The Gothic Undercurrents It's the perfect time of year to read some spooky, dark, gothic tales. Desolate settings, mysterious deaths, darkness, hauntings--Halloween, here we come! Here are six stories with gothic undercurrents that I really liked. What are some of your favorite spooky or gothic reads? 01 Fingersmith by Sarah Waters In this gothic Victorian tale, Waters offers a slow build to heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at love, and, finally, clarity and satisfying revenge. Sue Trinder is a teenage orphan, the daughter of a hanged murderess who tries to live up to her fearless mother's bravery and strength. She's being raised in a household of cheats, thieves, and generally crooked characters. Yet she's been largely sheltered from the evils of the underbelly of Victorian London by her unofficial, doting adoptive mother, Mrs. Sucksby. But when one of their group, Gentleman, comes up with a large-scale con, suddenly the makeshift family's potential fortune depends heavily on Sue. She's asked to play the role of maid to an unassuming, wealthy young woman in a dastardly plot to take the woman's inheritance and leave her to rot in an insane asylum. I wasn't certain how Waters would resolve the layers of deceit, secrets, and desires for revenge at play here. The story offers heartbreak, twists and double twists, hesitant attempts at unorthodox love, and, finally, clarity and satisfying revenge. Waters is also the author of Tipping the Velvet, Affinity, and The Night Watch. I'm eager to read these as well. Please click here for my full review of Fingersmith. 02 Things in Jars by Jess Kid Female detective Bridie sets off on a desperate search for a missing child in Victorian London--and must also confront her own dark memories and past. In Things in Jars, Jess Kidd offers a creepy, dark mystery tale gloriously steeped in details of Victorian London and seedy, sordid characters, all built on a framework of heroes with heart. Along with the kickass, whip smart, savvy, kind, and irresistible Bridie are her striking and unfailingly loyal sidekick Sadie; Ruby, who is both a tender tie to her hardscrabble past and a devoted and helpful apparition. Various depraved and frighteningly cruel characters help drive the story of Things in Jars and add to the mystery. Oh, and a mysterious, dangerous, but tragic child-creature-mermaid necessitates detective work and a desperate search through London and the countryside beyond, as well as through Bridie’s own messy memories and past. Bridie is a strong female protagonist, and Things In Jars offers solid historical fiction details of Victorian London, which I love, within a creepy mystery with dark twists and turns. Yes on all counts! The audiobook reading by Jacqueline Milne was wonderful. For my full review of Things in Jars, click here. 03 The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson ​Jackson's gothic horror tale is made all the more frightening by its reliance on terror, shadows, and mystery. This was a wonderfully spooky read. In Shirley Jackson's 1959 classic The Haunting of Hill House, four people arrive at Hill House in search of paranormal experiences: a scholar of the occult, Dr. Montague; an unorthodox woman with an open mind and brave disposition, Theodora; a young woman who has witnessed mysterious goings-on in the past, Eleanor; and the jocular, mischievous future heir of Hill House, Luke. All four of the guests witness inexplicable phenomena, and odd events cause some of the guests to doubt their own senses of what is real, what might be imagined, and what seems unquestionably otherworldly. It's not always clear if Eleanor has telekinetic abilities, if she is noticing events others aren't tuned into, if she's mentally ill, or if the ghostly voices are real and influencing her actions. Jackson's gothic horror tale is made all the more frightening by its reliance on terror, shadows, and mystery rather than gory elements. What the author leaves unsaid is as spooky as the story on the page. For my full review, check out The Haunting of Hill House. 04 Home Before Dark by Riley Sager This is a compelling gothic suspense story with supernatural elements, and it keeps you guessing. Sager has crafted a compelling Gothic suspense story in which we're along for the ride as Maggie, a young interior designer, returns to the childhood home where terrifying events exploded and led to her family's middle-of-the-night fleeing, never to return--until now. Maggie struggles to establish what is and was real and what might be imagined, tries to piece together who knows more than they're admitting about past tragedies and unexplained occurrences, debates whether any of her parents' accounts hold merit, and begins to wonder with horror whether she can trust even her own memories. The structure of Home Before Dark was intriguing--a book within a book within a book. It felt fluid and allowed for valuable layering and points of view. I loved how Sager managed to keep me wondering who/what/when without making me feel manipulated by misleading details or bogged down by red herrings, and that he struck what was for me a perfectly eerie tone. All the pieces eventually fit. For my full review, check out Home Before Dark. 05 The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell The Silent Companions is a spooky, atmospheric, gothic Victorian ghost story perfect for the season. Elsie thought she had married out of her hardworking life and into a life of wealth and leisure. But when her kind husband passes away suddenly just after the wedding, pregnant Elsie and her tedious cousin-in-law Sarah must head from London to the family's neglected country estate, The Bridge, to bury him and set the house to rights. Behind a door without a key--a door that is sometimes locked and other times mysteriously not--a "silent companion" (a realistic, freestanding painted wooden figure) sits eerily, as though waiting. Impossibly, the centuries-old figure bears a shocking resemblance to Elsie. Purcell takes us through the disturbing events surrounding one family living two hundred years apart in the same house, making you wonder how reliable any of our main protagonists are. (And there's a twist and a double twist I loved.) For my full review, check out The Silent Companions. 06 Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft I adored the romantic setup and seemingly ill-fated attraction in Saft's young adult fantasy-mystery. Wren is a loose cannon, a fierce soldier, intensely loyal, a magical healer, and she has an uncontrollable spirit--oh, and she's niece to the queen, who would like to be rid of her altogether. Hal is from a neighboring land and is known as the Reaper of Vesria. He's known to be cruel, ruthless, and he's Wren's sworn enemy, a deadly force who has destroyed her countrymen and women in the wars that seem constant between the kingdoms. I'd rate the first part of the book as 4.5 stars and the last 100 pages as 3 stars for me--toward the end, I found myself growing impatient with some false-feeling elements that had significant repercussions for the plot. But the great young adult fantasy elements are all in place here: magic, healing, a defiant main protagonist with a conscience, loyalty, drawn-out romance, wonderfully faulted characters. Saft doesn't overdramatize the "love that must not be fulfilled" aspect, wonderfully structuring the reasons for (and the prolonged tension surrounding) the forbidden romance. There's also a Gothic undercurrent in this book, which I love. For my full review, check out Down Comes the Night.

This romantic light fiction story includes sibling conflicts, loss, betrayal, a love that seems impossible...and a ghostwriter who's literally haunted by ghosts. In Ashley Poston's The Dead Romantics, Florence Day is a ghostwriter for a famous reclusive romance writer. But she's gone through a breakup because of her partner's betrayal, and she's having a hard time getting her mojo back to write about flowery love and happy endings. She's starting to think that her handsome new editor might just be the inspiration she needs. Then Florence's beloved father dies, and she returns to her hometown for the first time in many years. In town, she'll always be known as The Girl Who Solved a Murder Mystery by Talking to Ghosts, with all the fascination and suspicion one might expect. Oh, and Florence's family runs the local mortuary business. And Florence really can communicate with ghosts. Oh, and then her cute editor shows up in town...as a ghost. I began to realize that love wasn't dead, but it wasn't forever, either. It was something in between... I loved the playful tone, the ghost angle within this light fiction, romantic story, and the focus on writing and books. I found myself distracted by minor issues such as slight repetition, some grammar (I/me, anyone?) and sayings that were incorrect but didn't seem to be so on purpose, and the convenient dismissal of inconvenient elements (the missed deadline driving the story's initial tension that was all but forgotten for a time). I didn't feel wholly satisfied with the evolution of the sibling relationships, closure with Dad, or the resolution of childhood trauma--aspects I thought were set up in order to serve greater purposes. Yet the ending was fun, with several wrap-up moments that made me smile. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Ashley Poston is also the author of Geekerella and the Once Upon a Con series, the Heart of Iron Series, and the Radio Hearts series. If you like light fiction, you might like the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Light Fiction Stories and Six More Great Light Fiction Stories.

In and among Sedaris's oddball, incisive, skewering observations are poignant, funny, heartfelt, complicated moments from his personal life that add heart to the dark humor in this collection of essays. I like to listen to my David Sedaris books, and I listened to his newest, Happy-Go-Lucky--his first book of new essays since Calypso--as an audiobook as well. Here, Sedaris shares offbeat moments from living in Paris and Sussex, reflects on living in New York City during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and, as always, pokes fun at himself and hilariously skewers others for various affronts. In and among these scenes, Sedaris shares strange, sweet, funny, pivotal moments with each of his living sisters, discusses his sister Tiffany, who died of suicide, and faces the decline of his nonagenarian father, with whom he has always had a complicated relationship. I love to laugh at Sedaris's darkly funny reflections about the world and society--and at his recognition of his own absurdities, strongly held views, and exacting expectations. But what offer depth to his work, and Happy-Go-Lucky is no exception, are Sedaris's unflinching observations of moments in time, desperate scenes, and emotionally charged issues in all of their gritty, messy, poignant, and sometimes hilarious glory. He takes the reader on a roller coaster of emotions, and I love every bit of it. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Sedaris is also the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day, Calypso, Naked, Holidays on Ice, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, The Best of Me, and many other books. Please click here for my review of David Sedaris's The Best of Me. You can also find reviews of other books of essays I've reviewed here.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Horse, the newest historical fiction novel by Geraldine Brooks; I'm listening to Happy-Go-Lucky, the newest book of essays from the oddball, poignant, darkly funny David Sedaris; and I'm reading The Dead Romantics, Ashley Poston's adult debut about a romance ghostwriter who is haunted by ghosts as she copes with loss and tries to open her heart again. What are you reading these days, bookworms? 01 Horse by Geraldine Brooks In Geraldine Brooks's newest novel, Horse, she links three moments in time: 1850 Kentucky, where an enslaved groom and a foal forge a bond and an itinerant painter captures their likenesses; 1954 New York City, in which a gallery owner becomes obsessed with the mid-nineteenth-century painting; and 2019 Washington, DC, when two historians are linked by their interest in a record-breaking stallion from the past. Based on the true story of the thoroughbred Lexington, Horse delves into science, art, and race as it spans decades. Geraldine Brooks is also the author of The People of the Book, March, Year of Wonders, Caleb's Crossing, and The Secret Chord. 02 Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris I like to listen to my David Sedaris books, and I'm listening to his newest, Happy-Go-Lucky--his first book of new essays since Calypso--as an audiobook. Here, Sedaris shares offbeat moments from living in Paris and Sussex, reflects on living in New York City during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and, as always, pokes fun at himself and hilariously skewers others for various affronts. In and among these scenes, Sedaris shares strange, sweet, funny moments with each of his living sisters, discusses his sister Tiffany, who died of suicide, and faces the decline of his nonagenarian father, with whom he has always had a complicated relationship. Please click here for my review of David Sedaris's The Best of Me. 03 The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston In Ashley Poston's The Dead Romantics, Florence Day is a ghostwriter for a famous reclusive romance writer. But she's gone through a breakup because of her partner's betrayal, and she's having a hard time getting her mojo back to write about flowery love and happy endings. She's starting to think that her handsome new editor might just be the inspiration she needs. Then Florence's beloved father dies, and she returns to her hometown for the first time in many years. In town, she'll always be known as The Girl Who Solved a Murder Mystery by Talking to Ghosts, with all the fascination and suspicion one might expect. Oh, and Florence's family runs the local mortuary business. And Florence really can communicate with ghosts. Oh, and then her cute editor shows up in town...as a ghost. Helping but also haunting her.

Historical Fiction Story Love If you're into historical fiction, you might also like to take a look at the books I listed on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West, Six Historical Fiction Favorites, Six Historical Fiction Mysteries Sure to Intrigue You, and Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War. You can also search by category under the Bossy Book Reviews menu to find other historical fiction books I've liked that you might like too! What are some of your favorite historical fiction reads? 01 The Huntress by Kate Quinn I'm all in for World War II-set books with tough, brave female protagonists, and I loved this book. Nina Markova always wanted to fly, and when Nazis begin to wreak havoc on the Soviet Union, she joins the Night Witches, an all-female regiment of night bombers pushing back the Germans. That is, until Nina becomes stranded behind enemy lines. I thought this character-driven post-WWII story was wonderful, with compelling and lush detail about tough female pilots; life in the Siberian wild; Boston; antiques and photography; and the patient, persistent, creative detective work done by Ian, Tony, and Nina. The reader is able to see events unfolding while the characters remain unaware, but watching the pieces shift and click into place is immensely satisfying. Kate Quinn is also the author of the fantastic titles The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Alice Network. Please click here for my full review of The Huntress. If this book sounds down your alley, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II. 02 A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler Fowler captures wonderful details in A Well-Behaved Woman, both in the surroundings and the rigid views of the period about women, marriage, sex, politics, public and private behavior—and of course "society," which almost serves as a main character in this book, it so constantly shaped behavior, views, marriage and divorce decisions, and everything else. But Fowler also does an excellent job of delving into the all-consuming obsessions the desperate young Alva likely had with appearances and others’ opinions in order to grasp and keep hold of her position as a Vanderbilt. As she grows as a person, in her perspective on the world, and in her role and responsibilities within it, Alva questions being a slave to society, money, and expectations. Fowler strikes a realistic balance between what feels frivolous and what is Ava's meaningful growth, including her important role in the women’s suffrage movement. I loved it! Fowler also wrote A Good Neighborhood. For my full review of A Well-Behaved Woman, click here. 03 The Parting Glass by Gina Marie Guadagnino ​Well well well! A lady’s maid in love with the lady, racy scenes, angst, wonderful details of a life in service to a wealthy family in 1830s New York, immigrant challenges, Irish gangs, people pretending to be different than they are, shifted expectations, true friendship—I loved this debut from Guadagnino! In this upstairs/downstairs novel, set in nineteenth century New York, Mary Ballard is a lady’s maid to high society's wealthy and respected Charlotte Walden. But on her own time, Mary is Irish exile Maire O’Farren, and she keeps mixed company as part of a secret society of rabble-rousers. Meanwhile, privileged Charlotte has her own secrets, and when both women's true situations begin to be revealed and to unravel, Mary finds that she and her brother are in jeopardy. With powerful looks at the widespread nineteenth-century prejudice against the Irish and other immigrant groups, as well as introducing a heart-wrenching, forbidden, unrequited love of one woman for another. 04 The Ragged Edge of Night by Olivia Hawker The Ragged Edge of Night centers around a World War II-era friar-turned-husband, Anton Starzmann, during the dark days of the war. When his school is shut down by the Nazis, he weds a widow who seeks a husband to help her raise her three children. The story beautifully lays out details of quiet life in the German countryside set against a background of unpredictable violence and destruction; tragedy; and gloriously stubborn, subversive resistance to the Reich. The wise asides in what felt like another point of view drew me out of the story, but generally I was all in on this one. Anton is searching for redemption after horrific events surrounding his students and school. His wife Elisabeth fears his involvement in the resistance that plans to assassinate Hitler. When the SS realizes what's going on, Anton's bravery and Elisabeth's dedication to this quiet, steady man are both tested. If you like historical fiction set during World War II, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II. Hawker also wrote One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow, which I mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West and the upcoming The Fire and the Ore. 05 Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen by Sarah Bird Bird's Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen is based on the story of an actual female Buffalo Soldier, Cathy Williams, with many liberties taken for the sake of shaping a compelling, captivating story. I was happy to suspend my disbelief at the many conveniently outlandish circumstances or coincidences—which led key characters to cross unlikely paths, caused characters to avoid making important discoveries until the timing was more convenient to the arc of the tale, or set events essential to a resolution in a magical otherworld to allow imagined outcomes. Bird does an excellent job of keeping up the tension and making clear the high stakes of Williams’s enormous secret and the destruction that would befall her if it came out. She explores in fascinating detail the hardscrabble life of a newly freed black person—and the often desperate circumstances of women (especially black women) in that time who were without men to protect them. The major and minor love stories are sweet, if also tragic. 06 All the Forgivenesses by Elizabeth Hardinger Oh, I loved this story! I was so sad when I finished it. Bertie! I would very happily read a full Little House on the Prairie-length series about Bertie and her life. Bertie is tough on herself and lives a hardscrabble farming life in the early twentieth century Midwest. She broke my heart over and over by feeling as though she didn’t deserve happiness and by never realizing the value of the important and continual sacrifices she willingly made for her family. Hardinger offers up many crisp and varied details of the time, she captures Bertie’s speech patterns, and, most importantly, she transports the reader into the gruff but hopeful mindset of a young woman forced to grow up too quickly--a woman who for years feels she must push away any hopes for a life that is easier or full of joy. And all of this is set against the backdrop of Bertie's endless daily and bone-wearying tasks of plucking chickens, caring for siblings, carting water, and all the rest. When the promise of a better life started to glimmer at the edges of her vision, I almost cheered.

ICYMI: I loved being along for the ride with Moyes's five strong women characters as they traveled through the wilds of Kentucky in Depression-era America bearing the magic of books. There is always a way out of a situation. Might be ugly. Might leave you feeling like the earth had gone and shifted under your feet. But there is always a way around. In Jojo Moyes's The Giver of Stars, it's Depression-era America, and a call has gone out for librarians who can deliver books for Eleanor Roosevelt's new traveling library. Alice Wright traveled from England in hopes of adventure in her new married life; Margery is independent and strong-willed; and together with three other women, they make up the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky. Plunging into the unforgiving, beautiful, wild land, the women face dangers and surprises in order to bring the written word to hollers and mountaintops. Time flew. And each ended the night full and happy with the rare glow that comes from knowing your very being has been understood by somebody else. And that there might just be someone out there who will only ever see the best in you. You may predict the broad strokes of where this story is headed, but Moyes lays out such rich detail of life in the mountains and hollers of Kentucky that it’s fun to just be along for the ride. The traveling librarians were all irresistible variations on “tough as nails with hearts of gold” characters. I loved their searches for love and their yearning for living a life that was true to themselves (by pushing against the norms of the day). Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Jojo Moyes is also the author of Me Before You, One Plus One, The Girl You Left Behind, The Ship of Brides (mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II), and other novels. Another book I loved about traveling librarians was The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.

