitous. Chris, who owns and runs his company, largely spends his…

Fiction/Southern

Fiction/Supernatural

As a tornado threatens their town, a stubborn old man who has lost his son teams up with a troubled young soldier to deliver a jukebox to the wealthy developer having an a air with the soldier's wife. It's July 2003 and the small town of Maple Springs, Missouri is su ering through a month-long drought. Dancer Stonemason, a longforgotten hometown hero still grieving over the death of his oldest son, is moving into town to live with his more dependable younger son. He hires Wayne Mesirow, an Iraq war veteran…

Meanwhile, Back in Deadwood… the mystery and mayhem continue. Between the butchered body parts, creepy killers, dogged detectives, ghoulish ghosts, and everpresent TV cameras, Violet Parker’s purple boots are itching to skedaddle. But there is no escaping another murder investigation or her new deadly reputation. Not even if both risk the lives of those she loves most.

Fiction/Suspense

Fiction/Thriller

All passengers, please prepare for departure… An employee, a cop, and six passengers; a prisoner, a stowaway, and a madman. These are the people waiting at the Lawton bus terminal. Mostly late-night travelers who want nothing more than to get to their destinations, and employees who want nothing more than to get through the graveyard shift. But when a strange, otherworldly fog rolls in, the night changes to nightmare. Because something hides in the fog. Something powerful…

With his career on thin ice and fresh ink on his divorce papers, Sacramento PD Detective Connor Parks goes searching for solace at the bottom of a bottle…and winds up in the arms of a beautiful woman. By morning she’s gone, and the one clue she left behind sends Connor on a desperate mission to unravel a decade-old mystery —her abduction. Presumed dead for the last ten years, Claire Fletcher has been living her life as “Lynn,” a woman in the terrifying grip of her captor. After her unforgettable night with…

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2020 TopShelf Book Awards Fiction/Visionary

Fiction/Western

Bryan Pierce is an internationally famous artist, whose paintings have dazzled the world. But there's a secret to Bryan's success: Every canvas is inspired by an unusually vivid dream. Bryan believes these dreams are really recollections―possibly even ashback from another life―and he has always hoped that his art will lead him to an answer. And when he meets Linz Jacobs, a neurogenticist who recognizes a recurring childhood nightmare in one Bryan's paintings, he is convinced she holds the key…

Set in the lawless town of Deadwood, South Dakota, Hour Glass shares an intimate look at the woman behind the legend of Calamity Jane told through the eyes of twelve-year-old Jimmy Glass. After their pa falls deathly ill with smallpox, Jimmy and his sister, Hour, travel into Deadwood to seek help. While their pa is in quarantine, the two form unbreakable bonds with the surrogate family that emerges from the tragedy of loss. In a place where life is fragile and families are ripped apart by disease, death, and…

Fiction/Women’s

Non-Fiction/Adventure

Ariella Bannon has no choice: she must put her precious children, Liesl and Erich, on that train or allow them to become prey for the Nazis. Berlin 1939. When her husband doesn’t come home one day, Ariella realises that the only way she can ensure her Jewish children’s safety is to avail of the Kindertransport, but can she bear to let them go? A thousand miles away, Elizabeth Klein has closed herself o from the world. Losing her husband on the last day of the Great War, and her child months later, she cannot, will not, love again…

In this contemporary tale detailing a two-week trip that explores intercountry adoption from South Korea, twin sisters naively travel to their birth city of Seoul in search of their Korean family. Little incidents along the way serve as a catalyst which leads them into a worldwide modern-day adoptee-rights movement seeking truth and transparency. If you have ever thought about looking for your birth family or simply curious about adoption, grab this book and gain insight into what happened to other adoptees…

Non-Fiction/Animals

Non-Fiction/Audiobook

Abandoned and left at a local shelter, a Maine Coon kitten awaits an uncertain fate. During his stay, Khan befriends a wise old tomcat, who speaks about his experiences of life on the streets, bringing comfort to the frightened kitten. Four days later, to Khan's horror, the shelterworkers take his friend away to the Big Sleep, as the tomcat called it, leaving Khan scared and alone. Just before Khan's time is up, a man enters the shelter and adopts Khan, bringing him to a new home. Though he feels loved, he is…

After the death of Joanie Holzer Schirm’s parents in 2000, she found hundreds of letters, held together by rusted paperclips and stamped with censor marks, sent from Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, China, and South and North America, along with journals, vintage lm, taped interviews, and photographs. In working through these various materials documenting the life of her father, Oswald “Valdik” Holzer, she learned of her family history through his remarkable experiences of exile and loss, resilience and hope…

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Non-Fiction/Autobiography

Non-Fiction/Biography

One sunny afternoon in 1982, a young businessman experienced a terrifying mugging in New York City that shook him to his core. Tortured by nightmares about the teens who roughed him up, Steve Mariotti sought counseling. When his therapist suggested that he face his fears, Mariotti closed his small importexport business and became a teacher at the city’s most notorious public school--Boys and Girls High in Bed-Stuy. Although his nightmares promptly ceased, Mariotti’s outof-control students rapidly…

Joe Broadmeadow and Brendan Doherty take you inside the investigations, covert surveillances, and murky world of informants in the war against Organized Crime. Make no mistake about it, it was a war targeting the insidious nature of the mob and their detrimental e ect on Rhode Island and throughout New England. Indeed, the book reveals the extensive nature of Organized Crime throughout the United States. From the opening moments detailing a mob enforcer's near death in a hail…

Non-Fiction/Business/Finance

Non-Fiction/Cooking/Food

This book isn’t just about being in business; it’s about the business of being. But when you stop to think about it, each of us is like a small business. Successful business owners implement strategies that improve their prospects for success. Similarly, as human beings, it serves us well to implement guiding principles that inspire us to live our purpose and reach our goals. The rich ganache lling that ows through the center of this book is the story of La Mandarine Bleue, a delicious depiction of…

Are you having a bad hair day? Whip out your whisk, snatch up your spoon, and prepare your palate. Inside the pages of this cookbook are recipes that will bring you good cheer.Enjoy 160+ tasty recipes from Nancy J. Cohen’s popular Bad Hair Day cozy mystery series. Included in this cookbook are excerpts, cooking tips, and anecdotes written by hairstylist and savvy sleuth Marla Vail. From appetizers to desserts, Marla o ers cooking tips and tricks along with commentary about the dishes she prepares for…

Non-Fiction/Cultural

Non-Fiction/General

In Dare to Be the Change, Annella Metoyer courageously shares the details of her life’s challenges, her family’s dedication to positive change as well as o ers hope for readers through her struggles and accomplishments. Starting with the integration of her small town public school, she encounters a life-changing experience that sets her on a path of “being the change.” Not only did Annella face the challenges when women were not the voice in the room, but she also did so as a person of color. From coworkers…

Are you living an old story script with the same patterns of di cult experiences or relationships? Are limiting beliefs, critical self-talk, regret, or worry holding you back? If so, you're not alone. Many of us have an antagonizing inner voice that tells us we’re unworthy and unable to change. The voice is lying. Author Dr. Colleen Georges knows this rsthand. A recovering self-critic and catastrophizer who once su ered with chronic panic attacks, Dr. Colleen rst worked to RESCRIPT her own limiting…

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2020 TopShelf Book Awards Non-Fiction/Gov/Politics

Non-Fiction/Grief/Hardship

Her husband Funk calls her “A Skydiver Afraid of Heights." Someone who figures out how to spend a cost-free summer in Europe, arranges it all, but when it’s time to leave, has an ANXIETY ATTACK walking out the door. In this first volume of her humorous, sharp-witted, and brutally honest memoir, Gloria pushes past her fears, spends the summer abroad with her family (living far outside her comfort zone) before setting up a campaign office, and eventually, without any experience, helps Funk cross the finish line—only to learn that…

The Undertaker, A Memoir of the First Woman Funeral Director in the Core of Brooklyn is Laura Del Gaudio's gripping story of learning the family undertaking business from sitting under the kitchen table as a child. It is how she learned empathy in the face of unspeakable traumas. Licensed at the age of twenty-one, she became a third generation funeral director who ran a successful funeral home which was located at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. The author has written an original story out of her own experience of growing up. The Undertaker is…

Non-Fiction/Health

Non-Fiction/Historical

Paulette Bodeman, B.A. Transpersonal Psychology, E - RYT 500, is a highly regarded Anusara yoga teacher and trainer, certified integrative life coach, and longtime student of Tantric philosophy and the stories of India. She has been studying and teaching the wisdom of this yoga for over 25 years. Paulette believes that myths are rich with symbolism and imagery and that they are metaphors which help to better navigate today’s contemporary life.When Paulette’s students asked her if she’d always “had it all together”, The BreakAway Girl…

