in residence

reading lately: March roundup

2026-04-01T08:00:00.521-04:00

The bad news of my March books roundup is that the reading month felt a bit hampered by having 3 selections in a row that I just could not finish for one reason or another. I have included those books at the end - not trying to be mean about them, but I do sometimes find that hearing reasons why a person didn't finish a book can be just as informative in deciding whether I want to pick it up. But the good news is that I still managed quite a variety of books, including my first middle grade, audiobook, and literary fiction in a while, and even better, there are a couple of new-to-me authors here who provided excellent reading experiences - which means they go on my to-be-read list for whatever they come out with next!

Literary/contemporary fiction

Love Is an Algorithm: Eve is unconventional and arty and passionate, bucking her wealthy New York family's wishes to become a songwriter and musician. Danny is her brother's best friend and dating app co-creator, a computer-minded kind of guy who is always a bit anxious about his relationships and his standing, having come from less means and experience, growing up with a single dad out west. While the fledgling app isn't making great dating matches for Danny, when he and Eve get together it just feels *right* - but he's still anxious about whether she's happy, whether he's enough, whether there's anything he can do to make sure she stays (unlike his mother... baggage!). This prompts a major change to the dating app's approach, and he develops it into something that can help users quantify and monitor their relationship health/potential, complete with a friendly AI assistant that can provide suggestions for how to handle situations in their relationships. At his heart he just wants to make Eve happy in their relationship, but does his his "outsourcing" to the AI end up making him feel more distant? The narration goes back and forth between Danny and Eve's relationship with snippets of their past that show the baggage they bring into it, whether from how they were raised or from how past relationships went. I'd say it's more character-driven - the plot of the app development is more as a tool for exploring relationships and the idea of whether/how we can fully know someone, and how we handle the uncertainty of putting ourselves out there to love someone, when there's a possibility they may not love us back - but the dialogue and character development is smart and sharp while also being charming, so it moves along nicely. This is definitely not a rom-com - I feel like I have actually read the rom-com version of this (The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren), and the tone/story is much more straightforward, the characters a bit more caricature, the plot predictable in terms of the normal arc of a rom-com. This book is a modern love story for the AI age, but just as much as romantic love its about the love and relationships friends and of family, and how to navigate those things in a world that's uncertain, and when our innermost selves can sometimes be impenetrable to others. It felt fresh so enjoyable to read, yet smart and thought-provoking and also kind of interesting in terms of structure/timeline (though occasionally this felt a tad gimmicky, I mostly loved how the structure choices propelled my reading experience in a mostly character-driven story). I would love to see it as a Netflix series, I imagine it would feel kind of like how I found Nobody Wants This to be current and fresh and great banter with characters who have real feeling insecurities about relationships, and a relationship I really rooted for without it seeming cheesily rom-commy. Thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience and would be interested in other work by this author. (I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.) ★★★★.25

Dream Count: This is a Covid pandemic book that rather than feeling triggering about lockdown uses it as a good jumping off point for exploring the reactions/self-reflections it brought about in a group of women: Chia, a Nigerian travel writer from a super wealthy family who is living in the US, spends the time of isolation reflecting on all of the romantic relationships she's had and why they didn't work (and why she feels like there's no one who has actually known her). Her friend Zikora, a lawyer in DC, has recently been abandoned by her partner while pregnant and must lean on her mother for help during this period despite their previously fractured relationship. Meanwhile her cousin Omelogor, a powerhouse in the financial world and very independent woman who has resisted marriage thus far, weathers the time in her home in Nigeria also reflecting on her past relationships. And Katiadou, her Guinean immigrant housekeeper, is facing an incredible hardship brought on by a powerful man that threatens to unravel the life she has worked so hard to achieve for herself and her daughter in America. I'd call this a great "window" book - while it explores many facets of female experience in general in terms of love and friendship and more, for me it also is a window into Nigerian culture and to the varying experiences of women of color, immigrants, people shaped by being from a place that was colonized. I also appreciated the (pointed) way it is a reminder that not all of Africa is the same thing, with characters who come from great wealth dispelling assumptions that Americans they encounter have about Africans being poor, etc. Very character driven, but the characters are so vivid that it moves along, especially as I found it interesting to see the characters from each other's eyes in the different sections. It's been a long time since I read Americanah, so I cannot say this with certainty, but to me Dream Count felt like the grown up/middle-aged version of it, dealing with some of the same themes of the female Nigerian experience (especially living in America), friendship, racism/post-colonialism, academia, and so on - but with older protagonists rather than a college student. The writing style and strong character-driven story made for a similar reading experience, so I think if you liked Adiche's earlier work, you will probably appreciate this one too. That said, I would say I liked/appreciated, but didn't love this one like I did Americanah, maybe something to do with covering so many themes and occasionally feeling in the weeds in terms of philosophizing about them, or struggling a bit to feel like there's any redemption in the male characters (and as such, why the female characters even want partners?!). ★★★★

Mystery/thriller

Good People: The Sharaf family has suffered a devastating loss that has everyone talking - members of their Afghan immigrant community, neighbors in their wealthy community, classmates of their children, investigative reporters, social media users across the country - about what led up to this, and the biggest question of all: was it a crime, or simply a terrible tragedy? Through a documentary-style narration all of these voices offer their opinions and evidence about the Sharaf family's history and misfortune. This is about as much as I knew about the plot going in, and I think this is the way to go, rather than reading the details in the publisher's blurb - it doesn't give anything away per se, but it offers enough that you might miss some of the reading experience of watching it all unfold. While it might be categorized as "mystery" this book is more of a genre mashup that reminded me of ones from Celeste Ng (especially Everything I Never Told You) or Angie Kim (especially Happiness Falls) where we know there has been a loss, and the buildup to this loss is slowly revealed to us; however, the story is just as much a family drama about the characters and their reactions to tragedy, and the effect of the loss on their relationships and community (whether family or broader community). I wanted to keep reading to find out what this big event was that everyone was gossiping about or investigating (and though it was definitely slow burn, the very short chapters in the documentary style kept it moving for sure) - but just as much I was intrigued by the competing viewpoints, the ways that communities and news outlets and social media make meaning out of a situation, gawk at others' misfortune and run trials in the court of public opinion, perpetuate or fight cultural stereotypes, and so on. Also was so intrigued by the choice to never include the voice of any of the actual family members involved, so there always remained this mystery of what they did or what they were thinking, with so much being hearsay. The documentary style made me a bit confused at times with all of the different voices, until I realized it didn't matter *that* much which friend/neighbor was talking - don't necessarily need to keep them all straight - and the timeline feel a tad convoluted at times, but overall an excellent read that I can't stop thinking about and found tons to discuss in - would be a great bookclub pick. ★★★★.5

The Unquiet Grave: We know I'm on record as a lover of character-driven Irish detective books; I picked up the first in this series several years ago thanks to a Tana French comparison, and I wasn't disappointed. I liked The Ruin for the detective procedural mixed with atmospheric Irish setting, good character development, and the slow-burn plot delving into an old case from the detective's past that is meeting a new case + dilemma in his present. This fourth book in the series was a pretty satisfying procedural as well, though admittedly if I wasn't already familiar with/attached to the characters I'm not sure that I would have loved it - the writing didn't feel as strong (felt more genre simplistic, and over-explaining of unnecessary things like the weather or the tea). The two seemingly separate murder plotlines did come together in a satisfying way in the end, and I actually also really appreciated that there was some ambiguity. The detectives figure out whodunit, but true to life there is some doubt in people's minds as to the why of it all, and as to whether the justice system really is just, and what police officers can or should do about it when they are in a moral quandary. Though not my favorite of the series (really not helped by the poorly formatted Kindle version that led to confusion about who was speaking in dialogue sections...), it's worth picking up if you like these books and are in the mood for a procedural - and if you are an Irish detective novel lover who hasn't yet read The Ruin, put it on your list! ★★★.5

Romance/rom-com

How to Lose a Lord in 10 Days: For a Regency-era romance with an unconventional, take-charge heroine and the appropriate amount of swoon/lack of steam (I always find it so jarring when books set in the Austen era have hot & heavy scenes - I guess I expect them to be more like hers when it comes to romance and propriety!), I have really enjoyed Sophie Irwin's books, especially A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting. So when I happened upon this recent one I was excited to pick it up without even knowing much about it. Like her earlier works, it has a heroine who is fighting to make the marriage/inheritance system, where she can't really pave her own way or make her own money, work for what she (or her sibling/extended family) need. But unlike the others, which were fun reads while still having some seriousness or substance, this one really went light. Lydia's family expects her to marry well to help bring up their "new money" cache in society - and will ship her off to her spinster aunt in the country if she doesn't acquiesce; conversely, Lord Ashford's father is a romantic who will approve only a match that has love in it, but Lord Ashford knows that their failing estate needs a good dowry, and soon. He sets his sights on Lydia, and then she sets her sights on trying to get him to back out of the engagement by any means necessary. Soon they're in a battle of antics and pranks, trying to trick and embarrass and goad each other into breaking off their engagement . I have to be in just the right mood for something that feels this madcap - if you can lean into that part of it, then you'll have fun. For me it started to feel a bit long, and it felt a bit lacking especially in the first half with not getting to know Lydia as a real person at all before she starts acting nutso in order to scare off Ashford - so I didn't have a real basis for rooting for her and it took me a while to hope for any romance to work out until pretty late in the game (at which point the madcap nature also calmed down a bit and I got more invested). ★★★.5

Young adult/middle grade

The Unlikely Tale of Chase & Finnegan: This is a sweet animal friendship story that will be great for fans of books like The One and Only Ivan or The Eyes & the Impossible. Chase is an anxious cub in training for a zoo's cheetah demonstration/conservation program; Finnegan is a rescue dog with self-doubt about his worthiness to live with his family who is brought in to be Chase's training companion. Along with the friendship they develop, the book handles themes of anxiety and how to help others/ourselves with it, and it models developing self-acceptance, self-confidence, and self-forgiveness. For me it felt a bit too predictable/over-anthropomorphized and didn't sweep me away with the characters' singularity (like The Eyes & the Impossible, or like Jasmine Warga did with A Rover's Story), but that shouldn't take away from how much the right set of middle grade readers is going to love this book - I think kids might be less likely to be looking for novelty with a book like this and will be pleased with these sweet friends to root for. And I think young animal lovers are going to love the cheetah + dog facts included at the end of the book, along with the information about how real zoos actually do sometimes pair rescue dogs and cheetahs in programs like this. I do think it is best for readers on the younger side of middle grade spectrum)For me it was still a nice light read to add some sweetness to the month and balance out some more dense and/or disappointing selections... ★★★.5

Nonfiction/memoir

Family of Spies: In the mid 1990s, journalist Christine Kuehn received a letter from a screenwriter asking about her family's history, specifically her German grandfather and aunt's involvement in WWII as Nazi spies. Her father had always told her that her grandfather died in a car accident in Germany, so the idea of him as a spy in Hawaii, paid by Japan to help with reconnaissance to plan the attack on Pearl Harbor, was mind-blowing to say the least. This set off a 30-year journey of finally getting some of the truth from her father about his family, researching everything related to her family's Nazi involvement (including her grandmother and uncle as well), and struggling with how to acknowledge her family's involvement in things she abhorred (as did her father - who, amazingly, joined the US army as a 19-year-old, a couple of years after Pearl Harbor, completely defecting from his family, and fighting in the Pacific, the very part of the war that they helped usher in). I thought the best parts of this book were when the author reflected on how finding out about her family's secret history affected her, and how she went about finding answers, so I appreciated how that was woven through the book. And the other most interesting parts - which actually had me on the edge of my seat a bit - were the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, in terms of learning what happened to each of the family members. Because the parts specifically about Christine's family were the ones I found the most engaging I wished for a bit more of them, like more about actual conversations she had with her dad, or even some more details like how her aunt came to live in the US after all of this, despite being known to the US government as someone with Nazi ties. And thus I could have done with a bit less of the pre-war history about the rise of Hitler, or some of the side stories about particular Japanese soldiers, etc. However, it was all very well researched, and if you really like history/WWII books you will appreciate all of it. And if you are more of an occasional nonfiction reader who is most interested in memoir like I am, this is a good foray into narrative historical nonfiction since it includes elements of memoir. I learned a lot of details about Pearl Harbor that I hadn't known, and I think this particular family's story is one that is very worth being in the historical record, as we learn from history and as we all decide what we will do in the face of rising hate/discrimination. I enjoyed it on audio as it was engaging enough to keep my mind from wandering (a hazard of audiobooks for me), though sometimes the narrator's affected accents got on my nerves I have to admit. ★★★.75

DNFs

The Displacements: I thought Bruce Holsinger's most recent novel, Culpability (dealing with AI in our world), was an excellent read on vacation, and I had also enjoyed his first, The Gifted School (dealing with college admissions scandals). So when I was reminded that I never picked up the one he published in between, I was looking forward to diving in for another mix of social commentary and juicy storytelling, this time looking at a (fictional) huge hurricane and its aftermath. I was prepared for the cli-fi nature of the story, but not fully prepared for the "after" chapters, in which thousands of families are living in FEMA camps. And in the current anxieties of the real-life newsfeed, mixed with the feeling that this type of extreme weather is all-too-likely and fully out of our control at this point, it just was not the kind of book I could do right now, so I put it down. But I still think it's one that would be a page-turning and interesting read just like his previous ones, if you aren't too stressed out by the topic/plot.

The Name Game: I have really enjoyed some of Beth O'Leary's previous books (especially The Flatshare) as romances with heart and characters to root for and not too much steam, but unfortunately I'm wondering if her books are going to go for me the way of some other romance authors I have liked. When they start going a book a year, the reading experience suffers, feeling underdeveloped... I was drawn in by the plot summary of two characters named Charlie Jones, both looking for a fresh start in life, who (accidentally) get offered the same job on a small British Isle and have to compete to be the one to keep the job. It's a fun and quirky start for a romance, and a fabulous setting for the small town and idyllic vibes, but promised to bring some depth as we unpack the struggles that have brought both to seek a new start far away from their old lives. Unfortunately, though, it just felt contrived, especially the fact that most of the story was told via journal entries (the female Charlie) and emails-to-self (the male Charlie). Did not enjoy how much of the story was told via the informal tone/voice of this, and when Charlie was writing a diary entry WHILE stranded on a large rock in high tide? I had to put this one aside. I think I could have enjoyed it more along the lines of The Flatshare if the format had been different, but in this format it didn't work for me at all. Sorry, but maybe should have judged this one by its cover...

The Homemade God: another author whose work I have previously loved - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and the follow up, Maureen, were heartwarming but with enough grit to avoid cheesiness but unfortunately has had less success for me in more recent books. Despite not finishing Miss Benson's Beetle (historical fiction that was just too light/overly plucky for me) I still wanted to try her most recent as I was interested in the beachy Italian setting, the adult sibling dynamics, and the undercurrent of mystery as they try to locate their artist father's final painting. But again I just couldn't make it in very far as the tone just felt too light and the characters too 2-D (for purporting to be a complex family drama) and the narrative voice too scattered and confusing as it switched among the 4 siblings willy nilly - they were so hard to keep track of. Might have improved, but I have too many books on my shelf to stick around just in case.

reading lately: February roundup

2026-03-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

As a lot of my reading was vacation reading, this roundup is a bit shorter, but my February non-beach reading managed to have a lot of variety and a few solid picks. Even the ones that were not my faves still got me interested in reading other books from these new (or new-to-me) authors.

Literary/contemporary fiction

Lost Lambs: The Flynn family is descending into chaos - Bud and Catherine's open marriage is an open secret in their family/town, but it's not quite giving them the satisfaction they hoped for. Eldest daughter Abigail is a high schooler who has started dating an ex-soldier with Crohn's disease nicknamed War Crimes Wes, middle daughter Louise is in an online relationship with someone who turns out to be a religious zealot and terrorist, and Harper, the youngest and insanely smart daughter is convinced that sculptures in the town center are filled with cameras that are monitoring the citizens. Add to that a gnat-filled church under fumigation, a priest in a passive-aggressive battle with a church lady who leads the "Lost Lambs" support group, an Inner Beauty pageant, and so much more - and you've got a zany and sharply observational read about a family and a community in chaos. The tone of this dysfunctional family story is absurdist and campy and incessantly quick-witted and clever (I loved the constantly mentioned punny store and business names in their town, and some word spelling choices that made me actually LOL), but underneath there's a charm to and (author's) care for the characters that drew me to them even if everything felt too zany and overboard to make them feel like real people. There's some plot related to a local conspiracy theory and corrupt local billionaire which gets a bit wild at the end, but it's much more about the characters and their dynamics, and they were all interesting enough to carry it. Mostly it was straight-up fun, but if you want to dig deeper there's also some reflection on more personal things like the importance/power of human connection and of being seen for who you are, how we justify our actions or our complacency to ourselves; also satire and social commentary about religion, misdeeds of the rich and powerful. The book won't be for everyone or for every mood, but if you're craving something different, something light in a nutty (rather than fluffy) way, or if you are a fan of Kevin Wilson, Kristen Arnett, Carl Hiassen (honestly some of the insanity made me assume at first the book was set in Florida like the latter two authors' books, because Florida books are sometimes just downright weird!), or quirky Indie family movies, pick this up. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this family, even if I had a couple of quibbles with loose ends and somewhat rushed development toward the end of the book - though I wouldn't have wanted it to be longer, as the short-ish length was just right for a fun ride but not getting exhausted by the absurdity. ★★★★.5

The Orchard: After walking away from her career in academia, where she was well-respected for her translations of Chinese poetry from the Tang dynasty, Frith's mother Hayley decided to raise her in a rustic cabin in Vermont. Everything about this upbringing was pretty unconventional - or "noncompliant", as they jokingly termed it - from the way they muddled through making a living to the games of horseshoes they played with the local biker game, but for precocious and exuberant Frith, life was secure in her mother's love and affection, and in their deep friendship with neighbor Rosie, who taught her about the land, birds, fishing. Now that she is early in her own first pregnancy, Frith reflects on the time from their move to Vermont through her mother's death, both the joys and the hardships/heartaches of that life, and reminisces on particular events and interactions along the way as they relate to the theme of a particular poem from a stack of her mother's translations (a really lovely structure to the book that manages to be quite compelling reading, though it is quiet and relatively slow moving). This book is definitely a departure from other recent ones I've read by Peter Heller (such as The River, The Guide) that feature male protagonists and combine slow-burn literary suspense that has a mounting sense of dread along with excellent nature writing. The Orchard is about a mother-daughter relationship, and is entirely character-driven, with a reflective feel. I loved how that reflective quality, Frith telling her own story as an adult, captures the full range of emotions and understanding - we get the unbridled joys and the fears of her childhood, but we also get the new view she has on these stories as an adult, now that she can understand the undercurrents in a way she couldn't as a child (why her mother left academia, what their financial situation was really like, etc.). That rang very true to experience. Maybe occasionally the womanhood part didn't ring quite as true, being written by a man, but overall I really liked this book. More than a Peter Heller book, the setting, characters, and tone reminded me of reading Elizabeth Strout's works. A lovely book about the enduring power of love and of grace, the bond of the mother-daughter relationship as well as female friendship, about the grand and the everyday poetry of nature (and nature poetry!), and about the shared human experience over centuries and the ability of the human spirit to go on in spite of loss. ★★★★.5

The Future Saints: Hannah is the lead singer of a middling-successful band that is wrapping up its tour in a downward spiral after the tragic loss of their manager, and with her coping mechanism of alcohol she is about to go down in self-destructive flames. Theo is a record company exec who is sent in to get the band to produce their contractually obligated 2nd album before the company gives them the axe. But when a video of Hannah's raw emotional moment at their final concert goes viral, Theo's job becomes to manage their rocketing ascension to new heights - appearances on late night shows, at prestigious theaters and music festivals - as they write new music, have internal band squabbles, and as Hannah's wild antics continue to go social media nuts while on the inside she's clearly haunted by the ghost of her loss. Books run a risk when they get compared to the epitome of their sub-genre - this book was (unsurprisingly) recommended for fans of Daisy Jones & the Six - but while that can draw in an interested reader (me), they don't always live up to the comparison... Probably for lack of novelty. This book was set in a different era (current day) and had a different format (not an oral history) to Daisy Jones, but it didn't feel like it really added anything new and fresh to the books about fictional bands sub-genre. And maybe didn't successfully marry the band drama + the romance aspect - would have worked better to focus on just one or the other? With trying to weave together both, the emotions of the band drama portion didn't feel that impactful, the industry characters lacked nuance, and the drugs/booze-fueled antics of musicians made them feel like caricatures. And the romance part felt both unlikely and predictable at the same time. Felt very one-sided because Theo was just such a people-pleaser/fixer, and yet also predictable because of COURSE the record company exec that gets brought in falls for the band lead and has to choose between his loyalty to his job and his love. All that said, I would still find this satisfying beach reading for being easy reading (despite the heavy mental health/grief aspects it addresses) and by the end I was drawn in despite my reservations, partly because I like a "behind-the-scenes"/fame story so much. ★★★.25

Mystery/thriller

Darkrooms: When I see a publisher blurb that tells me a book is perfect for fans of Tana French, you know I am interested... I hadn't seen anything about this debut novel elsewhere, but that was enough to get me to pick up the story of two young women who are grappling with and investigating, in their own way, the disappearance of 9-year-old Roisin 10 years earlier, never seen again after she ran off from a summer solstice celebration and into the woods in their small Irish town. Deedee, her older sister, who is now a rookie police officer, and Caitlin, who was Roisin's best friend at the time and was the last one to see Roisin before she disappeared. The reading experience with this one was interesting. The characters doing their own investigations came to so many wildly wrong conclusions at each stage, and made such seemingly bad decisions, that what was going on with them became just as much a mystery as what happened to Roisin. I couldn't decide if they were delusional, mentally ill, lying, just kind of bad people, or what - but in the end I think it all comes down to the psychology of trauma. With that, the culprit (predator, really) became obvious to me somewhat early on - though I am not usually a person who cares about or tries to "solve" the mystery of a mystery novel - which I thought was actually an interesting and perhaps intentional choice by the author, as it makes you think about how small communities can allow things that are open secrets to fester, and about repressed trauma and what it does to people when they grow up. The girls in this story might have thought that Roisin's disappearance was a mystery, but deep down they knew about this predator in their midst, something that they covered up in their own minds and coped with through their issues (stealing, lying, drinking, drugs, envisioning monsters in the woods), even if they didn't have all of the puzzle pieces to exactly what happened to Roisin. Definitely has the atmospheric Irish vibes and slow-burn psychological suspense I like about Tana French, but not as strong in terms of character development and plotting. The timelines and motivations felt a bit convoluted at times. I am interested to see what else this author does though, especially if future books could lean a bit more into the procedural to balance out the psychological aspects. I maybe needed a bit more of that to keep me fully invested, because I found the characters hard to like, even if I did have empathy for how they were dealing with trauma. ★★★.5

Better the Blood: I like finding detective books with female protagonists, especially ones who are mothers, as it adds an interesting element/depth, and something for me to connect with, so I was interested in this one about a Maori detective in New Zealand who juggles single motherhood with rising the ranks in Auckland’s Central Investigation Branch (where by the way she also works with her ex), and she also juggles being part of the police force with her Maori background, with her family considering her a sell-out for joining an institution that disproportionally arrests brown people. A good base for a detective series in my opinion... in this first installment Hana is led to a gruesome crime scene by an anonymously emailed video, and after seeing a particular Maori symbol near the scene, she connects some other seemingly unrelated murders to it. The link turns out to be based on someone seeking retribution for a historic crime committed against a Maori elder by the colonizing British force, targeting the descendants of those soldiers. In general it felt like a genre book with the type of writing and plot, more "tell" than "show", sentence structure a bit basic. It's clear early on to the reader, and to the detectives as well, who the killer is, and so more than a procedural it's a thriller feel, with a race to try to identify/protect the next victim before the killer strikes again. If the series went more into detective investigation aspect I'd be interested in reading more from this character (and her second-in-command - really liked that working relationship), but other than the interest I had in the Maori history/culture (as well as the injustices/systemic racism they have faced) presented in the story, I thought the plot was just fine. The thrillery stuff gets a bit outlandish to me, and I didn't love the pacing, especially with how the interludes from the killer's perspective broke up the story. ★★★.25

Romance/rom-com

Most Eligible: Georgia Rose one of those contestants who is going on a hit reality dating show for the wrong reasons - but not the ones you'd expect. She is an undercover journalist looking to write an expose about the executive producer and the terrible working conditions and expectations she creates for contestants. But when she arrives to filming the first episode she finds that Love Shack's new host is none other than country singer Rhett Auburn, with whom she had an unforgettable one-night stand a year earlier, and her plans to woo the show's bachelor lead in order to write her article (and in exchange finally get the job promotion of her dreams) are thrown into internal chaos. Admittedly not many romances have been working for me lately, but one with a behind-the-scenes of a Bachelor-like show is a hook that draws me in, so I picked it up. Though I have never actually watched more than one episode of The Bachelor, I have loved dating show-based books like One to Watch, The Charm Offensive, and If the Shoe Fits for how they give this fascinating behind-the-scenes view of reality TV mixed with the drama of it, reframing things to empower the women, and maybe some swoony romance to boot. But this one was a real disappointment for me because I actively disliked the romantic pairing I was supposed to be rooting for. The expose part was intriguing and carried the plot along, but then the flashbacks that Georgia had to her one-night stand with Rhett kept coming in and being an annoying distraction. It seemed like the author was looking to get in some hot-n-heavy stuff and this was the only way to do it. At base, I didn't buy the connection between Georgia and Rhett, especially because their re-meet at the show just went from animosity to sex with nothing substantial in between. I need more charm and actual relationship development. I finished reading to find out what happened with Georgia's article, but I didn't feel like I got payoff. Overall it felt like the author was trying to do too much - the expose about a reality dating show, exploring the relationships formed by the women who are contestants on the show, and then some over-the-top backstabbing and crazy date situations, then tacking on this romance with a famous musician. It actually could have been a good book if it weren't a romance at all. Focusing on just the first two items, it could have created enough drama/tension in exploring what finding out that Georgia was there for the wrong reasons would do to the friendships she developed with other contestants, without needing the romantic relationship at all. And it would be more interesting to reframe a dating show to have people realize they are good enough for themselves, not needing this dopey guy... ★★

That's a wrap on this month. Any good books or new authors you found in February that I should add to my March list?

reading lately: vacation roundup

2026-02-18T08:00:00.057-05:00

I believe that any book can be a beach read if you take it to the beach and read it there - but there are still certain kinds of books that I find most pleasurable and satisfying when it comes to vacation selections, so with a 10-day (!) all-inclusive Caribbean stay to celebrate our 20th (!!) anniversary, I saved up a particular stack of fun brain candy, gossipy intrigue, twisty plot, or slow-burn suspense reads from my to-be-read pile... and happily plowed my way through them. Here's a recap of everything I read by the pool in Punta Cana (or in the airport - sadly there were winter season travel issues on the way).