I wished for more of a focus on the character of Tess and her personal story--and less on political strategies, power plays, and the many other broad issues Hartman explores over the course of this almost-500-page sequel to Tess of the Road. In Rachel Hartman's Tess of the Road, we followed irresistible, hardheaded, wonderfully faulted Tess as she broke from rigid medieval gender roles in favor of adventure and discovery. That book was captivating, sometimes weighty, and often playful. I loved it. In the Serpent's Wake picks up where Tess of the Road left off. We're reintroduced to the story with an introductory poem written in verse that is funny, poignant--and also extremely helpful in its recap. It's the perfect reentry to the wonderfully cheeky, strong, faulted character of Tess as she tries yet again to be a loyal friend, refrain from punching people in the nose, and save the world. But the scope of In the Serpent's Wake is far broader than that of the first book. This second installation departs from a focus on Tess and her personal growth. Instead, the almost 500 pages of In the Serpent's Wake explores enormous, broad issues: colonization, persecuted indigenous people, human rights, racism, fights for autonomy, misogyny, and more. I was more eager to read more about Tess as a character than the extensive political machinations in the book and the shifting loyalties related to control of lands and attempted control of peoples and creatures. The sharing of stories and folklore through generations and cultures was a small-scale highlight. Hartman's sabanewts are fascinating creatures--and they also demand of the book's characters a new understanding of ownership, freedom, resources, and more. I loved the feminism, the complicated but steadfast friendships, and the dogged independence that various characters exhibit against all odds. I also enjoyed Tess's recognizing shades of gray where she once saw black-and-white right and wrong. But I wanted far more of a focus on Tess and for her to play a more key role in the book's events, as she did in book one. The rest of this book felt like a distraction from the character I love, and ultimately I wasn't particularly engaged with the broader story. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Click here to check out my review of the first book in this series, Tess of the Road. Hartman is also the author of Seraphina and Shadow Scale.

Former child actress McCurdy's account of her mother's narcissistic, harmful, abusive behavior and how it has shaped the author's life is disturbing, yet McCurdy's tone is wry and appealing in its brutal honesty. I had her up on a pedestal.... That pedestal kept me stuck, emotionally stunted, living in fear, dependent, in a near constant state of emotional pain and without the tools to even identify that pain, let alone deal with it. My mom didn't deserve her pedestal. She was a narcissist. She refused to admit she had any problems, despite how destructive those problems were to our entire family. I wasn't familiar with McCurdy when I began listening to her memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, although I have a vague recollection of the existence of the Nickelodeon TV shows she was on, iCarly and Sam and Cat. Jennette became a child actress at 6 in order to please her mother, pushing down her own anxiety and disinclination to be the center of attention--and eventually committing to her mother's idea of "calorie restriction," which started McCurdy on a path of constant struggling with food and eating disorders that lasted decades. Her mother's volatile emotions; upsetting and controlling actions; pushy manner; mental, emotional, and physical abuse; and disturbing codependence with her young daughter make for an uncomfortable read. Yet McCurdy is witty, often funny, and candid. She doesn't add drama to the often shocking and horrifying revelations she presents to the reader. She's most often matter-of-fact, because while she now has the benefit of age and increased wisdom, therapy and perspective, and distance from the situation, the various methods of constant abuse and control her mother exerted over her until her death were McCurdy's everyday life; for McCurdy, all of this was an unhappy but normal set of circumstances. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? McCurdy has had a one-woman show "I'm Glad My Mom Died," and she writes and directs films and writes articles that have appeared in various publications. She hosts a podcast called "Empty Inside."

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading The Fire and the Ore, the newest historical fiction novel (to be published tomorrow!) from Olivia Hawker; I'm listening to I'm Glad My Mom Died, the memoir from actress Jennette McCurdy about being raised by a manipulative, emotionally unstable mother; and I'm reading The Other Side of Night (also to be published tomorrow!), Adam Hamdy's twisty mystery about interconnected characters. What are you reading these days, bookworms? 01 The Fire and the Ore by Olivia Hawker In this newest Western-set story by Olivia Hawker, she tells the tale of the interconnected lives of three women in Utah Territory in 1857. When the US Army invades, these former strangers, linked by their connection to one man, must flee into the unforgiving desert. I received a prepublication edition of this book, scheduled for publication tomorrow, courtesy of Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley. Hawker is also the author of The Ragged Edge of Night, which I mentioned in Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved Over the Past Year. Hawker also wrote One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow, which I listed in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West. 02 I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy I wasn't familiar with McCurdy when I began listening to her memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, although I have a vague recollection of the existence of the TV show she was on, iCarly. Jennette became a child actress at 6 in order to please her mother, pushing down her own anxiety and disinclination to be the center of attention--and eventually committing to her mother's idea of "calorie restriction," beginning decades of struggling with food and eating disorders. Her mother's volatile emotions; upsetting and controlling manner; pushy actions; mental, emotional, and physical abuse; and disturbing codependence with her young daughter make for an uncomfortable read. But McCurdy is witty, often funny, and candid. 03 The Other Side of Night by Adam Hamdy In Adam Hamdy's The Other Side of Night, the lives of a popular author, a respectable citizen, and a disgraced police officer are intertwined through connections to a series of mysterious deaths. A novel written to explore real-life tragedies, an enigmatic note written in a copy of the novel, a seeming suicide, and inexplicable circumstances tie together the characters of David Asha, Harriet Kealty, and Ben Elmys. But one of them may be a murderer. The Other Side of Night twists and turns its way to a surprising ending. I received a prepublication copy of this book (to be published tomorrow) courtesy of Atria Books and NetGalley.

Witchy Book Love It's the perfect time of year to read a spooky book full of magic! If you haven't already, I hope you'll check out the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Wonderfully Witchy Stories to Charm You. Because I love a witchy book, I'm back with more more more witchy titles here, and I'm working on a third list. What are your favorite witchy stories? 01 Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian Hour of the Witch is a thoroughly researched, witchy, historical thriller with fantastic details of the time. Bohjalian's Hour of the Witch takes place in 1662 Boston, where strong-willed women like main protagonist young Mary Deerfield are suspicious and frequently considered dangerous. Hour of the Witch is a thoroughly researched historical fiction thriller with fantastic details of the time that focuses on the character of a twenty-four-year-old, faithful Puritan wife trying to escape her violent, often drunk husband, who is a widower twice her age--and the witch trial that followed. Bohjalian traces infuriating injustices perpetuated against the female characters--who like the real-life women of the time, are largely powerless and often not considered autonomous beings. Mary's foul treatment by her husband--and the community's unwillingness to protect her--may have you roiling with rage, but just know that Mary has a fiery spirit and some tricks up her sleeve, and she doesn't intend to go quietly. For my full review, please see Hour of the Witch. 02 The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried, and hanged for witchcraft during the era of Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. In The Heretic's Daughter, Martha Carrier's tenth generation descendant Kathleen Kent offers a historical fiction tale centered around Martha and the twisted paranoia of the time that was aimed against strong women, the unusual, and the unknown. The story had a few too many "doom is coming, get ready" types of heads-ups for my liking--especially because this is, after all, a Salem-set witch-trial story, and most readers will tend to anticipate trouble. But there was real depth to the story, the relationships, and the family in The Heretic's Daughter, with a vividly imagined setting and wonderful details of the time. I love that this is written by Carrier's descendant. This is the second in Kent's Carrier series, but it's not necessary to read The Wolves of Andover first (I didn't). 03 A Deadly Education (Scholomance #1) by Naomi Novik El is a grumpy, powerful, smart, straightforward character I was obsessed with, and I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. A Deadly Education is the first in Novik's Scholomance series, which is set at a magical school with two routes out: a grueling path to graduation and beyond or, just as likely, death. Danger and darkness lurk around every corner. I loved the wonderful dark humor and unexpected details, and the exchanges between El and Orion (and El and everyone) were fantastic--El is a grumpy, powerful, smart, straightforward character I was obsessed with, and I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. I loved that Novik began putting more of the school's fate in the hands of her young characters--and I gleefully tore through the book to find out what they'd do with their power. The dark humor in this book reminded me of another book I also loved, Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots. For my full review, please see A Deadly Education. The Last Graduate is the second book in the Scholomance series. The Golden Enclaves, the third book in the series, was published in fall 2022. 04 The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson There's brutality and bravery in this spooky tale--and the atmospheric descriptions of the remote, tiny town setting created an eerie, claustrophobic feeling. When Immanuelle ventures into the Darkwood, she encounters the legendary witches she's heard tell of her whole life--and finds that her mother's rumored encounters with the coven really happened. She's given a long-lost journal detailing her mother's exile, thirst for vengeance, and plans for enacting evil spells against those who treated her poorly. I listened to Henderson's spooky book The Year of the Witching as an audiobook, and this dark, witchy tale felt perfect as winter was coming. There's devastating brutality but also incredible bravery on the part of Immanuelle and her friend Ezra. The atmospheric descriptions of the remote, tiny town created an eerie, claustrophobic feeling. For my full review, please see The Year of the Witching. 05 The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight #1) by Katherine Arden The first book in the Winternight trilogy, this is a Russia-set, ancient-feeling, dark fairy tale of a story. The Bear and the Nightingale takes place within a small Russian village and centers around an extended family. "True believers" are pitted against dark, feared forces, turning what the village collectively believes to be good and pure on its head. Those who triumph over destructive righteousness, blind obedience, and attempts at wielding selfish power do so by remembering the old ways, defying expectations, and showing limitless bravery. The Bear and the Nightingale is the first book in the Winternight trilogy. The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch are the others, and I think Arden's stories get even stronger as the series goes on, with complex interpersonal relationships, court politics, mystical creatures, and wonderful character development. I also listed The Bear and the Nightingale in the Greedy Reading List Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love. 06 The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin Small moments in this young adult book ring true, and the story feels primarily about relationships, set against a witchy background. In the world of Griffin's young adult fantasy novel The Nature of Witches, witches control the weather. And--this part of the storyline may feel uncomfortably familiar--climate change has set weather patterns spinning out of control. Destructive blizzards, devastating tornadoes, desperate heat, and shockingly bitter cold are alternately threatening the land--and endangering the lives of witches and shaders (regular humans) alike. The story feels primarily about relationships, with a witchcraft background and setting. A chaste attraction involves lots of romance and a love that must not be (in order to save lives!)--and I was up for all of it. The magical school setting reminded me of Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education, although the tone of this book is more romantic and without an edge. For my full review, please see The Nature of Witches.

Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth, is a complex, fascinating, gruesome story full of action and shifts in reality as well as endless bad language, wicked barbs, and dark-as-night humor. At the start of Harrow the Ninth, Harrowhark Nonagesimus, the last necromancer of the Ninth House, wakes disoriented and without her full powers on the Emperor's space station. She's haunted by a beautiful apparition she begins to think of as The Body, and to her surprise, her longtime enemy hands her letters written in Harrow's own hand, with confusing references and bossy, unwelcome directives she's inclined not to follow. Trapped in the eerie space station with three grumpy, unwilling teachers trying to prepare her for the battle of all battles (which by all accounts will be unwinnable), Harrow has to determine whether someone is trying to kill her--and to figure out what she has to live for anyway. All I can say is that it was complicated back in Canaan House, and sometimes a cute older girl shows you a lot of attention, because she’s bored or whatever, and you sort of have this maybe-flirting maybe-not thing going on, right, and then it turns out she’s an ancient warrior who’s killed all your friends and she’s coming for you, and then you both die and she turns up ages later in the broiling heat on a sacred space station and like, it’s complicated. Just saying that it happens all the time. Characters sometimes inhabit each other's bodies, so they may look like one character and sound and behave like another; certain characters exist in ghostlike states; the story tracks back and forward in time; visions of corpses and ethereal beings ("the Body") appear to only be known to Harrow; characters lie steadily to each other; and Harrow is an unreliable narrator, with memory lapses and falsified recollections. I listened to Harrow the Ninth as an audiobook--and tried to keep up with all of the shifts, manipulations, and developments. She rounded on him. Harrowhark knew that she was being unfair; she knew that she was being petulant--had been scared into it, and could not soothe herself, and was using any means fair and foul to try to do so now. But when she was scared, she was a child again, and she was more afraid of being a child again than anything else in her life. Almost. This is dark dark dark, with death, nefarious plotting, and gleefully gruesome elements (bone work, etc.). But Harrow the Ninth also offers fantastically bratty episodes on the parts of various characters; frenzies of double-crossing, long-term plans for destruction, and evil impulses; and endless moments of silly and dark humor that made me laugh. The strong, ruthless, intelligent women in Harrow the Ninth absolutely steal the show--which is saying something, since God of the Universe is a character in the story. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? For my review of the first book in this series, Gideon the Ninth, check out this link. Gideon the Ninth was also mentioned in my Greedy Reading List Six More Postapocalyptic and Dystopian Favorites. The third book in the series, Nona the Ninth, was published in 2022, with the fourth book, Alecto the Ninth, to follow in fall 2023.

Zusy's Frederick sisters navigate a complicated, stressful situation and drastic changes with plenty of mistakes, forgiveness, and persistent love that sees them through. When Maggie gets a call that her older sister Ginny--diabetic but a sugar lover, with intellectual disabilities--needs more help than she's getting living on her own, she brings Ginny and her occasionally vicious dog to live nearby in upstate New York. But Maggie already has a maxed-out life: she's separated from her husband, she has two boys, she's getting by on a freelancer's pay, and she's just starting to date again. Meanwhile, Ginny is bull-headed, hooked on sugar and porn, and not inclined to cooperate with Maggie's requests--or those of her caregivers. Zusy notes that the character of Ginny was inspired by Zusy's own brother, and the fictional interactions of Maggie and Ginny feel informed by Zusy's real-life exchanges with her sibling, who also had intellectual disabilities. I had a tough time pinning down the tone in this roller-coaster story--I wasn't always sure whether Zusy was aiming for what felt like moment-to-moment shifts from playful to alarming to quirky, but it left me a little disoriented. The difficult dynamic of Maggie's feeling responsible for--yet not parenting--a special-needs, grown sibling is conveyed with all of the awkward, upsetting, challenging elements one might expect. Maggie is navigating a fraught, tough situation. She provides a safe framework for Ginny with caregivers and an accessible home for her wheelchair, but Ginny has her own money and credit card, and she is obsessed with Hawaiian Punch and Jell-O, and refuses to test her blood sugar. The push and pull of Ginny's strong preferences and opinions and how she is unswayed by consequences was stressful to live through along with Maggie on the page. Ginny is a fully realized character; Maggie is navigating a messy, complicated life with grace; and their relationship was absolutely the highlight of the book for me. In The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream, Jeannie Zusy offers a messy, heartwarming family story with dark humor--and a sense that the matter of who's taking care of who is not as cut-and-dried as it may first seem. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream is Jeannie Zusy's first novel. I received an electronic prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Atria Books and NetGalley.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading The Hero of This Book, the newest novel (to be published tomorrow!) from the wonderful Elizabeth McCracken; I'm reading A Psalm for the Wild-Built, the first in Becky Chambers's Monk and Robot series and a book that's been on my to-read list for ages; and I'm reading Hester (also to be published tomorrow!), Laurie Lico Albanese's reimagining of the character of Hester Prynne and the inspiration for her story from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. What are you reading these days, bookworms? 01 The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken After her larger-than-life mother's death, the narrator of The Hero of This Book faces the sale of the family home in New England and travels to her mother's favorite city, London. She considers whether her role as an author offers an opportunity to write about her mother and gain deeper understanding of her, or whether doing so would violate her mother's long-held, fierce desire for privacy. I received a prepublication edition of this book, scheduled for publication October 4, courtesy of Ecco and NetGalley. I mentioned one of McCracken's short story collections, Thunderstruck & Other Stories, in the Greedy Reading List Six Short Story Collections to Wow You. 02 A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk and Robot #1) by Becky Chambers The robots vanished from Panga centuries ago, and accounts of a world where they existed are beginning to feel more and more like folklore. But tea monk Dex finds himself wandering and yearning--for long-lost crickets' nighttime noises, and for some deep connection he can't quite identify. When Dex wanders into the forest and encounters a robot, the traditional exchange must occur, of checking in, and the robot asks: What do humans need? Dex can't imagine being able to answer this enormous question, but the robot wonders if the matter is really so complicated after all. This is a slim book that's full of heart and strange, captivating details of Chambers's imagined world--and of an unorthodox friendship that could save both monk and robot. Chambers is also the author of the Wayfarers series; click here to read my review of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. If you're interested in books about robots, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Robots, Humans and Alien Life, and AI. 03 Hester: A Novel by Laurie Lico Albanese In Hester: A Novel, Laurie Lico Albanese reimagines the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. In Hester, talented needleworker Isobel Gamble and her husband leave Scotland for America in the early 1800s. But when her addict of a husband abruptly leaves her penniless and alone, jumping on a departing ship as a medic, Isobel is desperate and must make her way in an unfamiliar country all alone. She encounters Nathaniel Hawthorne, a romantic, aspiring author who is struggling to cope with his family's dark legacy of having sent suspected witches to the gallows. The two enchant each other in an unconventional, unacceptable relationship and a swirl of connection. I received a prepublication copy of this book (to be published tomorrow) courtesy of St. Martin's Press and NetGalley. If you're interested in books about witches, you might like the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Wonderfully Witchy Stories and Six More Wonderfully Witchy Stories to Charm You.

