2019 Books Published by Boston Members

(If you’ve published a book in 2019 – one you wrote, edited, or brought out a new edition of – please contact your webmaster with the info so we can include it here and at our Book Party!)

Susan Chernilo. Re-Creating Our Common Chord (anthology contribution). Wising Up Press. This anthology is an attempt to heal the intense polarization and vitriol in contemporary society; 37 writers share experiences in finding connection across nationality, class, religion, race, or politics. Having taught ESL to adults for twenty years, Susan’s piece is about some encounters with and lessons from her amazing students.

Charles Coe. Memento Mori. Leapfrog Press. This collection of poems about loss and change is  Boston co-chair Charles Coe’s third volume of poetry.

Jeannette de Beauvoir.

• Lethal Alliances. Homeport Press. Set during the reign of King Phillipe le Bel, this panoramic novel shares the passions and politics of medieval France in a tale rich with adventure, turmoil, and heartbreak.

• A Killer Carnival. Homeport Press. Filled with the colorful characters and unexpected twists you’ve come to expect, this fourth book in the Sydney Riley series offers a gripping tale of courage and conviction set against the festive backdrop of Provincetown’s most outrageous week.
• A Fatal Folly. Homeport Press. When a gold coin and nameplate of a missing fishing boat are discovered, Sydney Riley is asked to investigate the unsolved mystery of a murdered fisherman. While Provincetown is aglow with holiday lights and events, Provincetown’s unofficial sleuth is in the dark, but determined to uncover the motive for both murders.

Anita Diamant. Revised and updated edition of Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying, Bury the Dead, and Mourn as a Jew in 2019.Schocken Books. A user-friendly guide to the customs, traditions, prayers, and practices that Judaism provides at the end of life. An update of the 1998 edition, this revision includes new language, new poetry, and reports on how changes in the Jewish community have informed the choices made today.

Mark Guerin. You Can See More From Up Here. Golden Antelope Press. The December selection of the Nervous Breakdown Book Club, the book was called a “poignantly told story of ruminative remembrance” by Kirkus Reviews and “superbly written” by Midwest Book Review. The novel is a father/son story about a violent encounter at a midwestern automobile assembly plant that forever alters their relationship.

J. Kates. Paper-thin Skin, by Aigerim Tazhi, translated by J. Kates. Translations of poems by an important younger voice in Kazakhstani literature.

Judah Leblang. Echoes of Jerry: One Man’s Search for His Deaf Uncle and His Own Voice.Red Giant Books. Growing up, Leblang felt a deep connection with his Uncle Jerry, a deaf man who lived an isolated life between the deaf and hearing worlds. Leblang felt different too, struggling with his sexuality and coming out in the mid-1980s. Years later, after working in the Deaf Community, Leblang went on a quest to understand his late uncle and to give him a voice.

Jan Maher. Heaven, Indiana. Paperback and e-book editions, Dog Hollow Press. Three girls are born in Heaven, Indiana in 1954. Sue Ellen Sue fits right in, Ellie longs to be Somewhere Else, and Nadja grows up on the carnival circuit learning fortunetelling. When Nadja and her adoptive Granny reappear, secrets unravel, stories tumble out, and the town is forever changed.

Randy Susan Meyers. Waisted. Atria Books. Alice and Daphne, accomplished working mothers, harbor the same secret: obsession with their weight overshadows everything else in their lives.They meet at Waisted, where the program promises fast, dramatic weight loss. They are desperate enough to leave behind their families for this opportunity. But they must agree to always be on camera in Waisted: The Documentary. The filmmakers have trapped them in a cruel experiment. With each pound lost, they edge deeper into obsession and instability…until they take matters into their own hands.

William Orem. Miss Lucy. Orem’s first collection of stories, Zombi, You My Love, won the GLCA New Writers Award. His second collection, Across the River, won the Texas Review Novella Prize. His first novel, Killer of Crying Deer, won the Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in the Small Presses, and has been optioned for film. His first collection of poems, Our Purpose in Speaking, won the Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize. Miss Lucy, his second novel, about the life of Bram Stoker, won the Gival Press Novel Award, and was recently listed by Kirkus Reviews as one of the “Best Books of 2019.” Currently he is a Senior Writer-in-Residence at Emerson College. Details at williamorem.com.

Stephen R. Wilk. The Traveler. Rogue Phoenix Press (print and e-book). Argus is a street urchin in Imperial Rome who learns about a “crazy man,” Tenobius, who can barely speak Latin. He’s working in Marcus’ blacksmith shop, doing manual work. They strike up a friendship, and Argus helps him fix his project – a broken time machine.  Tenobius is a stranded time traveler.