She's seemingly trustworthy and nonthreatening, the perfect dog-walker for upscale Mountain Brook families

joy and reflection, an irresistible young protagonist, and a wonderful array of friends who are like family full review of Empire of the Summer Moon. 05 Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout In Lucy by the Sea, familiar

young interior designer, returns to the childhood home where terrifying events exploded and led to her family's

skillfully builds the pool of potential culprits for Nathan to examine in this story of uncovering truths, family

irresistible, oddball tragicomedy with heart, characters explore the limits and solidity of friendship and family

struggles to determine which reality of the multiverse is true and how the hell he might get back to his family

different lives, trying on careers, love lives, travel adventures, fame and fortune, and a settled family It may very well feel like oversimplifying for those familiar with mental illness to watch the character

independent even as she is irritatingly, deeply reliant upon the kindness and care she receives from family

But she's supposed to keep all of this mayhem a secret from her family and friends.

maid in love with the lady, racy scenes, angst, wonderful details of a life in service to a wealthy family

cold, brutal winter as convicted murderer Agnes awaits her execution at a remote farm, living with the family

, sure, but she's ready to be reunited with the team, which includes her mother and the rest of her family

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 for a successful romance author and Tyler is an aspiring literary fiction author in need of a paycheck when chance leads to a shocking meeting--then their pairing for an unlikely project. Katie is well aware of the power of romance conventions and explains them to Tyler. Meanwhile, Lauren Okie playfully works every imaginable trope into both the story Katie and Tyler are writing and the situations in which they find themselves. I loved the beginning of the book, in which the characters were fully aware of the classic romance tropes they were writing and finding themselves living within. This self-conscious, winking, meta approach felt creative and fun. An omniscient voice continued to introduce tropes, but as the story went on, the tone became less playful and the characters and their lived tropes felt less self-referential. Ultimately a couple of giant secrets are revealed which explain both the frequency of the tropes and the puzzling circumstances surrounding Katie and Tyler. These connections and the over-the-top outlandishness of the Big Reveal seem on the surface potentially playful, which would have matched the tone of the start of the book, but they're actually tragic--and I was in for a different kind of book and ending after the fun initial setup. I found myself frequently distracted by the audiobook narrator's often breathy, teary delivery. I listened to an audiobook version of this title courtesy of Libro.fm and Avon. More Books You Might Like Lauren Okie is also the author of The Best Worst Thing. You might also want to check out my favorite romance reads from the past year--as well as many other Bossy lists of romance gems--at this link.

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 Instrument, she dives into mysteries, offering a private investigator whose father's past association with Cromwell University leads to her hiring. A prickly professor has turned up dead (his head crushed by a bronze bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne), and self-taught PI Dell Chandler uses her unorthodox approaches to try to determine which of the tenure-desperate, self-satisfied, resentful, overconfident, entitled, or simpering suspects--many of whom are academics who are dissatisfied with their lots--is responsible. I'm a big fan of a woman PI using unorthodox methods to solve a case, and Bloom offers that setup here. I love an academic setting, and I also enjoy a conflict between renegade justice-seekers and law enforcement. Dell faces earth-shattering personal revelations in the book, and I loved that. But I wish that this book were longer and that the pacing were easier to latch onto. The romance element seemed to happen too quickly; it felt rushed and therefore not particularly believable to me. One crime leads to another crime, and the first crime is largely abandoned--along with the university's president and Dell's boss, who disappears after a seemingly significant introduction, until she reappears at the very end of the book wondering why she never received any updates on the case. Dell's piecing together of the factors that lead to various crimes felt largely abrupt and too easy. Some of her determinations were figured out out of the reader's view, so that we missed Dell's train of thought and realizations, and so that the limited Big Reveals felt jarring. I wished for more exporation of Dell's own background as an academic and I would have appreciated more character development all around. Bloom set up promising scenarios for rich depth, introduced dichotomies (for example, Dell generally loves men and leaves them but she is also a hopeless romantic), then backed off somewhat. Perhaps my biggest issue with the novel is that multiple loops weren't closed. I wondered if I somehow missed the resolution of various mysteries (who cut the brakes, who threw the rock through the window, who are the definitive killers), but Bloom leaves these somewhat or completely dangling. Yet I love Amy Bloom's writing, her voice, and her characters. I'm up for reading all of her books. I'm hoping that subsequent Dell Chandler mysteries will offer more elements I found myself hoping for here. I received an audiobook version of this title courtesy of Libro.fm and Highbridge Company, and I received a prepublication electronic version of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Penzler Publishers: The Mysterious Press. More Amy Bloom Works Bloom is also the author of White Houses, which I gave 5 Bossy stars, the heartbreakingly beautiful In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss, I'll Be Right Here, Away, Lucky Us, Come to Me: Stories, and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories.