My very favorite September reads! Here are my six favorite reads of the past month: two new novels from favorite authors who each include interconnected characters in their stories; one nonfiction book I've been meaning to read for years; a book that plays with time (one of my favorite setups); a light fiction story about youth, regret, and new beginnings; and a lovely debut novel about friendship and mortality. If you've read any of these, I'd love to hear what you think! And I'd also love to hear: what are some of your recent favorite reads? 01 Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid In Taylor Jenkins Reid's newest novel, Carrie Soto is unapologetically driven and determined. I loved the tennis focus, the fast pacing, and the father-daughter relationship that drives the story. Tough, talented Carrie Soto retired from tennis at the top of her game as the best player in the world and the greatest of all time. Her cutthroat desire to win didn't make her the most popular player in the world. But Carrie and her father, her longtime coach, sacrificed everything to get her to the top, setting records that have cemented her place in tennis history. Now retired, Carrie is a spectator at the US Open when she sees her record challenged by a young upstart. No one returns to tennis at age 37. But with her fierce determination, her (rusty) skills, and her desire to be the best, Carrie is the perfect person to defy the odds. Carrie Soto is back. I was curious about how Reid would craft the ending of this one, and I was satisfied with the character growth, the trajectory she sets up, and also with how in the end, nothing felt too easy. I flew through this story--it was solidly a "right book at the right time" for me, and I also loved that the book's release coincided with the start of the US Open. I loved this one. For my full review, check out Carrie Soto Is Back. 02 This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub Straub offers a story that plays with time, explores sentimental moments, offers do-overs, and sweeps the reader into a love-filled, hopeful heartbreaker of a tale. On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice’s job, apartment, and love life are solidly okay. The only dark spot in her life is her father’s grave illness. When she wakes up the next morning...it’s her 16th birthday again. And it isn't just that being in her teen body again shocks her, or that seeing her high school crush is jarring. It's incredible to see her healthy, vital, young dad. I am a huuuuuuge fan of books that play with time, and Straub offers up all the best parts of a time-travel book in This Time Tomorrow. This Time Tomorrow indulged my own personal desire for sentimentality, while also emphasizing the value of cutting to the heart of a situation without wasting time. The story offers up lots of loving moments as well as perfectly imperfect decisions and mistakes. The story is heartbreaking and lovely in its ultimate insistence that one must let go of the past. If you like books that play with time, you might also enjoy the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories. Click here for my full review of This Time Tomorrow. 03 The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin Cronin's debut novel explores mortality, vulnerability, surprising moments of joy and reflection, an irresistible young protagonist, and a wonderful array of friends who are like family. Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson lives in the terminal ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Her life expectancy isn't long, but Lenni still has a lot she wants to do and be. In the hospital's arts and crafts class, she meets 83-year-old Margot, a spirited, rebellious new friend. Collectively they've been around 100 years, but this just doesn't feel like enough, and they each want to leave their mark on the world. With the help of Father Arthur, the hospital chaplain, and a kind palliative care nurse, the friends make a plan to create one hundred paintings, one to represent each of their years of life. This goal adds structure to the novel, but the story is far richer than the characters' mission to create art. If you're interested in books that explore mortality, you might want to check out Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality. Another novel I loved that involves a precocious, wise, reflective, tough young protagonist is This Is All He Asks of You. Click here for my full review of The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot. 04 Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne Heartbreaking and disturbing, this is a fascinating exploration of the motivations behind and the execution of white men's relentless mission of destruction; details of Comanche life; and their position as the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. In Empire of the Summer Moon, S.C. Gwynne explores the forty-year battle between white settlers and Native Americans in the American West, particularly focusing on Quanah, the chief of the Comanches, the most powerful tribe in American history. Gwynne traces the evolution of the Comanches--including their captivatingly described, unprecedented skill at breeding, breaking, riding, amassing, and trading horses as well as their revolutionary fighting style of hanging on the sides of their horses and shooting arrows under the horses' heads while galloping at full speed. Gwynne also offers the compelling story of Cynthia Ann Parker, a white captive who assimilated into the Comanche tribe, married and bore children, and repeatedly refused to be "rescued" by white men determined to return her to a pioneer life. Digging into the motivations and machinations that shaped the genocide that is detailed in Empire of the Summer Moon is disturbing and heartbreaking, but appropriately so. Click here for my full review of Empire of the Summer Moon. 05 Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout In Lucy by the Sea, familiar Strout characters Lucy Barton and her ex-husband William flee New York City for rural Maine during the Covid-19 pandemic. The novel offers introspection, vulnerability, and new beginnings. But despite her insecurities and what sometimes feels like fragility, Lucy is often able to see the difficult truth in situations and face them with stolid resolve. She alludes to her difficult childhood circumstances (which are more fully explored in My Name Is Lucy Barton), and we see that her lifelong ability to cope with despair and grim events serve her well in her current circumstances. The nearby ocean is a haunting presence but also a steady, everchanging comfort to Lucy. To her surprise, she begins to notice and respond to the wonders of the light, the weather, the air, and the changing scenery of her daily walks in beautiful and immersive passages in the book. Strout takes us into the heart of a stressful, unusual pandemic situation in which Lucy and William, longtime friends and ex-spouses, live in intimate solitude together, wondering about and worrying about their daughters, each other, themselves, and the world. In order to feel the full weight of this book, I think it's important to first read Strout's My Name Is Lucy Barton. Lucy's creation of an imaginary, supportive mother and her loving responses to and comfort for Lucy in this book absolutely broke my heart. Oh William! is another Strout book linked to this story, but I didn't respond to that one as much as Lucy Barton or Lucy by the Sea. For my full review, check out Lucy by the Sea. 06 Every Summer After by Carley Fortune Carley Fortune offers a satisfying story of coming home, young love, mistakes and redemption, romance, lake life, and some past and present steamy scenes. In Carley Fortune's debut Every Summer After, it's been ten years since Persephone Fraser made the biggest mistake of her life in the wondrous place where she spent her youthful summers, Barry's Bay. Now Percy is making her way in the city, trying (and failing) to avoid thinking about how she's disconnected from the place and the people who helped shape her into who she is. But when she returns to the lake for Sam Florek's mother's funeral, she's swept back into the connection she and Sam once had, and her determination to keep her heart closed might be shaken--along with everything else around which she's built her young adult life. I love stories about returning home, reconnecting with old flames, and chances for redemption, and Every Summer After has all of these elements, plus lots of reminiscing, cute banter, poignant moments, and a few steamy scenes. I read this satisfying, romantic read in a day. For my full review, check out Every Summer After.

I was most intrigued by Kurczy's exploration of the National Radio Quiet Zone and the nearby military facility, but the book felt a little disjointed to me when he delved into some of the regional goings-on that weren't seemingly related to the main topic. Around the country, the tourism bureau had begun distributing a new brochure that read: "Welcome to the National Radio Quiet Zone. 13,000 square miles of land, federally protected from artificial radio wave interference, where the secrets of the universe can be revealed by the world's largest steerable radio telescope at the Green Bank Observatory. Meaning no cell service. No Wi-Fi. Just you, your family, and our grand outdoors. Find your peace." Technology in Green Bank, West Virginia, is not allowed by law--unless you're working in the Green Bank Observatory. Astronomers there use cutting-edge technology to search the stars--while everyone in the area is barred from using devices whose radio frequencies might interfere with scientific study. That means no cell phones, no iPads, and no constant connectivity. At least on paper. "You do have a cellphone that works, correct?" Linda asked. I shook my head. "You don't have a fucking cellphone?" Thompson said. Even he had a cellphone, just no data plan because money was tight. "Really?" By exploring an area of rural Appalachia where cell phone signals and Wi-Fi are banned, journalist Stephen Kurczy considers one of the few places in the United States where technology purportedly does not rule society. But not everyone who comes to Green Bank finds the quiet they're searching for. And many Green Bank locals don't want to abide by the Quiet Zone rules at all--and don't. In fact, Kurczy finds that he seems to be one of a distinct minority in the region who is not carrying a cell phone and hooked up to Wi-Fi. I had to come to Green Bank on the presumption that the less connected life was richer--which seemed to be bearing itself out. But I was also staring down a rabbit hole of alien hunters, government spies, and Wi-Fi refugees. I was interested in the various links and synergistic relationship between the observatory and a nearby military facility, and I was most hooked on the way The Quiet Zone illustrates the contradictions and complications of the seemingly idyllic, forced radio silence in the area. But by the time Kurczy dug into some of the most alarming real-life characters from the Green Bank community (including the doctor who once dressed as a clown--the person the Robin Williams-starring movie Patch Adams was based upon--and members of a well-known hate group that has taken root on a mountaintop in the area), the book began to feel a little disjointed. Yet Kurczy's nonfiction explores the treasure of a promise of quiet in a world largely filled with noise, stimulation, information, images, and constant input, and I found the early sections of the book particularly compelling. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? If you like nonfiction books, you might like the titles on the Greedy Reading List Six Compelling Nonfiction Reads.

Hsu's memoir remembers his friend Ken, who was tragically killed during college. He reflects on friendship and on their connection, challenges, and revelations. Friendship is about the willingness to know, rather than be known. Eighteen-year-old Hua Hsu reveled in his uniqueness. The son of Taiwanese immigrants, he enjoyed making 'zines, searching for vintage records, and making sure he felt different from mainstream teens. Ken, Japanese American in a family that had lived the United States for generations, favored Dave Matthews Band and Abercrombie and Fitch and was in a fraternity. In Hua's view, Ken was as mainstream as they came. Yet the two bonded and became close in the way that college friends do--through making mix tapes, taking road trips, hanging out, taking up smoking and having deep conversations on the balcony, developing inside jokes, plotting out a film starring the two of them, and developing a shared passion for a movie (in this case, The Last Dragon). Friendship rests on the presumption of reciprocity, or drifting in and out of one another's lives, with occasional moments of wild intensity. When you're nineteen or twenty, your life is governed by debts and favors, promises to pick up the check or drive next time around. We built our lives into a set of mutual agreements, a string of small gifts lobbed back and forth. Life happened within that delay. But several years later, just a few hours after Hua was at his party, Ken was killed in a carjacking. Hua was left reeling. He wrote Hua's eulogy, then began writing what became Stay True in order to cope with his loss, explore the concept of belonging, face his own grief, and memorialize his friend. Over the course of many years, the author sorted through his feelings and memories, cherishing a folder filled with touchstones of their friendship, and he wrote. He wondered what would have become of their friendship if Ken hadn't died. He accepted the illogical nature of the horrifying crime. He went to grad school, he went to therapy, and he began to let go of the guilt surrounding the idea that he might have somehow saved his friend. I received an electronic prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Doubleday Books and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Hua Hsu is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He says in Stay True's acknowledgments, "I've been writing this for over twenty years."

In Nethercott's Thistlefoot, estranged siblings Bellatine and Isaac Yaga find their way back to each other within this odd, dark story that is steeped in Jewish folklore. "It's wild, isn't it...how there are all these stories that played out before we even existed. And their residue is all around us, all the time, but we don't even know it. Sometimes I wonder how much of me is my own, you know?" This recently published debut novel from Gennarose Nethercott is heavy on Eastern European folklore and feels like an immersive fairy tale with modern references (for example, cell phones). In Thistlefoot, estranged siblings Bellatine, a woodworker with mysterious powers, and Isaac, a con artist and street performer with his own magic, are reunited to claim a mysterious, bizarre inheritance: a sentient house on chicken legs. You're going to have to roll with that premise for Thistlefoot to work for you, and if you're up for it, there are a lot of delights here. Thistlefoot is a strange, epic, often dark adventure tale with roots in Jewish folklore, and puppets (which may or may not come to life at times) and the story they're used to tell are central to the plot. Bellatine and Isaac find their way back to each other, bonded by trying to untangle the dangerous, sentimental, mysterious circumstances surrounding the house's existence. They find unlikely allies who are also seeking the truth about the house--and who want to protect its legacy from those who would destroy it. This, as always, is only one version of the memory. Funny, how truth changes in the telling. How a person becomes a myth, how a myth becomes a hero. Do not mistake Baba Yaga for the hero of my stories. She is not. She is not the villain, either. She is only a woman. Sometimes, one cannot know until retelling what was right and what was wrong. Thistlefoot includes some scenes in which World War II atrocities are central; delves into the desperation and cruelties of those who have struggled to America, imagining their salvation; and explores the binds of family and history. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? If you like magical realism and folklore, you might also like the books on my Greedy Reading List Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm currently reading three fantasy titles: one young adult novel to be published tomorrow and two stories that are each the second in a series. I'm reading Spells for Forgetting, the newest young adult novel from Adrienne Young, author of Fable and Namesake; I'm reading In the Serpent's Wake, the second in the great young adult Tess of the Road series by Rachel Hartman; and I'm listening to Harrow the Ninth, the second in Tamsyn Muir's very dark, strange, sometimes funny, fascinating (did I already mention that it's dark?) Locked Tomb series. What are you reading these days, bookworms? 01 Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young When Emery Blackwood's best friend was killed and Emery's love August was accused of being her murderer, everything changed. It's been years since the tragedy, and Emery is home on the island of Saiorse, running her family's business. August knows he isn't welcome in Emery's orbit. But when he returns home to bury his mother, magic bursts and gleams on the island--and long-held secrets come to light that will threaten everything Emery thinks she knows. I received a prepublication edition of this book, scheduled for publication September 27, courtesy of Delacorte Press and NetGalley. Click here to check out my reviews of Young's books Fable and Namesake (a duology) as well as The Last Legacy. 02 In the Serpent's Wake (Tess of the Road #2) by Rachel Hartman In Rachel Hartman's Tess of the Road, we followed irresistible, hardheaded, wonderfully faulted Tess as she broke from rigid medieval gender roles in favor of adventure and discovery. That book was captivating, sometimes weighty, and often playful, but never silly. I loved it. In the Serpent's Wake picks up where Tess of the Road left off. We're reintroduced to the story with an introductory poem written in verse that is funny, poignant--and also extremely helpful in its recap. It's the perfect reentry to the wonderfully cheeky, strong, faulted character of Tess as she tries yet again to be a loyal friend, refrain from punching people in the nose, and save the world. Click here to check out my review of the first book in this series, Tess of the Road. Hartman is also the author of Seraphina and Shadow Scale. 03 Harrow the Ninth (Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir Harrowhark, the last necromancer of the Ninth House, wakes disoriented and without her full powers on the Emperor's space station. She's haunted by a beautiful apparition she begins to think of as The Body, and to her surprise, her longtime enemy hands her letters written in Harrow's own hand, with confusing references and bossy, unwelcome directives she's inclined not to follow. Trapped in the eerie space station with three grumpy, unwilling teachers trying to prepare her for the battle of all battles, Harrow has to determine whether someone is trying to kill her--and to figure out what she has to live for anyway. I'm listening to Harrow the Ninth as an audiobook--and trying to keep up. For my review of the first book in this series, Gideon the Ninth, check out this link. Gideon the Ninth was also mentioned in my Greedy Reading List Six More Postapocalyptic and Dystopian Favorites. The third book in the series, Nona the Ninth, was published in 2022, with the fourth book, Alecto the Ninth, to follow in fall 2023.

After the World Falls Apart I have a fascination with postapocalyptic and dystopian books, and I think it's for the same reason I'm captivated by wartime stories: the books are about characters being pushed to their limits by an incredibly challenging situation, and they show their true selves and abilities. I hope you'll also check out the books on my first Greedy Reading List of Six Fantastic Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Novels. Which dystopian or postapocalyptic books have fascinated you? 01 Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson Robots, time travel, teen angst, and this gorgeous cover. Yes to all of this. I didn't anticipate the twists Johnson provides, and I was delighted by each of them. Goddess in the Machine is more than just a gorgeous cover. Lora Beth Johnson had me hooked immediately by the premise and Andra's voice. Teenage Andra finally wakes up after being cryogenically preserved for a century-long journey to a new planet. She's a little creaky and sore, sure, but she's ready to be reunited with the team, which includes her mother and the rest of her family, plus many others involved in the complex project. They'll begin the work of bravely populating and building a new life on this planet. Except...Andra soon realizes she wasn't sleeping for 100 years. She was asleep for 1,000. The people, terrain, and language are not what she studied for or expected, everyone she once knew has already lived and died--oh, and the general population, whoever they are, thinks she's a goddess, and they've been waiting excitedly for her to wake up and save them. I didn't anticipate the twist/double twist here, and I loved being surprised again and again. For my full review, please see Goddess in the Machine. 02 Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Gideon’s speech is modern and biting, there are darkly funny moments, and the friendships and loyalty resonate in a lovely way. The tone of Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth was unlike any fantasy novel I’ve read, and the friendships and loyalty that develop seem impossible, yet resonate in a lovely way. It’s really a fascinating book. I read this during Pandemic Times, which slowed me down and also, I believe, made it tougher than it should’ve been for me to differentiate between some of the secondary characters. (They’re also each called by multiple titles and names, which became slightly jumbled in my mind at times.) The settings are so stark and unique and clearly built that I think the general sense of this book is going to haunt me for a long time. And the ending—! This is the first in Muir's Locked Tomb series, and I'm currently listening to the second, Harrow the Ninth. The third book, Nona the Ninth, was published in fall 2022. For my full review, check out Gideon the Ninth. 03 Machinehood by S.B. Divya Space! Robots! Artificial intelligence! Divya has crafted strong female main protagonists who navigate the sometimes dark, always complicated pressures of life in 2095--as they try to save the world. In her debut novel, Divya sets the scene in the world of 2095. Humanity around the world is reliant on homemade and commercially manufactured pills--for health, for work focus, for managing bots, for healing, for sleep, and for transitioning between all of the above. I wished for more page time spent on everyday tasks and activities (cooking, shifting household modules, travel, and communicating), which were all carried out in Jetsons-level, fascinating, futuristic ways. But Divya is too busy crafting strong female main protagonists (complete with working mother guilt, which exists in the future too). The management of many large-scale issues and their side effects are shown in shades of gray rather than black-and-white, including the meaning and value of personhood; the definitions of health, autonomy, and freedom; sometimes-necessary compromises; and the promise for the future of the world. For my full review, check out Machinehood. 04 Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long I was hooked by Meg Long's debut young adult science fiction novel about tough young Sena, her skittish fighting wolf Iska, and their desperate journey across the ice. ​In the young adult science fiction novel Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, young Sena has lost both of her mothers to the brutal sled races on her frozen planet. Since then she's had to be scrappy, creative, and above all, tough. When she angers a local warlord and becomes eager to escape her world, she's relieved to secure promises of transport out--but those who would help her have one condition: she must help them take part in the planet's most infamous sled race. In Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, Long offers an intriguing story of brutal conditions, determined survival, hard-earned loyalty, grudging friendship, and a stubborn overcoming of various vivid dangers. I was hooked by Long's world-building, her evocative, immersive descriptions of the cold climate, and by tough, grumpy Sena, who has a big heart and a soft spot for Iska, her personality counterpart in wolf form. To see my full review, check out Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves. 05 How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu Nagamatsu's science fiction centers around a resurgence of an ancient Arctic plague. These interconnected stories are odd, fascinating, and sometimes panic-inducing, yet they offer glimmers of hope. I was intrigued by all of it. ​It's 2030, and an archaeologist in the Arctic Circle discovers a body perfectly preserved in the permafrost. His personal situation is complicated by his grief for his recently deceased daughter, and he aims to continue the research work she began. The interconnected stories here are made up of strange, affecting situations. In one circumstance, referred to in the book's title, there is a captivating, dark, in-between world of floating, nebulous memories that highlights humans’ struggles to connect to each other. How High We Go in the Dark combines linked elements that wind through the book. Characters appear in the backgrounds of others’ stories; a necklace disappears from one story in the Arctic and reappears in a casual mention around the neck of another character across the world in another time; and we see varied points of view regarding aspects of the same stories. For my full review, please see How High We Go in the Dark. 06 The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James Romy's soaring hopes, her vulnerability and then her growing doubts, her self-reliance and quick thinking, and the shifts and twists of the book all kept me hooked for this quick read. I loved this. ​Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never met, never even spoken to--someone who is light years away? This young adult science fiction story has an irresistible premise: teenaged Romy is the sole survivor on her spaceship, which is en route to establishing an outpost on a new planet. She's on her own out there in space, and as lonely as any human could imagine being. There's no hope of seeing another human again anytime soon. Her sole communication outlet is with her NASA contact, Molly, who sends her audio messages (and occasionally forwards along episodes of Romy's favorite TV show). But then Romy gets word that another ship has launched from earth, with a young man called J as the pilot. Romy is on her own in space, haunted by the events that led to her solo venture. Her self-reliance, romanticized ideas, quick thinking, and strength of character, along with the shifts and twists of the book, all kept me hooked. For my full review, please see The Loneliest Girl in the Universe.