In Hippie Chick, a rebellious teenager finds her mother dead in the bathroom. To save her from living alone with a difficult father, her older sister sends her a oneway plane ticket to leave New Jersey. Landing in San Francisco, she is thrust into a lifestyle way beyond what she is ready for, and that challenges all previous notions of how one behaves. It is 1963, and we are brought along as Ilene becomes immersed in the unfolding of the sixties during the earliest days of sexual freedom, psychedelic drugs, the jazz scene, and rock ’n’ roll. This is a deeply…

Non-Fiction/Humor/Comedy

Non-Fiction/Inspirational

Her husband Funk calls her “A Skydiver Afraid of Heights." Someone who figures out how to spend a cost-free summer in Europe, arranges it all, but when it’s time to leave, has an ANXIETY ATTACK walking out the door. In this first volume of her humorous, sharp-witted, and brutally honest memoir, Gloria pushes past her fears, spends the summer abroad with her family (living far outside her comfort zone) before setting up a campaign office, and eventually, without any experience, helps Funk cross the finish line—only to learn that…

Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and military members all see the innermost of our dark and fallen world. Jonathan Hickory gives us a veteran police officer's intimate perspective into the struggle that many of our heroes battle in their hearts. Drowning in the depths of depression and sadness, burning with anger, and chained down by alcoholism, Jonathan couldn't do any more. After the death of his father as a young boy, facing countless horrific death scenes in the line of duty, and the loss of his first son, Jonathan turned to the world…

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Non-Fiction/Memoir

Non-Fiction/Motivational

Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and military members all see the innermost of our dark and fallen world. Jonathan Hickory gives us a veteran police officer's intimate perspective into the struggle that many of our heroes battle in their hearts. Drowning in the depths of depression and sadness, burning with anger, and chained down by alcoholism, Jonathan couldn't do any more. After the death of his father as a young boy, facing countless horrific death scenes in the line of duty, and the loss of his first son, Jonathan turned to the world…

Are you living an old story script with the same patterns of difficult experiences or relationships? Are limiting beliefs, critical self-talk, regret, or worry holding you back? If so, you're not alone. Many of us have an antagonizing inner voice that tells us we’re unworthy and unable to change. The voice is lying. Author Dr. Colleen Georges knows this firsthand. A recovering self-critic and catastrophizer who once suffered with chronic panic attacks, Dr. Colleen first worked to RESCRIPT her own limiting…

Non-Fiction/New Age

Non-Fiction/Occupational

The Gita is one of the world’s most trusted, timeless guides for happiness, meditation, spiritual personal-growth and transformation. One which is ever so relevant today. Beethoven, Jung, Leonard Cohen, Gandhi – these and so many others of the world’s most brilliant scientists, creative-minds and spiritualteachers, found the Gita a source of Wisdom and inspiration. Your happiness does not depend on any teacher, guru or religion. Gita’s still, clear voice – echoes the inner voice of your soul, guiding you on an inner-journey that will…

According to the Wall Street Journal, teachers are leaving their positions in greater numbers than ever before. Truth: educators do not commit their passion to teach believing untold wealth awaits them. The purposely concealed story: national teacher shortage is due to a dominating hostile work environment, created by the people educators serve. Who better to empower students, parents, teachers and administrators than Paula Baack. With her 46 year career (educating over 6000 students in three states, 15 schools, 23 classrooms and…

Non-Fiction/Relationships

Non-Fiction/Religion/Philosophy

Based on a study of over 400 women worldwide, Runaway Husbands: The Abandoned Wife's Guide to Recovery and Renewal, is the first book to explore and offer healing strategies to women whose lives have been turned upside down by Wife Abandonment Syndrome. Wife Abandonment Syndrome is a pattern of behavior on the part of a husband who leaves his wife out-of-the-blue from what she believed was a happy marriage. Following his sudden departure, he replaces the caring he'd typically shown her with anger…

Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and military members all see the innermost of our dark and fallen world. Jonathan Hickory gives us a veteran police officer's intimate perspective into the struggle that many of our heroes battle in their hearts. Drowning in the depths of depression and sadness, burning with anger, and chained down by alcoholism, Jonathan couldn't do any more. After the death of his father as a young boy, facing countless horrific death scenes in the line of duty, and the loss of his first son, Jonathan turned to the world…

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2020 TopShelf Book Awards Non-Fiction/Self-Help

Non-Fiction/Social Issues

It wasn't just the stress or the constant frustration. It was the nonstop doubt and unhappiness. In today's world of social media reality distortion, teens face their toughest challenges yet. The battlefield is in the mind and they're not equipped for the fight. There's good news…Teen Confidence Expert, Jacqui Letran, is here to help. With a Masters of Science in Nursing and more than 18-years of experience aiding young people, she's skilled at equipping teens with the tools they need to win the battle with their mind. This book will teach…

In this impactful, forward-thinking book, Rev. Dr. Ken J. Gordon, Jr. shares faith principles for divorced fathers and places an emphasis on engaged co-parenting, which is critically important for children impacted by divorce. Dr. Gordon passionately, and honestly, speaks to fathers by sharing his personal spiritual journey, the lessons he learned about himself and his children, and why the responsibility of being a dad is extremely important. Every chapter is a collection of powerful biblical and commonsense realities that every man should…

Non-Fiction/Spiritual/ Supernatural

Non-Fiction/Travel

In this award-winning Christian devotional, author J. C. Beichner shares her own coming-of-age story of overwhelming childhood loss and her search for forgiveness. Combined with a beautiful collection of prayers, the author's testimony and reflection help each of us discover the infinite depth of God's mercy. Grace in Progress: Prayers for the Beautifully Broken is an honest and timely reminder of the ever-present availability and abundance of Jesus's love, and the extraordinary ways God uses our brokenness for His purpose….

Her husband Funk calls her “A Skydiver Afraid of Heights." Someone who figures out how to spend a cost-free summer in Europe, arranges it all, but when it’s time to leave, has an ANXIETY ATTACK walking out the door. In this first volume of her humorous, sharp-witted, and brutally honest memoir, Gloria pushes past her fears, spends the summer abroad with her family (living far outside her comfort zone) before setting up a campaign office, and eventually, without any experience, helps Funk cross the finish line—only to learn that…

Non-Fiction/True Crime

Non-Fiction/Womens

Joe Broadmeadow and Brendan Doherty take you inside the investigations, covert surveillances, and murky world of informants in the war against Organized Crime. Make no mistake about it, it was a war targeting the insidious nature of the mob and their detrimental effect on Rhode Island and throughout New England. Indeed, the book reveals the extensive nature of Organized Crime throughout the United States. From the opening moments detailing a mob enforcer's near death in a hail…

Her husband Funk calls her “A Skydiver Afraid of Heights." Someone who figures out how to spend a cost-free summer in Europe, arranges it all, but when it’s time to leave, has an ANXIETY ATTACK walking out the door. In this first volume of her humorous, sharp-witted, and brutally honest memoir, Gloria pushes past her fears, spends the summer abroad with her family (living far outside her comfort zone) before setting up a campaign office, and eventually, without any experience, helps Funk cross the finish line—only to learn that…

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Poetry

Young Adult/Action

Feminine energy has been used for centuries to heal the soul. It is a conduit for self-love to return back into your life and heal you through intuitive alignment.This book is a collection of intention-based poetry and prose that will align you with your own self-healing superpowers. By intuitively resonating with the nurturing qualities of the feminine psyche, you will be able to recalibrate your mind, body and soul back into a nourishing state of wholeness, from which even the deepest wounds can be healed. This book was created as a conduit for…

Picking up where The Roman, the Twelve, and the King left off, with the 1743 London premiere of Handel's Messiah, the Order of the Seven animal team must split up for their next mission: the birth of a new nation. Team leader Gillamon tells them, "Each of us will be witness to a unique point in history because of a unique generation of world leaders. Most of them are just children now, or have not yet even been born. Take note of how important one generation of children can be. Marvel at each child and the power they have to change the…

Young Adult/Adventure

Young Adult/Coming of Age

Picking up where The Roman, the Twelve, and the King left off, with the 1743 London premiere of Handel's Messiah, the Order of the Seven animal team must split up for their next mission: the birth of a new nation. Team leader Gillamon tells them, "Each of us will be witness to a unique point in history because of a unique generation of world leaders. Most of them are just children now, or have not yet even been born. Take note of how important one generation of children can be. Marvel at each child and the power they have to change the…

Abandoned at birth by her parents, Auli-Ambar is seen as a child blighted by a callous talonstroke of fate. A worthless burden. She is blind, severely disfigured, and fit only for the most menial tasks. Then, a simple act of kindness changes her life. Flown to the Halls of the Dragons, the painfully shy girl becomes a cleaner of Dragon roosts, and a helpless wanderer of the Dragon Library. Here, Auli is able to walk amidst the lore she is drawn to so profoundly. Touch it. Imagine worlds within scrolls. She thrills to the hallowed scents …

