Category: Uncategorized

May 2025–Part One

May 14, 2025

Book #29:

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld(Length: 573 pages).  I’ve had this book on my shelves for almost 15 years and I just now have picked it up. I shouldn’t have waited as long as I did because I love it! Loosely based on Laura Bush, this isn’t gossipy, but it is a literary, fictionalized telling of what the author thinks Laura and her life were like. This book touches on only a handful of real-life events that actually happened, one of which is the tragedy that occurred when she was in high school. The writing here is wonderful (no surprise given the author), and I enjoyed all of the details of the character’s life. This is one of the rare novels where I was thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it, and I couldn’t wait to pick it up. While it’s lengthy, it didn’t feel long. A full 5 stars from me!

Book #30:

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Length: 321 pages). This is yet another novel that’s been stuck on my TBR list, and this backlist gem is book 1 (published in 2003!) in a 18-book series featuring a plucky female investigator working in London, post-World War I. This was a bit slow to start for me (and I actually set it aside twice) but I’m so glad I picked it back up. Maisie takes on a case involving potential marital infidelity and something about the case occurs that leads her (and the last third of the novel) in a different direction. The author then starts with Maisie’s early years as a child, and this is where the story really picked up for me and I loved learning about what makes Maisie tick. World War I plays a part as does the aftermath of the soldiers’ (and others who served in the war) lives. I really enjoyed this and I’m planning on reading further into the series very soon. A solid 4 stars from me.

Book #31:

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Length: 427 pages).  This novel is vastly different than Henry’s previous novels which are standard rom-coms and beach reads. Here, Hayden and Alice “compete” for the right to write the memoir of Margaret Ives, an icon born into a media empire family, who married a rock star (known as the poor man’s Elvis); Margaret disappeared from public view for decades, so this memoir will make Alice’s career and will cement Hayden (a Pulitzer-prize winning memoirist) as one of the best of his generation. So, the enemies-to-lovers trope competes with a historical fiction book within a book of sorts here, and I think it really works. I also enjoyed the Georgia island setting, and Emily Henry’s fantastic writing (dialogue, chemistry, character development) is on display to great effect. A solid five-star winner for me!

April 2025–Part Two

May 2, 2025

Book #25:

Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten (Length: 317 pages).  I read this memoir, but I’ve heard that audio is really the way to go here. I’m not necessarily a big Ina Garten fan but I do appreciate memoirs written by successful businesswomen and this certainly meets the bill. Ina has such an interesting back story regarding how she started her empire. She’s clearly savvy when it comes to business, and I enjoyed her concrete examples of specific business decisions she made that affected the arc of her long career. Her stories about her husband Jeffrey are also fun to read. A solid 4 stars from me here. Would make a great Mother’s Day gift too.

Book #26:

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez (Length: 361 pages). This is yet another FANTASTIC Abby Jimenez romance. Here, veterinarian Xavier shares a fabulous first date with mustard company PR whiz Samantha, and then the next day Sam has to leave the state for good. Sam’s mom has early dementia (at age 54!) and needs full-time care, so Sam moves to CA from Minnesota to help the rest of the family take care of her mom. The chemistry and banter between Xavier and Sam are top-notch and the dementia storyline is treated with Abby’s trademark care and sensitivity. (She’s known for her in-depth research into these topics). I absolutely adored this book and hugged it when I was done. 5 stars.

Book #27:

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino (Length: 338 pages).  Adina is an alien from another planet who is born from a human (a single mother living in Philadelphia). This novel is told via Adina’s experiences as a human, with summaries and commentary sent to her alien “superiors” via an old-fashioned fax machine. This is so well-written (minus a few annoying misspelled words) and is so poignant and revelatory about the human experience. The “alien” portion is 1% of this novel, and the rest is truly a beautifully written coming of age novel that is so unique and therefore, memorable. Would make a great book club book. 4 stars.

Book #28:

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren (Length: 367 pages).  Another favorite rom-com author (a duo actually) has written yet another fantastic romance. This one has Pretty Woman vibes thanks to billionaire Liam Weston, heir to a grocery store dynasty, needs to show up at his sister’s wedding at a luxurious private island with a plus one, his fake wife to whom he’s been fake married for the past 5 years, in order to cash into his inheritance/trust fund. Enter Anna Green, a college friend of Liam’s younger brother who helped Anna “marry” Liam almost 5 years ago to get access to cheap family housing in college. Anna is desperate for money to help pay her father’s medical bills and says yes to the scheme. The island setting here is magical, the chemistry between Liam and Anna is believable from the jump (mostly due to Anna’s fun personality) and the family drama is angsty without being too fraught with tension. This is a memorable, fun read that would be PERFECT on vacation. 4.5 stars from me.