Carley Fortune offers a satisfying story of coming home, young love, mistakes and redemption, romance, lake life, and some past and present steamy scenes. In Carley Fortune's debut Every Summer After, Persephone Fraser knows all too well the saying "you can't go home again." It's been ten years since she made the biggest mistake of her life in the wondrous place where she spent her youthful summers, Barry's Bay. Now Percy is making her way in the city, trying (and failing) to avoid thinking about how she's disconnected from the place and the people who helped shape her into who she is. But when she returns to the lake for Sam Florek's mother's funeral, she's swept back into the connection she and Sam once had, and her determination to keep her heart closed might be shaken--along with everything else around which she's built her young adult life. Every Summer After is a love story told over the course of six summers and a weekend. I love stories about returning home, reconnecting with old flames, and chances for redemption, and Every Summer After has all of these elements, plus lots of reminiscing, cute banter, poignant moments, and a few steamy scenes. I read this satisfying, romantic read in a day. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Every Summer After is Carley Fortune's debut novel. Her second book, Meet Me at the Lake, is scheduled for publication in May 2023. For more books I've loved, check out the Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Light Fiction Stories and Six More Great Light Fiction Stories.

Cronin's debut novel explores mortality, vulnerability, surprising moments of joy and reflection, an irresistible young protagonist, and a wonderful array of friends who are like family. Somewhere, out in the world, are the people who touched us, or loved us, or ran from us. In that way we will live on.... We are in the back of hundreds of people's photographs--moving, talking, blurring into the background of a picture two strangers have framed on their living room mantelpiece. And in that way, we will live on too. But it isn't enough. It isn't enough to have been a particle in the great extant of existence. I want, we want, more. We want for people to know us, to know our story, to know who we are and who we will be. And after we've gone, to know who we were. Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson lives in the terminal ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Her life expectancy isn't long, but Lenni still has a lot she wants to do and be. In the hospital's arts and crafts class, she meets 83-year-old Margot, a spirited, rebellious new friend. Collectively they've been around 100 years, but this just doesn't feel like enough, and they each want to leave their mark on the world. With the help of Father Arthur, the hospital chaplain, and a kind palliative care nurse, the friends make a plan to create one hundred paintings, one to represent each of their years of life. This goal adds structure to the novel, but the story is far richer than the characters' mission to create art. The character of Lenni seemed significantly younger than seventeen, and this kept occurring to me but didn't bother me. Her age likely needed to be at least seventeen in order for the situation with her parents to work within the story. Cronin's debut takes place in a hospital's terminal ward and dips in and out of Margot's and Lenni's memories, building their pasts as they become irreplaceable to each other in the present. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot explores mortality, but also friends who are like family, failings and disappointments, deep connections forged in precious, everyday moments, and incredible grace. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? If you're interested in books that explore mortality, you might want to check out Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality. Another novel I loved that involves a precocious, wise, reflective, tough young protagonist is This Is All He Asks of You.

In Lucy by the Sea, familiar Strout characters Lucy Barton and her ex-husband William flee New York City for rural Maine during the Covid-19 pandemic. The novel offers introspection, vulnerability, and new beginnings. In Elizabeth Strout's newest novel (published today!) Lucy by the Sea, Lucy Barton and her ex-husband William, characters from earlier Strout novels, leave New York City for rural Maine during the Covid-19 lockdown. Lucy's sparely recounted version of events is peppered with diarylike "I do remember hearing that" remarks, offhanded mentions of characters we've met before (like Olive Kitteridge), and Lucy's incessant, varied worries. But despite her insecurities and what sometimes feels like fragility, Lucy is often able to see the difficult truth in situations and face them with stolid resolve. She alludes to her difficult childhood circumstances (which are more fully explored in My Name Is Lucy Barton), and we see that her lifelong ability to cope with despair and grim events serve her well in her current circumstances. The nearby ocean is a haunting presence but also a steady, everchanging comfort to Lucy. To her surprise, she begins to notice and respond to the wonders of the light, the weather, the air, and the changing scenery of her daily walks in beautiful and immersive passages in the book. And the ocean was immense; we could hear it at night now with the windows open. I learned this about the sound of the sea: There were two levels to it, there was a deep ongoing sound that was quietly massive, and there was also the sound of the water hitting the rocks; always this was thrilling to me. Strout takes us into the heart of a stressful, unusual pandemic situation in which Lucy and William, longtime friends and ex-spouses, live in intimate solitude together, wondering about and worrying about their daughters, each other, themselves, and the world. Lucy by the Sea captures an otherworldly feeling of drifting in time while facing horrifying, previously unimagined realities of illness and death, disease risk and spread, and the weight of the unknown: There was for me during this time a sense of being dazed. As though, in a way, I was not capable of taking in everything that was happening in this world. Lucy by the Sea references the characters' experienced small-town resistance to New Yorkers, notes the privilege of being able to isolate without hardship, and includes real-life pandemic-era events such as the murder of George Floyd. Lucy explores with insight the perspective of those on the other end of the political spectrum from Lucy herself: They had been made to feel poorly about themselves, they were looked at with disdain, and they could no longer stand it. I didn't feel particularly connected to the characters of Lucy or William in Strout's novel Oh William! But I love Strout's books, so I was delighted to dive back into the many reflections, vulnerabilities, memories, and unexpected moments in Lucy by the Sea. They each seem to find the other--and their relationship--awkward and irritating at times, but their deep caring for each other and their moments of shorthand after decades of being in love and then linked together are lovely. In order to feel the full weight of this book, I think it's important to first read Strout's My Name Is Lucy Barton. Lucy's creation of an imaginary, supportive mother and her loving responses to and comfort for Lucy in this book absolutely broke my heart. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Click here to check out my reviews of Strout's Anything Is Possible, Olive, Again, My Name Is Lucy Barton, and Oh William! Elizabeth Strout is also the author of Olive Kitteridge.

Witchy Book Love Last year I published a Greedy Reading List of Six Wonderfully Witchy Stories to Charm You, and because I do love a witchy book, I'm back with more more more witchy titles. Even more witchy books are on my to-read list, including: Corrag by Susan Fletcher; The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec; A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers; and Nora Roberts's witchy Cousins O'Dwyer trilogy and Chronicles of the One series. What are your favorite witchy stories? 01 Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian Bohjalian's Hour of the Witch takes place in 1662 Boston, where strong-willed women like main protagonist young Mary Deerfield are suspicious and frequently considered dangerous. Hour of the Witch is a thoroughly researched historical fiction thriller with fantastic details of the time that focuses on the character of a twenty-four-year-old, faithful Puritan wife trying to escape her violent, often drunk husband, who is a widower twice her age--and the witch trial that followed. Bohjalian traces infuriating injustices perpetuated against the female characters--who like the real-life women of the time, are largely powerless and often not considered autonomous beings. Mary's foul treatment by her husband--and the community's unwillingness to protect her--may have you roiling with rage, but just know that Mary has a fiery spirit and some tricks up her sleeve, and she doesn't intend to go quietly. For my full review, please see Hour of the Witch. 02 The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried, and hanged for witchcraft during the era of Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. In The Heretic's Daughter, Martha Carrier's tenth generation descendant Kathleen Kent offers a historical fiction tale centered around Martha and the twisted paranoia of the time that was aimed against strong women, the unusual, and the unknown. The story had a few too many "doom is coming, get ready" types of heads-ups for my liking--especially because this is, after all, a Salem-set witch-trial story, and most readers will tend to anticipate trouble. This is the second in Kent's Carrier series, but it's not necessary to read The Wolves of Andover first (I didn't). There was real depth to the story, the relationships, and the family in The Heretic's Daughter, with a vividly imagined setting and wonderful details of the time. I love that this is written by Carrier's descendant. 03 A Deadly Education (Scholomance #1) by Naomi Novik A Deadly Education is the first in Novik's Scholomance series, which is set at a magical school with two routes out: a grueling path to graduation and beyond or, just as likely, death. Danger and darkness lurk around every corner. I loved the wonderful dark humor and unexpected details, and the exchanges between El and Orion (and El and everyone) were fantastic--El is a grumpy, powerful, smart, straightforward character I was obsessed with, and I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. I loved that Novik began putting more of the school's fate in the hands of her young characters--and I gleefully tore through the book to find out what they'd do with their power. The dark humor in this book reminded me of another book I also loved, Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots. For my full review, see A Deadly Education. The Last Graduate is the second book in the Schlomance series. The Golden Enclaves, the third book in the series, is expected to be published in 2022. 04 The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson When Immanuelle ventures into the Darkwood, she encounters the legendary witches she's heard tell of her whole life--and finds that her mother's rumored encounters with the coven really happened. She's given a long-lost journal detailing her mother's exile, thirst for vengeance, and plans for enacting evil spells against those who treated her poorly. I listened to Henderson's spooky book as an audiobook, and this dark, witchy tale felt perfect as winter was coming. There's devastating brutality but also incredible bravery on the part of Immanuelle and her friend Ezra. The atmospheric descriptions of the remote, tiny town created an eerie, claustrophobic feeling. For my full review, please see The Year of the Witching. 05 The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight #1) by Katherine Arden This is an ancient-feeling, dark fairy tale of a story that takes place within a small Russian village and centers around an extended family. "True believers" are pitted against dark, feared forces, turning what the village collectively believes to be good and pure on its head. Those who triumph over destructive righteousness, blind obedience, and attempts at wielding selfish power do so by remembering the old ways, defying expectations, and showing limitless bravery. The Bear and the Nightingale is the first book in the Winternight trilogy. The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch are the others, and I think Arden's stories get even stronger as the series goes on, with complex interpersonal relationships, court politics, mystical creatures, and wonderful character development. I also listed The Bear and the Nightingale in the Greedy Reading List Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love. 06 The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin In the world of Griffin's young adult fantasy novel The Nature of Witches, witches control the weather. And--this part of the storyline may feel uncomfortably familiar--climate change has set weather patterns spinning out of control. Destructive blizzards, devastating tornadoes, desperate heat, and shockingly bitter cold are alternately threatening the land--and endangering the lives of witches and shaders (regular humans) alike. Small moments ring true, and the story feels primarily about relationships with a witchcraft background and setting. A chaste attraction involves lots of romance and a love that must not be (in order to save lives)--and I was up for all of it. The magical school setting reminded me of Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education, although the tone of this book is more romantic and without an edge. For my full review, please see The Nature of Witches.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading three upcoming titles; one memoir and a novel are coming out tomorrow and one memoir will be published next week. Uncultured is Daniella Mestyanek Young's memoir of growing up in The Children of God cult, of her escape, and of her experiences in the military; The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream is Jeannie Zusy's novel about a loving, complicated family relationship; and Stay True is Hua Hsu's coming-of-age memoir of growing up Taiwanese American and coping with grief after the loss of his friend. What are you reading these days, bookworms? 01 Uncultured by Daniella Mestyanek Young Daniella Mestyanek Young grew up the daughter of high-ranking members of The Children of God cult in Brazil. Her mother was forced to marry the cult's leader when she was thirteen and worked as secretary for "The Family" for many years. While in the cult, Daniella was physically, emotionally, and sexually abused, while being told these acts reflected God's love. She was not allowed to attend school. At age 15, Young escaped to Texas, enrolled in school, and made a new life for herself. Uncultured is an account of Young's perseverance, growth, reflections, and strength. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of St. Martin's Press and NetGalley. For more more more memoirs that you might want to try, check out these Greedy Reading Lists: Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality 02 The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream by Jeannie Zusy When Maggie gets a call that her older sister Ginny--diabetic but a sugar lover, with intellectual disabilities--needs more help than she's getting living on her own, she brings Ginny and her occasionally vicious dog to live with her in upstate New York, becoming her big sister's caregiver. But Maggie already has a maxed-out life: she's separated from her husband, she has two boys, she's getting by on a freelancer's pay, and she's just starting to date again. Meanwhile, Ginny is bull-headed, hooked on sugar and porn, and not inclined to cooperate with Maggie's requests. In The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream, Jeannie Zusy offers a messy, heartwarming family story with dark humor--and a sense that the matter of who's taking care of who is not as cut-and-dried as it may seem. I received an electronic prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Atria Books and NetGalley. 03 Stay True by Hua Hsu Eighteen-year-old Hua Hsu reveled in his uniqueness. The son of Taiwanese immigrants, he enjoyed making 'zines, searching for vintage records, and being different. Ken, who was Japanese American in a family that had lived the United States for generations, favored Dave Matthews Band and Abercrombie and Fitch and was in a fraternity. In Hua's view, Ken was as mainstream as they came. Yet each of these young men questioned whether there was really a place for them in American culture. The two bonded deeply and became close friends. Several years later, Ken was killed in a carjacking, and Hua was left reeling. He began writing what became Stay True in order to cope with his loss, explore the concept of belonging, face his own grief, and memorialize his friend. Hua Hsu is a staff writer at The New Yorker. I received an electronic prepublication edition of this book, to be published September 27, 2022, courtesy of Doubleday Books and NetGalley.

Do you love captivating nonfiction books? Each of these great books made me think and feel deeply about the subject matter. They're fascinating and written about very different topics--race and incarceration, mental illness, sexual abuse, Russian spies, and the Irish Troubles. Which nonfiction books should I add to my to-read list? 01 Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe Patrick Radden Keefe, a journalist with an Irish name but without a dog in this particular fight, fantastically shapes the endless trails and tales from the Irish Troubles into a narrative, and he lays out the web of motivations and passionate beliefs behind the conflicts so that an outsider can begin to comprehend what occurred and why. The most fascinating parts of this book for me were about the originally steadfast and unrelenting IRA paramilitary members who ended up emotionally and often physically broken, with haunting regrets. Toward the end of the book, the author says, in what feels like an accurate reflection of his book: “...I saw an opportunity to tell a story about how people become radicalized in their uncompromising devotion to a cause, and about how individuals—and a whole society—make sense of political violence once they have passed through the crucible and finally have time to reflect.” This was nonfiction that was so compelling it read like fiction (and served as the inspiration for this Greedy Reading List). For my full review of this book, please see Say Nothing. 02 Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson It was excruciating to read some of the many sobering realities explored in Just Mercy related to our justice system as related to people of color and those without the means to effectively represent themselves. In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson recounts his efforts--along with those of his Equal Justice Initiative colleagues--to assist some of the countless incarcerated people in dire and heartbreaking situations on death row. This is fascinating and painful. Stevenson wonderfully and powerfully narrates the audiobook. Stevenson and his like-minded colleagues are true heroes, and the issues he raises will likely make readers uncomfortable. But these issues are worth looking at under a microscope, and Stevenson and others are using the information to advocate for many changes in the legal system. Click here for my full review of Just Mercy. 03 The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War is a wonderfully paced and skillfully recounted Cold War-era story of spy intrigue, paranoia, bravery, and the twists and turns that led Oleg Gordievsky, a double agent for Britain’s MI6, to be appointed Resident in the KGB—and to ultimately help end the Cold War. Ben Macintyre deftly traces the webs of deceit, greed, bravery, and the desire for heroic glory that build to the book's climax. He does an excellent job of immersing the reader in Cold War-era mindsets, priorities, and sometimes paranoia. The behind-the-scenes communications that were made possible by Gordievsky's insights into the Soviet leadership's motivations and fears are fascinating. This information-sharing afforded the West the ability to defuse strained and high-stakes relations, possibly averting large-scale disaster on multiple occasions. Macintyre's nonfiction book was wonderful; it really read to me like fiction. I was hooked the whole way through. Click here for my full review of The Spy and the Traitor. 04 Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow This is a horrifying and fascinating look at the elaborate schemes undertaken by Harvey Weinstein and associates but also other various media, show business, and political individuals and entities to not only cover up instances but altogether deny an existing culture of male sexual power plays, rape, and various other disturbing abuses of power. The events in Catch and Kill are carefully researched and documented, with twists and turns that feel so outlandish as to seem like fiction at times. Farrow also explores the difficulty the long-silenced victims have in bravely deciding to tell their stories, as well as the threats to reporters who are trying to help the truth come out. A 2020 New York Times article, "Is Ronan Farrow Too Good to Be True?" assessed Farrow's reporting, noting that his facts are true but that he sometimes amps up the drama surrounding them. Catch and Kill does feel "cinematic," but the horrors at its heart have been verified. Click here for my full review of Catch and Kill. 05 White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo DiAngelo, a sociologist and facilitator focused on racial and social justice, explains issues essential to the productive understanding of our nation's past and current racial situation, including a basic history lesson on race and power. She draws on specific anecdotes from her extensive experiences with white and Black people in anti-racism workshops and through her facilitation of discussions of race. The issues she explores include the self-perpetuating white institutional power structure; the general and long-term white tendency to not discuss or acknowledge race; the differences between prejudice, discrimination, and racism; and ways in which white people sometimes unhelpfully derail the productive work of anti-racism. White Fragility is so valuable, specific, and important, it's a book that's worth underlining like crazy while you work to internalize the lessons and directives DiAngelo lays out. Click here for my full review of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. 06 Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family is the true story of a family with twelve children, six of whom are ultimately diagnosed with schizophrenia. The family descends into chaos; there is secret abuse, and there is always the dark, disturbing force of unchecked mental illness shaping the lives of all involved. Significant scientific advancements regarding mental illness were made possible due to studies of the genetic material from and the cooperation of the Glavin family, and Kolker explores the scientific ins and outs in a manageable way for the reader. This is a fascinating, disturbing, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful book. It’s absolutely meticulously researched. I had requested this book from the library, and when it was available weeks or months later, I had forgotten anything I'd known about its premise and happened to be home quarantining with Covid. I listened to it as an audiobook, often in the early-morning hours, and I admittedly may have been a little mentally off, but I initially thought this not only read like fiction but was fiction. Thinking back on it, I was probably loopy on that front, but regardless, it is riveting reading. You can find my full review of Hidden Valley Road here.

