01 The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James 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 been on my list for a while because of its irresistible premise: Romy is the sole survivor on her spaceship, which was en route to establishing an outpost on a new planet. She's on her own out there, and as lonely as any human could imagine being--that is, until she hears that another ship has launched from earth, with a single passenger: a boy called J. Romy and J make contact, and they begin to forge a bond she never would have anticipated. But the odd messages she begins receiving from Earth begin to throw everything she knows about J--who has for so long been her only link to humanity--into doubt. 02 Beneath the Keep by Erika Johansen Beneath the Keep, which is set for publication next week, is a prequel to Erika Johansen's Queen of the Tearling series (there are three other books in the series, the fantastic Queen of the Tearling as well as The Invasion of the Tearling and The Fate of the Tearling). The book traces The Tearling's attempted ascent from a kingdom crushed by famine, feudalism, and unrest to a land with desperate new hope: the fabled True Queen is said to be poised to save them all. I'm curious to see if the characters I loved from the rest of the series (I'm looking at you, Mace) are star players within this dystopian period of Johansen's Tearling world. I received a prepublication copy of this book courtesy of Dutton Books and NetGalley. 03 The Unwilling by John Hart The Unwilling is John Hart's newest book, slated for publication next week. Hart reliably offers deftly crafted, often stark landscapes, character-driven stories, heartbreaking situations and compromises, and enough protagonists' strength and grit to stick with you. The Unwilling promises all of those elements and more, unraveling the workings of a family in the South during the Vietnam War; brothers at odds; complex issues surrounding prison, war, and violence; and a brother's unfailing loyalty in the face of terrible conflict and dangerous outlaws. I received a prepublication copy of The Unwilling courtesy of St. Martin's Press and NetGalley. I mentioned my love for Hart's book The Last Child in the Greedy Reading List The Six Best Mysteries I Read Last Year. He has written many other books, including The Hush, the second in the Johnny Merrimon series, and the wonderfully written and often tough-to-read Redemption Road. What are you reading these days? I'm liking this mix: young adult space science fiction story, dystopian fantasy series prequel, and character-driven mystery with some darkness and depth. Which books are you reading and enjoying these days?

A book that fascinated me, in case you missed it! This was often brutal to read, but it was beautifully written, in a style that felt perfectly suited for the stark Australian outback setting. Only Killers and Thieves is set in the Australian outback at the end of the 19th century. It centers around one family’s conflicts with crooked and powerful neighbors; cruel and aggressive Native Police aiming to eradicate the aboriginal people; the killing drought; and each other. One poor judgment leads to another, foolish choices end in bloodshed, and one brother makes justifications for his actions and feels no remorse, while the other brother feels crushed by it all. Howarth explores questions such as: Can people really change? Is remorse useful, and does it make a person more redeemable? Can a person’s character or morality be decided in a moment, or in a series of defining moments? Is killing ever justifiable if laws allow it? Is a sleazy trade-off forgivable if it takes place in a life-and-death situation? I was struck by Tommy’s striking, dark description of feeling beaten and trapped within a cycle of corruption, death, and destruction: “Dumb as bloody cattle: a cow finds herself in a dried-up paddock and doesn’t think to leave, next thing she’s been hollowed out by the dingos and finished by the birds.” Toward the end of Only Killers and Thieves, we see messy second chances take shape, a little retribution, and an attempt at a changed existence—but the haunting memories of the past creep in relentlessly. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? This was often brutal to read, but it was beautifully written, in a style that felt perfectly suited for the stark setting. I thought about this one long after I finished it. It was disturbing and a mind churner. Dust Off the Bones is Howarth's upcoming sequel to Only Killers and Thieves, due out in summer 2021. If you like reading books with this type of tone and spirit, you might also like those listed in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West. And stay tuned for this Friday's upcoming list of Six More Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West!

Evaristo offers a set of twelve interconnected stories about Black women in contemporary Britain and their friendships, loves, struggles, and successes. The twelve women in Girl, Woman, Other --each of whom gets a chapter to tell her story, which is often joined in progress--are mothers, daughters, friends, and lovers concerned with sexuality, autonomy, race, artistic expression, tradition, class, education, loyalty, and how each of these factors shape their past, present, and future identities as Black British women. We get to know something about life in contemporary Britain through the varied interconnected friendships, partnerships, loves, struggles, successes, and the ways in which these twelve women's lives are affected by past colonialism and the present-day British environment. Evaristo expresses the women's linked life stories using largely concrete language, without a lot of fluff and often limited dialogue. The characters frequently intersperse political, historical, feminist, cultural, and other context throughout their stories and conversations. All of this--along with the sheer number of protagonists Evaristo presents--could potentially and naturally keep the reader at somewhat of a distance from the characters. Yet the stories of several of the protagonists felt particularly easy for me to connect with (for example, Dominique and Carole) as they shared their adventures, hopes, missteps, and joys. I was most fascinated by the looping and sometimes surprising interconnectedness of the characters. During the multiple lessons the characters gave each other about feminism and gender--complete with references to authors, activists, texts, and more--I felt as though I were taking a class; I was interested in the facts but didn't feel drawn into the characters or their stories during those sections. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? This title garnered a lot of attention in 2019 when Evaristo won the Booker Prize for it. I listened to Girl, Woman, Other as an audiobook (as directed by my smarty friend Kirstan) to get the full, glorious effect of having the story told to me in a British accent. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/18/21 Edition.

What if you woke up from a coma and felt differently about almost everything, including the person you're supposed to love? In Leavitt's novel, Simon and Stella have been in New York City for twenty years, living through the ups and downs and joys and stresses of a decades-long relationship. Simon has been hoping all along that his struggling music career would someday take off, but it didn't look as though his dreams would ever come true. Stella is a nurse with practical and specific goals: she wants to get married, have a baby, and buy their apartment. Simon finally gets a chance to go on tour with his band to open for a major act, and just as he's letting his hopes soar that this might finally be his big break, Stella falls into a coma. He should stay, but will he go? And what will happen to their long-held dynamic when Stella wakes up a different person, with new and artistic gifts of her own? In With or Without You, Leavitt explores fascinating angles related to memory and self. What happens to a relationship when the people in it change, and their dreams along with them? What does commitment mean when the essence of a person within the relationship changes? What if you wake up one day and feel differently than you did before—about physical attraction, former passions, what’s funny, and even what tastes good to you--about the things that make you you? A couple of minor grumbles: I had to suspend my disbelief about the artist being able to see the true secrets in her subjects (she is able to see just from studying a woman's appearance that a younger lover had left her and broke her heart, etc.), but I did bask in the warmth of that artist-subject connection. The whirlwind wrap-up of one late-book emergent surprise felt abrupt and a little unsatisfying, yet I liked that, most importantly, Stella looked within herself for answers. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? This didn’t go exactly where I thought it would (as far as who was with whom, doing what, and where) by the finish of the book, and I was hooked on finding out where things would go. I do love a "what if?" setup. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/6/21 Edition.

01 Pachinko by Min Jin Lee In the early 1900s, a teenager falls for a silver-tongued stranger on the coast of Korea. But when the relationship falters, she flees into a marriage with a sickly traveling minister and escapes to Japan, setting in motion the events that will shape the generations to come. “Noa didn’t care about being Korean when he was with her; in fact, he didn’t care about being Korean or Japanese with anyone. He wanted to be, to be just himself, whatever that meant; he wanted to forget himself sometimes.” Pachinko is a sweeping generational story of hardship, sacrifice, and fifty years of Korean-Japanese cultural conflict beginning in the early twentieth century, as seen through the experiences of one family. The many details of daily life (food, dress, tradition) in Korea and Japan made the almost-500-page story come alive for me. 02 The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya Wow. Wamariya writes beautifully and brutally honestly about her journey of fleeing from Rwanda and through six other African countries—with her tough, hustling older sister Claire—during and after the Rwandan genocide. In The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After, Wamariya recalls her experiences through her childlike point of view, which allows for a painfully pure set of painful memories, betrayals, horrors, and sometimes a steeled numbness. Wamariya shares her views of the world, her often jarring experiences in the US—with her sister and family on weekends in inner city Chicago and her weekday life and schooling in wealthy Kenilworth, then Hotchkiss and Yale and beyond—and her search to help other refugees’ stories be known and for her own peace. The author's tone and voice is like poetry at times, raw and spare and true. 03 In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero ​ The heart of Diane Guerrero's story is powerful: a hardworking family is preyed upon by criminals' financially ruinous scams against undocumented workers; the family members experience years of constant fears of deportation; and then they must face the shocking potential reality of deportation itself. Guerrero's interest in drama and her later fame ultimately help buoy her up despite her personal agony and family heartbreak, and she ultimately becomes an activist for immigration reform. Meanwhile, Guerrero is young and often sounds like it as she flits from topic to topic in her account of her life and especially her experiences as an actress in Orange Is the New Black. The details of her immigrant family's challenges, struggles, and strength were the elements I found most affecting about In the Country We Love. 04 The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob When practical surgeon Thomas begins speaking aloud and at length to his long-dead Indian relatives, his daughter Amina is called home to try to soothe him and help her mother figure out what's going on. In The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing, Jacob alternates between the past and present, India and Seattle, shaping the stories of each of the family members Thomas is conversing with and ultimately telling the story of an extended family and its many ups and downs. The title may be a little self-conscious, but the book itself is darkly funny, with wonderfully paced dialogue and compelling characters' lives you can get lost in. Jacob writes beautiful meditations on allowing oneself to either be haunted by the past or embrace its everyday presence in your life; accepting fateful choices and their ongoing impact; carving out an identity that both encompasses and is separate from a family's immigration, ethnicity, and familial ties; and letting go. 05 Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli ​ “Because—how do you explain that it is never inspiration that drives you to tell a story, but rather a combination of anger and clarity? How do you say: No, we do not find inspiration here, but we find a country that is as beautiful as it is broken, and we are somehow now part of it, so we are also broken with it, and feel ashamed, confused, and sometimes hopeless, and are trying to figure out how to do something about all that." This is a long essay (but a short book) illustrating the complex behind-the-scenes challenges and tragedies surrounding the child migration crisis in the US. Luiselli structures Tell Me How It Ends around the forty questions interpreters ask of undocumented children during their intake interviews upon arrival in the country. She explores the contradictions between potential safety and a future for immigrants and a reality that is more brutal and uncertain than the children and their parents may have feared. ​6 A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum ​ In A Woman Is No Man, Etaf Rum explores the often powerless and essentially voiceless statuses 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: some rare friendships emerge, sisters build intense loyalty to each other, girls and women find joy in secret reading and in books, women find strength and demand truth rather than secrecy, and there are occasional breaks to freedom. The details Rum provides as a thread throughout the book of the food, spices, and meals that create much of the structure of the women’s days are wonderful. A Woman Is No Man ultimately explores the superhuman drive and bravery required by Rum's female characters--but also many other real-life women in comparable situations--to write a new history, one in which they enjoy basic freedoms and a voice. For my full review of this book, please see A Woman Is No Man. What are some of your favorite books about the immigrant experience? I could have listed many other powerful books about immigrants (What Is the What, American Street, The Book of Unknown Americans, and Girl in Translation also came to mind), and I have countless more related books on my to-read list (Transcendent Kingdom, Homeland Elegies, Ungrateful Refugee, Exit West, Unaccompanied, The Refugees, Home Fire, and others). Last year's American Dirt--and the intense controversy surrounding it--could be its own long post. But these four fiction works and two nonfiction titles are some that have stuck with me in one way or another, each offering glimpses into the challenges and triumphs of leaving one land and tackling another; striving to hold on to culture while navigating unfamiliar pitfalls; and the fears and joys of seeking a new life in a new place.

A book I loved, in case you missed it! I loved this post-World War II book about bravery and rural life for middle-grade readers. Annabelle lives in a quiet, rural Pennsylvania town. But then new girl Betty moves to town and begins to push people around, cruelly setting her sights on Toby, a local World War I veteran who hasn't been the same since the war. Faced with witnessing growing and varied injustices at Betty's hands, Annabelle must determine what she's made of and what she's willing to do to protect those in her community. Oh, I loved this. Rural life just after World War II, a godawful bully, an odd but lovely area wanderer, a sometimes claustrophobic but fiercely loving life lived under one roof with extended family, and a young but tough main twelve-year-old protagonist who's messily figuring out her place in the world. Wolk is not too clean with the resolutions here. The book's themes have (deservedly) drawn comparisons to some of those in To Kill a Mockingbird (and if you read it, you'll see why), but Wolf Hollow strikes a lighter note. This is a fast and endearing read. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Wolf Hollow was a Newbery Medal Nominee in 2017. Wolk also wrote Beyond the Bright Sea, a middle-grade adventure story with sweet character development, and last year's Echo Mountain, set in Depression-era Maine, which is on my to-read list.

This slim, intriguing book packs a punch, featuring revenge fantasies mixed with magical realism. Lucy and Jake are the parents of two young boys. Lucy has sidelined her career to be home with the children, and she and Jake are settled into their routine of daily chores, a comfortable rhythm of longtime marriage, and few surprises. Lucy feels disruptively restless at times, but really, she figures, who doesn't? Then Lucy receives a message that Jake, her reliable, predictable scientist of a husband, is having an affair with a colleague. A woman he'd invited to their home. Vanessa. Lucy is undone, but she's resigned to finding a way to move forward. Jake and Lucy reach a tentative truce--with an enormous hitch. Lucy demands to be allowed to hurt Jake three times, physically or otherwise, and each time the act will take him by surprise. Then they'll be even, and all will be forgiven. Lucy doesn't pull punches, as Jake's reputation and physical safety are both on the chopping block. The shift in their relationship's dynamic was intriguing to see on the page: Jake wonders when the next blow will come, while Lucy becomes almost dispassionate about the calculated harm she inflicts. When new information comes to light, the third and final act of revenge takes on even more weight, danger, and potentially devastating consequences. The Harpy explores whether Lucy can forgive Jake's betrayal, even if he seeks penance and if her terms for punishment are met. Lucy finds herself transforming in her fury and desire for revenge, especially as further misdeeds are uncovered. Hunter intersperses details of a long-term fascination on Lucy's part with mythology, and she also offers a layer of magical realism that is most present at the end. Hunter's novel felt unexpected to me, especially in its tone, as the story metamorphoses through everyday predictability, heartbreak and anger, coldly enacted harm, and the magical elements. I'm also entranced and a little pleasantly horrified by that cover, including the blood drop hanging precariously from the Y. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Hunter is also the author of The End We Start From, a post-apocalyptic novel about new motherhood in a futuristic London. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/18/21 Edition.

