Life: A Love Story

Title: Life: A Love Story
Author: Elizabeth Berg
Published: March 17, 2026 by Random House
Format: Kindle, 208 Pages
Genre: Women's Fiction

Blurb: Florence “Flo” Greene is nearing the end of her life, and she decides to leave her house and an account of her life for Ruthie, the younger woman who grew up next door, moved away, and still is like a surrogate daughter. As Flo writes to Ruthie about the meaning of beloved things in her home and about events in her past, she also tries new adventures of her own. She intervenes in the lives of friends in her neighborhood.

Flo's project has been to encourage Teresa, a wise but unconfident woman, to open her heart to romance. Flo goes to the library to get advice from Mimi, a librarian. She encourages Ruthie, who is contemplating divorce, to try again with her husband, by sharing a startling secret long buried about Flo’s own seemingly perfect husband and marriage.

In her final weeks, Flo leaves an indelible mark on others, as this moving novel celebrates life, change, and ways to discover new happiness, friendship, and love.

My Opinion: I first discovered Elizabeth Berg through her Arthur Truluv novels, and I still think about Arthur, Maddy, and Lucille as if they were old friends I occasionally catch sight of. Not every book can recreate that particular magic, but I opened this novel hoping for that same quiet, heart-forward resonance.

This novel unfolds through correspondence and small side stories, a structure that feels both intimate and slightly old-fashioned in the best way. I understand why some readers compare it to ‘The Correspondent’ by Virginia Evans, though for me, it would be hard to match the presence of Sybil Van Antwerp. Then add in shades of ‘The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning’, you start to see what Berg is weaving together: reflections on faith, the wisdom that comes with age, the tenderness of found family, and the complicated grace of preparing for the end of life.

It’s a quick read, but not a light one. It will land differently depending on where you are in your own journey. Flo’s words—sometimes funny, sometimes piercing, sometimes so simple they sneak up on you—have a way of lodging themselves in your mind. Days later, one of her life lessons might bubble up unexpectedly, and you’ll pause, trying to remember where you heard it, before giving a small smile when you realize it was Flo whispering back to you.

And yes, there’s laughter. Berg always gives us that. But she also gives us the tears, the kind that come from recognizing something true about love, loss, or the strange, beautiful mess of being human.

Life: A Love Story may not be another Arthur Truluv, but it carries its own quiet, gentle, wise, and full-of-heart power.

Book of Forbidden Words

Title: Book of Forbidden Words
Author: Louise Fein
Published: February 17, 2026 by William Morrow Paperbacks
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Blurb: 1552, The print­ing press is quickly spreading new ideas across Europe, threatening the power of church and state and unleashing a wave of book burning and heretic hunting. When frightened ex-nun Lysbette Angiers arrives at Charlotte Guillard’s famous printing shop with her manuscript, neither woman knows just how far the powerful elite will go to prevent the spread of Lysbette’s audacious ideas. 1952, NEW Milly Bennett is a lonely housewife struggling to find her way in her new neighborhood amidst the paranoid clamors of McCarthy’s America. She finds her life taking an unexpected turn when a relic from her past presents her with a 400-year-old manuscript to decipher, pulling her into a vortex of danger that threatens to shatter her world.

From the risky backstreets of sixteenth-century Paris to the unpredictable suburbs of mid-twentieth century New York, the stakes couldn’t be higher when, 400 years apart, Milly, Lysbette, and Charlotte each face a reality where the spread of ideas are feared and every effort is made to suppress them.

Dramatic and affecting, and inspired by the real-life encrypted Voynich manuscript, Book of Forbidden Words is both an engrossing story about a timeless struggle that echoes through the ages and a testament to the indomitable spirit of those who dare to let their words be heard.

My Opinion: This novel is built on the idea that the suppression of knowledge is never a relic of the past; it simply changes form. This is the second novel of hers I’ve read, and once again I was drawn in from the opening chapters. The story moves between 1552 Paris and 1952 Levittown, NY, told through three distinct perspectives: Milly Bennett, with her secret Bletchley Park background; Lysbette, an ex-nun who was raised in the household of Sir Thomas More; and Charlotte Guillard, an historical printer navigating a man’s world. And you know a reader is going to be locked in when a novel opens in a world of banned books, heretic hunters, and the fear of new ideas. Fein uses these dual timelines not as a structural trick, but as a way to show how quickly moral panic takes root, and how easily societies convince themselves that censorship is a form of safety.

What gives the novel its texture is the interplay between these women and the eras they inhabit. Milly’s wry reference to the PTA women as “the coven” sets the tone for her humor and exasperation, while Lysbette and Charlotte carry the weight of earlier battles over who gets to print, read, or even think freely. Fein grounds their stories in the history of sixteenth century book burnings, McCarthy era paranoia, the coded manuscript echoing the Voynich mystery, and the rigid conformity of postwar suburbia. My interest in the novel rose and dipped in waves, but by the end, I found myself appreciating both the women at its center and the meticulous research Fein brings to their worlds.

Fein brings these threads together with historical detail supporting the story rather than overwhelming it. While my attention shifted throughout, I ultimately respected the scope of what she set out to do and the women she chose, each navigating a world determined to limit what they can know, say, or preserve. By the final chapters, the novel became less about a single mysterious manuscript and more about the enduring struggle against censorship in all its forms. It’s a thoughtful, well researched work, and I’m glad to have spent time with the women whose stories Fein brought forward.

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances

Title: The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances
Author: Glenn Dixon
Published: April 7, 2026 by Atria Books
Format: Kindle, 240 pages
Genre: Dystopian

Blurb: In a self-running, smart house, a young and sentient Roomba listens as her owner, Harold, reads aloud to his dying wife, Edie. Mesmerized by To Kill a Mockingbird and craving the human connection she witnesses in Harold’s stories, the little vacuum renames herself Scout and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

But when Edie passes away, Scout and her fellow sentient appliances discover that there are sinister forces in their midst. The omnipresent Grid, which monitors every household in the City, seeks to remove Harold from his home, a place he’s lived in for fifty years.

With the help of Adrian, a neighborhood boy who grows close to Scout and Harold, as well as Kate, Harold and Edie’s formerly estranged daughter, the humans and the appliances must come together to outwit the all-controlling Grid lest they risk losing everything they hold dear.

My Opinion: This book completely caught me off guard. Yes, it’s written for adults, but my brain kept slipping into a kind of sad, dystopic Pixar mode—Man vs. Machine, but with heart, humor, and a surprising amount of soul. It’s a story about future spirals and fragile hope, and how something small and unexpected can save the humans they love.

Scout, the Roomba at the center of it all, is impossibly sweet and innocent in a way that makes you ache for her as she tries to make sense of the sudden sadness in her home. She’s a mechanical child, really, and somehow, she becomes the one who leads everyone else forward. You can’t help but root for her.

This is one of those books that’s nearly impossible to describe without sounding a little unhinged. You start to say, “Well, it’s about a man and his sentient appliances and how they confront the grid…oh, and there is a little boy trying to pass his piano finals,” and people blink at you like you’ve gone a bit too far. But once you’re inside the story, it makes perfect emotional sense. It’s full of heart, full of feeling, and yes, there may be a tear or two along the way.