In Strout's newest novel, we meet an irresistible new character in high school history teacher Artie Dam. Only the reader understands Artie's deep loneliness, only we live through his discovery of a shattering secret, and only we witness the life-altering power of his kindness and connections with other characters. This is lovely. In Elizabeth Strout's newest novel, we meet Artie Dam, high school history teacher, father to a grown son, longtime husband to his wife, and friend to all. The thoughtful, kind former teacher of the year loves sailing, connects with his students, and is a calming force in all of his circles. Artie is friendly and kind, but private. As readers, we are privy to Artie's closely held ups and downs, his annoyances and triumphs, his secret joys and his devastating disappointments. Only we fully realize that Artie is feeling desperately lonely, disillusioned, and depressed. His connections with his students are wonderful and, sometimes unbeknownst to him, powerful. Strout inserts omniscient mentions of events and developments that are to come, as well as pivotal moments that altered the students' life trajectories, so that only the reader realizes Artie's immense influence. When Artie discovers a deep secret about his life, he's unsure how to cope. This enormously impactful unearthing of information profoundly shakes him. But in typical Artie fashion, he doesn't burn everything down as a result; he is circumspect, even when restraint feels impossible, and thus he protects others. In fact, while he has years to confront and address the revelation, he does not, and in keeping his pain and his revised outlook on his life to himself, he creates a later shocking moment for a loved one who realizes after his passing that he has known the truth all along. Two wives in the story are frustrated with their husbands during their husbands' lives, but treat them like martyrs after their passing; in one case this feels overly generous, and in the other it feels fitting--and tragically late for the appreciation he likely always deserved. Elizabeth Strout's signature voice comes through--in this case, it actually felt as though multiple characters took on similar speech patterns to each other and to those in other Strout books. This cross-character speech pattern is not something I'd noticed in other Strout novels, and I'd be curious to know if it was present in other works or not. This is beautiful, poignant, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. I loved reading about Artie's life and being allowed into his inner world. More by Elizabeth Strout Elizabeth Strout is also the author of Tell Me Everything, Lucy by the Sea, Anything Is Possible, Olive, Again, My Name Is Lucy Barton, and Oh William! Elizabeth Strout is also the author of Olive Kitteridge.

, sure, but she's ready to be reunited with the team, which includes her mother and the rest of her family

Ridzén's beautiful, poignant novel centers around Bo, an elderly Swedish man living out his last days in his woodland cabin as the past becomes more vivid to him than his present. This is lovely, heartbreaking, and practical while offering hope. Bo is an elderly Swedish man living in the woodland cabin where he grew up. He exists in somewhat of a haze between naps, frequent carer visits, calls and check-ins from his son Hans, short walks with his beloved elkhound Sixten, and vivid memories of his life--which sometimes feel more real than his reality. His wife, who suffers from dementia, is in a care center, and his memories of her pop up in painful, poignant vibrancy. Bo yearns for a deeper connection with his son. But when Hans determines that rehoming Sixten is best for all involved, Bo is devastated, angry, and unsure whether his shaky relationship with his son can be repaired. When the Cranes Fly South is a beautiful, poignant, tragic, hopeful examination of end-of-life issues for an aging person as well as the loved ones who are trying their best to support their elderly person, keep them safe, and promote autonomy within a framework of care. In Ridzén's novel, while the past and Bo's many memories begin to become more vivid and realistic to Bo than the present-day or near-past, we watch Bo letting go, and from a distance we witness his son, grandson, best friend, dog, and carers as they see him slipping away. The Swedish setting means that Bo has around-the-clock care and check-ins; this standard of care allows for dignity, continuity, and valuable connections. The Sixten-related issues seemed to me potentially quite easily solvable by securing someone for daily dog walks, and as with many pet-centered storylines, I became outrageously emotionally invested in this one. I loved this poignant, lovely novel and the hope and practicality that overcomes heartbreak. Ridzén places us deeply in Bo's point of view, which was valuable to understanding his perspective on matters related to his own body and his pending death. I read When the Cranes Fly South  for my book club. This is the author's debut novel. I received a prepublication edition of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Vintage Books. More Books about Mortality For more Bossy reviews of books about mortality, please check out this link . And for novels centered around aging, please click here .

