Bookshelf

(Archway Publishing, 2024).

Back in 1978, Charles Thacher’s wife gave him a fly-fishing outfit. Funny thing was, he wasn’t much of a fisherman. But proving that woman’s intuition is not to be underestimated, that gift would mark the start of a passion that would take him around the world — and to Argentina’s northern lakes country 20 times.

(Salt Water Media, 2023).

The publisher describes the book like this: “From watching a first-grade classmate drop into the ‘fires of hell’ to battling trolls, Brussels sprouts, and 50 miles of toilet paper, George Radcliffe remembers and reflects on a remarkable and lovingly spirited family growing up in the 1950s. As the lone survivor of that family of six, he recounts their often-hilarious exploits in a series of stories that will make you laugh and cry but leave you with memories of a unique and close family.”

(Beacon Press, 2025).

Join a high school science teacher as he leads readers on excursions that go beyond books and lectures to reimagine teaching and learning. “Through a blend of real-life examples and practical commentary, readers will see how Fox created localized learning opportunities for his students out of canoeing on the Bronx River, hiking in the Catskill Mountains, and other unconventional approaches,” the publisher notes.

(Bloomsbury, 2025).

It’s the turn of the 20th century, and young Vivian Lesperance has one goal — to get far away from her hometown of Utica, N.Y. Smart, intuitive, and determined, she heads to New York City where she inserts herself into the world of the post-Gilded Age elite. Before long she forms a plan that includes marrying Oscar Schmidt, a middle manager at a soap company, who, like Vivian, carries the residual scars from a less-than-happy childhood. In the mild-mannered Oscar, she finds a partner she can influence to build the life she wants — made easier by the fact that her husband is more interested in men and will leave Vivian to tend to her own romances with women.