You’ll never look at your smart appliances the same way again.

What surprised me most was how gently the novel braids together aging, grief, belonging, and the question of what it means to be conscious in a world run by impersonal systems. Through the companionship between a lonely man and the appliances that care for him, the book suggests that empathy, wherever it sparks, is the best form of resistance.

And just when you think you’ve figured out how their problems will be solved, Scout nudges you in a different direction. It wasn’t the ending I expected, but it was the one she knew how to reach. In her own quiet way, she earns her happily ever after: the ability to feel beauty, calm, and that tiny trick of the spirit we call joy.

This novel is strange, tender, and hopeful, and I loved the full experience.

Raising Hare: A Memoir

Title: Raising Hare: A Memoir
Author: Chloe Dalton
Published: March 4, 2025 by Pantheon
Format: Hardcover, 285 pages
Genre: Memoir

Blurb: Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end and gave birth to leverets in your study. For political advisor and speechwriter Chloe Dalton, who spent lockdown deep in the English countryside, far away from her usual busy London life, this became her unexpected reality.

In February 2021, Dalton stumbles upon a newborn hare—a leveret—that had been chased by a dog. Fearing for its life, she brings it home, only to discover how impossible it is to rear a wild hare, most of whom perish in captivity from either shock or starvation. Through trial and error, she learns to feed and care for the leveret with every intention of returning it to the wilderness. Instead, it becomes her constant companion, wandering the fields and woods at night and returning to Dalton’s house by day. Though Dalton feared that the hare would be preyed upon by foxes, stoats, feral cats, raptors, and even people, she never tried to restrict it to the house. Each time the hare leaves, Chloe knows she may never see it again. Yet she also understands that to confine it would be its own kind of death.

Raising Hare chronicles their journey together, while also taking a deep dive into the lives and nature of hares, and the way they have been viewed historically in art, literature, and folklore. We witness first-hand the joy at this extraordinary relationship between human and animal, which serves as a reminder that the best things, and most beautiful experiences, arise when we least expect them.

My Opinion: I’ll admit it: my education is apparently lacking, because I had no idea there was a difference between a rabbit and a hare. Chloe Dalton set me straight on that within the first few pages, and from there, the book kept gently expanding my world in ways I didn’t expect.

This novel is slow, but intentionally so. It carries the same meditative stillness that settled over so many lives during the COVID shutdown. When someone who’s used to constant motion suddenly can’t travel, can’t rush, can’t outrun their own thoughts, what’s left is time. And into that quiet space, a tiny leveret arrives and changes everything.

This memoir isn’t about the grand arc of a life or a catalog of personal struggles. It’s about a moment; one suspended, tender season where a woman learns to move at the pace of a small, wild creature who trusts her without hesitation. It’s part memoir, part natural history, part animal husbandry, and somehow also a gentle reminder of what it feels like to breathe again. The slower rhythm of the writing mirrors the way Chloe herself slows down, shifting from a manic political adviser to someone capable of offering a calm, steady presence to a fragile animal.

Trying to explain this book to someone else is almost impossible. You end up saying, “It’s about a woman and a hare and… their coexistence,” and people stare at you like you’ve lost the plot. But they won’t understand until they read it. Until they feel the quiet trust, the unexpected beauty, the soft exhale that comes at the end.

For me, every bit of it worked. The history, the animal care, the emotional highs and lows all wove together into something quietly profound. It’s a book about noticing the world again, about the kind of connection that only happens when life finally slows enough for you to see it.

And I loved every minute.

Just Friends

Title: Just Friends
Author: Haley Pham
Published: March 3, 2026 by Atria Books
Format: Kindle, 352 pgs
Genre: Romance

Blurb: Blair and Declan were inseparable growing up—best friends who knew each other better than anyone else. But when an impulsive kiss took them from friends to something more, everything changed. Just as quickly as their romance started, one moment shattered it all, leaving them with nothing but heartbreak and silence.

Now, four years later, Blair is back in their coastal hometown of Seabrook to support her mom and care for her great-aunt Lottie as her health declines. To make ends meet, Blair applies to work at a coffee shop—only to discover it’s managed by none other than Declan. The boy she loved. The boy she lost. The boy who still makes her heart race.

As Blair’s path keeps crossing with Declan’s, old wounds resurface, secrets are revealed, and sparks reignite. But could their future ever be free of their past?

Told in dual timelines that unravel the magic and pain of first love, Just Friends is a moving, romantic story about second chances, the weight of dreams, and finding your way back to the people who feel like home.

My Opinion: I completely understand why early readers were skeptical of this novel. When a social media influencer with millions of followers releases a debut novel, the publishing machine tends to roll out the red carpet, considering the built in audience, guaranteed sales, and a whole lot of optimism that the book will succeed, whether the writing is ready or not. And in this case, it feels like the industry took the easy road, assuming the platform would compensate for inexperience.

To be fair, the writing isn’t the worst I’ve come across. There are moments where the story finds its footing, but there are also places where a strong editorial hand was desperately needed. For instance, if Blair’s great aunt owned seven convenience stores in a tiny town, why is Blair working at the local coffee shop instead of one of the family businesses? And the repeated use of “Mhmm”, peppered through the dialogue like a nervous tic, should have been toned down long before the manuscript reached readers.

What really pulled me out of the story, though, was how often Blair seemed baffled by the most basic aspects of her own hometown. This is a girl who supposedly grew up in a quaint California beach community, yet she reacts to property values as if she’s been living under a rock for a decade. Those disconnects add up, and they make Blair feel oddly detached from the world she’s meant to inhabit.

Structurally, the book follows the familiar beats: the meet cute, the miscommunication, the slow burn second chance arc, the conflict, the tidy happily ever after. But the middle sags. It’s linear to a fault, with no subplot to keep the momentum going, and the pacing drags enough that I found myself wishing for anything—an unexpected twist, a side character with teeth—to break up the monotony. By the time the “six months later” epilogue arrived, it felt less like a natural conclusion and more like a last minute attempt to figure out how to wrap things up.

And that epilogue introduces its own head scratchers. Blair’s mother suddenly believes she can retire because her daughter has written a book that is being independently published, and decides to sell the stores. She also appears to have no idea how to run the business she has worked at for fifteen years. Who was scheduling employees while Lottie was dying? How did the shops function? These are the kinds of logic gaps that should have been caught long before publication. The book is free of spice and strong language. Though marketed as new adult, it reads much closer to young adult, aiming for readers looking for a gentler, simpler read, and who aren’t likely to question the mechanics too deeply.

Which brings me to the bigger question: how did this book land at number three on the NYT list? The answer is simple—sales volume, not literary merit. And now that the debut glow has worn off, I genuinely wonder how the author returns to her usual online presence. How does she critique or comment on books when she’s now on the other side of the equation?

Still, publishing a novel is no small feat, and congratulations are due. But once the shine fades and the novelty wears off, the real test begins: what comes next?