Young Adult/Fantasy

Young Adult/General

Fifteen-year-old Matt Mitchell was having the worst summer imaginable. His misery started when his mother died in a senseless car accident. Unable to remain in the family's memoryfilled seaside cottage, Matt's grieving father moved Matt and his twin sister as far as possible from the ocean they loved. But their relocation to the small town of Hawthorne, Indiana only made Matt's life more difficult. Three bullies at his new high school dedicated themselves to making him miserable. To top it off, Matt heard that the recluse…

While Jordan’s rank is debatable, a respectable dream team would include Kevin Durant, Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dr. J, Tim Duncan, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, and Hank Luisetti.Chances are, you've never heard of Hank Luisetti. But this wouldn’t be a legitimate discussion without the Hall of Fame legend whose celebrity caused a basketball revolution.James Naismith invented basketball …

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2020 TopShelf Book Awards Young Adult/Horror

Young Adult/Mystery

On a cold, January evening, fourteen-year-old Jeannie Kynde is told that her beloved mother drowned in the murky waters along Florida's Gulf Coast. Her distraught father turns on Jeannie, no longer the caring father she once knew. Four years later, Jeannie is finally old enough to escape her father's clutches, but he has different plans. He imprisons her at Deadwater Manor, a psychiatric hospital with an unscrupulous past. Between endless psychiatric treatments and a hospital staff up to no good, Jeannie faces insurmountable…

Murphy Murphy comes from a long line of male Murphys. All were named Murphy and all were cops. This Murphy heads the Department of Redundancy Department and his superior officer, Captain David "Dud" Hill has found him a case. The Captain's niece is in a rock 'n roll band called Serious Crisis, and it seems items belonging to members of the band have started to disappear. Were these items stolen? Were they simply lost? As Murphy Murphy works the case, he must chase down the clues all the while dealing with …

Young Adult/Mythology/Fairy Tale

Young Adult/Non-Fiction

Thirteen-year-old Emerson Page wants to know what happened to her mother, Nora, a worldrenowned anthropologist wellknown for her research on ancient cultures and languages. Five years ago, Nora was found on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “We’ve never seen anything like it,” said the NYPD. “It’s as if she just fell asleep on the steps of the museum and never woke up.” And with that, the police gave up their search for answers.But Emerson didn’t. Her journey to discover the answers about her mother’s…

It wasn't just the stress or the constant frustration. It was the nonstop doubt and unhappiness. In today's world of social media reality distortion, teens face their toughest challenges yet. The battlefield is in the mind and they're not equipped for the fight. There's good news…Teen Confidence Expert, Jacqui Letran, is here to help. With a Masters of Science in Nursing and more than 18-years of experience aiding young people, she's skilled at equipping teens with the tools they need to win the battle with their mind. This book will teach…

Young Adult/Paranormal

Young Adult/Religious

Fifteen-year-old Matt Mitchell was having the worst summer imaginable. His misery started when his mother died in a senseless car accident. Unable to remain in the family's memoryfilled seaside cottage, Matt's grieving father moved Matt and his twin sister as far as possible from the ocean they loved. But their relocation to the small town of Hawthorne, Indiana only made Matt's life more difficult. Three bullies at his new high school dedicated themselves to making him miserable. To top it off, Matt heard that the recluse…

Picking up where The Roman, the Twelve, and the King left off, with the 1743 London premiere of Handel's Messiah, the Order of the Seven animal team must split up for their next mission: the birth of a new nation. Team leader Gillamon tells them, "Each of us will be witness to a unique point in history because of a unique generation of world leaders. Most of them are just children now, or have not yet even been born. Take note of how important one generation of children can be. Marvel at each child and the power they have to change the…

TOPShelf

Holiday Edition 2020

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Young Adult/Romance

Young Adult/Sci-Fi

Rose is unsettled, curious, and bored. Life in a hippie commune in the ‘70s is her parent's dream come true, not hers. She doesn't share their passion for living off the land, nor does she enjoy the isolation that is thrust upon her. When she convinces them to send her to public school in the nearby town, a new world opens up to her. As she pursues her education, Rose chooses a different path, leaving her parents heartbroken at her insistence they are hiding something from her. She's convinced her father isn't the man her mother married…

Stefan Lattanzis never expected his planet to become a battlefield, nor Earth for that matter. But when scientists from Paludis share a technological breakthrough with the mother planet, peace swiftly turns into deadly conflict. The downtrodden alien population, mistreated for centuries, seize their chance, and a desperate human cult has a sinister agenda of its own. To save his precious home world, Stefan must team with two strangers, a botanist and a mysterious seer. They must trust in each other to prevent the newly-emerged forces from…

Young Adult/Social Issues

"Amazingly graphic, terrifyingly real-life and current time. A parental and teen must read." Terry Keys, USA Today bestselling author of Lie No More and The Missing pens his most captivating book to date. This is the heart-breaking story about a small-town boy who’d taken everything from everyone until he could take no more. Seventeen-year-old Blaze Planter is a Jr. at Kilwade, High School. His parents have recently divorced.His grades are slipping.His anger is growing with each day. Relationships with his closest friends are failing….

Young Adult/Thriller

The 1957 murder of an undercover cop in a New York City housing project has unexpected ties to the unsolved disappearance of a young father walking home in those same projects with his son, Angelo, on Christmas Eve six years before. The only witness to the cop killing is Angelo, now 13, while on his way to seek his own revenge in the early morning hours. The killers know he saw them. A series of gripping events forge a union between a priest, a Mafia boss, a police detective, and Angelo, a gang member. In the end, Weepers shows us that…

TopShelf Finalists in Alphabetical Order Maggie Adams Minx (Fiction/Humor/Comedy) JD Adler Daughter of the Sun (Poetry) Cheryl Aguiar Great Horned Owlets Rescue: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way (Non-Fiction/Animals) (Young Adult/General) Don Ake Will There Be Free Appetizers? (Non-Fiction/Humor/Comedy) Don Ake Turkey Terror At My Door (Non-Fiction/Humor/Comedy) Charles Ambrose Horns of the Devil (Fiction/Crime) (Fiction/Thriller) Elaine Ambrose Frozen Dinners - A Memoir of a Fractures Family (Non-Fiction/Relationships) Carolyn Arnold In the Line of Duty (Fiction/Crime) (Fiction/Mystery) Emmanuel Arriaga Elevator Quest (Young Adult/Action) (Young Adult/Adventure) Robert J. Atkins Drawn to the Heavens: My Story of Love, Devotion, and Perseverance in the Face of Adversity (Non-Fiction/Motivational ) Nicole Audet Felix Is Curious About His Body (Children/Educational) (Children/Non-Fiction)

Christa Avampato Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters (Young Adult/Adventure) (Young Adult/Fantasy) (Young Adult/General) Julien Ayotte Diamond and Pearls (Fiction/Romance) Paula Baack Rescue the Teacher, Save the Child! (Non-Fiction/General) (Non-Fiction/Parenting) Kisa Baginski Rehumanized Drew, A Windstalker Story (Young Adult/Sci-Fi) Cherie Barnes 12 Lessons of Healing Through Grief (Non-Fiction/Grief/Hardship) (Non-Fiction/Self-Help) Tricia Barr The Vampire Secret (Young Adult/Paranormal) Robert Bartlett The Turing Revolt (Fiction/Science Fiction) Richard Battle Unwelcome Opportunity Overcoming Life’s Greatest Challenges (Non-Fiction/Motivational) (Non-Fiction/Spiritual/ Supernatural) Stacy Bauer Cami Kangaroo Has Too Many Sweets (Children/Picture Book ) Christina Beauchemin Let My Legacy Be Love, A Story of Discovery and Transformation (Non-Fiction/Social Issues)

REMINDER This is an interactive magazine. Click on a book cover to learn more or to purchase.

