The tone of this historical fiction novel was at first too earnest for my taste, but ultimately I was intrigued by the real-life basis of the Halifax Explosion and the intersecting stories of two women coping with the local accident and crisis, the effects of World War I, societal limitations placed on women, judgment around single motherhood, finding and losing love, and more. I thought I understood what love was, but now I know what it’s not. It’s not being swept off my fee

The Romance Revival is a departure for Christina Lauren; we get a couple who has drifted apart and gets a second chance, but a futuristic, science-fiction twist is key to the plot. The relationship is one to root for, and I really liked the minor mystery, supporting characters, and new direction for the writing pair. Scientist Emery Finch has always been hyper-focused on her top-secret career, but when she fell for landscaper Luca, she fell hard. Their passionate married life

I loved McAllister's first twisty, clever, surprising mystery. This novel left me wanting more plausibility, more development, and more reasons to feel invested in the story of three siblings making morally questionable choices and doing a poor job of sticking to the plan. Siblings Joe, Cathy, and Frannie work together (at the vet practice their mother started), they live very near each other, they have weekly traditions, and now they are vacationing together at their jointly

Historian Beverly Gage chose thirteen pivotal places across our nation to illustrate key points in our history, explore our complicated path to the present day, and inspire our growing stronger as we face our past truths as well as our future. This is fascinating nonfiction, perfect to read during our nation's semiquincentennial year. Beverly Gage is a lifelong historian who traveled across the United States in order to write this work highlighting key points in our history,

Amina al-Sirafi is an irresistible character--spicy, determined, nurturing, cutthroat, loyal, inventive, and unpredictable. In this second novel of adventure, the pirate faces seemingly impossible challenges and must do the unthinkable: rely on others and trust them with her life so she can safely return to her daughter and family. For there are indeed a great many capable, cunning women that the world would prefer to remember as witches. I loved every bit of Chakraborty's fi

Vera Stein fits the bill for summertime escapism; some small moments didn't resonate with me and the pacing didn't always flow, but the retirement community setting is surprisingly sassy and fun for this second-chance romance that blossoms amid retired B-list Hollywood types. "Just because something is offered doesn't mean it's worth taking." Vera Stein has been working below her abilities as an assistant for her college friend, actor, longtime crush, and sometime hookup Brod

The promising premise (normal-everyday romance with a show-business background) unfortunately didn't translate to a story that worked for me; the execution of this romance felt melodramatic, cyclical, and unsatisfying, with details that didn't ring true for me as a reader. AJ is a high schooler in 2000, dreaming of writing for Saturday Night Live, but working at her local video rental store and writing fan fiction with an audience of a few dozen. Then Noah walks in as a new h

In this wonderfully bonkers, darkly funny novel, a dying Jewish matron with rigid views and a litany of disappointments to share with those who caused them experiences drug-induced hallucinations and faces vulnerability as the end of her life draws near. Jewish matron Barbara Greenberg is terminally ill, medicated out of her mind with opioids, and writing down key elements of her life, particularly the laundry list of her failures--including, in her view, her raising of her o

This nearly perfect rom-com hit all the right notes for me. Monaghan's tone was spot-on, and her fake-dating story and characters had me abandoning real-life duties to get back to reading this delightful, banter-filled, layered, lovely novel. Single mom Dolly Brick (her mother was a country music fan) returns to her seaside Rhode Island hometown of Whitfield for the summer to help her hardworking dad with his fish shop, support her brother, who has schizophrenia following a t

I loved the octogenarian main protagonist of Elsie and the darkly funny start to the book. Her heartbreaking history surprised me, as did the revelations at the end of the novel. This was my first Sally Hepworth read but won't be my last. Elsie is an 81-year-old living in a Melbourne suburb, grumbling and mainly keeping to herself, aside from her best friend since childhood, a persistent 7-year-old girl who's determined to befriend her, and Peter, a kind young man across the