March Recap

The Fourth Princess

Title: The Fourth Princess
Author: Janie Chang
Published: February 10, 2026 by William Morrow
Format: Kindle, 336 Pages
Genre: Gothic

Blurb: Shanghai, 1911. Lisan Liu is elated when she is hired as secretary to wealthy American Caroline Stanton, the new mistress of Lennox Manor on the outskirts of Shanghai’s International Settlement. However, the Manor has a dark past due to a previous owner’s suicide, and soon Lisan’s childhood nightmares resurface with more intensity and meld with haunted visions of a woman in red. Adding to her unease is the young gardener, Yao, who both entices and disturbs her.

Newly married Caroline looks forward to life in China with her husband, Thomas, away from the shadows of another earlier tragedy. But an unwelcome guest, Andrew Grey, attends her party and claims to know secrets she can’t afford to have exposed. At the same party, the notorious princess Masako Kyo approaches Lisan with questions about the young woman’s family that the orphaned Lisan can’t answer.

As Caroline struggles with Grey’s extortion and Thomas’s mysterious illness, Lisan’s future is upended when she learns the truth about her past, and why her identity has been hidden all these years. All the while, strange incidents accelerate, driving Lisan to doubt her sanity as Lennox Manor seems unwilling to release her until she fulfills demands from beyond the grave.

My Opinion: You know that rare feeling when a book pulls you in from the very first page and you realize that you’re in the hands of a storyteller who knows exactly what they’re doing? This novel gave me that feeling immediately. Even though I first encountered Janie Chang through The Phoenix Crown, co-written with Kate Quinn, it is this book that made me understand why her name carries weight. And since co writing can blur who’s doing what behind the scenes, I’m happily counting this as my true introduction to her work.

Set in 1911 Shanghai, just on the cusp of World War I, the novel wraps you in a world thick with tradition, superstition, whispered curses, and the kind of history that surrounds you. At its heart are two women—each guarding her own secrets—living in a decaying mansion where the past refuses to stay buried. Chang blends historical fiction with magical realism so seamlessly that the boundaries blur; the house feels alive, the shadows feel watchful, and the truth reveals itself in slow, deliberate layers.

The gothic elements are all here: the crumbling manor, the sense of dread, the family mysteries, the creeping inevitability of revelation. But there’s more than atmosphere. Chang builds tension with such care that even when you think you’ve figured out all of the aspects, she still manages to drop surprises that land with a gasp. Some twists you might anticipate; others you absolutely will not. That unpredictability is part of the thrill.

A few readers have labeled this as horror; it’s not. To me, it reads as deeply immersive gothic fiction—the kind that makes you whisper, “just one more chapter,” until suddenly you’ve abandoned your weekend plans because you have to know what happens next. It’s absorbing, elegant, and quietly relentless.

I think I’ve found a new to me author to be on the lookout for.

Chaos Man

Title: Chaos Man
Author: Andrew Mayne
Published: March 24, 2026, by Thomas & Mercer
Format: Kindle, 330 Pages
Genre: Thriller
Series: The Specialists #3

Blurb: A train derails in Idaho, nearly causing a nuclear disaster. An inferno at a battery facility in Florida disrupts the electrical grid for days. A potentially devastating failure is discovered at Virginia’s Mud River Dam. To computational biologist Theo Cray, these aren’t mere infrastructure accidents. They are virtually undetectable acts of sabotage.

Theo sees a mathematical pattern to the madness that few others can comprehend—except for his rogue FBI agent Jessica Blackwood, private security specialist Brad Trasker, and Florida underwater investigator Sloan McPherson. If Theo’s intuition and calculations are correct, the disasters are just a warm-up. The worst is yet to come—a catastrophe that could trigger the deaths of millions across the country.

Now Theo and his team are on the hunt for a mysterious saboteur whose only motive is to spread panic and chaos. And with every tick of the clock, his unthinkable endgame is getting closer to becoming a terrifying reality. (GoodReads)

My Opinion: I don’t know what happened with this book, but this novel never found its footing for me. I usually look forward to Mayne’s work; his series (well, most of them) have a rhythm and energy that make them easy to sink into. This one, though, hits differently, and not in a good way.

The science drones on without the usual payoff. Theo’s dry humor, normally the thing that keeps the gears turning, is barely present. Even Jessica and Trasker, who can usually carry a scene, aren’t enough to hold this story together. I kept putting the book down, giving it a side eye, picking it back up, and wondering why I was working so hard to stay engaged.

There’s a heavy emphasis on AI, which is understandable, given Mayne’s real world immersion in the field, but the execution feels more filler than compelling. The investigation itself has interesting bones, but the pieces fall into place too conveniently, and the characters read more like cardboard cutouts than the sharp, distinct personalities I’ve come to expect from this universe.

And then, after all that slow, relentless buildup… it’s suddenly over. No real crescendo, no satisfying snap. Just a thud of an ending that left me blinking at the page.

This installment simply didn’t live up to what I’ve learned to expect from Andrew Mayne. It’s not a DNF, but it’s far from the inventive, tightly wound storytelling that made me a fan in the first place.

The Forgotten Book Club

Title: The Forgotten Book Club
Author: Kate Storey
Published: December 2, 2025 by Avon
Format: Kindle, 320 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction

Blurb: For three decades, Grace supported her husband Frank’s passion for books, even though her own love for literature paled in comparison. Since his passing, the shelves echo longingly, and Grace's heartache has only grown.

When Grace’s grandson suggests joining Frank’s old book club, she hesitates. How could meeting with a bunch of strangers possibly fill the void he left behind? Despite her doubts – and desperate to feel close to Frank again – Grace decides to attend.

Yet, upon arrival, Grace is puzzled to find this isn’t your typical book club here, you settle in for an hour of silent reading. Disappointed by the sparse attendance and confused by the lack of chatter she flees. But when equally lonely member, Annie, convinces her to stay, Grace is determined to ensure that neither Frank – nor his beloved book club – are forgotten.

And as she breathes new life into the group, she might just find this is where she truly belongs. Because this next chapter of life could just be the beginning of her story.

My Opinion: I’ll admit it: the cover is what caught my eye first. The colors, the softness, the whole inviting feel of it. I picked it up expecting something light and sweet, and while those elements are there, The Forgotten Book Club turned out to be one of those books that finds you at just the right moment.

There’s a tenderness running through this story, even though it begins with loss. Grace steps into a book club that doesn’t operate the way she expects, and her discomfort makes perfect sense. When you’ve spent too much time in your own quiet, even a small shift can feel overwhelming. But the group has its own charm, and the steady stream of book references—many of which I’ve read myself—made me feel like I was sitting in the room with them. There’s even a movie mention that brought back a memory I hadn’t revisited in years.

What surprised me most were the deeper layers tucked inside what looks, at first glance, like a cozy premise. I thought I was settling in for a simple story about people gathering to talk about books. Instead, I found a cast of characters who each carry their own history, their own grief, their own small hopes. They’re like nesting dolls, each with something hidden inside, and Grace has more to unpack than she realizes. It’s not that she was oblivious; it’s that she’d grown used to a version of “normal” that kept her isolated without her noticing. It takes a group of unexpected friends—and an old journal—to show her that loneliness doesn’t have to be permanent.

The emotional range here is lovely. One chapter had me laughing, and a few pages later I felt that quiet sting of recognition. By the end, I genuinely missed spending time with these characters. Kate Storey balances warmth and honesty in a way that feels effortless. If this is any indication of what she has in store, I’m hoping this is the start of a new favorite author for me.

