Polls Open: Vote for January's Book Club Pick

Our January poll opens today and will close on Friday (12/18) at noon EST. Check out the Back Cover Blurbs below to learn more about each debut included in the poll.
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Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa:
Set in the slums of New Orleans, among clusters of crack houses and abandoned buildings, Dirty Little Angels is the story of sixteen year old Hailey Trosclair. When the Trosclair family suffers a string of financial hardships and a miscarriage, Hailey finds herself looking to God to save her family. When her prayers go unanswered, Hailey puts her faith in Moses Watkins, a failed preacher and ex-con. Fascinated by Moses’s lopsided view of religion, Hailey, and her brother Cyrus, begin spending time down at an abandoned bank that Moses plans to convert into a drive-through church. Gradually, though, Moses’s twisted religious beliefs become increasingly more violent, and Hailey and Cyrus soon find themselves trapped in a world of danger and fear from which there may be no escape.
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The Hypnotist by Gordon Snider:
In 1906, San Francisco has reached the peak of its golden age. Fortunes have created a society that attracts European opera singers and cordon bleu chefs. It is a world defined by elegant balls, oysters, and champagne. But there are darker sides to the city as well. One of these darker places is The Mission district south of Market Street houses tenements where shanties huddle together and rats plague the streets. And nearby sits Chinatown, an endless warren of dark alleys that offers gambling, prostitution, and opium, all controlled by vicious gangs, called tongs. Into these disparate worlds steps Marta Baldwin, a young woman who has shunned her own social background to help the poor. She is confronted by a hypnotist, a man who hypnotizes young women from the tenements and delivers them to the tongs in Chinatown to work in their brothels. Marta escapes his hypnotic trance, but when her assistant, Missy, disappears, Marta realizes she has been taken by the evil man who confronted her. She seeks the help of Byron Wagner, one of San Francisco's most prominent citizens. Marta finds herself drawn to Byron but knows his high social standing prevents any possibility of a relationship between them. This is confirmed when Marta discovers Byron having an intimate conversation with Lillie Collins, the daughter of one of the city's most elite families. Marta is flushed with jealousy. However, Lillie defies social customs, and her rebellious nature fits naturally with Marta's. Despite her envy, the two women become close friends. Marta is caught up in a whirlwind of opulent balls, opium dens and brothels, and police raids in Chinatown. She cannot deny her feelings for Byron, but she must save Missy and protect her new friends from harm. For lurking in the background is the hypnotist. He has become obsessed with Marta and will use all his guile to ensnare her. When he threatens those she loves, Marta is determined to stop him, even at her own peril. Will her boldness entrap her? If so, how can she hope to escape the man's hypnotic embrace? Then the earth moves, and nothing will ever be the same again.
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Liquid Sunshine by Justin C. Hart:
The title Liquid Sunshine is a symbolic expression derived from simply taking the trials throughout life (rain) and merely perceiving them as growth from the Lord (sunshine). Understand this is the reason why sunshine and rain, good days and bad ones, have been given to us from God-so we can grow in moderation as plants do, trusting in him. In this story of love, life, and finding the will of God, Jayden Rockaway, a charming senior in college, struggles to maintain a healthy relationship with the Lord, while involved with his girlfriend and an unwanted third party. After multiple breakups and much tension between the three of them, the Lord's will for his life is found. Throughout this challenging experience, God paints a beautiful work of art and only by Jayden's willingness was it created. Once he stopped chasing the temporary and meaningless things of this world and pursued the perpetual and everlasting things that God wanted for him, he mentally saw a completed image, what many call the big picture, right before his very eyes. Now, we can all agree that hindsight is a wonderful explosion of revelation; however, to receive a glimpse of a painting before it is fi nished is a gift like none other. Step into this story and share my umbrella, if you will. See how the good and bad weather of a particular season can blend together and create one beautiful day.
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My Sister’s Veil by K.C. Marshall:
Witness the strength and courage of three phenomenal black women facing tragic loss and insurmountable odds. My Sister’s Veil takes an entertaining yet realistic look into the root of the self hatred, self destruction, and self medication among African Americans. My Sister’s Veil unfolds through the harsh, ironic love and life lessons of three young African American women, at the mercy of their perilous ghetto streets. Their only saving grace is a gifted veil, which teaches them each a revealing lesson about their community and their circumstances. Abandoned by her alcoholic mother, at a young age, Tina Douglas searches for real love in all the wrong places. When she meets with scorn and prejudice in her neighborhood, she finds her true power in a life altering lesson from the veil. She overturns the hatred and administers a healing dose of medication to her community.When Terri McDaniels suddenly falls from her position of affluence and privilege, she lands in the arms of C.J, a well known street and drug hustler. As she struggles to fit into his world, she comes face to face with the black genocide among African American men. Unable to escape the violence, her lesson from the veil helps her to aide in the wealth and unity of her new neighborhood. Toni Patterson’s fast life of expensive cars, clothes and jewels leaves her unfulfilled and lonely. She steps out of her comfort zone when her lesson from the veil teaches her that true healing comes from uniting broken families. Open the pages of My Sister’s Veil and journey to the edge of emotion, as these three women reach for their crowning moment.