Our First Impressions book this week is Mona Susan Power's A Council of Dolls, a sweeping and uniquely told work of historical fiction that covers the experiences of three generations of Dakota women and their childhood dolls.

In Editor's Choice, we review How Can I Help You by Laura Sims, a chilling and entertaining thriller about two women working in a library who become fixated on each other while avoiding their own pasts.

We also have previews of upcoming September books, an exciting array of fall book club discussions and a new Wordplay!

With best wishes,

Davina Morgan-Witts

BookBrowse Publisher

Each month, we share books with BookBrowse members to read and review. Here are their opinions on one recently released title.

"Although a work of fiction, A Council of Dolls reads in part like an intensely written personal memoir describing the uprooting of Dakota children taken from their homes and sent to missionary schools for 'reeducation' and how the damage done to those children and their tribes will affect their lives for generations to come. We are introduced to Lillian, Cora and Jesse; to their joys, sorrows and relationships; and to their dolls Winona, Mae and Ethel... The author has created a riveting narration weaving together the threads of the dolls' stories and those of their young owners... This book would provide lots of thoughtful discussion for book clubs." —Marcia C. (Jeffersonville, PA)

"The structure of the plot — narrated in four parts by three generations of women, starting with the youngest and moving back in time — was intriguing and kept my interest high... The childhood dolls of each of the women informed and enhanced their stories in a most surprising and marvelous way." —Jeanne P. (Ennice, NC)

"A Council of Dolls is a book I wish everyone would read. It's the best kind of historical novel — poignant, powerful and thought-provoking. I will definitely seek out more of Mona Susan Power's work." —Nanette C. (Sarasota, FL)

We know it can be tough to keep up with all the new books coming out every month, so we do the hard work for you. We've carefully selected 90+ of the most noteworthy books publishing in September and are continually updating our selections — check them out!

BookBrowse members can see, sort and download the full list of previews for all months.

Non-subscribers can view books up to the current month. If you don't already, you may also wish to subscribe to our Publishing This Week newsletter.

In How Can I Help You, two women running away from their pasts run into each other—with explosive results.

Margo Finch is a gregarious, helpful, and charming face at the Carlyle Public Library, where she dutifully checks out patrons' books and polices the computer commons. But Margo's firm hold on the patrons and her position of authority is shaken when she meets Patricia Delmarco, the new reference librarian. Patricia is something new to Margo: sleek and stylish, like a "rare bird … flaunting her feathers in the gloom." But the plumage is mere camouflage for a deep ennui: the rejected manuscript of a first novel that for her represents an existential threat.

A tentative friendship begins and Margo, so careful of her secrets, overshares her past as a nurse in a moment of unguarded pride. She doesn't suspect that Patricia is about to start connecting the dots of who Margo Finch really is…to everyone's detriment. ...continued

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

The power of a book is unquantifiable, depending on who reads it. When the character Margo Finch in Laura Sims's How Can I Help You catches her new colleague, Patricia Delmarco, fondly touching a particular title on the shelf at the Carlyle Public Library, it pulls her deep into a world where fantasy and reality often overlap.

Fans of beloved author Shirley Jackson will be delighted to see the appearance of We Have Always Lived in the Castle in the pages of this frenetic literary thriller. Her most famous novel, The Haunting of Hill House (1959), has been adapted into movies and a television series, but it was her surreal and disturbing short story "The Lottery" (1948) that garnered her the most critical acclaim.

Published in 1962, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, her last novel, focuses on the haunting story of two sisters: Mary Katherine (Merricat) and Constance Blackwood. ...continued

Discussions are open to all, so please join us!

Click to see our amazing fall book club choices including The Lincoln Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch, Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra, Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout, and three soon to publish titles.

If you would like to receive a message when a particular discussion opens, you can sign up for a one-time notification.

Solve our Wordplay puzzle to reveal a well-known expression, and be entered to win a one-year membership to BookBrowse!

The answer to the last Wordplay: A Good M I H T F

Meaning: It is not easy to find decent human beings/qualified people

This phrase appears to have been coined by Eddie Green as the title of his 1918 song A Good Man Is Hard To Find.

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" is also the title of a 1953 story by Flannery O'Connor; and the title of her 1955 short story collection. ... continued