September 2025–Part One

September 15, 2025

Book #59:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 2 by Beth Brower (Length: 164 pages).  Clearly, I’m loving this series that seems to be everywhere on Bookstagram and various book podcasts. Here, in the second volume, Emma is getting more settled into her life at Lapis Lazuli house. The same characters that were in the first volume are here which is nice, as the focus in this volume is more on the plot. Now the plot is essentially Emma’s daily life but her antics are still on full display here. Emma doesn’t feel the need to act as a typical woman would in 1880s London; for example, she doesn’t have a chaperone, as she doesn’t feel the need for one. The writing is excellent, and the character development is where this author truly shines. Another 5 stars from me.

Book #60:

Bento Box in the Heartland by Linda Furiya (Length: 321 pages). This is a food memoir I’ve had on my bookshelf for quite a while and in the interests of clearing my shelves, I finally picked it up. The author writes about growing up in Versailles, Indiana, in the 1960s and 1970s, a town so small, she and her family were the only Japanese-Americans who lived there. Told through the various meals and foods her mother made for the family, Linda explores what it was like growing up during this time period in middle America, including the racism she and her family experienced. The writing quality here is mid-level but it’s still an interesting read. I enjoyed her food descriptions the most, and I am passing the book on to someone I know who would enjoy this account. Three stars from me.

Book #61

The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw (Length: 286 pages).   This is a non-fiction account written by the only female swordfish captain in America, the captain of the Hannah Boden. The author and her ship were referenced in Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm (an account of the tragic loss of the Andrea Gale fishing boat). Here, the author intersperses an account of a “typical” 30-day swordfish run in international fishing waters in the Atlantic Ocean with snippets of her personal history. This is very well-written and very propulsive. She gets into the nuts and bolts of what it takes to operate a fishing boat, and her perspective as a female captain is riveting. She is a phenomenal writer (taking a year to write this book, she comments that running a fishing boat is actually easier than writing a book) and I enjoyed every page here. 5 stars.

Book #62:

One’s Company by Ashley Hutson (Length: 272 pages).  I listened to this one and the narrator is great. Now, this is a bleak book with a strange premise. A young woman win’s the nation’s largest lottery in history and uses the proceeds to reconstruct the entire “world” of the TV show “Three’s Company”, down to the entire apartment building, furnished exactly as it is in the show, down to period-specific daily newspapers. There is some traumatic history here which is obviously driving this, but the pacing and writing are top-notch. Ultimately, the narrator Bonnie isn’t causing harm to anyone else by doing this and we are along for the ride. Riveting account but it’s a bit unnerving to follow along at times. 4 stars.

Book #63:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 3 by Beth Brower (Length: 229 pages). Clearly I’m a fan of this series and it just keeps getting better. In this installment, Emma gets invited to a society ball on her own and not as a foil to help her better suited cousin find a husband. There are so many laugh out loud lines here, and Emma’s innate intelligence and her grit make her a truly well-rounded and likable heroine. There are 5 more volumes in this series so far, and I’m intending to read all of them so fair warning. 😉. Five stars, once again.

August 2025–Part Two

September 1, 2025

Book #55:

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams (Length: 338 pages).  This is the second novel in the When in Rome romance series. Will, the bodyguard to pop star Amelia from Book 1, and Anne, flower shop owner and soon-to-be sister-in-law to Amelia, take part in the fake dating trope here. It’s cheesy, but there’s a reason it’s used so often in romances–because it works. I loved the townspeople and the fun banter here. (The scene at the Little League game had me laughing out loud). There are some annoying edits that were missed which are so distracting (ie, pumping the “breaks”) but those aside, I really enjoyed this fun read. Four stars.

Book #56:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion-Volume 1 by Beth Brower (Length: 127 pages). What a fun read! I heard about this series on a few different book podcasts, so I decided to give the first volume a try, and I’m SO glad I did. These are the delightful “journals” of a young woman living in 1883 London. Emma is a feisty and likeable protagonist with a quirky sense of humor. This one is a VERY quick read, but apparently the volumes get longer as the series develops which is a great thing. You will not be able to stop at volume 1 if you’re anything like me. My local library doesn’t have this series yet, which is a downer, but the entire series is available on Kindle Unlimited if you have access that way. A solid five stars from me.