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TOPShelf magazine

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David Beem Edger (Fiction/Humor/Comedy) J. C Beichner Grace in Progress: Prayers for the Beautifully Broken (Non-Fiction/Inspirational) (Non-Fiction/Religion/ Philosophy) (Non-Fiction/Womens) Marlene Bell Stolen Obsession (Fiction/Audiobook ) (Fiction/Intrigue ) Isaac Bentwich Gita - A Timeless Guide for Our Time (Non-Fiction/Spiritual/ Supernatural) Alan Biermann Chuck Yeager Goes Supersonic (Children/Adventure) (Children/Coming of Age) (Children/Concept) (Children/Grade K-3rd) (Children/Non-Fiction) Paulette Bodeman The Breakaway Girl: Secrets of a Tantric Yogi (Non-Fiction/General) Tal Boldo The Crystilleries of Echoland (Children/Action) (Children/Coming of Age) (Children/Fantasy/Sci-Fi) (Young Adult/Adventure) Susan Branz Angels, Angels Everywhere (Children/Adventure) (Children/Religious) Joseph Broadmeadow It's Just the Way It Was: Inside the War on the New England Mob and other stories (Non-Fiction/Memoir) Kevin Brougher Reindolphins (Children/Picture Book) (Children/Preschool) Kathryn Brown Ramsperger The Shores Of Our Souls (Fiction/Cultural) (Fiction/Visionary) Laurie Buchanan The Business of Being: Soul Purpose In and Out of the Workplace (Non-Fiction/Motivational) Aimee Cabo Love is the Answer God is the Cure (Non-Fiction/Autobiography) (Non-Fiction/Inspirational) (Non-Fiction/Memoir) (Non-Fiction/Relationships) Sherrill Cannon David’s ADHD (David’s ADHD) Cheryl Carpinello Guinevere: The Legend (Children/Mythology/Fairy Tale) (YA/Mythology/Fairy Tale)

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Teri Case In the Doghouse: A Couple’s Breakup from Their Dog’s Point of View (Fiction/Animals) (Fiction/General) Eleanor Chance Solar Fury (Fiction/Adventure) Eleanor Chance Arms of Grace (Fiction/Drama) Eleanor Chance Little Lost Things (Fiction/Suspense) Joe Cipriano Living on Air - Adventures in Broadcasting (Non-Fiction/Audiobook) Anne Marie Citro My Beloved Past (Fiction/Romance (Clean))

Gina Detwiler Forsaken (Young Adult/Paranormal)

Clayton Graham Saving Paludis (Fiction/Science Fiction)

Lorraine Devon Wilke The Alchemy of Noise (Fiction/Drama) (Fiction/Literary)

Daniel Greene Northern Wolf (Fiction/Adventure) (Fiction/Historical)

Lisa Diaz Meyer ALL ROADS SHATTERED: A Collection of Dark Fiction Short Stories and Poems (Fiction/Short Story/Novella) (Poetry)

Daniel Greene The Departing (The End Time Saga Book 4) (Fiction/Dystopia)

Rich DiSilvio Short Stories III: Strange, Weird & Sci-Fi (Fiction/Anthology)

Ellie Collins Daisy, Bold & Beautiful (Fiction/Suspense) (Children/Grade 4th-6th) Tom Combs Wrongful Deaths (Fiction/Thriller)

M.J. Evans PERCY-The Racehorse Who Didn't Like to Run (Children/Animals)

Shawn Cooke A Magnet to a Flame (Fiction/Short Story/Novella) Joe Corso The Starlight Club (Fiction/Crime) Kim Cresswell Icehaven (Sum of all Tears Book 1) (Fiction/Dystopia) (Young Adult/Sci-Fi) Don Daglow The Last One on the Run (Fiction/Short Story/Novella) Don Daglow From Dream to Delivery (Non-Fiction/Business/Finance) (Non-Fiction/Motivational) Sara Daigle Women of Purpose (Non-Fiction/Inspirational) (Non-Fic/Religion/Philosophy) (Non-Fiction/Womens) (Young Adult/Romance) Mary Dalton Mercy (Children/Animals) (Children/Concept) Debbie De Louise Sea Scope (Fiction/Mystery) Renita Deloatch Regina and Renita Tackle Nasty Nate's Nasty Ways! (Children/Educational) (Children/Grade 4th-6th) (Children/Social Issues) Terri DeMitchell Faking It (Young Adult/Mystery) Lisa DePriest Poor Teddy (Children/Grade K-3rd)

Yassin Hall Journey Untold (Non-Fiction/Biography) (Non-Fiction/Self-Help) (Non-Fiction/Social Issues) (Young Adult/Non-Fiction)

Ilene English-Paul Hippie Chick (Non-Fiction/Parenting) (Non-Fiction/Relationships) (Non-Fiction/Womens) Stephen Erickson The Great Healing Five Compassions That Can Save Our World (Non-Fiction/General)

Susan Griscom Protected by a Vampire (Fiction/Paranormal) (Fiction/Romance)

S.J. Hartland The 19th Bladesman (Fiction/Adventure) (Fiction/Fantasy) Shanna Hat eld Dream of Her Heart (Fiction/Inspirational) Jonathan Hickory Break Every Chain (Non-Fiction/Self-Help)

M.J. Evans The Stone of Integrity (Children/Fantasy/Sci-Fi) (Children/Mythology/Fairy Tale) (YA/Mythology/Fairy Tale)

JoAnn Hogenson Once Upon a Romance (A Dream Come True Book 1) (Fiction/Holiday)

V.P. Evans Woman (Fiction/Anthology)

Steffen Hou The Deprived: Innocent on Death Row (Non-Fiction/True Crime)

Donald Firesmith The Secrets of Hawthorne House (Fiction/Supernatural) (Young Adult/Coming of Age)

Elizabeth Isaacs The Scythian Trials (Fiction/Fantasy) (Fiction/Paranormal) Genevieve Jack The Dragon of New Orleans (Fiction/Paranormal)

James Garrison QL 4 (Fiction/Literary) (Fiction/Military) Brigitte Goldstein Babylon Laid Waste-A Journey in the Twilight of the Idols (Fiction/Cultural)

SL Jackson Animal Instincts: The Urban Jungle (Fiction/Animals) (Fiction/Short Story/Novella) Jean & Mary James Sparrow Alone on the Houstop (Fiction/General)

Gustavo J. Gomez Hair Loss: Options for Restoration & Reversal (Non-Fiction/General) (Non-Fiction/Health)

Bernard Jan Look for Me Under the Rainbow (Fiction/Animals) (Young Adult/Adventure)

Hannah Goodman Till It Stops Beating (Young Adult/General)

Lakisha Johnson When the Vows Break (Fiction/Women’s)

Joseph Goodrich Ellie and Her Emotional Dragons (Children/Grade K-3rd) Ken Gordon Divorced But Still Dad Faith Principles of Fatherhood for Divorced Men (Non-Fiction/Grief/Hardship) (Non-Fiction/Relationships) (Non-Fiction/Religion/ Philosophy)

Len Joy Everyone Dies Famous (Fiction/General) Linda K Ford Decrypto: Unlock Your Life Journey (Non-Fiction/New Age) (Non-Fiction/Spiritual/ Supernatural)

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Holiday Edition 2020

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TopShelf Finalists in Alphabetical Order


TOPShelf magazine R.D. Kardon Flygirl (Fiction/Action) (Fiction/Suspense) (Fiction/Women’s) Abigail Keam Death By Stalking (Fiction/Southern)

Jacqui Letran I would, but my DAMN MIND won't let me! (Young Adult/Social Issues)

Terry Keys The Kilwade Tragedy (Fiction/Drama) (Fiction/Social Issues) (Young Adult/Coming of Age)

Paul Levine Bum Luck (Fiction/Mystery) (Fiction/Thriller )

Alexa Kingaard My Name Is Rose (Fiction/Inspirational) (Fiction/New Adult) (Fiction/Women’s) (Young Adult/Coming of Age) Elizabeth Kirke Semester Abroad (Fiction/Paranormal) Judith Kohnen For the Love of Mandy: Book Two - The Mandy Story (Fiction/Intrigue) (Fiction/Romance) StefanieKramer Good-bye Def Leppard (I'll Miss Those Jeans) (Fiction/New Adult) Jim and Stephanie Kroep Merged (Young Adult/General) (Young Adult/Sci-Fi) (Young Adult/Thriller) Becky Kueker A Classic in Clown Shoes (Non-Fiction/Business/Finance) Spencer Labbe The Castaway King- After the Dark (Children/Action) (Children/Adventure) (Children/Fantasy/Sci-Fi) (Children/Grade 4th-6th) (Young Adult/Fantasy) Marisa Labozzetta A Day in June (Fiction/Romance (Clean) (Fiction/Social Issues) Joss Landry What About Barnum? (Fiction/Romance (Clean) (Fiction/Visionary) Yosef Lapid My Snowman, Paul (Children/Preschool) Chelli Larsen Towers: A Rapunzel Retelling (Children/Fable) (Young Adult/Mythology/Fairy Tale) Jess Lederman Hearts Set Free (Fiction/Inspirational) Bernard Lee A Look Back in Time: Memoir of a Military Kid in the 50s, Vol. II (Young Adult/Non-Fiction) Christopher Leibig The Isotoner Ordeal (Young Adult/Mystery) (Young Adult/Thriller)

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Sheri Levy Starting Over (Young Adult/Coming of Age) A.L. Long Beneath Deception (Fiction/Intrigue) Suzanne Lowes The Pirate Princess and the Golden Locket (Children/Action) (Children/Adventure) (Children/Grade 4th-6th) (Children/Mythology/Fairy Tale) Alex Lukeman High Alert (Fiction/Action) Keri Mangis Embodying Soul: A Return to Wholeness (Non-Fiction/New Age) (Non-Fiction/Spiritual/ Supernatural ) Marco Marek Hyperearth (Children/Fantasy/Sci-Fi) (Young Adult/Fantasy) Steve Mariotti Goodbye Homeboy (Children/Educational) (Non-Fiction/Biography) (Non-Fiction/Inspirational) Jimmie Martinez Cajun Chameleon: Reflections of a Recovering Racist (Fiction/Cultural) (Fiction/Southern)

