Six Four-Star (and Up) Bossy Science Fiction Reads I realize I just said this last week regarding mysteries, but really, doesn't the cold...

ICYMI: Food critic and writer Ruth Reichl recounts her time at Gourmet magazine--the childhood reading of which had inspired her...

The first in Jensen's fantasy series ticked many of my boxes--strong female main character, a tension-filled Chosen One premise, a fight...

Aitken's story of a strong, crafty, fearless woman in 1200s Ireland is based upon the real figure of Alice Kyteler, whose power and...

Sarah Rees Brennan offers a funny, dark, clever story within a story in which the heroes and villains are redefined, redemption is always...

Smith's historical fiction story in two timelines equally powerfully evokes the bleak Dutch winters of the 17th century and grimy,...

The historical fiction story about the building of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, had a romantic element that was...

In the third Emma Makepeace novel, British spy Emma goes rogue in order to save world leaders and prevent an assassination at the hands...

Among the Bros is a disturbing true story of increasing greed, shocking carelessness with human life, drug addiction, tragic turns and...

I'm intrigued by a missing-persons story, and I'm a fan of Emiko Jean's writing. The Return of Ellie Black was a disturbing setup...

Annis is a young Southern woman enslaved, sold, and abused in the years before the Civil War. In Let Us Descend , she leans on the...

I was hooked on the behind-the-scenes feeling of Moran's historical-fiction conversations between Maria von Trapp and an assistant to...

This historical fiction story in two timelines introduces the little-known real-life figure of librarian Jessie Carson, who traveled from...

I love Peter Heller's books, and Burn offers a wonderfully complicated friendship, meaningful connections to nature, momentous secrets,...

Thorpe's irresistible character of 19-year-old Margo discovers her strength, drive, creativity, and vulnerability after becoming...

Percival Everett's James is a fascinating retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of enslaved Black character...

The Paradise Problem is the perfect light fiction read to close out the summer, with a high-stakes fake marriage, comeuppances for the...

Elizabeth Strout examines the range of characters from her many books and their intersecting stories, their imperfections, and their...

The fantasy-science-fiction novel Moonbound spans time and splits into several stories, for me never quite gelling into a coherent tale I...

A leviathan lurks in the ocean, threatening destruction on a grand scale, while an unorthodox, brilliant investigator and her stalwart...