Literary/contemporary fiction

Culpability: At the story level, Culpability is a family drama with slow burn suspense - a car accident with 17 year old Charlie at the “helm” of an autonomous vehicle, and his father riding shotgun but fully preoccupied with working on his laptop at the time of the collision, has killed the two passengers in the other car. What will the fallout be for his future/his college athletic scholarship, for his family in terms of legal and moral guilt and the dilemma that the AI involvement creates, for his parents’ relationship as the temptation to blame/be defensive about parenting roles and responsibilities arises? (Especially with his mother happening to be one of the leading academics studying the ethics of AI.) As the family and legal tensions mount, this is enough juiciness to drive the book along and make for an intriguing read, but then on top of that, so many interesting and timely themes to consider: the role of AI in our world, where moral responsibility and culpability lie with its development and use, what the infusion of technology/screens does to family life and to childhoods, the parenting dilemma of wanting to protect your kids while also wanting them to learn responsibility through facing consequences. I thought the themes were woven into the story in a natural and non-preachy way, giving depth to a book that is great beach reading in terms of pacing/tone, and great discussion fodder when you finish. ★★★★.5

The Force of Such Beauty: I was in a juicy royal family read kind of mood after loving The Heir Apparent, so when I heard about this "princess book" on Sarah's Bookshelves Live, I requested it right away. While overall I found it compelling and interesting, it should be noted right away that this is a different kind of princess book - it's not a romance, most definitely not rom-com, and while there are plenty of lush and extravagant palace settings and parties, it is more heart-wrenching, with how the princess is misguided (internally and externally) and mistreated, than it is juicy. Olympic record marathoner Caroline's running career comes to an unexpected and devastating end after a fall that requires major surgeries to put her body back together. While convalescing at an exclusive hospital, she meets tall and handsome Finn, a number of years and educational degrees her senior - but they strike up an interesting conversation, and there's a certain spark. It isn't until later that she learns he's the crown prince of a small European nation (fictional but clearly modeled on Monaco), but by then she is captivated, and soon swept away literally and figuratively as his bride. The honeymoon period doesn't last long though, as the extreme expectations to produce an heir and a spare fall on her, along with the extreme expectations about her looks, actions, and so on. The story is told from Caroline's perspective, starting from when she has tried (unsuccessfully) to escape this royal life, then going back to recount her childhood, courtship with Finn, marriage, life as the princess, up to the current untenable situation she finds herself in. What's extra fascinating about this book is that it is somewhat based on the story of a real woman who married into the royal family in Monaco, and it also draws a bit on some of the things that Megan Markle dealt with after marrying into the British royal family. For all that it's fun to imagine and read about a royal life, fictional or not, this is more a look at the underbelly of monarchy that makes one feel like royalty shouldn't be a thing any longer... Overall solid read, interesting perspective as well as commentary on how society/royalty subjugates women's bodies, and an ending that actually made me gasp, but it's maybe a tad longer than it needs to be, Caroline is hard to root for at times (so impetuous about insisting on this marriage after like 3 dates and knowing nothing about the country she is about to join the monarchy of!) and parts of it are quite slow moving even though it starts out with a bang - good things to prepare your expectations for if you're interested in picking it up. ★★★.75

June Baby: This debut novel is both a coming-of-age and coming-of-adulthood story, as Ruth returns to the house of renowned photographer Diana Beckett on Block Island where she spent formative summers in her teens after her mother's death. Now 10 years later Diana has died, and Ruth is looking back at her teenage grief as well as her first love (Diana's nephew, Charlie), while in the present grappling with this new grief and also facing the reality that her life is in stasis, is not fulfilling the dreams that Diana had for her, and realizing that in not committing to Charlie earlier she may have lost him forever. Along with this she learns more about her mom, and starts to question the foundation of their relationship. While there is some plot happening over the course of this current summer, it's more character driven (and not a romance as the description might make it seem), fairly slow moving and a bit angsty; as the writing and tone walk the line between commercial and literary fiction, it is pretty well written and developed, but also pretty straightforward, realistic feeling, and mostly enjoyable reading. Though I did struggle at times to love Ruth because of some dumb choices she was making in her immaturity and self-focus, she shows emotional growth in the end. And adding to the reading experience, the east coast island feel with the sand dunes, sunsets, hidden paths to the beach, and even the "summer people" vs. locals/working class atmosphere is all a great backdrop for this story and will make it a good summer read (it releases in May - thanks to Netgalley for my advance e-copy). Would recommend this for readers of J. Courtney Sullivan, Lily King (Writers and Lovers), or Emma Straub (though tone is more bittersweet/emotional than hers). ★★★.75

Mystery/thriller

Heartwood: When 42-year-old Valerie Gillis goes missing on the Appalachian Trail near the end of her summer-long trek, Lt Bev, one of the first female game wardens in Maine, who has had a decades-long career with high success in finding lost hikers, is called in to manage the search team. As the days tick by without any clues and with mounting suspicion that foul play might be to blame, Lena, a disabled retiree, follows the case online playing armchair detective - but with her prickly and off-putting personality it’s hard to know if her own mounting suspicions are legitimate or delusional. The reading experience reminded me a bit of Peter Heller’s books like The River - though a bit less intense overall, it similarly has great nature writing combined with slow burn literary suspense + a missing person in the wilderness plot that makes a somewhat character-driven/introspective book feel propulsive through both the plot and the underlying sense of danger (even dread). In this case I liked it even more though for the female perspectives, for the interesting variety of the different formats for their voices (1st person for Lt. Bev, journal entries for Valerie, and 3rd person for Lena), for the procedural feel to the search portion (including interview transcripts, etc) and for the additional exploration of the theme of mothers/daughters in each character’s life experiences. I plowed through this on one day on vacation and found it to be a great combination of beach read + depth of subject matter. ★★★★.5

Missing Sister: Penny was training to be a chef when the loss of her twin sister changed her life path - now she's a rookie cop, trying to live out Nix's dream of making the world a better and safer place. When she's called to her first murder scene, a rare occurrence in their small Georgia town, Penny's worlds collide as she immediately recognizes the victim as one of the men that she personally holds responsible for Nix's drug addiction and death. He's the kind of well-to-do white frat boy who is unlikely to be brought to justice by the actual justice system, so her shock at seeing him dead in this seedy alleyway, mixed with satisfaction for her sister's vengeance, leads her to make a decision that sets this page-turner in motion - letting the bloodied blonde woman who clearly was the perpetrator of this crime run off into the night, rather than alerting her fellow police officers. Joshilyn Jackson is an auto-read author for me, and this new book did not disappoint, delivering her signature mix of twisty page turner + a character I want to root for (the rest of the members of her family too). Because I tend to like procedurals better than straight-up thrillers I especially loved that the protagonist is a police officer who is weighing the responsibility of her profession against the grief and desire for (vigilante?) justice in the loss of her sister. The combination of the sister relationship and the exploration of what it's like to lose a loved one to addiction reminded me a bit of reading Long Bright River, though overall the tone on this one is maybe more thrillery, less literary slow-burn than Long Bright River. As usual, Joshilyn Jackson hooked me from page 1 with the narrative voice and the intriguing story, so I was glad that I saved this for vacation when I had plenty of time to read - I devoured it in just a few sittings and found it a thoroughly satisfying experience. Recommend if you like the tone/variety/pacing of page turners by authors like Gillian McAllister, Julie Clark, Laura Dave. I received an advance e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review; publishes March 3. ★★★★.25

The Impossible Fortune: Unsurprisingly, the 5th book in the Thursday Murder Club series was a great pool read - actually kind of a treat to be able to just sit and read it all in one day rather than spread out over a week, because it is so fun to be in the world of these retiree friends and their excellent repartee. The previous (4th) book was more poignant than usual, with the storyline related to the usually brusque Elizabeth brought low by grief; this one returns to mostly fun as Elizabeth is brought out of her fog by a new case and all its puzzling elements - an unexploded car bomb gone missing, an underground storage bunker - you know, the usual for the crew and their quiet English countryside. In addition to the mystery (which admittedly felt a tad convoluted at times), we get a bit more focus on Joyce and her relationship with her daughter, which I enjoyed; the newly introduced characters in this book weren't as great as in previous ones, but I thoroughly enjoyed the continuation of some of the more established side characters' relationships (Donna and Bogdan being a real favorite) and certainly do not find my interest/enjoyment in this series waning. ★★★.75

Romance/rom-com

Dolly All the Time: 39-year-old single mom Dolly is the bedrock for her whole family, having stepped up in her teens when her mom took off, and again when when she got pregnant in her 20s and her boyfriend wanted nothing to do with it. Now she and her 13-year-old son are returning to her coastal Rhode Island hometown for the summer to help her dad who is juggling the family business, the house that is falling apart, and caring for her disabled brother. No surprise that she’s had no inclination or time for a love life, with so much focus on practicality and problem solving. But when she comes to the aid of Stuart, eldest son of the storied, uber-wealthy family the town is named after, to change his flat tire, a fake dating scheme is somehow born - he needs his family to believe he’s not 100% about work and is finding some balance with a relationship, and she needs $50,000 to replace her dad’s roof… you know what commences with this trope - which honestly isn’t always my favorite - but in Annabel Monaghan’s hands it is pretty much pure delight with a couple whose romantic arc felt believable and who I 100% rooted for. Annabel Monaghan’s debut, Nora Goes Off Script, is pretty much the highest bar in rom-com for me but this one was good enough to become my 2nd favorite Annabel Monaghan book. Similarly it has a protagonist who is established in her life and has kids - admittedly it is nice to read about someone in a stage of life more like mine, but in general the angsty coming of adulthood part of rom-coms feels a bit tired to me right now. I like a character who has her stuff together (aside from her love life of course or there would be no story). This one was a great mix of escapism with the beachy town setting and the mansions and fancy parties and yacht outings that come with the fake dating scheme, along with a feeling of reality through the fully formed characters who are facing real-life issues and handling them in real-life ways. Dolly and her family/friends feel like actual people I could know, albeit with way more delightful banter and repartee, and I just enjoyed and rooted for them all. The love story on the other hand felt a bit movie-ish but because I was so invested in the characters I was way invested in the relationship too - way to refresh the tired fake dating trope for me, Annabel Monaghan. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy, and definitely pick this up for your summer reading when it releases late spring. ★★★★.5

Historical fiction

Meet the Newmans: The Newmans are America's most famous family, starring in an 1950s-60s wholesome sit-com where they play themselves: savvy dad Del, domestic maven mom Dinah, sporty and steady older brother Guy, and heart-throb musician brother Shep. Behind the scenes, things aren't what they seem on TV though: Del is over-mortgaged and losing interest/investors in the show, Dinah actually can't cook at all and feels entirely numb about life, Guy is having to pretend to go on dates with other actresses because he's actually in love with his "roommate", and Shep is struggling to maintain the "clean" image that the studio expects of him, wanting to veer more into rock-n-roll. When Del is in a car accident and unable to write the final episode for what will likely be their final season, Dinah takes over and in the process she starts to rethink what it means to be a woman, and a family, in the changing culture of the 1960s. While there are plenty of real issues brought up (feminism, civil rights, gay rights, paparazzi/pressure on celebs) the tone of this book is as light and sugary as the bubblegum on the front cover... and unfortunately the way these things mixed just didn't work for me. The characters felt pretty surface level, and there were way too many of them. It might have worked if it focused just on the 4 Newmans, but then it also went into detail about a reporter, their agent, their maid, and so on. And it didn't quite manage to blend the "issues" parts into the generally lighthearted behind-the-scenes of a TV family; there was nothing subtle in how the issues were discussed, and the way they were handled also didn't seem very accurate to the time period but instead seemed to impose a much more modern take on gay rights, feminism, etc. I love a behind-the-scenes of Hollywood, so those aspects of the story were fun and kept me reading to the end, and while I don't generally love historical fiction, this time period on the verge of the free-love era of the 1960s and what it was like to live through the changing attitudes of the era was interesting, especially as related to women's roles/agency. In this way it is purported to be a good pick for fans of Lessons in Chemistry, so that made me want to pick it up, but overall I thought the character development and general charm/freshness didn't live up to Lessons in Chemistry for me. ★★★

Memoir/non-fiction

Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship: I am not generally a fan of spending my reading time on nonfiction of the self-help/psychological/parenting variety as I'd much rather use the time to escape via fiction... but with more than ample reading time on vacation, it was less of an ask to pick up this book that Peter was reading after hearing the author, a long-time family therapist, on a podcast episode. And in fact it was great to tandem read it and discuss while we had ample time for conversation uninterrupted by kids. What a healthy way to kick off the next 20 years of marriage ;-) This book about marriage/long-term relationships takes the perspective that whether we realize it or not, our culture of individualism has seeped into relationships, and to have more healthy, loving, and long-lasting relationships we need to stop trying to improve ourselves and instead get into an "us" mentality of collaboration, in living together and interacting with each other. I appreciated this insight, and especially the framework/suggestions that he offers for having fruitful and frank conversations with your partner when there is conflict/disrepair in the relationship (whether big things or small, everyday things). As we both identified ourselves as the type of people who avoid conflict (versus those who will have it out in an argument or fight), this feels really practical and helpful for framing conversations and re-gaining harmony when it is needed. Beyond this, I found the book okay - I guess I was hoping for more hands-on application? The insights about patriarchy and racism and childhood trauma, and the real-person stories of couples who underwent therapy in his practice, were all valuable for understand the range of experiences people go through and the social influences on our psyches, but they didn't feel applicable to my own life/experience. Kind of felt like those parts were a different book more about understanding society and how individualism affects relationships, and I wanted just the short book on a collaborative, compassionate way to approach my marriage. That part of the book was great. ★★★.5

So that's 9 books for 10 days of vacation - not bad at all! Apologies if I have been inducing jealousy regarding the time in the sun to read, but I can at least offer that when you get to summer reading, there are going to be some excellent beach reads just published and ready for you - definitely pick up Annabel Monaghan and Joshilyn Jackson's new ones then!

reading lately: January roundup

2026-01-26T08:00:00.178-05:00

It's a little early to be coming out with a January roundup, but with a 20th anniversary (!!) trip to an all-inclusive resort - the kind of place where I can often go a book a day, with no kids along - I decided go ahead and recap what I've read so far so that I can put together an entire vacation reading post. I've been saving up some Netgalley advanced reader copies from favorite authors (Joshilyn Jackson and Annabel Monaghan!) to devour then. Meanwhile, the start of the year had some fairly quick reads, a couple of disappointments, some human depravity... but also some delight.

Literary/contemporary fiction

Heart, Be at Peace: This novel about a small, rural Irish town that is starting to see peace after the economic and social storms it has weathered - only to have a new one is brewing, with the production and distribution of drugs in the community and the addiction and violence that comes with it - is told in 21 voices, so it almost reads like interconnected short stories. While quite character driven, especially driven by the individual voices and how they are furthering or reacting the state of things in their community, it still manages to build a bit of narrative tension as we lead up to the breaking point with the fears and anger about what the drug trade is doing/could do to the town and its young people. Each voice felt unique and grabbed me from his/her first paragraph, but the difficulty of 21 narrative voices in a community with generations of history/grudges/marriages/everyone knowing everyone's business in a small town is that I struggled to remember who was related to whom, and if this new narrator was one I had encountered in a previous chapter yet (and then the nicknames on top of that!). I loved the writing, themes, structure, and evocative emotions, but wished that I didn't occasionally feel completely lost. Maybe I needed a family tree or character sheet to truly appreciate this work, but I thought it was excellently done (Ireland and your slate of amazing writers - again!) and will be reading other books by this author for sure - in fact, learned after finishing that it's a companion to an earlier book, The Spinning Heart. I do think it can be read as a standalone, but if the characters are in both maybe better to start with the first in order to keep them all straight. Either way, worth a read for sure. ★★★★.25

Dominion: A family + a church drama set in small-town Mississippi in the early 2000s, this book is told from the perspective of two women who are involved with the two "leading men" of the town - Priscilla, wife of the megachurch pastor who has his hand in every aspect of society in Dominion (religious, social, and economic) and Diamond, girlfriend to "Wonderboy", youngest of the pastor's 5 sons who is star of the high school football team, a musician performing in church, generally considered to be the most handsome and perfect in all ways... except it's immediately clear to the reader he's very much not. While there are a few major inciting incidents, this is a mostly character-driven story of how Priscilla and Diamond are sort of subsumed by their relationships with these men, and how they reconsider and grapple with their flaws. It started out with such promise for me - the voice of "First Lady" Priscilla has just the right amount of snark to point out the hypocrisy of her philandering pastor husband and to provide an interesting commentary on the Black church in the south, both the foibles of church lady life and the more serious issues, as well as the misogyny and violence of the "boys will be boys" attitude. But her character just ended up not feeling consistent with this as she seemed to work hard to be willfully ignorant of the terrible things her son was doing. In general I struggled a bit to get at the (very worthwhile and interesting) themes because of how ick all of the characters ended up feeling - honestly, just completely depraved in terms of the main male characters, and enabling of this behavior in terms of the female characters. Made me feel kind of depressed about humanity... Early on in the book there were a couple of random chapters interspersed into the ones that were told from Diamond and Priscilla's perspectives that recounted sexual assaults - nothing super duper graphic, and clearly trying to illustrate a point, but still felt gratuitous and yucky and also just made for narrative structure that felt off, just one of the loose threads I found that the book left for me. ★★★

Mystery/thriller

The Last Devil to Die: I just love this series. A comedic cozy mystery would be easy to turn too much toward shtick or feel phoned-in by the fourth book, but I grow to love the beloved original 4 in the Thursday Murder Club crew even more with each book, as well as the new characters that are introduced across the series. While the plotting/solving of the murder (of an elderly antiques dealer, and the mystery of a bunch of missing heroin that seems tied to his death) that the crew takes on in this book is clever as always, it almost takes a backseat to the characters in this book - but in a good way. Relationships and friendships deepen, and there is a lot of poignant exploration of the grief of dementia and the feeling of loss that comes from losing that person (or losing oneself, as the one with the dementia) before they are gone. I cried at parts, but then of course I also laughed at the idiosyncrasies of my favorite characters, their always-delightful repartee, and their cunning way of playing up being doddering old people to exhaust suspects into coughing up information. Looking forward to book 5! ★★★★

Boundary Waters: After a few heavier reads I was in the mood for the structure and puzzle of a police procedural, so I thought I'd finally pick up the second book in the Cork O'Connor series about a northern Minnesota small town sheriff. In the first book of the series, Iron Lake, I enjoyed the introduction of the sheriff character who has troubles on the homefront yet is super dedicated to his job and his community, and the procedural plot in combination with the nature writing about the woods/lakes of Minnesota as well as its native peoples and their stories. But perhaps I remembered it as more "procedural" than it was, because this second book wasn't that at all - much more nature thriller. I still liked the nature writing about the wilderness that borders Canada as well as the Anishinaabe characters/stories, but overall a tad disappointed by the lack of procedural, and more so by how convoluted the background of the missing person case and why so many people - good guys and bad guys - would be trekking through the wilderness to find this one person. Overall the plot of encountering dangerous people out in the remote woods + the nature writing reminded me of Peter Heller's books like The River (though his are more literary and a bit more post-apocalyptic than commercial thriller), and some of the native stories/characters in a mystery/thriller setting reminded me of the Leaphorn & Chee novel series by Tony Hillerman, or even Angeline Boulley's YA books. My husband has read about 20 books in this series now, so they are enjoyable escapist reading - perhaps especially with appropriate expectations about the thriller vs. procedural - but I think I will probably stick to William Kent Kreuger's non-Cork O'Connor books from this point (which I have found to all be excellent). ★★★

Historical fiction

Buckeye: Historical fiction of the sweeping, character-driven variety, this story is set in a small town in Ohio in the WWII years through the Vietnam era. Against the backdrop of the war years, the changes in American culture more broadly as well as the development of this small town in general, the book focuses on two couples whose lives become intertwined for an unexpected reason. We see how the characters handle a big secret among them and the repercussions of it for their marriages and their families. With a character-driven novel I'd say it's best to go in knowing only a little about the plot, because a plot summary will tell most of what's going to happen, so I'll leave it at that and focus more on vibes. Which for me were... fine. It was easy and overall enjoyable reading, but a little basic and a lot long. It was phrased as feeling "network tv" on a Sarah's Bookshelves Live podcast episode, and that describes it well. Sometimes I can get a sort of simplistic vibe that for a good story or one where I really love the characters, but I just didn't here, perhaps because the "sweeping" aspect makes it feel like I don't really get to know the characters, as we're covering so many years of their lives rather than really settling in somewhere. I can see why people would love this one, especially if they like the historical fiction genre more than I do, but for me, a bit underwhelming. ★★★.25

YA/middle grade

The Poisoned King: After going on an island-hopping quest in the magical Archipelago to figure out why its magic was fading and save its fantastical creatures, Christopher has returned to his ordinary life in London. He dreams of going back though, and so even though it's because of a poison spreading across the Archipelago and killing the dragons that usually cannot be felled by anything, he is filled with joy to receive the summons of tiny, pompous dragon Jacques and fierce, wise sphinx Naravirala to return. This time he meets Anya, princess of one of the islands, who needs help rescuing/avenging a family member. When they realize that their two quests are actually inextricably linked, they form a strong friendship and partnership, and they put their bravery and loyalty into action, along with a whole cast of magical/mythological creatures. Impossible Creatures was the first middle grade book I read last year and remained as one of my favorites for the entire year - so what a delight to get to start off this year with the sequel, which was just as wonderful. Maybe even more so because it meant returning to a familiar place with this vibrant and creative world that Katherine Rundell, along with familiar characters who charmed me just as much, and some great new characters + mythological beasts too. I was engrossed the whole way and enjoyed the journey, even more so when I got to discuss favorite parts with Hendrik when I finished. I'm not sure whether there are more books planned in this series, but much as I love the characters and the world of it, I actually felt quite satisfied with the story told here and might like it just left here with the way it is... ★★★★.5

Nonfiction/memoir

Love, Nina: A Nanny Writes Home: My mom handed me this memoir-in-letters a while back, and I saved it for when I needed something easy to pick up and put down - as in the week of January that had a snow day every. single. day. With all that nuttiness I needed something diverting and easy, and these amusing little observational letters that Nina Stibbe wrote to her sister in the early 1980s, after moving from their smaller town to London to work as a nanny. It starts with plenty of awe and descriptions about her new place and her new city, but as she settles into the role taking care of precocious Sam and Will, we quickly see that this isn't just any nanny gig - she's working for the deputy editor of the London Review of Books. This means that in addition to the family's quirks and repartee (she records lots of amusing short conversations), the letters contain all kinds of appearances of literary and theatre people - writers, editors, critics, directors, etc. - most frequently playwright and actor Alan Bennett, a neighbor who comes for dinner almost daily. Just when I thought it was getting a tad long to be just missives about the quotidian (if not interesting who's-who of the London literary scene), in the letters in part 2 Nina starts also writing about starting college in her early 20s, and we also get a picture of student life (former nerdy English majors like me will love this part) as well as a picture of someone trying to figure out who and what she wants to be in life, from the big picture to the small (loved how we see her gradually getting better at cooking and exploring new cuisine as she makes dinner for the family and reports back to her sister on the recipes she has tried). I didn't find it laugh-out-loud hilarious like the blurbs on the cover would lead you to believe, but I did find plenty to amuse me, and even more so, I couldn't stop being so fascinated by the real people - like Wikipedia page legit - that became part of Nina's everyday life during her nanny years. She sounded like she held her own so well with them, even as an inexperienced 20-year-old, and I found that so fascinating. Would recommend this if you like epistolary books, especially the literary variety like 84, Charing Cross Road, and if you like the work of Kim Fay (Kate & Frida or Love & Saffron), which has the epistolary format as well as the young person finding her way and the budding culinary aspects both of the young person learning to cook/explore interesting ingredients as well as the developing food scene and philosophies of the early 1980s (also made me think a bit of Ruth Reichl's memoirs in this way). ★★★★

Hope everyone who has had crazy winter weather has been able to turn it into cozy reading time... but also can't wait to share my non-cozy, hot weather beach reading soon 😉

reading lately: December roundup

2026-01-05T08:00:00.140-05:00

I ended November with an absolute dud of a book and went into December really hoping I could redeem that experience and add to my 5-star count for the year. Pleased to report that I pulled it off - two more for the list! Plus a couple of other really solid reads to boot (never mind the total disappointment that also made it onto the December stack).

Literary/contemporary fiction

Before I Forget: In this coming-of-adulthood story, Cricket is the younger sister who has dropped out of college, hops from job to job (until this crazy Goop-like wellness influencer she's working for now), and is slightly estranged from her parents - in comparison to her older sister who has a PhD and has been caring for their father after his early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis. When Nina decides to move to Sweden for her career, Cricket returns to her father's small cabin in the Adirondacks that she hasn't visited in a decade after a tragedy in her high school years, and she ends up staying to be her father's new caretaker. This was all I knew going in, and it was a delight to have the characters and scenarios unfold along the way. So I won't say anything else about plot, just say that if you liked Goodbye, Vitamin and Unlikely Animals (both of which I ADORED and still recommend all the time), you will like this for the similar setup and vibes - daughters in their "quarter life crisis" going home to take care of an ailing father, slightly weird sense of humor, family drama that endears you to characters and makes them feel real (and feel like the author cares about them and is rooting for them along with you the reader), and a bit of mystical/magical realism. Like those books, it deals with a heavy topic in terms of Alzheimer's - what it's like to have it, and what it's like to see a loved one go through it - but with a light, and ultimately hopeful, touch. With this, it's funny, quirky and heartwarming in a slightly weird but not too cute way. An enjoyable read and a lovely look at things that hold us back, (self) forgiveness, and moving forward. A couple of quibbles with the "past" chapters, which felt a tad weaker, and the whole thing maybe wrapping up a tad pat that kept me from giving it 5 stars, but close, as I loved the voice, was charmed by the characters, and really did enjoy my reading experience and flew through it. (Also appreciated that it was under 300 pages - it was just right, no unnecessary padding, yet the characters still felt fully fleshed out.) ★★★★.5

Woodworking: In a small South Dakota town, English teacher Erica Skyberg is recently divorced and recently out - though only to herself - as a trans woman. As she grapples with identity and what to do about it in a community where this would cost her job, she tries to befriend the only other trans person she knows - a student. Abigail is like a crochety old character in 17-year-old form, prickly and blunt, and is totally annoyed about being "trans mom" guiding her teacher through this time... but maybe it's a bit of a facade and they actually both need this friendship. The book is a nice mix of character and plot driven, with great narrative voice from both of the main characters, and a nice mix as well of emotional depth/heart and wry humor. It reads pretty easy, though overall felt a tad long and "issues" to me - especially with the pointed 2016 politics (even if I agree with them!) and the addition of a 3rd voice at the end though I see what the author was doing). It celebrates different experiences of womanhood, and it explores from different angles the idea of "woodworking", when a person transitions and then just blends in to their gender rather than being known as "trans", and the effect this has on the psyche of the person living the experience. I really loved how the author used varying narrative tense (but not in a confusing way) to explore what it's like to live as one's true self vs. as society genders the person, and even vs. hiding from oneself. Overall a read that I enjoyed as well as appreciated for the insights it gave me into potential different trans experiences; it reminded me of reading Under the Rainbow, with the Midwest setting and different experiences of LGBTQ people in a not-so-accepting community - I'd recommend that book as well if you haven't read it yet. ★★★★.25

The Heir Apparent: In her second year of her medical residency, Lexi is celebrating New Year's by camping in the wilds of Tasmania with her friends Jack and Finn. Her will-they-won't-they relationship with Jack is about to take the next step into their first kiss when suddenly a helicopter arrives. Out steps a steward from the British palace, coming to inform Lexi that her father and her twin brother have tragically died in a skiing accident, and that Lexi, despite her estranged relationship with her family and the new life she has tried to create for herself in Australia, is now the heir apparent to the throne. She goes back to England and agrees to a one-year timeline in which she is going to take on some royal duties and decide whether she will remain in London to take on her duty to family and country, or whether she will renounce it for her self (and her love?!). This book came to me at just the right time - a bunch of days with a kid home sick from school, and I just needed something juicy like this for escaping when I got a minute to myself. On that front I was extremely well satisfied. I thought overall it was perhaps a bit long, but generally I found the pages flew by, and I loved the slight alternate history of it all. It had enough of reality - the handbag carrying granny queen echoing Elizabeth, the tumultuous marriage/divorce/mistress/tragic death reminiscent of Charles and Diana (and Camilla), the experiences of the young royals losing their mother, etc. - to make intriguing comparisons to the current royal family, but then enough interesting twists, with the heirs being boy/girl twins, with the princess having tried to completely leave the life but then having to weigh that vs. her duty when she becomes the heir apparent. Also loved bringing the Australian setting into it. It didn't particularly read like a romance; though that is part of it, you really don't get much in terms of relationship until well into the book. You get a lot more of Lexi's torn feelings about whether to choose her life as a med student or come back to serve as royal, of her backstory and the secrets it holds/why she ended up running off to Australia a decade prior, of her conflicted grief of losing her brother/father when she had been estranged from them. It prompts thinking about the lasting effects of colonialism and sexism, what is the point of having a royal family in the modern age, and so on. But it all goes down so easy because with it you get plenty of opulent royal palaces and gatherings, and juicy drama thanks to a conniving uncle who wants to be next in line to the throne, the rift caused when Lexi's former best friend married her brother, and so on. And a dash of "how will it ever work to have a relationship with a commoner??" romance to top it all off. Would recommend this for people who love all things royal family, whether that's the People Magazine version, the Netflix "Crown" version or the Prince Harry memoir version. Also for fans of books like The Royal We and Red, White, and Royal Blue. ★★★★

Happy All the Time: Guido and Vincent are best friends who have sailed through their college days and now turn their sights to whom they will marry (this is almost a direct quote from the book - what a great setup). Guido finds love at first site with Holly; even though he can also immediately tell that she will be very particular, quirky, maybe hard to live with, he is completely taken by her. At work, optimistic and cheery Vincent falls for his opposite, gloomy and misanthropic Misty. The story looks at their wooing, marriage, work life, and friendship, but it is much more about the characters, their idiosyncrasies that can sometimes make relationships go awry even with good intentions. This comedy of manners type book reminds me of contemporary authors like Katherine Heiny (an apt person to write the forward in this edition) and maybe a bit of Emma Straub, but it reads a bit differently simply from having been published originally in 1978. At first it took me a while to actually "get" the comedy of manners setup because the writing/setting for the era felt a bit foreign, but I actually also appreciated how that felt a bit novel/different for me, compared to recent reading. I actually enjoyed some of the side characters even more than the main ones, finding them quite quirky and comedic indeed, as I found the main female characters to be so enigmatic and impenetrable. That was kind of the point of them though, as their husbands are so in love with them but sometimes so frustrated by not being able to figure them out. The friendship between the couples was and the overall theme of finding love in spite of their foibles were great; overall I liked rather than loved this book, but I can imagine how it would be one that would get better on reflection, especially if I could discuss it with another reader. I've heard that Laurie Colwin's foodie-type memoirs are great, and I am looking forward to trying them after overall enjoying the writing, and seeing hints of food writing in this one, describing the couples' meals. ★★★.75