April 2025–Part One

April 28, 2025

Book #21:

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County by Claire Swinarski (Length: 267 pages).  This is a sweet, feel-good novel about a group of elderly Catholic church ladies in the small town of Northwoods, who cook massive feasts of casseroles and desserts for every funeral in their town. Esther, one of the afore-mentioned ladies, who is facing losing her family home (due to an embarrassing circumstance) and her granddaughter Iris, are the focus of this book. Both love men who suffer from PTSD and part of this story is about the dynamics that occur in romantic relationships. Those parts aren’t easy to read but the overall story arc is really sweet (yet not saccharine) and this is well-written, with perfect pacing. I raced through it. 4 solid stars from me.

Book #22

Jane and Dan At the End of the World by Colleen Oakley (Length: 368 pages). This is the third novel by this author I’ve read so far, and it’s my favorite. Jane and Dan go to an uber-exclusive restaurant (courtesy of a raffle they randomly won) where a hostage situation develops exactly as Jane tells Jan she wants a divorce after almost 2 decades of marriage. The kicker? The developing situation mirrors her first novel she got published (with lackluster numbers). This is laugh-out-loud funny, very well-written, and fast-paced. The premise is memorable because it’s so unusual. I was smiling during most of the novel. Five stars from me.

Book #23:

You Like it Darker by Stephen King (Length: 510 pages).  King has collated a diverse collection of short stories here. Some are much longer and some are very short, but each is well-written, and I enjoyed each one. My favorites in the bunch are “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream” which is about a psychic dream Danny (a high school janitor) has which results in him being accused of a murder, “Rattlesnakes” which is about yes, rattlesnakes, and dead twin boys who won’t go away and “The Answer Man” who is a modern-day genie who answers questions about your life, if you ask them the correct way. King, as always, is such a solid writer, and I enjoyed every minute I spent with this collection. 5 stars!

Book #24:

How to Have a Happy Birthday by Tamar Hurwitz-Fleming (Length: 148 pages).  I was gifted this book (along with its companion workbook) by the publisher. I enjoyed this easy-to-read volume full of ideas on how to reframe how to think of your birthday once you are an adult. The author skillfully helps you to figure out the basis for any negative feelings you may be harboring about this special day via various anecdotes and stories. She parcels out concrete tips on how to “have a happy birthday”. This would be a fun gift idea to a birthday grinch in your life . . . just be sure to gift it to them a month or so before, so they maximize their enjoyment based on these tips.

March 2025

March 31, 2025

Book #15:

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson (Length: 340 pages).  I’ve read a few mysteries by this author, so I was excited to get my hands on this one. This is loosely based on the Agatha Christie novel And Then There Were None in that nine people receive a list of names in the mail with their name on it, and one by one they are killed off by a nameless murderer who remains unknown until the very end. The resolution is interesting but ultimately a bit disappointing after the suspenseful build-up. The changing points of view of the various characters aren’t difficult to keep track of (although I can’t imagine it would be easy to do so in an audiobook version). Overall, I’ll give this mystery 4 stars because I enjoyed the ride.

Book #16:

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson (Length: 433 pages). This is a quirky post-WWI novel set in a town in England on the sea. The focus of this novel is the eponymous club and Constance, a young woman who needs to work to support herself, but who is mingling with female members of society who don’t. This was pretty slow to start (and I almost DNF’d) but my desire to find out what happened to Constance made me pick it back up and I’m so glad I did as the action picks up about halfway through and then I couldn’t put it down. This is a fascination examination of the plight of women who are left jobless and without purpose after their wartime jobs are taken back by the soldiers returning home. The writing is strong and often lyrical and overall, I enjoyed this look at a very specific slice of life and time period in England’s history. 4.5 stars.

Book #17:

A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko (Length: 505 pages).  This non-fiction account of author and his photographer friend hiking the entire length of the Grand Canyon National Park (700 miles!) had me literally gasping in shock the first few pages. What a read!! I adored The Emerald Mile (Kevin’s historical account of the fastest rafting trip down the Grand Canyon) and his skillful writing in on full display once again in this entertaining, harrowing, frustrating and humorous book. I came away from this fully inspired to tackle my annual (and much shorter) hike in the Grand Canyon this month, and I found some fellow readers along the trail who also enjoyed this as much as I did. This would be a fantastic gift for anyone who enjoys adventure tales or books about hiking and nature. 5 stars!