Much of the book involves thwarted attempts to unravel the past by a main protagonist who has been emotionally destroyed by trauma and loss. Joseph Bridgeman took his little sister to the fair, and he only looked away for a second. But in that instant, his little sister Amy disappeared. Two decades later, Joe remains haunted by her absence. He obsesses over what he might have done differently, how he might have paid more attention, how he might have saved her. Joe has always had certain "viewings": he can sometimes touch an object and see clear scenes from the past, understanding how and when that object was important to someone. He glimpses moments from the past when he holds Amy's hair ribbon, which was lost that day. But the viewing offers no concrete information that he can use. He is a shell of a man, ruined by the loss of his sister. His father and mother were similarly brutally damaged by Amy's disappearance. In an attempt to cure his insomnia, Joe undergoes hypnotherapy...and finds out that he has bigger powers than he ever imagined: he can travel back through time. He repeatedly attempts to time travel to the night Amy disappeared, but the amount of time he can spend in the past is getting shorter and shorter, and if he can't reach the correct day soon, the possibility of figuring out what happened to Amy will slip through his fingers forever. I listened to And Then She Vanished as an audiobook. The book is set in Great Britain, and the supporting characters have British accents. I couldn't figure out any reason why Joe would not have a British accent, but he did not, although he uses words like "tetchy" and "proper" and is meant to be British. I found this American-accented Joe extremely distracting. A grown man's voicing of the little-girl voice for Amy felt off to me, and the tone of the narration came across to me as generally irritated, as though Joe were fed up with it all. Joe is presented as a guy's guy here. He is understandably emotionally stunted and is somewhat childlike in certain ways because of his life of trauma and loss. But at one point in the book, when he's preparing to have a woman at his house, he looks around at how messy it is and says something to the effect of "Did all of these clothes that are lying around just walk themselves into every room?" I was impatient with this "helpless, clueless man" scenario. NO, JOE. THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED. You made a mess. You made all of this mess. Take responsibility for yourself, mister! Because of our extremely limited our page time with Amy, who is the heart of the mission here--and the loss of Amy caused the unraveling heartbreak and destruction for her family--she comes across as one-dimensional. The structure of the story and its focus on Joe and his attempt to master time travel didn't allow me to feel a connection to her. At around 85 percent of the way through the book, we finally see a version of the encounter we've been waiting for. We spend much of the page time that leads up to that moment--that is, by far the bulk of the book--with other people telling Joe theories about how to jump through time, teaching Joe how to improve his mindfulness, and with Joe making frustratingly brief, failed attempts. The resolution involves a twist I had anticipated and leaves a main character in a state of upheaval as a result of the time travel (as part of a classic time-travel conundrum involving alternate paths and lives). The latter situation felt immensely unsatisfying to me. Yet I loved the premise of this story, and I do love a time-travel book and a mystery. This is the first in a series. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? If you like books that play with time, you may like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories or some of the other time-travel stories I've reviewed.

Through various doctors' and medical experts' points of view, Martin paints a picture of a worldwide pandemic, crises and impossible situations, and powerful, sustaining friendships. Kimmery Martin's Doctors and Friends begins with a group of seven women, friends since medical school, reuniting in Spain. But as they catch up on each other's careers and personal lives, explore, eat, drink, and celebrate, a global pandemic begins to take shape. Kira Marchand, an infectious disease specialist at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, is at the heart of the organization's swift response to the pandemic. The story alludes to a horrifying choice she will be forced to make during the global crisis. Compton Winfield, an ER doctor in New York City, suffers a tragic loss and struggles to keep up with the pandemic-driven crush of patients and urgent needs while keeping her children safe. Hannah Geier is an ob-gyn in San Diego who has been struggling to have a child. She learns she's pregnant just as the pandemic throws the world into chaos. I wondered if the multiple, alternating points of view would allow me to feel connected to these characters. For a time, I confused some of the seven characters and their significant others, and the fact that I was reading this in short bursts admittedly didn't help my own tracking of who was who. I spent early pages reorienting myself. As the story progresses, Martin mentions each of women and their families, but keeps the story relatively streamlined with three main points of view. I was hooked on the medical details and the behind-the-scenes medical experiences of the experts. The various ways Martin made the pandemic feel personal to the story--as with the account of Patient Zero's experience and his two degrees of separation from the main characters--added to the urgent feeling. The experts in the story scramble to make sense of what's happening and determine how best to cope with various aspects of the virus, and this felt uncomfortably familiar. However, in the book, politicians and those in power show early acceptance of the virus crisis and launch an efficient response, buoyed by technological abilities to trace and track. It's satisfying to witness the recognition and success within this fictional version of events. Doctors and Friends was written before the Covid-19 pandemic and published in the fall of 2021. In her author's note, Martin explains her extensive research into pandemics, and clarifies that her experiences with the real-life pandemic shaped only minor edits to her story (for example, she added Zoom as a meeting structure). It's possible very little in the book was changed in light of real-world events, but, and maybe this is unreasonable, but I very much wished that Martin's pre-Covid-19 version of events had been purely preserved. I was fascinated by the technological advancements that allowed for the scientists' and government's responses in the novel, and I'd very much like to have read what I knew was an unadulterated, Martin-imagined chain of events that preceded our own Covid-19 reality. The cover and title gave me the initial impression that this was a light fiction book, but the topic and tone is anything but. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Kimmery Martin is a local-to-me North Carolina author who is also a trustee of our local library. After she spoke at our library foundation event last year, my book club read this book together. Martin is a former emergency medicine doctor. She is also the author of The Queen of Hearts and The Antidote to Everything.

The first book in Blanchet's Neath trilogy offers a bizarre dark underworld; cruelty and revenge; an unlikely hero; and heartwarming bravery and unexpected bonds. In Blanchet's young adult fantasy debut, Herrick's End, Ollie's only friend Gwen has disappeared. He has no idea where she's gone, but he thinks her recent black eye, edginess, and her brooding jerk of a boyfriend have something to do with it. He searches for her, then receives a mysterious note: "Still looking for your friend? I know where she is." A strange fellow offers to lead Ollie to Gwen. Ollie pushes down his panic and decides to push on bravely (and possibly foolishly), determined to find and save Gwen. But the trail Ollie finds himself on leads to darkness and danger in a mysterious underworld. The land is odd, troubling, and filled with unexpected magic--as well as brutal vengeance. It defies much of what he has known as fact and reality up above. And, alarmingly, a powerful local legend has been expecting him. He had been hanging his hopes on some fool notion of "fairness." He would find a way out, because he deserved to find a way out.... It wasn't until he watched a gaseous frog sever an innocent man's arm for no particular reason that Ollie realized: There was no fairness here. There was no justice. Those were quaint, forgotten notions. Cruel forces wield ruthless power in the dark land below--and those in charge might destroy him if he doesn't figure out an escape, or at least find a little help in this unforgiving place. When Ollie drums up a glimmer of hope in a devastating prison of a situation, he begins the trajectory of becoming an unlikely hero who might just save everyone in the end. The story is funny, sometimes grotesque, at other times sweet, and full of surprises. With zombified children; curses and prophecies; domestic abuse and revenge; bizarre creatures; impossible choices with enormous consequences; struggles with body image; and budding love. I love this beautiful cover and loved how much heart Blanchet's story offered. I received a prepublication digital edition of this book (published spring 2022) courtesy of Tiny Fox Press and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Herrick's End is the first book in Blanchet's Neath trilogy. I can't wait to read the second book in the series, Herrick's Lie, which is scheduled for publication in spring 2023.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Elizabeth Strout's upcoming novel featuring the characters of Lucy Barton and her ex-husband, William, Lucy by the Sea; I'm reading Gennarose Nethercott's debut novel, Thistlefoot, a fairy tale informed by Jewish folklore; and I'm reading The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin, another debut novel, this time about friends from different generations facing the ends of their lives together. What are you reading these days, bookworms? 01 Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout In Elizabeth Strout's upcoming novel (to be published next week) Lucy by the Sea, Lucy Barton and her ex-husband William, characters from earlier Strout novels, leave New York City to stay in rural Maine during the Covid-19 lockdown. The nearby ocean is a haunting presence but also a steady, everchanging comfort to Lucy. Strout takes us into the heart of the stressful, unusual situation in which the longtime friends and exes live in intimate solitude together, wondering about and worrying about their daughters, themselves, and the world. I didn't feel particularly connected to the characters of Lucy or William in Strout's novel Oh William! But I generally love Strout's books, so I hope to dive back into reflections, vulnerabilities, and unexpected moments here in Lucy by the Sea. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley. Click here to check out my reviews of Strout's Anything Is Possible, Olive, Again, My Name Is Lucy Barton, and Oh William! 02 Thistlefoot by Gennarose Nethercott I've been so excited to read this upcoming (to be published tomorrow) debut novel from Gennarose Nethercott. Thistlefoot is heavy on Eastern European folklore and feels like an immersive fairy tale. In Thistlefoot, estranged siblings Bellatine and Isaac, a woodworker and a con artist and street performer, are reunited to claim a mysterious, bizarre inheritance: a sentient house on chicken legs. Informed by Jewish folklore, Thistlefoot is a strange, epic adventure tale. I received an electronic prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley. If you like books like this, you might also like the books on my Greedy Reading List Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love. 03 The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson lives in the terminal ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Her life expectancy isn't long, but Lenni still has a lot she wants to do and be. In the hospital's arts and crafts class, she meets 83-year-old Margot, a spirited, rebellious new friend. Collectively they've been around 100 years, but it doesn't feel like enough, and they each want to leave their mark on the world. With the help of Father Arthur, the hospital chaplain, and a kind palliative care nurse, the friends make a plan to create one hundred paintings, one to represent each of their years of life.

Historical Fiction Favorites These were just a few of my favorite historical fiction reads during the first year I started the Bossy Bookworm blog, and I gave five of these books four stars and rated one of them five stars. But I could make ten lists of my historical fiction loves from over the years (and I just might)! I do love historical fiction, and my World War II focus has been pushing out all others in my book club for a decade. If you share that obsession, you might like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II. Do you have any historical fiction favorite reads that I should add to my outrageously unmanageable to-read list? 01 Apeirogon: A Novel by Colum McCann Apeirogon builds to show how individuals on opposite sides of the Israel-Palestine wall are at heart the same. The first part of the story felt a little slow for me, but I'm so very glad I stuck with this beautiful, powerful, illuminating, and heart-wrenching book. Apeirogon is structured into 1,001 short segments (this sounds overwhelming, but the book doesn't feel that way) in varied points of view surrounding a Palestinian and an Israeli family on two especially fateful days in their lives. Through the scenes here, we see that those on opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (and opposite sides of the wall) are at heart the same in their pain, their desires, and their love. The story is 480 pages, and ultimately that felt like an appropriate length for settling into the points of view and experiences that are built over a lifetime. The subject matter is weighty and emotional, and McCann manages to make the story both personal and political, which perfectly suits the subject matter. This is a wonderful book, and I love McCann's thoughtful writing. For my full review of this book, please see Apeirogon. McCann is also the author of Thirteen Ways of Looking, Let the Great World Spin, and other books. 02 The Light After the War by Anita Abriel Vera and Edith are such a complementary WWII partnership, and I loved spending time with these strong young friends. I’m dying to know how closely Anita Abriel’s book traces the inspiring events from her mother’s incredible experiences before, during, and after World War II. The author offers a vivid account of the fear and dread—intermixed with sparks of hope—that sustained Vera and Edith in Hungary and Germany during the war; in Naples as they adjusted to post-war floods of food, fashion, and joy; as they found themselves in more settled situations; and during the evolutions of their careers and love lives. Abriel introduces an enormous shift that shakes things up enormously for both young women before the book’s end. I was completely engrossed. For my full review, please see The Light After the War. 03 The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd This story imagines a wife for Jesus, questions gender roles, and offers adventure. This was a fascinating story from the point of view of an imagined wife for Jesus, including an exploration of gender roles, a reimagined faith, the frustrations of societal expectations for women, great adventure, strong female loyalty and friendship, love, and lots of fantastic details of life at the time. Much of the fever pitch of support and hatred for Jesus occurs when the main character of Ana is off having other experiences (and often-dangerous adventures). This is an intriguing structure for the story: Jesus as a supporting cast member. Jesus's role in Ana's story is as a faithful man who disagrees with the politics of the faith at the time. He primarily serves as a character who cares for, understands, and supports the woman he loves. For my full review of this book, please see The Book of Longings. 04 Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland The backdrop for the story of a few summer months in the life of an extended family is Atlantic City just before WWII, with its giant hotels, piers, and general hubbub. This lovely debut from Rachel Beanland starts off with some rough events, and frankly I had a little bit of a time coping with them because I’d already become attached to the characters. There’s an undercurrent of concern about Hitler and his increasingly punitive behavior toward Jewish families’ businesses and emigration in Germany in Florence Adler Swims Forever. I loved watching the book’s events unfold—even if I could predict some of them. Anything that was wrapped up a little too neatly didn’t bother me at all; I was all in and satisfied. Beanland based some of the basic events of her debut novel on her ancestors’ experiences. I found that aspect particularly fascinating. For my full review of this book, please see Florence Adler Swims Forever. 05 Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera Although the three interconnected women faced sometimes staggeringly tragic challenges, Spera injects moments of joy and wonderful details of 1924 life in South Carolina. I worried during the first chapter that Gertrude was going to feel like a caricature of a backwoods Southern woman. But she and the other characters were developed fully. Their sparks of joy are often related to their relationships to each other. You can see where one of the storylines is going before the character involved understands it, and it might make your blood boil to see the evil situation go on unchecked. But the details of cooking, strong women's determination to survive, race relations, and life in 1924 South Carolina were wonderful, and I still think about this book although I read it almost a year ago (technically, at the end of last year). For my full review, please see Call Your Daughter Home. 06 The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue Donoghue immersed me so fully in this world that everything else fell away for me. Set in Ireland in 1918, The Pull of the Stars follows a nurse, Julia; a doctor, Kathleen; and a young volunteer, Bridie, over the course of three tumultuous days as the fiery, complex, capable women work desperately to help the patients at their understaffed hospital who are about to give birth while suffering from the devastating new influenza. I was hooked by the moment-by-moment health and emotional crises; the women's determined, sometimes desperately creative attempts to preserve lives; and their occasional triumphs. The rest of the world fell away for me as I was reading, and I couldn't wait to get back to this book. The author of the disturbing, fascinating story Room knows how to craft a tale of survival and of finding hope in the most dire situations. For my full review, please see The Pull of the Stars.

ICYMI: This funny, wry, silly, sweet, heartbreaking story feels light on the surface but has deep meaning churning underneath. “I look at you, and you’re young. You’ll always be that way for me. But not for anyone else. Arthur, people who meet you now will never be able to imagine you young.” Arthur Less is about to turn fifty and is a novelist of limited acclaim. When his ex sends him a wedding invitation, Arthur panics. He can't attend, but he can't stay home. He decides to accept all of the random literary event invitations he's received and to put together a makeshift tour of the world, putting thousands of miles between him and his problems. Less is a surprisingly sympathetic character, and as he's using an unusual method to escape attending an ex's wedding he fumbles into figuring out his past and some of his future. Andrew Sean Greer offers a story of enduring love, loss, chance encounters, friendship, adventure, and wonderful realizations large and small. Greer describes small moments so fully, they feel like everything. I thought this was just great. Less is absurd, very funny, and a little heartbreaking--light on the surface but with plenty of meaning churning underneath. It was definitely the right book at the right time for me when I read it. I loved it. Oh, this wonderful book! Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Andrew Sean Greer's sequel, Less Is Lost, is scheduled for publication this fall.

Heartbreaking and disturbing, this is a fascinating exploration of the motivations behind and the execution of white men's relentless mission of destruction; details of Comanche life; and their position as the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. Victorious in war, unchallenged by foreign foes in North America for the first time in its history, the Union now found itself unable to deal with the handful of remaining Indian tribes that had not been destroyed, assimilated, or forced to retreat meekly onto reservations where they quickly learned the meaning of abject subjugation and starvation. In Empire of the Summer Moon, S.C. Gwynne explores the forty-year battle between white settlers and Native Americans in the American West, particularly focusing on Quanah, the chief of the Comanches, the most powerful tribe in American history. Gwynne traces the evolution of the Comanches--including their captivatingly described, unprecedented skill at breeding, breaking, riding, amassing, and trading horses as well as their revolutionary fighting style of hanging on the sides of their horses and shooting arrows under the horses' heads while galloping at full speed. The hostiles were all residents of the Great Plains; all were mounted, well armed, and driven now by a mixture of vengeance and political desperation. They were Comanches, Kiowas, Arapahoes, Cheyennes, and Western Sioux. For [Colonel] Mackenzie on the southern plains, Comanches were the obvious target: No tribe in the history of the Spanish, French, Mexican, Texan, and American occupations of this land had ever caused so much havoc and death. None was even a close second. Gwynne also offers the compelling story of Cynthia Ann Parker, a white captive who assimilated into the Comanche tribe, married and bore children, and repeatedly refused to be "rescued" by white men determined to return her to a pioneer life. The subtitle of the book is Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, and here, Gwynne explains that one of Cynthia Ann's sons was Quanah, a legendary warrior who was never defeated by white men. Gwynne digs into the complications and implications of Quanah's white-Native American heritage, emblematic of the conflicts, struggles, and mismatched balance of (fire)power that played out in our nation's history and within this book. The details of various Indian tribe members' lives and the tribes' coexistence, intersections, and exchanges were fascinating, as were the details of Comanche life and the Comanches' collective transformation over time into a staggeringly powerful tribe. Gwynne also shares the Comanches' techniques of torture and their various brutal, effective battle strategies. Empire of the Summer Moon also explores the pivotal development of the Colt revolver, the emergence of the renegade Rangers, the elimination of millions of buffalo (and the resulting elimination of a way of life for many Indians), the dogged, long-term Comanche pursuit by Colonel McKenzie and his men, and the American white men's overreaching, unquenchable desire to control and own the American West. He lays out how all of these factors played into the horrific widespread elimination of our nation's indigenous peoples. The book was, as one would expect, gut-wrenching to read as the destruction unfolded on these pages. The greatest threat of all to [American Indians'] identity, and to the very idea of a nomadic hunter in North America, appeared on the plains in the late 1860s. These were the buffalo men. Between 1868 and 1881 they would kill thirty-one million buffalo, stripping the plains almost entirely of the huge, lumbering creatures and destroying any last small hope that any horse tribe could ever be restored to its traditional life. There was no such thing as a horse Indian without a buffalo herd. Such an Indian had no identity at all. Digging into the motivations and machinations that shaped the genocide that is detailed in Empire of the Summer Moon is disturbing and heartbreaking, but appropriately so. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? S.C. Gwynne is also the author of Rebel Yell, about Stonewall Jackson. If you like to read nonfiction, you may like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Compelling Nonfiction Books that Read Like Fiction.