Mystery/thriller

The Professor: Picking up after an investigation into a University of Georgia fraternity where Detective Marlitt Kaplan got a bit too personally invested and went rogue in her tactics to solve the murder, this sequel finds her living with her parents, disgraced and resigned from her job. But then a student dies of an apparent suicide and a Title IX investigation is opened into a supposed inappropriate relationship that Professor Verena Sobek had with him as a student in her German classes. Verena is the younger colleague/mentee of Marlitt's mother, who pressures Marlitt into helping to clear Verena's name. Easier said than done to prove the absence of a relationship, especially when one of the parties is deceased, but Marlitt feels the investigative urge come back even as she has to navigate around her rocky relationship with her former detective colleagues. Not being bound by the official rules of the force now though, she finds an unexpected way to get close to the victim - moving in with his former roommates who are subletting out his room. This leads to slow burn, ratcheting suspense reading as the reader wonders what will happen if she is found out, and whether the apartment is safe. It's billed as being for fans of Tana French, and it definitely has vibes of French's books that have academic settings, especially The Likeness, with the undercover police officer living with college students as she tries to investigate the roommates for murder. The setting is evocative and the build-up in pacing is great; though it has similar vibes to Tana French in all those ways, I'd say it's not as strong in terms of character/plotting (or as dark), but I did find that my craving for a procedural type book starring a moody detective with a past was generally satisfied. The academic part maybe gets a bit in the weeds in terms of the pressures on professors to publish, or on the difficulties they face with student ratings, low funding, etc. and might make parts feel slow to some readers - but as I work in academic publishing I have more background information and interest in this. I enjoyed the slow burn of the first book in this series (The Resemblance), also set on/around the campus of Georgia State but delving more into the dark underbelly of fraternity culture, and I'd suggest starting there if you are interested in this dark academia/slow burn procedural/flawed detective type thing. ★★★.5

All the Other Mothers Hate Me: Florence Grimes is a broke and floundering 31-year-old girl-band has-been who is mother to 10 year old Dylan, whose classmate goes missing on a school field trip. The boy had bullied Dylan, and all the other private school mothers already hated Florence (she doesn’t fit in at all with these posh ladies - but also she is kind of terrible) so suspicion falls their way and Florence decides she has to do whatever it takes to find the boy and clear Dylan’s name. Even if Dylan is not seeming so innocent as a mother would like to believe of her precious kid… Super snarky tone (I mean, this opening line! "The missing boy is 10-year-old Alfie Risby, and to be perfectly honest with you, he's a little shit.") which promised to be a fun read, but Florence’s constant selfishness/immaturity/bad decisions got a tad tiresome to me. I did think that having her be so dislikeable did make me think more about how we judge mothers, what makes a “good” mother, and who “deserves” the role, which was about the only depth that the tale had. If you want entertainment though, I’d say this is for fans of mysteries involving moms and some slightly bonkers situations, things like Finlay Donovan Is Killing It or the Netflix show Dead to Me, but be prepared for more snark. ★★★

Her One Regret: The idea of a thriller exploring the idea that a woman is not "allowed" to express her regret over having become a mother, or how she would be vilified a million times more than a man for leaving her child if she felt she was not cut out for parenthood - right up my alley. Unfortunately this really was mis-marketed (or mis-edited?) as a thriller and instead was a not subtle, repetitive, mommy drama bore with too many characters/perspectives, no depth or nuance or redeeming qualities to the male characters (which does a disservice to the topic of discussing how we can allow mothers to explore their true feelings, I think), and some crazy twists tacked on to the end. The author's note about why she wanted to explore this topic was more interesting and compelling than the whole book - a great seed, but I just wish it had been approached differently. Some books that I think do this type of exploration of motherhood + thriller (lite) well are Joshilyn Jackson's Mother May I and Never Have I Ever and even Laura Dave's The Last Thing He Told Me. I also feel like Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser had a fairly similar plot to this book and was more engaging. ★★

YA/middle grade

The Eyes & the Impossible: I honestly don't want to say too much about this book because I thought it was such a delight to go into it with barely any information - other than that it's a middle-grade story narrated by a dog who lives in a nature reserve/park and is the "eyes" for all of the other animals, to keep them informed on the comings and goings of the park visitors, environment, etc. - and to discover for myself the story. I was instantly charmed and captivated by Johannes' narrative voice, and the story of him and his fellow park animals (except the ducks - all the animals know the ducks are nuts-o) as they navigate their little ecosystem and the new things that arrive to the park. They captured my heart and also made me laugh out loud. I read this in two days and was sad when it was done - but it was just what I needed after reading 2 duds that I was kind of mad that I had actually finished (and then maybe even more mad after this one, because if this book for middle-grade readers - but actually for everyone to be honest - could be such a thing of timeless beauty and also entertainment at the same time, then what are these other books even for?!). I do think this is for all ages, but specifically for middle grade readers would recommend it for kids who love animal stories like The One and Only Ivan, Odder, A Wolf Called Wander. Also for fans of A Rover's Story and The Wild Robot for the charm and heart. ★★★★★

Pretty good end to the 2025 reading year with two books that made it onto my top 10, plus one of my honorable mentions too. But now looking forward to launching my new reading year with a vacation at the end of January/beginning of February - I have been planning for MONTHS which books I'm bringing and can't wait to read them and report back!

2025 top reads

2025-12-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

After reading 100 books over the last year, it's always a bit hard to narrow down to a top 10. I've managed to do it with a slight cheat - an honorable mention list follows - because though (as is often the case) the top several books on my list stand out as obvious top picks for their amazing writing and characters, the kind of books that make me say "this is going to be one of my top books of the year" as soon as I finish reading, the rest are hard to rank exactly. They, along with the honorable mentions, are books that I loved reading, that I can't stop thinking about, that hit me at just the right time, that I want to recommend to lots of people, that I'll remember beyond this year. While they all have great writing and characters, they don't necessarily have to be literary masterpieces to be in my personal top picks - it's just as much about vibes and experience of reading.

Several of these appeared in the "halfway top 10" list I posted in July; the others on that list got nudged off by some excellent books I picked up later in the year - including my #1 and #2.

1. The Correspondent: Sybil Van Antwerp is a 70-something retired lawyer who has been a letter-writer her whole life; through a collection of her correspondence, current and past, we get a picture of her (as an adopted daughter, a mother, a divorcee, a lifelong reader), her relationships (long-term friendships, sibling bonds, ongoing contentions with her adult daughter, even some budding romance with her sweet neighbor), her career, her strong opinions, and her biggest tragedies/regrets. I think that's about all you need to know going into this, because it's just absolutely lovely to have it unfold, and to get immersed in Sybil's (slightly crochety yet delightful) voice as it comes through her letters.

2. The Lincoln Highway: a modern (of the 1950s variety) epic story that will 100% be considered a "modern classic", with echoes of American cross-country roadtrip classics and mythological quests. Even after 500 pages I didn't want to leave these characters - I can't believe it took me this long to get around to reading it!

3. The Death of Us: I almost didn't read this because I don't do serial killer books any more, but this one really turns the genre on its head and makes it a story of the after-effects of crime/trauma on a person and a marriage. The unique approach of telling it through a "victim impact statement" for the courtroom + the drama of what actually happens in the courtroom was super impactful as well as engrossing, and cinematic in the way of a great miniseries like Broadchurch. I won't forget this one.

4. Sandwich: Catherine Newman packs so much into such a short book about a family's annual stay at a costal cottage - it's a family drama, but rooted in the family's love for one another, and so spot-on and insightful in terms of emotions and observations about motherhood, marriage, middle age. And darkly funny to boot. The sequel is out now, and I can't wait to read it because while normally a sequel would make me nervous after loving a book like this, if anyone can pull it off, she can.

5. Wild Dark Shore: a genre-mashup of cli-fi, family drama, slow burn mystery that is a great combination of character driven, emotionally resonant, and propulsive (there is this sense of dread with the mystery and the climate change that really drives it - excellently done but you do need to be in the right frame of mind to read that!). I couldn't put it down.

6. Ordinary Time: A memoir in essays that illustrates how an "ordinary" life can be worth a memoir just as much as one with "big" adventures, plus behind-the-scenes of owning a bookshop. I found this to be a personal "mirror" book in a lot of ways as someone living in my home town, and it went even deeper into self-reflection and meaning of life than I expected while still being light (in a good way). Excellent on audio.

7. Everything is Tuberculosis: John Green makes the history of tuberculosis pithy, personal, and poignant - and super relevant to us all. Also great on audio.

8. Maggie: or, a Man and a Woman Walk into a Bar: This is one of those books with a lot going on - motherhood, illness, grief, friendship, an unraveling marriage, weaving in comparisons to mythology as the protagonist tells them as bedtime stories for the kids - but that all works thanks to the character's singular voice and the relatable complications and gray areas of emotions and life. It's witty and smart, tad snarky, and poignant at the same time.

9. Before I Forget: with the daughter in quarter-life-crisis coming home to care for her ill father, and the combination of weird humor + big-heartedness, this book reminded me of Unlikely Animals and Goodbye, Vitamin - and as those are 2 of my all-time favorites, I was thrilled that this author pulled off a similar story/vibe that also still felt like its own thing. Really enjoyed this reading experience.

10. The Eyes & the Impossible: I read several excellent middle grade books this year, so it's hard to decide if this was my very favorite or if it's recency bias, since I just read it in December. But Johannes the dog who is the "eyes" of the park he lives in, reporting on all of the comings-and-goings of the humans, construction sites, weather, etc. to keep the other animals living there in the loop, is a character who absolutely captured my heart. His narration is delightful, and the story is an adventure but also sweet and poignant.

And now for the honorable mentions! I made up some categories to fit books that I wanted to make sure got a little extra attention this year, whether because they were just a pleasure to read, or because they are under the radar enough that I want to make sure they don't get missed.

Rom-Com: I struggled a bit with reading rom-coms this year because while I enjoy the genre and the fact that it has a specific arc (requiring that happy ending, among other things), there was just a feeling of sameness to the books for me, and also a few with cringey dialogue/steamy bits. But Emily Henry's latest, Great Big Beautiful Life, broke the mold a bit with feeling like a cross between one of her regular books + Evelyn Hugo, and I loved it for that. Gave me that didn't want to put down experience. And Matthew Norman's latest, Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon, took a heavy theme (grief) to bring together two people who felt so real and I wanted to root for all the way. Reminded me of Annabel Monaghan's best work.

Slow-Burn: I love an atmospheric, slow-burn literary mystery - even better if it's British/Irish and has comparisons to Tana French. The Wolf Tree very much fit that vein, and I'm looking forward to its sequel coming soon. Trust Her is the sequel to Northern Spy, an Irish spy/informant novel that is also an excellent look at motherhood/doing whatever it takes to protect your child.

Historical Fiction: I'm sort of shoe-horning these books into "historical fiction" because I wanted to get in another mention of them - Kate & Frida is early 1990s Paris and Seattle, coming-of-adulthood, and written in letters. Loved being immersed in this era/pen-pal relationship. And speaking of fun: The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is regency-era England at its most fun, with a combo mystery/romance and the cheekiness (but less steam!) of Bridgerton. The sequel is very fun too.

Middle Grade: Among the other excellent middle grade I read this year, Impossible Creatures stood out as a favorite for the creative world-building and adventure story - cannot wait to read the sequel - and A Wish in the Dark stood out for being such an excellently done twist on Les Miserables, with a Thai fantasy/folklore inspiration. My middle schooler loved them both too.

Cozy Mystery: though this is not always my genre, sometimes too cutesy, too slow, or - let's be honest - too poorly written for me to get into, the Thursday Murder Club series stands out as so excellent with the retirement village setting, the hilarious characters and repartee, the clever plotting, and the sweet relationships. I read books 2 and 3 this year and loved them both. And Welcome to Murder Week was a very fun library grab - combining a nod to the genre as a whole with armchair travel, a family mystery, and a little romance to boot.

Genre Mashup: I often find a lot of success with books that combine multiple genres, as they tend to feel familiar yet unique at the same time, something that makes my reading experience feel satisfying. Broken Country is historical fiction that also has a love triangle, courtroom drama, and murder mystery. It isn't high literature but it is immensely enjoyable reading to peel back the layers on the mystery and the relationships among the characters. And The Strange Case of Jane O. mashes up medical (psychiatric) mystery, speculative fiction, and an epistolary format with an exploration into motherhood and memory and more. So intriguing, so great for discussion.

Pure Pleasure: The last category is definitely not least, because my reading life greatly benefits from books that are maybe a bit on the lighter side but are just such a pleasure to get lost in. Yours, Eventually is a retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion set in a modern-day Pakistani American community in California. It is done to perfection and just brought me so much joy. And The Heir Apparent was the perfect escapist reading for when I had a sick kid home a bunch of days in December - British royal intrigue with a new twist, the heir to the throne being a princess who has tried to leave behind that life and become a doctor in Australia.

I hope I have passed along some gems for your 2025 reading and beyond - and would love to hear what your top books for this year were too!

2025 best buys: kid stuff

2025-12-22T08:00:00.029-05:00

Last favorite things round up for 2025 - kid stuff. Some of these tried-and-trues will be getting some extra use over the next couple of weeks with kids home on break for sure... time will tell when I start counting down the days until the lunch box gets used again 😛

1. Balance beam set: I already included this in my family gift recommendations post, but it bears mentioning again given how much use the endlessly-configurable set of beams/stepping stones has gotten since Freddie received it in August: obstacle courses, floor-is-lava, gymnastics, even courses for driving little monster truck toys on. Will be great to have for the winter months for sure.

2. Wireless headphones: we have definitely reached the middle school own opinions + music/band obsessions stage - and these wireless headphones have been great so that he can keep his on-repeat songs going when the rest of us would prefer not to join in (though then the adults are just stuck with the preschooler's selections...)

3. Light up football: we actually gave this as a birthday gift to a fellow middle schooler but for how much fun the kids had playing with it, Hendrik will be getting one of his own for Christmas. Lights up on contact, so very fun to throw around the back yard, especially these days when it gets dark sooo early.

4. Sun Bum Kids gel face stick and sunscreen: this stuff is clear and spreads on much more smoothly and silkily than regular sunscreen, so I already liked it for ease of application on kids - but then it became the only sunscreen that Freddie would allow to be applied without a fuss, so it is now the only one I buy!

5. Plastic golf balls 24-pack: for my golf-obsessed 4 year old this set of plastic balls used in our backyard "driving range" (with no chance of damage to house/windows or people...) turned into one of the best value-for-money purchases of my whole year. I bet we're down to pennies per use after his daily sessions of hitting 50+ tee shots.

6. Walker Goods lunch box: in his second year of preschool with a couple of afternoon sessions a week added to his daily morning schedule, Freddie finally got to be one of the "lunch kids" that he always was jealous of last year - and that meant a back-to-school outing to buy a lunch box of course. Picked out this one at a local shop and have found it to be great quality, fits his bento box perfectly, and he could not be cuter toting it into school in the mornings.

7. Sharpie brush tip pens: Hendrik was gifted these last Christmas, and they were a fun addition to his art supply arsenal for something a little different. Also great for entertainment in the winter months...

8. Gingerbread house advent calendar: my kids love (and expect!) advent calendars, but in middle school Hendrik has been getting to a trickier stage to find a good one; our go-to Lego advent calendars are too simple for him these days, so instead I thought we'd try this building kit with mini bricks. You add on to the adorable (and surprisingly detailed) gingerbread house build each day, and in the end it's a great piece of holiday decor. Definitely more challenging and thus enjoyable for him at this stage - would recommend for older kids in a similar boat.

2025 best buys: home & life

2025-12-16T08:00:00.002-05:00

Next up in the best buys series - some of the most worth-it purchases/gifts in 2025 for use in the home and life in general. A few things purely for fun, and a few things for function that also happen to be as nice to look at as they are to use...

1. Silicone lids: we have lots of glass pyrex containers for leftovers, etc. and they are great to replace plastic versions. I think they'll last forever. The lids, unfortunately, not so much. These silicone replacement ones have held up great and they come in fun colors too.

2. The Correspondent: I requested this for my birthday, read it, hugged it, and wanted to gift it to everyone else (I loaned my copy anyway). Probably will end up my #1 read of the year when I make my list (see full review).

3. Pool/ping pong table: for our new garage upstairs rec room, we got a ping pong / pool combo table, and it has been great for family fun as well as for turning our place into more of a middle school hangout draw. This was a big purchase that my family will tell you loomed even larger in my mind. It can be nerve wracking to buy furniture online, but this one had good reviews on quality, and indeed it is very sturdy (and HEAVY - if you get it you need to have 3 high school/college age boys living next door like we do to help you move it).

4. Solar-powered lights: we've had a set of these by our front walkway for a while, and they're so nice I bought them twice. They've held up great and are super easy to install for a bit of classy walkway lighting, no electrician needed.

5. Christmas tree storage bag: last Christmas was our first with an artificial tree (got a great deal on this one and it is great), but then come January I had to figure out how to store it in the basement... this bag is great, easy to move around on my own thanks to the wheels. I got a second to hold all of our garlands too, plus matching ornament box and was quite pleased with my organizational choices when it came time to decorate this year.

6. Maldon sea salt flakes: I'm actually a couple of years into my obsession with this and it continues to be a great buy - makes for fancy recipe finisher (these cookies were Hendrik's birthday request - amazing) and I also sprinkle it on apple slices every morning. So good!

7. Lego wildflower bouquet set: I bought this as a Valentine's/anniversary gift for us. Very fun to have a little activity to do together as a way to connect, and a set like this is great because you can build the same thing simultaneously (with duplicates of most of the flowers), and it's something you can pick up for 10-20 minutes at a time when you only have small pockets (as parents of young kids often do). And it's actually pretty cool looking in a vase!

2025 best buys: style & beauty

2025-12-11T08:00:00.019-05:00

As the year comes to a close, but gift giving season is still in full swing, it seemed like a great time to do the annual look-back posts on my favorite purchases (or indeed, things I received as gifts!) from the past year. First up, style and beauty related items:

1. Calpak sling bag: I upgraded the size of my sling bag this year, and it has been great for travel and for daily life with kids - holds all of my needs plus plenty of snacks, sanitizer, etc. and is easy to clean. Lots of pockets for organization to boot.

2. Straight leg jeans: while trying to keep up with the (denim) times, I am struggling to go all the way on wide-leg jeans. They're just a bit much on a short lady and also don't bring back the fondest middle school style memories... so I was quite pleased to find this pair at an amazing price - and in petite length - that feels a bit more of the moment but suits me better.

3. Adidas Barreda Decode shoes: cool kid sneakers to rival the ones my college-age babysitters wear. Plus they fit my old lady orthotics. HA!

4. Denim skort: I wore this thing almost daily in the summer. I feel too casual in denim shorts but also wanted an easy option that's not athletic wear - perfection with a simple tee or tank (similar / similar)

5. Laneige lip mask: this stuff is the best for slathering on before bed at night to keep your lips soft, especially in the dry winter months when mine tend to get cracked. Smells amazing too.

6. Elta MD UV daily tinted moisturizer: daily sunscreen wear (even in winter!) is a must, and this is my go-to thanks to Peter's recommendation via the dermatologist bro YouTube videos he watches. It does triple duty as moisturizer, sunscreen, and nice light tint (great for a minimal makeup wearer like me), feels good going on, and has no weird scent like some sunscreen moisturizers.

7. Peloton/Lululemon active dress: when not wearing my denim skort, an active dress was my favorite summer wear. Again just feels a tad more polished than some other options but still kept me cool and worked for any kid type of activity, outing to the park, etc. The great innovation in this one vs. ones I owned previously is the ability to pull down the built in shorts to use the bathroom... IYKYK.

Stay tuned for some best buys of the year in home/life and kid stuff too.

reading lately: November roundup

2025-12-01T08:00:00.208-05:00

I started and ended November with some very seasonal reads - spooky season to start, festive season to end! While one of my Christmasy reads was unfortunately a total dud, I'm pleased to report that the other was an absolute delight and suggest you grab a copy for some cozy holiday break reading for sure.

Mystery/thriller

Welcome to Murder Week: I happened upon this in the library new release section, categorized as a "cozy mystery", and while I'm on record as not usually loving these, I was pulled in by the names of the authors who wrote blurbs for the cover (Catherine Newman and Annabel Monaghan especially) along with the mentions of "genre-defying" - and they didn't let me down! The elements of whodunit, rom-com, family mystery, meta-fiction, armchair travel, and grief exploration all came together for a fun time. Practical, routine-oriented Cath is struggling with how to grieve for her mother, who basically abandoned her to be raised by her grandmother, when she discovers that before she died her mother had planned a trip for the two of them to take part in a small English town's "Murder Week" event - in which wannabe sleuths can try their hand at solving a fictional mystery (it's like a murder mystery party on a village-wide scale with townspeople acting out the parts, and clues planted along the way). Despite her misgivings, Cath decides to go solo, when her friends convince her that a break from the usual might be what she needs, and she just might learn a bit more about her mother in the meantime. She is paired up with quirky and loveable Wyatt and enthusiastic romance-writer Amity to traipse about the quaint town to interview "suspects" and so on; this fiction-within-a-fiction setup made for fun, sometimes cheeky, often meta reading, but it doesn't veer too light/silly/one-note because it has these real-feeling explorations of grief and of reinventing/finding oneself, as well as the "family mystery" of why Cath's mom would have booked this totally unexpected trip. And then of course there's a side rom-com bit when Cath meets local bar owner Dev, which was delightful in itself. This is for fans of British mysteries of the cozy/classic variety (Agatha Christie, Masterpiece Mystery series like Grantchester, etc.), for literary Anglophiles in general (plenty of other mentions of Jane Austen, the Brontes, and the setting in their landscape), for readers looking for romance-ish books that are a bit outside of the mold (and not steamy). I liked Cath, loved her partners-in-crime (er, sleuthing), and generally was charmed by the whole setting and setup. ★★★★

The Jills: According to the blurb: "In this propulsive debut, a Buffalo Bills cheerleader will stop at nothing to solve the disappearance of her best friend and teammate, navigating the dark underbelly of a hardscrabble city, the grime and glamour of professional cheerleading, and her own tangled family history." I was sent an advance copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and in the pitch there was a comparison to Long Bright River - an instant in for me when combined with that blurb about a propulsive debut. Unfortunately, while I can see the similarities to Long Bright River with the sister relationship and one trying to rescue/protect the other from an addiction, I didn't feel The Jills to be as moving or as satisfying of a reading experience, partly because I just felt stressed out by Virginia's poor decisions and felt confused as to why she seemed to be handling her anxiety/difficulties with so much alcohol and even drugs when her whole M.O. was trying to get her sister off of drugs, and partly because it felt like The Jills was trying to cover too much - thriller plot with a missing person, mob connections, drug dealers, and murder PLUS exploring sister relationships, addiction, and the dark side of NFL cheerleading. I would say the cheerleading part - detailing the difficult labor conditions, low compensation, and strong bonds among the women - was the most interesting (and fresh) topic, especially when I read the author note that discussed how much of this was based on reality. That part was fascinating and had tons of plot/themes/etc. to mine, so I wish she had leaned more into making this the book, rather than trying to do so much in addition. ★★★

The First Time I Saw Him: I really enjoyed Laura Dave's The Last Thing He Told Me for an easy, twisty, not too dark thriller-lite read (plus I'm a sucker for one that also delves into the theme of motherhood) so despite being quite disappointed by her most recent release (The Night We Lost Him) I was eager to pick up the advance copy of The First Time I Saw Him, which continues Hannah's story from the earlier book. I was hoping this could bring back her mojo - and I think overall it did. It was maybe a tad slow in parts, but my familiarity with the characters made me predisposed to have interest in the continuation of their story, and the familiarity also helped them feel like fleshed-out characters (unlike how I felt about the characters in The Night We Lost Him). In this continuation of the story, we pick up 5 years after Hannah's husband, Owen, disappeared, by which point she and her stepdaughter Bailey have settled into a new life - until one day Owen shows up at Hannah's art gallery, and she knows that they are in danger again. As she and Bailey enact their safety plan and go on the run all while trying to figure out whether there is a way back to Owen, the story is interspersed with some "before" chapters about what Owen has been up to for the last 5 years, and about Bailey's grandfather Nicholas and how he became involved with the "organization" that is putting them in peril in the present. I quite liked how these chapters gave some context to the story and brought it all together. Overall a satisfying read for when you want something quick and engaging, if not super deep and memorable (definitely need to read the first book first though, if you haven't!). Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review - publishes January 6. ★★★.75

Historical fiction

Bog Queen: Agnes, an American post-doctoral forensic anthropology researcher, is called in to help identify the body of a young woman found in a northwest England bog that turns out to be much older than expected - and amazingly well preserved. Agnes becomes consumed by the feeling that she needs to figure out how this ancient Celtic woman died and why she was buried in the bog, but at the same time having to contend with protesters who want to protect the bog from digging/peat harvesting, her father who wants her to come back to the US, the family of a modern murder victim who was also buried in that bog (and brilliant as she is, social interactions are not at all her strong suit). In alternating chapters, the book tells the story of this ancient Celtic young woman, who was her community's druid (kind of a priest figure but also dispute arbiter and medicine woman), who lived in a liminal time between carrying out the old traditions of her community and exploring new (and feared) expansions to their figurative and their literal/geographic understanding of the world. It reminds me a bit of the Ruth Galloway mystery series with the marshy England setting and the (socially awkward) forensic anthropologist who comes in to help the police identify remains from the bog - but this is the less procedural, more literary version with a historical fiction twist. The activist/protester townspeople and general climate/ecological discussions + nature writing also gave vibes of Once There Were Wolves (Charlotte McConaghy). There's a bit of archaeological mystery to how this body ended up in the bog, but it's much more about the characters than the plot - not fast-paced, but still engaging. Normally the "past" chapters of a past/present storyline like this are not my favorite, but I really liked them in this book, partly because I found the character of the druid so compelling, and partly because it's a totally different historical era/setting than commonly encountered in fiction. While I really liked the characters and settings though, I somehow felt like something was a bit missing in terms of being able to really know the characters or delve into their stories - just felt a bit opaque or surface-level at times. I rarely say a book should be longer, but maybe I needed a bit more time with the characters to really make the book feel like a *great* reading experience. Overall interesting and well-written (and totally different vibe from Anna North's previous book, which I really liked). ★★★.75

The Lion Women of Tehran: Spanning the decades from the 1950s to present, this story traces the friendship between two young girls in Tehran, and how their relationship/their lives evolve over the tumultuous decades. It gives a vibrant picture of Iran - culture, food, landscape, and political history - while exploring themes of friendship, betrayal/forgiveness, political activism, and female strength/solidarity in spite of barriers. The writing is very straightforward, so it's easy reading, though it felt too long for the little amount of plot that actually happened (did more telling than showing), and the dialogue was pretty basic. I appreciated the look at Iran from women's eyes, and from a different era- very different view from way it has been portrayed/politicized in collective US opinions in recent years - and I can see why lovers of historical fiction would rate this one highly but the "tug at your heartstrings" parts almost felt a bit pander-y (or maybe it's just that historical fiction just isn't 100% my thing) so I didn't find it as emotionally resonant as advertised. ★★★.25

Romance/rom-com

Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon: Blunt, no-nonsense Grace became a single mother to her elementary-aged kids when her husband died of cancer in January, right around the same time that Henry lost his wife in a tragic accident. Neither is ready to move on out of their sadness, but as their first widowed Thanksgiving arrives, their meddling mothers try to push them together. They reluctantly decide they could get out of their ruts and spend some time together as friends, figuring that no one quite understands their sadness like each other. But as they start watching old favorite holiday movies together, they start to realize that maybe they could actually even be happy again... together. Holiday rom-com books often end up feeling a bit contrived, or Hallmark-level cheesy, but I was willing to give this one a try based on how much I enjoyed Matthew Norman's previous book (Charm City Rocks). The protagonists were a bit older (which means parenting was also a theme, which I like rolled into my rom-coms), the conflict/resolution felt real, the dialogue was great, the story felt fresh and low on eye-roll-y tropes, and I was charmed by the descriptions of the Baltimore neighborhood settings too. Pleased to report that this new book came through on all of those things and more (plus a cameo from Charm City Rocks, which was a delight!). Rather than feeling contrived, the holiday season setting made sense, as one theme was exploring grief and growth during the first holiday season without a loved one, and as holiday movies were a "thing" the couples had done together and made sense to reminisce on. (And don't worry - while grief was treated tenderly, this really is not a sad book. The characters are amusing and charming, and the story is ultimately hopeful.) Thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience and didn't want to put it down - it's one of those romances that is just a delight to get immersed in because the setting and characters feel so real and I am rooting so hard for them. Different subject matter, but the vibes, the well-written banter/repartee, the older protagonists and the real-feeling kids (I am sensitive to kids being written poorly) all reminded me of the things that I loved about Nora Goes Off Script, which is one of my all-time favorites in this genre. ★★★★.5

