Tag: books

July 2026–Part Two:

August 1, 2026

Book #56:

The Astral Library by Kate Quinn (304 pages).  I’m a big fan of this author’s historical fiction novels (including The Huntress and The Diamond Eye) so I was excited to pick up her first foray into magical realism. This novel features Alix, a young adult who’s aged out of foster care and is barely making ends meet. She has multiple part-time jobs, including one with the Boston Public Library. Attached to this library is the Astral Library, a magical realm where people seeking refuge from their own lives can literally escape into a book. Alix stumbles into the Astral Library one day and discovers it’s under attack, and Alix may just be the heroine to save it. This is such a fun ride, it’s well-written (and I would expect nothing less from Kate Quinn) and I hope there’s a sequel coming. 5 stars.

Book #57:

One Way by S.J. Morden (Length: 358 pages). This book entered my orbit as a great read for people who enjoyed The Martian but want less discourse on the science behind surviving on Mars and more about how a base can actually be constructed on Maras, so of course I snapped this up. The greedy, money-hungry XO Corp (think: SpaceX) is a corrupt space technology company that convinces the federal government to bankroll their excursion to Mars and also convinces 8 convicts to travel to Mars on a one-way ticket to build the first base for NASA to follow and then populate. One of these convicts is Frank Kittridge, a former architect who shot and killed his son’s drug dealer. The convicts receive training on how to construct the base, are put in a deep sleep, and wake up on Mars. Murder and mayhem quickly ensue, all whilst the building of the base continues. This is a fascinating novel as the author does get into the technology and science required to build a base (again, low-level so it’s not confusing to the average reader) and it’s a lot of fun to follow the construction. The writing is excellent and the plot is very propulsive. It does end on a cliffhanger, but the sequel is also out, in this 2-book series and I immediately downloaded it from my library after I finished this. 5 stars.

Book #58:

Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley (Length: 352 pages).   I hugged this book (my Kindle) after I finished it. I LOVED it! This is a cute novel where the protagonist is a 57-year-old magazine therapist (think: modern-day advice columnist) who commutes via train in London. Iona meets a varied cast of characters during her daily commute, and this novel is about their interactions as well as their own lives and problems. The writing here is clever, with occasional commentary that links a few of the characters’ behaviors, like literary Easter eggs, as well as some lines that made me chuckle out loud. I loved learning about every character, especially Iona, and I wish this novel was even longer as I’d like to spend more time with all of them. This memorable novel is the perfect beach or vacation read. Five stars!

Book #59:

No Way by S.J. Morden (Length: 345 pages). This is Book 2 in the Frank Kittridge series, a sequel to One Way, reviewed above. WOW. This is such a satisfying wrap-up of the events that transpired in Book 1. The character development, the action, the setting are all top-notch here. This would make a fantastic TV series or movie and is especially timely given the ascendancy of Elon Musk’s Space-X. The warnings shouted here by this author should be heeded by our government, as what happened in these books may happen someday in the future. 5 stars!

July 2026–Part One:

July 14, 2026

Book #53:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (864 pages).  This Pulitzer-Prize winning Western novel has been on my TBR for years but its monster-sized length has scared me off. A family trip to Montana earlier this month was the perfect excuse to pull it out and I devoured this tale while in a hammock alongside the Bitterroot River (AKA, a reader’s dream spot to read). The hefty page count belies a very propulsive plot with multiple interesting, fully drawn characters who are on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana, specifically Yellowstone. The way the author refers to people of color and sex workers is very of the time but is a bit jarring to the modern-day reader, so be forewarned. All told, this was a completely immersive read, beautifully told and I will remember this forever. This is officially in my top 3 favorite books, so I’m absolutely glad I decided to finally tackle this masterpiece. 5 solid stars from me.

Book #54:

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller (Length: 301 pages). This book keeps getting recommended to me so I finally picked it up thanks to a $2.99 Kindle daily deal. Lula Dean is the neighborhood “Karen” who marshals banned books as her topic de jour, and in support of encouraging “other” types of reading, installs a free little library in her front yard, stocked with garbage books from the local thrift shop like “Art of the Deal” and “Chicken Soup for the Soul”. An enterprising freethinker quickly rescues the banned library books from storage and replaces the thrift store books with the banned books behind the thrift dust jackets. Thus, unsuspecting readers find themselves reading literary classics such as “Beloved” and gay romances and even Judy Blume, causing them to challenge their own mistakenly held beliefs. I thought the concept here is a lot of fun, and I appreciated that it’s essentially an anti-MAGA playbook via a fun story. Where it falls short for me is its execution: the writing is a bit stilted and one-note and it makes me think of an adult version of those Mrs. Piggle Wiggle kids’ books where each chapter covers an etiquette or manners lesson via a cute story. Overally, I found this to be an impactful, enjoyable read. 4 stars from me.