Straub offers a wonderful story that plays with time, explores sentimental moments, offers do-overs, and sweeps the reader into a love-filled, hopeful heartbreaker of a tale. "...no one ever talked to me about it, that's for sure--what it feels like to love someone so much, and then have them change into someone else. You love that new person, but it's different, and it all happens so fast, even the parts that feel like they just last for fucking ever while they're happening." On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice’s job, apartment, and love life are solidly okay. The only dark spot in her life is her father’s grave illness. When she wakes up the next morning...it’s her 16th birthday again. And it isn't just that being in her teen body again shocks her, or that seeing her high school crush is jarring. It's incredible to see her healthy, vital, young dad. Knowing what she does about the future, would Alice change the past? I am a huuuuuuge fan of books that play with time, and Straub offers up all the best parts of a time-travel book in This Time Tomorrow. Alice gets to live as her young self again, with the benefit of adult wisdom but temporarily carefree. She gets do-over chances and plays with how various decisions shift her potential future. She treasures and basks in the glorious, beautiful, temporary moments that shaped her. She soaks in time with her healthy, vital father. This Time Tomorrow indulged my own personal desire for sentimentality, while also emphasizing the value of cutting to the heart of a situation without wasting time. The story offers up lots of loving moments as well as perfectly imperfect decisions and mistakes. The story is heartbreaking and lovely in its ultimate insistence that one must let go of the past. Do you have any Bossy thoughts abotu this book? Emma Straub is also the author of The Vacationers, All Adults Here, Modern Lovers, and other books. If you like books that play with time, you might also enjoy the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, a collection of interconnected stories about a Jamaican family in Miami; I'm reading Carley Fortune's debut, Every Summer After, a story about mistakes, lost love, and new beginnings, told over six summers and a weekend; and I'm listening to And Then She Disappeared, a mystery about a decades-past disappearance that involves time travel and is the first in a series. What are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery If I Survive You is Jonathan Escoffery's upcoming (to be published tomorrow) collection of interconnected short stories about a Jamaican family making their way in Miami. Topper and Sanya fled violence in their hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s. Life in Miami has been full of challenges: their exclusion from society as Black immigrants; the destruction and aftermath of Hurricane Andrew; the recession of 2008; and more. But through it all, the family is driven onward--for better or worse--by what their son, Trelawny, calls “the exquisite, racking compulsion to survive.” I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley. If you like short stories, you might also want to check out the stories on the Greedy Reading List Six Short Story Collections to Wow You, or you might like some of these other collections of short stories that I've reviewed. 02 Every Summer After by Carley Fortune In Carley Fortune's debut Every Summer After, Persephone Fraser knows all too well the saying "you can't go home again." It's been ten years since she made the biggest mistake of her life in the wondrous place where she spent her youthful summers, Barry's Bay. Now Percy is making her way in the city, trying (and failing) to avoid thinking about how she's disconnected from the place and the people who helped shape her into who she is. But when she returns to the lake for Sam Florek's mother's funeral, she's swept back into the connection she and Sam once had, and her determination to keep her heart closed might be shaken--along with everything else around which she's built her young adult life. Every Summer After is a love story told over the course of six summers and a weekend. 03 And Then She Vanished (Joseph Bridgeman #1) by Nick Jones Joseph Bridgeman only looked away for a second. But in that instant, his little sister Amy disappeared. And two decades later, Joe is still haunted by her absence. He obsesses what he might have done differently and how she might still be here. He's always had certain "viewings": he can sometimes touch an object and see clear scenes from the past, understanding how and when that object was important to someone. But when, in an attempt to cure his insomnia, he undergoes hypnotherapy...he finds out that he can travel back through time. He repeatedly attempts to time travel to the night Amy disappeared, but the time he can spend in the past gets shorter and shorter, and if he can't reach the correct night soon, he'll never figure out what happened to Amy. I'm listening to And Then She Vanished as an audiobook with Ray Porter as the narrator.

My very favorite books from August! What a fantastic Bossy reading month! Here are my six favorite reads of the past month, all of which I rated 4.5 stars. If you've read any of these, I'd love to hear what you think! And I'd also love to hear: what are some of your recent favorite reads? 01 How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is a charming, irresistible young adult story about superheroes, villains, a crushing premed course load--and the everyday bravery involved in being vulnerable with friends and in falling in love. I adored this and am in for all future books by Fernandez. Columbia premed undergrad Astrid is dating Max Martin, a sweet, nerdy boy she knew back in high school. Astrid is always on time. And her sense of what it's possible to achieve within windows of time is practically her superpower. On the other hand, Max is always crashing in late for their dates and dashing off abruptly in the middle of their time together. And it seems like trouble gravitates to him--he's always in the middle of some kind of Life-and-Death Problem. When a supervillain breaks into Astrid's apartment to kidnap her--she has organic chemistry to study for and she really does not have time for this!--she has to face facts: It really seems undeniable that Max...is a superhero. How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is a wonderfully romantic story about finding your own true self, listening to your gut, finding the strength to put yourself on the line for other people, the bravery of falling in love, and the importance of treasuring every day. Cristina Fernandez has crafted an irresistibly charming story that I absolutely adored. For my full review, check out How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying). 02 The Humans by Matt Haig The Humans is about mathematics, aliens, and shape shifters, but at its heart it's about a hurting family and an unimaginable, shocking, heartwarming chance at a new beginning. This was fascinating, sometimes funny, thoughtful, and lovely. In Matt Haig's The Humans, an extraterrestrial arrives on Earth with a mission: to kill the man who has achieved a mathematical discovery considered beyond what is appropriate for humans and for the planet. Horrified by the appearances of the humans, confused by their disgusting obsessions with wearing clothing and drinking coffee, and pitying of their limited brain capacities and lack of special powers, the visitor nevertheless assumes the appearance of Professor Andrew Martin and clumsily takes on the man's life for a time. Through New Andrew's alien eyes we see the contradictory, beautifully messy, infuriating, wondrous aspects of the human condition. Haig handles the complexities and challenges of the bizarre situation with heart, some wry humor, and with thoughtfulness. The Humans is funny, strange, deep, and lovely. I loved it. Click here for my full review of The Humans. 03 The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin This World War II-set novel is a love letter to books, to looking out for others, to forming friends-like-family connections, and to continuing to put one foot in front of another with hope for the future. The Last Bookshop in London was inspired by the true story of one of the last bookstores to survive the Blitz. Along with her best friend Viv, whose parents want her to marry and settle down (something she has no interest in), main protagonist Grace heads to her deceased mother's old friend in London to take refuge as World War II begins to rock Europe. The young women's wartime experiences take Viv to glamorous Harrod's, settle Grace in a dusty old bookshop, shakes their makeshift household and family, and results in unexpected joys and love among the many tragedies and dark days. The Last Bookshop in London is never sentimental but very powerful, and I was brought to tears while listening to it. I love a World War II-set book, and I adored The Last Bookshop in London. If you like World War II stories, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II. Click here for my full review of The Last Bookshop in London. 04 Flying Solo by Linda Holmes In this satisfying story by the author of Evvie Drake Starts Over, Linda Holmes offers sweet, funny dialogue; a complicated reunion between old flames; and a hometown return that's both heartwarming and fraught. Flying Solo is Linda Holmes's Maine-set title about returning to a childhood safe haven and reconnecting with old friends and an old flame. Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown, stinging from her recently canceled wedding, facing being on the cusp of forty, and ready to dive into the massive job of dismantling her beloved, recently deceased, never married great aunt Dot's collectible- and memento-filled house. Then an unusual antique she finds in Dot's attic and an old love letter send her on a wild caper through her own past, back to her first love and her oldest friend, as well as into the hands of con artists and antique dealers eager for what she's got. Holmes inserts the reader directly into the joy and heartache of two people who adore each other and who feel perfect for each other in most ways, but who continue to want different things from their lives. I adore Holmes's excellent ability to set up and develop a rom-com with depth and set up the bedrock of a true, longtime friendship. Her wonderful dialogue, appropriate and satisfying sentimentality, and exploration the thrill of connection--I love all of it. Click here for my full review of Flying Solo. 05 Alias Emma by Ava Glass Alias Emma is a fast-paced cat-and-mouse chase across hidden London, led by Emma Makepeace, a resourceful, tough, new spy determined to thwart the Russians' deadly plans. Emma Makepeace, a brand-new British spy, is jumping into duty--and danger--with both feet. Barely out of basic training, she has just twelve hours to deliver her asset across London to safety--without being spotted by the Russians who have hacked the city's thousands of cameras, and their assassins, who are out to eliminate the person she has sworn to protect. And Emma would very much like to make it out of this alive as well. This fast-paced thriller tracks Emma and Michael, the distractingly handsome son of Russian dissidents who she has pledged to protect, on the longest night of their lives as they work to evade the thousands of cameras documenting London citizens' every move. I read this start to finish during a flight (and delay), and I loved Glass's cat-and-mouse chase through side streets and underground rivers in a peek at hidden London that's detailed and gritty and gripping. I was so happy to realize this is the first in a planned series. Sign me up for every bit of this! For my full review, check out Alias Emma. 06 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Garmus's debut is witty and smart, heartbreaking, infuriating, and lovely. Lessons in Chemistry explores deep issues, conflict, and dark times, yet offers hope and joy. Elizabeth Zott has worked hard in her scientific pursuits, often as the only female in the room, either dismissed or harassed because of her gender. Now Zott is a chemist in 1960s California on an otherwise all-male staff at Hastings Research Institute. After twists and turns, momentous changes, and several years, Elizabeth is a single mother who becomes...the star of a hit televised cooking show. But she's not only demonstrating recipes. She's using science to inspire the upending of the status quo for her largely female audience. Females are overshadowed, abused, and generally wronged throughout the book, a reflection of realistic, historic treatment. But there is some eventual revenge that I found deeply satisfying. This cover style says "light fiction" to me, but this book addresses deeper issues--of what it means to be a family, of secrets and vulnerability, of constricting gender roles, of loss and love, and of the powerful shattering of expectations. Garmus's characters test themselves and others, shy away from connection, dive into love, question the meaning of life, embrace or eschew religion, and cleave together in heartbreakingly beautiful, unexpected ways. I loved this. For my full review, check out Lessons in Chemistry.

I was intrigued by the peeks into various cults and groups that inspire fanatical loyalty, but wished for more answers, more exploration, and more food for thought. Whether wicked or well intentioned, language is a way to get members of a community on the same ideological page. To help them feel like they belong to something big. In her nonfiction work Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, Amanda Montell sets out to explore the language, power, and persuasion of cults and groups with cultlike followings. Montell touches on past and present groups with various intents (from fitness to sales to group suicide), ranging from Scientology to SoulCycle to Jonestown, as well as our society's collective fascination with them. I began this project out of the perverse craving for a cult campfire tale that so many of us possess. But it quickly became clear that learning about the connections across language, power, community, and belief could legitimately help us understand what motivates people's fanatical behaviors during this ever-restless era--a time when we find multilevel marketing scams masquerading as a feminist startups, phony shamans ballyhooing bad health advice, online hate groups radicalizing new members, and kids sending each other literal death threats in defense of their favorite brands. Montell looks to language as a main source of power and belief in order to explore the ways in which we are influenced, shaped, and affected by society and social media. Cultlike explores aspects of various suicide cults and controversial religions, but also multilevel marketing companies, “cult fitness,” and social media gurus in one book, and this felt a little scattered. The early sections of the book focus on language, but that angle doesn't carry through the book in a substantive way. Montell suggests that readers of cult books, viewers of cult documentaries, and those obsessed with cults are looking for explanations about what draws people to them, and I share this curiosity--but I didn't feel Montell ever fully explained the reasons for this phenomenon. I was looking for exploration and answers as to why people become involved (beyond the desire to belong) and why the control works on them (aside from the assertion that language is powerful). I didn't feel satisfied on any of these complicated, fraught, confusing fronts. I wonder if a psychological-expert author might have offered the deep dive into all of this that I found myself wanting. I was intrigued by the peeks at various groups that inspire fanaticism, but I found myself wishing for more first-person accounts and to follow individuals through their paths pre-cult, through the emotions and logistics and follower mentality, then out the other side with some reflection. To be fair, this would be an altogether different book. The assertions of what could and likely should be considered a cult and what shouldn't (despite inclusion in this book) felt a little haphazard. And it feels potentially disingenuous and even sensational to include exercise groups inspiring intense loyalty like CrossFit in the discussion, then to dismiss them late in the book as not fitting the "cult" model after all. On a minor note, I would have been interested in learning more about Montell's father's experience--her father was part of Synanon, a dangerous, violent, abusive, now-famous California-based cult of the 1960s and 1970s, which seems likely to have inspired Montell's own interest in the topic. The book's abrupt conclusion felt brief and somewhat unsatisfying in the absence of further thoughts, introspection, or other parting ideas beyond concepts such as the idea that we all want to belong. Although I wished for additional logical or thought-provoking conclusions, I found Cultish interesting—and appealingly voyeuristic in the way that learning about cults can be: delving into members-only accounts of secret, powerful groups as well as the details of their extensive manipulation and of survivors' escapes. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I read Cultish for my book club. If you're into nonfiction, you might like the titles on the Greedy Reading List Six Compelling Nonfiction Books that Read Like Fiction.

Something Wilder is a playful adventure with a vivid Western setting, some steamy scenes, an unwavering best friendship between strong women, and a satisfying ending you may anticipate but won't mind in the least. Lily is desperate to scrape out a living after losing the family ranch and all her life dreams that went along with it. Nowadays she uses her deceased father’s hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake searches for treasure through the red rock canyons of Utah. Following in her father's scam of a career pays the bills, but it doesn’t pay enough for Lily to deal with the sight of Leo, the man she once loved, walking back into her life--with a motley crew of friends ready to hit the trails. Leo would love to reconnect, but Lily is not interested in rekindling their flame after the way things ended. When the trip involves mishap after mishap, the travelers begin to wonder whether the legend of the treasure was fiction after all. In the acknowledgments, the authors reference wanting to create a Romancing the Stone-type playful, fast-paced adventure, and this comparison feels fitting, as there are some outlandish moments here. Something Wilder is romance with a vivid Western setting, and while the early turns and surprises didn't always feel as though they followed logical paths, I appreciated the mystery-lite story and the satisfying ending that I knew was coming but didn't mind in the least. With some steamy love scenes, an unfailingly loyal friendship, and a decade-long misunderstanding that is finally resolved, Something Wilder is a fast, entertaining read. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? The writing team of Christina Lauren also authored the books The Soulmate Equation, The Unhoneymooners, In a Holidaze, Love and Other Words, and Autoboyography.