John McKenna Unforsaken (Fiction/Western) Daniel McWhorter Restoration (Fiction/Science Fiction) Daniel Meier The Dung Beetles of Liberia, A Novel Based on True Events (Fiction/Historical ) Claudette Melanson Rising Tide: Dark Innocence (Young Adult/Paranormal) Maryann Miller A Dead Tomato Plant and a Paycheck (Non-Fiction/Autobiography) Erin Miller Final Flight Final Fight: My grandmother, the WASP, and Arlington National Cemetery (Non-Fiction/Gov/Politics) Maryann Miller A Dead Tomato Plant & A Paycheck (Non-Fiction/Humor/Comedy) (Non-Fiction/Parenting) Ron Miner The Last Word (Fiction/Military) Margaret Mizushima Burning Ridge: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery (Fiction/Mystery) Stacy Monson When Mountains Sing (Fiction/Religious) Phyllis Moore Birdie & Jude (Fiction/Southern) Leah Moyes Berlin Butter y- Ensnare (Fiction/Drama) Jean Naggar Footprints on the Heart (Fiction/General)

Kate L Mary Outliers (Fiction/Dystopia)

Daniel O'Connor Canni (Young Adult/Horror)

James Masciarelli Beyond Beauport (Fiction/Action)

Charles O'Donnell Shredded (Fiction/Dystopia)

Cindy Maynard Soyala: Daughter of the Desert (Fiction/New Adult)

Maura O'Leary When Angels Play Poker (Fiction/Inspirational)

Thomas McCoy Home to Kentucky (Fiction/Southern) (Fiction/Western)

Gail Pallotta Hair Calamities and Hot Cash (Fiction/Humor/Comedy)

Thomas McCoy The McCoys Before The Feud (Fiction/Western)

Brian Parker The Road to Hell: Sidney’s Way (Fiction/Action) (Fiction/Military)

Rickey McCray What's All The Fuss Over Mr. Wilson (Children/Coming of Age) (Children/Concept) (Children/Religious) (Children/Social Issues) (Fiction/Holiday)

D.J Parsons MORE THAN ONE STORM COMING - Women Will Decide Elections from Now On - 2020 Guide (Non-Fiction/Audiobook) (Non-Fiction/Gov/Politics)

Neale Payne Willie Wish and the Magic Realm (Children - Adventure) Stephen Perkins Grand Masquerade (Fiction/Horror) (Fiction/Supernatural) (Fiction/Suspense) Stephen Perkins Sky Parlor (Fiction/Science Fiction) Carl Peterson Home Front (Non-Fiction/Biography) (Non-Fiction/Historical) Marie Phillips Khan: A Maine Coon (Fiction/Animals) (Non-Fiction/Animals) Walter Pilcher The Accidental Spurrt (Fiction/Humor/Comedy) Suzie Plakson The Return of King Lillian (Fiction/Audiobook) (Fiction/Mythology) (Fiction/Visionary) (Young Adult/Mythology/Fairy Tale) J.R. & D.O. Poulter The Soldier Who Was Afraid (Children/Fable) (Children/Religious) Teresa Power The ABCs of Yoga for Kids (Children/Concept) (Children/Grade K-3rd) (Children/Picture Book) (Children/Preschool) Lisa Regan Finding Claire Fletcher (Fiction/Suspense) Miquel Reina Lights on the Sea (Fiction/Adventure) Lisa Reinicke Football Flyboy (Non-Fiction/Historical) Michelle Rene Hour Glass (Fiction/Historical) Diane Mae Robinson The Dragon Grammar Book (Children/Non-Fiction) Tanya Savva The Adventures of Kenzie-Moo (Children/Non-Fiction) (Children/Preschool) Suanne Schafer A Different Kind of Fire (Fiction/Social Issues) Joanie Schirm MY DEAR BOY: A World War II Story of Escape, Exile, and Revelation (Non-Fiction/Biography) (Non-Fiction/Historical) Cynthia Schneider Nite Fire: Flash Point (Fiction/Supernatural)

REMINDER This is an interactive magazine. Click on a book cover to learn more or to purchase.

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Lisa Leonard Legend of the Storm Hawks (Fiction/Cultural) (Fiction/Visionary)


Marc Secchia The Dragon Librarian (Fiction/Fantasy) (Young Adult/Fantasy) (Young Adult/Paranormal) Judith Shaw Charley's Horse (Children/Animals) Brooke Skipstone Some Laneys Died (Young Adult/Thriller) Richard Smith The Darziods' Stone (Children/Mystery) Dick Snyder Pumpkin Fest (Short Story/Novella) Glen Sobey No Fences in Alaska (Young Adult/Social Issues) Mark Spencer An Untimely Frost (Fiction/Horror) (Young Adult/Horror) Susan Spieth Area Bird-Duty Doesn't Always Follow the Rules (Fiction/Audiobook) (Fiction/Military) (Fiction/New Adult) Gloria Squitiro May Cause Drowsiness and Blurred Vision: The Side Effects of Bravery (Non-Fiction/Memoir)

Eurydice Stanley The Worst First Day: Bullied While Desegregating Little Rock Central High (Children/Educational) (Children/Social Issues) (Non-Fiction/Social Issues) (Young Adult/Non-Fiction) (Young Adult/Social Issues) Vikki Stark Runaway Husbands (Non-Fiction/Self-Help) (Non-Fiction/Womens) Glenn Starkey The Dagger Man (Fiction/Religious) Keith Steinbaum You Say Goodbye (Fiction/Crime)

Tracy Traynor Grace in Mombasa (Fiction/Religious) Tony Turnbow Hardened to Hickory: The Missing Chapter in Andrew Jackson’s Life (Non-Fiction/Historical) Janine Vance The Search for Mother Missing: A Peek Inside International Adoption (Non-Fiction/Cultural) (Non-Fiction/Social Issues) Phillip Vega The Captain & the Queen (Fiction/Romance) (Young Adult/Romance)

Keith Steinbaum The Poe Consequence (Fiction/Thriller)

Jalynn Venis Ghost Island (Fiction/Horror) (Young Adult/Horror)

Victor Teran Landon’s First Taekwon-Do Lesson (Children/Action)

Marja Verschoor-Meijers In My Name (Non-Fic/Religion/Philosophy)

Mike Waller Falcon’s Call (Fiction/Science Fiction) (Young Adult/Sci-Fi) Lin Wilder My Name is Saul (Fiction/Historical) (Fiction/Religious) Lin Wilder I, Claudia (Fiction/Intrigue) (Fiction/Literary) Sandie Will The Caging at Deadwater Manor (Young Adult/Thriller) Becki Willis Wild ower Wedding: With a Killer Reception (Fiction/Women’s) Don Winn Raising a Child with Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know (Non-Fiction/Parenting)

Victor Teran Our Trip to the Zoo (Children/Animals)

Erik Vick Rooms of Ruin (Fiction/Fantasy) (Fiction/Mythology)

Gwendolyn Womack The Memory Painter (Fiction/Romance (Clean)

Amanda Thrasher The Greenlee Project (Fiction/Social Issues) (Young Adult/Social Issues)

Erik Vick The Hag (Fiction/Horror)

Gerald Yeung Kong Boys (Non-Fiction/Travel)

Erik Vick Errant Gods (Fiction/Supernatural)

"...Has all the classic hallmarks of a great mystery novel...skilled and effective storytelling make this a must read for mystery lover everywhere." ~V.E., Vine Voice, Amazon

"This is perfect reading for a dark wintry night - but keep the lights on..." ~Grady Harp, Top 50 Reviewer, Amazon

www.imkathleenlopez.com TOPShelf

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TopShelf Finalists in Alphabetical Order

Holiday Edition 2020


Hardcover

$17.99

COMING OF AGE AND ALL THAT JAZZ!

Grady Harp is an Amazon Top 50 Reviewer and has collaborated with Creative Edge Media to provide quality book reviews. Creative Edge is a publicity rm specializing in arranging events such as book signings, library or school presentations, online and print media opportunities, and many other related events.