Gardner's brand-new character-driven mystery offers an imperfect, unassuming heroine obsessed with solving the cold cases of missing women and girls. Frankie Elkin isn't a cop and she isn't a private investigator. She's an unassuming middle-aged woman and a recovering alcoholic who has a compulsion: to locate missing women and girls the authorities haven't been able to find. She also has ghosts in her past that she's trying to outrun. Frankie travels the country tracking lost women, moving into communities with little more than a change of clothes, a flip phone, and an open mind, then doggedly following her instincts. She cares about the women she's seeking, and she's not afraid to ask uncomfortable questions. I loved how Gardner took Frankie and the others investigating the situation through realistically zigzagging paths of information, supposition, hunches, and a few dead ends before reaching the final resolution. This didn't feel frustrating to me as the reader, yet the facts don't give themselves up too easily. Frankie is required to show extreme mental and physical fortitude, and the heroes here are all variously and interestingly faulted. The story feels urgent and realistically complicated, and Gardner doesn't rely on red herrings. She also clearly did her research into the ins and outs of the situation at the center of the trouble here. This is my first Lisa Gardner book, and I love how character driven the mystery was. I'm in for more more more. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? If you read it, please let me know what you think! Gardner has written many, many books in multiple series, but I'm excited that her books are new to me. I received an advance reader copy of this book, published January 19, through Dutton Books and NetGalley.

01 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo Evaristo won the Booker Prize in 2019 for this novel, which I'm listening to as an audiobook for the full effect of having the story told to me in a British accent. Girl, Woman, Other is a set of twelve interconnected stories about Black British women and their friendships, partnerships, struggles, victories, and the ways their lives are affected by past colonialism and the present-day British environment. The women in Evaristo's novel are concerned with sexuality, autonomy, race, artistic expression, tradition, class, loyalty, and how each of these shape their identities. It's interesting and engaging so far. 02 The Harpy by Megan Hunter Well, this is an odd and fascinating book. Lucy and Jake are the parents of two young boys. Lucy has sidelined her career to be home with the children, and she and Jake are settled into their routine of daily chores, comfortable marriage, and few surprises. Lucy feels disruptively restless at times, but really, she figures, who doesn't? Then Lucy receives a message that Jake, her reliable, predictable scientist of a husband, is having an affair with the caller's wife, Jake's colleague. A woman he'd invited to their home. Vanessa. He lets slip that he affectionately calls her "V." Hunter explores the desire for revenge, attempts at penance, and whether Lucy can forgive Jake's betrayal. There's a layer of magical realism that's interspersed but coming on strong at the end, which makes the tone of this one feel unusual. 03 Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner Frankie Elkin isn't a cop and she isn't a private investigator. She's an unassuming middle-aged woman and a recovering alcoholic who has a compulsion: to locate missing women and girls the authorities haven't been able to find. I'm all in on Frankie's whole situation already. She travels the country tracking lost women, moving into communities with little more than a change of clothes, a flip phone, and an open mind, then doggedly following her instincts. She cares about the women she's seeking, she's not afraid to ask uncomfortable questions, she acknowledges her limitations--and she has ghosts in her past that she's trying to run from. I received an advance reader copy of this book, which will be published January 19, through Dutton Books and NetGalley. This is my first Lisa Gardner book, but I don't expect it to be my last. What are you reading these days? This is a nice mix for me to have going on at once: a fictional, varied look at modern feminism and race in Britain; a revenge fantasy with magical realism interwoven throughout; and a new-to-me mystery author's current character-driven book, featuring a protagonist I immediately love. What are you reading and enjoying these days?

A book I loved, in case you missed it! Jesuits in space find extraterrestrial life--and explore the limits of their faith. This is unlike anything I've read, and Russell is a master of a guide here. In The Sparrow, humans find proof of extraterrestrial life, and the UN begins deliberating about how best to proceed. Meanwhile a small team from the Society of Jesus quickly strikes out on its own to approach the planet first. The life they find there is wondrous and overwhelming, and it forces them to rethink their assumptions about humanity and the universe. About this book, Russell says, “We seem to believe that if we act in accordance with our understanding of God’s will, we ought to be rewarded. But in doing so we’re making a deal that God didn’t sign on to. “In our world, if people believe at all, they believe that God is love, God is hearts and flowers, and that God will send you theological candy all the time. But if you read Torah, you realize that God has a lot to answer for. God is a complex personality. I wanted to explore that complexity and that moral ambiguity. God gives us rules but those are rules for us, not for God.” This book! This book is about everything. Family, pain, love, music, influence, trust, wonder, brutality, invention, discovery, loyalty, and most of all, faith—in some cases, lost and found again. And also...aliens. I don’t usually read books again, but I could use a copy of my own to highlight upon rereading. It took a little time to get going for me, but then I was blown away. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Jesuits in space! Russell was turned down 31 times before this book was picked up by an agent. Now it's been in print for 25 years and is beloved by many readers. Have you read this one? Russell has also written Children of God (The Sparrow, #2); the character-driven historical fiction book Doc (about Doc Holliday), which I really liked; and other books set in the American West (such as Epitaph); historical fiction (2019's Women of the Copper Country), and novels relating to faith, such as Thread of Grace. Clearly I need to catch up on more Russell books!

01 Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout Oh, Olive! In Olive, Again, she ambles through town and reflects on aging, on her life, and especially on memories of moments that shaped her life’s direction, her attitude, her viewpoint—and those of the people close to her. Because this is the character of Olive from Olive Kitteridge, these are not saccharine snippets of wisdom from a warm, cozy grandmother. The moments are sometimes sour, sometimes regretful, sometimes heartbreaking, but often lovely in their rough honesty. I could spend days reading about her introspection and her gruff and straightforward ways. I received an advance copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley. Strout also wrote the wonderful interconnected short story collection Anything Is Possible. For my full review of this book, please see Olive, Again. 02 The River by Peter Heller Low-key best friends Jack and Wynn have taken many challenging outdoor expeditions together. They're skilled and joyful adventurers. But when a wildfire rages near where they're canoeing the Maskwa River in northern Canada, everything turns upside down. Oh, Peter Heller! The details of running the Canadian river, traveling and camping, and Jack and Wynn's friendship itself all hooked me completely. The final scenes were exquisitely painful and beautiful and really hit me hard. Heller also wrote the wonderful dystopian story The Dog Stars, as well as The Painter. For my full review of this book, please see The River. 03 Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera ​ 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. And although the three interconnected women faced sometimes staggeringly tragic challenges, Spera injects some moments of joy—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. And I wasn’t sure I bought into the reasoning for a character’s drastic and sudden turnaround in thinking—it seemed that she’d had reminders of this reasoning without being inspired to shift course. But the details of cooking, surviving, race relations, and life in 1924 South Carolina were wonderful, and I still think about this book although I read it some time ago. For my full review of this book, please see Call Your Daughter Home. 04 The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman The world is unraveling on the cusp of World War II, and three strong women will be tested beyond anything they imagined before the end of the war and the end of the book. The strong, gruff Hanni has a heart of gold; young Ettie is idealistic and grows to be tough as nails yet capable of deep love; and the heartbreakingly loyal golem Ava becomes satisfyingly powerful. This was a beautiful book. The golem and heron and other ethereal elements could have been distracting, but they worked. I was most struck by the character-driven WWII stories, which were haunting and lovely. Hoffman made me feel anchored to the characters so that the emotions, concerns, and life-and-death decisions the women grappled with in 1941 felt immediate and relevant. For my full review, please see The World That We Knew. 05 Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan ​ Jessica Pan was an introvert out of a job. Her closest friends had moved away, and she found herself lonely, living in another country, and feeling too reliant on her husband for her entire social life. Pan decided to deliberately put herself into extremely uncomfortable social situations for a year, and she fully commits. She does improv, approaches strangers on the Tube, goes on friend dates, attends networking events, takes a vacation alone (to a destination she doesn't learn until she's at the airport), and more. She regrets her one-year plan almost instantly but feels compelled to continue her terrifying exercises. Pan is wonderfully honest, appealingly thoughtful, and often so so funny. I was so happy spending time in her point of view throughout this book. I loved it and I'd read another book by her in a second. For my full review of this book, please see Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come. ​6 Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano ​ I loved this book. I kept thinking about it while I was doing other things, and I just wanted to get back to Edward to find out how things were going. This story was so much more than I expected, but thankfully Napolitano didn’t rely solely on her book’s promising premise. She wrote the hell out of this and created an irresistible and true-feeling character in Edward. Nothing is too easy here, nor is it ever melodramatic in Napolitano’a hands. Edward tries on the mantle of taking responsibility for every life lost; he wallows in the despair of others and their hopes that he will pursue their loved ones’ lost dreams and right their wrongs; then he messily works out how to create his own lucky, unshackled, truest life. I was given an advance reader’s copy of this book by Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. For my full review, please see Dear Edward. What are some of your favorite book club books? I was going to say that I try not to be overly Bossy in my book club, but that is a big lie that's making me laugh as I type it. We used to brainstorm book ideas for the following year and then, honestly, I would push through my own choices. But you should see the extensive spreadsheets of potential titles that my book club friends now patiently and kindly wade through to cast their votes for the coming year. We've been happily meeting monthly for about fourteen years now, so let's just say we're all clear on who and what we're dealing with at this point. Oddly, there is only one World War II book and there are zero Alaska books on this list--I am constantly trying to work these into our reading list--which is currently making me question everything about myself and my own reading habits.

A book I loved, in case you missed it: I loved the deep friendship; details of outdoorsy expertise and adventuring; and life-and-death moments that hinge on skill or luck or both. Low-key best friends Jack and Wynn have taken many challenging outdoor expeditions together. They're skilled and joyful adventurers. But when a wildfire rages near where they're canoeing the Maskwa River in northern Canada, everything turns upside down. Oh, Peter Heller! The details of running the Canadian river, traveling and camping, and Jack and Wynn's friendship itself all hooked me completely. I loved the deep, complementary friendship; outdoorsy expertise and adventuring; optimism running up against realism and cynicism; life-and-death moments and luck; quick thinking and premeditated, clever plans; all of it. If I’m being picky, the motivation for Pierre’s actions felt thin. But the aftermath was urgent, real, and spurred the story along in important ways. The final scenes were exquisitely painful and beautiful and really hit me hard. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Heller is also the author of The Dog Stars, a dystopian story I gave five stars, and The Painter, which I also liked. I thought about it long after I finished it and I still think about it from time to time. This book is listed in the upcoming Greedy Reading List Six Book Club Books I Loved Last Year, to be posted 1/15/21.

Strout is truly a marvel in the way she crafts full, complicated lives through sharing small moments. I loved every bit of this. Oh, Olive! In Olive, Again, she ambles through town and reflects on aging, on her life, and especially on memories of moments that shaped her life’s direction, her attitude, her viewpoint—and those of the people close to her. Because this is the character of Olive from Olive Kitteridge, these are not saccharine snippets of wisdom from an warm, cozy grandmother. The moments are sometimes sour, sometimes regretful, sometimes heartbreaking, but often lovely in their rough honesty. I could spend days reading about her introspection and her gruff and straightforward ways. Through Olive and other connected characters in Crosby, Maine, we see secrets, pain, and disappointments laid bare—and we also often get to witness true joy emerge during guileless and unexpected connections with others, although thankfully Strout doesn’t make any of it too easy or perfect. I love that Olive, in what seems to be a combination of unintentional and intentional acts, alienates anyone relying on interactions built around small talk or any discussion of the weather. Yet she is strong enough to cut to the heart of tough situations and to sit within the pain of them--alone or with others--without shying away. I worried that a book revisiting Olive might feel indulgent or unnecessary, but this is a deep look at aging, intimacy, love, disappointment, renewed hope, betrayal, and redemption. Strout is truly a marvel in the way she crafts full, complicated lives through sharing small moments. I just love it all! I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? If you've read this one, what did you think? I'd suggest reading Strout's Olive Kitteridge for context before picking up this book, but I liked this one even more. She's also the author of Anything Is Possible, My Name Is Lucy Barton, The Burgess Boys, and Amy and Isabelle--a book I've had on my to-read list since stumbling upon it in a bookstore when it was first published in 1998, forgetting the title, remembering that it was two women's names, and then a few years ago realizing that this was it. Time to get to that one, I think! This book is part of the Greedy Reading List Six Book Club Books I Loved Last Year.

Miller is a beautiful, powerful writer with clear and sophisticated arguments and a compelling identity separate from the attack that led to her being in the spotlight. Miller is a beautiful, powerful writer with clear and sophisticated arguments and a compelling identity separate from the pivotal attack that led to her being in the spotlight. She also has a strong, passionate grasp of widely experienced inequalities—and ideas of how to chip away at some of the injustices and societal norms that should be excised from existence. I began reading this because I thought I should, not because I wanted to. Miller surprised me with the delicately balanced tone she was able to strike, of passionate belief in right and wrong, emotional reactions to her situation, and measured arguments and calm determination. I was fascinated by her. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Miller really took me by surprise with how thoughtfully and powerfully she handled this difficult and emotional topic. Now I'd like Miller to please write more books about varied topics, because I like spending time in her head.