Book #57:

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (Length: 336 pages).  This is a memoir written by the award-winning poet, Maggie Smith. The focus here is the author discovering her husband’s infidelity, and her recovery from that. Told in essays or vignettes, the author looks back at how they started and tries to discover what went wrong. The writing is (obviously) gorgeous here, with no sentence wasted. The entire memoir is about divorce, however, so it may not be for every reader. However, there is so much to ponder and learn about oneself, even if you’re not going through a divorce yourself. (Also, this would make an excellent gift for someone you care about who is going through one, if you think they’d benefit from it). 4 stars.

Book #58:

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley (Length: 383 pages).  This book is so much FUN! It’s a romantasy, heavier on the fantasy, world-building, and quite chaste when it comes to the romance part. (Although in no universe is the writing PG or even PG-13). Two sworn enemies are forced to work together to overcome their own obstacles. For her, it’s to find funding for a vaccine for a pox killing children, and for him, to save his magic and by extension, his life. She’s a scientist and he’s an assassin for hire, and their chemistry is fantastic, if extremely slow building. The writing is so strong here, with witty banter and lushly drawn worlds. There are so many laugh out loud lines and clever wordplay (various pubs serve as way stones for travel between places and their names are fantastic). This does end on a bit of a cliffhanger as it’s a duology. Five stars from me!

August 2025–Part One

August 28, 2025

Book #52:

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny (Length: 425 pages).  This is Book #19 of this author’s Three Pines mystery series featuring the esteemed head of homicide in Quebec: Armand Gamache. I’m obsessed with this series and this author and while this isn’t my favorite of the series (by a long shot), I never regret reading one of Louise Penny’s novels. This particular novel involves eco-terrorism, specifically the aspect of poisoning the domestic water supply. There are entirely too many characters to keep straight here, for my liking, so I’m glad I read this one in print instead of struggling through the audio version. The build up to the action is slow here, but the ending is very exciting with a cliffhanger. (Her 20th novel in this series is The Black Wolf). Not a lot of time is spent in Three Pines here, which makes me sad, but a few of the characters DO visit the monastery featured in my favorite book of the series, #9: A Beautiful Mystery. Overall, I’ll give this a solid 4 stars from me because Louise Penny can do no wrong, in my eyes.

Book #53:

Murder in the Dollhouse by Rich Cohen (Length: 353 pages). I had heard about this book being an excellent true-crime book and what I heard is correct. This is fantastic, but so, so sad. Jennifer Dulos was the uber-wealthy heiress who married Fotis Dulos, a Greek immigrant who didn’t come from money, but who was charming and charismatic. You learn in the first few pages that Fotis murdered Jennifer so there’s no mystery here. Instead, the author sets the scene and tries to determine the why of what happened, to the extent anyone can truly do this. The author does a fantastic job of setting the scene and giving the reader the backgrounds of this couple. This was very well-paced and hard to put down. The couple left 5 children behind, and Jennifer’s body still hasn’t been found, which are just 2 reasons why this is so heart-breaking. Solid 4.5 stars from me

Book #54:

Leave Only Footprints by Conor Knighton (Length: 322 pages).   In my quest to read all of the good books involving hiking, the outdoors and national parks, I listened to this fantastic read on audio. This is the very interesting account of the author’s visit to every national park in the United States in his attempt to get over a failed engagement. While his accounts are surface level on many parks, likely due to space and time constraints, I really enjoyed his stories, anecdotes and historical tidbits he included throughout this book. This is great on audio and would make excellent listening during a road trip, or even a walk or hike. 4 stars.