The Astral Library

Title: The Astral Library
Author: Kate Quinn
Published: February 17, 2026 by William Morrow
Format: Kindle, 304 Pages
Genre: Fantasy

Blurb: Kate Quinn unveils a sweeping, genre-bending adventure set in a library beyond imagination. A boundless, otherworldly archive containing every book ever written, every story yet to come, and a discreet refuge for those who need to slip out of sight. When an overlooked researcher stumbles into this impossible realm, she uncovers a secret powerful enough to unsettle both the library’s fragile equilibrium and the world outside its doors. As competing interests close in, she must navigate scholars with hidden loyalties, seekers in need of sanctuary, and the library’s own enigmatic guardians to protect a force far greater than any single story. Richly imagined and irresistibly propulsive, The Astral Library showcases Quinn at her most inventive, blending historical resonance with bold speculative intrigue.

My Opinion: Every once in a while, a book grabs me from the first pages and refuses to let go. This novel did exactly that.

Alix—with an i, not an e—is having the worst day of her life, which is saying something for someone who’s been in foster care since she was eight. In the span of a morning, she loses her job, her housing, and even access to her own bank account. With nowhere else to go, she heads to the one place that has always felt safe: the Boston Public Library. The familiar hush, the scent of old paper, the quiet order of the stacks—this is her sanctuary. And it’s here, in the middle of her unraveling, that the Astral Library chooses her.

What looks like a storage closet turns out to be a doorway to something extraordinary. Alix steps through and finds herself in a realm that holds every book ever written, and every book yet to be written, as long as it’s in the public domain (copyrights matter, even in magical libraries). The doorway doesn’t open for just anyone; it opens for the chosen. And once Alix crosses that threshold, she—and the reader—are transported.

What struck me most is how different this book feels from other “magical library” stories. Many novels in this genre lean on a torrent of book references or character cameos to create a sense of literary nostalgia. Quinn does something more intimate. There’s a warmth here, a tingly sense of belonging, as if the library itself is glad you’ve arrived. The familiar echoes of classic stories aren’t just clever nods; they’re emotional anchors. When Alix steps into the Astral Library, you feel that same pull of recognition, that same desire to linger.

And then the last third of the book hits, and it’s a wild, exhilarating ride. Twists, reveals, emotional punches, and I loved every minute of it. Quinn herself has called this novel “a love letter to book lovers,” and I couldn’t agree more. It feels like she wrote it for readers who have lived entire lives inside stories.

Most people know Kate Quinn for her historical fiction, but this foray into fantasy is something special. She brings her signature depth and character insight into a world brimming with magic, possibility, and heart. I adored what she created here and the feeling it left me with. This is one of those books that lingers long after you close it.

First Sign of Danger

Title: First Sign of Danger
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Published: February 17, 2026, by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
Genre: Mystery
Series: Haven's Rock #4

Blurb: Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are entering a new chapter of life as parents to their six-month-old baby. Their family is hidden away in the sanctuary town of Haven's Rock where they can live safe and private lives. But when they encounter hikers too close to the borders of Haven's Rock, they realize they're in danger of being exposed.

When they find one of the hikers dead the next day, they realize that their paranoia was justified, but they're no closer to finding out who these people were and what they were doing in the vicinity of Haven's Rock. Only by tracing the hikers' movements, as well as examining the recent behavior of their closest neighbors, the workers of a secretive mining camp, will they be able to figure out where the threat is coming from and shut it down. Otherwise, the lives of everyone in Haven's Rock--and their safe, secure new existence--are at risk.

My Opinion: I love this series. It’s one of those “just one more chapter” situations that inevitably turns into an hour disappearing while you’re happily lost in the Yukon with Casey, Dalton, and whatever fresh trouble has found its way to Haven’s Rock.

Armstrong knows how to build a twisty plot. The characters spend a fair amount of time speculating and second guessing themselves, which means you’re never quite sure where the story is headed—mostly because they aren’t either. It keeps the tension humming in the background, even during the quieter moments.

Now that baby Rory has arrived, Casey and Dalton are juggling teething woes and childcare logistics right alongside dead bodies and suspicious strangers. The contrast is oddly enjoyable. One minute they’re soothing a fussy infant, the next they’re tracking footprints through the snow and trying to figure out who’s lying, who’s stalking whom, and why the body count keeps rising.

And yes, I’ll admit it: I get a ridiculous dopamine hit when I guess a plot twist correctly. Armstrong makes you work for it, but when you land on the right theory, it feels earned.

Things escalate quickly once Lilith barrels her way toward Haven’s Rock, and the arrival of a second woman—possibly dangerous, definitely disruptive—throws the entire town into chaos. For a place that wants to stay invisible, they’re having a very loud week.

Armstrong’s action scenes remain top tier. There were moments when I realized I’d been holding my breath, waiting to see how a confrontation would shake out. But did I ever put the book down or look away? Not a chance. When this series goes full throttle, I’m strapped in for the ride.

The only downside is knowing we’re nearing the end. It appears that there will be just one more book, scheduled for early next year. I’m already bracing myself.

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective

Title: The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective
Author: Jo Nichols
Published: August 19, 2025 by Minotaur Books
Format: Hardcover, 342Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Marigold Cottages Murders #1

Blurb: Mrs. B, the landlady of The Marigold Cottages is a stubborn idealist who only rents to people she cares about: Sophie, an anxious young playwright with a dark past; Hamilton, an agoraphobe who likes to overshare; Ocean, a queer sculptor raising two kids alone; the perfectionist Lily-Ann; and Nicholas, a finance bro who’s hiding secrets.

The tenants live contentedly in their doll-house bungalows in Santa Barbara, just minutes from the beach, until their peace is shattered when Anthony, a quiet, hulking, but potentially violent ex-con moves in. Three weeks later, a dead body is discovered on the streets of the peaceful neighborhood. Anthony is arrested, and the tenants heave sighs of relief. Until Mrs. B, convinced that he's innocent, marches down to the police station and confesses to the crime herself. The tenants band together and form “The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective” to save their beloved landlady. As clues are unearthed and secrets are revealed, the community of misfits only grows more tight-knit...until a second body is found.

My Opinion: You know that feeling when you open a book and immediately realize you’re going to need a mental seating chart? That was me with this novel. It took longer than expected to keep everyone straight, but once the cast settled in my mind, the story moved with an easy, weekend-ready rhythm. It’s a fast read, it flows well, and even when the ending made me scrunch my brows and tilt my head, I still enjoyed the ride.

The real charm comes from the residents of the Marigold Cottages—“idiosyncratic,” as the author lovingly calls them. They’re the kind of neighbors you’d want nearby for the gossip, the baked goods, and the fierce loyalty… while also keeping just enough distance to avoid becoming the next topic of conversation. Mrs. B, the owner of the cottages and official matriarch, sets the tone: everyone knows everyone’s business, but everyone also looks out for one another. It’s messy, heartfelt, and oddly comforting.

One of the book’s standout features is its structure. Paragraphs blend with text messages and even stage-play-style dialogue, and instead of feeling gimmicky, the shifts add energy. The format never distracts from the plot; if anything, it mirrors the chaotic, overlapping lives of this little community.