Yours for the Season: I enjoyed this author's first book, Ayesha at Last (a modern-day take on Pride & Prejudice with Muslim characters living in Toronto), but unfortunately this Christmas rom-com about a Muslim Indian woman on a fake dating scheme with a white guy, as their families spend the holiday together in his Alaska hometown for some convoluted reasons, was a let-down for me. The characters all felt manufactured for a cheesy rom-com, rather than feeling like real people, and while I really appreciated the cross-cultural aspects, there was so much more telling than showing in the story, making it feel like a cultural lesson rather than an interesting way to explore relationship/culture/family dynamics. In general the dialogue and chemistry didn't capture me, and while I finished, I was just not invested - perhaps because it was more of a family drama than a rom-com, with some other convoluted business dealings folded in, and so much repetitive internal dialogue with the main character. ★★.5

Fang Fiction: Tess is a 20-something who frequently immerses herself in her favorite fantasy series, Blood Feud, as an escape from her difficulties - her anxiety, the trauma that caused her to drop out of grad school, her estrangement from her best friend (also a huge "Feudie"). But then vampire Octavia from the books turns up in real life at the hotel Tess manages, looking for help to get back to the Isle where all of the vampires live. It turns out that Tess' favorite fantasy world is real, dangerous, and also intoxicating and life-giving in a way that gives Tess back a sense of self-worth and purpose (not least because series villain Callum turns out to be sexy and attracted to Tess...). This book is a genre mash-up of romance, fantasy/paranormal, even a bit of mystery. It's like Twilight and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and a bit of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches rolled into one maybe? Normally I'm not into vampire stuff and also usually don't love a book-within-a-book setup as I often find the "within" book to be boring - but I thought it would be fun to give something labeled "darkly glamorous" a try in the Halloween season. And overall, it was a fun read for something out of my norm, even if I never fully warmed to the protagonist. To be honest the romance part was not very interesting to me, but I got into the worldbuilding and the bit of mystery around how these vampires came to be imprisoned on their island, along the secret identity of the Blood Feud author. More action-packed than your usual romance for sure, and the book-within-a-book ended up being interesting because of the mystery of who actually knew about the secret vampire island to write about it (passing off as fiction), and because of how the representations of the vampires within it shifted when Tess met the real versions. ★★★.5

YA/middle grade

The Door of No Return: This middle grade historical fiction novel in verse is narrated by Kofi, an 11-year-old boy growing up in Upper Kwanta, where he loves hearing his grandfather's stories, swimming in the river, and spending time with his best friend Ebo. One night when he and his beloved older brother are walking home through the forest though, the unthinkable happens - he is captured by men from the rival village, and along with a group of other boys is trekked to the coast to be handed into the slave trade. It is well written (though admittedly not my favorite cadence/style of middle grade verse I have read) and important work but hard to read at times - packs an emotional punch, seeing the horrors of violence, loss, separation, and dehumanization through a child's eyes, especially in the verse format. And I found the contrast between the beginning, his super relatable, regular kid life - where his big concerns are things like complaining about annoying things he's stuck having to learn at school, getting closer to the girl he adores, and being able to finally show up his cocky cousin by outswimming him - and the later parts of the book where regular life is just 100% cut off forever. We never get to see the culmination of some of the earlier plotlines because that part of his life is over abruptly and violently. Reading this as the mother of a boy who just turned 12 the tragedy of it all feels even more so. Hendrik has read it twice and would highly recommend, but note that there are some harrowing scenes that make this better for older middle grade readers. I didn't realize until finishing, but this is the first in a planned trilogy that then looks at the next generations in Kofi's family; in that way it's kind of a "Roots" or a read-alike for Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing in middle grade/verse form. ★★★★

Nonfiction/memoir

What in the World?!: A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings: I'm late to the game on Leanne Morgan, but after recently watching her comedy specials and listening to some delightful podcast interviews (on Good Hang with Amy Poehler and Breaking Bread with Tom Papa), I learned she published a book about a year ago and thought it would be great selection to get me back into audiobook listening. Covering her small farming town upbringing in Tennessee to wild(ish) college years, young motherhood and ups-and-downs of moving around for her husband's work, to working hard to achieve her stand-up dreams in the hours after she put her kids to bed. Aside from her life story, some of the very relatable themes she covers are navigating stages/communication in marriage, finding your calling, being a woman in today's world, and hilariously - menopause. Of course she narrates it herself, and hearing her delightful turns of phrase in her delightful accent had me just charmed; I also loved how infused with emotion her voice was when telling about something that clearly made her happy or sad. It made me feel like I was hanging out with her. Though it's not a memoir that had quite the impact on me as some other amazing lady ones (go listen to Dinners with Ruth and to Be Ready When the Luck Happens!!), I love a view into a woman's life in the unique path she takes through motherhood + her dreams, and she's so funny to boot. Fun but also warm/cozy listening experience for sure. ★★★★

Not planning any other season-specific reading (other than 24 kids' books in our annual book-a-day advent calendar!) but I am hoping to get to a couple of particular books on my shelf before the year ends - would love to add to my 5-star count for 2025. Any must-reads from your 2025 reading I should know about?

gift grid 2025: team Hoekman recommendations

2025-11-25T08:00:00.277-05:00

One month until Christmas... already?! I don't like to get ahead of things with holidays until we've celebrated Thanksgiving, but the season is going to sneak up on us with it landing so late this year. So while my tree isn't coming out till Friday, I have been planning/shopping for gifts and thought I'd share some Hoekman family recommendations in the form of a "gift grid" for anyone who needs 'em. The "mom" ones happen to be my wishlist; the rest are items that we have and have loved in this household that would make great gifts for things your family might want/need or that they could wear/read.

for the mom - want: the Evie charm necklace is top of my wishlist as I love everything I have purchased from this jewelry company and have been wanting to add this personalize-able delicate necklace to my collection | need: mini tongs are more indispensable in the kitchen than you might guess (but mine have gone missing) | wear: shearling-lined Birkenstock clogs would be such cozy and comfy house shoes! | read: Wreck is the just-released follow-up to one of my favorite reads of the year (Sandwich)

for the dad - want: the yardball is a fun/unique ball that "combines the form of a baseball with the function of a leather glove - perfect for playing catch, anytime and anywhere!" and my crew enjoys it for sure | need: a sport sunscreen that is dermatologist recommended and has cool packaging | wear: LL Bean's insulated utility gloves get a lot of use for colder-weather yardwork around here | read: the Thursday Murder Club series is great for all kinds of readers and has been a favorite in Peter's 2025 reading year

for the big - want: The Great Wave Lego set looks so cool in person, and Hendrik really enjoyed putting it together | need: a Yeti water bottle that's a good size for carting around all day | wear: a hoodie in black is what my middle schooler thinks is just the thing; he has this exact one and loves how soft the inside is | read: Impossible Creatures was last year's Christmas book for Hendrik, and he and I both loved the fantasy world and friendship/quest of the main characters (the sequel is going in his stocking this year!)

for the little - want: this re-configurable balance beam set is excellent for an active kid on an indoor day, whether setting up an obstacle course/"floor is lava" type game or repurposing it as a monster truck driving course | need: garden tools in a preschooler size have gotten a lot of use here alongside mom and dad in the yard | wear: an apron for little baking assistants with a cute personalized leather patch | read: Bulldozer's Big Rescue is the perfect selection for a kid who is ready for simple chapter book read-alouds but requires a vehicle to be part of any story...

for the whole fam - want: this indoor putting green was actually Freddie's birthday gift (he is so golf obsessed!), but it has been fun for the whole family and is another good indoor winter activity | need: personalized placemats protect the table from kid spills but also are great dinner conversation pieces as we reminisce about the various photos on them | wear: matching cozy socks are my favorite stocking stuffer | read: The Art of the Minifigure is the kind of coffee table book that the whole family finds fun to page through and will return to again and again

Some tried-and-true recommendations from us to you - and there are more where those came from in the archives!

reading lately: October roundup

2025-11-03T08:00:00.056-05:00

October's reading roundup continues my September reading trends of spontaneous library grabs (Songs for Other People's Weddings and Hidden Treasure) along with Netgalley advance copies of favorite authors (Caller Unknown and Cherry Baby), this time with decent success. Across the month there are a lot of 3.75 star reads - enjoyable enough to read, but feeling like they had some flaws or just lack of something to take them up a notch on the success level for me. Oh, and hot take on a popular author incoming...

Literary/contemporary fiction

Songs for Other People's Weddings: J is a Swedish musician of minor renown who is best known for a song that includes the lyric "If you ever need a stranger / To sing at your wedding / A last-minute choice, then I am your man". And thus begins an accidental career as a wedding singer with a twist - he interviews the couple before their big day and writes a sweet and witty original song to perform at their reception that highlights their relationship. As we follow him to a new wedding each chapter (with some pretty amusing wedding couples and themes, my favorite of which was a wedding where everyone was to come in costume, dressed as the title of a love song) where he views the ultimate "culmination" of a relationship, we also see the opposite trajectory of a relationship playing out as he and his girlfriend of several years start to go separate ways. Even as he writes songs to wish couples the best as they embark on marriage, he starts to wonder if he really even believes in love. I have to admit that usually when song lyrics show up as part of a story, I don't actually read them (I just don't much see the point to un-sung lyrics?), so the fact that these feature in this book, as written by a real-life singer-songwriter, wasn't a selling point for me when I picked it up - but in this case I rather liked them. I actually picked it up because of Emma Straub comparisons; the narrative voice is pretty straightforward, a bit wry, exploring themes in ways that having Emma Straub write a (glowing) blurb for it made sense to me. I didn't find it quite as compelling as her work, but it's in that family. The book is rom-com adjacent but not quite, as it's more about a relationship on the rocks. More of a dramedy (a dram-rom-edy?) I haven't yet read Good Material by Dolly Alderton, but I wonder if that would be a comp title. Otherwise reminds me of something like Shotgun Lovesongs for the vibes (though this one is a bit more wry/comedic) or Colton Gentry's Third Act for the male protagonist in a rom-com-ish story (though this one has better depth and none of the 2nd chance romance trope). ★★★.75

My Friends: This mostly character-driven book centers around Louisa, a girl aging out of foster care and grieving the loss of her (friendship) soulmate; a famous and moving painting of the sea that figuratively (and then literally) is her safe harbor; and the group of teenaged friends that created/featured in that painting 25 years earlier. This priceless painting is unexpectedly placed into her hands, and as she travels across the country on an also unexpected train journey with one of those (now grown) boys, she hears the story of the painting and the traumas and hardships (parental abuse both physical and emotional, mental illness, alcoholism) and also the deep friendships behind it. Admittedly I have found that the style of Fredrik Backman books is not quite to my taste other than the Beartown series, but I decided to give this one a try because I was intrigued by the art/painting aspect. But... unfortunately still not for me. I can see people liking the straightforward style and the pointedly redemptive stories, but I just find the tone to be so UNsubtle. The lessons to be learned about love, friendship, art are made *very* obvious through the dialogue and plot, and especially through the narrative style that is constantly pointing these things out. I would like a little nuance, yes, but also, this narrative style makes me feel at a distance from the characters, so I don't really end up feeling for them in the way that I'm basically being told I'm supposed to. It was just so long and a weird combination of saccharine and sarcastic... not for me, but I imagine people who like Fredrik Backman will like it, so don't let me take away from your enjoyment! ★★.5

Mystery/thriller

Caller Unknown: Gillian McAllister is one of my favorite "thriller lite" authors; I especially like how she weaves a real and relatable exploration of motherhood into a fictional story with intriguing and juicy twists + turns. So of course I jumped right on the chance to read this advance copy of her next book thanks to Netgalley. This one starts out seeming like it's going to be story of a mother traveling from the UK to Texas to meet her college-age daughter who is finishing up an acting camp, and then it quickly twists into a kidnapping story and then a fugitive story, all highlighted with seemingly impossible choices related to morality and motherhood. Overall a satisfying read, and a pretty good amount of character development mixed in with the racing plot - this type of feeling like I know and care about the characters is essential to the success of any thriller-type book. While I couldn't put it down, to be honest it was actually a bit stressful to read at times, with the characters on the run and facing impossibly difficult choices, but the pacing was helped a bit by some interludes that reflected on motherhood + marriage as Simone (the mother) thinks back on her life - gives the reader a bit of a breather and explores the themes that are very relatable to many experiences of motherhood/marriage even while this crazy fictional situation is not. However, I feel a bit put off by depictions of motherhood that show it as the end-all-be-all in this way (such as Simone couldn't possibly bear to have another child because she loved this one so much, couldn't bear to be away from her for more than a few minutes), so occasionally the whole "mother would do anything for her child" theme felt over the top, even if in general I agree with the sentiment. Still, I liked the movie-ish feel to the plot and pacing, and found the scenarios to be an interesting (if far-fetched, see movie-like feel...) exploration of what a parent would do if faced with needing to break some serious laws in order to save/protect their child. This one doesn't publish till the spring - but plenty of time to read her backlist if you haven't yet. Wrong Place Wrong Time is my favorite for sure, but most similar to this one I would say is Just Another Missing Person (which also has a bit of a police procedural feel, so I liked it even more for that). I'd say also for fans of The Last Thing He Told Me. ★★★.75

The Bullet That Missed: The Thursday Murder Club crew charms again! Same delightful repartee and heartwarming with a side of espionage/murder as the previous books, though I found parts of the mystery a tad convoluted, so it wasn't my favorite of the series plot-wise. The characters' further relationship development (including one romantic one that I am loving) that builds on the previous books is great though, and I really enjoyed the new characters on the scene, especially the way that being among the Thursday Murder Club friends charmingly convinces them that their power/wealth seeking wasn't worth nearly as much as a good group of friends. I am still impressed by how well Richard Osman does clever and charm without being cheesy in this series, and I look forward to picking up the next book soon! ★★★★

Romance/rom-com

Cherry Baby: Cherry's husband Tom is the creator of a semi-autobiographical webcomic that has hit it big, and he has gone off to LA to screenwrite the movie adaptation - but as very few people know yet, he's not coming home. With the rise of his success has come the end of their marriage. Cherry is bereft and frozen in a holding pattern in life, but at least kind of functioning, until the movie trailer comes out, and suddenly even more people recognize her as the comic's character that she had mixed feelings about even before her impending divorce - Baby, with a caricatured version of Cherry's plus-sized body. She finds solace, and finds herself again, in rekindling an old college flame, but it's hard to reconcile this fiery love with the steady history of her love with Tom, especially when he comes back home to box up some of his things... Though I wouldn't quite characterize it as a rom-com (more "women's fiction" with the plot focusing so much on navigating the end of a marriage, reinventing oneself, pursuing career goals, getting second chances at love in mid-life), it was still less melancholy feeling than Rainbow Rowell's previous book (Slow Dance), so felt like a bit more of a return to her previous style. While there are serious things happening, the tone is generally pretty light, there's a realness to the characters/dialogue but with a bit of extra bantery fizz, and there's a bit of wryness and plenty of tenderness with characters that are flawed but that you want to root for. Though I do have to add that this is decidedly not like Rainbow Rowell's style in her YA books, in that this one has some serious steam. I appreciate the messages about body size and confidence (or lack) that went into it, stuff that feels super real to life but doesn't get brought up in a fictional bedroom scene much, but otherwise those scenes were a bit much for me, to be honest, bordering on a little ick (one involving pee?). Cherry was a great character with fabulous style and creativity, so despite how much she cried throughout the book she never seemed too sad-sack. I'd say this is for fans of One to Watch by Kate Stayman London, for general vibes but also specifically the front-and-center exploration of body size; also for readers who enjoy a then/now format that explores the current status of a relationship as well as how it came about. It's also a good pick for people of a certain age (mine - ha!) who like to have a protagonist around their age who is encountering things like middle-marriage, raising kids, being established in a career, etc.; other picks in this category would be Nora Goes Off Script or Romantic Comedy. ★★★.75

YA/middle grade

Hidden Treasure: Bo is a poor girl who has always searched the Thames river for little "treasures" that she can give to her mother to use around the house or sell for pocket money, but on the day her brother is set to leave for the front lines in France, the river actually calls out to her and brings her an actual treasure - encrusted in jewels - as well as a new friend from the "posh" side of the river, Billy, an orphaned boy who works in the kitchen of a crumbling manor. Together they realize that this item is only half of a priceless brooch that when put with its missing half is purported to bring back a loved one from the dead - setting off a quest to find the other half and the lost ballad that tells the story of this jewel, all while keeping it safe and secret from Billy's master, who would do anything to have it for himself. While clearly set in the WWI timeframe, it almost feels older, like reading a classic (but not at all a slog to get through - actually quite page-turning at times) with Dickensian vibes and characters, and it feels a bit gothic too in some of the supernatural/river folklore elements it brings in. I was super intrigued by all of those parts, even if a bit of the denouement felt a tad rushed or convoluted. It's creative in its plot/storytelling, fun to read, but also a great exploration of family identity and love, the power of grief and the work of living beyond it. A great pick for a middle grade reader (or grownup!) who enjoys real-world settings with a fantasy/supernatural/folklore twist, historical fiction, or books that read like a classic. It's not exactly a read-alike for any of these, but I can see it for fans of A Place to Hang the Moon (wartime England, classic feel), the Narnia series (again, wartime England + fantasy elements), A Wish in the Dark (fantasy/folklore element, feel of a classic, sweeping story), or even Impossible Creatures (writing style, sweeping feel, boy/girl friendship). ★★★★

Sisters in the Wind: Knowing nothing about this book other than that I think this author does super well with writing YA mystery/thriller/romance/Native American culture/current social issue exploration mashups, I jumped in blind. That's often a good way to go with a thriller, but as a general overview: the story follows Lucy's journey from daughter of a single father who grew up being told she was white, to foster care kid who found out her mom was actually Native American, to present day where she is on the run from something sinister and dangerous in her past - which we unravel in some fast-paced storytelling. In the present timeline, Lucy is being helped by Daunis and Jamie, friends of Lucy's birth family and also people who work to get justice/family support for Native kids not treated properly in the adoption/foster system As readers we learn about this history and ongoing social issue alongside her, even as she struggles with her desire (need?) to escape at the same time she really wants to continue this relationship with people who finally care about her for who she is and want to help her both connect with her past and have the future she had dreamed of before entering foster care. The back-and-forth timeline construction for the book was well done, really keeping me intrigued about Lucy's past/character development and also ratcheting up the tension, but in the end, especially the culminating scene, I felt like the thriller-y part went maybe a tad off the rails in feeling quite far-fetched - which can happen with thrillers, so it's not a major knock against it, if it makes for a good story - but on top of that feeling like it was a bit unnecessarily sordid in some of the actions of the foster parent characters. For me, this + the pretty high body count for a YA book took away a bit from the overall success in exploring important themes at the same time as providing a thrilling ride - some of it could have been toned down a tad to make the central themes and characters shine a bit more. But I will read anything she publishes next, as Angeline Boulley grabbed me from page 1 of this story, just as with her previous two books. And note for if you haven't read any of them yet - you should start with Firekeeper's Daughter, which happens to be my favorite of the three, but also important to read that one first because Sisters in the Wind takes place after it and gives away pretty much everything that happens in Firekeeper's Daughter. There was a parallel (in the way that this serendipity of theme/topic sometimes happens in publishing) to the recently published To the Moon and Back, which had a storyline about controversial adoption of a Native American girl by a white family (otherwise the books are pretty different, but for me the adoption story was the most interesting part of that book). Would also recommend for fans of YA thrillers that have a bit of depth on a social issue, and especially ones with a girl-on-the-run type of scenario like The Girls I've Been or Sadie. ★★★.75

On the reading docket for November: trying a new-to-me author (Laurie Colwin), and finally getting around to the latest by a beloved author (Leif Enger's I Cheerfully Refuse). And then we'll see where library whims or shiny new releases take me. What's on your list?

reading lately: September roundup

2025-09-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

My September reading choices had kind of an unusual emphasis for me: spontaneous library grabs. Our library finished a remodel not too long ago, and now there are several well curated and nice to browse tables by the entry - it's like browsing a bookstore, but I can bring home anything that strikes my fancy, for free! Plus thanks to the library Big Read program I have my new favorite middle grade fantasy read to share. Also a couple of free Netgalley advance copies in here - books I would recommend for sure, so check 'em out:

Literary/contemporary fiction

Run for the Hills: Kind of wild that two authors I would classify as "read-alike" for their weird/offbeat characters and scenarios (but also big-heartedness) had new books published within about a month of each other with the same general plot: a cross-country roadtrip with a crew of unexpected characters (in that they are quirky characters and also in that the characters hadn't previously known of their relations). After reading Annie Hartnett's slightly zany but ultimately endearing The Road to Tender Hearts, I thought I'd better give some time before I picked up Run for the Hills, lest having too-similar books dampen the reading experience. But much as I like Kevin Wilson, especially after his previous book, I think this one was a bit of a let-down for me either way. Started out promising with the premise and the personality of these only children of single moms - who find out that actually their dad created this whole next family after he left theirs and thus they have several half-siblings - meeting for the first time and immediately roadtripping to California in a PT Cruiser to find their dad. But the writing style felt a little stream-of-consciousness as the various characters recount/remember things about their childhoods or their newfound sibling - not my favorite - and it just didn't feel like it had that much of a broader point beyond this roadtrip, unlike the interesting things about art, family, etc. that I have found Kevin Wilson to convey though his kinda weird but ultimately likeable characters in previous books. It's a good read if you like this type of offbeat thing, but not the first Kevin Wilson book I'd recommend (this would be). ★★★.25

To the Moon and Back: I was a bit disappointed by Taylor Jenkins Reid's Atmosphere, so when another novel about a lesbian astronaut published just a few months after it, I hesitated at first but ultimately decided to give To the Moon and Back a try based on the angle of the protagonist trying to be the first Cherokee astronaut, and based on the descriptors of "epic" and "expansive". And... I'm not sure it was a whole lot more successful for me, unfortunately. This one is much more character-driven and literary in writing approach compared to Atmosphere, with pretty much no actual space travel, just Steph's relentless quest to make it to NASA and all of the relationships she casts aside in this pursuit. I struggled with her single-mindedness about this and with her seeming to self-sabotage when she was finally getting close. Rather than an astronaut book, it's a coming of age tale for someone who is also trying to navigate her native heritage and her queerness, an exploration of relationships of mothers/daughters/sisters, an exploration of family and generational trauma, a fraught (toxic?) love story, and an exploration of belonging/culture. While I appreciated all of these things/themes, it was a 448-page book that definitely felt long, and it felt a bit all-over-the-place in terms of narration and characters that would just kind of drop out, plus insertions starting late in the book of things like Facebook posts or dating site profiles that I didn't love as a way to further the story - reading a descriptor of a photo that is non-existent just holds no interest for me. If you're up for a story spanning decades and don't mind characters a bit dislikeable in their ambition/single-mindedness, I did think it came together pretty well in the very end, just felt too long to get there. ★★★

Mystery/thriller

Wildwood: At the end of the (otherwise very satisfying) slow-burn police procedural/mystery Northwoods, there are some things left open-ended as far as the opioid-related corruption investigated by mother/son duo Sheriff Marge North and Deputy Eli North in their small Wisconsin town - and now I see why... the plan for a (just as satisfying) book #2. As with the first book, I really liked the Midwest setting and the relationships between the characters; this one had pacing that worked really well for me (finished in 2 days), and I liked delving a bit more into the backstory of the third main character from book #1, FBI Agent Alyssa Mason. I also thought the continuation of book #1 was nicely done - often these small-town procedurals can feel a bit weird in that you have to wonder, just how many crazy murders can happen in one idyllic little place? So I liked that it felt like it made sense for the team to be digging deeper into a criminal network, rather than two different episodic plots. For fans of books like Long Bright River and the Cork O'Connor series by William Kent Kreuger. Sorry to report that this one doesn't publish until January (thanks to the publisher for sending me this advance copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review though!), but you can get your hands on Northwoods right now and start there if you haven't read it yet. Definitely recommend for a satisfying procedural with good character development. ★★★★.25

The Witch's Orchard: It has become well known among my online book friends that I love an atmospheric, slow-burn detective story, and while I love to recommend the good ones I've read, I love it just as much when somebody passes one along to me! Thanks to Kelsey I picked up The Witch's Orchard and was immediately pulled in by the narrative voice of former Air Force Special Investigator, now private investigator, Annie Gore. Because of her connection to Appalachian towns and their culture, she is contacted by a young man whose sister was one of 3 girls who went missing from their small North Carolina mountain town 10 years ago and who feels he can't move on with his life until he has some answers. When Annie arrives in town asking questions to get those answers, secrets that have been buried for a decade start to be revealed, but tragedy reawakens too. As a good detective/PI story lead should be, Annie is smart and resourceful but a bit down on her luck and carrying baggage from her past; I thought the character development was well done, even if some of the narration occasionally felt cheesily folksy. I also appreciated that while she had the tropes I like in a lead, the author didn't lean too hard into the ones I don't like (the self-destructive tendencies and the overmuch regrettable one-night stands). Overall a very satisfying slow-burn, atmospheric read, with the atmosphere enhanced by the local lore of the witch's orchard, where crows still gather and their screams echo nightly. Thought it was very clever how the author wrote each local character as having their own slight variation on the story of the witch, illustrating something about their own character as well as illuminating something new about the mystery of the missing girls. I would guess this is the start of a series, and I would definitely be interested in reading more books with this protagonist. Meanwhile, if you like the small community, atmospheric setting mystery with this twist of sort of dark local lore, definitely check out The Wolf Tree (another recommendation from Kelsey!) or Night Will Find You; if you can go even a bit supernatural/paranormal along with it, check out The Gates of Evangeline. I received an advance e-copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Out now! ★★★★

Murder at Gull's Nest: This cozy mystery was a spontaneous library table grab; I don't usually go for a cozy mystery, but with really enjoying a few lately about amateur sleuths of a certain age (thanks, Richard Osman and Jessie Sutanto!), I thought I would give this one a try. Nora Breen leaves her vocation as a nun after about 30 years and moves to Gulls Nest, trying to figure out what happened to her missing friend (after which, naturally for a cozy mystery, some bodies turn up, and Nora goes about her busybody ways to solve the case, to the annoyance of the local constable). There's an interesting cast of characters in this post-war England boardinghouse, and generally I loved the atmosphere and the historical setting, but overall I would say this one was just fine for me. I can see how people who really like the genre would enjoy it, especially with an interest in a 1950s England setting (feels a bit Masterpiece Mystery, which is a plus in my book), but I just couldn't get into Nora's character unfortunately. She didn't endear me like the Thursday Murder Club characters or Vera Wong, and she just seemed kind of off in terms of character development in general - she was a nun for the last 30 years, but then she seems to immediately be rather worldly and knowledgeable about detective stuff, and some of her dialogue seemed rather anachronistic (random one that bugged me - and who knows if I'm wrong about the 1950s England usage of the term, but it just felt like it would be so out of character when she refers to God as "The Big Man"). ★★★

Romance/rom-com

Great Big Beautiful Life: I had heard that this latest Emily Henry book is a bit different from her usual, and that actually made me more interested in picking it up - much as I have loved her previous books, the standard rom-com/contemporary romance just hasn't been working for me lately. This story-in-a-story offering was such an enjoyable reading experience though. It's like Beach Read and Book Lovers meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. In a delightful small town/beachy setting, we have these enemies-to-lovers writers, Alice and Hayden, who are competing for the same job - to be selected as the official biographer for a tell-all of an infamous socialite who disappeared from the public eye 20 years ago. Margaret's story of being heiress to the wealthy, media magnate Ives family as well as her paparazzi-chased marriage to a rock-and-roll star, not to mention family drama, a cult, a tragic car accident... normally I get bored with a story-in-a-story and wish that I could just get back to the main plot line and characters, but I really loved these chapters (as "written" by Alice) and found that the slow reveal toward what the public has never known about Margaret's interesting and tumultuous life (and disappearance) kept me turning the pages, and the interest also perhaps made me have more patience with some of the romance tropes that I've been a bit eye-rolly about lately. (Admittedly what I still didn't have patience for was the hot-and-heavy open-door scenes; I don't usually have much time for these anyway, and when they pulled me out of both the Margaret and the Alice/Hayden writerly competition, I really didn't need them.) A couple of other things I appreciated - Alice has a really bubbly personality, and often in a rom-com this can turn a protagonist a bit flaky. But for her the relentless optimism made sense in terms of character development, and her seriousness/skill with her work as a pop culture writer kept her grounded and made me like and root for her. Also, in the enemies-to-lovers trope, the "enemies" part didn't get too drawn out and drag things down; plus, the inevitable conflict in the story arc felt like a real reason for "we can never be together" than some manufactured miscommunication. I recommend if you enjoyed Beach Read, Book Lovers, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - or if you want a romance with a bit of a "more" element to it. ★★★★.5