Young Vivian's carousing in 1940s New York City is entertaining, sexy, and an interesting burst of feminism and freedom in the era. In City of Girls, Gilbert writes about a young woman's coming of age in 1940s New York City and traces the later years of her life as well. Vivian, now an older woman, is writing letters to a younger woman about her own youthful indiscretions and adventures in her aunt Peg's rowdy theatre with its many colorful characters, creative opportunities, and unending potential for mischief. It's not entirely clear why the recipient of the letter would want to hear the full details of Vivian's life, because the majority of the goings-on feel largely beyond the scope of Vivian's reason for writing, but I didn't much care about this potential issue because I loved every bit of Vivian's story. At the very end of the book Vivian writes something wonderfully matter-of-fact to Angela regarding this; words to the effect of, "well, this is more info than what you asked for, but I just wanted to let you know all about me." Hers was a fascinating life, and I adored reading about it. (Actually, I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narrator Blair Brown was fantastic.) Gilbert's old New York detail is wonderful, as is the dressmaking detail--I was captivated by it. (Is this influenced by my teenage love for Pretty In Pink or my youthful Little House on the Prairie adoration? Both?) Young Vivian's carousing is entertaining, sexy, and an interesting burst of feminism and freedom in an era when many believed that a woman's reputation and purity were of utmost importance. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Gilbert is a lovely writer who authored the very interesting nonfiction book Last American Man and the peaceful, botanical-focused novel The Signature of All Things. She also wrote the somewhat polarizing bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, which I had mixed feelings about, like many other readers. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/6/21 Edition.

Pan is wonderfully honest, appealingly thoughtful, and often so so funny. I was so happy spending time in her point of view throughout this book. I loved it. Jessica Pan was an introvert out of a job. Her closest friends had moved away, and she found herself lonely, living in another country, and feeling too reliant on her husband for her entire social life. Although she wasn't trying to change her status from introvert to extrovert, she did want to open up to new experiences, broaden her horizons and meet new people, a few of whom she could hopefully in time call true friends. Pan decided to deliberately put herself into extremely uncomfortable social situations for a year, and she fully commits. She does improv, approaches strangers on the Tube, goes on friend dates, attends networking events, takes a vacation alone (to a destination she doesn't learn until she's at the airport), and more. She regrets her one-year plan almost instantly but feels compelled to continue her terrifying exercises. My book club is reading this book, and we were recently saying in anticipation of our upcoming discussion that Pan's concept reminded us somewhat of a book we read years ago, MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend (although that book had a premise that didn't really make sense, since the author seemed surrounded by family, friends, work friends, and didn't seem particularly lonely). Pan is earnest about and determined to see through her gutsy path, which is often horrifyingly frightening for her, frequently not at all what she bargained for, and which gradually pays off in fits and starts of personal growth that are meaningful for her. Her interviews and experiences with others who mentor her journey in different ways could have felt disruptive or jarring but didn't; they added a layer to her story that I found interesting and often revelatory. Pan is wonderfully honest, appealingly thoughtful, and often so so funny. I was so happy spending time in her point of view throughout this book. I loved it and I'd read another book by her in a second. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Have you read this one? It was the right book at the right time for me. I'd happened to read multiple books in a row in which grim circumstances drove the plots, and this book felt like a breath of fresh air. I first mentioned this book along with The Exiles and The Comeback in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 10/22/20 Edition.

Hoffman made me feel anchored to the characters and the emotions, concerns, and life-and-death decisions the three women grappled with. The world is unraveling on the cusp of World War II, and three strong women will be tested beyond anything they imagined before the end of the war and the end of the book. We've got the strong, gruff Hanni with a heart of gold; young Ettie, who is idealistic and grows to be tough as nails yet capable of deep love; and a heartbreakingly loyal and satisfyingly powerful golem Ava. This was a beautiful book. The golem and heron and other ethereal elements could have been distracting, but they worked. I was most struck by the character-driven WWII stories, which were haunting and lovely. Hoffman made me feel anchored to the characters so that the emotions, concerns, and life-and-death decisions the women grappled with in 1941 felt immediate and relevant. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? My book club read this refreshing twist on one of my favorite historical fiction book topics, World War II. The Light After the War is another World War II title I recently really liked. What are some standouts for you in this genre?

I love Glennon's heart and her honesty, but many of these essays ended too soon for me. Doyle, the bestselling author of Carry On, Warrior and Love Warrior, writes about her life's ups and downs again in her newest book. In Untamed, she shares lessons she's learned through being true to herself, loving herself and caring for others, bringing up her children, examining her religious faith, and finding love. In often very short essays, she explores living genuinely despite others' criticisms; giving herself permission to take up space in the world and speak up; feeling and expressing a full gamut of emotions rather than keeping the peace; rejecting the myth of ideal mothers being martyrs; and generally relying on her inner voice to guide her through an honest, genuine, and fulfilling life. I found that I missed a more narrative arc here--I would have loved spending more page time in her daily family and work life and seeing time pass in both respects. This might have served as a unifying framework for her thoughts and her exhortations to the reader. Many essays ended too soon for me; I often wanted her to take things a step further to share implications or conclusions, or to explore topics more deeply. I love Glennon's heart and her honesty about her limitations and what she's working on in herself. She's often funny, especially when she's letting us into the small moments of her life. I enjoyed hearing more about her unexpected love story with Abby Wambach, and I admire how she strives to make the world a better place, both generally and also through her wide-reaching nonprofit Together Rising. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Have you read this one? What about her earlier books? I admit to wanting Doyle to dig further in some of these essays, but I do love how much heart she has. I mentioned this book (along with With or Without You and City of Girls) in Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/6/21 Edition.

This short book packs delightfully odd, satisfying, and sometimes laugh-out-loud-funny moments. When I heard its premise, I feared that this book might possibly be offbeat for the sake of being offbeat, or possibly lacking substance or characters' self-reflection, or that it might be interesting but otherwise potentially shallow. Which was rude of me, but I did wonder if the striking setup itself might be the most powerful element, with the writing potentially paling in comparison. But it was none of those things, and I just loved this. Nothing to See Here is a short book but it packs delightfully odd, satisfying, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny punches. Kevin Wilson provides some heartbreaking disappointment about family members' emotional limitations and conditional loyalty, and I rejoiced when his characters crafted their chosen relationships into a satisfying pod that functioned like family. The 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. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? 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 haven't read any of his others yet, have you? This book was listed in the Greedy Reading List Six More Great Fiction Titles I Loved This Year.

Solomon offers a sweet, romantic young adult story with emotions that feel authentic; the book showcases competition, honesty, youthful exploration, and valuable self-discovery. It's the last day of high school, and senior nemeses Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have battled bitterly for every title, position, honor, and moment of recognition during their high school careers. They wake up texting each other their usual taunts and challenges. But today will be different: they'll find out which of them has earned the title of class valedictorian. For the unfortunate one, the only hope of regaining glory would be to win the elaborate seniors' game of Howl, a challenging scavenger hunt competition that spans the city of Seattle and can last all day and night. If it seems like Neil and Rowan are teamed up for the game, it's only because they each intend to use their teammate to get into a winning position--and then take them down. But spending time working together for once allows both Rowan and Neil to notice aspects of the other that aren't so infuriating and off-putting after all. They begin to realize that maybe while they've been sniping at each other, they've been perfectly matched all along. The scenes in which they circuitously learn intimate details about each other's families, pasts, traditions, fears, failures, and dreams--while racing all over Seattle on a timeline--are wonderfully poignant and lovely and also often realistically clumsy and confusing. I was immediately invested enough in Rowan's general competitiveness with Neil that I was disappointed to learn that Rowan had almost always consistently been the second-place finisher--I wanted things to feel as though they'd been more evenly matched between them. And Rowan's repeated wallowing regret through much of the story made me so sad for her--I was glad when she took charge and started to change her story to be one of honestly shared feelings and joy. Solomon's young adult novel feels authentically set in high school, yet offers appeal for anyone who loves reading about the angst (and also the fulfillment) of youthful exploration, realization, and self-discovery. The small moments here rang true and were sometimes realistically emotionally fraught without being melodramatic. I loved that Rowan and Neil are considering who they are and who they want to be, and that their intense experiences during the story's short window of time offer them opportunities to shift and change. Today Tonight Tomorrow is a sweet, ultimately romantic story that celebrates many of the essential teenage touchstones: academic achievement and competition; cultivating and appreciating meaningful friendships; facing and expressing even challenging feelings; and appreciating the wonderfully precious, fleeting moments that make up each day in a life. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Solomon says in her Author's Note that this book began primarily as a love letter to Seattle. I could see this in the many fantastic details she includes of the city and its rhythm. I mentioned this book--along with The Wife Upstairs and Here For It--in my first Greedy Reading List of the year, Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/1/21 Edition.

01 Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon It's the last day of high school, and nemeses Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have battled bitterly for every title, position, honor, and moment of recognition during their high school career. They wake up today texting their usual taunts and challenges. But today will be different: this is the day they'll find out which of them has earned the desired title of class valedictorian. For the unfortunate one, the only hope of regaining glory would be to win the elaborate seniors' game of Howl, a challenging competition that spans the city of Seattle. And if Neil and Rowan look like they're teamed up for the game, it's only because they each intend to use their teammate to get into a winning position--and then take them down. But spending time working together for once allows Rowan and Neil to see sides of the other person that aren't so infuriating and off-putting after all. It sounds crazy, but in a way, they almost seem like the perfect match. Rachel Lynn Solomon's young adult novel Today Tonight Tomorrow feels like a smart, sweet read to start the new year. (For my review, see Today Tonight Tomorrow.) 02 The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins In Rachel Hawkins's mystery The Wife Upstairs, set for January 5, 2021 publication, the main players and their histories aren't what they seem. Jane is a young woman who is new to Birmingham, Alabama. She's seemingly trustworthy and nonthreatening, the perfect dog-walker for upscale Mountain Brook families. And if, while she's taking care of their beloved pets, Jane slips a few small valuables into her pockets, to sell for cash or just because she can, no one is likely to ever be the wiser. But Jane--who's taken on this new name and is desperate to leave her dark past behind her--has wormed her way into the idyllic community in the aftermath of a tragedy. Two of the neighborhood's cherished young wives, longtime best friends, died months earlier in a boating accident. When Jane places herself in the path of one of the widowers and he shows interest in her, she can't believe her luck. This could be a better new beginning than even she could have manipulated into reality. But is Jane doing the scheming, or is something more sinister going on? I received a prepublication copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. (For my review, see The Wife Upstairs.) 03 Here For It by R. Eric Thomas In Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas, the creator of Elle's sassy and smart "Eric Reads the News" column, shares his thoughts, experiences, and reflections about life and the world around us with honesty and humor. In essays that are sometimes heartbreaking, often inspiring, and that frequently make me laugh out loud, Thomas explores his sheltered youth, his growing realizations that he was different than most people he knew, his shame and fear about living as his authentic self, and his meandering path toward his current life circumstances, in which he is living as he once only dreamed: he is joyfully challenged professionally, he is unapologetically his own unique self, he is exploring his complicated relationship with religion, and he deeply loves and is loved by his (pastor) husband. My friend Katherine recommended this book to me last spring and I'm finally getting around to reading it--I'm actually listening to it as an audiobook, and I adore hearing Thomas's voice take me through his essays. This is refreshing and so playful yet thoughtful, I love it so far. (I finished! For my full review, see Here For It.) What are you reading to start the new year? I've just started Today Tonight Tomorrow, my book club's first title of the year, and I do like the idea easing into 2021 with a young adult nemeses-fall-in-love premise. The Wife Upstairs has been aging nicely in my Kindle for months, until my realization that its publication date was fast approaching. It's a fast and engaging read so far, which also feels just right for these gray days of winter. And I'm listening to R. Eric Thomas read his audiobook, which I highly recommend. His voice and delivery are fabulous. What are you reading at the start of this new year? I just picked up an armful of library holds, and along with the stack of books I received as holiday gifts, I am now in possession of all the books. I hope this weekend holds some cozy reading time with books you love.