When one of their own is threatened with murder charges, the group rallies—loudly, imperfectly, and with plenty of secrets bubbling up at the worst possible moments. Those secrets complicate everything, but they also reveal the strengths and vulnerabilities that make this rag tag crew worth rooting for.

And then there’s the whale moment. A small scene, but it hits with surprising emotional weight—sadness, hope, longing, resignation all braided together. It’s the kind of quiet beat that lingers.

By the time the mystery reaches its conclusion, the whos and whys get twisty enough that I had to slow down, reread a few sections, and mentally sketch out how the pieces fit. It’s not confusing in a frustrating way—more like a puzzle that requires a second look.

This appears to be the first in a new series, and I’m genuinely looking forward to returning to this eccentric Santa Barbara enclave. They’re misfits, sure, but they’re living their best lives, and I’m happy to follow along.

A Marriage at Sea

Title: A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck
Author: Sophie Elmhirst
Published: July 8, 2025 by Riverhead Books
Format: 256 pages, Hardcover
Genre: Nonfiction

Blurb: Maurice and Maralyn make an odd couple. He’s a loner, awkward and obsessive; she’s charismatic and ambitious. But they share a horror of wasting their lives. And they dream – as we all dream – of running away from it all. What if they quit their jobs, sold their house, bought a boat, and sailed away?

Most of us begin and end with the daydream. But Maurice began to study nautical navigation. Maralyn made detailed lists of provisions. And in June 1972, they set sail. For nearly a year all went well, until deep in the Pacific, a breaching whale knocked a hole in their boat and it sank beneath the waves.

What ensues is a jaw-dropping fight to survive in the wild ocean, with little hope of rescue. Alone together for months in a tiny rubber raft, starving and exhausted, Maurice and Maralyn have to find not only ways to stay alive but ways to get along, as their inner demons emerge and their marriage is put to the greatest of tests. Although they could run away from the world, they can’t run away from themselves.

Taut, propulsive, and dazzling, A Marriage at Sea pairs an adrenaline-fueled high seas adventure with a gutting love story that asks why we love difficult people, and who we become under the most extreme conditions imaginable.

My Opinion: A few chapters into this novel, I knew I could never have crossed an ocean, let alone a street, with Maurice. He isn’t brilliant; he just believes he is. Socially awkward, self absorbed, and convinced of his own superiority, he’s the last person you’d want beside you in a crisis. Maralyn, meanwhile, is his opposite—easygoing, hopeful, and somehow willing to follow him into a life at sea despite fearing water and never learning to swim.

Elmhirst tells you early on what happened to them, so the anticipation comes from watching how they survive 118 days adrift. Before that ordeal, we see them in the 1960s building a life, a boat, and a dream together. It might have stayed idealistic if Maurice hadn’t insisted on sailing without a radio transmitter because he wanted a “pure” escape from the world. Trust me, I talked back to the book more than once.

When disaster hits, Maralyn becomes the reason they stay alive. She fights the elements, wrestles sea turtles for food, and pushes against Maurice’s bleak worldview. He sees survival as a never-ending list of disappointments; she refuses to let go of hope. Their dynamic is as edgy as the storms around them.

Maurice has moments of reflection, but some of his journal entries made me want to throw an oar at him—especially when he admits he felt no desire for his wife during their darkest hours, even as she kept them afloat. It’s hard to root for a man who can be that cold.

And yet, in the epilogue, Elmhirst manages to stir a flicker of sympathy for him. For a moment, I felt the weight of his loneliness without Maralyn. But sympathy doesn’t change the truth: he wasn’t a good partner, and he wouldn’t be remembered at all if not for a whale and a patient wife.

Elmhirst’s creative nonfiction style is engaging, weaving the Baileys’ journals into a vivid narrative. But for me, the heart of the book is Maralyn—steady, hopeful, and far stronger than the narcissistic man she followed to sea.

A Ghastly Catastrophe

Title: A Ghastly Catastrophe
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Published: March 3, 2026 by Berkley
Format: Kindle, 336 Pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Series: Veronica Speedwell #10

Blurb: When the corpse of an entitled young man is found entirely drained of blood in a carriage next to Highgate Cemetery, Veronica’s interest is piqued. And then a second victim is found, his death made to look like a suicide, and Veronica and her intrepid beau, Stoker, know the hunt is on. The two men share one link: they were both members of a society so secretive that only a singular mention of it can be found anywhere.

Thirsty for more clues, Veronica and Stoker hear that a young Roma boy may know more about their first victim, but the only way to the boy is through an old acquaintance of Stoker’s, Lady Julia Brisbane. Lady Julia and her dashing husband, Nicholas, occasionally track down murderers and are only too happy to help. But as it becomes clear the secret society is a dangerous sect looking to entice immortality seekers, Veronica and Stoker find themselves ensnared by a decidedly more sinister couple.

The professed leader of the society claims to be a creature of the night; his partner practices witchcraft and they both fancy themselves emissaries of the otherworldly. Just as Veronica and Stoker get closer to learning the true purpose of the society and unraveling this macabre mystery, another body turns up, and they quickly discover they’ve gone from being the hunters to the hunted.

My Opinion: Another entry in one of my favorite series, this novel delivers the charm, humor, and character chemistry I keep coming back for—just not without testing my patience along the way.

The book is packed with idioms, archaic vocabulary, and British slang, which was enough to make me grateful for having a dictionary at the ready while reading on my Kindle. Once you either accept or ignore the linguistic flourishes, the story underneath is genuinely good. The banter is sharp, the humor lands, and the characters remain as magnetic as ever. It’s a quick read in that familiar Raybourn way: even when the pacing wobbles, the world doesn’t want to let you go.

One of the real pleasures here is seeing Veronica feel like herself again. In the last couple of books, she drifted toward a softer, almost fawning version of her usual self—something that dulled the spark that makes her so compelling. This time, she’s back to her sharp, incisive, wonderfully “Veronica ish” self, and it’s a relief.

But the novel isn’t without its frustrations. The reliance on obscure vocabulary slows down the reading, and the story itself becomes bogged down in overly descriptive scenes and unnecessary detours. The main plot keeps slipping out of focus, and for a series that usually balances momentum with atmosphere so well, that imbalance stands out. I’ve read every book in this series, and I can’t remember another that left me quite this irritated.

Even so, the characters, the bickering, and the humor still shine. I just hope that next time Raybourn sets aside the thesaurus and leans into what she does best: telling an engaging, tightly paced story with the characters readers adore.

Girl Dinner

Title: Girl Dinner
Author: Olivie Blake
Published: October 21, 2025 by Tor Books
Format: Kindle, 368 Pages
Genre: Horror

Blurb:Every member of The House, the most exclusive sorority on campus, and all its alumni, are beautiful, high-achieving, and universally respected.

After a freshman year she would rather forget, sophomore Nina Kaur knows being one of the chosen few accepted into The House is the first step in her path to the brightest possible future. Once she's taken into their fold, the House will surely ease her fears of failure and protect her from those who see a young woman on her own as easy prey.