Book #55:

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey (Length: 329 pages).   I adore Tessa Bailey for my brain candy reads, as they are always full of heart and solid writing, and her ancillary characters are typically former romantic leads in previous books, or they are leads we will see in future books. Here, in the #4 book in the Big Shots series, Skylar Paige is a Division 1 softball pitcher who enters into a fake dating scheme with Robbie Corrigan, a Bear Cat professional hockey player rookie who is mentioned in Book #2 The Au Pair Affair (reviewed here). The banter, chemistry and writing are all solid and this is another fun rom-com to throw in your beach bag. 3.5 stars.

June 2026–Part Two:

July 5, 2026

Book #50:

Five by Ilona Bannister (221 pages).  I was excited to get my hands on such a buzzy book but went in with low expectations. They were surpassed–by a lot! This is such an interesting concept and structure here where five people are waiting for a train, and you, as the reader, are told from the outset that within 5 minutes, one of them will be dead. The story then is told in alternating flashbacks, as we learn about each of the five people, one, a young child. NONE of these characters are easy to root for, and you aren’t supposed to like any of them. The author’s writing style is reminiscent of Fredrik Backman, who I ADORE, but if you find his style annoying, you may want to skip this fast, short summer read. I loved it. 5 easy stars!

Book #51:

Confessions by Kanae Minato (Length: 210 pages). This fantastic psychological thriller MUST be read on audio. A middle-school teacher’s 4-year-old daughter is murdered by 2 of the teacher’s students, and this tightly plotted novel begins with her outing them to their classmates, while outlining her macabre punishment. There are a few twists and turns and the writing is excellent. It’s a fast read/quick listen and was difficult to put down. 5 stars.

Book #52:

The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs (Length: 329 pages).   This is a mystery with a dark humor bent, that is a bit madcap in parts and is a whole lot of fun! The premise here is there are 3 friends in their 60s who concoct a plan to hire a hitman to knock off their husbands to collect on their life insurance policies, after being inspired to do so when the 4th friend in their group loses her husband due to a tragic accident. When Marlene is able to jet off to Florida to retire, the game is afoot. This is a shockingly fun story, with lots of silly coincidences that line up to ensure it’s not violent by any means. 4 stars for a fun summer read.

June 2026–Part One:

June 16, 2026

Book #45:

The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline (376 pages).  I was excited to pick up this historical fiction novel about the real-life Siamese twins, Eng and Chang Bunker, who married and lived with two sisters in the mid-19th century in North Carolina. This is a sweeping family saga covering 50 years, which is in my reading wheelhouse. There are obviously some harder themes here such as slavery, racism, and the civil war. These themes, along with gender roles, are explored by sensitivity by the author and this book is very well-written. I could not put it down and I really enjoyed this quick read. 5 stars from me!

Book #46:

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey(Length: 380 pages). This fun rom-com is the second in the Big Shot series and features best friends of the couple in the Fangirl Down book which I reviewed here. If you’re new to this series, I’d definitely start with the first book. In this one, Tallulah becomes an au pair for Burgess, a single dad to a 12-year-old daughter and a famous hockey player. The leads enjoy the same fun banter that this author is known for, and their chemistry leaps off the page. I enjoyed the glimpses of a professional hockey player’s life, and this is a good complement to the current Heated Rivalry and Off Campus shows on TV now. A fun beach read! 3.5 stars.

Book #47:

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (Length: 391 pages).  This popular novel is about a “tradwife” who essentially goes viral online; the plot alternates between present day and flashbacks to where it all started. Present day the protagonist Natalie, wakes up in her same house with her same husband and children in the early 1900s, but the husband and children are “different” from the ones in modern day. Now, Natalie is living the same “tradwife” life she portrays online but without the modern conveniences that are hidden from her social media audience and without the two nannies and her social media assistant/producer. This is a very gritty and at times disturbing account of both timelines but is well-written and is propulsive. There are some negative reviews out there about the ending of this book, but I thought it wrapped up both timelines well. The tradwife life does NOT come across well, which I appreciated as a modern feminist. 4.5 stars

Book #48:

The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez (Length: 399 pages). I adore this author and her writing style. She writes banter so well and the chemistry between the two romantic leads is always believable, in my opinion. This book features many of the same characters from prior books as she’s known to include, and here Chris and Larissa are featured. Chris is a pharmacist and Larissa is working several part-time jobs trying to make ends meet, while dating Chris’s well-meaning best friend who is a bit of a clueless mess. The forbidden dating/lovers trope works well here, and I think the author treats Larissa’s anaphylactic peanut allergy with the appropriate care that it deserves. (Some reviews dinged this novel for this aspect of the book, but since I have a family member with the same allergy, I get the level of danger and I’m glad to see it showcased here). Bonus points for the cool animal, as always. Here’s it’s a rescue pup named Woofarine. 5 stars from me!

Book #49:

No One’s Coming by Kevin Hazzard (Length: 336 pages). This non-fiction book was recommended by one of my favorite book podcasts, Sarah’s Bookshelves Live. Phoenix Air is a private airplane service that no one’s heard of, but they’ve been a major player behind many events in our country’s history. Here, the author details the rescue of two American medical volunteers who are in the midst of a huge Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and who become infected themselves. With no one to care for them and the odds of rescue increasingly small, the US government asks this scrappy, intrepid band of pilots, engineers and medical crew to transport the 2 Americans back to the US before the 8-day timeline (organ failure and death) expires. This has never been done before, so you are getting a front row seat in this narrative nonfiction account of what boots on the ground truly looked like. A total nail-biter, excellent writing and an unforgettable plot. 5 huge stars from me. Would make an excellent Father’s Day gift, or a gift for anyone who enjoys an adventure/rescue account. This gave me the same feeling as reading Into Thin Air.

May 2026–Part Two:

June 1, 2026

Book #40:

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff (288 pages).  I hugged this perfect novel as soon as I was finished. This is a sprawling family saga where the author features the point of view of 3 main characters (one at a time) throughout their relationships and their lives. The writing quality is excellent here, yet always accessible. It reads as literary fiction but EASY. The character development is stellar, and the author leaves no stone unturned with regard to each main character’s motivations and inner thoughts. You as a reader quickly come to root for these people and are invested in what happens to them. This is a FULL five stars from me; I get the hype and why this novel was such a favorite for so many readers last year.

Book #41:

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden (Length: 239 pages). This memoir is everywhere so I wanted to see what all of the fuss is about. For those who’ve been living under a rock, the author’s husband told her in the first week of Covid lockdown that he was leaving her after 20 years of marriage AND he didn’t want custody (legal or physical) of their 3 kids. The author’s family is VERY wealthy (reports indicate the author’s family trust fund is 60 some million dollars) and the family is a part of Martha’s Vineyard and NYC society, so the glimpses of this life are fascinating. Her writing is excellent and I couldn’t stop reading. I do think the author is self-aware, especially of her privilege, and you can’t help but root for her and her family to be okay. 3.5 stars.

Book #42:

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (Length: 101 pages).  This is novella 1 in the author’s Dorothy Gentleman trilogy. I listened to this on audio and it’s absolutely the way to go with this fun, cozy murder mystery set on board an interstellar spaceship heading to another planet. The narrator, Dorothy Gentleman, is one of the ship’s onboard detectives and she wakes up in a different body just as a (rare) murder has occurred. Passengers on this voyage are able to store their memories in the ship’s library to give their bodies a rest, and this conceit is what makes this fun little mystery work. I’ll absolutely continue on with this trilogy the next time I’m in need of a cozy mystery. 4 stars.

Book #43:

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (Length: 493 pages). This initial book in a fantasy duology is SO MUCH FUN! A retired female pirate in middle age takes one last job to rescue a kidnapped girl in order to earn a payday that will set up her own little family for generations to come. The tone here is fun, the adventure is top-notch, the camaraderie of her crew made me smile and the writing is excellent. There’s some magical realism and the author’s vivid storytelling made this so difficult for me to put down each day. I have already procured the second one in the series . . . released a few weeks ago. 5 full stars from me.

Book #44:

Start at the End by Emma Grey (Length: 389 pages). This is a Sliding Doors-esque romance which is very sad (fair warning!) but ends on a more hopeful note. The main characters are a classical music composer and a climate scientist; they are fully drawn and the plot is propulsive. The story splits into two different directions about midway through and this gives this romance more depth than the average novel, but I found the writing quality to be a bit cheesy in places, which was distracting. I know some readers love her writing, so this is likely a “me” thing. 3.5 stars from me.