In Reid's newest novel, Carrie Soto is unapologetically driven and determined. I loved the tennis focus, the fast pacing, and the father-daughter relationship that drives the story. This was the right book at the right time for me, and I loved it. Tough, talented Carrie Soto retired from tennis at the top of her game, as the best player in the world and the greatest of all time. Her cutthroat desire to win didn't make her the most popular player in the world. But Carrie and her father, her longtime coach, sacrificed everything to get her to the top, setting records that have cemented her place in tennis history. Now retired, Carrie is a spectator at the US Open when she sees her record challenged by a young upstart. No one returns to tennis at age 37. But with her fierce determination, her (rusty) skills, and her desire to be the best, Carrie is the perfect person to defy the odds. Carrie Soto is back. I didn't really connect with the story or characters of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising, but I loved realizing why the name Carrie Soto was familiar to me. You may remember Carrie Soto as a minor character in that book. She is painted as a villain there, and I loved digging into her personality and motivations here. In Carrie Soto Is Back, we see Carrie fleshed out as a gloriously unapologetic competitor, an emotionally closed off romantic partner, a dedicated daughter, and a woman driven by a grinding commitment to brutally hard work and to being the best. It's the 1990s, and Carrie is facing what in tennis is considered a geriatric age--as well as all the negative prejudice and pessimistic assumptions that commentators and the general public pile upon her because of her age and her manner. Her loyal father is in for the ride. And her dedicated manager Gwen is an inspiring, strong, independent woman who believes in any goal Carrie herself believes in, however unlikely others may consider it. I love playing tennis and watching tennis, and I was 100 percent in for Reid's accounts of Soto's training, strategy, coaching, and match details. I'll be curious to hear if others without this particular interest are as engaged with this prominent element of the book the way I was. I suspect that as with Daisy Jones and the Six and its page time spent on the music world, bandmate negotiations, and creativity, Reid's ability to bring an unfamiliar world to life--in this case, the sporting and tennis world--will play well. More than anything, the heart of this book is the poignant father-daughter relationship between Carrie and Javier. Carrie and her father love each other, but sharing their intense tennis goals and communicating primarily through and about tennis has led to some conflicts and some stress for many years. In the course of the story, each of them considers their approaches to life and what they have learned from each other on and off the court, and I loved this aspect of the book. Carrie is back, but she's also considering her life beyond tennis for the first time, and this leads her to open up emotionally somewhat--with significant struggles; TJR doesn't make this growth too easy--and inspires her to consider those around her who may mean more to her than she's ever realized. I was curious about the way Reid would craft the ending of this one, and I was satisfied with the character growth, the trajectory she sets up, and also with how in the end, nothing felt too easy. I flew through this story--it was solidly a "right book at the right time" situation for me, and I also love that the book's release coincides with the start of the US Open. I loved this one. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Ballantine Books and NetGalley. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Taylor Jenkins Reid is also the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising, and Daisy Jones and the Six, a book I included in the Greedy Reading List Six Rockin' Stories about Bands and Music.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading The War Librarian by Addison Armstrong, a recently published historical fiction story that spans World War I and the 1970s, when the first women were admitted into the Naval Academy; I'm reading Taylor Jenkins Reid's upcoming (to be published tomorrow) story about a cutthroat tennis legend making a comeback, Carrie Soto Is Back; and I'm listening to Empire of the Summer Moon, fascinating nonfiction by S.C. Gwynne about the Comanches and the American West. What are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 The War Librarian by Addison Armstrong Addison Armstrong's recently published historical fiction The War Librarian is inspired by the real-life stories of the first female volunteer librarians during World War I, as well as the first women who were accepted into the Naval Academy more than 50 years later. The story shifts between 1918, when a young woman at the Dead Letter Office bravely embarks on a dangerous journey to France to serve as a librarian near the front lines of World War I, and 1976, when another young woman is determined to gain acceptance as one of the first female cadets at the U.S. Naval Academy. Each women's secrets could be their undoing, and they must each fight harder for their rightful places in history than any of the men serving alongside them. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley. 02 Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid Tough, talented Carrie Soto retired from tennis at the top of her game, as the best player in the world and the greatest of all time. Her cutthroat desire to win didn't make her the most popular player in the world. But Carrie and her father sacrificed everything to get her to the top, setting records that should cement her place in tennis history. Now retired, Carrie is a spectator at the US Open when she sees her record threatened by a young upstart. No one returns to tennis at age 37. But with her fierce determination to win, believe it: Carrie Soto is back. I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Ballantine Books and NetGalley. 03 Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne In Empire of the Summer Moon, S.C. Gwynne explores the forty-year battle between white settlers and Native Americans in the American West, particularly focusing on Quanah, the chief of the most powerful tribe in American history. Gwynne traces the evolution of the Comanches--including their unprecedented skill at breeding, breaking, riding, amassing, and trading horses as well as their revolutionary fighting style of hanging on the sides of their horses and shooting arrows under the horses' heads while galloping at full speed. He also offers the fascinating story of Cynthia Ann Parker, a captive who assimilated into the Comanche tribe, married and bore children, and repeatedly refused to leave with white men determined to return her to a pioneer life. One of Cynthia Ann's sons is Quanah, a legendary warrior who was never defeated by white men, and the complications and implications of his white-Native American heritage are emblematic of the conflicts, struggles, and balances of power that played out in our nation's history and within this book.

Do you love witchy books like I do? I love a good witch-focused book. If you like books about magic, here are two other Bossy Bookworm Greedy Reading Lists you might enjoy: Six Royally Magical Young Adult Series and Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love. Which witchy books are your favorites? 01 The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow I was especially taken with the sisters' complicated relationships and with the link Harrow draws between witching and the women's suffrage movement. In The Once and Future Witches, Harrow writes about three bitter and broken sisters who learned powerful ways and words at the knee of their witchy grandmother Mags, then were separated by tragedy. These days there's no more witching and no more will for spells and change in the world. Or so most people believe. When the long-lost sisters do unexpectedly cross each other's paths again at last, the world's seams split, offering a glimpse into another land, a buffeting wind, and a burst of terrible power. I adored how Harrow intermingled the women's suffrage movement with the reemergence of witching and women's efforts to reclaim power in matters large and small. While at a few points I felt like the dramatic situations or dialogue distracted me from what felt like the heart of the story (the Eastwoods' helping other women advance their everyday struggles to gain more control over their lives), I was willing to suspend my disbelief in order to dive into the witchy wonder here. For my full review of this book, please see The Once and Future Witches. 02 The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden This is the third and final book in Katherine Arden's strong, fanciful, often wonderfully dark Winternight trilogy. The Winter of the Witch is set in fourteenth century Russia, complete with rich folklore, conflicts between those who follow the old gods and those who follow the new, and Vasya's gloriously persistent bravery, which she displays even when anyone with any sense would be tempted to give up altogether. The weight of the world is on Vasya's shoulders in this book as she attempts to survive while saving the magical Morozko, her beloved horse, and Russia itself. Katherine Arden finishes out the trilogy in typical mesmerizing fashion, with her usual masterful balance of magic, religion, love, passion, family duty, adventure, and search for meaning—and all with a main protagonist who’s your basic badass young Russian witch finding herself and Handling It all over the damn empire. I listened to the audiobook, narrated perfectly by Kathleen Gati. For my full review of this book, please see The Winter of the Witch. This book also appears on the Greedy Reading List Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love. 03 Wicked by Gregory Maguire In case you missed this multimillion-copy bestselling book (or the Tony award-winning Broadway musical based upon it, or the fantastic soundtrack to that musical, or the twenty-five-year anniversary of the book's publication)--well, maybe you should take a look-see at this one. Or maybe it's time to read this modern witchy classic again. I delighted in reading the Wicked Witch of the West story turned on its head as Maguire traced the origins of Elphaba, a strong-willed, green-skinned young girl; explored the social pressures of Munchkinland; offered a complex back story for the traditional villain character from The Wizard of Oz; and poked holes in the beatific reputation of Glinda the Good Witch. Characters and situations here aren't black-and-white. Maguire shatters the reader's preconceived notions while crafting a richly imagined world--one which goes beyond L. Frank Baum's details from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and emerges as a multilayered and often unexpected creation all its own. I loved that Maguire was able to shift readers' feelings about characters we've long thought we've known and loved--or believed we despised--toward considering more complicated and interesting possibilities. 04 Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin The first book in Mahurin's young adult fantasy trilogy was unabashedly dramatic and angsty, and I was smiling at all of it in delight. Serpent & Dove is Shelby Mahurin's first book in the young adult trilogy of the same name. Louise is a thief who keeps the company of prostitutes and lawbreakers. She's a witch who has sworn off magic; she fled her powerful mother and coven, but they didn't want to let her go. Reid is a straitlaced young man for whom things are black-and-white, clearly right and wrong. He doesn't break rules, and in fact he works for the Church as a Chasseur, hunting down witches for destruction. Things quickly get complicated, and there's a twist: circumstances demand that instinctual nemeses and diametrically opposed characters Lou and Reid...get married. It's a love that must not be--yet they must bind themselves together! From enemies to husband and wife, and major secrets persist--the drama is great. Meanwhile, all is not what it seems. There are instances of trickery related to lineage and other similar surprises. Whenever characters believe other people are unequivocally good or evil, just know: they're about to get their heads wrecked. Serpent & Dove was soooo unabashedly dramatic and angsty, and I was smiling at all of it in delight. I listened to this as an audiobook. For my full review of this book, see Serpent & Dove. 05 A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness This book--! (Have you watched the TV show based on the books? I am all in for the angsty drama and for Matthew Goode in this role.) I'll admit that when I began reading this book, I found myself stifling some giggles and texting my friend Leah who'd just read it to discuss bits of dialogue or minor plot moments. There is a lot more sexy yoga here than I could have dreamed of, plenty of romance, so very much wine appreciation, and copious older-man-guides-the-young-ingenue scenes. But once I settled in, I gleefully tore through what felt like a mix of the detail and romance of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books and the angst, emotions, and forbidden love of the Twilight series. I could've done with even more more more magic and witchiness. I think the second book in the All Souls series (Shadow of Night) is even stronger, as it delves more deeply into magical processes and digs into significantly more detail. There are four books in this series from Harkness, and I found the others even more magical than this first installment. 06 Circe by Madeline Miller To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love. Circe, daughter of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, is an odd child. She's not striking and in fact, she's seemingly without power. But she grows into her glorious witchy wonder, and her abilities to transform her foes are revealed--along with her dangerous potential to threaten the gods. When Zeus, fearful of what she might be capable of, banishes her to a deserted island, Circe perfects her witchy powers, tames beasts, considers the world and her place in it, simmers and plans, and entertains well-known figures from mythology, including Icarus, the Minotaur, Medea, and Odysseus. We are sorry, we are sorry. Sorry you were caught, I said. Sorry that you thought I was weak, but you were wrong. Circe is a wonderfully faulted, curious, powerful witch. I was in for this book hook, line, and sinker.

This World War II-set novel is a love letter to books, to looking out for others, to forming friends-like-family connections, and to continuing to put one foot in front of another with hope for the future. The Last Bookshop in London was inspired by the true story of one of the last bookstores to survive the Blitz. Grace has been unceremoniously kicked out of her uncle's house without a reference for the years of service she provided in his country store. Along with her best friend Viv, whose parents want her to marry and settle down (something she has no interest in), Grace heads to her deceased mother's old friend in London to take refuge as World War II begins to rock Europe. The young women's wartime experiences take Viv to glamorous Harrod's, settle Grace in a dusty old bookshop, shakes their makeshift household and family, and results in unexpected joys and love among the many tragedies and dark days. We see Grace become won over by the creaky old store and by her gruff boss, the shifting role each woman plays in resisting the Nazis and aiding those around them, and the heartwarming friends-as-family evolutions. The love for books that grows in Grace--as well as the essential role of reading and the collective escapism of read-aloud stories--is satisfying and lovely. The Last Bookshop in London is never sentimental but very powerful, and I was brought to tears while listening to it. I love a World War II-set book, and I adored The Last Bookshop in London. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Madeline Martin is also the author of The Librarian Spy and various romance series. You might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II.

The Humans is about mathematics, aliens, and shape shifters, but at its heart it's about a hurting family and an unimaginable, shocking, heartwarming chance at a new beginning. This was fascinating, sometimes funny, thoughtful, and lovely. In Matt Haig's The Humans, an extraterrestrial arrives on Earth with a mission: to kill the man who has achieved a mathematical discovery considered beyond what is appropriate for humans and for the planet. Horrified by the appearances of the humans, confused by their disgusting obsessions with wearing clothing and drinking coffee, and pitying of their limited brain capacities and lack of special powers, the visitor nevertheless assumes the appearance of Professor Andrew Martin and clumsily takes on the man's life for a time. He has been taught for his entire existence about the evil of humans--their violence, their greed and selfishness, their carelessness with their world and with each other, their foolish priorities, and their general unwillingness to consider complex or uncomfortable thoughts. Let's not forget The Things They Do To Make Themselves Happy That Actually Make Them Miserable. This is an infinite list. It includes: shopping, watching TV, taking the better job, getting the bigger house, writing a semi-autobiographical novel, educating their young, making their skin look mildly less old, and harboring a vague desire to believe there might be a meaning to it all. At first he is determined to eliminate anyone who had been told about the fateful mathematical advancement that is at the heart of his deadly mission. But he soon grows deeply fond of humans' capacity for forgiveness, for caring, and for hope--despite their finite life years. Meanwhile, he is having a deeply positive effect on his fake family, who have been in pain for years. The real Andrew Martin was selfish, singularly focused on fame, emotionally closed off, vain, and unfaithful. The alien entity who looks like Andrew Martin is believed to have undergone a concussion, making Andrew seem to behave oddly, sure, but he's also a good listener, he asks charming questions, he heals, he cares, and he is fascinated by everyday wonders. It's impossible not to fall in love with the "new" Andrew. Humans, as a rule, don't like mad people unless they are good at painting, and only then once they are dead. But the definition of mad, on Earth, seems to be very unclear and inconsistent. What is perfectly sane in one era turns out to be insane in another. The earliest humans walked around naked with no problem. Certain humans, in humid rainforests mainly, still do so. So, we must conclude that madness is sometimes a question of time, and sometimes of postcode. Through New Andrew's alien eyes we see the contradictory, beautifully messy, infuriating, wondrous aspects of the human condition. There is a looming difficulty the reader sees coming, even if New Andrew doesn't fully grasp it: the inevitable moment when the family will find out about his original mission and his elimination and usurping of the Original Andrew. Haig handles the complexities of this and of all the challenges of the bizarre situation with heart, some wry humor, and with thoughtfulness. The Humans is funny, strange, deep, and lovely. I loved it. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I love a book that looks at our many human absurdities through alien or other eyes. The Murderbot series (check out my reviews of three first three books here; the others are searchable on this blog) is another, very different book that also does this wonderfully. Matt Haig is also the author of How to Stop Time, Reasons to Stay Alive, and The Midnight Library.

Garmus's debut is witty and smart, heartbreaking, infuriating, and lovely. Lessons in Chemistry explores deep issues, conflict, and dark times, yet offers hope and joy. I loved it. Elizabeth Zott has worked hard in her scientific pursuits, often as the only female in the room, either dismissed or harassed because of her gender. Now Zott is a chemist in 1960s California on an otherwise all-male staff at Hastings Research Institute. Gender equality is nowhere to be found--but Elizabeth has one ally (and potential love interest, ahem!) in the sometimes-abrupt, socially awkward, awe-inspiring, brilliant Nobel Prize-nominated Calvin Evans. After twists and turns, momentous changes, and several years, Elizabeth is a single mother who becomes...the star of a hit televised cooking show. But she's not only demonstrating recipes. She's using science to inspire the upending of the status quo for her largely female audience. On the other hand, wasn't that the very definition of life? Constant adaptations brought about by a series of never-ending mistakes? The dog element in Lessons in Chemistry worried me at first, but only for a moment. It could potentially have distracted or felt clunky, but it was lovely. Females are overshadowed, abused, and generally wronged throughout the book, a reflection of realistic, historic treatment. But there is some eventual revenge that I found deeply satisfying. This cover style says "light fiction" to me, but this book addresses deeper issues--of what it means to be a family, of secrets and vulnerability, of constricting gender roles, of loss and love, and of the powerful shattering of expectations. Garmus's characters test themselves and others, shy away from connection, dive into love, question the meaning of life, embrace or eschew religion, and cleave together in heartbreakingly beautiful, unexpected ways. I loved this. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Lessons in Chemistry is Bonnie Garmus's first book. Exciting news for story-to-screen fans: the book is reportedly being adapted into a streaming series on AppleTV starring Brie Larson.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin, charming historical fiction set during World War II; I'm reading Matt Haig's fascinating, thought-provoking science fiction The Humans; and I'm reading The Quiet Zone, captivating nonfiction by journalist Stephen Kurczy. What are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin The Last Bookshop in London was inspired by the true story of one of the last bookstores to survive the Blitz. Grace has been unceremoniously kicked out of her uncle's house without a reference for the years of service she provided in his country store. Along with her best friend Viv, whose parents want her to marry and settle down (something Viv has no interest in), Grace heads to her deceased mother's old friend in London to take refuge as World War II begins to rock Europe. The young women's wartime experiences take Viv to glamorous Harrod's, settle Grace in a dusty old bookshop, shakes their makeshift household and family, and results in unexpected joys and love among the many tragedies and dark days. This is not sentimental and is very powerful, and I've already been brought to tears while listening to it. I adore The Last Bookshop in London so far. 02 The Humans by Matt Haig In Matt Haig's The Humans, an extraterrestrial arrives on earth with a mission: to kill the man who has achieved a mathematical discovery considered beyond what is appropriate for humans and for earth. Horrified by the appearances of the humans, confused by their obsessions with covering themselves with clothing and drinking disgusting coffee, and pitying of their limited brain capacities and widespread lack of special powers, the visitor nevertheless assumes the appearance of the human Professor Andrew Martin and clumsily takes on the man's life for a time. At first the visitor is determined to eliminate anyone who had been told about the fateful mathematical advancement. But he soon grows fond of humans' capacity for forgiveness, for caring, and for hope despite their finite life years. Through his eyes we see the contradictory, beautifully messy, infuriating, wondrous aspects of the human condition. This is funny, strange, and lovely. Matt Haig is also the author of How to Stop Time, Reasons to Stay Alive, and The Midnight Library. 03 The Quiet Zone: Unraveling the Mystery of a Town Suspended in Silence by Stephen Kurczy By exploring an area of rural Appalachia where cell phone signals and Wi-Fi are banned, journalist Stephen Kurczy considers one of the few places in the United States where technology doesn't seem to rule society. In fact, technology in Green Bank, West Virginia, is not allowed--unless you're working in the Green Bank Observatory. Astronomers there use cutting-edge technology to search the stars--while everyone in the area is barred from using devices whose radio frequencies might interfere with scientific study. That means no cell phones, no iPads, and no constant connectivity. Kurczy's nonfiction explores the treasure of quiet in a world largely filled with noise, stimulation, information, images, and constant input. By introducing unforgettable real-life characters from the Green Bank community, he also illustrates the contradictions and complications of the seemingly idyllic, forced "quiet zone."