Meanwhile, adjunct professor Dr. Sloane Hartley is struggling to return to work after accepting a demotion to support her partner's new position at the cutthroat University. After 18 months at home with her newborn daughter, Sloane's clothes don’t fit right, her girl-dad husband isn’t as present as he thinks he is, and even the few hours a day she's apart from her child fill her psyche with paralyzing ennui. When invited to be The House’s academic liaison, Sloane enviously drinks in the way the alumnae seem to have it all, achieving a level of collective perfection that Sloane so desperately craves.

As Nina and Sloane each get drawn deeper into the arcane rituals of the sisterhood, they learn that living well comes with bloody costs. And when they are finally invited to the table, they will have to decide just how much they can stomach in the name of solidarity and power.

My Opinion: Blake is one of those authors you either fall for or quietly back away from. There’s rarely a middle ground. My first encounter with her work was Gifted & Talented, which I ended up enjoying far more than I expected, so when Girl Dinner crossed my path, I figured I was ready for whatever she had in store.

Turns out, I wasn’t.

This novel is… a lot. It opens at a crawl, the kind of slow where you start wondering why you’re here and whether the payoff will be worth it. Then, somewhere around the halfway mark, the floor drops out, and you realize you’re in a very different book than the one you thought you were reading. I was genuinely glad I stuck around for the shift.

Part of the whiplash was my own doing. I didn’t check the genre or read a single review beforehand. I went in expecting women’s fiction with a slight academic edge. And to be fair, the early chapters lean into that familiar “who am I, who do I want to be” introspection. But by the time I reached the middle, I had to admit I’d completely misread the assignment.

There’s one scene, in particular, that made an involuntary, very loud “WTF” fly out of my mouth. Thank goodness I wasn’t in public. I sat there blinking at the page, wondering how we got from point A to whatever fresh chaos point B was supposed to be.

Only after the fact did I go back and see that this book is categorized as horror. Horror is not usually my genre of choice, mostly because so few books commit to the label. This one does. Enough that I set it across the room and gave it a suspicious look for a couple of days before picking it back up.

What Blake is doing here is layered: feminist theory, social commentary, satire (maybe), power dynamics, academic politics, hedonism, the whole messy tangle of how women are shaped and consumed by the systems around them. At a certain point, I stopped trying to decide whether it was satire and just let the book be what it was. I hadn’t planned on dropping everything to finish it, but that’s exactly what happened.

What begins as a slow simmer turns into something far stranger and more compelling. Blake’s writing is polarizing, but in the two books I’ve read so far, she hasn’t let me down. And that final twist? I’m not sure I needed it, but I was absolutely delighted it was there. Apparently, I did need that last jolt, because I’m still sitting here muttering, “Olivie Blake, what did you do to me?”

Crime Rangoon

Title: Crime Rangoon
Author: Vivien Chien
Published: December 30, 2025 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 311 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Noodle Shop Mystery #12

Blurb: Cindy Kwan, owner of Asia Village’s bookshop, The Modern Scroll, is privileged to host best-selling author, Charlene Chan for a signing in honor of the writer’s latest book, The Mystery of General Tso.

Lana Lee is equally excited for the appearance of her favorite author and even more so when Cindy asks her to be Charlene’s “handler” for the event. Taking her duties very seriously, Lana stays by the side of the prominent author to assist in anything that she might need.

With a line out the door and stretched through the plaza, Cindy is overjoyed at what a success this is for her shop. But, unfortunately for Cindy, her success comes with a the author is found dead in the mystery aisle, clutching a copy of her own book. Coincidentally the book’s plot matches the details of the murder.

Lana’s boyfriend, Detective Adam Trudeau, is charged with leading the case investigation, but finds himself overwhelmed when he realizes just how much of the book series is mimicked in reality. For the first time in their relationship, Adam calls on Lana to partner up with him to help solve the case. The couple must work through the novel to outwit the murderer, stay one step ahead, and beat the die-hard fan to the last chapter.

My Opinion: I just love this series. Every time I step back into Lana Lee’s world, I know I’m in for a good weekend—between the Mahjong Matrons, the restaurant chatter, and the inevitable chaos Lana and her friends tumble into, it’s always a fun escape.

This time around, the mystery caught me off guard. The culprit wasn’t someone I had on my radar. The clues were there, but I didn’t connect them, which makes me think my spidey sense might be slipping. Honestly, I don’t mind being surprised. It’s part of the charm.

There are conveniences that made me raise an eyebrow. Detective Adam Trudeau asking his girlfriend and her crew for help because he can’t quite figure things out on his own stretches believability. Let’s be real—no detective worth his badge is outsourcing his casework to his girlfriend’s social circle. And yet, here we are.

The suspect pool is a bit of a juggling act, too. There are several characters to keep straight, each hovering close enough to the victim to warrant a second look, even if their motives are more circumstantial than compelling. Lana and her fellow sleuths work through them one by one, fueled by donuts, pizza, late-night coffee, and whatever other snacks cross their path. It’s messy, it’s cozy, and it’s exactly the kind of rhythm this series thrives on.

My one real complaint is how the author seems to be dumbing down Adam Trudeau. He’s always been a steady presence, and watching him lose some of that intelligence is frustrating. Still, it’s not enough to pull me away. I’m in this series for the long haul, quirks and all.

The Will of the Many

Title: The Will of the Many
Author: James Islington
Published: May 23, 2023 by Gallery / Saga Press
Format: Kindle, 639 Pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Hierarchy #1

Blurb: The Catenan Republic – the Hierarchy – may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.

I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus – what they call Will – to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.

I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.

But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.

And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.

To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy’s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.

My Opinion: I went into The Will of the Many, genuinely curious why so many readers swear by it. I understand this is only the first installment in a planned four book series, and big fantasy worlds often need time to stretch their legs. Still, a hundred pages in, I was bored. By page three hundred, I wasn’t any less bored, though the plot finally started to show signs of life.

Vis Telimus, our orphaned protagonist, is positioned as clever and capable, but he survives more by luck than skill, and that imbalance wore thin. The world itself runs on a rigid hierarchy where the lower classes must surrender portions of their physical and mental energy—“Will”—to those above them. There’s even a chart at the front of the book explaining who cedes to whom, which tells you exactly how central this system is meant to be. The themes are the usual suspects: power, political maneuvering, class inequality, and a brutal social order that keeps everyone in their place.

And then come the tropes. The elite, dangerous school. The infiltration plot. The competitions and exams that might as well be death traps. The dark history. The hidden heritage. I kept flashing to the familiar beats of Disney stories, only without the comforting promise of a happily ever after. It’s not that these tropes can’t work; they absolutely can, but here they felt predictable rather than invigorating.

I know many readers loved this book, and by the final chapters, I could see the glimmers of what hooked them. There’s momentum, and there’s clearly a long game being set up. But for me, this novel was a reminder that some corners of fantasy simply aren’t my corner. I finished it, but I won’t be continuing the series.

Everything Is Tuberculosis

Title: Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
Author: John Green
Published: March 18, 2025, by Crash Course Books
Format: Hardcover, 198 Pages
Genre: Non-Fiction

Blurb: Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.

In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, preventable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.

In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.

My Opinion: I can’t be the only one who didn’t realize that John Green—yes, the John Green of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska—also writes nonfiction. This novel was a surprise on that front alone, but the real surprise was how much I didn’t know about a disease I assumed belonged to history.