Book #18:

Plainsong by Kent Haruf (Length: 320 pages).  Finding myself in the mood for some solid literary fiction, I finally picked up this National Book Award Finalist (book 1 of 3) featuring a community in the small town of Holt, Colorado. The author skillfully weaves various members of the community together and does it so beautifully here. Characters such as Tom Guthrie, the American History teacher at the local high school and his young sons Bobby and Ike, who have a paper route, causing them to interact with everyone in town. Victoria Robideaux is a young, pregnant high school student, and her teacher Maggie Jones is Tom’s co-worker and Victoria’s savior. My favorite characters, however, are the elderly bachelor farmers, the McPheron brothers, who immediately stole my heart. This novel is memorable, never saccharine and truly is a work of great literature. 5 solid stars from me.

Book #19:

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn (Length: 385 pages).  This is the fourth or fifth novel I’ve read by this author. I believe I got this one as part of the Amazon Prime free books and just hadn’t gotten around to it. This author is known for writing rom-coms with emotional depth and this novel is no exception, Jessie, her 18 year old half-sister Tegan, along with a podcasting duo of Salem Durant (think “Serial” level fame) and her assistant/partner Adam Hawkins set off on a trip to find the young women‘s mother who is believed to have run off with a notorious con man (the subject of Salem’s hit podcast). The plot is a bit confusing in the beginning, but it’s worth sticking with it, if only for the central romance. The chemistry is believable, the romantic developments are realistic, and the novel is really beautifully written. 4 stars from me. (Deducting one star for the slower start).

Book #20:

Tilt by Emma Pattee (Length: 240 pages). This book seems to be everywhere right now. Billed as psychological literary fiction, this short novel features Annie, a 37-week pregnant woman shopping for a baby crib in IKEA when the “Big One” (the Cascadia earthquake–a real-life pending 9.0 earthquake that will decimate the West Coast) hits. Set entirely over the course of one day, Annie tries to walk across the devastated city to find her husband, while alternating chapters flash back to Annie’s life. I am not a fan of Annie at all. I found her to be entirely too whiny and navel-gazing, but I was able to empathize with her and her situation thanks to the very vivid and skillful writing of the author. I literally read this book start to finish in a few hours because I had to find out what happens to Annie and her baby. I found the ending to be unsatisfying initially, but then after a few hours, thought that it had to end this way based on everything that came before. A solid 4 stars from me.

February 2025–Part Two

March 30, 2025

Book #12:

The Undercurrent by Sarah Sawyer (Length: 279 pages).  This is a literary mystery, with the emphasis on literary. This is about Bee and Gus, twins in a Texas town, and when they are 15 years old, a neighborhood girl goes missing. Slow-moving, but beautifully told, this novel features alternating timelines as well as various points of view. Bee is a new mother in the present-day timeline, and the other viewpoints are in the past, including Bee, her mother and Leo (the twins’ best friend’s) mother. This is very well-written, and I enjoyed the resolution. Trigger warning for miscarriage, and there are other tough themes but those are all off the page. A solid 4 stars from me.

Book #13:

The Off Limits Rule by Sarah Adams (Length: 322 pages). This is a cute rom-com (the first in a duology) featuring a single mom who moves back home and stays with her older, very protective brother. And of course, her brother’s best friend is known as a player, so he’s “off limits” to Lucy. But of course Cooper is impossibly hot, and charming, and kind to Lucy’s son, so a secret romance occurs. The chemistry between Lucy and Cooper is believable on the page, the 4 year old son is adorable and the writing is solid. Nothing special but a fun way to spend an afternoon. 3.5 stars.

Book #14:

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak (Length: 352 pages).  I enjoyed this author’s previous mystery Hidden Pictures, so I was excited to pick this one up. The protagonist is a middle-class UPS driver dad who is contacted by his adult daughter, Maggie, after a 3 yearlong estrangement, and Maggie surprises her dad with the news that she’s marrying the uber-wealthy Aidan Gardner, the son of the founder of the mysterious company where Maggie works: Capaciti. So, Frank heads to a palatial private estate in New Hampshire to join the festivities. The foreshadowing is a bit aggressive here and I figured it out way too early for my liking. But it’s an enjoyable, FAST read (I read it in one sitting) and I will remember the central mystery and plot. A solid 4 stars from me.