Canadian author Natasha Deen was born in Guyana and immigrated to Canada, where she has become a prizewinning author of books for children, teens, and adults. The gift for character development is apparent from page one as Natasha introduces both her primary character Nira and her 'friend' McKenzie. The story is well distilled in the synopsis: 'Nira Ghani has always dreamed of becoming a musician. Her Guyanese parents, however, have big plans for her to become a scientist or doctor. Nira's grandmother and her best friend, Emily, are the only people who seem to truly understand her desire to establish an identity outside of the one imposed on Nira by her parents...". Very capably combining a strong coming of age story with a valued exploration of conflicts in immigrant households, cultural idiosyncrasies, and a following a dream philosophy that crowns this novel, Natasha Deen has become a standardbearer for the art of meaningful (and entertaining) stories. Very highly recommended for abroad audience. ~Grady Harp

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Teen & YA


Hardcover

$9.99

THIS WAS SOME INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM TYPE STUFF

Harwood steps onto the stage with his keen sense of horror intact in this new novel. With the opening paragraphs, we witness a terrifyingly gruesome incident as we meet Eli's primary character. With that strong dose of drama, the story takes off, and the plot is condensed as follows: 'Eli hoped to do his time and get back to living life outside prison. However, that hope faded when he watched a prisoner rip a guard's heart out and toss the body over the railing onto a funeral pyre of burning mattresses. The prison landscape begins to change as more and more strange characters strive for dominance in the anarchy that follows. Eli and his new friend, Tay, must navigate the chaos as the gods of the Aztec creation story emerge over the next twelve hours on the block.' The story explodes with Hispanic avor and an extraordinary air for illuminating the dark side of prison life and myth and fantasy – and beyond! This is a recracker of a novel, one that satis es on many levels. ~Grady Harp

Travel

Paperback

$14.99

Teen & YA

Paperback

$15.99

“AGE IS NOT A LIMITING FACTOR” HISTORICAL LEGEND, MAGIC, MYTHOLOGY WELCOME ENCOURAGEMENT A SUPERB NOVEL! FOR SENIORS South Dakota author Gary Wietgrefe presents his debut book to re ect his passion for life's adventures. The subtitle of his book DESTINATION NORTH POLE explains more fully – 'Adventured forty days through the Dakota Plains, Prairie Provinces, northern British. Columbia, the vast Yukon, and Alaska!" When a person of the depth of experience of Gary Wietgrefe takes on a challenge/task/ adventure like the one so well described in this 'travelogue/memoir,' the invitation to join him is strong. His ability to relate his trek's impact is magnetic. In addition to this fascinating diary of a journey, Gary adds moments of wisdom and insight that enhance the joy of reading his travelogue. Entertaining and inspiring, especially for seniors, this is a book rich in content and encouragement. Highly recommended. ~Grady Harp

Canadian author Marie Powell enters the young adult fantasy genre with SPIRIT SIGHT, the initial volume of her Last of the Gifted series. Opening this refreshing new novel with a Character Guide, de ning the cast, and providing a very useful pronunciation guide for the Welsh names offers the author's respect for her young adult reading audience. The writing style of the author contributes to the synergy of weaving history with romance and fantasy – elegant yet immediately accessible to the reader: "as the opening lines suggest: 'He raised his arms, feeling bone and feather atten against the wind, and knew himself tethered to air currents that smelled of salt and sh, somewhere off the horizon. He ran below the bird, yet his mind and the hawk's mind moved as one..." Designating the novel as a Young Adult book, most assuredly should not deter readers beyond that range of age: this is a solid novel worthy of a vast audience's attention. Marie Powell steps onto an even higher rung of the literary ladder. Highly recommended. ~Grady Harp

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Holiday Edition 2020

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Urban


Paperback

$14.00

THE STRANGE, MYSTERIOUS SUMMER HOTEL ON DAGGER ISLAND

How an author can clutch the reader with an emotionally compelling beginning attests to the powers Jennifer wields as a writer/poet. Her insights as a poet surface on page one with Tennyson's poem and opens the prologue. The episode that follows is that of a newborn with umbilical cord strangulation at birth sets the tone for the mystery. During the months that follow, Isabelle is drugged and lulled into an almost hallucinatory world of grief and fear. Her life begins to feel as though it exists in a terrifying new reality separated from those around her. When her grieving begins to make her husband, Henry, uncomfortable, he and his mother conspire to send Isabelle away to a Summer Hotel on Dagger Island, where she can rest and heal. A superb Victorian Gothic horror story that manages to seduce the reader into another era, this is a most successful opening to a series that should find awards for masterful writing and attract a large audience of dark fantasy lovers! Highly recommended. ~Grady Harp

Thriller

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Paperback

$16.99

Sci-Fi

Paperback

$20.00

ALL THOSE YEARS AGO, FIVE CHILDREN SURVIVED. NOW THERE WERE FOUR.

STEPPING INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESS: A POSTAPOCALYPTIC VIEW

The author's insight into the impact of cults, though depicted as ction, is as fine as any novelist writing today. The new terrain of THE CHILDREN OF RED PEAK is the dark theme of cults, those sequestered sects that manage to in uence and harbor gullible people needing to 'belong 'or venerate some 'ideal.' Craig uses this ingeniously as a means to re ect on youth's 'search for the meaning of life and the yearning for existence beyond death.' Craig opens with a contemporary (adult) funeral for one of the former cult members – Emily – as the narrator David reflects on his childhood drama. Craig DiLouie's prose is eloquent, deeply compelling, and explores those encumbrances in the path from youth to maturity. It touches many chords of recognition, and that is yet another trait of a brilliant writer. Very highly recommended.

STRANGE LABOUR is a novel, yes, a story, yes, an introspective experience – hopefully for every reader. In a completely unique manner of composing a dystopian tale, Penner has managed to make his characters and plot so contemporary that we enter his strange world, somehow familiar with it – the bizarre manner in which we humans decide what is essential and what is unimportant. Pretenses, prejudices, proclivities, predilections – and antipathies. In composing his compelling story, Penner holds the proverbial mirror up to his readers: it is up to the individual to discover the relevance. Both involving and immensely entertaining, this novel captures our current status like a motion sensor we place at our front doors. Paranoia? No, but anxiously curious, possibly, the way this story seeps into us. Brilliant debut novel; gifted artist! Bravo!

~Grady Harp

Horror

~Grady Harp


Paperback

$17.00

“IS THE SHAPER IN THE CASTLE?” ~THE EXCITING FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHAWNA KEYS THE MOONLIT WORLD is Book 3 in Edward's series WORLDSHAPERS, which introduced the empowered Shaper, Shawna Keys. If this is the reader's rst entry into Edward's fascinating world, the impact of this new episode is so well written that it is not imperative to have read the series's opening novels to gain full satisfaction from the further adventures of Shawna. One of the several reasons this series works so very well is the author's exceptional writing style. All of Edward Willett's talent's myriad aspects are obvious in this terri c blend of fantasy, references to great literature and history, and imagination proffered with a keen comedic sensitivity. He here further establishes his stance as one of our more essential authors. Highly Recommended.

Sci-Fi

Paperback

$16.99

THE GREAT BALLET OF SALAMIS 306 BC - HISTORY REVISITED AND ENHANCED! Making history come alive is a skill Turtledove has mastered, inviting the reader into a credible scene as he opens this novel. Turtledove distills the action of this new novel well: 'Salamis is the fifth novel in the critically acclaimed Hellenic Traders universe, detailing the adventures of two cousins, Menedemos and Sostratos, who work as seaborne traders following the death of Alexander the Great. This time the stage is one of the greatest sea battles ever fought in ancient times; the Battle of Salamis of 306 BC..." For pure entertainment and an opportunity to peek at history in a most memorable fashion, Harry Turtledove's books rise to the top of the list. Very highly recommended.

Children

Stapled

$11.74

WHAT MAKES ME, ME? THIS LITTLE BOOK IS A TREASURE A children's book that is as helpful to parents as it is to children, MOMMY, WHY? bene ts from the illustrations by Katie Carlson, who elects to make the images appear as though a child has imagined and executed them – a strong compliment! As the title suggests, the book is a series of questions about identity and curiosity all children have likely asked. Good questions and sensitive answers about hair type, facial features, height, running, and more are all answered with supportive reassurance and a dollop of humor. The tone of the book is kind and openly loving. Entertaining and supportive as a guide for dealing with questions children ask, this little book is a treasure – one that will enhance family love with warm reassurance. ~Grady Harp

~Grady Harp

~Grady Harp

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Holiday Edition 2020

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Fantasy


TOPShelf Spotlights Former ADA Alastair Maddox pursues Prohibition Chicago’s most dangerous monsters after witnessing the deaths of his parents and grandparents as a boy. When a former colleague in Chicago PD comes to ask Alastair for help, he comes face to face with the mysterious Alexandra DeLane. But something’s off. DeLane is way too calm and her eyes are the color of blood. After she escapes, Alastair goes on the hunt only to find himself the prey of an ambitious and mysterious mob boss who plots to have him murdered. The problem? Alastair doesn’t stay dead and comes back as something else. Something more dangerous and straight out of a horror novel. Genre: Urban Fiction Price: $16.95

From multi-award-winning author/artist Rich DiSilvio is this riveting collection of six mysteries, each handsomely illustrated. Follow the charismatic and clever private eye, Armand Arnol ni, as he investigates a variety of suspenseful art crimes and confronts a dazzling array of thieves, forgers, and even ruthless murderers.