Everyone has heard of tuberculosis, but far fewer understand the political machinery, global inequities, and maddening contradictions that surround it. Green points out more than once that the countries with the highest burden of TB often don’t have access to the cure, while the countries that do have the cure rarely see the disease anymore. It’s a bleak little paradox that sets the tone for the rest of the book.

As I kept reading, I began to feel that Green wasn’t trying to give readers a complete education so much as he was nudging us toward our own deeper research. And it worked. I wandered down more than a few rabbit trails before reminding myself to return to what he wanted me to see: tuberculosis is, at its core, a disease of injustice.

One idea kept circling back to me. Centuries from now, readers will look at our 2026 medical practices with the same disbelief we feel when reading about treatments from the past. It’s humbling, and more than a little uncomfortable.

There is repetition in this book, but it’s purposeful. Green keeps pressing on the same truths: cost effectiveness should never determine who gets to live; pharmaceutical companies are driven by profit; and while TB can strike anyone, it is the poor—those without clean water, reliable food, or access to treatment—who bear the heaviest burden. When the world decides which lives are “worth” saving, the same people are always left behind.

The book is an easy read in terms of prose, but not a fast one, and certainly not a light one. The footnotes alone can send you off in ten different directions, and you’ll likely finish with more questions than answers. One question lingered for me: tuberculosis is notoriously good at evolving into drug resistant forms. So, what does the future look like when there have been no new TB drugs in forty years? That’s a long time for a microbe to invent new tricks.

Green doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but he does make sure you understand the stakes. And once you do, it’s hard to stop thinking about them.

The Anxious Generation

Title: The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness
Author: Jonathan Haidt
Published: March 26, 2024 by Penguin Press
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
Genre: Non-fiction

Blurb: In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems” that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.

My Opinion: I picked up this novel mostly because everyone seemed to be talking about it. My kids are grown now, so I’m reading this from the rearview mirror rather than the driver’s seat. Even so, the book hit harder than I expected. It reminded me that, without realizing it, I actually got a lot of things right: real friendships, outdoor play, team activities, independence, responsibilities, basic life skills. All the things we now call “protective factors,” I just called “normal childhood.”

Then, there were the parts I didn’t get right. I trusted my kids with their phones and didn’t monitor usage or set controls. They didn’t have smartphones until they were driving, but still, I wasn’t paying attention the way I should have. Reading this book made me realize how much easier it is for pre-teens and teens today to outsmart the systems parents think are keeping them safe. Location apps can be manipulated. Restrictions can be bypassed. Kids are clever, and parents have to be even more so.

And then there are the tech companies. The book doesn’t mince words, and neither will I: when companies claim they “can’t” fix certain problems, they’re lying. They absolutely can. They just don’t have a reason to. No accountability, no consequences, no incentive.

My emotions swung all over the place while reading. One moment I was thinking, “Kids need to understand technology; it’s their future.” The next, I was frustrated with parents who refuse to step in when they know exactly what’s out there. Then I’d get irritated with schools for not having control, only to get equally irritated with parents who won’t let schools enforce any guidelines. It’s a mess, and everyone thinks they’re the expert.

What surprised me most was how many conversations this book sparked. Not debates about how to raise children, but deeper talks about what previous generations did well, what they botched, and how today’s adolescents are growing up feeling purposeless, inadequate, or desperate to be liked. So much of it comes back to that little device with a front-facing camera and an endless stream of comparison.

The fact that I kept thinking about this book long after I closed it tells me it struck a nerve. It pushed me to examine not just what I did as a parent, but what I’m doing now. My own phone habits. My own harm when it comes to algorithms. My own need to get outside more, learn new things, and take responsibility for the way I let technology shape my days.

This book wasn’t written for my age group, but it still taught me something important: it’s never too late to set boundaries, even with ourselves.

A Very Bookish Murder

Title: A Very Bookish Murder
Author: Dee MacDonald
Published: September 19, 2025 by Bookouture
Format: Paperback, 240 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Ally McKinley Mystery #3

Blurb: When Ally McKinley hears that well-known novelist Jodi Jones is going to host a writers’ retreat at the hotel just down the road, she’s delighted to offer rooms at her little guesthouse for some of the attendees. Ally is thrilled to join the group for one of their first sessions – but the retreat has barely begun before she finds the famous writer strangled in the ladies' bathroom!

The cake tin and teapot come out at the little guesthouse in the Highlands as Ally begins to question her bookish guests. Accusations of plagiarism and infidelity start flying and it’s clear that more than one of the retreat attendees had a grudge against Jodi. But could any of them have resorted to murder?

When Ally discovers a diary in Jodi’s bedroom at the guesthouse with several pages ripped out of it, she thinks she’s close to cracking the case. But the plot thickens when another of the aspiring writers is found dead, only hours after she said she knew the identity of Jodi’s killer.

Not only is the murderer still in Locharran, they’re desperate to stop Ally getting to the truth. With her faithful puppy Flora by her side, can Ally unravel the clues and solve the mystery before she’s written out of the story for good?

My Opinion: This novel felt like a slog from the start. The writer’s retreat introduces so many women so quickly that they blend into one vague crowd, and by the time the murders happened, I struggled to care who died or who was being questioned.

The Scottish touches should have added charm, but the regional vocabulary often felt forced, almost like someone trying too hard to sound local. A few odd shifts where Ally suddenly refers to herself in third person didn’t help the flow either.

The familiar Locharran cast returns, and the new detective, DI Amir Kandahar, could bring some spark to future books. But here, the retreat storyline dominates. Accusations of plagiarism spiral into tales of affairs and grudges, and the repetition makes the plot feel stuck.

There’s also a lot of filler with clothing descriptions, redundant conversations, and long passages that don’t deepen the mystery. With such a large cast and so much unnecessary detail, staying engaged became a challenge.

Will I keep going with the series? Maybe, but I’m not rushing. It’s still surprising how much I loved the Kate Palmer books, because this series feels like it’s written by someone entirely different.

Sunsets, Sabbatical & Scandal

Title: Sunsets, Sabbatical & Scandal
Author: Tonya Kappes
Published: March 17, 2020, by Tonya Kappes
Format: Paperback, 204 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Series: Camper & Criminals (#10)

Blurb: A beloved resident of Normal, Kentucky is found dead on the floor of the Normal Diner, leaving the entire town on high alert. Faster than the short order cook can say order up... the laundry ladies are in the scene.

News spreads fast about the murder and Detective Hank Sharp is hungry for answers.

Mae West along with the Laundry Club ladies come up with a list of suspects and the evidence is piling up faster than a juicy double cheeseburger.

Who murdered the beloved citizen?

Was it a hit to score some extra lunch money?

My Opinion: I’ll admit it. When I opened the book and saw hints of a wedding plot, I sighed. I thought we were headed straight into another overused storyline. Thankfully, that thread turned out to be a tiny blip in the larger picture.

What really caught my attention was learning the term “juice jacking.” I’d heard the warnings about public charging stations, but I had no idea there was an actual name for it. Leave it to Tonya Kappas to slip in something unexpectedly educational.