01 The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi Alex Pavesi's The Eighth Detective is appealingly old-fashioned. The murder mystery stories were written decades before the book's present-day events take place and are clever; they feel deliberately, self-consciously constructed. There's a book within a book here, and the fictitious author of the stories has explored every different permutation of the elements of victim, detective, and suspect--and their overlapping Venn diagram possibilities and combinations. The ending did leave me wishing we'd gotten a little deeper into the implications and realizations of the resolution. But this is an engaging and quick read, and I enjoyed knowing something more was going on while I tried to figure out what it was. The mystery stories within the story are intriguing, and I loved paying attention to their varied structures as well. I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an unbiased review. For my full review, please see The Eighth Detective. 02 Home Before Dark by Riley Sager Haunted house alert! 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 her family to flee in the middle of the night, never to return--until now. Maggie struggles to establish what is and was real and what might be imagined; tries to piece together which people know more than they're admitting about past tragedies and unexplained occurrences; debates whether 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, which felt fluid and allowed for valuable layering and points of view. I really liked Sager's pacing and his smart laying out of the story elements in a nondramatic way--allowing me to supply my own dramatic reactions. I received a prepublication copy of this book from Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. For my full review, please see Home Before Dark. 03 Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March ​ It's 1892 in British-controlled Bombay, and Captain Jim Agnihotri is recovering in a military hospital from an injury sustained in the line of duty. He becomes obsessed with an unsolved mystery he keeps reading about in the newspaper: two young ladies from the same household plunged from a clock tower to their deaths. Jim decides to set himself the task of determining what happened. March's 400-page book is an immersive story, with the flavors, sights, and sounds of colonial India underlying everything. The story keeps a patient pace as Captain Jim uncovers clues, uses deduction, and emphasizes loyalty and moral purity. He is able to use his knowledge of different castes, British and Indian political machinations, and society to assist his investigations. There are dark issues underlying the mystery (related to strict rules about caste and class, a deadly fear of scandal, and terrible mistreatment of those in lower castes, especially women). But there is also a refreshing lack of violence beyond fistfight-level conflicts, and the forbidden love and romance are chaste and charming. Nev March won the Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award for this title, her first. I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. For my full review, please see Murder in Old Bombay. 04 Pretty Things by Janelle Brown Cross, double-cross! In Janelle Brown's Little Things, a seasoned and a rookie con artist together set their sights on taking advantage of a spoiled socialite—and along the way, one of the cons aims to right some wrongs in two of the characters' shared (but mysterious and complicated) history. Characters' motivations are often unclear or remain constant, which allows for great twists and turns. The characters were largely unsympathetic, yet Janelle Brown kept me happily turning the pages of Pretty Things to see who would get what was coming to them. The resolution was a little neat but also satisfying and made me happy. NetGalley and Random House provided me with an advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review. For my full review, please see Pretty Things. 05 Long Bright River by Liz Moore ​ Long Bright River is set in Philadelphia and centers around two sisters in disparate but linked situations—Mickey is a cop and Kacey is a defiant addict Mickey's keeping an eye on and trying not to scare away. When Kacey disappears and a string of murders rock the community, everyone is suspect and Mickey's desire to solve the mystery becomes relentless and personal. Liz Moore’s writing is thoughtful, and the story in Long Bright River is character-driven. Situations aren’t resolved too easily or cleanly, but Moore finds a way to satisfy the reader as well. Things aren’t as they initially seem, yet I didn’t feel manipulated. This is a smart, compelling story that totally had me hooked. I like a mystery that makes me care about the characters and doesn't foreshadow too much. I’m in for anything Moore is putting down on paper at this point. Long Bright River was also one of My Twelve Favorite 2020 Books. For my full review of this book, please see Long Bright River. 06 Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby ​ Beauregard (Bug) owns a respectable if struggling auto repair shop and has a wife and two kids. He's hardworking and loves his family, and he isn't planning on going anywhere. But competition for his business is pinching his ability to help support his family, and some old, bad-news acquaintances show up with a promising, straightforward job that might offer some financial breathing room--if the others on the job can keep their heads on straight, and that's looking like a big if. This is a fantastic blend of realistic complications, mistakes, adjustments, and spunk. It's action-packed but character driven. Bug is a faulted character who (when not in crisis) takes stock of himself and aims to be a better person. He's forced to consider what loyalty means, and to face how dark the path ahead might become when the bad guys are truly evil, very powerful, and the stakes couldn't be much higher. Blacktop Wasteland took a little while to get going for me, but just shy of halfway through, the setup is complete and the action starts singing along. I received an advance copy of this book from Flatiron Books and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. This book was also one of my Six Favorite Summer 2020 Reads. For my full review, please see Blacktop Wasteland. Which mysteries hooked you this year? This is a pretty eclectic group of mysteries. The Eighth Detective and Murder in Old Bombay feel appealingly old-fashioned; Home Before Dark is suspenseful and has supernatural elements; Pretty Things has a twist/double twist that I loved; and Long Bright River and Blacktop Wasteland felt more modern and character driven. If you like mysteries, you might also like titles from the Greedy Reading Lists The Six Best Mysteries I Read Last Year and Six Historical Fiction Mysteries to Intrigue You. You can also search by category under the Bossy Book Reviews menu to find other mysteries I liked that you might like too!

A book I loved, in case you missed it: Wood's memoir is captivating and lovely, poignant, sweet without being overly sentimental, and just all-around wonderful. In 1963 the Woods were a typical Catholic immigrant family in Mexico, Maine. Dad worked for the local paper mill alongside countless other immigrants, and the family had a steady life. But when Monica's father died suddenly, Monica and her three sisters began to drift. Father Bob, their mother's brother, tried to be the ballast the family needed. Then Monica's mother became inspired after the tragic death of John F. Kennedy, and she insisted on a family road trip to Washington, D.C. The trip was an initial, unexpected step toward the healing Monica and her family desperately needed. When We Were the Kennedys is about grieving deeply, leaning on family and community in a crisis and in common suffering, and figuring out the impossible: how to move on after devastating tragedy. Wood gorgeously evokes the many characters and unfathomable events that changed her family's existence--as well as that of her community and the entire country--in 1963. Oh, how I loved this book! Wood's memoir is heartwarming and funny and tragic and vivid. This memoir is fantastic. I ate it up in a single day. ICYMI: A Book I Loved I had to post about this book in case you missed it when it was first published. I'm also going to admit here that in the notes I made with my five-star rating just after reading this in 2012, I said "This memoir is the bomb."

01 With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt In Leavitt's novel, published by Algonquin Books late last summer, Simon and Stella have been together for twenty years, living through the ups and down and joys and stresses of a decades-long marriage. Simon has been hoping all along that his struggling music career would someday take off, but it didn't look as though his dreams would ever come true. But right before Simon gets a chance to go on tour, and just as he's letting his hopes soar that this might finally be his big break, Stella falls into a coma. He should stay, but will he go? And what happens to their long-held dynamic when Stella wakes up with new and artistic gifts of her own? In With or Without You, Leavitt explores what happens to a marriage when the people in it change, and their dreams along with them. 02 Untamed by Glennon Doyle Doyle, the bestselling author of Carry On, Warrior and Love Warrior, writes again about her life's ups and downs in Untamed, here sharing lessons she's learned about being true to herself, loving herself and caring for others, bringing up her children, finding love, and not listening to outside critics. In Untamed, Doyle focuses largely on how women can "take up space in the world;" feel and express a full gamut of emotions rather than keeping the peace; reject the myth of the ideal martyrdom of motherhood and sacrificing everything for family; and generally rely on their inner voices to guide them into living honest, genuine, and fulfilling lives. I feel as though readers may be in or out on this author; I enjoy glimpses into Glennon's love story with Abby Wambach and how she strives to make the world a better place. 03 City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert In City of Girls, Gilbert writes about a young woman's coming of age in 1940s New York City. Vivian, now an older woman, is writing letters to a younger woman about her own youthful indiscretions and adventures in her aunt Peg's rowdy theatre with its many colorful characters, creative opportunities, and unending potential for mischief. So far Gilbert's old New York detail is wonderful, and young Vivian's carousing is entertaining, sexy, and an interesting take on feminism for the time. I'm listening to this as an audiobook. I generally find Gilbert (who is good friends with Glennon Doyle, mentioned above) to be a really lovely writer, as in the case of the nonfiction Last American Man and the novel The Signature of All Things. She also wrote the polarizing Eat, Pray, Love, which like many other readers, I had mixed feelings about, and which probably warrants inclusion on a Titles That Might Break Your Book Club list--hmmm, stay tuned for that blog post. What are you reading early in this new year? I have a stack of books from the holidays and the library (With or Without You, I see you staring me down) to read, yet I started reading the e-book of Untamed and listening to the audiobook of City of Girls because they were available as I was crafting my household's recent library hold lists, and most importantly because I have a serious problem of hoarding books in all formats. As we are likely all aware by now. Which books are you reading and enjoying these days?

01 This Is All He Asks of You by Anne Egseth Egseth's debut novel has remained largely under the radar since its publication last June, but I adored it and would love for more readers to pick it up. I just loved This Is All He Asks of You. The character of Luna has a unique and lovely voice and is an irresistibly odd bird of a twelve-year-old girl. She's facing her mother’s decline in health and exploring her own identity and meaning in her life, and she shapes her sometimes practical but often mystical thoughts and reflections through writing letters to her father, who she has never met, in the conversational tone of a pen pal writing to someone who will love her and her words unconditionally. Luna stumbles into encounters that shape her life dramatically, in unorthodox and heartbreakingly meaningful ways. I simultaneously wanted to scoop her up and take care of her and to follow the lead of this wise-beyond-her-years, intensely spiritual young person. I received a copy of this book through John Hunt Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book made the Greedy Reading List My Six Favorite Summer 2020 Reads. For my full review of this book, see This Is All He Asks of You. 02 The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave I loved The Mercies. The majority of page time in the historical fiction title is spent showing the tasks of daily life (and almost-claustrophobic interconnectedness) within a tiny, very northern Norwegian community in the early 17th century. But there are witch hunts at hand, and dabbling in the Sami traditions of runes, poppets, or the playing of drums—or simply being a strong-willed woman helping to feed a village by manning fishing boats when the men are all lost—is enough to lead to terrible consequences. Hargrave allows some light into the darkness and cold in the form of love, and important realizations, and some brutal justice, but ignorance and pettiness lead to other horrific and undeserved consequences. One standout for me was the strength of the women in the face of men's abuses of power and physical cruelty. The setting was vivid and Hargrave's richly described landscape has stayed with me. This is Hargrave's first book for adults, but she has several other young adult and children's books I'd love to read, including The Girl of Ink & Stars and The Deathless Girls. This book is part of the Greedy Reading List Six Captivating Nordic Stories. For my full review, see The Mercies. 03 Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell ​ In the novel Utopia Avenue, Mitchell takes us through the twists and turns of a fictional psychedelic British sixties band on its rocky rise to popularity, through exploring its members' crises, joys, fears, and triumphs. Utopia Avenue contains endless imagined cameos, fictional adventures, and gems of wisdom from real-life musicians like David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Garcia, and members of the Rolling Stones, as well as authors and artists--not to mention wild parties, betrayals, leaps of faith, breakups, and tragedy. But Mitchell expertly builds the four band members--Jasper, Elf, Griff, and Dean, plus their beloved manager Levon--into rich characters you're rooting for through their individual ups and downs as well as through the triumphs and setbacks of the band Utopia Avenue. If you like Mitchell's beautiful, offbeat, sometimes meandering and tough to pin down stories, you'll likely also love this almost 600-page book. As always, there are references to other parts of the David Mitchell universe, and the links to other books felt cozy, like I was coming home to more very welcome Mitchell madness and delving into another layer of his imagination. Reading his other books isn't important in enjoying this novel, whose focus on music loosely reminded me of Daisy Jones & The Six. Mitchell doesn't provide too easy or neat of an ending, but it felt fitting and left me satisfied. Utopia Avenue was a really captivating book that kept me intrigued throughout. I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley and Random House in exchange for an unbiased review. For my full review, see Utopia Avenue. 04 Long Bright River by Liz Moore Long Bright River is a mystery set in Philadelphia and centers around two sisters in disparate but linked situations—Mickey is a cop and Kacey is a defiant addict Mickey's keeping an eye on and trying not to scare away. When Kacey disappears and a string of murders rock the community, everyone is suspect and Mickey's desire to solve the mystery becomes relentless and personal. Situations aren’t resolved too easily or cleanly, but Moore finds a way to satisfy the reader as well. Things aren’t as they initially seem, yet I didn’t feel manipulated. This is a smart, compelling story that totally had me hooked. Liz Moore’s writing is thoughtful and the story in Long Bright River is character-driven. Yes to this. I’m in for anything Moore is putting down on paper at this point. For my full review, please see Long Bright River. 05 When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald ​ Zelda is obsessed with Vikings. She uses Old Norse words in her speech and thoughts; she frequently mentions bravery, combat, wisdom, and other elements of Viking legends to anyone she encounters; and she models her life after the factors she considers essential to a Viking legend. She’s eager to learn how to be more independent, and she’s smart and accurate with so many of her pure and good instincts and actions, it just made my heart swell. She’s also gloriously selfish and flawed and impatient sometimes. But there’s a dark undercurrent throughout When We Were Vikings: when Zelda becomes caught up in sketchy business of her brother’s, she finds that her situation is a lot more complicated than sorting out her love life with Marxy from the community center, playing matchmaker with Gert and his wonderful ex Annie, or securing a job at the library. She 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. This is Andrew David MacDonald's first book. I'm all in for the next one. This title was listed in Six More Great Fiction Titles I Loved This Year. For my full review, please see When We Were Vikings. 06 Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots ​ Anna doesn't put up with any good old boy chauvinism from anyone, and she's so smart, her talents are probably going to waste in her profession. She's an expendable part of a data entry pool and works boring temp jobs...for villains. Then she's unexpectedly and accidentally involved in a violent clash of good and evil and is badly injured by a gallingly shiny superhero. She doubles down on her contempt for the good guys and her annoyance at how others see them as infallible when they're far from blameless. She sets out to reveal the details of the dark side of the superhero myth. (This premise reminded me somewhat of the TV series "The Boys.") I loooooved this book. Walschots hooked me immediately and completely with her character-driven, superhero-focused, smart, wicked, and action-packed book. I read a prepublication copy of Hench courtesy of NetGalley and William Morrow. For my full review of this book, see Hench. 07 A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane ​ Author Byron Lane was Carrie Fisher's personal assistant in real life, and in this novel, Byron's main protagonist Charlie is assistant to a sci-fi-blockbuster-famous actress who played the iconic Priestess Talara. Kathi Kannon is a character with a big, wacky personality who also struggles with addiction. She's Hollywood royalty, and her former movie star mother lives in a home on the same compound. So I was definitely picturing Carrie Fisher as Kannon throughout this story. Charlie is searching for meaning and direction--and he doesn't much mind the social cachet of being assistant to a high-profile celebrity. Kathi tends toward outrageous excess and could use a loyal companion who cares enough to set limits toward a goal of her self-preservation. We see practical Charlie learning to roll with and embrace Kannon's spicy banter and often outrageous wishes. The story is zany and wonderful, with lots of glimpses into glamorous (and often tedious) celebrity details. There are fun and frenetic scenes about meeting the varied demands of an enormous star, and Lane explores the characters' challenges of striving to maintain balance in an odd employer-assistant relationship that blurs the lines of the professional and personal. I was surprised by how much heart and reflection Lane injected into the story to flesh out a deep, poignant relationship. I very much cared about Kathi and Charlie's struggles together and as individuals, and I laughed a lot. I adored this. For my full review, see A Star Is Bored. 08 The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd ​ This was so interesting: a story from the point of view of an imagined wife for Jesus, which includes an exploration of gender roles and the reimagining of a rigid faith, marriage/child/parental/educational expectations for women, adventure, strong female loyalty and friendship, love, and lots of fascinating 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). Jesus' role in Ana's story is as a faithful man who disagrees with the politics of the faith at the time, but primarily as a person who cares for and understands and supports his wife. This title was listed in Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved This Year. For my full review, please see The Book of Longings. 09 Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker ​ Robert Kolker retraces the lives of Mimi and Don Glavin as they raise their ten sons and two daughters. Over time their eldest boys begin to fracture the family with unrelenting violence, destruction, and constant tension. One by one, six siblings develop schizophrenia. For many years Mimi desperately insists on keeping the family’s troubles private, clinging to the preservation of her idea of a perfect family. But there’s no permanently hiding the wandering, ranting, furious young men. The family descends into chaos; there is secret abuse, and there is always the dark, disturbing force of unchecked mental illness shaping their lives. The scientific community studying schizophrenia locks onto the family; with the help of the brothers and their now-willing parents, researchers begin to pick apart genetic factors that might contribute to the development of schizophrenia. The family's vast amount of genetic material--from both those affected by and those free from mental illness—begins to bear out valuable breakthroughs in understanding and treatment of the condition. These significant advancements wouldn’t have been possible without the genetic material from and the cooperation of the Glavin family, and Kolker explores the scientific ins and outs of all of this in a manageable way for the reader. Hidden Valley Road is a fascinating, disturbing, heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful book. This book was listed in the Greedy Reading List Six of the Best Nonfiction Books I've Read This Year. For my full review, see Hidden Valley Road. 10 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue ​ In early eighteenth-century France, 23-year-old Addie LaRue makes a Faustian bargain in order to live freely--until she's ready to surrender her soul. But each day Addie wakes up a stranger to everyone around her. She can make no mark on the world--she cannot write or draw, she cannot disturb the snow by walking through it, she cannot even say her true name to another person. Yet she begins to eke out an existence around the edges of the oppressive rules of her existence. She can serve as a muse; she can inspire music and art in others; she can learn what others want or need and be that for them for a day. She can borrow, steal, indulge, and then disappear. I found Addie's workarounds to be one of the most fascinating parts of this story. Then Addie meets a young man in a hidden-away bookstore--and he's the first person in almost three hundred years to remember her after she walks out the door, the next day, and every day afterward. At long last, she can say her true name to someone; she could even tell him her preposterous story of eternal life. But why is she able to break the rigid rules of the Darkness with him? And what secrets is he keeping from Addie? For my full review of this book, please see The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. 11 The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue ​ Set in Ireland in 1918, The Pull of the Stars follows a nurse, Julia; a doctor, Kathleen Lynn (a real-life, formidable figure); 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. Our heroines are sometimes trapped by the chauvinistic framework they're working within, and we see them try to create their own solutions to crises, choose to follow tradition or improve upon it, and frequently fly under the radar to instinctively and knowledgeably help their patients rather than rely on, for example, young, untested, book-smart male doctors. Donoghue weaves a good amount of fact into this story. She offers sometimes horrifying particulars of early twentieth century medical care and exquisitely detailed glimpses into daily life and the workings of society at the time. Donoghue immersed me so fully in the moment-by-moment health and emotional crises; the women's determined, sometimes desperately creative attempts to preserve lives; and the occasional triumphs that the rest of the world fell away for me as I was reading. I couldn't wait to get back to this book when I wasn't reading it. For my full review of this book, please see The Pull of the Stars. 12 When These Mountains Burn by David Joy ​ Ray, a gruff, tough, burly, stubborn, but kind man, has outlived his beloved wife in the mountains of North Carolina. He has a precious old girl of a dog, a fascination with (and healthy fear of) coyotes, a love of reading, and a no-nonsense manner that makes clear he doesn't brook fools. He has almost resigned himself to the heartbreaking idea that his addict son is too lost to be saved. There's an undercover cop nearby who's trying to help take down a robust drug ring, and then there's Ray, who uses old-fashioned methods and his knowledge of mountain terrain to address injustices in a straightforward way. When These Mountains Burn isn't always easy to read, but imperfect characters offer surprising hope here. Joy's characters are fascinatingly faulted and keep you humming right along. I read this in 24 hours while also wishing I were making it last longer. I received an advance reader's copy of this book from NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons in exchange for an unbiased review. This title was also listed in My Six Favorite Summer 2020 Reads. For my full review of this book, see When These Mountains Burn. Which books were your favorites this year? I love an end-of-year, best-of, favorite books list, and I loved putting together this very first year-end list (which is not precisely in order of most to least favorite, although the titles are numbered for reading ease) on The Bossy Bookworm! I hope you find a new-to-you book to read that intrigues you. If you do give any of these a go, please let me know what you think! You might also like some of the books on the other Greedy Reading Lists I posted this year: Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved This Year Six of the Best Nonfiction Books I've Read This Year Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism Six Historical Fiction Mysteries to Intrigue You Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year The Six Best Mysteries I Read Last Year My Six Favorite Summer 2020 Reads Six More Great Fiction Titles I Loved This Year Thank you so much for checking out The Bossy Bookworm during its very first year. Cheers to another year of reading--and discovering wonderful new books!