Bossy Backlist Favorites I read many of these books as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shape our lives, and I can vouch for each of these very different stories as great escapism. Heartwarming books and quirky fiction were two types of stories that suited me then and still hit the spot for me now, and these books stand the test of time. If you're looking for more great fiction you may have missed, you might also want to check out the Greedy Reading List Six Backlist Summer Favorites. Or search by genre to find all of my reviews--and some titles you may not have read yet. Have you read any of the books on this list? I'd love to hear what you think if you have or if you do! 01 Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah I loved this story of how Joanna and Gabe are inextricably drawn to each other and drawn into Ursa's magically imagined world. Joanna is feeling adrift after her mother's death, and she disappears into the constant attention her ornithology research commands, living in her sparse rental cabin and tuning out the rest of the world. That is, until a young girl appears, battered and bruised, and is resistant to help but clearly in need of it. Ursa says she is from the stars and cannot return until she has witnessed five miracles. Joanna and her reclusive neighbor Gabe become drawn into Ursa's orbit and drawn to each other as they try to protect her--and they discover more about themselves and their capabilities for love than they'd imagined. I love love loved this. Ursa, Jo, Gabe, Tabby, the ornithology storyline, the makeshift family, and the (maybe slightly too easy but lovely and satisfying) resolution. Highly recommend! For my full review of this book, please see Where the Forest Meets the Stars. Vanderah is also the author of The Oceanography of the Moon. 02 Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel Darling Rose Gold is a wonderfully twisted tale, with double-crossing, codependence, and dark turns. In Darling Rose Gold, Wrobel offers readers a story involving Münchausen syndrome by proxy, lies, betrayals, and double-crossing, all within a claustrophobic, isolated, and codependent mother-and-daughter relationship. Yet the tone is often playful as the characters keep things chatty and light while striving to manipulate each other. I was totally hooked on this fast read and couldn’t wait to find out who was the better strategist and who might be tricking who. There are some wonderfully devilish dark twists and turns as events evolve and as the characters' layers of plotting become evident. For my full review of this book, please see Darling Rose Gold. 03 When We Were Vikings by Andrew David Macdonald I loved this offbeat, heartwarming, lovely book in which Zelda has to figure out what it means to live her own legend. Zelda is in her twenties and lives with her older brother Gert. She is obsessed with Vikings, she's a stickler for the Rules of the House, and she follows highly structured routines. On certain days she finds her own way to the community center where she and other young adults with challenges and disabilities play and learn social and practical skills; on other set days she visits the library; twice a week she visits her trusted therapist, Dr. Laird. But there’s a dark undercurrent throughout When We Were Vikings. Zelda has to figure out what it means to live her own legend, and whether she can save Gert or even save herself. I loved this. The characters, the story arc that isn’t too easy but leaves you in a promising place after all, and the dialogue—love love love. For my full review of this book, please see When We Were Vikings. 04 Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson This short book packs delightfully odd, satisfying, and sometimes laugh-out-loud-funny moments. I was very glad to realize that the striking premise itself was not the most powerful element here. Wilson's story stars combustible children and the low-key, unambitious misfit who sticks with them, making them feel unequivocally safe and understood for the first time. Kevin Wilson provides some heartbreaking disappointment about family members' emotional limitations and conditional loyalty, and he allows characters to craft chosen relationships into a beloved pod that functions like family. Before I read this, I went with some members of my book club and other friends to hear Kevin Wilson speak at our local library foundation event. He was unassuming, charming, and quirky, so I knew I had to give this book a go. I just loved this story. For my full review of this book, please see Nothing to See Here. Kevin Wilson is also the author of two collections, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth and Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine, and he has a new book coming out in fall 2022, Now Is Not the Time to Panic. 05 A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum Where I come from, we’ve learned to silence ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence will save us. Where I come from, we keep these stories to ourselves. To tell them to the outside world is unheard of, dangerous, the ultimate shame. In A Woman Is No Man, Etaf Rum explores the often powerless and essentially voiceless status of her female characters within their conservative Arab culture, both in Palestine and as immigrants and first-generation Americans in New York. Much of this is dark. Yet there are bright points: rare friendships emerge, sisters build intense loyalty to each other, girls and women find joy in secret reading and in books, and there are occasional breaks to freedom. The details Rum provides as a thread throughout the book--the food, spices, and meals that are a framework for much of the structure of the women’s days--are wonderful. A Woman Is No Man explores the incredible drive and bravery required by Rum's female characters to write a new history, one in which they enjoy freedoms and a voice. For my full review of this book, please see A Woman Is No Man. 06 In Five Years by Rebecca Serle This alternate-reality story is really about loyalty and devoted friendship, it doesn't fall back on easy resolutions, and not everything is as it seems. I loved it. Dannie is on the path to achieving her five-year goals in spectacularly efficient fashion. She goes to sleep one night feeling satisfied, but she wakes up in another life: in a strange apartment, with a different boyfriend, and with an alternate set of choices behind and before her. And perhaps most confusingly of all, she's happy. Very very happy. Dannie returns to her original reality, but she can’t shake the possibilities raised and the uncertainty created by what felt like an actual temporary shift in her existence. What do those vastly different circumstances and her satisfaction within them mean about how she can and should live her life now? Serle's In Five Years totally hit the spot for me, and it also wasn’t exactly what I expected. I loved it. For my full review of this book, please see In Five Years. If you like books that play with timelines and realities, check out the other books on the Greedy Reading List Six Riveting Time-Travel Stories to Explore.

The second installment in Nora Roberts's Dragon Heart Legacy series is satisfying and comfortable, as Bree becomes more powerful, confident, and determined. Plus: more dragons! In The Awakening, the first book in Nora Roberts's Dragon Heart Legacy series, she set up a romantic fantasy about a chosen one, a long-lost family, portals to a magical world, and a treasure of a best friendship. In book two of the series, Breen Siobhan Kelly is coming into her own. She has conveniently shuffled off from Philly to the magical Talamh, where she revels in her new-found and strengthening powers (yet maintains her new, successful career as a children's author--with promise of becoming an adult author too. Why not take this fantasy all the way, after all?). Circumstances lead to Breen's best friend coming along (and finding his own love with the strapping Brian), the taking on of a dragon soulmate, and more sexual tension with Keegan. Where there’s love, there’s worry. Worry walks hand in hand with joy on love’s path. I enjoyed this second installment even more than the first book. Roberts has already set up the situation, and Bree is coming into her own, growing more powerful, figuring out her abilities, and gaining confidence in her role and her contributions. It's fun to have BFF Marco along, and it's satisfying to witness Bree attempting to understand with compassion her mother's reasoning for having kept her heritage secret (although the cutting down of Bree's confidence feels difficult to forgive). Bree's links to her grandfather's darkness and his world are intriguing--as are the allusions to the crucial part she is likely to play in destroying his evil power in the third book. There remains a lot of page time spent on the enjoyment of refreshments (tea or wine, anyone?), which I'm in favor of in real life, so I understand the obsession here. I was entertained by the dichotomies of various characters' experiences in Talamh versus in Ireland. There is more dragon-focused attention in this second book, an element I enjoyed, as well as more focus on magical portals. I listened to this as an audiobook. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? The only sad news here is that when I posted that I was reading this, a fellow reader reminded me that the third and final book in the series, The Choice, is not set for publication until November of this year. For my review of the first in this trilogy, The Awakening, please click here.

ICYMI: Evvie Drake Starts Over, by the author of Flying Solo, is sweet, with funny dialogue, surprises, best-friendship, and a Maine setting I loved. I recently read and loved Linda Holmes's Flying Solo, and I was reminded of how much I adored Holmes's novel Evvie Drake Starts Over. Evvie Drake has become something of a recluse in her quiet seaside Maine town ever since her husband's death in a car crash a year earlier. Her best friend Andy is doing his best to support her. while it seems Evvie is doing her best to bury her grief. Andy's childhood best friend Dean is a former Major League pitcher--but he has the "yips" and can't throw straight anymore. Dean's escape from media scrutiny leads him to rent Evvie's apartment for a time. And as the two become friends, they make a rule: Dean won't ask about Evvie's late husband, and Evvie won't ask about baseball. But having a listening ear in Dean, who is completely separate from Evvie's "before" life, means she might finally be ready to open up about what her relationship was like before she became a widow. And Evvie's ignorance about baseball means Dean can safely vent and maybe even figure out what's holding him back. They may be able to help the other find some version of peace, just by being there. Oh, this book! Linda Holmes's Evvie Drake Starts Over is sweet and funny and lovely. I listened to it as an audiobook while I gardened, and it was a perfect summer story. I loved Holmes’s writing and Evvie’s voice. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Obviously Evvie Drake Starts Over should be made into a movie. Click here for my review of Flying Solo, another book I loved. I'm in for whatever Linda Holmes writes next!

In this satisfying story by the author of Evvie Drake Starts Over, Linda Holmes offers sweet, funny dialogue; a complicated reunion between old flames; and a hometown return that's both heartwarming and fraught. Flying Solo has been on my to-read list all summer. Because I was back in my old stomping grounds of Maine last week, seeing family and old friends in my former hometown, it seemed like the perfect time to read Flying Solo, Linda Holmes's Maine-set title about returning to a childhood safe haven and reconnecting with old friends and an old flame. In Flying Solo, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown, stinging from her recently canceled wedding, facing being on the cusp of forty, and ready to dive into the massive job of dismantling her beloved, recently deceased, never married great aunt Dot's collectible- and memento-filled house. Who, she wondered, are all these people who live in the place where I once felt like I knew everyone? Then an unusual antique she finds in Dot's attic and an old love letter send her on a wild caper through her own past, back to her first love and her oldest friend, as well as into the hands of con artists and antique dealers eager for what she's got. I adore Holmes's excellent ability to set up and develop a rom-com with depth. Her wonderful dialogue, appropriate and satisfying sentimentality, and the thrill of connection--I love all of it. I wasn't sure I was going to be in for the antique caper angle here, but Holmes layers it into her story without jarring or disrupting the affectionate feel of the old-flame reunion and the true-friendship bedrock that I loved. Regarding the love story, Holmes inserts the reader directly into the joy and heartache of two people who adore each other and who feel perfect for each other in most ways, but who continue to want different things from their lives. There aren't forced misunderstandings here, nor is there a manufactured failure to relay key information to each other, or any other manipulative element. This is a sometimes gut-wrenching exploration of whether deep love can overcome disparate life plans without subsuming one person's desires and priorities into the collective relationship. Flying Solo is complex and beautiful as Laurie and Nick circle around each other, knowing themselves, wanting each other, yet recognizing that their differing life plans may not intersect in any long-term way. ...she had spent the last few years chasing the feelings of comfort and trust, and the magnetic and uncomplicated drawing together, that she'd felt with him.... But that feeling that she was connected like the sides of a locket to the other half of herself, that feeling had never returned. Maybe that feeling belonged to being younger, and not to him, but what if it did belong to him? I appreciated that Laurie's desire for independence and solitude weren't swept away in a convenient, abrupt sea change. Holmes digs into a complicated, messy situation that's far more interesting than that. I loved this. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and is also the author of Evvie Drake Starts Over, a light fiction story I loved. I received a prepublication digital edition of this book courtesy of Ballantine Books and NetGalley.

The Books I'm Reading Now First of all, seeing the gorgeous colors and designs of these three covers together is making me very happy! I lugged all three of these physical books with me on vacation to Maine, and if I forget to stage a beach photo of them...well, let's just say there's going to be a disappointed Bossy on our hands. I'm reading Lessons in Chemistry, a novel about a 1960s female scientist and cooking show host by Bonnie Garmus; Emma Straub's playing-with-time, reliving-the-past story This Time Tomorrow; and Something Wilder, Christina Lauren's newest, about a treasure hunter's daughter who gets roped into time with her ex. What are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus In Bonnie Garmus's Lessons in Chemistry, Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in 1960s California on an otherwise all-male staff at Hastings Research Institute. Gender equality is nowhere to be found--but Elizabeth has one ally (and potential love interest, ahem!) in Nobel Prize-nominated Calvin Evans. After twists and turns and several years, Elizabeth is a single mother who becomes the star of a hit televised cooking show. But she's not only demonstrating recipes. She's using science to inspire the upending of the status quo for her largely female audience. This cover says "light fiction" to me, but by all accounts, this book has depth and addresses deeper issues. I can't wait to dig into this one. Lessons in Chemistry is Bonnie Garmus's first book. 02 This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub What if you could revisit--and relive--your youth? On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice’s job, apartment, and love life are solidly okay. The only dark spot in her life is her father’s grave illness. When she wakes up the next morning, it’s her 16th birthday again. And it isn't just that being in her teen body again shocks her, or that seeing her high school crush is jarring. It's incredible to see her healthy, vital, young dad. Knowing what she does about the future, would Alice change the past? Emma Straub is also the author of The Vacationers, All Adults Here, Modern Lovers, and other books. 03 Something Wilder by Christina Lauren Lily uses her deceased father’s hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake searches for treasure through the red rock canyons of Utah. Following in her father's scam of a career pays the bills, but it doesn’t pay enough for Lily to deal with the sight of Leo, the man she once loved, walking back into her life--with a motley crew of friends ready to hit the trails. Leo would love to reconnect, but Lily is not interested in rekindling their flame. When the trip involves mishap after mishap, the travelers begin to wonder whether the legend of the treasure was fiction after all. The writing team of Christina Lauren also authored the books The Soulmate Equation, The Unhoneymooners, In a Holidaze, Love and Other Words, and Autoboyography.

The Five-Star Bossy Favorites Someone asked me a while back if I ever give five-star ratings to the books I read. And the answer is: yes! I try to read books I'll enjoy, find interesting, and/or be entertained by. I read over 100 books a year, and a five-star read is a special one for me. It may make me feel all the feelings, may be intriguing and make me think, and is usually engaging enough that it's tough to put down. These are my six five-star Bossy reads so far in 2022. You might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Five-Star Bossy Reads to Check Out. Or you can search the site for Five-Star Book Reviews. Which standout books have you read this year? What made them your favorites? 01 Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams Williams's historical fiction mystery--based on real-life double agents in the Cambridge Spy Ring--is vividly set in Europe and Russia. In Beatriz Williams's historical fiction, Our Woman in Moscow, it's 1948, and Iris Digby, her American diplomat husband Sasha, and their two children have disappeared overnight. Those who knew and worked with them are shocked. Were the Digbys abducted by Soviet agents...or did they make their way by choice behind the Iron Curtain with a suitcase of American secrets to trade? I loved this. Every heart-stopping moment; every exquisite detail; the characters' growth, emotional distance, and unforeseen connections to each other; the trick of teasing out what was actually happening; the characterization; the machinations--all of it. I loved Williams's immersive story so much, I was in for all of Our Woman in Moscow's elements: Russia, family, spies, crossing/double-crossing, finding common ground, bravery, and illogical and irresistible love. For my full review, check out Our Woman in Moscow. 02 In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom Amy Bloom writes with brutal honesty about her heartbreak and her determination to support her husband Brian Ameche's desire to end his life on his own terms. In her memoir In Love, author Amy Bloom shares the story of an impossible situation: how she faced the pending loss of her husband Brian Ameche, first mentally and then physically, to Alzheimer's disease. Ameche begins showing cognitive loss, and when a diagnosis is established of Alzheimer's disease, he considers the cases of those he has known who suffered for many years from the disease--and their caregivers alongside them. He becomes determined to participate in an assisted suicide program while he is still showing enough cognition to enter into the agreement. Bloom details the reasoning behind his decision and explores the importance to him of taking an active role in determining the time and place and conditions of his death. She considers how she can best support his wishes, even as doing so will take him away from her. For my full review, check out In Love. 03 Wingwalkers by Taylor Brown Brown's signature immersive details and wonderfully imagined, rich characters bring Depression-era scenes to life against an irresistible backdrop of swooping, soaring, daring aviation in Wingwalkers. What is it about aviation stories and my being so in love with them? In Taylor Brown's recently published historical fiction novel Wingwalkers, Zeno, a former World War I ace pilot, and Della, his daring wingwalking wife, travel Depression-era America, wowing audiences and inspiring hope in a dark, sober time. Zeno and Della are vagabonds, putting on shows for small bills and change, scrambling to make enough to fuel their plane, feed their dog, and to hopefully have enough left over to eat meager meals, just enough to keep them going. They're daring, sometimes haunted, broken, in love, and irresistible to read about. Wingwalkers swoops and soars yet grounds the reader in wonderfully imagined (and researched) details that bring the story to life. I loved this book! Taylor is also the author of Gods of Howl Mountain, a book I loved and gave five stars, Pride of Eden (a book still on my to-read list that looks wonderful), and Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War. (If you’re not on the Taylor Brown train yet, may I strongly suggest you join me?) Click here for my full review of Wingwalkers. 04 The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle by Shawn K. Stout Stout's middle-grade story is irresistibly strange, full of difficulties and a tough young heroine's gritty problem-solving, and largely about believing in the impossible and never losing heart. Cutie Grackle lives in a cabin in the Appalachian Mountains with her dim-witted, muttering Uncle Horace. She's used to being hungry, to sucking on pebbles to trick her stomach into thinking it's getting food, and to relying on a couple of trusted outsiders for help when necessary. After an encounter with a fortune-cookie message and a flock of ravens who seem to be following her, Cutie begins to believe that the curse Uncle Horace keeps mumbling about might be real--and that it might have been connected to the deaths of her parents. As the ravens begin to bring Cutie objects that seem to be linked to a bigger message and mission, she wonders: could identifying and lifting the curse offer answers--and could it even change the trajectory of her tough young life? The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle is a mountain adventure story that offers magical realism with an edge. Shawn K. Stout's novel is full of heartbreak and hope and is irresistibly unexpected. Click here for my full review of this book. 05 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin A book about childhood friends making a video game is an unexpected, captivating setup for this wonderfully deep, epic look at creativity, tragedy, and love. Childhood friends Sam Masur and Sadie Green are brilliant, creative collaborators and a wonderfully complementary pair since their chance meeting in childhood--and they're also (sometimes) full of love for each other. Reunited in college, Sam and Sadie come together to try to create a masterpiece: a video game unlike any that has come before. Something immersive, something fascinating, something irresistible. Their wild success and their devastating lows--individual and collective--test their loyalty, offer joy and unexpected stress, and push the limits of their connection. There are fascinating, heartbreaking, heartwarming echoes and swirls of themes and details that repeat and connect through time and through virtual reality--and that frequently cross into the gritty messiness of real life. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is smart and holds layer upon layer to explore. I savored this story and delighted in its characters and just loved this book. For my full review, check out Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. 06 No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler Touching, honest, raw, funny, and full of gritty reflections about life and faith, this was a read that I absolutely adored. THIS BOOK! Reading memoirs centered around cancer is not always a go for me, but this book was special. Divinity professor Kate Bowler offers meaningful insight, gritty truth-telling, and wry humor as she shares her experiences surrounding facing stage 4 colon cancer. I finished No Cure for Being Human in one evening, tabbed many, many passages, immediately bought my own copy, re-tabbed everything, and would have been perfectly willing to read the book again in its entirety right away. So many moments struck me, surprised me, or touched me as I read this lovely work, including Bowler's exploration of how our lives are largely shaped by choices out of our control and her reckoning with the way in which she considers her body after cancer treatment ("Who would fault a body that has survived so much and asked for so little?"). No Cure for Being Human is beautiful, funny, heartwarming, practical, and Kate Bowler is so wise and wonderful, I hugged this book to my chest when I finished reading it. For my full review of this book, please see No Cure for Being Human.