Historical fiction

Kate & Frida: In this epistolary novel, young, free-spirited American-in-Paris Frida writes to a Seattle bookshop to request a particular selection, and when steady and quiet but friendly bookseller Kate writes back, these 20-somethings begin a years-long correspondence and deep friendship in which they bond and support each other through big and small things - love of certain books, relationship advice, self-doubt, finding their purpose in life, and finding joy in tumultuous times. Admittedly, I wasn't sure at first that it was going to be a success for me; while it hearkens to the epitome of this bookish epistolary genre and an absolute favorite of mine (84, Charing Cross Road), I was afraid it might turn out to be a bit of a rip-off... And I also wondered if the characters and their initial perkiness would get a bit tiresome. Luckily the direction the author took with some of the difficulties and doubts the characters faced gave the story and the reading experience some depth and weight, while the characters still charmed with their often zippy, chatty correspondence. I really appreciated the theme of choosing joy in spite of (even because of) the tragedies in the world. As one of the characters quoted Madeline L'Engle: "It is the tiny, particular acts of love and joy which are going to swing the balance." This exploration made it feel very relevant to life in 2025 - since of course we still have tragedies, personal and global - while still feeling very rooted in the current events and culture of 1990s US west coast and Europe. This was clearly the author's intent - as she writes in her note at the end of the book, her wish was to tell her younger self: "During the darkest times, not only is it possible to feel joy, it is your duty to embrace it fully, to share it far and wide, and to never lose hope that joy, along with compassion and love, will win in the end." At times the book gets maybe a bit overt to the point of cheesy along these lines, but for the most part I found it buoyant and really quite enjoyable/fast reading. This format and the 2 characters were also a nice way to explore the coming-of-adulthood pull between home and between flying away to do grand things, with each character embodying that and writing about the excitement/satisfaction of this but also the wondering if it's right for them. This theme would actually make the book a great pairing with one of my favorite nonfiction books of the year, Ordinary Time, a memoir that really goes into this, such as the feeling that young women who want to go into journalism must end up in New York to live big lives... but then the reality of being a person who stays in her hometown and makes a life she loves there, but still can't help comparing it sometimes to the "should" of her peer set. This is a book for book/bookstore/literary lovers and I would also recommend for people who like food writer memoirs such as Ruth Reichl's or Laurie Colwin's (which I haven't read, but were mentioned a ton in the book and I definitely want to try now), or people who came of age in the 1990s and are interested in some nostalgia. ★★★★.25

YA/middle grade

A Wish in the Dark: Our area's Big Read program chose this book as their middle grade selection for 2025, and I was excited to pick it up after Hendrik really loved it - and even more so when I learned that it's a Thai-inspired fantasy twist on Les Miserables. I have actually read the unabridged version of the original, and (even more importantly?) it is my favorite musical of all time... and I would say in this book the author delivers a performance worthy of it. Unlike parts of the unabridged original, this one is quite fast paced with a prison escape, a cat-and-mouse chase across mountains and city canals, a budding (peaceful) revolution; at the same time, it develops characters with real depth and realistic flaws/blind spots/mixed emotions and it shines a light on those who are suffering while also infusing warmth and hope and heart into the characters and their relationships. The worldbuilding is great for people who don't normally read fantasy as their first choice - the story just starts right in, and the world builds around you as it goes, in quite a seamless way. I thought the fantasy elements were creative, and almost folklore-ish in feel (the author's heritage is Thai, and I also liked the cultural and place-based elements she brought in with the monks, particular fruits and landscapes, etc.), but it also had such relevance to modern life, bringing up themes of privilege, social justice, bias/prejudice, becoming one's own self and believing there is goodness inside of all of us despite what the world tells us/how it categorizes us. Some particularly memorable and poignant lines: “Well, sometimes light shines on the worthy. But sometimes it just shines on the lucky ones. And sometimes… Sometimes good people get trapped in the dark.” “You can’t run away from darkness. It’s everywhere. The only way to see through it is to shine a light.” While I had some minor quibbles with an end that felt rushed, I can see why this would be a Big Read (and Newbery Honor) pick with the timeless story, creative elements, and really well done themes/parallels to our world that are important for middle schoolers (and all of us) to discuss. This is for fans of Les Miz for sure; while you don't need to know the original appreciate this as a great story, for my reading experience it added a bonus dimension that made me love it even more, and I also appreciated that not every single element/character aligned, so it felt like its own, fresh story too, not shoe-horned into being exactly parallel to the original.) It also reminded me of books like Erin Entrada Kelly's Lalani of the Distant Sea with the cultural/folklore emphasis. ★★★★.75

reading lately: preschool recommendation roundup

2025-09-08T08:00:00.136-04:00

Both kids are back in school, but they had a pretty great summer reading season as well, including countless walks to the library to bring home stacks of books - graphic novels and comic strips for Hendrik (he's reading some that I grew up loving in the actual newspaper, which is fun), and any and all (and only) "vehicle books" for Freddie from the kids' nonfiction section. Great for him to page through, not enjoyable to read aloud, in my opinion. Such is his commitment to them that he declined to select any free book as his summer reading challenge prize at the library, with no vehicle books on offer... I've been working on getting some actual stories into the mix though, surreptitiously adding some picture books with vehicle-related stories in at the checkout counter. Here are some recent favorites:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

1. Construction Site: Garbage Crew to the Rescue: Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site has long been a beloved read in our house, and now they've got a whole bunch of spinoffs, adding in even more kinds of vehicles. The airport and garbage crew selections have been ones that Freddie likes too.

2. Towed by Toad: Aside from being a very cutely illustrated and phrased story about a tow truck driver gettin' the job done, it's also a sweet lesson about how everybody needs help sometimes, and how we can ask for/accept the help we need.

3. Every Monday Mabel: This will resonate with so many parents of toddlers/preschoolers - every Monday morning, Mabel drags her chair out to the driveway, while her parents and sibling are completely oblivious to the amazing thing they are missing: the arrival of the garbage truck. Extra fun that garbage day on our street happens to be Monday too.

4. The Ultimate Book of Vehicles: With the interactive features (flaps, pulls, pop-ups, etc.) of a book like this, it's a lot more enjoyable to look at with your kid than some of the inane narration in the nonfiction vehicle books that Freddie usually chooses. And it's one that a kid can come back to again and again to explore - worth the investment.

5. Bus! Stop! This one is a bit zanily creative in the fantastical variety of buses that keep coming through the bus stop after the character misses his bus, yelling for it to stop. It's a fun ride, waiting at this bus stop :)

6. Little Freddie Two Pants: Okay, if it's not a vehicles book, I thought I could at least get him on board trying out a new book that has a character with his name! And this one has just the right amount of preschool-level silliness that it was an instant hit, getting him to laugh out loud; I thought it was adorable myself, a great read-aloud option if you need something to share with a class perhaps.

Below are even more recommendations for vehicle-related storybooks that we've also enjoyed from the library over the last few months; over here we might need to see if our branch has a copy of Fred and Ted's Road Trip so we can combine the name AND the vehicle love.

reading lately: August roundup

2025-08-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

August was a different type of reading month for me as evidenced by almost nothing in the "literary/contemporary fiction" section... Instead: two nonfiction reads that I would call a mix of memoir, journalism, and self-help/inspiration in how they apply to my personal life, a book by a favorite author from several years ago that I clearly waited too long to pick up, and a couple of new forays by mystery writers I have enjoyed in the past. Here's what I thought of them:

Literary/contemporary fiction

The Art of Vanishing: Jean's day-to-day life has been the same for the last 100+ years - frozen in time in a painting by his father, Henri Matisse, Jean spends the daytime hours watching museum patrons and curators come and go; in his evening hours he's free to move about the various paintings, but he generally keeps to himself. A bit of ennui, perhaps. His existence is forever shaken up though when a new cleaner comes in for the overnight shift, and Jean feels an instant connection with the mesmerizing Claire. Though she can't know that he is really observing her in the same way she is him, Claire feels the same pull toward Jean as he feels - until one day it literally pulls her into his world. Each night as she steps through the frame of Jean's painting and they explore this lush behind-the-scenes world of all of the museum's paintings together, their love grows, but the impossibility of it working out never lessens... It's a love story, not a rom-com, but the magical realism vibes are similar to something like Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop, or Ashley Poston's work, so I'd recommend it if you enjoy those. I'd say the writing felt a bit basic in terms of character development/dialogue as well as really engaging with the purported themes of art and the enduring power of love, but it was a quick and easy read with a fun genre-bending twist on a love story given the magical realism and (art) historical fiction and even a bit of a heist element added in as well (though I found this to be a bit tacked-on at the end, with the stakes not quite making sense). In this way the genre mashup, love story "out of time" angle also reminded me of The Ministry of Time. Normally I'm not much of a questioner when it comes to fiction, and I'll go where the author takes me, but I did think there were a lot of gaps or vague spots in the construct in terms of things like why these painting subjects came to "live" inside of their paintings, how they had as much understanding of the modern world as they did despite having been "frozen" in the paintings in the 1800s, etc. ★★★.25

Historical fiction

The Lincoln Highway: One of those books that I can't believe it took me this long to pick up, because by about a quarter of the way in, I felt like it was going to be a 5-star read... and it most definitely was. I have loved Amor Towles' previous books, but something about the length and the historical fiction / 1950s / brothers on a road trip general synopsis I had heard made it not call out to me from my shelf. A road trip is just the start of it though - it's really a modern(ish) epic. I loved so much how Towles wove in epic stories, myth, and larger-than life historical figures (Homer, Lincoln, etc.) as a parallel to the journey of these more everyman characters. Though covering only a 10-day span, the story is sweeping in the sense of characters on quests and cross-country journeys, and also in themes - retribution and redemption, hope, friendship, authoring our own stories. The characters have lots of detours on the way in the literal and figurative sense, ending up in cities they didn't expect, almost a wild goose chase feel at times, and also as they recount their pasts and learn about their friends' pasts and understand them in new ways. The mastery of characterization and storytelling made it feel like an instant classic, and on top of that it was just a pleasure to read. At first I was worried that jumping between characters each chapter would feel distracting or get tiresome, but it made the reading experience propulsive, provided this multi-layered feel in terms of character perspective (and each character felt unique and fully formed - it wouldn't have been so immersive if we had been missing any of their viewpoints), and gave different angles on the same scene in a way that really made the story rich. I'd call it cinematic in that sense, both for the cutscene storytelling and for the scenic and iconic views as the characters drive across the country and through New York City. After finishing, there are characters I miss (Woolly! Billy!), and I also have found myself imagining what paths their stories might take after the novel has drawn to a close. This is super rare for me, so an excellent indicator for how real the characters felt and how much I loved being with them, even after almost 600 pages. I laughed, I cried, I plan to recommend it to everyone, hence the gushing review with very little plot synopsis... (And since I know that I'm way behind the times on getting to it: if you have already read and want something along these lines, it made me think a bit of the vibes of William Kent Kreuger, especially This Tender Land for the escapee friends road trip vibes but also a bit Ordinary Grace for the brothers and the themes and general feel.) ★★★★★

Mystery/thriller

The Ghostwriter: Once a sought-after ghostwriter for celebrity and athlete memoirs, Olivia has now been blacklisted in the industry after calling out a powerful male colleague; she's desperate enough to pay the bills and to get her career back on track that she is willing to take on a completely unexpected request that arrives to her agent: to ghostwrite the memoir of prolific horror writer Vincent Taylor, who is also infamous for being a suspect in the 1970s murder of his two teenage siblings in their home and who is now ready to tell his side of the story. And who also happens to be Olivia's estranged father. This is a thriller-lite type book, which I like for the twists and turns and intrigue, and for not having over-the-top suspense or ick. In this one Julie Clark plays with the unreliable narrator trope in some interesting ways as Olivia listens to her father recounting his relationship with his siblings, by layering on the potential angles for untrustworthiness - memory is already a faulty thing, with each individual having their own perceptions and even sometimes completely misremembering/recharacterizing things in their own minds, and on top of that we have the potential that he's just a bad guy telling lies plus the onset of dementia that is making it unclear whether he actually remembers anything or whether he is hallucinating, one of the symptoms of his disease. Some of the twists were convenient (as discovering a long-lost diary always is), but it was overall a satisfying read if you like a thriller-lite and you are looking for something easy to get into, though I didn't love it as much as Clark's earlier books. I think partly because of the narration from the 1970s interspersed in - just didn't think those voices were as convincingly done - and partly because the motivation of the main character for concealing her identity from everyone in her life (her agent and boyfriend in particular, in this case) didn't quite feel compelling, and you just know it's going to come crashing down... whereas in Clark's earlier books there was sort of a con artist angle that made the secret past/hidden identity portion of the story really integral. As a side bonus, I found the behind-the-scenes on the career of a ghostwriter to be an interesting part of the story; it felt like it aligned with what I learned previously about a real-life ghostwriter in a great podcast interview on Sarah's Bookshelves Live. ★★★.5

We Solve Murders: Steve is a widower and retired detective who prefers to stick to his small English village life and routines. His daughter-in-law Amy is a kick-ass private security guard who travels the world for her job protecting the rich and the famous. Though their taste for adventure and adrenaline is polar opposite, they are each other's favorite phone call at the end of the day. When Amy suddenly finds the tables turned and she is the one in need of protection from a hitman (not to mention being framed for 3 murders), she ends up on the run with her latest client, super wealthy and flamboyant mystery novelist Rosie D'Antonio, and calling the only other person she can trust to help her clear her name - Steve. He is not so sure about missing quiz night at the pub, but he loves Amy, and this sets off a trip around the world in Rosie's private jet, collecting an eclectic cast of characters along the way. This is definitely for fans of Richard Osman's brand of cozy mystery with characters of a certain age, delightful repartee, and kind of wacky situations that don't go *too* zany. It manages to be heartwarming and fun at the same time that the body count piles up. I wasn't quite as endeared to the characters in this one - there were a lot of them, and some felt more caricature than in the Thursday Murder Club series, so I didn't feel like I grew to know and love them as well - but while waiting for my turn in book 3 of my preferred series, I was happy to be back in a Richard Osman world, even if this one felt a tad overpopulated/convoluted at times. Definitely also reminded me of Killers of a Certain Age with the jet-setting, hitmen, and older protagonists (plus wit and sass) and it also reminded me of the multi-generational family solving murder in Mother-Daughter Murder Night. ★★★.75

Young adult/middle grade

All the Tomorrows After: From the publisher's blurb: "Each night, Winter Moon counts her earnings dreaming of escape. Once she’s saved enough, she and her grandmother can finally take flight and disappear. But when her spiteful mother steals her money and blows through it all in one day, Winter is forced to turn to her estranged father, who recently reappeared in her life after being absent for more than a decade. They agree upon a simple contract: she spends time with him in exchange for payment." Though it felt a bit bleak at times with all of the challenges that Winter faces - her neglectful mother, grief, guilt, poverty, loneliness and the stress of holding it all together - overall I appreciated this coming-of-age novel for the themes of finding self-worth, what it means to be a family, first love, and more, and I also enjoyed the Korean cultural angle. The beginning felt a bit forced in terms of characterization, but it hit its stride. It reminded me of books like I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter or Oye, where the main character is pretty prickly and maybe a bit hard to like at first, but I really came to have empathy for her, could see where she was coming from with the difficulties and hurt she had faced from family and peers, and appreciated her growth in the story. I think this could also be for fans of Mary H.K. Choi or David Yoon's YA books for the Korean American angle; though this one is not rom-com, those books would be similar in terms of cultural elements and also more of a gritty narration/life rather than a sparkly YA tone. ★★★.5

Nonfiction/memoir

A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting: This book reached me at the right time - reaching my 40s and being fed lots of Instagram content about the importance of strength training during this stage of life for women, along with reaching a breaking point with my body not handling the high cardio, low calorie lifestyle that diet culture trained me in, I was primed and ready to be inspired by how Casey Johnston's life changed so thoroughly when she started weight lifting, from body composition to relationship with food to confidence and self-assurance. She outlines her journey starting from a totally burnt-out, underfed, weight-obsessed, and chronically injured runner (though she would have admitted to only the final one) to a totally bad-ass sounding power lifter. She goes through the nitty-gritty on the way, what it was like to start from scratch, face a personally intimidating gym scene, and to gradually completely change her mentality about bodies and exercise and eating. I personally related to more of the mentality and diet culture-induced practices than I really want to admit publicly, but seeing that I was not alone in those difficulties made me even more inspired to pursue some of the mental and physical positives that Johnston demonstrates about strength training. I would maybe take issue a bit with how much focus on calorie counting and body appearance there still is - but then it's kind of impossible to escape in our culture, isn't it? Even if we're trying to get away from appearance as the reason to exercise, it isn't surprising to me that it would be a big part of the motivation to do strength training, once on board with the concept. Overall I thought it was a great listen on audio, recommend for any woman who is curious about reframing an exercise/lifestyle approach, or who is just interested in a powerful, engaging memoir about a woman literally and figuratively finding strength. ★★★★

BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity: As the publisher describes it, "Combining painfully honest memoir, cultural analysis, and reporting, BoyMom is a humorous and heartbreaking deep dive into the complexities of raising boys in our fraught political moment." And as a mom to two of them, I would recommend this read! (Actually, it was my husband who read it first, after hearing the author on a podcast, and it led not only to great discussions about how we want to handle certain aspects of parenting especially as we have a kid nearing the teen years, and about how our experience as the mom vs. the dad influences (perhaps subconsciously) our perspective or assumptions on raising boys. I think this is a really useful dive into some of the current cultural moments that could feel like a bit of a crisis when it comes to figuring out how to raise kids, such as #MeToo, online incel forums, social media leading to in-person disconnect, etc. And I thought useful as well the reframing of feminism and the patriarchy in these moments to remind us that it's not just about building girls up - though things like girls in STEM camps, etc. are great - but also about opening up gender expectations and challenging how we value certain things as "masculine" versus "feminine" and how they apply to people of any gender. Her research and personal experience prompted me to think about how our culture tends to socialize boys in ways that don't give them the emotional and personal connections needed for a happy life because of our assumptions about nature/nurture, and about how we (feminists in particular perhaps) could talk differently about dismantling the harm of the patriarchy in a way that provides more empathy and understanding to boys as they grow up. I appreciated the tone, the perspective, the information, and the prompts to (re)think about certain aspects of raising boys, though a bit repetitive at times. But if I'm honest it all made me feel a bit bleak. I suppose that's not the author's fault - it's the society we live in with the downsides of the internet and the patriarchy - but I was wishing for a bit more concrete what can I do about this in my home and in the world... ★★★★

reading lately: July roundup

2025-08-01T08:00:00.066-04:00

If June's theme was the reliability of previously-enjoyed authors, July had the opposite side of the coin - high expectations of a reliable author can sometimes lead to disappointment when their next work just isn't as good as the last... one real notable one to report below, a couple of other just fine books from repeat authors, unfortunately along with a couple of DNFs of rom-com authors I really liked before (it's a little bit my relationship to the genre at the moment - I need something different/stand-out right now, otherwise all of the steaminess honestly just makes me roll my eyes). On the bright side, though, were my absolute easy-to-award 5 star reads, both from debut authors!

Literary/contemporary fiction

The Correspondent: Sybil Van Antwerp is a 70-something retired lawyer who has been a letter-writer her whole life; through a collection of her correspondence, current and past, we get a picture of her (as an adopted daughter, a mother, a divorcee, a lifelong reader), her relationships (long-term friendships, sibling bonds, ongoing contentions with her adult daughter, even some budding romance with her sweet neighbor), her career, her strong opinions, and her biggest tragedies/regrets. I think that's about all you need to know going into this, because it's just absolutely lovely to have it unfold. I loved Sybil's voice as it comes through her letters, and I found some of the developing relationships/new people in her life so lovely too, providing this really nice mix of a woman reflecting on the past but also finding new and unexpected things even late in life. It's a slow and quiet kind of book by nature of the letter format, but I also was so engaged with it that I did not want to put it down and finished in a couple of days. I've been missing some of the "show, don't tell" adage in some recent reads; this one, though, does that excellently. The format being entirely in letter/email correspondence is really well done, not gimmicky at all, and has you reading between the lines of what is said in the correspondence (or gaps between dates in the letters) to understand more about Sybil and to explore the themes of forgiveness, love, living well, finding meaning and purpose in life, and more. I heard comparisons to 84, Charing Cross Road, one of my all-time favorite books, so that definitely encouraged me to pick it up. I would say after reading though that it's not that similar - though if you are someone who enjoys 84, Charing Cross Road you are likely to like this one! - aside from the epistolary format and the book lover vibes (one of my favorite tidbits about The Correspondent, actually, was the occasional insertion of letters that Sybil writes to well-known authors, as well as the last paragraph of every letter to/from her friend Rosalie in which they share what they are currently reading). What this book really reminded me of was Emily, Alone - another 5-star read that I hadn't thought of in a while but is well deserving of a revisit. It doesn't have this correspondence format but similarly focuses on a woman who is approaching the end of her life, a character you will come to adore, flaws and all, as she navigates life in this new stage and reflects on some of the joys of her years as well as the regrets, broken relationships, etc. Overall both excellently developed and unforgettable protagonists, quiet books that are still really compelling and fast reading, a great mix of the everyday and the prof and so many feels in the best of ways. ★★★★★

Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk into a Bar: A woman goes out to dinner with her husband and instead of the date night with delicious samosas she expected, she gets a confession: he's having an affair with a woman named Maggie. She still finishes her samosas, but then thus begins our narrator's recounting of the next few months of her life - as her marriage comes apart, as she adjusts to a life of single parenting, and as she simultaneously deals with her own "Maggie", the name she gives to her tumor as a funny coping mechanism after a breast cancer diagnosis. I found it smart and witty (almost snarky), fresh and yet also familiar in the observations about what it's like to be a mother to small children, especially when the mundanity of their constant questions and needs contrasts with the big issues/worries that grownups have to simultaneously worry about. It's one of those books with a lot going on - motherhood, illness, grief, friendship, an unraveling marriage, weaving in comparisons to mythology as she tells them as bedtime stories for the kids - but that all works thanks to the character's voice and the relatable complications and gray areas of emotions and life. Through one woman's life, it explores the stories we tell to ourselves and to others about our own lives, about the mythology and legends of our family, our culture, and humanity. It's a super short book but packs all of the emotions and comedy and tragedy into poetic little anecdotes and observations; when I finished I had lots of page corners turned down to mark very apt, almost poetic (in a good way!) lines about life and motherhood that I connected with. This book has been compared to Crying in H Mart and Joan Is Okay; those are still on my TBR, but I can see how the comparisons arose based on the commonalities of Chinese/Asian immigrant daughter experience, exploration of motherhood/daughterhood, look at grief and dealing with cancer. Of books I have read, this reminded me of the darkly funny, observational, maybe even kind of stream-of-consciousness of something like Goodbye, Vitamin (also has the grief, illness, daughter elements), and of the voicey, character-driven, self-reflective story that delivers a combination of super mundane motherhood + profound or poignant observations about life/illness/grief of Catherine Newman's work, especially We All Want Impossible Things. Also, it was blurbed by Emily Habeck (Shark Heart) and Allison Espach (The Wedding People, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance), and if you liked those I would recommend this too. ★★★★★

What Kind of Paradise: Jane has grown up off the grid in Montana, interacting pretty much only with her father and his blend of practical and philosophical education. She is just starting to yearn for a bit more of the world as a teen in the mid-1990s, at the same time her father is starting to think bigger about bringing his Luddite/anti-technology manifesto to the world. He gets their remote cabin hooked up to the internet so that Jane can make a website to post his work, and suddenly her world expands, both figuratively, as she now has access to news, pop culture, even to peers in chat rooms, and literally, as she is emboldened to beg her father to come along on one of his usually solo trips away from the cabin. An inciting incident ensues that makes her accomplice to a crime her father commits, and Jane flees to San Francisco, where she comes to question everything about her history/identity as well as the values that her father always instilled in her about nature/anti-society, now that she sees the fledgling internet blooming and the community and considerations that go along with it. I feel like 90s nostalgia books are becoming a bit of a thing (as the 90s kids become adults of a certain age perhaps), and so reading this made me think of some other recent ones like Deep Cuts (California setting, pop culture, coming-of-age in the age of the rising internet) and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (rise of online technology, male-female friendship working in a tech job setting). But this one adds to the "coming-of-age in the internet era of the 90s" with a bit of fake identity mystery and a couple of twists. It is not a thriller by any means, with a relatively slow pace and fair bit of character development/philosophizing about the societal impact of technology, both good and bad, vs. living/interacting in the real world - but it does have a mystery that unfolds as Jane learns the truth about her father's past at the same time she is trying to figure out how she can prevent him from wreaking havoc in the present (his character is loosely based on Ted Bundy, which tells you plenty). It reads pretty easy, with the writing more on the "commercial" than literary side, even with the nature writing/philosophy, making it a good summer read. I'm not sure it was stand-out or unique enough for me to remember forever, but I liked the setting, a couple of the twists, and how it makes you think about how some of the AI-related societal worries we're having now are the kinds of debates and concerns that were also happening with the dawn of the internet. ★★★.75

Atmosphere: This one seems like it's getting plenty of high ratings from my Goodreads friends and from other readers in general, so it might be just a me thing or a timing thing - but I was honestly disappointed. I have sung the praises of previous TJR books, and I think she's doing fine enough that I can add my honest thoughts to the conversation here, for people debating picking it up... I especially loved TJR's most recent book, Carrie Soto Is Back, for how it was super readable and delved deep into one woman's experience with relentless pursuit of being the top of her field/an expert in something (tennis, in this case) and the barriers she faced - but the read also managed to be fresh and stand-out with characters that felt super real. I thought this new one about Joan, who is pursuing her dream to be one of the first female astronauts in the new NASA shuttle program in the 1980s could do the same, but unfortunately the scenarios felt like nothing new, instead felt like an amalgam/rehash of things I've read before, and the characters didn't jump off the page as much as real people. The dialogue and the abundance of factoids about space/space travel that were worked into the dialogue felt like overkill (one of those situations where it seems like an author learned a ton about something to write a book and then tried to get every bit of that knowledge into the book). Overall the effect of these was that it felt a bit too heavy on the "tell" over the "show" and I was honestly a bit bored despite the (maybe kind of forced?) tense "now" situation in space that is woven throughout the story of the "before" for Joan and her relationships. Overall, it was a fine read and will be a good beach book for lots of people; I might have liked it more without my high expectations, as this one felt like a step down in story/writing quality to me compared to her last few. ★★★.25

Romance/rom-com

The Austen Affair: Tess is a Jane Austen devotee, but as an American actress best known for a teen dramedy she's not the person that purists think should get the starring role in a new adaptation of Northanger Abbey. Her co-star Hugh is of British actor lineage and perfect for the role - except that straight-laced Hugh refuses to be won over by fun and slightly messy Tess, and their on-screen chemistry is terrible. It's already a good book setup for someone who likes rom-coms and Jane Austen adaptations, but things go in unexpected (and more fun, to make this book stand out from the crowd!) directions when an on-set incident somehow zaps them into the actual Regency period where Hugh is mistaken for a relative of his who was thought killed in a Napoleonic war. The time travel part adds a historical fiction with modern twist element to this rom-com that I really liked, both for the setting (like being dropped into the real thing of a Jane Austen movie! There were some great descriptions of the house, clothing, food, etc.) and for the scenarios. It made the rom-com tropes that I've found a little tiring lately - enemies-to-lovers and fake dating - feel fresher and somehow more believable even in spite of the unbelievable time warp. Being forced to get engaged because of the impropriety of being seen together unchaperoned while at the same time being people with modern sensibilities about feminism and such? That's a bit more interesting! And being fully taken out of their regular lives and forced to navigate proper society as a team? There's a more believable getting to know each other and starting to develop new feelings. It wasn't the best writing (I noticed some verb tense discrepancies, and I thought the dialogue for the historical vs. modern characters could have been better differentiated, for example) and I could have done without some my pet peeve swooning over forearms (and honestly the one bedroom scene in general - I often skim them based on my personal preferences, but this one felt like we could have left it more closed door to better suit the rest of the book, instead of just tacking that one chapter in there), but overall a good escapist fun with protagonists I liked and rooted for. Best for readers who like Jane Austen adaptations (both the miniseries/movie kind, many of which get referenced in this book, and the fun kind such as Curtis Sittenfeld's Eligible), also for fans of the enemies to lovers trope and rom-coms with a Hollywood twist, though I really do think it best if you start with a base love of all things Austen. (I received an advance e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review; publishes in September.) ★★★.5

Mystery

All's Fair in Love and Treachery: In this second installment of the Lady Petra Inquires series, billed as "Bridgerton meets Agatha Christie", Lady Petra is faced with two mysteries: a personal one, in which she has received a tip that her paramour Duncan was responsible for the death of her fiancé a couple years prior, and one that she is tasked with by the queen herself, related to the murder of the matron at an orphanage in London and how it might be connected to a political, anti-monarchist uprising. Having read in the last couple of months the first two books in the Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies series by Alison Goodman, which have a very similar vibe in terms of time period, lad- of-means solving mysteries, romance, plus a dash of cheekiness (and even very similar asylum rescue plot in the first book), I would probably recommend that series over this one. Perhaps a recency bias, as I do remember finishing the first Lady Petra book in a whoosh because I could not put it down (but that was 2 years ago, and the side character details really didn't come back to me well for the purposes of reading a sequel...), but I found that the general plot and the politics-based mystery of this second book were convoluted, cryptic, and confusing, so I just wasn't as into it and never felt like I understood or believed the stakes of the situation (especially when the supposed danger/high stakes intermingled with constant innuendos in the conversation - these things didn't mesh); plus I like the added element of the sister interaction in the Alison Goodman series. In general, if you like the Regency time period with a feminist, crime-solving, and even a bit suspenseful twist, these are both great series, but start with book 1 of either, and perhaps stay there with this series... ★★★

YA/middle grade

A Day at the Beach: Made up of 28 short vignettes about different kids visiting Rockcastle Beach throughout one day, from dawn until dusk, this book celebrates the pleasure and play and general sense of "here and now" that a day at the beach can bring, but it also captures the real feelings of angst and conflict as well as connection among tweens. I could definitely pick up echoes of the Gary Schmidt writing/characterization that I love in some of them (and it did make me curious about the co-author, Ron Koertge, both to check out his own work, and to wonder about what their co-writing process was for this book), but while I appreciated the broad swath of kids and their cultural/life experience that were packed into just a couple of pages each, and I liked how even though each was quite different as a whole the book gave a vivid picture and feel of the setting of this particular beach, it just never felt like enough to sink my teeth into in terms of story and backstory (this is my complaint with short stories, which I generally don't read, so it might just be a me thing). Also there was maybe some magical realism woven in to a couple of them that I just wasn't sure what to make of. Not my favorite Gary Schmidt, but still enjoyable as a quick, very seasonal read that is mostly breezy like a day at the beach but also shows how tweens experience and handle the duality of seeing the dark parts of the world/human interaction at the same time they see the wonders of the world and connection. I will say that I grabbed it at the library just because of seeing Gary Schmidt's name on the cover, and Hendrik happened upon it at home, sat down with it, and read the whole thing in about 2 sittings, so there's the target demographic vote. ★★★.5

After the mixed-bag month with some high highs and some mehs, I'm honestly having a bit of trouble deciding what to read next. Nothing on my (very full) shelf is calling to me; even though new-to-me authors were the best of the bunch for July, sometimes it's hard to commit to picking up something when I don't have a reference point for that author's writing. Perhaps I'll reset with an absolutely going to be reliable pick - the 3rd book in the Thursday Murder Club series, which I've been saving for a metaphorical rainy day - and then I need someone to highly recommend me a new author!

reading lately: top 10 of 2025 (so far)

2025-07-09T08:00:00.001-04:00

How is your reading year going? I think it's nice to take stock halfway through, partly as a little reminder of the great books I have read so far (and an excuse to sing their praises again and recommend them here), and partly to see if I should make any adjustments in the rest of the reading year based on what has and hasn't been working for me. This year a lot of regular genre stuff (ahem, rom-coms) is not working great, but things that feel like a unique/different approach or format - some genre-mashups and certain types of nonfiction on audio especially - are the things getting me jazzed about reading. So here's to more of those in the rest of 2025.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

These books aren't necessarily ranked in an official order, but more like placed in tiers - the first 4 are probably my favorite fiction of everything I've read this year, and then the next two top my nonfiction - and they were so good that they broke into my top 10 overall list, rare for a nonfiction selection for this novel-preferring reader.