Genre: Mystery Price: $11.99

Be like the eagle in flight that soars above the troubles of the world. Insecure librarian Emma gets swept up into the high-stakes world of politics and marries in haste. Disillusioned by her new husband Jesse, she embarks on a cross-country journey to find an old acquaintance. Will Emma and Jesse’s temporary separation clear the distance between them, or will she find love in the arms of another man? Genre: Romantic Suspense Price: $14.99

Who lynched Henry Johnson? Young investigators Madeline Sterling and Socractes Gray head a team sent to a Georgia town in 1965 to learn who lynched the son of a local civil rights leader. Sterling doesn’t have her head on straight from her last assignment. And Gray knows pretty little Crossville, Georgia is no place for her or the handsome rookie she’s training to be a detective for the civil rights group, Justice Tomorrow. The town’s seething with rage. Both Black and white communities are lashing out a the wrong enemy… Genre: Historical Fiction Price: $11.99

Against an international landscape of power, a uence, and fear Truth Gives Strength to Wings, the creative memoir by child sex abuse prevention advocate, Katy Sudano, breathes life into the tormented soul of a young woman who de ed the odds and de ned what it means to dig deep for strength, passion, and love of life. Katy's refusal to allow the abuse of her past interfere with an insatiable desire to nd happiness, and break the vicious cycle of abandonment that had destroyed nearly her entire world, is a testament to her extraordinary determination.

In a section of Los Angeles near Dodger Stadium, two rival gangs rule the streets. For the Alvarado Street Diablos, it's been a year since the murder of one of their closest members at the hands of their sworn enemy, the North Rampart Lobos. A drive-by killing in his honor is planned, but things go wrong and an innocent bystander is the victim. Several hours later the one who pulled the trigger suffers a horrifying death never before seen in its uniqueness. Many more cases follow... And each death occurs at the same time of day.

Genre: Memoir Price: $16.99

Genre: Horror Price: $15.99

REMINDER This is an interactive magazine. Click on a book cover to learn more or to purchase.

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The second Award Winning Novel from the author of Storm at Keizer Manor.


JON LAND, USA BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Betrayal at Ravenswick Full Page Ad

www.TopShelfMagazine.net




"..a deeply personal memoir of abuse written from the inside out by someone who's now fighting for fellow victims both past, present and future."

TOPShelf magazine

OCTOBER2017 53


A tangled web of alien intrigue traps a mother and son in its deadly embrace … When aliens capture Laura's son, it's going to take a lot more than a mother's love to get him back. After in ltrating a military research base, Laura discovers a terrifying secret: their plans to engineer humans for galactic exploration… Milijun is the rst installment of an action-packed sci- alien invasion story. If you like tales of rst contact, secret military operations, and the people caught in the middle, then you'll love this fast-paced sci- thrill ride.

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Genre: Science Fiction Price: $16.95

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Veronica and Simon Cutler and their dazzling adult daughters, Elodie and Aubrey, strike an enviable pose, the ultimate Palm Beach family. In a town where social aspirations, wealth and charm prevail, they are transcendent. While the sisters are polar opposites, they are ercely loyal to each other. When Elodie receives the shocking news that she is no longer able to conceive a baby, she turns to Aubrey. Aubrey, a free spirit, isn’t interested in marriage or children, yet when her sister asks her to carry her child, she can’t say no, despite her mother’s warnings… Genre: Women’s Fiction Price: $16.99

Former spies Nick and Felicia are taking a break from Key Largo to visit a casino owned by Nick’s friend, Rock Bianco. An unexpected, nasty encounter with one of Nick’s former lovers turns disastrous when she’s killed shortly afterward. The police and the girl’s wealthy father are convinced that Nick did it. The billionaire industrialist wages an online smear campaign to make Nick look guilty, including sordid details from his past career in the CIA. Why is the man determined to hold him responsible for his daughter’s murder?

She’s a legal shark—sleek and deadly—but doesn’t trust anyone beyond her small circle of family and friends.

Genre: Contemporary Romance Price: $8.75

Genre: Contemporary Romance Price: $11.99

He’s internationally famous— and yet a mystery to the world as he cloaks himself in privacy. Can they shed their fears and open their hearts to one another?

Idealistic young lawyer Patricia Egan has a housemate she doesn’t like and a client she doesn’t want—a professional safecracker who seems far removed from the well-heeled civil clients her rm has been representing. But the safecracker and her former clients are closely linked in their respective criminal enterprises, something they want no one to discover, certainly not Patricia or her fellow lawyer and housemate, Jack Alexander. There’s a string of dead and maimed to prove it.

Maggie Dolin is forty- ve and isn’t dealing with getting older very well. Seventeen years ago, she gave up her job in publishing to raise her daughter, Gia―but now her only child is about to leave for college, and Maggie isn’t sure what her new purpose will be. She’s been the caretaker and nurturer for so long that she can’t even remember the last time someone took care of her. She wishes Jim, her husband of nineteen years, would take that role on―but he’s been distracted and disconnected…

Genre: Thriller Price: $16.99

Genre: Women’s Fiction Price: Pre-Order, Avail. April 6, 2021

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TOPShelf Spotlights


"A well-written memoir that makes us long to unplug from our demanding lives and plan our own memorable adventure." ~Rebecca Katsikas, TopShelf Magazine

www.DanielMWarloch.com


Can love heal a wounded army o cer who doesn’t believe it exists? Lady Rachel St. Clair has witnessed how powerful love can be, thanks to the example her brother and wife set, and she won’t settle for anything less. At a house party, Rachel meets an o cer returning from the Peninsular War and believes she may have found love, thanks to their clandestine midnight lessons in kissing.Major Evan Drake, Marquess of Merrick, witnessed his father murder his mother and believes love doesn’t exist. He’s returned from combat wounded in both body and soul.

In 1912, four men, calling themselves the "Overland Westerners," decided fame and fortune awaited if they embarked on the longest horseback ride in history. Their goal was to visit all forty-eight state capitals over the course of three years and complete their journey at the San Francisco World's Fair on June 1, 1915. Facing rugged roads, raging rivers, thieves and near starvation, the men went through seventeen horses. Only one horse completed the entire journey...Pinto, a little horse with a heart as big as the whole country!

Genre: Historical Romance Price: $11.99

Genre: Teen & Young Adult Price: $10.95

On May 8, 1945, WWII in Europe ended with Germany’s surrender. But did the Nazi Party itself surrender? Some say no.1943: A German ship moors in a clandestine anchorage in western Mexico with a cargo of gold intended to bribe the Mexican government into declaring war on the United States….

What happens when a New York stockbroker crashes his car into Eve Castleberry’s North Carolina beauty shop … on the same day the young widow’s defective hair products are causing wild hairdos? Soon, Eve finds herself helping the handsome stranger hunt the thieves who stole his clients cash...and hot on the trail of two of the FBI’s most-wanted criminals! Romance blossoms amid danger, suspense and Eve’s hair-brained plan to get back the money.

Inspired by true historical events, and recent research suggesting the Nazi Party survived the German surrender.

Genre: Mystery Price: $12.50

Fifteen-year-old Matt Mitchell was having the worst summer imaginable. His misery started when his mother died in a senseless car accident. Unable to remain in the family's memoryfilled seaside cottage, Matt's grieving father moved Matt and his twin sister as far as possible from the ocean they loved. The Secrets of Hawthorne House is the story of an unlikely friendship, the clash of two radically different cultures, hidden magic, and a search for the lost Hawthorne treasure. Genre: Coming of Age, Fantasy Price: $14.99

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Genre: Romantic Comedy Price: $15.99

Pain is part of living; yet, humans naturally resist pain and – in the process of resisting – unintentionally create more pain for themselves and those they love. In contrast, acceptance softens the struggle with pain and increases the ability to live fully. While many self-help books discuss the importance of acceptance, few of them describe how to develop it. Now psychologist, Bryan Bushman, provides a step-by-step roadmap to help anyone develop acceptance and rise above physical and emotional pain.

Genre: Self-Help Price: $12.95

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TOPShelf Spotlights


ISBN:978-8899635930

ISBN: 978-1952112225

$17.58

Award Winning Historical TimeTravel Romance "...engaging novel, Storm at Keizer Manor will sweep you up in the storm of Annet's and Forrest's lives and command your emotions. It's a jewel for romantics to treasure. Like a fabulous meal lingers on your tongue, this story remains with you to mull over and savor in quiet moments." ~ Fiction Ebook Review

$14.99

Romantic Thriller ISBN: 978-1952112003

$14.99

Award Winning Romantic Suspense

"...learning to trust your heart after a painful betrayal." ~ Laura Taylor - 6-Time Romantic Times Award Winner

"Dark, haunting, and heartbreaking, and I simply couldn't put it down. 5 darks stars from me." ~ Laura D. Child, Tirza's Bookstore

www.ramcydiek.com


Alice Inoue has done it again created a new system from an ancient framework to offer you personal guidance on how to deal with life like the Superhero you have within you—in command of your life and more confident every step of the way. Take the exclusive Archetype Quiz :

A riveting story of Tommy Logan, a small time pot dealer, who is swept into the international smuggling scene by the cunning con man Harry Burr. Trying to extricate himself and his girl friend Sandy, he nds himself confronted by the dilemma of saving Sandy or himself.

www.MasterYourSuperpowers.com

to discover your Superhero and your Integrated Archetype to reveal your natural elemental nature. Genre: Self-Help Price: $19.99

The international bestselling action-thriller introduced us to former US Special Forces Sgt. John Bishop, his Spec Ops team, and John’s crime boss uncle, Gonzalo Valdez, as they united to take on terrorists, contract killers, a psychotic billionaire, and Afghan warlords. In the eagerly anticipated sequel, Bishop’s Law, the nonstop action continues with Bishop and his team battling against ISIS terror cells, a family of Pakistani assassins, and the Russian mob. Hang on for an action-packed and suspenselled thrill ride! Once again—not for the faint-hearted.