Here For It is refreshing and playful yet thoughtful. I loved spending time with the uproariously funny Thomas. In Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas, the creator of Elle's sassy and smart daily column "Eric Reads the News," shares his thoughts, experiences, and reflections about life and the world around us with honesty and humor. In essays that are sometimes heartbreaking, often inspiring, and that frequently made me laugh out loud, Thomas explores his sheltered youth, his growing realizations that he was different than most people he knew, his shame and fear about living as his authentic self, and his meandering path toward his current life circumstances, in which he is living as he once only dreamed: he is joyfully challenged professionally, he is unapologetically his own unique self, he is exploring his complicated relationship with religion, and he deeply loves and is loved by his (pastor) husband. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I adored hearing Thomas's voice take me through his essays. His voice and delivery are fabulous. Here For It is refreshing and playful yet thoughtful. I loved spending time with the uproariously funny Thomas as he recounts how he's navigated situations large and small in his life. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Thomas is also a host of The Moth storytelling podcast in D.C. and Philadelphia--and he certainly knows how to craft a compelling and full story out of a momentous moment. I mentioned this book (along with the new mystery The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins and the young adult book I'm reading with my book club for January, Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon) in my first Greedy Reading List of the year, Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/1/21 Edition. My friend Katherine recommended this book to me last spring and despite how long it took me to get to it, I'm so glad she did!

The characters aren't deeply developed, but twists and turns make The Wife Upstairs a magnetic, fast read to add to your mystery reading this winter. In Rachel Hawkins's new mystery The Wife Upstairs, each of the main players and their histories aren't what they seem. Jane is new to Birmingham, Alabama. She's seemingly trustworthy and nonthreatening, the perfect dog-walker for upscale Mountain Brook families. And if, while she's taking care of their beloved pets, Jane slips a few small valuables into her pockets to sell for cash or just because she can, none of her privileged clients are likely to ever be the wiser. But the young woman who has taken on the name of Jane and is desperate to leave her dark past behind her has wormed her way into the idyllic community in the aftermath of a tragedy. Two of the neighborhood's cherished young wives, longtime best friends, died months earlier in a boating accident. When Jane places herself in the path of one of the widowers and he shows interest in her, she can't believe her luck. This could be a better new beginning than even Jane could have manipulated into reality. But is she doing the scheming, or is something more complicated--even sinister--going on? The reader is required to gloss over certain details in order for the premise to work (I was distracted wondering about hygiene logistics, only vaguely mentioned relatively late in the book, and curious about how intermittent noise did not factor in more heavily). Certain characters' emotional roller coasters and loyalties felt abhorrent in light of what I believed had occurred--but then Hawkins turned my feelings about the protagonists' feelings upside down with a story twist. Each of the main characters is consumed by wealth, class, and appearances, and hearing about superficial concerns at such length began to be a little tiresome. But each of these characters turned out to be hiding elements of their histories that put into context their obsessions with financial security (and the promise of a level of freedom that is linked to having enough money). I felt as though Jane was a frequent contradiction--she is said to be young and pretty, but also to be helpfully nondescript. She is said to be cutthroat and clever, but she also seemed incredibly naive. She seemed to be searching for a quick fix for her financial situation, but she rapidly became entrenched in what felt like a long-term commitment. Yet her character is used to desperately scrambling, finding an angle and taking advantage of it, and being what people expect or want to see (or someone others refuse to acknowledge, sometimes to her own benefit), which made the contradictions feel possible. It seems necessary to the book that there is not a lot of character depth so that the plot surprises can feel plausible, but its twists and turns make The Wife Upstairs a magnetic, fast read to add to your mystery reading this winter. I received a prepublication copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? If you read this one, please let me know what you think! I mentioned this book--along with Today Tonight Tomorrow and Here For It--in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/1/21 Edition.

This story imagines a wife for Jesus, questions gender roles, and offers adventure. This was so interesting: a story from the point of view of an imagined wife for Jesus, including an exploration of gender roles, reimagining a rigid faith, marriage/child/parental/educational expectations for women, adventure, strong female loyalty and friendship, love, and lots of fascinating details of life at the time. Much of the fever pitch of support and hatred for Jesus occurs off the page, when the book's main character Ana is off having other experiences (and often-dangerous adventures), so his role in her story is primarily as a faithful man who disagrees with the politics of the faith at the time, but most essentially as a person who cares for and understands and supports his wife. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Kidd is the author of the lovely Secret Life of Bees as well as 2014's The Invention of Wings, which is on my to-read list (and was inspired by a historical figure of a slave in early 1900s Charleston). Kidd has written numerous other titles too. This book made it onto my Greedy Reading Lists Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved This Year and My Twelve Favorite 2020 Books.

Crawford's memoir lays bare systemic lies, gross injustices, horrifying abuses of privilege and power, and longstanding patterns of unprosecuted assaults at elite St. Paul's boarding school--as well as the persistent tragic, infuriating, shaming treatment of assault victims. “It’s so simple, what happened at St. Paul’s. It happens all the time. First, they refused to believe me. Then they shamed me. Then they silenced me.” Crawford thought the trauma of her assault at St. Paul's boarding school decades earlier was behind her. It had shaped who she was in many senses, but she was a grown woman with a full life, and she was not regularly reliving the crushing weight of it as a vivid horror any longer. But when evidence of extensive sexual assault and new allegations at St. Paul's School came to light, she added her voice to the throng of the attacked and abused, opening her own long-closed (and hitherto unknown to her) file and seeing for the first time the brutal facts of her own attack, as well as the ensuing, elaborate efforts to keep secret the events surrounding her situation. She dove back into pages of interviews and information detailing the fifteen-year-old she was then--a choir member; a three-season athlete; an excellent student; the daughter of a priest; a naive minor, emotionally and sexually--and realized that an institutional cover-up of sexual abuse had taken place for decades at the school that had pledged to protect and educate the young people within its walls. In Notes on a Silencing, Crawford, now a wife and mother, considers the many infuriating, appalling intersections in her life--of power and abuse, intimacy and sex, reputation and recommendation, toxic masculinity and willful ignorance on the part of those who might have protected the vulnerable children under their charge. She reflects on how to best bravely and honestly face the reality of her experience and its implications in order to reach some version of justice, or healing, or merely bringing light to the darkness. She says, “I believe...that the opposite of slut is not virtue but voice. So I’ve written what happened, exactly as I remember.” She faces the myriad challenges of reliving and asserting her decades-old case yet again, against continued resistance and "ravenous paternalistic entitlement of the school" that seems disturbingly and continually willing to value its reputation over the safety and security of its teenage students. “There is always the danger that the energy of the injustice will exhaust itself in the revelation--that we will be horrified but remain unchanged. The reason for this, I suspect, is that these are stories we all already know. The girl was assaulted. The boy was molested. The producer, the judge, the bishop, the boss.” Crawford's often brutal account of her teenage years and all that occurred after her attack inspired a simmering, murderous rage in me as I read it. Horrifying elements the young teen was subjected to include repeated male abuse of power as well as sexual assault, a shocking lack of accountability, and multiple, evilly creative lies designed to destroy a victim's credibility and future. Add to that her parents' unequipped, inept, wanting reactions and subsequent distant, mute treatment of Lacy, and the aftereffects of the living hell she went through wreak havoc at school, while internalized by Crawford into her sense of self, and into the broken heart of her family. The topic is crushing, but Crawford's writing is wonderful in its honest and unflinching reflections on society, her own experiences, the horrifying power of privilege, and the abhorrent treatment of assault victims. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Have you read this powerful book? I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List (along with I'm Still Here and The Year of the Witching in Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/14/20 Edition. Know My Name by Chanel Miller is another memoir that thoughtfully reflects on sexual assault, societal injustices, and the often shameful treatment of victims.

I suspected each of the main players at one point or another and couldn't wait for the big reveal for this young adult mystery, the first in a series. Five loosely linked Bayview High students walk into detention on Monday afternoon, all busted for having phones in class. The phones in question didn't belong to them, so none of them should even be there. But before they can put together the pieces and determine who might have wanted to get them all together in that room, one of them is dead. The gossip site run by the deceased student made him detested and feared. And he was about to publish some juicy, devastating tidbits about each of his detention partners. Did one of them want so desperately to stop him that they would kill to keep him quiet? In this first book in the One of Us Is Lying series, McManus takes us through each of the suspects' experiences in their own points of view and establishes them as unreliable narrators. I suspected each of the main players at one point or another and couldn't wait for the big reveal. The parents of the disparate teens were significantly faulted characters, and the kids are left to find their own ways emotionally or financially or morally. Bronwyn, Nate, Addy, and Cooper largely feel like stereotypes when the story begins, but as they become more open and honest with each other, they each grow into what feels like their authentic selves. This is an absorbing young adult mystery; I listened to it as an audiobook and really liked hearing each character's voice. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? One of Us Is Next is the second book in the series, published last year. If you like this book, you might also like the young adult mystery A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, which is part of an in-progress series. I mentioned this book (along with The Searcher by Tana French and In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/22/20 Edition.

French offers a gloriously unlikely friendship, traces the dangers ricocheting through a sometimes claustrophobic small community, and finally offers answers and a path forward, if not clean and clear resolutions. What do I love more than a Tana French book, a retired detective story, or an Irish setting? Nothing. There is nothing I love more than any of these setups, except all three in one. I saved French's newest book to savor it over the holidays. When The Searcher begins, retired cop Cal Hooper has moved from Chicago, the site of his complicated career, his terrible divorce, and everything he knows, to the peace and quiet of rural Ireland. He's trying to keep his head down, work on his dilapidated house, get an occasional beer at the pub, not get forced into a romantic setup by a busybody neighbor, and adopt a good little mutt. He's got no jurisdiction and isn't interested in carrying any responsibility for police work anymore anyway. But when a skittish young boy with nowhere else to turn asks him for help, Cal finds that he can't refuse. French offers a gloriously unlikely friendship, traces the dangers ricocheting through a sometimes claustrophobic small community, and finally offers answers and a path forward, if not clean and clear resolutions. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? French is the author of six books in the Dublin Murder Squad series: In the Woods, The Likeness (my absolute favorite of hers), Faithful Place, The Trespasser, Broken Harbor, and The Secret Place, plus the stand-alone Witch Elm. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/22/20.