For the final 4 selections, I had a bit of trouble filling those slots, as there were some other books that landed with a similar ranking (see the widget below for a peek at some other favorites) of reads that might not stick with me forever but were really enjoyable in the experience and also are ones I would recommend to a wide variety of readers thanks to their generally very readable/broad appeal (the genre-mashup categorization for several of them definitely adds to the broad appeal).

1. The Death of Us: I almost didn't read this because I don't do serial killer books any more, but this one really turns the genre on its head and makes it a story of the after-effects of crime/trauma on a person and a marriage. The unique approach of telling it through a "victim impact statement" for the courtroom + the drama of what actually happens in the courtroom was super impactful as well as engrossing, and cinematic in the way of a great miniseries like Broadchurch. I won't forget this one.

2. Sandwich: Catherine Newman packs so much into such a short book about a family's annual stay at a costal cottage - it's a family drama, but rooted in the family's love for one another, and so spot-on and insightful in terms of emotions and observations about motherhood, marriage, middle age. And darkly funny to boot. Apparently there's a sequel coming out, and normally this would make me nervous after loving a book like this, but if anyone can pull it off, she can.

3. Wild Dark Shore: a genre-mashup of cli-fi, family drama, slow burn mystery that is a great combination of character driven, emotionally resonant, and propulsive (there is this sense of dread with the mystery and the climate change that really drives it - excellently done but you do need to be in the right frame of mind to read that!). I couldn't put it down.

4. Kareem Between: this middle-grade novel-in-verse selection about an American-born kid with Syrian-born parents - who is in this cultural "between" as well as the between of being a middle child and in the middle of middle school - was excellently done and gave me all the feels. Recommend for fans of sports-related novel-in-verse reads like The Crossover, as well as fans of books like Other Words for Home. This is one of those books just as impactful for adult readers as for its middle grade intended audience.

5: Ordinary Time: A memoir in essays that illustrates how an "ordinary" life can be worth a memoir just as much as one with "big" adventures, plus behind-the-scenes of owning a bookshop. I found this to be a personal "mirror" book in a lot of ways as someone living in my home town, and it went even deeper into self-reflection and meaning of life than I expected while still being light (in a good way). Excellent on audio.

6. Everything Is Tuberculosis: John Green makes the history of tuberculosis pithy, personal, and poignant - and super relevant to us all. Also great on audio.

7. Penitence: This debut novel is a great pick for fans of William Landay or Angie Kim; it's a genre-mashup of legal drama and family drama; for me it managed to walk that line between character and plot driven with the emotionally resonant look at the messiness of family and the ways parents have to face impossible choices + the slow burn of the legal part. It is not really a mystery but tries to get at the "why" that leads up to a terrible tragedy - while still feeling very real in that real life doesn't always give us a clear answer about the why of things.

8. Broken Country: another genre-mashup! With the mix of historical fiction, slow-burn mystery/legal drama, and family/love triangle drama, it's already going to appeal to a lot of people; add to that an interesting structure and writing that make the reading easy and propulsive, and I can see why it had a lot of commercial hype. I want Masterpiece Mystery to make this into a series - it would be great with the English countryside and historical setting!

9. The Man Who Died Twice: the second in the Thursday Murder Club series, even more delightful than the already delightful first (though obviously read them both) - it's a cozy mystery with characters of a "certain age" that manages to be endearing in the scenarios and repartee without being cheesy or gimmicky.

10. Yours, Eventually: a retelling of my favorite Austen novel (Persuasion) in a modern setting that makes so much sense - a Pakistani American community in California. It sticks very closely to the original story but never feels shoe-horned; it also is a great completely closed-door second chance romance/coming-of-adulthood for people who enjoy that, whether or not they like or are familiar with Jane Austen.

If you missed any of these, obviously I recommend adding to your reading list for the remainder of the year. Any excellent ones I should add to mine?

reading lately: June roundup

2025-06-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

The unintentional theme of this month's reading: revisiting authors I have enjoyed before. These authors made for a good reading month, with the new-to-me ones unfortunately being my two meh reads of the month. For July I'm actually planning to continue this "theme" partly as I got the new Taylor Jenkins Reid book for my birthday (+ the new Fredrik Backman as my BOTM birthday month freebie) and partly as I am not going to be able to wait much longer to continue in the Thursday Murder Club series - the 2nd one was my favorite book of June!

Literary/contemporary fiction

The Strange Case of Jane O.: When her son is only a few months old, Jane suffers from a couple of strange, amnesia type episodes that present a total mystery to the detectives who found her after she was missing for a few days, and also to the psychiatrist she comes to for help. Between this psychiatrist's case notes about his sessions with Jane, and Jane's journal in the form of letters to her son, Karen Thompson Walker again presents a character-driven yet unputdownable speculative mystery. What I really love about her books is that at the same time as being fascinating in their speculative fiction genre (real world with just one or two sci-fi type of tweaks) they are also insightful and real in their human emotions. She does that again here - with profound and also relatable reflections on motherhood through Jane's journal - and on top of it she gives the reader a super interesting twist on the "unreliable narrator" reading experience. What are we to make of Jane's account - is it an overwhelmed new mother with legitimate anxieties about the world "falling apart"? Is it mental illness or delusion speaking? Is she faking things? And then the psychiatrist's case notes too - can we trust everything here, or are there biases at play based on the warm feelings he has for Jane? And as he acknowledges, we all have our own version of events, with memory being an ephemeral and influenceable thing. All of this makes for an interesting puzzle-like reading experience and one that very much invites discussion on the themes of love, memory, identity, and fate. I'd say go in with only those details and see how it unfolds! ★★★★.25

Once There Were Wolves: After finding her new release (Wild Dark Shore) to be a 5-star read for me, I was eager to look into Charlotte McConaghy's backlist. This book, her sophomore novel, while quite different in setting and plot, definitely was immediately recognizable as being by the same authors, as it focused on themes of climate change and its affect on human life; scientific research/conservation; remote and rugged geographical setting; the wildness of the world, which humans erroneously think they can/have tamed; and the place human love and relationship have in this. In Once There Were Wolves, Inti Flynn leads a team of biologists who are re-introducing wolves to places they have gone extinct, in an effort to reinstate the natural ecosystem/regenerate the land, and the team arrives to a rugged and remote area of Scotland facing the resistance of the local sheep farmers, in addition to the tenuousness of this project of getting 14 wolves to survive and thrive in their new home. As the wolves settle in and the project seems to be going successfully, Inti also starts to settle a little, coming out of her protective shell and developing relationships with local community members. But then when tragedy strikes and a farmer is found dead, Inti knows the wolves will be blamed - and she is ready to do whatever it takes to prevent this. There's a little bit of a mystery/crime investigation element that drives the plot, in addition to great nature writing + eerie cli-fi vibes, as well as exploration of themes around love, grief, and connection in family (especially sisters, but also motherhood). Definitely a well-done story and intriguing plot even if I didn't find it quite as strongly developed/well written as Wild Dark Shore (it maybe felt a bit more "commercial" and Wild Dark Shore leaning more literary?). It was perhaps a bit related to the alternating "before" timeline in Once There Were Wolves that delves into the trauma that Inti and her twin Aggie went through that drove them to move from Alaska to Scotland for this project. That part sometimes felt a bit too drawn out or like it was leading the reader on; I thought the present-day storyline was the better part and couldn't put it down in the last 50 pages. ★★★★

Didn't You Use to Be Queenie B?: Regina is a former celebrity chef known as Queenie B who burned all her bridges and flamed out in a big way a decade ago, with ego and substance abuse issues galore. She's now in recovery and lives incognito, running a soup kitchen as a self-imposed way to atone for her past. Gale is an up-and-coming chef who is trying to maintain his own sobriety while he fights guilt over the death of a friend and while he tries to make ends meet in the low-paying start of working his way up to sous chef. He meets prickly Regina when he goes to her soup kitchen for a meal, and when he starts volunteering to help he starts to thaw her icy demeanor, while she starts to become an important mentor for him. But will her identity stay secret, and will they both stay on the straight-and-narrow when life is throwing a lot their way... I like a look behind-the-scenes of chef life (my favorite episode on Top Chef is often "restaurant week", when you see the ins-and-outs of launching a restaurant from concept to menu to opening night), so I liked that aspect of this book, but in general for me there was way too much "tell" (vs. "show") to the writing in terms of the characters' emotions and lessons learned; it made the whole thing feel too drawn out and unsubtle. It's light, heartwarming reading that's not a romance - rare to find - the slow plot and choppy/repetitive sentence structure just didn't quite work for me, though I managed to get invested just enough to stick it out to the end. However, if you liked Colton Gentry's Third Act, this one might be a hit for you - similar in the general second-chances themes, as well as this intermingling of grief, substance abuse, and recovery with working in a restaurant being part of that journey. ★★★

Mystery/thriller

Trust Her: In the follow up to Northern Spy, sisters Tessa and Marian have built a new life under new identities after escaping their role as MI5 informers in Northern Ireland, but they can't evade the IRA forever. They are drawn back into The Troubles as IRA operatives threaten their lives and their children's' lives, unless they find their old MI5 handler and try to turn him informant. This literary suspense/spy novel is full of character depth and emotion, at the same time the tension is super high with all of these potentially shifting loyalties; it's nearly impossible for Tessa to figure out who they can trust and how they can navigate the situation and protect their children at the same time - making this book hard to put down and a very quick read. I think Flynn Berry does such a good job of keeping this taut feeling the whole time as the reader is with Tessa in waiting for the other shoe to drop, and not having any idea of who is trustworthy as there are so many potential double agents in the picture - and yet in the midst of all of this Tessa still has such mundane things to deal with, the school dropoffs and time at the playground and meltdowns over mealtime pickiness. It's an extreme contrast of the juggle that motherhood is - the woman who has a past and responsibilities and conflicts outside of her child, and at the same time has to balance this with being that child and his focus on the present moment. Makes for some profound thoughts and also a more interesting/better read than your average spy thriller, as with Northern Spy. (Also it does not have the type of ick/torture that make me avoid most spy books, which I appreciate.) ★★★★.25

The Man Who Died Twice: Despite their great friendship, the Thursday Murder Club crew Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim are starting to find life at their retirement community a tad boring again after all of the excitement of the mysteries they solved in book one, when 2 new projects fall in their laps: the unfortunate attack on Ibrahim by some local hoodlums (and the version of revenge that his friends want to exact), and the return of some people from Elizabeth's MI-5 spy days, bringing with them a mystery caper with stolen diamonds and safe houses and international thugs. Somehow this was all even more delightful to read than book 1?! There's a lot going on, but the plot comes together, and it perfectly walks the line between being fun and zippy without being too zany. I adore each of the friends' individual personalities, and how they come together with such great banter, and as with the first book it's just delightfully amusing how get the best of unsuspecting law officials, etc. with their witty repartee, wearing down anyone who tries to converse with them, or they play on the invisibility of the elderly and/or the assumptions that people have about them to get stuff done in their own way. Some of the side characters from book 1 get bigger parts and a bit more character development, and I love them too, especially police officer Donna and contractor/tough guy Bogdan; adding them in makes it feel like the series can continue to be fresh and fun in book 3, and I can't wait to pick it up soon. If you liked this one, try Killers of a Certain Age - it has the "certain age" and more of the spy/assassin angle of that one, beyond just the amateur detective part. ★★★★.5

Historical fiction

Go As a River: I'm not a huge reader of straight-up historical fiction, but the time and location of this debut novel - beginning in 1950s rugged Colorado - felt like it would be different from settings I've read about before, and definitely a shake-up from what I've been reading lately. Unfortunately the "sweeping" and "epic" that the cover copy promises fell a little flat for me. The story follows Tori, a motherless teenager who is in charge of all of the "women's" work at her family's peach farm, who runs into an outsider arriving into town one day- after which their brief love affair changes the course of their lives forever. What felt "sweeping" to me was not something in a grand sense, but instead a sense that felt like we skipped over a bunch of character and relationship development, with very little dialogue and fairly big jumps in time. Most of all, this love between Wilson and Tori was supposed to be so grand, but the "instalove" part of it was so unconvincing to me, and their subsequent time together was barely fleshed out (and was such a minor part of the book) that it didn't seem like it was something that should set the course of the rest of the book. And all this buildup to what end? The nature writing was evocative, but the characters lacked depth in terms of feeling like I connected with them or at least that they could be real people, and the slow moving plot was a bit ho-hum for me. I know of some people who loved this one, and I can see how readers of historical fiction who don't mind slower plots would like it, but for me as a non-regular historical fiction reader, it didn't have enough pull to reel me in to the genre. ★★★

Now that we're halfway through the year I thought I'd put together a halfway top 10 - stay tuned next week to see if any of my June reads made it under the wire for that list...

40 things I loved at age 40

2025-06-20T08:00:00.239-04:00

Turning 40 felt like a big milestone, but also milestones can be fun (excuse for a reading party, anyone??), so I wasn't bothered per se. Turning 41 on the other hand? What a weird, kind of old sounding number.

Reframing it with a look back on 40 things that were great in my life at age 40, in no particular order...

Listening to the stories of amazing ladies of a certain age, especially via the Wiser Than Me podcast and the delightful memoir The Third Gilmore Girl.
A couple of new favorite NYT Cooking recipes added to the regular rotation that are easy and delicious: spiced roasted chicken with tangy yogurt sauce, white chicken chili, ssamjang pork meatballs.
Discovering/devouring 2 super fun new-to me book series: Thursday Murder Club and Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies. Fantastic summer reading!
Using these date night conversation cards with Peter, whether at home or on a dinner date outing.
Building a Lego set with Peter for spending some quality time in a fun different way.
Spring break in Punta Cana with the immediate and extended fam!
Our new garage - the building process was a bit trying, but finally parking in it?!?! What a better attitude I had about winter/snow this year.
My adult tap dance class.
The Quince cotton fisherman sweater - cost-per-wear is turning out to be amazing on this thing as I am always wanting to reach for it, and it has held up great.
Seeing Moulin Rouge the musical.
Seeing Wicked the movie in the theater with Hendrik, his Christmas gift to me.
Hendrik's multiple new friend groups from his first year in middle school.
Hendrik absolutely rocking his first piano recital.
Freddie starting at the same (beloved) Montessori preschool where Hendrik went.
Watching Freddie cheer Hendrik on at a track meet - so
Baking so many batches of one-bowl blueberry muffins with Freddie that I have the recipe memorized - and he nearly does too.
Taking Hendrik to a couple of concerts and seeing his face any time the band launches in to one of his favorites from their catalogue.
Celebrating Peter's 40th at a baseball game in Seoul, a cultural experience we'll never forget.
Seeing Freddie's face when I surprised him by a bike pickup rather than a car pickup after school one day.
Seeing Freddie's face when he lays eyes on any kind of treat.
Taking Hendrik on a big kid trip to DC for his birthday.
Being surprised at the end of my conference last year by being presented with the only occasionally given "president's award" by my organization.
A "golden ticket" Mother's Day weekend (i.e. 40 hours completely to myself!).
Doing a flower bouquet workshop with my mom and a wreath workshop with my friend, and laughing at ourselves for struggling with these endeavors in our Enneagram 1 perfectionist tendencies.
Becoming a Patreon supporter of 2 favorite podcasts (Sarah's Bookshelves Live and Girl Next Door), and loving the bonus content.
Re-watching the entire series of The Closer. Some of the early 2000s attitudes don't hold up, but still really fun to revisit this detective series that I loved when it first aired.
My new go-to massage person. Ahhh.
Lifting heavier weights with more of a planned focus - especially liking the Peloton split training programs for this - and leaning into the recommendations for ladies in their 40s to focus on muscle building. That + more protein have me feeling stronger and proud of myself for the exercise/body mentality shift + the doing hard things.
Active dresses - and this is key - with the innovation of the open back waistband on the built-in shorts, so that you can actually use the bathroom... Will be wearing this one and this one a lot this summer, great for running around the kids and showing off some toned arms from #15 💪
Topping my usual lunchtime spinach salad with these meatballs for a quick and easy midday upped protein intake.
This "natural finish" full face kit, easy to use for the makeup-stupid and gives a nice glow.
These little rubber spatulas that I still use and appreciate every single day.
Finding a new perfume that I love and wear daily.
Finding some daily wear jewelry from Hello Adorn that adds just the perfect amount of interest and personality to every outfit (because I literally never take it off, no need to in water or anything): horseshoe earrings, satellite choker.
Maldon sea salt flakes, which are just fancy, and I sprinkle all over all kinds of things to make them even more delicious, from apple slices to my morning eggs to baked goods. They even make the only 2 grams of sugar protein bar option that has become my go-to taste like a treat rather than a slightly-off flavor that protein bars sometimes have.
Adding this cheery yellow color to my wardrobe in several formats.
Doing face masks and watching Netflix comedy specials with Peter. Hot date night, anyone?
Letterloop family newsletter. My sister-in-law set this up for us to all submit our individual responses to questions that run the gamut of mundane (what are you up to lately, what's your current favorite book/tv show), silly, and deep/profound, and then Letterloop compiles it into a newsletter emailed to us every 2 weeks. Such a great way to stay connected, and I absolutely love how everyone's personality always shines through in the way they answer questions. I end up laughing out loud a lot.
Setting a goal of figuring out Substack, doing it, AND having a whole bunch of people subscribe when I mentioned that I am going to make the transition. Thanks, guys!
Getting to be alive another year, and getting to have the people I love with me another year. I've got some complaints about the aches and pains and hormones of it all, but how lucky am I to have been 40, and now to be 41?!

(Quick note: I'm posting this in both places during the transition, but to keep up-to-date on all things books and maybe-occasionally-updated on other stuff with me, come check out my Substack!)

working on lately: move in progress!

2025-06-16T08:00:00.083-04:00

I was flattered and gratified that in my last "anyone still out there reading this?" query, there were several responses - I have loved writing and sharing books + more here for years, but with evolving family life it just hasn't happened as much. I'm not managing to read blogs these days either, so I don't feel connected to the community like I once really enjoyed. These days it seems like Substack is a pretty good substitute for it - and I will actually read posts that show up in my email inbox versus having to remember to visit a blog... All of that to say, with the waning usage here, a renewal payment on my blog domain name coming up in August, and the easy-to-use options over at Substack that are decently blog-like anyway (such as comments sections), I am working on transferring my content over there and continuing my occasional pop-ins on that platform instead of here.

So if the anyones who are still out there are interested in me and my book recommendations in your inbox from time to time, come subscribe (free!) on Substack! I do hope you will.

Not planning on doing a paid subscription route at present, but basically just using it as a different version of a blog platform to house posts that you can visit and/or have sent directly to email your inboxes, with the same types of book review posts and (hopefully) some sporadic bonuses, like the summer work trip packing post I have marinating in my brain at the moment. (As with here, posts will include referral links for products, and I have switched as many as possible over to Bookshop.org so that if you want to click through and buy any of them, you can support indie bookstores at the same time - yay!)

reading lately: May roundup

2025-06-12T08:00:00.011-04:00

After my light/brain-candy type reading month in April, it was time to get a couple of meatier books onto my plate. And for the most part, it left me quite satiated - look at the number of 5 star reads! There are a few that I am still thinking about and will be recommending to a variety of readers - especially the first 3 under "contemporary/literary" and the first two under "non-fiction". Tell me if you've read and agree...

Literary/contemporary fiction

Broken Country: I went into reading this one without too much knowledge of the plot, and I think that added to my reading enjoyment - so I'll mostly talk about vibes and experience here. With an opening line like “The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him”, a book seems like it's going to be promising, and this one delivered. With a mashup of historical fiction, courtroom drama, love (triangle) story, family drama/tragedy, exploration of motherhood/grief, and even a touch of slow-burn mystery all rolled in to one, it made for a reading experience that grabbed me from page one and was intriguing, moving, and satisfying all the way through. It's not going to win serious literary prizes, but it's a book that a wide range of readers are going to enjoy, thanks to the genre mashup - which means there's something for everyone in it - and thanks to the structure that makes a character-driven family story quite propulsive, as we alternate between the courtroom in the "present" day (1960s) and what happened to lead up to this murder in the past timeline (1950s) as Beth has a choice to make between her steady relationship with her husband and a rekindling of her first love. While it's not written as a thriller, the structure allows for some twists and reveals that give it good pace, and I thought the dual timeline was really well done in terms of pacing as well as never feeling confusing. Themes of unconditional love, guilt, impossible choices/how one event or choice can have explosive consequences, whether you can romantically love 2 people at once all would make for an interesting book club discussion too. Kind of unfolds like a Masterpiece Mystery or BBC mystery (historical version), if you like that kind of thing. This one lived up to the hype for me. ★★★★★

The Death of Us: Much as I like a mystery/detective story, I have pretty much sworn off books focused on serial killers as they tend to come with a certain level of ick that I prefer not to think possible of humanity, so I wouldn't have thought to read this one - until I heard some reviews of how it shifts the focus to what the aftermath of trauma/tragedy does to an individual family/marriage. I thought I'd just give it a couple of chapters and see how it went, planning to put it down if it got too graphic, but instead I was unable to put it down at all, so hooked was I on the subversive, literary approach to this genre. So instead of being about a fictional serial rapist/killer (apparently based on the Golden State Killer, though this book is set in London), this book is about Edward and Isabel's relationship, and what was the death of it - the trauma of having their home invaded by this man when they were 30 years old. Now, 25 years later, the man has finally been caught and is in court for his sentencing, where victims and family members are set to read their public impact statements, about how their lives were affected by these crimes, before the judge rules. The focus of the story is entirely on them, no glory or great attention to this horrible man other than through what Isabel, Edward, and the other victims think of him. The structure was so well done - through Isabel's drafted impact statement we get the entire story of their relationship from her perspective, from meeting as teenagers to marrying as twenty-somethings, then of course there was the traumatic night, and the aftermath, how they both coped (or didn't) with the trauma and how their marriage fell apart. These chapters alternate with the present day story, where Edward and Isabel are staying in the same hotel, going to court each day to hear other victims' statements and await their turn to present. While it's not a courtroom drama, per se, since we know the man is guilty and just awaiting sentencing, but there is still such well constructed narrative tension both in Isabel's chapters - her perspective of looking back on her life, telling her story while knowing that this trauma is going to be inserted into it - and in the present-day chapters where there are some little twists that drive the plot on top of the emotional/relationship tension. I'm still thinking about this one so much, from the themes (the longstanding effects of trauma, what the power of love can bear) to the characters to the writing to the evocative emotions. There were a couple of parts that were hard to read in terms of the trauma, but nothing gratuitous like the books that made me swear off serial killer stories. And it just has that *something* that made me say 5 stars when I put it down. Excellently done. (Again, made me think of some good BBC mystery series in how it unfolds/what the relationships are like - such as Broadchurch). ★★★★★

The Road to Tender Hearts: Small-town loveable old drunk PJ seems like the luckiest guy in town as a million-dollar lottery winner, but his life has held great tragedies: the death of his elder daughter just after her high school graduation, and the break up of his marriage soon after. Now he's on a literal and figurative journey to get his second shot at everything - driving across the country to reunite with his high school crush, with his younger daughter, two recently orphaned kids, and a stray cat who can predict death. It's a road trip book, a father-daughter story, a dealing with the anxieties of our current world story, a redemption story; it's got goofy situations, interjections from the perspective of an animal, a slightly fantastical/weird element, dark comedy, situational humor, and also profound truths. It's *a lot*, but Annie Hartnett is the author to pull it off and make you find the characters loveable rather than just overgrown children who make you roll your eyes. PJ in particular was a character who might seem silly but instead came off as so affable that I'd inspire to be like him, even for all of his flaws, and really cheered for his journey to recovery and redemption. The whole thing maybe verged a little beyond off-beat for me at times, but reading the author's note at the end - about how she took all of her anxieties of parenthood and Covid times and modern life and decided to write the funniest thing she could with them - all of the wacky scenarios and characters made more sense. It's hard to follow up a 5-star, hug when you finish reading, recommend to everyone book by an author - so admittedly my expectations weren't quite met in terms of loving it as much as Unlikely Animals, but it's Annie Hartnett, so it's still weird and warm and wonderful and a great read. Might just not be for handing to *everyone* as a sure winner like I thought Unlikely Animals was, but a great read to add to your summer list if you like a road trip book or quirky characters written with warmth and humor. ★★★★

Klara and the Sun: In a near future (slightly dystopian?) world where artificial friends (AFs) are companions/caretakers to kids, Klara is a solar-powered AF with particularly outstanding observational qualities and curiosity about human emotions who watches out the store window and hopes to be chosen soon. When she becomes part of teenager Josie's life, Klara is happy to observe her family and relationships to see how she can be a good AF, and with Josie suffering from a chronic illness, Klara eventually goes beyond her base role and comes up with a quest of her own that she thinks will save Josie. There is some plot that slowly unfolds related to Josie's illness, relationship with her (boy)friend Rick, and how the family members + Klara are handling Josie's illness - but it's just as much a character study of Klara and of the family she lives with, told from Klara's first-person perspective. This perspective is fresh in that it's a new way of looking at the world, but also naïve in that she doesn't understand how many things actually work (such as: being solar powered, she thinks the sun is the be-all-end-all, and that it's an actual entity that has a home it goes to at night). In general feels like a fresh way of portraying an AI character. I'd say this is one of those not 100% for me, but I can see why it received acclaim kind of books. Ishiguro is clearly an excellent writer, and Klara's voice is quite singular, but I like something a bit more straightforward perhaps; it's opaque at times in the way literary fiction can be, but even more so as a reader trying to get a sense of this book's world but we have only Klara's limited understanding of it. That means that things like what Josie's illness is, or what it means to be "lifted" are things that feel confusing for a while, and maybe are never revealed - but then again we as readers are understanding the world only as Klara sees it, and while her observational abilities are great, her perspective is limited, narrow, and also quite naïve. Definitely one that needs discussion, partly to figure out if I was even understanding what was going on at times, and partly because there are so many themes to discuss - the increasing use of AI in our world, the increasing disconnect that comes from online learning/living (written before Covid but super salient to how things went for kids when they were distanced/online so much), how we live in the face of grief and anxiety, what makes a person truly human and truly their own self, and most of all, what it really means to love. ★★★.5

