Erin's picks:

This novel, about a young scientist working to discover a cure for addiction, grapples with loss, depression, rage, and faith. Raised evangelical, her relationship with God is tested after she loses the person she loves most. What can be solved by science, and what is unanswerable? "Transcendence, holiness, redemption" – I was moved by this story. ~Erin

Two newly orphaned children travel through the American West in the Gold Rush era. As Chinese Americans, they're outsiders struggling to find where, and what, home is. This novel is about land, hunger, ownership, family, and courage. Zhang gives readers a new version of the classic Western in achingly gorgeous writing. ~Erin