Three Books I'm Reading Now, 4/20/26 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now

This week I'm reading the newest novel by a favorite author, Taylor Brown, Wolvers; I'm reading Woody Brown's debut novel about an adult daycare center, Upward Bound; and I'm listening to Christina Applegate's memoir, You with the Sad Eyes.

What are you reading, bookworms?

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01 Wolvers by Taylor Brown

Trace Temple is a disillusioned, angry young man whose family lost its ranch after hard times. Then Trace, a gifted tracker who knows the woods better than almost anyone around, is hired by a shadowy, powerful militia group to take out One-Eleven, the female leader of the most famous wolf pack in New Mexico, the Dark Canyons.

But One-Eleven is uncannily gifted in eluding human pursuit, and Trace is far from the only outdoorsman in these woods.

I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

I'm a huge Taylor Brown fan. Check out my Bossy reviews of his novels Rednecks, Wingwalkers, The Gods of Howl Mountain, and Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War.

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02 Upward Bound by Woody Brown

In his debut novel, Woody Brown, who is non-speaking and autistic, shares a portrait of an adult daycare center in California through glimpses of its varied clients and staff members, their motivations, their frustrations, their hopes, and their divergent paths.

Upward Bound is a dreary building, but its daily clients bring gifts, abilities, and desires for connection. Its staff members have uneven abilities to recognize the humanity behind the clients' conditions and disabilities.

The real-life story of Brown's education, dedicated mother, and labored method of communication is breathtakingly inspiring, and his experiences lend legitimacy and particular poignancy to the protagonists' paths in this big-hearted, sometimes heartbreaking novel.

I received a prepublication edition of Upward Bound courtesy of NetGalley and Random House.

You might also be interested in my Bossy reviews of other novels featuring neurodivergent characters.

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03 You with the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate

Christina Applegate began acting as an infant, and she was a young actor when she starred in the long-running sitcom Married...with Children. She went on to star in movies like Anchorman and in television series like Dead to Me. But her childhood in Laurel Canyon was filled with uncertainty, danger, and physical and sexual abuse.

Work meant structure, and pay, and stability, and Applegate yearned for all of this when at home her mother struggled with addiction, her stepfather was cruel and harmed her, and her caregivers abused her in ways that shaped her forever.

Applegate was open about her breast cancer diagnosis years ago, and she is frank now about the difficulties and limitations of her multiple sclerosis.

This is a brutally honest memoir, and in the audiobook Applegate repeatedly sobs as she shares her painful memories and experiences. Yet she is sharply funny and full of reflections, hard-earned wisdom, and hopes for her daughter.

You might also want to check out these Bossy reviews of other celebrity memoirs.