Deep Cuts: It's the fall of 2000 and Percy Marks is in a Berkeley college bar when Hall and Oates comes on the jukebox, and she finally encounters someone who doesn't roll their eyes or run for the hills when she starts pontificating on her deep knowledge and strong opinions about music. This sets off a friendship, an unrequited (?) major crush, and an artistic collaboration with Joe Morrow, a classmate who has the musical chops that Percy wishes she did, and who is (generally) very open to all of the critiques and suggestions Percy has for his songwriting endeavors. The story follows their somewhat tumultuous relationship through their 20s, as they navigate the world in this coming-of-adulthood period of their lives and as their egos and their passions alternately come together and clash. The song and music and artistic conversations felt a bit esoteric to me at times (in the way that real-life college students and 20-somethings can naturally be about this kind of thing) so I was a tad bored at times, but overall I appreciated that the characters were still written with a bit of warmth even in their stupid or strident moments - a good pick if you like 2000s music + nostalgia and don't mind a bit of millennial angst in your characters. It leans a bit literary, a bit wry in the tone. Kind of a cross between something like Normal People and the artistic collaboration/conflict of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I'd also recommend for fans of The Rachel Incident (same era, same sense of fast-forming, obsessive friendship along with coming-of-adulthood). ★★★.75

How to Sleep at Night: Billed as "a sharply observed comedy of manners about straight marriage, gay marriage, and family ties stretched thin by politics", I thought the premise of this book about a gay couple where one spouse, Gabe, is a staunch Democrat and the other, Ethan, decides to run for congress - as a Republican - was very intriguing. It's a story of modern marriages, and a story of how the great political divide of our times can play out within one family, and in the public eye no less. The publisher gives it J. Courtney Sullivan and Emma Straub comparisons, which are pretty apt, though I did not find it nearly so well written in terms of full-fleshed character development or narrative drive. It started out strong but just turned a bit dull, if I'm honest, didn't quite get to that character driven yet I can't put it down type book like Emma Straub writes. I did find the storyline with the couple going through the campaign interesting, but the side plot with Ethan's reporter sister having an affair with her now married old college flame felt like a distraction - and to be honest, all 4 of the characters were clearly headed toward self destruction with their choices, and that makes a rule-follower personality like me a bit crazy... especially when it felt like there wasn't enough warmth or depth for me to root for them, so I unfortunately just didn't care too much by the end. I'd especially compare it to books like Jennifer Close's The Hopefuls, or maybe some political/reporter type shows (but a bit lighter in tone) like The Morning Show or The Newsroom. ★★.75

Mystery/thriller

The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin: Last month I finally picked up the copy of The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies that my mom had handed me months before, and it was one of those "why didn't I read this sooner??" moments because it was just so delightfully fun yet also had a bit of grit. But on the plus side, that meant I had barely any time to wait to read the sequel that was scheduled to come out in early May. And as added bonuses, my mom had pre-ordered; she finished her read quickly and handed off to me; and I flew through and loved it just as much as the first book. You'll want to start with the first in the series, especially as this one doesn't have a ton of recap, which as a reader is nice if you just read the previous one but less nice if you don't have the background already. In this installment, high-society Regency England twin spinsters Gus and Julia are recovering from what they have recently been through in rescuing some ill-treated women from an asylum - but Gus is not ready to rest, as she still is determined to clear the name of her beloved, Lord Evan, from his false murder conviction, so he can be reinstated to society. They are again thrust into the underworld of London - things get pretty dark and gritty and decently suspenseful - and the outskirts of polite society by asserting themselves more than a woman is supposed to. But still the reading experience is rather a romp. This one sets us up for a book 3 with more harrowing ordeals and further development of the love interests for both sisters without being annoyingly cliff-hanger about it, and now I impatiently await the next book. (Oh, and don't let the covers fool you on these - they make the books seem like historical romances, but they're much more plucky and adventurous than that!) (Oh, and don't let the covers fool you on these - they make the books seem like historical romances, but they're much more plucky and adventurous than that!) ★★★★

Twenty Years Later: Sometimes books in the thriller/suspense category can suffer from a bit of a sameness, but I had hopes for this one based on the premise - 20 years after 9/11 the remains of a new victim have been ID'ed, and it turns out the DNA matches with a woman who was accused of murder just before 9/11, a case that went cold after the fact. Avery Mason is a super popular TV true crime reporter, and she knows this story is going to be ratings gold, so she travels from LA to New York to dig up more details. But she's also got another motive in making this trip, and it has to do with her true name/identity, which she has kept hidden from her TV network and the public. Meanwhile a disgraced/retired FBI agent (who just happens to have been the detective on that cold case) is pulled in to cozy up to Avery and get some details on her secret past... I liked this layer-on-layer of investigation, and it was interesting to see how all of the storylines came together; I also often like journalistic investigation type of plots, as well as hidden identity/con artist books, and this had a bit of that vibe too in Avery's character. So the plot and maybe even the twists did feel a bit different in a good way, but unfortunately the writing was just not great for me - it felt kind of basic, and it was also super repetitive, at first kind of jarringly so (um, didn't I just read that detail in the last chapter?) and then distractingly so (why does the author keep repeating details about characters or their backstories - does he think I forgot from the last chapter?). It was almost like it had been written in serialized form and each chapter needed to give me a recap. Weird. Also I really don't like the suspect/person under investigation sleeping with the investigator trope. That definitely feels unoriginal. ★★★

Nonfiction/memoir

Ordinary Time: Whenever I read a memoir, I have a little side thought that I could never write one myself, because (lucky me - no complaints!) I had/have such a conventional, "regular" life, so what is there to say, and who would want to read it... but then I read Annie B. Jones' memoir in essays and realized that while I have loved and appreciated a wide range of memoirs, I love and appreciate just as much reading one where I feel so seen in a similar, ordinary life of a girl who also married young, loves books, moved back to live close to family. I was interested in this book because I have loved getting to know Annie, her reading tastes, and her career as an Indie bookstore owner, through her bookstore's podcast. And I loved the further behind-the-scenes into this life of this book, but it was so much more than that too in the reflections on how "quiet" lives don't matter less than louder ones, on how life can be a big, fulfilling adventure where you are, not requiring a big chasing of dreams. I also appreciated the through-line on this theme of when to embrace the "staying" of it all, and when to think about leaving, when it comes to not just to where you live, but also with relationships, jobs/careers, faith, and parenthood (I found this section particularly moving and insightful). It was great on audio - for me, because I am familiar with Annie's voice from the podcast, but even for newbies because these are the kind of personal reflections that are even more impactful in the person's own voice. She is self-reflective and self-aware, and the writing is personable and poignant both. ★★★★★

Everything Is Tuberculosis: John Green's latest work of nonfiction is on a bit of an unexpected topic - the history of tuberculosis. Sounds broad and potentially dry, but in his excellent hands, it's pithy, personal, and poignant. As an advocate for global healthcare reform, he makes this deadly disease and the healthcare inequities that relate to it feel very real, and he also brings it to a very human level by telling the story of Henry, a teen that Green met while visiting a TB hospital in Sierra Leone. I'd recommend this for fans of John Green's writing in The Anthropocene Reviewed, of course, but also things like Malcom Gladwell's Revisionist History, or maybe Sharon McMahon's The Small and the Mighty, for how it takes a new look at an aspect of history, showing us how there are more factors and connections and real people/real lives at play. As in the title, "everything is tuberculosis" and even though we wouldn't learn about it this way in history class, the whole history of this disease that continues to affect millions of lives around the world, has to do with colonialism, racism, industrialization, capitalism, injustice. Definitely also recommend it alongside Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains, to tell the story of how this disease that we relegate to "is that even still a thing these days?" is a terrible reality for poorer countries and for individual people, and to tell the story of how it can and needs to be addressed. Excellent on audio - a quick listen, and really engaging - but I also bought the print copy for Peter and he's really liking that too. ★★★★★

Cue the Sun: Though I'm not a huge reality TV watcher (I do have my guilty pleasures though!), I am fascinated by behind-the-scenes, so I thought I'd give this history of the invention of reality TV a try. Certainly I expected a well-researched and well-written book, being by a Pulitzer-winning writer for The New Yorker, and it was those things. I found the early parts of the book especially fascinating, with the roots of reality TV being much earlier than you might expect, back to the radio era and earliest days of TV even. I also appreciated how connections were made between what was going on in society and in TV at the time that various new forms of reality TV were invented (and yikes, the in-depth part about Mark Burnett and how he led to the rise of Donald Trump), but the in-depth look at shows like Big Brother and Survivor, including full season 1 recaps, was just way too detailed for me, as I have never had any interest in these particular shows. I would have been fine with just an overview and then discussion of how these groundbreaking shows led to new eras of reality TV. As it was, this book was interesting but more suited for someone who is more into particular reality shows, or more into cultural criticism... for me, my mind would wander during swaths of the audiobook. ★★★

For June I've already read some 2nd books in series that I started a while ago, inspired by my success with The Ladies Road Guide to Utter ruin, and it has made for some good reading, back into some worlds/characters I like. Stay tuned for reviews!

reading lately: April roundup

2025-05-02T08:00:00.323-04:00

With a Caribbean vacation kicking off my month, I pretty much went ahead with kicking off summer reading, which means a lot of selections that seemed like they could constitute "fun" reading. Admittedly, the success of a book in this category can be pretty hit or miss, as sometimes they can end up feeling underdeveloped or unoriginal to me. In this category of "brain candy" (as Sarah's Bookshelves Live calls it), I'm looking for a Reeses' peanut butter cup, delicious but also substantial, rather than cotton candy, mostly fluff. So this month I've got a few treats, and maybe more than a few toothaches...

Literary/contemporary fiction

Fun for the Whole Family: I loved The Unsinkable Life of Greta James for the light-but-still-substantial tone, the father/daughter relationship journey that is mirrored in an actual journey on a cruise ship, as well as the aspect of having a famous character doing stuff with her non-famous relatives (a little niche thing that I find really enjoyable in a story). So of course I was excited to pick up the author's new one, which looked like it would have all of that, but with a sibling relationship dynamic rather than the adult child/parent. The family vacation - but with grown-up siblings hashing out what their grown-up relationships are going to be when they haven't spoken in 3 years after big blow-up at their father's funeral- and the general road trip vibes are fun, and I thought the alternating past/present storylines helped flesh out the characters and their motivations well, and gave it some narrative drive. The book was super easy to get into, and I liked each of the characters despite their flaws - they were written with real warmth even as they were figuring out their personal issues + their sibling ones. I'd call it a family dramedy, kind of like the sprawling sibling/family messiness of a show like Parenthood, rather than a heavier or more moody/gritty sibling story like Blue Sisters. This story about the bonds of family and the power of forgiveness can be categorized as heartwarming for sure, though maybe leans almost cheesy in the conclusion, which tipped it a tad overly light for me, but still a fun read if you enjoy lighter-toned adult sibling dramedy. ★★★.5

Jane and Dan at the End of the World: Jane and Dan are out at an exclusive cliffside restaurant to celebrate their 19th wedding anniversary, but things take a real left turn when (1) she tells him she wants a divorce and (2) immediately after, they find themselves in a hostage situation, with the restaurant taken over by some apparent eco-terrorists. While it's terrifying, it also strikes Jane as suspiciously similar to the plot of the one novel she has managed to publish, so just maybe she can figure out how to save the day - that is, if she can manage to stop whisper arguing with Dan, and figure out how to navigate Spanx in the bathroom while her wrists are zip-tied. That should give you the indication that this is a quirky and snarky approach to a movie-ish kind of book plot, not an action thriller one. If you liked Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, I definitely recommend this – very similar in tone with the dark humor and the comical life-and-death situations, as well as the writer protagonist having truth mirror fiction (or fiction mirror truth?) which is a fun meta aspect. I liked how it had reflections (snarky but also sincere) about both motherhood and marriage, and the book was kept short enough that it remained fun and didn’t get tiresome in the zaniness of the plot, even if over-the-top. Has the feel of a fun dark comedy Netflix series, a good recovery book or change of pace if you just need something easy and fun. ★★★.75

I Hope This Finds You Well: Jolene is an admin employee who deals with the soul-sucking aspects of her corporate office job by putting petty comments at the end of emails and changing the text color to white to make them invisible - until one time she forgets and subsequently ends up in sensitivity training led by the suspiciously nice new HR guy Cliff, as well as mandatory email monitoring. When the setup for this goes awry and she is suddenly able to see all emails and IMs sent within the office, she has to deal with the emotional devastation of reading exactly what her colleagues think of her, but she also is armed with plenty of insider info to try to beat out her nemesis and save her own job in the upcoming corporate restructuring. Antics and sticky situations ensue in an office comedy... But then what Jolene doesn't expect is that she'll start developing empathy for her colleagues as she sees how each is dealing with struggles and baggage in their own ways, and even some tentative friendships - but then what happens if/when she needs to come clean about the email setup? A story and character in the vein of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine but perhaps a bit more snarky/dry in tone - a protagonist who is kind of weird, quite spiky, and an outsider (partly deliberate on her part, partly her social ineptitudes alienating people) in her office, but gradually the reader as well as her colleagues start to see the vulnerable person underneath that has been covered over by buried trauma, and as we see the true depth of her loneliness. It's billed as "heartwarming" but it takes a long time to get to that feeling - in the beginning Jolene is decidedly unlikeable (even if she has a reason that is eventually revealed) and comes off as a Debbie Downer if not just a super negative attitude, and for a reader of my personality it was hard to look past the obvious path toward self sabotage and toward her knowingly wrong/underhanded actions leading toward train wreck. I really loved the banter and relationship with Cliff (the main thing that started making Jolene likeable for me) and my heart was indeed warmed in the end, which covered over a bit of the angst and attitude and antics that got old to me in the middle. If you're a fan of comedic takedowns of office culture and co-worker pettiness, this would be a fun one for you. ★★★.5

We All Live Here: Lila is a newly single mom with a lot on her plate - kids who are struggling to adjust a bit to their new setup, her husband's mistress being a mom at the same school who she has to see at pickup every day, an old house with toilets that constantly clog, a grieving stepfather - not to mention an errant biological father showing up unexpectedly - and writer's block preventing her from writing the next book that she needs in order to stay afloat. When her agent wants something "spicy" for a post-divorce memoir type book, some antics ensue. As do antics with the two dads, the school play, etc. I am a fan of Jojo Moyes, but if I'm honest this one was a let-down for me. It felt very "women's fiction" in not a good way, and it also was much too long for what the story was. The "too much on her plate" aspect drove me kind of nuts, because it felt like instead of getting an interesting story, I was getting repetitive moaning about Lila just spinning her wheels and not doing much of anything (the part about agreeing to do school play costumes and ignoring all the reminders drove me especially nuts - sounds nitpicky, that's just my personality though). But if you are in the mood for something feel-good and light, if you like slightly comedic tales of unconventional and unruly families like The Sweet Spot, perhaps, or if you are interested in a story of a slightly older protagonist reinventing herself, then pick this one up. ★★★

The Daydreams: Thirteen years after an infamous on-air flameout in live season 2 finale of a popular teen show from the early 2000s, a reunion special is in the works. Kat, the "mean girl" of the cast, now goes by Katherine, a lawyer trying to make partner who has fully distanced herself from her stint as a teen tv star. But her guilt over her part in the leadup to that scandal, and subsequently to her "golden girl" co-star Summer's spiral into years of addiction and rehab, prompts Kat to agree to do the special. It's a gossipy, behind the scenes kind of story that alternates between the current reunion and the original seasons of the show. It can feel a bit adolescent and melodramatic in the past sections, given the age of the characters, I did not love the subterfuge/sabotage part of the plot in the "present" section orchestrated by Summer with help from Kat - seemed underdeveloped and pointless, especially when it was revealed to basically no consequences/reaction. It's brain candy kind of beach reading, especially if you like Hollywood behind-the-scenes, or have a lot of nostalgia for 2000s tv, but fell a tad flat for me in terms of character development and plot execution. ★★★

What Happened to the McCrays? I really enjoyed Tracey Lange's The Connellys of County Down for how it was a family drama with just the right mix of character and plot driving it, and having an underlying sense of love and care and best intentions for each other. So I was happy to dive into her newest, seeming like I would get more of the same... and was kind of disappointed. There was family drama and grief and redemption and characters who cared about each other, but the writing was just not as good - honestly the characters and dialogue felt a bit fluffy and predictable (even if dealing with very sad/difficult things), and there was almost no plot to speak of. The Connellys book had a little sense of mystery driving it, but this one just had things that it felt like the author was purposefully keeping from the reader to reveal later - and that does not a plot make. Felt drawn out to me, with nothing particularly stand-out or unique to make it stick with me. ★★.75

Romance/rom-com

It's a Love Story: Annabel Monaghan does it again with a great beach read that I was very pleased to have an advance copy of from Netgalley so I could read on my beachy vacation. She somehow strikes the perfect balance for me with a rom-com that is fun and bantery and full of summer vibes, but it's not overly light or overly steamy (perhaps a bit more steamy than her previous books, but didn't make me squirm like some romance scenes can), and the characters feel like real people with real lives. I just really enjoyed my time in this book. Jane Jackson is a Hollywood studio exec trying to mask her child actor past as a dorky sitcom punchline character, and trying to mask her belief that love stories are all a lie based on the tragedy she saw in her parents' marriage. She's got a specific plan for finally getting her first project greenlit and getting even farther from her past identity through a promotion, and also for getting a partner to spend her life with - but then along comes her nemesis Dan, a cinematographer whose artistic beliefs squashed her previous project. Somehow she's got to work with him to get this new one made, in a zany (but not too over the top, for me) quest to track down a pop star that involves spending a week with Dan's boisterous extended family on Long Island, finally taking off the mask a bit in a way that allows her to truly connect with people and face the anxiety of feeling trapped by her past identity and feeling unworthy of love - and of course some swoony sparks with Dan and changing ideas of what a love story can be as they get to know each other in this week of close quarters... but can it translate back into "real" life in LA? For fans of Annabel Monaghan in general, of course, and for fans of books like Curtis Sittenfeld's Romantic Comedy as I also recommend if you like any Hollywood/fame element in your rom-coms, and your protagonists a bit older and beyond the coming-of-adulthood stage. It's got an enemies-to-lovers and a forced proximity/one bed situation but somehow feels so much more believable than it usually would in a rom-com, thanks to the relatable characters and generally great writing. I love her books that also incorporate motherhood (she writes kids so well too) best, but this one was also a solid summer read for sure. ★★★★

Mystery/thriller

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies: The publisher's blurb sums this one up nicely: "A high society amateur detective at the heart of Regency London uses her wits and invisibility as an ‘old maid’ to protect other women in a new and fiercely feminist historical mystery series." This is a bit of a fun romp in some ways, with some cheeky vibes, opulent Regency manors and balls, and also the enjoyment of reading about a couple of ladies turning their "spinster" status into a sneaky and saucy way to get justice for other women - but it gets pretty intense in terms of scary and disturbing ways women of the era were treated, such as being committed against their will to asylums, and the rescues that sisters Gus and Julia undertake get a bit nail-biting and even a bit bloody - a real page turner at times. Made me think a lot of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord, another great option if you like the Regency period but are interested in a suspenseful and also very feminist twist on top of your Bridgerton vibes. The sister relationship is great, and the touch of romance just the right amount. The end of this one wraps up nicely but also sets up an intriguing continuation - I'll definitely be reading the next book when it comes out soon. ★★★★

The Outcast Dead: This series continues to be great when I need a comfort read/recovery read type book. Another interesting case for Ruth - uncovering the bones of Victorian era "Mother Hook" and correcting the myth that demonized her as child murderer when the babies in her care actually likely died of natural causes endemic to the era - which leads to a role in a true crime type show discussing the find... alongside potential new romantic interest Frank Barker, TV historian. Running parallel as always we have DCI Harry Nelson immersed in a case where 3 children have successively died in their own home and the police have to suss out whether it's tragic coincidence or something more sinister with their mother. So quite a lot on the theme of family and relationships, and particularly relationships where the carer is not a biological parent. As far as this series goes, you get what you expect by this point with the slightly choppy and repetitive writing style but also the fun of being with characters and settings you are familiar with. This one felt a bit more believable (insofar as these cozy mysteries can be) and also had a bit more narrative drive than some of the others thanks to the TV filming behind-the-scenes, continued development in the romantic life of Judy (one of my favorite of the police characters), a hint toward some changes for Nelson's life, oh and a couple of kidnappings. ★★★.5

Non-fiction/memoir

The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius: I am not typically a consumer of productivity-focused stuff, but I am a fan of Kendra Adachi's podcast and her work in general, so I requested this one on audio and appreciated the listen of this book that is about time management from a decidedly female perspective - acknowledging how (typically, in a way that definitely tracks for me as a working mom) women's schedules can be more varied/likely to have disruptions because of a range of responsibilities, not to mention hormonal cycles that can affect energy/productivity in a way a man never deals with. Taking down the patriarchy from a new angle - time management expectations. Listening is like getting great advice from a big sister or friend, with some amusing asides and plenty of real-life encouragement and wisdom. I wouldn't call it life-changing for me, since productivity/planning generally don't feel like problem areas for me - but I will say that the encouragement to live into your current season, and the advice for how to not feel resentment when you have to adjust your plans on the fly (something I do struggle with at times!) were quite welcome. It's quite practical, and it's about living a good life, not striving for greatness by perfectly managing your productivity and time. ★★★★

Definitely some success with the fun reading, and I hope for more in May - just got my copy of Annie Hartnett's new book and cannot wait, after how much I adored Unlikely Animals - but I think I will add some "real food" to the menu with some more literary/gritty selections (first up, Broken Country, about which I have heard so many good things) as it can make the brain candy taste sweeter after a break.

reading lately: March roundup

2025-04-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

I read a lot of books in March. The highs were high, the lows were low, and I got really behind on writing reviews... But (if anyone is actually out there still reading this) I couldn't let my 4+ reads and also multiple 5 star books (!) go without a mention, so here are all of the recaps:

Literary/contemporary fiction

Wild Dark Shore: Dominic and his three children are the caretakers of a remote island between Australia and Antarctica, the home to the world's largest seed bank, and they are the last remaining people there after the research lab has been vacated, due to concerns of rising sea levels and worsening storms. They are meant to be packing up the seeds, saving as much as they can, before relocating as well but then in an epic storm washes ashore a woman, just barely alive. Dominic suspects she's not telling them everything about why she was on a boat anywhere near their remote location, just as she suspects that the family is hiding something too. As Dominic and his kids nurse Rowan back to health, they all slowly begin to also heal some of their familial relationship and personal wounds, until the layers start to get peeled back, revealing everyone's secrets. Such a propulsive and compelling genre mash-up of cli-fi, family drama, and slow burn mystery; it reminded me a bit of Peter Heller books in terms of the atmospheric feels and evocative nature writing, and this general sense of slow-burn dread or eeriness related to both the landscape (because of climate change/something slightly post-apocalyptic feeling in the world of the novel) and the characters - but this book had more tenderness with the characters' relationships to one another (especially in the parental sense). The combination of character-driven and (slow-burn) plot-driven writing made it unputdownable but also insightful and emotionally resonant. Will definitely be checking out this author's previous books after this reading experience. (Side note: in the way that bookish synergies sometimes goes, it also made me think a lot of my enjoyable and satisfying experience of reading The Wolf Tree earlier this year, with the remote island and suspicious population and evocative wild nature feels - though it is more of a straight procedural, less family/cli-fi drama.) ★★★★★

Sandwich: Rocky and her family have been visiting the same little rental on Cape Cod every summer for two decades; she looks forward to this week in Sandwich, MA, maybe more than ever now that she and Nick are empty nesters and get to have this precious time with their newly adult kids. It's a beach week filled with their old favorite beach town activities and coolers packed with lunches (sandwiches!), but it's also got some new feelings as Rocky navigates being this middle (sandwich!) generation, emotionally caring for her kids as well as helping her aging parents - not to mention all the feels of menopause. It's about the family's future as well as reflecting on some weighty memories from their past, which open up some secrets and new understanding of motherhood and marriage. Catherine Newman is a master of writing books where it's just kind of a normal family, and nothing all that much happens in terms of plot, yet somehow I find it just so compelling and unputdownable and emotionally resonant and relatable and real and also funny to boot. Definitely in part it's the voice and the combination of wry tone but infusion of joy, and I also think part of it has to do with how short the books are - they encapsulate what they need to without any extraneous or unnecessary distractions (but also quite a skill to encapsulate such depth of relationships and family history and range of emotion in so few pages). I loved the writing, I loved the interactions of the family members (great dialogue too), and I loved those two in combination - it's a family drama, but rooted in the family's care for each other, and the author treats them with such tenderness and care too. ★★★★★

The Hop: "The story of how a poor girl coming of age in rural New Zealand grows to be a sex icon, the face of a movement, and a mother, all at the same time", this book is a fictional oral history of how Kate Burns moves to Nevada to one of the few legal brothels in the US and finds the identity she can perform there as The Hop's most popular "Bunny" - Lady Lane. I saw a Goodreads reviewer comment "Picture Daisy Jones, but with sex workers", which is super intriguing, of course, and I might throw in a little Evelyn Hugo comparison to it too. You've got the oral history/tell-all format, some Hollywood intrigue and twists/turns, and a woman staking her claim in a space despite the media/public's potential backlash. I liked the format and the side characters, and I can see it working for readers who like this format, or are looking for something that stands out. I was hooked in the beginning when learning about Lady's childhood, but I will have to say it didn't entirely pan out for me in the end with some plot/character holes. One issue is that I feel like I was sold a "sisterhood + empowerment" kind of tale and a subversive work, but it didn't seem like Lady herself was really going for that, more like she was on a path of self-destruction in deciding to become a "bunny" at The Hop. The friendships and camaraderie she developed there were believable and powerful, but the way her character was developed, the motivations never quite made sense. Nor did the magnetism of "Daddy" (also I absolutely HATED that he was called that). Also, there was this side thing about a serial killer of sex workers and the fear of the bunnies working at The Hop that this would be their fate if they were one of the "nameless"/"faceless" sex workers out there, which is a legit fear and real issue that we could delve into, but instead it seem to go nowhere - felt a bit tacked on and like a missed opportunity. On top of that, it was a bit of a me thing to, as while I appreciate that stories of sex workers are being told with a feminist view here, I honestly just find it squeam-inducing to read about people visiting a brother, legal or not. ★★★

Romance/rom-com

Yours, Eventually: I love a good Jane Austen retelling - and this is indeed a good one, and of my favorite Austen novel (Persuasion) to boot. The type of insular community that places high value on propriety, marrying well, and conforming to family expectations/cultural norms translates quite well from Regency era England to the Pakistani American community in present-day California; aside from being just plain enjoyable to read, this adaptation was also so interesting in how it made me think about how some of the themes of family/societal expectations, following your heart, second chances at love, etc. and the ways that people relate to each other can be universal across time and cultures. You don't have to be a Jane Austen fan to pick this one up by any means - it still feels fresh and is a great option for someone who wants a modern-day romance with a timeless (and not steamy) feel or wants to culturally diversify their romance reading. But as a Persuasion fan I found it very fun to pick out each scene from the original in its new context, without feeling like the author artificially shoe-horned anything into place. It all fit seamlessly, and actually managed to give a little more feeling of depth/real humanity toward some of the side characters and make me feel a little more empathy toward some of them. ★★★★.5

A Novel Love Story: Okay, I didn't even finish this one - but I got about 75% of the way through so I feel like I pretty well covered it. I think that the little subgenre of romance books with a supernatural or time travel element is kind of fun, definitely can be nice to have a twist on a standard rom-com that makes something stand out from the pack - ones that I have enjoyed include Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop and also Ashley Poston's The Dead Romantics. So I was pleased to revisit this author especially as I loved the idea of this one's twist, where a woman takes a wrong turn and finds herself in an off-the-map little town that feels oddly familiar... turns out it is the idyllic town of her favorite romance series. Wouldn't we all want to land in our version of bookish heaven? But the execution was unfortunately just not there for me - while the protagonist loves the characters of this world, they are of course not familiar to me, since this romance series is made up for the purposes of this book - and thus the characters felt super underdeveloped since it's like their identities were assumed. Also the romance between the protagonist and the bookshop owner was so lacking in believable chemistry or connection - felt super forced. Finally, while I'm not one to fuss too much about the mechanics of things (I'm reading fiction, after all - I'm pretty darn willing to suspend my disbelief here), it just made no sense how this fantastical element was meant to work. Kind of bummed after really liking her earlier books - but I am reporting that if you have a long list of books you want to get to, you can skip this one... ★★.5