In the story of tragic Carlota, each turn of events was more ill-fated and darker than the next, all barreling toward ruin and destruction. It's 1863, and Princess Charlotte, called Empress Carlota by the people, is behind the scenes in Mexico running things for Napoleon III alongside her philandering, frivolous husband Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria. Carlota and Maximilian are meant to squash Juarez's Mexican regime on Napoleon's behalf and establish a stronghold of European rule. Carlota is smart, savvy, hardworking, and she loves her adopted country of Mexico--the landscape, the language, the foods, the people, and the rhythm of life there. But men are maddeningly following their own whims and wielding the power here as they are everywhere in the world at this time, and Carlota keeps getting her legs swept out from beneath her by the foolish, proud, greedy males in charge. The rulers and their doomed colonialism aren't welcome, and Carlota trusts those she shouldn't. Her brother in Belgium, her husband, her trusted ladies of the court--all are betraying her in one way or another, and one unmitigated disaster after another is beginning to snowball toward a horrific end to the Europeans' Mexican experiment. Carlota and Maximilian each begin ill-advised, passionate affairs outside of their loveless marriage--thereby opening themselves up to enormous vulnerabilities, intertwining their own tenuous fates with the shaky future of the kingdom, and potentially laying the groundwork for the destruction of their many ambitious plans. I think the shifting back and forth in time could have felt jumpy, but it worked well for the story's pacing. I didn't feel emotionally tied to the players, and each turn of events was more ill-fated and darker than the next, all barreling toward ruin and destruction. The story of tragic Carlota was interesting but tough to read because of the increasingly cataclysmal goings-on. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Martinez-Belli is a bestselling author in Mexico; this is her English-language debut. I received a prepublication copy of this book through Amazon Crossing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I mentioned this book (along with The Fighting Bunch and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/2/20 Edition.

In a Holidaze is a romantic holiday time twist with sexy interludes and a reliably happy ending. Twentysomething Mae is spending the holidays yet again with her parents' college friends and their families. She's not satisfied in her job, she's unwillingly single, she still lives with her parents--and she just kissed the wrong boy, the younger brother of her true obsession. In despair about having had a rotten holiday and realizing that future holidays at her favorite place in the world are now in jeopardy, Mae makes a plea to the universe to show her what would truly make her happy. Suddenly she's plunged back in time to begin the holiday anew and try to get things right, Groundhog Day-style. I fought a little irritation at the start with what felt like too-cute in-process inside jokes between the characters--I'd rather watch interpersonal intimacies unfold than be thrust into scenes serving as shorthand for "this is idyllic and you should love it." But I easily suspended my disbelief regarding Mae's being whisked through time, and I loved that the issues she explored about her life and how she wanted to live it were substantial, thoughtful, and interestingly complicated. The authors offer a brief but intriguing foray into faith and fate as well. I read In a Holidaze during Christmas week, and it was a romantic holiday time twist with sexy interludes and a reliably happy ending. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? I reviewed Lauren's The Unhoneymooners a couple of weeks ago. The author duo also wrote the fun and romantic Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating as well as Love and Other Words and the lovely, lovely Autoboyography. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/22/20 Edition.

01 The Searcher by Tana French What do I love more than a Tana French book, a retired detective story, or an Irish setting? Nothing. There is nothing I love more than any of these setups, except all three in one. I've been saving French's newest book because I've had such high hopes that it would be stellar, so my fingers are crossed. Retired cop Cal Hooper moves from Chicago, the site of his complicated career, his terrible divorce, and everything he knows, to the peace and quiet of rural Ireland. He's trying to keep his head down, work on his dilapidated house, get an occasional beer at the pub, not get forced into a romantic setup by a busybody neighbor, and adopt a good little mutt. He's got no jurisdiction and isn't interested in carrying any responsibility for police work anymore anyway. But when a skittish young boy with nowhere else to turn asks him for help, Cal finds that he can't refuse. French is the author of six books in the Dublin Murder Squad series: In the Woods, The Likeness (my absolute favorite of hers), Faithful Place, The Trespasser, Broken Harbor, and The Secret Place, plus the stand-alone Witch Elm. 02 One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus Five loosely linked Bayview High students walk into detention on Monday afternoon, all busted for having phones in class. The phones in question didn't belong to them, so none of them should even be there. But before they can put together the pieces and determine who might have wanted to get them all together in that room, one of them is dead. The gossip site run by the deceased student made him detested and feared. And he was about to publish some juicy, devastating tidbits about each of his detention partners. Did one of them want so desperately to stop him that they would kill to keep him quiet? In this first book in the One of Us Is Lying series, McManus takes us through each of the suspects in their own points of view. I love an unreliable narrator setup like this, and I'm listening to this as an audiobook so I like that I hear each character's voice. I can't wait to find out the big reveal. Also, my teenager already read this and is peppering me with questions about what's happening and what I think is happening, so I need to finish it quickly so we can discuss it. 03 In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren Twentysomething Mae is spending the holidays yet again with her parents' college friends and their families. She's not satisfied in her job, she's unhappily single, she still lives with her parents--and she just kissed the wrong boy, the younger brother of her true obsession. In despair about having had a rotten holiday and about the mistakes she feels she's made, Mae makes a plea to the universe to show her what would truly make her happy. Suddenly she's plunged back in time to begin the holiday anew and try to get things right, Groundhog Day-style. In a Holidaze feels like a romantic holiday read that might be perfect for this pre-Christmas week. I reviewed Lauren's The Unhoneymooners a couple of weeks ago. The author duo also wrote the fun and romantic Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating as well as Love and Other Words and the lovely, lovely Autoboyography. What are you reading now? I'm so excited about each of these books. French's book is starting off really strong, and One of Us Is Lying has me hooked. I'm fighting a little irritation at the moment with some implausible early details in Holidaze, which I sometimes struggle with in lighter fiction. I don't anticipate having any trouble with Mae's being whisked through time, but I do want the early interpersonal setups to feel real and not contrived. I'll report back on all three of these holiday-week reads once I've finished! I hope you're managing some peaceful downtime and time to read something you love.

Addie grapples with what it means to only be able to whisper in the world rather than shout. What is the value of a life that must be begun anew each day--a life no one else holds memories of? In early eighteenth-century France, 23-year-old Addie LaRue is desperate. She's about to be married off to an older, slightly repulsive widower to serve as a nursemaid for his children, and her parents support this horrifying plan. Addie wants to see more of the world, to be more in the world, and she is eager to allow for some mystery in her life. So she makes a Faustian bargain in order to live freely--until she's ready to surrender her soul. But it's essential to be specific and exacting when making a bargain with the Darkness. She may live for centuries if she wishes, and she will be free of entanglements and obligations--but she will be immediately forgotten by everyone she meets. Each day Addie wakes up a stranger, even to someone she spent the night with. She can't have a home or a job because a landlord or employer would have no recollection of her after a day. She can make no mark on the world--she cannot write or draw, she cannot disturb the snow by walking through it, she cannot even say her true name to another person. But she begins to eke out an existence around the edges of the Darkness's oppressive rules. She can serve as a muse; she can inspire music and art in others; she can learn what others want or need and be that for them for a day. She can borrow, steal, indulge, and then disappear. I found Addie's workarounds to be one of the most fascinating parts of this story. Addie finds the Darkness abhorrent and infuriating, yet he is the only being who recognizes her, who knows her. Over decades and centuries, their connection becomes powerful, almost intimate. Meanwhile Addie circles back to her original life and home, searching for who she was--who she really is. But she finds no comfort there. She grapples with what it means to only be able to whisper in the world rather than shout. What is the value of a life that must be begun anew each day--a life no one else holds memories of? Then Addie meets a young man in a hidden-away bookstore--and he's the first person in almost three hundred years to remember her after she walks out the door, the next day, and every day afterward. At long last, she can say her true name to someone; she could even tell him her preposterous story of eternal life. But why is she able to break the rigid rules of the Darkness with him? And what secrets is he keeping from Addie? Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Schwab publishes adult books under this name (and young adult books under the name "Victoria Schwab"). She has also written the Villains series (two titles in that one so far) and the Shades of Magic series as V.E. Schwab. I mentioned this book (along with The Fighting Bunch and The Empress) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/2/20 Edition.

01 The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens by Chris DeRose The young men of McMinn County, Tennessee, are coming home after fighting in World War II. But the disturbing scenes they find upon their return surpass the outrageous tales they've been told by family and friends. The deep corruption of the Machine running things in the county extends through the police force, the judicial system, and local elections and voting. Nothing happens unless the Machine okays it, profits by it, and assigns the people in charge of it. But the brave GIs didn't survive years of brutal battles and ensure their much-anticipated homecoming in order to see their loved ones pushed around by swaggering, greedy, corrupt men who think they're untouchable. If there's a way to end the reign of the wide-reaching Machine, these are just the clever, fearless, determined citizens to do it. The book's subtitle is And How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful, Armed Rebellion since the Revolution. The story is so compelling, I'm riveted so far. I received a prepublication copy of this recently published book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 02 The Empress: A Novel by Laura Martinez-Belli It's 1863, and Princess Charlotte, called Empress Carlotta by the people, is behind the scenes in Mexico running things for Napoleon III alongside her philandering, frivolous husband Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria. Carlota and Maximilian are meant to squash the Mexican regime on Napoleon's behalf. But Carlota has begun an ill-advised, passionate affair--thereby opening herself up to betrayal, intertwining her own tenuous fate with that of the kingdom, and potentially laying the groundwork for the destruction of her many ambitious plans. Martinez-Belli is a bestselling author in Mexico; this is her English-language debut. I received a prepublication copy of this book (published yesterday, December 1) by Amazon Crossing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 03 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab In early eighteenth-century France, Addie LaRue is desperate. She makes a Faustian bargain in order to live forever--but the dark side of her dealmaking means she will be forgotten by everyone she meets. Centuries later, Addie meets a young man in a hidden-away bookstore--and he's the first person in almost three hundred years to remember her. Schwab publishes adult books under this name (and young adult books under the name "Victoria Schwab"). She has also written the Villains series (two titles in that one so far) and the Shades of Magic series as V.E. Schwab. What are you reading now? I've got historical fiction/fantasy, royal historical fiction, and a compelling nonfiction story that reads like fiction going right now. They each feel perfect for cozying up with as the weather finally begins to feel cooler around here.

01 The Huntress by Kate Quinn I'm 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 the 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 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 wonderful Alice Network. 02 A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler Fowler manages to capture truly 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 did 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, which I had some issues with, although the topics at its heart are enormously important. 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 unrequited love of one woman for another--an attraction that was forbidden at the time. 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. With 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. Hawker also wrote One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow, which was mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West. 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 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) without men to protect them at the time. The major and minor love stories are sweet if tragic on multiple levels. 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 in 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. I was given a copy of this book by Kensington Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. What are some of your favorite historical fiction books you've read lately? You might also like to take a look at the Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West, Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved This Year, and Six Captivating Nordic Stories. You can also search by category under the Bossy Book Reviews menu to find other historical fiction books you might like.

I loved this; Fowler strikes a realistic balance between Alva's frivolity and meaningful growth and explores her important role in the women’s suffrage movement. The detail of the time Fowler manages to capture in A Well-Behaved Woman is truly wonderful, 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 served as a main character in this book, it so constantly shaped behavior, views, marriage and divorce decisions, and everything else. Alva Vanderbilt emerges a strong feminist, but at times before she rises from the ashes, her thoughts and comments are so superficial, they almost hurt to read. But Fowler did 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. She still loves architecture, fashion, and travel—and secures a financially stable future for her daughter in an era when husbands hold the money and the power. 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! What did you think? Fowler also wrote A Good Neighborhood, which I had some issues with, although the topics at its heart are enormously important. She's also the author of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, which sounds promising, but I haven't read it. #historicalfiction, #oldnewyork, #fourstarbookreview

There's brutality and bravery in this spooky tale--and the atmospheric descriptions of the remote, tiny town setting created an eerie, claustrophobic feeling. The stories Immanuelle hears about her deceased mother Miriam all have one thing in common: her defiance of the Prophet. She was cut with the mark of the Prophet and was promised to him, but she was far from the submissive, obedient young woman held up as ideal in the land of Bethel. She became pregnant with Immanuelle by a man outside the small, secluded community and died when Immanuelle was born. 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. Immanuelle also unwittingly offers power to a set of curses that threaten to destroy all of Bethel--unless Immanuelle can use the clues in her mother's devastating journal, her own hard-won realizations about her mother's intentions for her, and her new-found determination to defy the witches of the wood and their deadly vendettas and save her faulted community that is all she's ever known. I listened to Henderson's spooky book as an audiobook, and this dark, witchy tale felt perfect as winter is coming. There's brutality--facial mutilation for the multiple wives of the Prophet, burning wrongdoers on pyres, and other cutthroat approaches to justice--as well as incredible bravery on the part of Immanuelle and her friend Ezra, the Prophet's son. The twisted interpretations of the scripture by the Prophet and his unchecked, cruel power were disturbing, and the atmospheric descriptions of the remote, tiny town created an eerie, claustrophobic feeling. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? This was truly spooky. The descriptions of the witches alone may give me bad dreams, yeow! There's another book planned for this series; I hope the tides of power have turned in Bethel in book two. I mentioned this book (along with Notes on a Silencing and I'm Still Here) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/14/20 Edition.