Horror isn't my favorite genre, but a medieval-set quest and a battle between good and evil is an irresistible setup for me. I was intrigued by the latter elements while nervously cringing through the former. It's 1348, and Thomas, formerly a knight but now fallen in with brigands, encounters Delphine, a young, innocent girl whose father has died of the Black Death, which is ravishing France. Thomas almost immediately falls back into his honorable past persona, protecting Del

Sophie Chen Keller's love story to music and the bonds between mothers and sons plunges the reader into traumatic loss, hesitant hope, and, ultimately, a heartwarming and heartbreaking resolution in this Beijing-set novel. That was the hollowness chewing at him, reminding him that people weren't birds. They weren't made to be free of all burdens. They claimed their place in the world with the weight of their bones, which kept them from becoming ever more lost. Song is a poor,

Kline takes what might be a voyeuristic-feeling story of two North Carolina sisters (distant relations of hers) who married the world-famous conjoined twins from Siam, Chang and Eng, and builds a suitably complicated set of dynamics; a layered story of hope, emotion, and tragedy; and enough details of the time to bring it all to life. Here's the truth: even the most extraordinary life feels ordinary when you're living it. In The Foursome, Kline offers the imagined day-to-day

Mason plays with the tone of his newest literary fiction, offering vast rural expanses, claustrophobic woods, childlike wonder, growing paranoia, sudden danger, haunting beasts, and the comfort of everyday familial patterns as a backdrop to characters' struggles to grow, adapt, and, in some cases, reimagine their paths. The world trembled in his nostrils. Some of this was new, and some familiar. Closing his eyes, he took it in, all in, and then he pricked his ears and stared

Cronin's heartwarming, charming novel about nonagenarian Eddie and his new, younger best friend offers hope after grief and loss and the possibility of redemption in second chances. Eddie Winston is a 90-year-old gentleman who has loved but somehow has never been kissed. He spends his days working at a charity shop, a benevolent recipient of others' unwanted items, sometimes garbage-level junk, and, often, beloved items with associations so painful, they must be removed from

Stedman takes a remote Australian sheep farm and drops our main protagonists into agonizing scenarios that threaten to break their spirits and ruin them forever. This was a beautifully written tale of anguish, penance, and redemption. A light coating of death dusts any scene you care to observe in the bush.... Death twinkles in this landscape like mineral sand. A Far-Flung Life is an epic family story of generations carving out existence in remote Western Australia, ruled by

The premise of this novel is irresistibly cute as two writers find themselves living and writing about endless romance tropes, but the tone shift and the story's veering into poignant tragedy surprised me and felt out of synch with the beginning of the book. Katie and Tyler were childhood neighbors and friends, on the verge of young love, then devastated, bound together, and pushed apart by a shared tragedy. Years later, they are completely estranged. Katie is a ghostwriter f

I love Amy Bloom's books, but her first foray into mystery writing left me wanting more character development and more resolutions. I love a woman PI, unorthodox investigative methods, and a darkly playful tone, but I ultimately wanted a longer book that let me dig further into Bloom's academia-adjacent world and its secrets. Amy Bloom is the author of one of my favorite historical fiction novels (see below), but she is no stranger to writing in varied genres. In Blunt Instru

Sedaris's first collection of essays in four years offers his delightfully jarring observations and rejection of social niceties, including a hilarious emotional reliance on Duolingo, various entertaining and nerve-racking encounters, and powerfully poignant reflections on his decades-long friendship with his best friend. In David Sedaris's latest book of essays, The Land and Its People, his first in four years, he brings his offbeat humor, acerbic observations, and surprisin

Lex Croucher's foray into dark academia is fantastic, with angst, mature themes, magical adventure, sinister plots, far-reaching repercussions, and a childhood heartbreak that is revisited and revised in heartbreaking, satisfying form. Briar and Sebastian are childhood best friends, but when Sebastian is accepted into the renowned nearby magic school at age 11 and Briar is not, the two have a heartbreaking, fraught split. Briar has always dreamed of attending the Temple Schoo