Just for the Summer: I thought this one had a fun hook - two people who seem to have this "curse" where when they break up with someone they're dating, that person goes on to meet "the one" in their next relationship. So why not try dating each other to break the spell? I also liked that it's pretty slow burn, since they're doing this sort of get-to-know-each-other "contract" dating (especially after one of the other books in this Part of Your World series opens with a one-night-stand and I did not like that too hot-and-heavy approach at all). In the end though I found this one to be a bit long, a bit lacking in believable spark with their instantaneous fall in love, and a bit over-the-top on the issues/trauma for the characters which then left the characters themselves feeling underdeveloped. I appreciate when characters deal with real-world problems, and I can see what the author was going for, but instead of feeling like their backgrounds gave the story depth/made it more than "just" a romance, it ended up feeling a tad melodramatic for me? Or a bit of a trauma dump that doesn't feel like it fits with the fun cover/title for the book... ★★.75

Comedic Timing: This is one of those rom-coms that is very NYC - so that makes it feel a bit classic, but it also is a fresh update in terms of (1) being more of a novella, (2) adding in an element of the personal/relationship complexity of identifying as bisexual. I appreciated how the shorter length gets it right to the point and skips an over-drawn miscommunication trope, etc. but also at times there didn't feel like quite enough time for me to really believe the relationship build or chemistry. Main drawback for me is that I might be getting too old and boring to really enjoy romances with protagonists in their early 20s. So much drinking and hooking up and needing to mature... ★★.75

Mystery/thriller

Dead Money: Not many thriller-y type books have worked great for me in the last couple of years, and I think that's because there ends up feeling a sameness to them. This one set in Silicon Valley - with Mackenzie, a "fixer" who does various investigations and wheeling-dealing to protect a major venture capital firm's interests, getting pulled into a murder investigation of a major tech start-up CEO - breaks out of the mold a bit with the finance/tech-world scenarios and with the kind of scrappy, wily protagonist who is an outsider (she's a lawyer, not a detective) to give a different angle to a procedural. I don't want to spoil anything from there, because the plot and Mackenzie's background unfold in layers that kept me interested and surprised; I will say that the twists felt unexpected but still generally (fictionally) plausible, and it feels like it could be a great tv series with the characters, settings, and gradual reveals. It also has a bit of a feminist/women take charge slant - another surprise, especially with the male author, but an angle done well and makes me think this would be for fans of books like Julie Clark's The Last Flight or The Lies I Tell. It moved a bit slowly at times and some of the tech and venture capital stuff required maybe a bit more interest in that world than I have, but overall impressed that this is a debut for how it was plotted and characters pretty well developed for a thriller. ★★★.75

A Dying Fall: Coming back to this Ruth Galloway series again when I just needed something easy to get into and comforting - despite the fact that they all involve murder of course, I find it soothing to come back into this windswept coastal English world with the familiar characters and dynamics. This one actually had a bit of a summer holiday, so we got a new setting in the north of England, but there was just as much archeology intrigue of course. Continuing the interesting work + personal dynamics between Ruth and DI Nelson has me interested to continue the series just for the will-they-won't-they, and I also liked the further development of the motherhood + work/life dynamics for Ruth's life. As with the previous book, some of the side characters introduced for this particular mystery were kind of one-dimensional, but then again that's not what I'm coming to the series for... I did like that there were a couple of new police force characters added who seem like they could become (welcome) regulars in future books. ★★★

YA/middle grade

Kareem Between: Seventh grader Kareem is "between" in many ways - he's in that middle school coming of age period, he's the middle kid in his family and sometimes feels overlooked there, and he's in the middle of two cultures as an American-born kid with Syrian-born parents, doing well in his English lit classes at school but struggling through his weekend Arabic lessons. When a Syrian refugee family arrives, that adds another one: between his parents' wishes that he befriend and help acclimate the new boy, and his own desire to blend in so the the (not so kind) son of the football coach will help him get another chance at making the team, Kareem's biggest wish. But then things are upended even further when his mom returns to Syria to help her ailing parents and is unable to return home to Indiana with the enactment of Donald Trump's "Muslim ban", and Kareem has to find a new way to handle living between "right" and "wrong" in this world. Reading it felt like a cross between Other Words for Home (a novel in verse by Jasmine Warga about a Syrian refugee coming to live with her cousin's family in the US, and acclimating to middle school here) and the sports-focused coming-of-age novels in verse by Kwame Alexander (The Crossover, etc.). I found the football metaphors to be a bit overplayed at times, but when you remember that it's written for a middle grade audience, you have to acknowledge that being this overt about things is appropriate for the genre. Such an excellent format for exploring the xenophobia that is sadly alive and well in our society and still being promoted - useful as a way to introduce this difficult idea to kids. That we have to explain to our kids why things are this way is terrible, but I'm grateful for books like this that help us all build empathy, encourage us to act, and give us hope that people who care can make a difference together. ★★★★★

Memoir/non-fiction

The Third Gilmore Girl: I added this audiobook to my library hold requests on a bit of a whim, after really enjoying some women-of-a-certain-age listens last year (such as: Ina Garten's book, the whole back catalog of Julia Louis Dreyfus' podcast Wiser Than Me). I have some familiarity with the tv show Gilmore Girls, but I haven't seen all that many episodes; I'm sure super fans of the show will be drawn to the book for Kelly Bishop's role in it, and I did enjoy the sections related to her work on Gilmore Girls with the behind-the-scenes of how it came to being, her relationships with the creator and castmates, etc. - but her memoir is so much more than that. And such a delightful listen! The tone is candid and warm and overall such a good reminder that there's so much more to the lives of women we might admire/know for one particular thing. And how good it is to hear their whole stories. I loved the behind-the-scenes of her whole life, from how she got into dancing and what it's like to be on Broadway or in a touring company to relationships with friends and love interests, to her perseverance in going after what she wanted for her career and in forging a path as a woman that might not have been immediately obvious in the era she grew up in. Definitely recommend for fans of Gilmore Girls, fans of Broadway, and those who enjoyed Ina Garten's memoir last year too. I saw a lot of parallels in how they overcame having a terrible father, how they came into their own with a personality/views that weren't "suited" to women of their time, how they went after and created their careers both for the love of what they do and for the love of a personal challenge, how their long term (and intentionally child-free!) marriage was such a part of their journey. ★★★★.25

The Small and the Mighty: The subtitle says it all - "Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement". These are stories of people who you might not have heard of, or who might usually show up only as peripheral characters in bigger stories about things like the signing of the US constitution or the Montgomery bus boycott or Pearl Harbor, but whose persistence and work on behalf of others had lasting impact. Sharon McMahon is known as "America's favorite government teacher", and truly she makes history come alive with such surprising and colorful details woven together to make an engaging story, and to make connections throughout history and society/culture. This book is one of those balms we need right now, where we can see how actions that individuals take to care for and advocate for others can make a world of difference (the other thing I do when I need to be reminded of this is watch Queer Eye!). Great on audio too - I loved Sharon's voice and tone, definitely Midwest teacher vibes in the best of ways. The end of the book goes just a little into the terribleness of our current political times, and I kind of wanted more of it because it all feels so awful out there - but then on the other hand, that's not the point here. Shining a light on people who made a lasting impact is the encouragement and exhortation we need, as is being willing to recognize and learn from the shameful parts of our country's past. ★★★★.25

reading lately: February roundup

2025-02-28T08:00:00.144-05:00

For a short month, I managed to pack in a lot of February reads - helped that I chose a couple of quite propulsive ones, a couple that have been getting a lot of buzz and a couple that I think deserve some more of it. Happy to report my first 5-star read of the year already too!

Literary/contemporary fiction

Penitence: When a shocking murder takes place in their home in a small Colorado ski town - their 13-year-old daughter shooting her 14-year-old brother in his bed - Angie and David's lives are shattered. As they figure out how to come to terms with burying one child and losing the other to juvenile detention, not to mention their anger over what Nora has done - their lives and marriage are even further complicated as Angie's high school boyfriend Julian comes in as a pro-bono lawyer for Nora, bringing up long held secrets and buried guilt from a tragic accident in their teens. The book has a murder + subsequent plea negotiations/trial preparation as its framework, but this is not a legal thriller or page-turner by any means (though it is still a compulsive + propulsive reading experience); it is a character-driven story that uses this situation to really look at the themes of forgiveness, unconditional love of parents, family loyalty, what long-held secrets and trauma do to us, and even the justice system in general. It feels true to life in the messiness and grief, in the complicated emotions and relationships, in how sometimes there are just no good answers. It's a tough read at times with the grief - can you even imagine losing both of your kids at once in this way - but the insightful writing and the compassionate treatment of the characters brings real-life redemption if not a fictional happy ending. It also alternates between a present-day storyline and the past with Angie and Julian's relationship, so it gives you a breather from the present-day tragedy as a reader when you need it. I'd highly recommend for fans of William Landay (the character-driven legal drama + parents dealing with the aftermath of their child being accused of murder of Defending Jacob), Angie Kim (again, character-driven legal drama, as well as the difficulties of being a parent and a sibling of a child with a serious illness/disability), Celeste Ng (hot-button issue looked at in a literary way, character-driven but propulsive), and even non-fiction books like Just Mercy or A Knock at Midnight (for the reflections on the brokenness of the justice system, slightly race-related, mostly related to how it treats kids, as well as more general reflections on what it means to "pay" for a crime and on forgiveness). ★★★★★

The Three Lives of Cate Kay: Cate Kay is the pseudonymous best-selling author of a fantasy trilogy that was also a box-office smash success in movie form - and she's finally telling her story and revealing her true identity in this (fictional) memoir that details her early life as Annie, aspiring actress alongside her best friend Amanda, to her new identity as Cass after a terrible tragedy sends her running from home as a teen, to creating her Cate Kay persona. Interspersed into her tell-all are notes from people involved in her story along the way, including the lawyer who helped keep her author identity a secret, journalists, the actress who has the starring role in the movie adaptations, childhood friends, and more. All of this comes together to create a juicy memoir that you almost forget is fiction. Definitely recommend for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid - it's the kind of "brain candy" reading that is fun and engaging but not overly fluffy, still well-written and well developed in terms of characters. The memoir construct with side characters' entries included made me think of a combination of The Seven Lives of Evelyn Hugo (the memoir, Hollywood angle, type of romantic relationships involved) and Daisy Jones and the Six (oral history format with different voices reflecting back on how various events went down) - and then maybe a bit of something like The Lies I Tell or The Last Flight by Julie Clark for the hidden/new identity angle. I loved the meta-fiction approach (also the rare occasion when a book-within-a-book construct was enjoyable and not gimmicky for me) and also thought this book was just the right length - gave me everything I wanted for a fun and juicy reading experience without dragging on. ★★★★.25

The Favorites: Told in the framework of a documentary looking at the 1o-year anniversary of the final skate of the (in)famous ice dancing team of Kat Shaw and Heath Rocha, this (fictional) tell-all is a look back at Kat's career from orphaned, scrappy determined young skater paired with best friend-turned-boyfriend foster kid Heath, to Olympic hopeful, to notorious public figure because of the couple's chemistry, rebellious style, and roller-coaster relationship, both on and off the ice. Readers get a front row seat to the sports drama of watching scores add up in competition toward hoped-for podium standings, the competitor drama of backstabbing and sabotage, the relationship drama of passion and betrayals. After finishing I noticed that the publisher blurb mentions that the story is "inspired by the powerful love and hate that fuel Emily Bronte’s classic, Wuthering Heights"; the romance part of it does seem sweeping in that sense (and a bit over-dramatic), but overall the story was more about the ice skating drama, ambition, drive, and passion. Whether or not it was realistic, it was fun to read! Though not quite as well written, to me it read kind of like a combination of the Taylor Jenkins Reid books Carrie Soto Is Back (elite female athlete who seems "unlikeable" for the type of ambition that would just make a man a good competitor looking back at her career/life decisions) and Daisy Jones and the Six (for the oral history format, with competitors, journalists, etc. weighing in for a documentary series) - but set in the world of ice dancing. Highly recommend if you enjoy reading Taylor Jenkins Reid, getting wrapped up in the Olympics, and/or watching reality tv behind-the scenes of sports. The book is a bit longer than it needs to be, and there's a LOT of melodrama, but you can't knock it for the latter, because that's kind of the point of it all! Juicy and satisfying read to escape icy winter weather. ★★★★

Mystery/thriller

The Wolf Tree: A lovely online friend (hi, Kelsey!) reached out to let me know about this new literary mystery with Tana French vibes as she assumed I would also like it - and I could not be more pleased to be known as the slow burn/atmospheric/Tana French mystery girlie, and also very pleased that I was able to get an advance copy via Netgalley as it was indeed a great read. Detective Georgina "George" Lennox is finally back to work with her partner Richie after recovering from an accident - a bit desperate for action and ready to do anything to prove that she is capable of taking on cases again. Their first assignment doesn't quite feel like a "real" one though, being sent to a remote and windswept Scottish island, population 200ish, to investigate the apparent suicide of an 18-year-old boy. It's most likely to be cut-and-dried, but there are some strange findings in the autopsy, and some even stranger things popping up during George and Richie's stay on the island, where the locals are highly suspicious and even hostile toward mainlanders. The dark secrets of the island's history and present swirl around, and kept me turning the pages even with a very slow burn plot. It has all of the elements I love from this kind of mystery along the ones by Tana French and Jane Harper - evocative setting that plays into the tension, broody detective fighting her own past as she tries to work in the present, UK/Ireland setting (Australia works too though, thanks Jane Harper), slow burn with secrets slowly being revealed and pace ratcheting up - and adds an element that I don't see as much but also enjoy for what it brings to the vibes: the female detective with older male partner who is a good mentor, rather than an antagonist (brought to mind the Cat Kinsella series by Caz Frear). As a Jane Harper read-alike it reminds me most of her newest ones (The Searcher and The Hunter) for the very small community vibes, the attitudes towards the protagonist as an outsider to that community, and the type of mystery where part of the tension comes from wondering, along with the protagonist, whether there actually IS a mystery, or whether the suspicious goings-on are all in their head... A solid read from this debut author, and I hope for more to come! ★★★★.25

Death at the Sign of the Rook: Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series was my introduction to the literary/character-driven detective genre; it's still my #1, so of course I was pleased to see that she came out with book #6. This one is very character driven - the first third reads as little character studies with lots of wry asides, not just about private investigator Jackson as he has new perspective (and a bit of crochety-ness) on life and relationships now that he's reached his 60s, but also about a bunch of side characters who will eventually come together in a manor mystery situation - the local vicar, a retired soldier with PTSD, the lady of a literally and figuratively crumbling estate, oh and of course detective Reggie Chase, a character I love from this series. So the writing is great and has lots of little insights into humanity, many amusing, but the plot is super slow (maybe a bit convoluted even) until eventually all of the characters converge in a manor house turned hotel that is hosting a murder mystery theater weekend - that turns into a real-life drama instead. It's clever in plotting and tone and is also very meta about the genre of mysteries in general, and this type of manor mystery a la Agatha Christie in specific; it read more "fun" than the previous ones in the series, I think, more like a comedy of manners than a detective story - but once I accepted it for that, I was thoroughly entertained. Plus there's a bit of an art history mystery/art thief portion, a sub-genre I'm always a sucker for. More than any others in the series, I think you could read this one without having read the earlier because it references everything you need to know from Jackson's past, plus it's just a bit different in feel from all of the others (as much as I can remember anyway, it's been a while since the early ones), but why would you want to - go read Case Histories if you haven't yet! ★★★★

Romance/rom-com

The Love Haters: Katie is a bit of a romantic who has been burned by love in the past, in a very public way when her ex-fiance got famous as a songwriter and social media snark pushed her into being so hard on herself as to develop an eating disorder and really low self-esteem. She's worked her way back to self love and care, and she's got a new job as a video producer too, but company layoffs are looming, and her job depends on taking a gig doing a Coast Guard promotional video in Key West headlined by internet-famous, super hunky, "love hater" Hutch - who also happens to be the semi-estranged brother of her (kinda smarmy?) manager. Thus some convoluted semi-truths and lies are put in place to make this all happen, cue the (expected) problems when sparks fly between her and Hutch... This one leans toward the themes of self love/acceptance and being brave enough to face fears, as well as how community and love from others can contribute toward that journey, enough that sometimes the rom-com took a backseat to it. I liked those portions, and I liked the protagonist and cast of side characters (especially the vibrant old ladies Katie stays with and befriends in Key West), and I rooted for the romance to work out. But then the rather unrealistic feeling scenarios (getting embedded with a Coast Guard crew as a videographer, having to do an underwater flight crash simulator as part of it, and lying about not knowing how to swim to get the gig?) and over-the-top "com" portions (getting knocked into a pool by a giant dog, convoluted reasons for needing to do crazy things to keep this job, etc.) felt a bit much at times, maybe in contrast to the more serious themes. I enjoyed it as a quick escapist read from the depths of winter, but it is not quite as memorable for me personally as other Katherine Center reads. If you're a fan of her books, of not-too-spicy rom-coms, or of romances that center discussions of body positivity/acceptance (a la One to Watch perhaps), check this one out. I received an advance e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ★★★

A Queen's Game: If you've read Katharine McGee's other series - especially American Royals, obviously, but also the Thousandth Floor series - you need no other description of this other than it's those series except set in Victorian England with a cast of princesses and royals from across Europe. You've got your alternating chapters of various viewpoints, your "perfect" girl who is struggling with society/family expectations, your "poor" friend who doesn't quite fit the social stratus, your ruthless social climber, your forbidden love and blackmail situations. This means that like the other series it's fun and juicy YA reading, but that also means that it doesn't feel like anything new. I did like that it's based on real historical figures, which got me Googling people, but I kind of wished it would be a solo book rather than the obvious start to a series. Not a very satisfying ending for a book of course, and while I thought it was fun I'm just not clamoring to read further in this series when I know these plot and character formulas so well from the other series - this one felt like it was coasting on the success of the others a little bit. I think I liked American Royals better for the characters and also for the creativity of the alternate US in which George Washington's descendants became kings/queens. ★★★

Non-fiction/memoir

From the Corner of the Oval: In 2012, Beck Dorey-Stein was a recent college graduate barely able to make rent in DC when she came across a White House job listing on Craigslist, of all places. This launched her into "the room where it happens" (not to mention Air Force One!) as a stenographer, one of a team who records/transcribes all of the president's speeches, interviews, remarks, etc. As she shares her learning process about the ins-and-outs of this role, of White House policies and politics, of campaign trail and press pool non-stop travel and relationships/alliances, she also details her life as a 20-something who is figuring out future hopes and dreams, and relationships. She builds some tight friendships but also as a nascent adult makes some dumb choices related to those as she becomes romantically entangled with a higher-up White House aide. It's just as much a coming-of-adulthood story as it is a memoir of working in the White House, and I'd have to say that the aspects of the latter worked much better for me than the former... Listening to Obama stories right now is both a balm (oh, the way things were !) and a depressing situation (oh, how low we've come... again), kind of what I would feel revisiting The West Wing. Overall I thought it was well written and enjoyed the both the behind-the-scenes of big historical moments and the perspective of more of a "regular" person (not a huge power player or long term politico) who kind of happened into this world. And it worked well on audio, a pretty quick listen. But, largely due to my age and my personality, perhaps, I found the angst of the 20-something life, with the ill-advised late nights in bars and the dating drama (and some seriously toxic relationships, at that) took too much focus, so: ★★★.25

Any top reads of February to pass along from your list? I've got library holds rolling in like crazy lately so here's hoping there might be another 5-star read to come in March, if I can read fast enough and if I chose well enough...

reading lately: January roundup

2025-02-03T08:00:00.188-05:00

Trying to be good about actually reading the books on my shelf in this new year - ha! - I made sure my January reading included the Christmas gift additions to the household. Of the two books I reccived, I'd recommend one and I'd maybe want to regift the other to a better audience... and the one that Hendrik received is going to become a beloved family favorite, I think. Check out the recaps!

Literary/contemporary fiction

Slow Dance: Back in high school, Shiloh and Cary were part of an inseparable trio of friends. They never dated, but everyone always thought they'd end up together. Flash forward to now (which is actually 2006 in this story), and Shiloh is dreading-slash-hoping to run into Cary at their friend's wedding after 14 years of not really speaking, 1 messy divorce, and 2 kids later. The chapters alternate with the before, as we see how their relationship was love even before they had the emotional maturity to recognize or voice it, and in their present-day chapters we see how they try to pick back up that lost love even with all of the baggage of their past and their current family/kid/work drama. To be honest, I expected more of a rom-com with banter and such, based on previous books by Rainbow Rowell, and based on the cover - but that's not what this is. It is a second-chance love story, but it feels more real-life story than rom-com trope in how the characters interact (not much banter, much more [realistic] inability to communicate thoughts and emotions rather than dumb mis/lack of communications) and in what their lives look like (divorce and its complications, non-glamorous homes in slightly rough neighborhoods, taking care of sick parents, joining the navy to be able to pay for college, etc.). I appreciated that real feeling of it, but it's not going to land right if you go in hoping for fun and cute. Pick this up if you're looking for realistically imperfect lives and how they can come together despite it all. ★★★.75

The No Show: Appropriate reading for this time of year, this book opens with 3 different women being stood up on Valentine's Day. We then follow their lives over the next year as they decide whether to let the offending guy - who by all accounts is amazingly charming and wonderful aside from this - back into their good graces, and as they grow and open up in general in their personal lives. The cover of this one is not good, in my opinion - it makes it seem like a very light rom-com, but it's definitely not your standard one. For most of it I actually was rooting against the relationship the protagonists were pursuing because it seemed like there was no way it was going to end happily for any of them. And while I liked the 3 protagonists it seemed like there were too many of them to go deep enough - all this hinting at their backstories and past traumas/dramas that made them end up feeling underdeveloped as characters. By the end though their stories came together in a way that I would not have predicted and did not fit any standard romance trope. Some heavy issues come up, so it's not all "fun" but still creative and interesting in how it was crafted, almost a little mystery element to uncovering the backstories. And then a bit of romance on top of it all. If you like more of a "standard" romance arc but still with characters/scenarios that stand out, I really liked The Flatshare; if you're over "the usual" when it comes to the genre, try this different approach. ★★★.75

I Will Blossom Anyway: Durga is a 20-something who was more than ready to spread her wings, with her metaphorical nest being an apartment in Calcutta shared with her boisterous and sometimes overbearing family. She takes a job transfer to Ireland, where after some months of loneliness and trying to figure out how to fit in (not to mention how to adult in general), she creates a life for herself that involves her own routines and relationships - including one with charismatic Jacob, who she thinks her family won't accept - always feeling a bit at odds with the expectations of her family (and their attempts at matchmaking) and her nostalgia for home. The cover gives "contemporary romance", but it's definitely in the genre of coming-of-adulthood, with romantic relationships/entanglements as one portion of that. Actually it was more about mourning a lost relationship than engaging in one - in this way it reminded me quite a bit of Someday, Maybe, for this relationship loss aspect and also the aspect of coming into one's own when there are cultural tensions at play, from family expectations and from living/working in places outside of the protagonist's family culture. I also thought it had vibes of millennial coming-of-age/self-discovery books like Queenie or Really Good, Actually - though a bit less edgy or snarky than those. The character development in Durga doesn't stand out to me as much as the characters in those books, and I thought the tone was a bit inconsistent (feeling kind of sad-girl, but then random bursts of bantery rom-com) but if this micro-genre is in your wheelhouse, pick this one up. I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ★★★.25

Reboot: Peter gave me this book for Christmas, claiming that I mentioned it was on my wishlist... but I had actually never heard of it. This explains why I picked it up and powered most of the way through, even though this was not the book for me. It's satire, an exploration of our current divided, very online, facts-aren't-facts, intense fandom era; it's well written, lots of interesting literary and pop culture and culture references, lots of interesting issues to consider, and also for me just kind of exhausting to read, trying to be so smart and satirical and so many asides and SO many references to "rebooting" in literal and metaphorical senses. It's also a mashup in a crazy way with being satire and meta-fiction, but then a madcap road-trip feel, and then some post-apocalyptic/cli-fi elements and even slightly sci-fi elements. If you're a fan of something like Don DeLillo's White Noise (which I read for a class in college - the kind of book that maybe needs more of an academic treatment to appreciate, and isn't going to be pleasure reading...) I'd recommend this to you. I just struggled to care about the character and the ending enough to keep going and finally skimmed the last bit. My favorite thing about it was how I almost thought it could be a comp to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow at first (not entirely in tone, but themes and video game creation) and then it actually referenced that same Macbeth line. Interesting synergies there. ★★.5

Mystery/thriller

The House at Sea's End: Several years ago I read the first 2 books in this series about the 40ish-year-old, single, slightly dowdy and misanthropic forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway in coastal England, and while I enjoyed them, I kind of forgot all about them until my mom got obsessed with the series and started blasting through multiple books a week. Well, I thought I'd better grab her copy of #3 in the series and dive back in, and... it might turn out to be multiple in a week for me too (I immediately downloaded #4 on kindle from the library when I finished #3 since I wasn't going to see my mom in a couple of days to pick up her copy). The atmospheric, coastal setting is great, and I really like the interplay of scholarly Ruth and brusque, everyman Detective Inspector Nelson - both their working relationship on murder cases that Ruth gets called in to help decipher clues from the bones/burial sites, and their complicated personal relationship too. These are cozy mysteries in not being gory or overly suspenseful (and in the unlikeliness of how often bodies turn up in this little town...), but they're the variety that makes me think of a Masterpiece Mystery series - perfectly British with the imperfect/unglamorous characters, slow-moving procedural that also works in personal life scenarios for the main characters too, and bringing in some historical (even back to middle ages) context as well as more contemporary issues - mostly as relates to archaeology but also religion and philosophy. So if you like this type of British detective mini-series (or perhaps the TV series Bones), definitely check this book series out. Quick reads, perfect cozy winter sit on the couch for hours kind of books. ★★★★

A Room Full of Bones: I started reading this one right after book #3 because I just wanted to stay in this coastal England setting with quirky and salty Ruth and her cast of co-characters. There's of course a new mystery involving old bones that brings together forensic archeologist Ruth and DI Harry Nelson, and also a bit more development of their complicated personal relationship (as we get farther into the series, I may be here just for that!). I really like that the series moves forward in time in this way. The side characters who went along with the new investigation in this one felt a bit caricature, so not my favorite of the series so far, but still satisfying for a cozy and dependable read... and still need this to be a miniseries! It would be perfect Masterpiece Mystery fodder. ★★★.5

The Perfect Couple: I guess I would categorize this as mystery/thriller, but mostly "brain candy" - it's like Big Little Lies in that you know at the beginning there's a suspicious death, and there's a bit of police interview footage helping unveil what happened to lead to this death, but it's more about the backstory of the people involved - which comes with a lot of rich people behaving badly fodder, relationship drama, etc. - in this case it is backstories of participants in a big Nantucket wedding weekend, from mother-of-the-groom and fading star mystery writer Greer, to philandering father-of-the-groom Tag, to bride Celeste who is a bit nerdy and doesn't quite fit into this wealthy world (nor does it seem like she actually wants to marry into it), to "salt of the earth" mother-of-the bride Karen who is dying of cancer but also dying to see her daughter happy and settled, to Chief of Police Ed who is trying to determine how the maid of honor wound up drowned the morning of the big wedding but also handle some teenage family drama at home at the same time. Along with that we get the whisperings and gossip of other Nantucket locals and tourists as they all look on to the drama and see that despite appearances, there's no perfect couple. This is the first Elin Hilderbrand I have read (picked it up because I saw it just came out as a Netflix series), so I'm not familiar with the characters, but I gather that this one brings together characters from different series she has written. This made it feel to me, the uninitiated, like there were just too many characters, and I didn't really like any of them. I think I might like it as a Netflix series, but as a brain candy book it was a little slow and not enough to root for. The Nantucket vibes and the rich people drama would make for solid beach reading (or winter escape) though if you're into that. ★★★

YA/middle grade

Impossible Creatures: A new middle grade fantasy series that I think is going to be well beloved... Christopher has always had a special relationship with animals, and when he goes to stay with his grandfather in his remote Scottish home, his world is changed forever as he learns why: he is part of a line of keepers of a portal between our world and the Archipelago, a cluster of hidden and unmapped islands where old earth magic and mythological creatures live and thrive - until now. His world collides with Mal, a girl from the Archipelago who has noticed creatures dying and magic fading, and they join together on a quest (with some absolutely excellent new friend/helper characters) to understand what is going wrong. Along the way they riddle with sphinxes, come up against sea kraken and dragons, marvel at the absolute beauty and uniqueness of the fantastical creatures and their habitats, and learn that in the face of people who don't care or deny or ignore that the ecosystem of the Archipelago is dying, they're going to have to take matters into their own hands. The storytelling and the world felt so vibrant and creative, yet at the same time poignant and moving with the themes of friendship, love, ecological conservation, using your voice/actions to do the right thing in caring for others and the world. It's a hug when you finish it kind of book for sure, and I can't wait to see where it goes in book #2. I'd recommend for older middle grade readers (there is some death/attempted murder in the storyline), for readers of Erin Entrada Kelly, and of course for anyone looking for a great new fantasy series. Reading it gave me some of the experience and delight of series like Amari and the Night Brothers, Nevermoor, and even The Wild Robot; also with the mythological creatures + real-world kids you might get some Percy Jackson vibes. ★★★★.5

Now for February I need to actually read January's book of the month selection, hopefully before my February box arrives... whoops.