Three Books I'm Reading Now, 9/29/25 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now

I'm reading a small-town Irish story of deep connections and the potential for renegade justice, Heart, Be at Peace; I'm listening to the 31-hour audiobook of the latest Cormoran Strike mystery, The Hallmarked Man; and I'm reading Ian McEwan's newest literary fiction novel, which was published last week, What We Can Know.

What are you reading, bookworms?

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01 Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan

In Heart, Be at Peace, Donal Ryan shares the story of a small town in Ireland. Everyone is linked, with shared youths, conflicts, resentments, and loyalties.

But an economic downturn has created opportunities for drugs, violence, greed, and an undermining of the community's bonds, safety, and relationships. Someone will need to stand up to the ruthless thugs ruling the area with fear and corruption in order to preserve their town.

The story is told from 21 interconnected points of view.

Donal Ryan is also the author of The Queen of Dirt Island, The Spinning Heart, Strange Flowers, From a Low and Quiet Sea, and other books.

For more Bossy reviews of books set in Ireland, please check out the titles at this link.

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02 The Hallmarked Man (Cormoran Strike #8) by Robert Galbraith

I support transgender rights and therefore have squirrelly feelings about some of views expressed by J. K. Rowling (Robert Galbraith is her pen name for the Cormoran Strike series). You can click here to read her opinions in her own words.

I'm reading the newest in the Cormoran Strike mystery series, in which a dismembered body and Freemason symbols are found in a silver vault, and Cormoran and Robin's newest client wants them to figure out whether or not the corpse is the father of her newborn baby.

The silver shop is next to a Freemason's Lodge with a broad reach, law enforcement is trying to keep the agency from succeeding in solving the case, some of their witnesses are tied to Strike's ex-girlfriend Charlotte, and the more suspects they consider, the more nefarious plots they uncover.

Meanwhile, Robin seems on the cusp of becoming engaged to her boyfriend, handsome police officer Ryan Murphy, and Cormoran still hasn't told her he's in love with her.

You can click here to check out my reviews of Cormoran Strike books 1 through 4, book 5, book 6, and book 7.

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03 What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

In Ian McEwan's newest novel, his characters live in 2119, a post-global-warming existence in which the population has been cut by more than half, inland seas spread across the globe, and much of the world's variation, richness, and natural world no longer exist.

Within this setting, one of our main protagonists is an academic fascinated by the past (the years surrounding our present). In particular, he is obsessed with a famous poet's poem, the single version of which was read aloud for the poet's wife's birthday, but then lost to time.

The book unravels messy realities, secrets, and life-and-death stakes in the past as well as complications and surprises in present-day relationships, careers, and considerations of the future.

Ian McEwan is also the author of Atonement, On Chesil Beach, Saturday, Amsterdam, and other books.

I received a prepublication version of this title, published September 23, courtesy of Knopf and NetGalley.