Pyle Last year I gave Strange Planet to teenagers and young-at-heart family members on my gift list;

Elston's first adult novel ticked all of my mystery-reading boxes: a con artist, fake identity, dangerous boss, complicated mark, trusty sidekick, clever maneuvering, and non-manipulative twists. I can't wait to read her next mystery. Evie Porter is embracing her current fake identity and getting closer to her mark Ryan--who she's lured into being her boyfriend. Now she awaits her mysterious boss Mr. Smith's instructions about the information he needs her to obtain to take down Ryan or his associates, she's not sure which. After what happened on her last job, she can't afford to make mistakes. Mr. Smith could make life unpleasant--or abruptly shortened--if she fails. And he seems to be throwing curveballs at her on purpose. But Evie knows that since her desperate entry into this powerful, dangerous world, its tricky elements, its constant deception, and its hefty paycheck, she has always been one of the best. She expects to manage this job--whatever it may turn out to be--without much difficulty. But the situation isn't exactly what it seems, and when a woman comes to town using Evie's birth name, which only her boss was aware of, Evie isn't sure whether she's being tested or whether she's being set up for sabotage. I loved the key elements of this story: the capable con woman, the past coming back to haunt her, the complicated mark, the trusted sidekick, the tricky cross and double-cross, and Elston's non-manipulative, delightful twists. This was smart and intriguing, a fast and compelling read, with a main protagonist I was rooting for, and it ticked all of my mystery-reading boxes. I can't wait to read Elston's upcoming mystery, Anatomy of an Alibi , scheduled for publication January 13. More from Ashley Elston This is Ashley Elston's first adult novel. She is also the author of six young adult books, including The Lying Woods , This Is Our Story , The Rules for Disappearing , and The Rules for Breaking .

Kristin Hannah The Nightingale is Kristin Hannah's very popular book set during World War II about a family

Ava's family is gone, killed by war.

They are all we have of our folks and the family we were."

in typical mesmerizing fashion, with her usual masterful balance of magic, religion, love, passion, family

Yarros's experience as a romance author remains showcased in book two through teen-angst-dramaaatic, romaaantic dialogue. My favorite elements were the action sequences, the opportunities for humor, and the pacing of this 640-page story. I wanted to love Fourth Wing, the first in this series, (talking dragons! dragon riders! dragon-rider training!). I was distracted by the ultra-dramatic young-adult teen angst and sometimes-clumsy dialogue, yet the promise of the dragon element kept me reading with fingers crossed that the story would take off and eclipse the pacing and the forced-feeling will-they/won't-they-focused conflicts (spoiler: they will). Yet Yarros's thrilling, twisty ending hooked me to find out what would happen in book two. I do love a dragon book, and the second in the Empyrian series offers more page time for the talking dragons, some surprises, and a more deftly paced story, with stronger character development--along with dramaaaaatic, romaaaaantic dialogue and super steamy scenes, as also seen in the first installment. Yarros offers a villainous teacher so over the top, there's no way he could be allowed to live through the book. Yet she also serves up an unexpected (as in, we thought he was dead, so: very unexpected) second chance at redemption for a character who was presented as a villain in book one. Violet's mother is shown to have depth, show some caring for Violet, and demonstrate plausible deniability related to atrocities occurring at the border. These all seem aimed at tempering the impression Violet has that her mother is without a heart. Yarros's romance-novel background is evident with the very specific sex scenes (no detail is left unshared), as well as the ongoing (and drummed-up-feeling) dramatic angst from Violet regarding Xaden (I can't trust him, because he doesn't tell me everything) despite what felt like a book-one resolution to the will-they/won't-they tension between the two. There's an added bump in the road for the couple in this book related to Violet's mother that predates Violet's relationship but affects Xaden. I was so distracted by the frequency of "f*ck" in book one that I searched on my Kindle version and found that there were 257 instances in Fourth Wing. In book two, I wasn't sure about Violet's use of "damn" and "damned" ("I'm still really damned angry with you" felt odd; the type of "damn if" compliments about Xaden's body seemed silly). Violet and Xaden are verrrry flowery about their feelings (“You want to know something true? Something real? I love you. I’m in love with you. I have been since the night the snow fell in your hair and you kissed me for the first time."). These elements follow from the romance-novel feeling of Fourth Wing. But there's some funny dialogue here that made me laugh, and Yarros allows the characters to be less earnest and more playful and to invoke a little bit of dark humor at times (my favorite kind) in Iron Flame. The melding of two fighting forces offers additional interesting characters, conflicts, complexities, and interactions, which I liked. Violet's physical condition and chronic illness is referred to in Iron Flame but is far less of a key element than it was in Fourth Wing. One of my favorite dragons is almost completely absent from the book (sleeping for hundreds of pages), with a grand reveal at the end, the impact of which felt a little lost on me. The action scenes and battles were the highlight for me in Iron Flame. Yarros ends this one with a bang that hooks the reader for book two just as they might be wavering on reading a third 500+ page book--as she did for me with book one. I listened to Iron Flame as an audiobook. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Click here for my review of Fourth Wing. Have you read the fantastic Temeraire series by Naomi Novik? It's got all the talking dragons, dry humor, battles, and military strategy you'd want. The tone is very different from the Empyrian series--no teen angst or steamy scenes.

