

Review of The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club #2) by Richard Osman
Book two of the series sees our septuagenarian characters each trekking their own paths while working cooperatively to solve a new mystery. They show vulnerability and strength, use their instincts and smarts to outsmart criminals, and grow. I laughed while listening to this one; Osman's series has me hooked. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are septuagenarians feeling let down after the thrills, danger, and success of their first solved mystery (related in The Thursday Murd
Dec 11, 2025


Review of Awake: A Memoir by Jen Hatmaker
Jen Hatmaker's memoir explores her shock, grief, then growth after the end of her marriage, which she tells in her signature bold, frank, lionhearted manner while always displaying her deep love for her family and friends. Jen Hatmaker, who was married before she could legally have a drink and who built her identity as a woman dedicated to her family, her religion, and her community, found her world turned upside down when she discovered in 2020 that her husband of over 25 ye
Nov 19, 2025


Review of Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan
Ryan builds a vivid small-town Irish setting with its gloomy, then alarming, descent into corruption. The twenty-one points of view were...
Oct 2, 2025


Review of Sunny Side Up by Katie Sturino
I loved Sunny's body positivity and her self-made-woman status. I didn't fully buy into one of her love interests but was hooked on the...
Jun 18, 2025


Review of Kills Well with Others (Killers of a Certain Age #2) by Deanna Raybourn
Killers of a Certain Age was darkly funny, action-packed, feminist, and friend-focused. I love the second installment's return to my...
Apr 2, 2025


Review of Burn by Peter Heller
I love Peter Heller's books, and Burn offers a wonderfully complicated friendship, meaningful connections to nature, momentous secrets,...
Sep 5, 2024


Review of In Memoriam by Alice Winn
Alice Winn's account of the unrelenting slog of World War I and the beautiful young men set against each other in the trenches serves as...
Jul 30, 2024


Review of Love, Lists and Fancy Ships by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
Sarah Grunder Ruiz serves up an irresistible rom-com with great banter and with interesting and difficult, complex issues of loss, grief,...
May 30, 2024


Review of The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
This captivating story involves time travel, but it's primarily about deep human connections, complete with fantastic, funny banter;...
May 22, 2024


Review of Lone Women by Victor LaValle
LaValle mixes a Western setting with strong feminist messages, magical realism, haunting elements, and the terrifying, freeing truth in...
Jan 17, 2024


Review of A Power Unbound (Last Binding #3) by Freya Marske
Marske's quirky, funny, richly imagined magical world, complex character-building, relationship exploration, and storytelling continues...
Jan 16, 2024


Review of Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Starling House is another wonderful, dark, twisty story from Alix E. Harrow, with imperfect characters, a noble, messy quest, layers of...
Oct 25, 2023


Review of American Girl by Wendy Walker
This is another whodunit winner from Wendy Walker: a character-driven mystery with a neurodivergent main protagonist, small-town...
Oct 24, 2023


Review of October in the Earth by Olivia Hawker
Hawker's newest historical fiction gives a wonderfully evocative peek into a gritty period, as her main protagonist escapes a bad...
Oct 18, 2023


Review of A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
Despite the many outlandish details of Iris's situation and ongoing secrets, I was taken with the sweet family relationships and the...
Oct 3, 2023


Review of Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
In the second installment in Leigh Bardugo's Alex Stern series, Alex is as brave, scowling, and unapologetic as ever--and Darlington will...
Jul 26, 2023


Review of The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
Caroline O'Donoghue's coming-of-age story celebrates friendship, young love, and life-changing decisions and missteps that shape the...
Jul 11, 2023


Review of The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
Rowley brings humor to this heartwarming--but never cloying--exploration of friendship, connection, messy relationships, heartbreak, and...
Jun 1, 2023


Review of Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
Summertime is the backdrop to Fortune's Meet Me at the Lake, light fiction with an anchor in deeper issues, some steamy scenes,...
May 18, 2023


Review of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Sutanto's Vera Wong is playful, brusque, bossy, and connects an unlikely cast of characters, all murder suspects, into a heartwarming...
May 3, 2023