Brown shares moments of reckoning, everyday evidence of yawning racial divides, and her insistent joy in embracing her black identity and self-worth. Austin Channing Brown's book is slim (185 pages), but I wore out my highlighter as I marked lines and passages to discuss with the group I read it with. In I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Brown details growing up female, Christian, and black within mainly white educational, religious, and societal frameworks--with a name her parents gave her to intentionally create assumptions that it was the name of a white man. She shows the reader what it's like to navigate organizations that purport to value racial diversity and inclusion, then unapologetically points out where good intentions often go awry, identifying pitfalls (and also some promise) gleaned through everyday life and also in her work as an expert in helping organizations attain increased diversity. She shares shocking, frustrating, heartbreaking moments of reckoning, evidence of yawning racial divides, and her insistent joy in embracing her black identity and her self-worth. Through asking for deeper thought, engagement, and action from all of us, Brown pushes the reader to listen with care and then to do thoughtful, better, specific work toward achieving racial diversity and shifting racial value systems. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/14/20. You might want to check out So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo or Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey if you haven't yet read them.

01 Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir by Lacy Crawford Crawford thought the trauma of her assault at St. Paul's boarding school decades earlier was behind her. But when evidence of extensive sexual assault and new allegations at St. Paul's School came to light, she added her voice to the throng of the attacked and abused, reopening her own file. She dove back into pages of interviews and information detailing the young, naive choir member she was then, the daughter of a priest--and realizes that an institutional cover-up of sexual abuse had taken place for decades at the school that had pledged to protect and educate young people within its walls. Notes on a Silencing is a memoir in which Crawford, now a wife and mother, faces the challenges of asserting her decades-old case yet again, against continued resistance from a school that seems disturbingly willing to value its reputation over the safety and security of its teenaged students. 02 I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown Austin Channing Brown's book is slim (185 pages), but I'm wearing out my highlighter as I mark lines and passages to discuss with the group I'm reading it with. Brown details growing up female, black, and Christian (with a name her parents purposely gave her in order to create assumptions that she is a white man) within mainly white educational, religious, and societal frameworks. She shares moments of reckoning, evidence of yawning racial divides, and her insistence on and joy in embracing her black identity and her self-worth. She is wise, thoughtful, frustrated, and fascinating. 03 The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson I'm listening to Henderson's spooky book, and this dark, witchy tale feels perfect as winter is coming. The stories of Immanuelle's mother Miriam all have one thing in common: her defiance of the Prophet. She was cut with the mark of the Prophet and was promised to him, but she was far from the submissive, obedient young woman held up as ideal in the land of Bethel. She became pregnant with Immanuelle by a man outside the claustrophobic community and died when Immanuelle was born. When Immanuelle ventures into the Darkwood, she unwittingly offers power to a set of curses that threaten to destroy all of Bethel--unless Immanuelle can use the clues in her mother's devastating journal, her own hard-won realizations, and her new-found determination to defy the witches of the wood and their deadly vendettas and save her faulted community that is all she's ever known. What are you reading now? Well, this is no lighthearted list. Crawford's and Brown's books offer endless food for thought and highlight infuriating circumstances; they are written by strong women who refuse to sit back and accept ongoing wrongdoing. Henderson's witchy tale is taking its main protagonist to a very dark place so far, and I'm not sure there's a bright light at the end of the tunnel for this story, but I think there's a glimmer. I hope each of these books will offer some version of redemption or hope or a path toward justice.

This is my last book gift guide of the holiday season. I hope these lists (see links below) may have helped you find a book or two for someone you love--or for yourself! A Bossy book-buying note: If you're buying books this holiday season, please support your local independent bookstore. They need and appreciate our business now more than ever! (The book covers on this site link you to Bookshop, a site that supports the beloved indies that keep us swimming in thoughtful book recommendations and excellent customer service all year round.) Happy holidays! The Bossy Bookworm 01 Answers in the Form of Questions by Claire McNear If your young people love "Jeopardy" and mourned the passing of Alex Trebek last month like mine did, they might be good candidates for this book. McNear shares interviews with Trebek, producers sharing exactly how they put together the beloved nightly show (there are around 8,000 episodes), hopeful contestants' sometimes wildly competitive trivia paths to the show, and for good measure, also explores the popular "Saturday Night Live" spoof of the show. Other "Jeopardy"-related books I've given to factoid-loving young people in the past with positive results include two of longtime "Jeopardy" contestant (and highest earning game show contestant ever) Ken Jennings's books, Brainiac and Maphead. (Jennings has also authored a series of Junior Genius Guides to U.S. presidents, the human body, dinosaurs, and more that look interesting for young readers.) 02 Forgotten Fairy Tales of Brave and Brilliant Girls Forgotten Fairy Tales offers ten stories you may never have heard before that take place around the world, and it showcases young women being their fearless and clever selves. I love books like this (and I hope the young person I'm giving this book to does too). Usborne, the publisher of this title, produces beautiful books my kids have always loved (I'm also giving an Usborne graphic novel about King Arthur as a gift this year), but the publisher's titles aren't always readily available (and don't benefit local booksellers) because they like to sell direct to customers. With that in mind, another book, Fairy Tales of Fearless Girls by Susannah MacFarlane, feels similar in sensibility to Forgotten Fairy Tales. Fearless Girls offers retellings of well-known fairy tales, some visible racial diversity in its illustrations, and it features young female characters using their brains to solve problems--although there is still somewhat of a focus on looks and beauty. 03 Sprawlball by Kirk Goldsberry In Sprawlball, Goldsberry offers A Visual Tour of the New Era of the NBA in a book perfect for basketball fans of any age who like analysis, visual interpretations, stunning illustrations, and who love basketball itself. Based on research and Goldsberry's own knack for creating visual maps highlighting players' strengths and abilities, Sprawlball is both fascinating and lovely to look at. Another basketball-focused book gift I like is Basketball (and Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated by Shea Serrano. Serrano dives into fan disputes big and small, including "Who was the best dunker of all time?" "Which version of Michael Jordan was the best Michael Jordan?" and other sometimes ridiculous issues in this fun exploration of basketball controversy and information. 04 The Ickabog by J. K. Rowling I'm just finishing the Harry Potter series for the third time (I read it once on my own before having kids, and I've read it once with each of my children). There are such strong messages of acceptance, embracing diversity, and practicing intense loyalty to friends of all shapes and sizes and backgrounds in those books, I find myself actively trying to separate this immersive, love-filled fictional world of Rowling's with the hurtful comments she made earlier this year about transgender people. I've found I've been resisting reading this year's Troubled Blood, the newest book in the Cormoran Strike mystery series that Rowling writes under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. But The Ickabog made me want to test my ability to separate the creator from her potentially lovely creation. The Ickabog is about a monstrous legend in the perfect and delicious world of Cornucopia. The legend takes on a life of its own and threatens the safety of everyone in the land, and young best friends Daisy and Bert embark on an adventure to uncover the true monster and save the kingdom. With illustrations from children across the United States and Canada. 05 The Office by Andy Greene Young people who love "The Office" and its over 200 episodes are perfect recipients for this behind-the-scenes look at The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s. Rolling Stone writer Greene offers inside scoop about classic episodes, characters, actors, and storylines. He traces the origins of the show from its funny, humble BBC beginnings to its incredible nine TV seasons aired in the United States--including the story of how it was almost canceled after six episodes, exclusive interviews about the making and evolution of the show, and more. 06 The How-To Cookbook for Teens by Julee Morrison One positive development that's occurred because of our family's slower pace during the pandemic has been that each of my kids has been cooking dinner once a week. (And because I am so greedy about this, I ask them to double their recipes to ensure the magical existence of leftovers, so there are far fewer meals for any grown-ups to plan for). They're straddling the kid/adult cookbook genres, ready to take on more slightly advanced techniques and more complex recipes but still wanting straightforward and efficient methods to get the meal cooked promptly. In our house, recipes for semi-beginner cooks need to balance independent tasks and confidence-boosting familiarity; the main goal is to make it both fun and empowering (and helpful to grown-ups). So I'm hoping this cookbook isn't too easy for a young teen who's already done some cooking. Other cookbooks my kids have loved and cooked their way through recently--and which incidentally don't have a large percentage of dessert and sweet recipes, something we don't personally need more of--are The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs: 100+ Recipes That You'll Love to Cook and Eat from America's Test Kitchen, and The Complete Children's Cookbook: Delicious Step-by-Step Recipes for Young Cooks from DK. Cookbooks for them=meals for the whole family and less cooking (and more reading) for me. See how I greedily did that? Two other cookbooks I'm gifting to young people in my own house this year are The Unofficial Harry Potter cookbook by Dinah Bucholz and a cookbook I'd like the young people in my house to aspire to cook from (and then I'd like them to feed the results to me), Milk Street Tuesday Nights: More Than 200 Simple Weeknight Suppers That Deliver Bold Flavor, Fast, by Christopher Kimball. Which books are you gifting the young people in your life this holiday season? I mentioned other book gift ideas for kids and teens in an earlier post; like this list, that one includes a book with behind-the-scenes looks at a popular TV show ("The Simpsons") and also lists a tiny inspirational book by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a book of life skills for young people, a gorgeous coffee table book that encourages armchair travels to exotic places, a mention of the kids' cooking magazine I'm giving as a gift, and more. I'm also giving Obama's book, A Promised Land, to my teen, and not only because I want to read it myself. I think I may actually want to listen to Obama's soothing, dulcet voice read the audiobook (although I've heard he reads it sloooowly and I may need to up my usual listening speed from 1.5x--yet I do like a challenge). I hope the ideas here and those in my earlier holiday gift lists may help you with a few ideas for beautiful book gifts for the loved ones on your list! You might also like the book gift idea lists Shhh! Books I'm Giving as Gifts This Holiday, Shhh! More Book Gift Ideas for the Holidays, and Shhh! Books I'm Giving Kids and Teens This Holiday.

Nothing happened in McMinn County unless the corrupt Machine profited by it...until the local GIs returned home from World War II and decided to set things right again for their families and community. The young men of McMinn County, Tennessee, are coming home after fighting in World War II. But the disturbing scenes they find upon their return surpass even the outrageous tales they've been told by family and friends. The deep corruption of the Machine running things in the town of Athens, Tennessee, and across the county extends through the police force, the judicial system, and local elections and voting. Nothing happens unless the Machine okays it, profits by it, and assigns the people in charge of it. But the brave GIs didn't survive years of brutal battles and ensure returning in a much-anticipated homecoming in order to see their loved ones pushed around by swaggering, greedy, corrupt men who think they're untouchable. If there's a way to end the reign of the wide-reaching Machine, these are just the clever, fearless, determined citizens to do it. I was completely taken with the compelling story of the spunky main players; the shockingly blatant, pervasive cheating and stealing by those in office locally and across the state; and the way the story unfolded to its crisis point. (And that's before I realized that friends of ours are from Athens, which added a layer to the legendary story for me.) I received a prepublication copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Have you read this book? Had you ever heard of this story? I couldn't get over the facts of the situation--and this was my middle-of-the-night book, so my constantly astounded reactions didn't exactly help me get back to sleep. If you like compelling nonfiction, you might also want to check out the post Six of the Best Nonfiction Books I've Read This Year. I mentioned this book (along with The Empress and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/2/20 Edition.

Nick is an appealing character, I adored the detailed setting, and the mystery's resolution makes sense without seeming too easy. I'm eagerly awaiting the third book in the series. I hoped this was going to be the perfect cozy book for reading over a long weekend: an Elizabethan mystery, complete with fantastic details of the dress, food, street life, and royal court tensions of the time; intrigue, plotting, and the lurking threat of Mary Queen of Scots; and the rewards and dangers of being in Elizabeth I's inner circle. And, dear reader, it was. With fears of betrayal and destruction at the hands of Mary Queen of Scots loyalists looming over Elizabeth's court, Nicholas Holt, a spy for Sir Francis Walsingham, must unravel the mystery of a killer who's picking off his fellow spies one by one. But first Queen Elizabeth orders Nick to work within a rival spy network, and he suspects that some of the trusted sneaks are double agents aiming for Elizabeth's destruction. When Nick realizes that some of his closest friends, innocent of any wrongdoing, are in potential mortal danger because of his position as a spy, he's forced to take risks to try to out the murderer immediately, without concern for politics, protocol, or his own personal safety. Nick is an appealing character, I adored the detailed setting, and the mystery's resolution makes sense without seeming too easy or involving outlandish red herrings. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? I mentioned this book (along with The Unhoneymooners and Scrappy Little Nobody) in the post Three Books I'm Reading Now, 11/17/20 Edition. This is the second in Wolfe's Elizabethan Spy Mystery series; the first was A Murder by Any Name. The Course of All Treasons was published last spring, and I can't wait for the third installment. If you like mysteries and historical fiction like I do, you might also like some of the titles on the Greedy Reading List Six Historical Fiction Mysteries to Intrigue You.

The Unhoneymooners is fun escapism, even if it's not my very favorite Christina Lauren book. In The Unhoneymooners, unlucky Olive is standing by her perfect twin Ami yet again, this time for Ami's elaborate wedding. But when most of the guests fall violently ill at the reception, Olive's own luck seems to be changing, as Ami urges Olive to go on her nonrefundable, free honeymoon trip to Maui. The only problem is, Olive's nemesis, the groom's brother and best man Ethan, who despises her, also escaped illness and has been extended the same invitation by the groom. Can they put their mutual dislike aside in order to coexist and experience a little bit of paradise? (I think they can!) I started The Unhoneymooners curious to find out how Ethan would grow to be a redeemable character worthy of Olive's inevitable affection. But I never did buy Ethan's transformation from a snarky jerk into a misunderstood sweetheart. He used Olive's unfortunately too-tight bridesmaid's dress as fodder for jokes during his wedding toast. After he is presented as perfect boyfriend material, he doesn't believe her when she tells him about someone else's inappropriate behavior toward her. His various early actions that felt critical toward Olive also didn't feel resolved. (He liked Olive, so he was mean to her felt like a childish and hollow explanation.) Olive was sarcastic to Ethan too, but she's our main protagonist, so we can see that she's afraid of being vulnerable; that she feels like luck doesn't fall her way; that she's insecure about how she measures up to her twin. I adore the will they/won't they fall in love tension, and lately I've really enjoyed lighter fiction like The Unhoneymooners. (Side note: I can easily envision this as an excellent rom-com that I would definitely watch.) There's some minor exploration of body image, confidence, making your own luck, and sticking to the truth rather than biting back falsehoods or uncomfortable goings-on to keep the peace. I listened to The Unhoneymooners and it was fun escapism, even if it's not my very favorite Christina Lauren book. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? I admit that I have high expectations for Christina Lauren (the pen name for Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, who write as a team). I reviewed the fun and romantic Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating on this site, as well as Love and Other Words and the lovely, lovely Autoboyography.