The first in this dragon rider series by Yarros is full of dramaaaaatic teen angst, a cutthroat path to becoming a warrior, bucking expectations, a looming war--and, my favorite element of the story, dragons! Fourth Wing is the first in Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean fantasy series, about a war college for dragon riders. Twenty-year-old Violet was hoping to live out a studious, satisfyingly quiet future in the Scribe Quadrant. That is, until the cutthroat commanding general--who also happens to be Violet's mother--pushes her to vie with the rest of Navarre's young people to secure spots in the select Riders Quadrant, as dragon riders. Violet is smaller than average, without the drive to fight. But the war is raging, leadership is clearly keeping secrets, and working with the ruthless, deadly dragons is starting to feel like her best bet. Aside from the dragons, my favorite element of the story is Violet's determined coping with and accommodations for her chronic illness and significant disability. She shows kickass stubbornness in the face of adversity--even if, within the book's various dangerous scenarios, it repeatedly seemed that Violet might well do herself in by ignoring and pushing through her physical issues while facing the impossible situations she is forced to endure. I'm a fan of varying language and also of creative cursing, so at the risk of being a Grumpy Old Lady for mentioning this, I have to say that the word "fuck" appeared so frequently in the text as to feel irritating and distracting to me, so I counted: 257 instances in my electronic edition. The overuse of smirking and " a corner of [his/her] mouth lifts" for amusement, the "cupping" of cheeks for affection; I was drawn out of the moment by multiple instances of odd tone shifts and what felt like repeated nonsensical or strange timing for characters' reactions (after a reminder that a classmate is dead, a character "quips," for example; the silly and youthful exclamation "I miss sex" seems to come out of nowhere; sexual innuendos seem to come at strange, inopportune times; a main character's repeated indignation at her safety's being doubted when she is clearly out of her element and in danger seems warranted, yet she persists in being outrageously offended over and over). Some of the "bad guy" characters feel too easy to hate--they're so purely evil, so outrageously deserving of justice, that their comeuppance is assured from their first appearance on the page. Other characters aren't what they first seem, and while the initial enemies-to-maybe-lovers setup of the book is easily predicted, the attraction is fun to see as it grows, with complicated motivations and the weight of a nation's safety clouding the teens' love lives. It makes sense that Yarros is the author of a romance series, Flight & Glory, as well as other romance titles. There are many dramaaaaaatic teen angst moments here ("As if knowing him would somehow make me want him less, but everything I learn about him only makes me tumble harder and faster"; "Is it absolutely toxic that I'm attracted to this look on him? Probably. But one look, and my temperature rises") and intense fixations on elements such as a character's "incredible scent" that stopped me at times. And yet, this is a book about dragons, and I am typically all in on a book about dragons (see the link below to other dragon books I've read and reviewed). So while I wished for a heavier editorial hand in the copyediting stage of this one, Fourth Wing was a fun read, and I loved the twist at the end of book one. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? You might also like these other books I've read and reviewed about dragons.