July 2025–Part Two

August 1, 2025

Book #49:

The Favorites by Layne Fargo (Length: 433 pages).  This is billed as a novel about revenge, sabotage and romance through the lens of ice dancing and is a favorite of many readers. There’s a lot of drama, on almost every page, with the thru line of the protagonist, Katarina, determined to win an Olympic gold medal, come hell or high water. I will say that overall, this is a fun and frothy read, so it’s perfect for the pool or the beach, but I honestly could not stand the protagonist and found it hard to root for her (and to care whether or not she earned that medal). 3.5 stars from me.

Book #50:

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Length: 291 pages). I ADORE this epistolary novel so much. This well-written novel tells the story of Sybil’s life told solely via her letters to various people (friends, family, authors, former coworkers). Sybil is a retired attorney and judicial law clerk and she’s very self-aware, which is refreshing. As cranky as she can be, she’s supremely lovable (and beloved). This is such a memorably story and way to tell her story and this would be great discussion fodder for a book club. It’s a short and fast read too, and easy to consume in a few sittings. 5 solid stars from me.

Book #47:

The Names by Florence Knapp (Length: 336 pages).   Bear, Julian and Gordon . . . these are the 3 different names that the baby’s mother Cora is considering for her child. There are three storylines, each based on what happens to the child (and Cora) based on which name he bears and the author checks in with the child (and his family) every 7 years. I absolutely LOVED this book. Domestic abuse is the thru line of this novel and starts from the jump, but it’s not the main narrative and it isn’t too graphic. How these three storylines evolve is a literary feat and I could not stop reading. It’s like a choose your own adventure/life but make it literary fiction. I can’t stop thinking about (or recommending) this incredible novel. 5 stars from me.

July 2025–Part One

July 15, 2025

Book #45:

The Only One Left by Riley Sager (Length: 400 pages).  Like many readers, I am hot and cold on this author as they’ve turned out some winners and some true duds. In this mystery, a young woman is hired as a caregiver for an older woman who is accused of killing her family 50 years prior. (In fact, there’s a creepy nursery rhyme that the locals chant about the horrific murders . . . a la Lizzy Borden). Leonora Hope, the older woman, is mute and can only move her left hand (and thus is able to type). Caregiver Kit is curious about whether Leonora did, in fact, kill her family, and her investigation drives the plot. The twist here is very clever, and I enjoyed the wild ride. It didn’t ever lag for me, and I thought the writing is strong. 4 stars.

Book #46:

Ascension by Nicholas Binge (Length: 352 pages). This is an odd novel: part thriller/mystery, part science fiction and it features Harold Tunsmore, a physicist who is invited on a mountaineering expedition on a brand-new mountain that no one has ever seen before. This mountain, which has appeared out of the ocean and is taller than even Mount Everest, is the scene of a prior expedition where all but 2 people have died. One of the 2 survivors happens to be Harold’s ex-wife. There are scary monsters and a creeping sense of dread here . . . both are elements I enjoy in my horror novels. On balance, I’d say this is well-written, memorable and weird, and I still can’t decide if I’ve actually enjoyed it. 3 stars.

Book #47:

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Length: 406 pages).  After loving this author’s American Wife, I was excited to pick up this novel, one of her earlier works. Lee Fiora, a scholarship student from South Bend, Indiana, attends Ault School, a very prestigious boarding school outside of Boston in the 1980s, and this is her account of all 4 years there, written from her perspective as a young adult. Lee is a VERY insecure teenager and is not likeable (like many teenagers) and most of this novel is entirely too navel-gazing, but that’s also sort of the point. This novel is propulsive and very readable (much like American Wife) and cements this author as someone I’ll continue to read. (I also read Romantic Comedy but that wasn’t a favorite). 4 stars from me, but if you’re a reader who has to like the protagonist, skip this one.

Book #48:

Say Everything by Ione Skye (Length: 304 pages).  I listened to this memoir by the female lead in the iconic 1987 move “Say Anything”. I had read it’s a fantastic read on audio, and that’s absolutely correct. A must listen for any self-respecting Gen X-er, this is a very self-aware memoir by a woman who was raised by a single mom in the music/Hollywood scene. Ione is very open about her relationships with musicians here, namely Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys. Well-written and a fun look behind the scenes of the 80s and 90s movie and music scenes. 4 stars.