This installment takes a more serious turn than the usual breezy visit to Normal, Kentucky. Mae returns to her hometown and is hit with devastating news about her parents’ deaths. She’s carried guilt for years, believing she played a part in what happened. Now she’s forced to confront the possibility that she was wrong, and the emotional fallout is heavy. But she isn’t facing it alone. That’s the beauty of this series. The found family around Mae gives the story its warmth even when the subject matter darkens.

Of course, there’s still a murder to solve. Mae stays one step ahead of her detective boyfriend, and the laundry ladies continue to show up before anyone even has time to dial for help. It’s familiar, a little chaotic, and exactly the kind of comfort I reach for when I want a quiet afternoon with a book.

The ending genuinely surprised me. I usually spot the culprit early, but this time I didn’t see it coming. Maybe the clues were there and I missed them, or maybe Kappas simply outmaneuvered me.

Call it repetitive if you want, but I enjoy this series. Each mystery stands alone, so readers can jump in anywhere, yet the charm of Normal and its residents keeps me coming back. There’s just something about this community, and Mae’s journey through it, that makes the return trip worthwhile every time.

Sugar and Spite

Title: Sugar and Spite
Author: M.C. Beaton, R.W. Green
Published: October 14, 2025 by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 256 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Agatha Raisin #36

Blurb: When a series of deaths within the small Cotswolds birdwatching community begins to unravel her village, Agatha and her team at Raisin Investigators are certain there has been foul play involved. Now, they must dig up decades' worth of tempestuous relationships and simmering secrets among the birdwatching enthusiasts of the village in order to prevent any further deaths.

But with Agatha's own relationship with John Glass on the rocks after he is called away on his job as a cruise ship dance instructor, and Sir Charles Fraith now attempting to step into John’s shoes as her lover, Agatha has her work cut out for her.

Agatha will have to break out her binoculars and embrace her bitter side to solve the murders and wrangle the sickly-sweet temptations in her own life. Will she be able to gather all the breadcrumbs and put together the clues before she becomes a sitting duck herself?

My Opinion: I wasn’t prepared for the way this ending landed. It snuck up on me and delivered every emotional beat I didn’t realize I’d been waiting for. Up until then, the book had been a bit uneven—twisty in places, sluggish in others—but that final stretch lifted it from an okay installment into something more satisfying.

I’ve been openly skeptical about R.W. Green continuing the series after M.C. Beaton’s passing. For a long time, it felt like he couldn’t quite capture the sharp, distinctly female perspective that makes Agatha Raisin who she is. But this book surprised me. For the first time, I felt that spark again, the one that makes Agatha both maddening and irresistible.

All the familiar faces are here, and their interactions feel comfortably in step with the long-running series. The new characters tied to the murder, though, were harder to keep straight. I’m not sure if it was the way they were introduced or simply that they blurred together, but I found myself pausing more than once to remember who was who.

As for Agatha’s future, I genuinely don’t know where she goes from here. Maybe we’re seeing the beginnings of a refreshed version of her. Then again, part of her charm is that she never really changes. She’s still the woman who barrels into trouble, emerges from mud puddles with perfect lipstick, and spots a liar from a mile away. That’s why readers keep coming back. No matter how twisty the mystery gets, Agatha remains Agatha, and that’s the real draw.

The Old Fire

Title: The Old Fire
Author: Elisa Shua Dusapin
Translator: Aneesa Abbas Higgins
Published: January 13, 2026, by S&S/Summit Books
Format: Kindle, 192 Pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

Blurb: Agathe leaves New York and returns to her home in the French countryside, after fifteen years away.

She and her sister Véra have not seen each other in all those years, and they carry the weight of their own complicated lives. But now their father has died, and they must confront their childhood home on the outskirts of a country estate ravaged by a nearby fire before it is knocked down. They have nine days to empty it. As the pair clean and sift through a lifetime’s worth of belongings, old memories, and resentments surface.

Tender and tense, haunting and evocative, The Old Fire is Elisa Shua Dusapin’s most personal and moving novel yet. An exploration of time and memory, of family and belonging, it is also a graceful and profound look at the unsaid and the unanswered, the secrets that remain, and whether you can ever really go home again.

My Opinion: Every so often, a book sneaks up on me, and this novel did exactly that. At under 200 pages, it shouldn’t have hit as hard as it did, yet here I am full of feelings, full of questions, and already imagining the kind of conversations it would spark in a book club.

The novel follows two sisters, Agatha and Véra, who reunite after their father’s death to sort through the remnants of their childhood home. Agatha bolted the moment she was old enough, while Véra stayed behind to shoulder the responsibility she left her with. Their week together is a slow excavation of memory with humor tucked beside resentment, tenderness brushing up against old wounds, and a kind of honesty that only siblings can manage. Even so, plenty remains unspoken.

Dusapin threads in the girls’ earlier years with a light but deliberate hand with Véra’s sudden muteness, Agatha’s fierce instinct to protect her, and the mother who walked away without much care for what she left behind. These pieces don’t form a tidy puzzle, but they deepen the emotional terrain the sisters must navigate.

By the end, Dusapin resists the urge to explain everything. Instead, she leaves space for the reader to sit with the unknowns and stitch together meaning on their own. It’s unsettling in the best way. Not everyone will call this a perfect book, but it blindsided me, and now I’m left turning it over in my mind, accepting that some stories aren’t meant to be tied up neatly.

The Hidden City

Title: The Hidden City
Author: Charles Finch
Published: September 6, 2025, by Minotaur Books
Format: Kindle, 288 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Charles Lenox Mysteries #12

Blurb: It's 1879, and Lenox is convalescing from the violent events of his last investigation. But a desperate letter from an old servant forces him to pick up the trail of a cold case: the murder of an apothecary seven years before, whose only clue is an odd emblem carved into the doorway of the building where the man was killed. When Lenox finds a similar mark at the site of another murder, he begins to piece together a hidden pattern which leads him into the corridors of Parliament, the slums of East London, and ultimately the very heart of the British upper class.

At the same time, Lenox must contend with the complexities of his personal life: a surprising tension with his steadfast wife, Lady Jane, over her public support of the early movement for women's suffrage; the arrival of Angela Lenox, a mysterious young cousin from India, with an unexpected companion; the dizzying ascent of his brother, Sir Edmund Lenox, to one of the highest political posts in the land; the growing family of his young partners in detection, Polly and Dallington; and the return of the problems that have long bedeviled one of his closest friends, the dashing Scottish physician Thomas McConnell.

My Opinion: One of the things that I enjoy about a Charles Lenox novel is how it teaches the reader something while telling a good story. Every book offers a bit of history, a touch of vocabulary, a lot of mystery, and a handful of plot threads that resolve at their own pace. This novel may be short in page count, but it does not skimp on the details.

Because there’s been a long gap since the previous book, it takes a moment to settle back in. Once you do, the familiar rhythm returns, and the promise of another installment later this year makes the adjustment easier. The series has never bored me, and with Jane protesting for the right to vote and two new charges now in Lennox’s care, the emotional stakes feel richer than before.

What surprised me most was finding myself sympathizing with a villain. I can’t recall another Lenox novel that pulled that off quite this strongly. The middle section may feel slow for some readers, but the story regains its footing with its well drawn cast and engaging dialogue.

Where Finch will take us next is anyone’s guess, but that uncertainty is part of the fun.