His family and hometown aren’t at the center of this book, but beyond that, he felt very much on the

Willingham's debut thriller offers an unreliable narrator haunted by her father's decades-old serial killing--and her horrifying suspicion that recent disappearances are somehow connected to her past. The summer Chloe Davis was twelve, six girls went missing in her rural Louisiana community. By the end of that summer, Chloe's father had confessed to the crimes of killing those girls, was convicted as a serial killer, and was put in jail for the rest of his life. Twenty years later, Chloe struggles, but she has more good days than bad. She's a Baton Rouge psychologist who's preparing for her wedding, and she can mostly keep the terrors and trauma of the past at bay. She doesn't really let anyone in emotionally, including her fiancé, but she's doing her best. When a local young woman goes missing, Chloe fights her rising panic. As another girl disappears, this time one she's tenuously connected to, and when she realizes that aspects of the disappearances echo those of her childhood, the psychologist wonders if she's imagining connections to the crimes of decades earlier. Is there another killer who preys on young women, one paying homage to the twentieth anniversary of her father's heinous crimes? And what is Chloe going to do about it? When a reporter arrives in town, digging into Chloe's past and the recent disappearances, he sparks disturbing old memories and exacerbates the lurking fears and trauma that erupt for Chloe without warning. She spirals into an unreliable-narrator routine of pills and wine, not quite sure what she's seen or what to make of it, staggering through her days, unsure whether it's day or night and less sure than ever of who she can trust. Willingham made me suspect everyone, and while I'm sometimes frustrated by an unreliable-narrator setup, Chloe's swirling mind suited the story and allowed for uncertainty before the denouement. I didn't completely buy into Chloe as a psychologist (although the career suited the plot), and I found some minor plot points tough to believe (going through with the alarm installation in such a fraught situation--!), but I liked how Willingham allowed for resolutions without glossing over the irrevocable effects of the deep doubts and trauma on the relationships in the story. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? A Flicker in the Dark is Stacy Willingham's first book. The story has been optioned by actress Emma Stone to be produced as a limited television series.

would imagine that the audience of this book might skew relatively young, and readers might not be familiar

The community feels to Cal alternately claustrophobically small and reassuringly familiar, while Cal's

I felt a familiar, powerful truth being beamed into me by a vast, benificent God, in the form of this

of sending her to school, the woodstove that provides lifesaving heat, and the peacefulness of the familiar

of sending her to school, the woodstove that provides lifesaving heat, and the peacefulness of the familiar

The elements that feel potentially familiar or could have felt overused from use in other stories (a

There were a handful of the now-familiar, highly specific Yarros sex scenes involving detailed logistics

offers current-day takes on her life that will feel familiar to fans--I'd already seen online video clips I suspect that being familiar with Morgan's persona adds significantly to the fun here.

offers current-day takes on her life that will feel familiar to fans, but her memoir also traces her

the Sign of the Rook ; and I'm listening to Leigh Bardugo's novel set in the Spanish Golden Age, The Familiar the Museum, Life After Life , Human Croquet, When Will There Be Good News , and more books. 03 The Familiar

include well-known tales and lore as well as hidden gems that even football's biggest fans might not be familiar

Enter superfan Peanut Brixton--who may be even more familiar with The Falling Children books than Libby

Enter superfan Peanut Brixton--who may be even more familiar with The Falling Children books than Libby

build here made it difficult for me to dive in, and the extended parenthetical sections (a structure familiar

Emira is drifting in a familiar twentysomething way, yet on each page of the story she also cements her

help seem questionable to Millie, although I have to think that the RA manual that she must be deeply familiar

The elements that feel potentially familiar or could have felt overused from use in other stories (a

Adjei-Brenyah's novel explores in disturbing detail a version of a society that may feel familiar: a

I wasn't familiar with McCurdy when I began listening to her memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, although I

mature yet still pliable person, brimming with experiences both old and new, who doesn’t rely solely on familiar

Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West. 02 I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy I wasn't familiar

In Lucy by the Sea, familiar Strout characters Lucy Barton and her ex-husband William flee New York City

characters of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising, but I loved realizing why the name Carrie Soto was familiar