A Bossy book-buying note: Your local independent bookstore needs and appreciates your business now more than ever, and the staff will have endless great ideas for book gifts. (The book covers on this site link you to Bookshop, a site that supports the beloved indies that keep us swimming in thoughtful book recommendations and excellent customer service all year round.) Happy early holidays! Bossy Bookworm 01 The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories about Facing the Unknown All These Wonders celebrates the twentieth anniversary of The Moth Radio Hour by offering 45 tales of ordinary and famous people forever changed by their experiences. The storytellers represented here range from John Turturro to Tig Notaro; from a young female spy during World War II to a hip-hop star adjusting to one-hit-wonder status. All These Wonders offers peeks into the storytellers' various ventures into the unknown and how their experiences shaped their lives and their outlooks. This is perfect for reading in small bursts, yet it has enough substance to sink your teeth into at 350 pages. There's another complementary book of stories from The Moth as well, The Moth Presents Occasional Magic: True Stories about Defying the Impossible. I've given these as gifts before, but this holiday I'm also buying both of these books for myself, because when I went to buy them as gifts this year, I remembered that I am a terrible and greedy book hoarder. 02 The Wasp that Brainwashed the Caterpillar by Matt Simon The subtitle of Wired writer Simon's book is Evolution's Most Unbelievable Solutions to Life's Biggest Problems, and in the book's pages, he shares some of the most incredible, sometimes revolting, consistently fascinating tricks and techniques used by critters in the natural world to procreate, eat, evade predators, and survive. A bolas spider releases pheromones that mimic a female moth in order to lure male moths in for a meal; a pearlfish finds safety by swimming into a sea cucumber's anus; another creature chokes sharks with copious amounts of snot. This is a quirky science and nature read perfect for someone interested in either topic. (It could also fit the bill for a preteen or teenager who might delight in nature's fascinatingly horrifying and oddball schemes.) 03 Journeys of Simplicity by Philip Harnden The subtitle of Harnden's slim (144-page) book is Traveling Light with Thomas Merton, Bashō, Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard & Others, and this slim book offers calming wisdom that can be taken in during short sittings. The author shares the accounts of the limited belongings forty travelers carried on their journeys or the few items they owned before their deaths. You don't need a lot to experience this world and find fulfillment, and Harnden's book emphasizes that those who accept a certain level of discomfort, who own sparingly, and who don't focus on material goods might possess the most important skills of all: mental fortitude, humility, and an eye on the big picture and on greater worldly and spiritual issues. 04 Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton Yes, I am including a book that I believe I'm going to get as a gift this Christmas. Greedy! This year the hero that is Dolly gave a million dollars to Covid-19 vaccine research, continued to provide free books monthly to young children across the country through Imagination Library, and kept up her various other decades-old foundations, scholarships, and support measures for those in her home state of Tennessee. She also sang and spread her Dolly joy throughout the world. This wasn't the only Dolly Parton book published this year (She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh is another), but it's the only one written by Dolly. (And as the singer-songwriter-actress-philanthropist herself has said, "Nobody knows Dolly like Dolly!") Songteller includes previously unpublished photos, behind-the-scenes stories and memories. 05 The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman It says a lot about how many birders are on my gift list that I had a tough time deciding which bird-focused title to include here. (Sibley's What It's Like to Be a Bird; 2020's Flight Lines by Andrew Darby; and Beletsky's Bird Songs--which comes with a digital audio player of 250 songs--are several other great options.) In The Bird Way, Ackerman brings science to life, pairing facts with her own personal observations to paint fascinating pictures of how birds do what they do and why. She explores the evolution of understanding about birds and also showcases female researchers. 06 Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle Last year I gave Strange Planet to teenagers and young-at-heart family members on my gift list; this year's Stranger Planet is another installment showcasing Pyle's clever, dry wit and observational humor. Pyle draws from his popular Instagram comics (and offers thirty original comics as well) to point out our absurd habits, traditions, fears, and joys by viewing our lives through the lenses of cartoon alien creatures trying to make sense of us. He's spot on and so so funny. This is a small (6 by 6) book perfect for tucking in with other books or gifts for the holidays. What books are you gifting this holiday season? I've mentioned before that I like to give books that can be read in short bursts (criteria that applies to any of the titles listed here) and/or books related to a giftee's specific interest (science, music, birds, etc.). I hope the ideas here will help you with beautiful book gift ideas for anyone on your list. You might also like the gift lists Shhh! Books I'm Giving as Gifts This Holiday and Shhh! Books I'm Giving Kids and Teens This Holiday.

Lu offers complex motivations, clashes between idealism and realism, editorialization about class and race, and futuristic advancements in this first book in the Skyhunter series. Just look at this gorgeously mesmerizing cover for Marie Lu's latest young adult science fiction/fantasy book, the first in the Skyhunter series. So as I started this book I realized something strange. I've been putting Marie Lu's books into my son's hands for years, but I have never read a single one. Which has been a longterm mistake, because I really liked this book. Lu offers a story about refugees desperately trying to escape becoming conscripted into the Federation army; elite Striker fighters trying to salvage their society despite the Federation's widespread and evil efforts; and the demonization of the "other." A mysterious prisoner from the front arrives who could be friend or foe, and our main protagonist Talin must figure out whether to destroy him or trust him with her life--before things unravel irrevocably for her and her fellow warriors. The surprising ending made my heart stop. Then I remembered that this was the first in a series and that the story would continue past the final complications and shocking events, so I did not hurl the book through the window. But waiting for the next installment is going to be tough. What the heck is Lu going to do in book two? Any Bossy thoughts about this book? Are you a Marie Lu fan? Lu, a former artist in the video game industry, has written the Legends, Young Elites, and Warcross series. There's complex motivation here, as well as clashes between idealism and realism and editorialization about class and race--plenty of substance and depth to make it feel like a book for adults rather than necessarily a young adult title.

I would have liked more introspection, but I loved spending time in Kendrick's funny, honest, often wonderfully wacky point of view. In the early chapters of Scrappy Little Nobody, Kendrick does a great job of positioning herself outside Hollywood in the naive mindset of her youth. She wasn’t savvy to how show business worked, nor did she (nor her parents) particularly aspire to become members of an in-the-know stage family. She knew she wanted to act and sing and dance, and she knew these activities felt necessary to her. She retraces her missteps and successes as well as her humble beginnings. I loved all of this. Her own confusion and astonishment is endearing as she explains how she figured out the way various aspects of show business really work. There's an appealing "Can you believe this? Me either! I'm down to earth and just like you!" tone that she carried through the first stories in the book, especially. (I can’t get over the story of young Anna taking the bus from Maine to New York City with her brother and all that ensued.) The anecdotes shared later in the book veer into largely silly territory. I would have liked a little more reflection and introspection, but to be fair, that’s not really what Kendrick seems to have set out to offer the reader here. I loved spending time in her funny, honest, often wonderfully wacky point of view. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Have you read this one? I love some Anna Kendrick (and not only because I also have a friend named Anna Kendrick, and not only because the celebrity Anna Kendrick is from Maine). I listened to this as an audiobook—I like to listen to people read their own memoirs—and I loved hearing this in Kendrick's voice. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I’m Reading Now, 11/25/20 Edition.

A Bossy book-buying note: If you're buying books this holiday season, please support your local independent bookstore. They need and appreciate our business now more than ever! (The book covers on this site link you to Bookshop, a site that supports the beloved indies that keep us swimming in thoughtful book recommendations and excellent customer service all year round.) Happy early holidays! Bossy Bookworm 01 This Book Is a Planetarium by Kelli Anderson This unusual, usable, interactive book turns into six tools (a planetarium, a "musical instrument," a drawing generator, an infinite calendar, a message decoder, and a speaker that amplifies sound). I like to give This Book Is a Planetarium to hard-to-buy-for giftees, especially teens who might especially enjoy receiving something unexpected in the book department. This is a beautiful book published by Chronicle Books. 02 Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman Author Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by Norse mythology while imagining his novels' many fantastical worlds. Here, Gaiman takes the reader through Norse mythological characters and tales, fashioning them into a fluid narrative starring Thor, Loki, Odin, and more, and adding his signature charm and humor. The book is 300 pages, but with its short chapters, Norse Mythology lends itself to short bursts of reading or gobbling it up all at once. 03 Atlas Obscura: Explorer's Guide for the World's Most Adventurous Kid by Dylan Thuras Here's a little pseudo travel for Pandemic Times: Atlas Obscura's book for kids offers gorgeous images and factoids (in high quality Atlas Obscura style) of "100 surprising, mysterious, and weird-but-true places on earth." From glittering crystal caves in Mexico to the site of an ancient meteor crash and many compelling places in between, the absorbing information and illustrations take the reader over mountains, into forests, and under the sea to see aspects of the natural world they may never have imagined. 04 Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss In honor of the thirtieth anniversary of The Simpsons, Reiss, who's written for the show since episode one in 1989, wrote his account of the writing and creation of this beloved, mischievous show. He answers fan questions, offers behind-the-scenes looks at experiences with celebrity guests, and reveals why the characters are yellow and where Springfield is located. Reiss shares gossip and information of interest to any Simpsons fan, and he interviews cast members and key players like Conan O'Brien, Al Jean, Nancy Cartwright, and Dan Castellaneta. 05 Gmorning, Gnight! by Lin-Manuel Miranda This little book was written by a household legend of ours, Lin-Manuel Miranda. (I think it almost wouldn't matter to certain giftees what's inside, as long as Miranda wrote it.) Gmorning, Gnight: Little Pep Talks for Me and You contains lovely thoughts, inspiring poems, and daily greetings from the cheery fellow who wrote the musical Hamilton, and it's sweetly illustrated by Jonny Sun. The book's contents are based on the morning and evening tweets of encouragement Miranda posts on Twitter each day. I love the idea of giving a set of short, joyful boosts for the little people in my life. 06 How to Be a Person by Catherine Newman The subtitle of How to Be a Person is 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills to Learn Before You're Grown Up. Newman touches on everything from how to fold a T-shirt to how to stick up for someone and lots of basic tasks in between. So, are my giftees going to enjoy receiving this book full of practical advice and step-by-step methods for building independent skills? I think so, and here's why: Newman is also the author of Bringing Up Birdy (I should post a glowing review of this book on this site; I loooooved reading it while I was expecting my second child); she writes the lovely blog Ben and Birdy (in which she shares recipes, thoughts, and things she loves--and where she keeps it real by including things like photos of her house taken during quarantine); and she's the down-to-earth, kind, and funny etiquette expert for Real Simple magazine. I would read anything Newman wrote, and I suspect that she's the perfect playful but practical author for this book. Plus, while kids might not love chores, they do like leaving out the middleman (parents) and feeling independent. Ding ding ding! Side note: Newman is also the editor of the James Beard Award-winning quarterly kids' cooking magazine ChopChop, which I am also giving as a gift this year. What books are you gifting your younger people this holiday season? I'm Bossy about buying and merchandising fiction for my kids during the year, as in: "Here is a tableau of wonderful books that are now fanned beautifully across your bed or stacked at your bedside to tempt and delight your brains!” But for holiday book gifts, other than providing the first in a fiction series I think they'd like, typically I give my own kids and the other kids in my life nonfiction books. I feel as though nonfiction topics can either be easily targeted toward a kid's known interests or just generally potentially interesting to anyone willing to dip into a subject. I hope the ideas here (and those in the lists to come) will help you with ideas for beautiful book gifts for anyone on your list! You might also like the list Shhh! Books I'm Giving as Gifts This Holiday.

01 The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Christina Lauren is the pen name for Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, who write as a team. In The Unhoneymooners, unlucky Olive is standing by her perfect twin Ami yet again, this time during her elaborate wedding. When most of the guests fall violently ill at the reception, Ami urges Olive to go on the couple's nonrefundable, free honeymoon to Maui. The only problem is, Olive's nemesis, the groom's brother and best man Ethan, has been extended the same invitation. Can they put their mutual dislike aside in order to experience a little bit of paradise? (I think they will!) This is a fun read so far. And I'm looking forward to finding out how Ethan becomes a redeemable character, because he is such a jackass at the outset of the story. I've reviewed Lauren's fun and romantic Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating on this site, as well as Love and Other Words and the lovely Autoboyography. 02 The Course of All Treasons by Suzanne M. Wolfe Going into Thanksgiving weekend with an Elizabethan mystery in hand, complete with intrigue, plotting, Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, and more? Yep! With looming fears of betrayal and destruction at the hands of Mary Queen of Scots loyalists looming over Elizabeth's court, Nicholas Holt, a spy for Sir Francis Walsingham, must unravel the mystery of a killer who's picking off his fellow spies one by one. This is the second in Wolfe's Elizabethan Spy Mystery series; the first was A Murder by Any Name. 03 Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick I love some Anna Kendrick (and not only because I also have a friend named Anna Kendrick, and not only because the celebrity Anna Kendrick is from Maine). Kendrick does a great job of positioning herself outside Hollywood as she was when she was young in order to retrace her humble beginnings. Her own confusion and astonishment is endearing as she explains figuring out the way show business really works. There's a "Can you believe this? Me either! I'm down to earth and just like you!" tone that she's carrying through each story, and it's working for me. I'm listening to this as an audiobook, and I love hearing this in Kendrick's voice. What are you reading now? Light fiction, historical fiction mystery, and celebrity memoir. This is the reading that I need this week, fun and light and atmospheric. Last week I took a chance on Writers & Lovers despite my recent need to have all story lines work out and some version of a happy ending, and I was nervous but ultimately wasn't disappointed. I recently offered a roundup of Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism if that feels down your alley. What's working (or not working) in your reading life right now?