Genre: Crime, Mystery Price: $15.96

Teddy is a dog in need of a new home after living at the animal shelter for so long. Lisa is on a quest to nd a home for Teddy. When her plans to invite some friends over to meet the dog fail, she lets him stay at her house temporarily. but not forever. Poor Teddy! Will he ever nd a family that will love him and make him their own?

Genre: Children’s Price: $19.95

Genre: Thriller Price: $21.99

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Tequila Rose may have met the man of her dreams. Unfortunately, she wakes up suffering from alcoholic amnesia and doesn’t remember anything about the night before. Tall, dark, and Jack may be the cure her jaded heart desperately needs, but Tequila’s wary as friends warn her that Jack hangs out with the local drug dealer. Thrust together at a Speed Dating event, their chemistry sizzles, but is Jack after a different kind of fix?

Filled with laughter, tears and poignant thoughts and stories from other professional women about their retirement, the book resonates as a candid look at what can happen when your plan takes an unexpected turn. Baring her soul and her marriage in the hilarious chapter about how retirement can a ect your marriage is a must read for every woman. This debut memoir by a talented new writer breaks all the rules as she tells all and will keep you reading.

Genre: Romance Short Story Price: $9.99

Genre: Self-Help Price: $9.95

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TOPShelf Spotlights





www.danmcwhorter.com


It began on a sunny summer day in 1958 when I was ten. I was sitting on the steps when a young boy rolled his ball to my feet. With the sun in my face, I said hi and rolled it back. He ran o . A few days later, he did it again. We eventually became friends. I told my mom that a Chinese family had moved into the neighborhood and their son, Charlie, was my new friend. She said, bring him over for supper. I did, and after supper, he left, and my mom told me a story about people who have something called "Mongoloidism," now Down Syndrome…

Mickey and Dell, two long su ering halfwits come up with the idea of kidnapping at a bargain basement price. What could possibly go wrong? Well, maybe a victim who doesn't want to be returned, another with a husband who doesn't want her back, one who's tougher than her kidnappers, and another who's entirely the wrong person. Not to mention local thug Huey Evans who is looking to settle a score.

Genre: Memoir Price: $18.99

Genre: Cozy Mystery Price: $3.99 (Kindle)

The best of the last four Christmas sets from Paper Gold Publishing along with a few new stories to sweeten the offering.

Genre: Anthology Price: $.99 (Kindle)

This book is about practicing happiness principles 365 days out of the year. It is also about forming a circle of supportive relationships. 365 daily readings are introduced by gems of wisdom from ancient philosophers and teachers, as well as modern psychologists and teachers. Every reading includes a statement of a happiness principle, as well as a selfdiscovery question and an affirmation. Reading and meditating for five minutes every day with the help of this book, is sure to increase your happiness level. Genre: Self-Help Price: $11.99

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While Forrest goes to college, While Forrest goes to college, quick witted Annet works at the Keizer Manor, the museum where the oils from 19th century master painter Alexander Keizer are exhibited. After a fight, the couple strolls through the dunes to make up. When dark clouds roll in, the beautiful sunny weather turns into a thunderstorm so violent that they get separated. The next morning, Forrest finds himself alone. So does Annet. Regaining consciousness in a monastery, Annet is convinced the nuns are playing a prank on her. It can't be the 1800’s!

A mesmerizing tale of adventure, romance and survival.

Genre: Time Travel Romance Price: $14.99

Genre: Women’s Fiction Price: $14.99

Driven by a mother's sacrifice to save her daughter from abuse, and a lifetime of poverty, deprivation and neglect, Footprints on the Heart unwinds an epic tale of love, loss, and exile in the lives of unforgettable characters, as they navigate the turbulence of six decades against a backdrop of powerful world events.

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TOPShelf Spotlights


 

"...a must for any fan of the Outlander books and tv series..." ~Susan Johnston

"Blair McDowell's writing will have you falling in love with the mists and moors of Scotland as you follow both pairs of MacInnes and Glendennings. Scotland is as much of this story as the characters are." ~Krista, on Amazon.com

"...type of book you can just fall into and get engrossed by the history and mystery and not want to put down..." ~Avonna Loves Genres, The Romance Reviews

www.blairmcdowell.com


Forget everything you ever thought was real…What if... our entire history from the biblical Garden of Eden until now, is due to a love/hate relationship between two ancient gods named Apollonia and Artemis? When they're in love... peace reigns across the world. When they're in conflict... chaos and calamities are commonplace. From the dawn of mankind... through America's Civil War and into the distant future, these gods influenced and shaped our world. And then came the Great Rapture... and Sky Parlor was created. Genre: Science Fiction Price: $20.50

An electromagnetic pulse attack has disabled all communications and most transportation in the American Midwest. Societal chaos has ensued. Gangs of murderous bikers raid all sources of food, gas, and other supplies in an effort to dominate what remains of humanity. William, an embittered survivor of the madness, encounters a young girl who needs his help to reach her relative many miles away.

The Mammothses’ Curse has struck! n 1918, a deadly epidemic known as the Spanish Flu swept around the World, killing millions. The human version of the virus was eventually wiped out, but the Ses Flu—known to some as the Mammothses’ Curse —lingers on to this day. Jaspa and his friends set out from Vancouver on an Alaskan Adventure. But when one of them comes down with a mysterious illness, this trip of a lifetime rapidly becomes a life and death race to nd a cure. Genre: Children’s Price: $17.95

Do ants wear pants? What do you think? This rhyming book for kids will entertain and captivate, while encouraging curiosity and generating topics for discussion.This book is the perfect bedtime story for kids ages 3 – 7.

Genre: Children’s Price: $11.99 Genre: Dystopian Fiction Price: $12.95

What if you could time-travel back into the past to meet the man of your dreams for a steamy, fantasy romance at a time when it would be possible for him to fall in love with you? Susan does just that when she meets two ladies from Haiti while on a cruise with her childhood friend, Lynn. Mika, the elderly of the two ladies claims she can see into Susan’s soul, and that if she sends her back in time to meet James, the man who Susan has dreamed of for fifty years… Genre: Time Travel Romance Price: $8.99

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An invasion like no other is threatening the Silicon Valley. A cutting-edge quantum communication technology has unleashed a flood of cryptid sightings. From headless Mothmen to dog-faced cats, strange beasts are prowling the streets and emerging from the woods, spreading a deadly epidemic of mind-blindness. Cryptozoologist Sharon Manley, a stranger in a strange land, thinks she knows what is going on. But who is going to believe her if her information comes to her in dreams?

Genre: Science Fiction Price: $16.99

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TOPShelf Spotlights


"An enlightened way to teach all children of the world love, respect, and health."

~Raquel Marcela Benson, Author

ISBN: 978-1947925298 $17.99

Ella’s Magic is the story of a young girl named Ella, who has a special secret. When she becomes curious, a light shines out of her forehead. Ella also has the ability to fly into the other worlds, consciously dreaming in other times and places. All is well until the kids at school realize she is different. Ella must then undertake a quest to discover why she is so unusual and how to best use her powers. This is an excellent book to help young children understand bullying, and to accept the uniqueness of their friends, as well as their own special gifts.

Have you ever listened closely to the song that lives in your heart? Fairies know the healing sounds that help us thrive. In this Sparkle Fairy Tale, Kachina comes out of the forest and finds the human world to be very strange. In order to help bring life back into harmony, the fairy co-creates a magical healing rose. A gardener sees the rose and takes it to his wife—with surprising results. Follow Kachina to discover the song that lives in your heart.

ISBN: 978-1947925328 $19.99

ISBN: 978-1947925120 $17.99

Undina is a nature spirit who places a spell on a young girl so that Eva can travel into the Inner World of dreams to find and heal Mother Earth. Eva bravely sets forth on a heroine’s journey riding a white stag to a magical cave and then faces a dragon. Falling even more deeply into the Inner World, Eva begins to understand what is missing and what can be done about it. A story of hope and transformation, “Undina’s Spell” reminds us that healing the world begins with forging unexpected friendships. “Undina’s Spell” is for anyone on a hero or heroine’s journey.

www.infinitelightpublishing.com


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