Bookseller, activist, and one-of-a-kind personality Jeannine A. Cook's voice shines through in this memoir of conversations with and deep inspiration around deceased authors; nerve-racking, enormous leaps of faith; living relationships with ancestors who have passed on; and shaping the future through empowering young people. Jeannine A. Cook was raised by a blind librarian mother, and books have always been an important part of her life. She always imagined that she'd write a book of her own, and she imagined opening a bookshop in her old age. But instead, she found herself working three jobs, stressed out and without time to read, much less craft something of her own. In her journal, she began an imaginary conversation with Harriet Tubman about the woman's strength and resilience. And in 2020, Cook opened a bookstore called Harriett's Bookshop in Philadelphia, which was one of Harriet's first stops on her Underground Railroad journey. But then Covid hit, and Cook had to shutter the store. But because of Cook's strength of spirit--and the power of books--Harriett's Bookshop remains open today, as do Ida's Bookshop (named after Ida B. Wells) in New Jersey and a literary installation, Josephine's Bookshop (named after Josephine Baker), in Paris. Cook writes in a conversational style, and her mind and journey down various paths each seem to go a million miles an hour, so often I felt like I was just trying to keep up and keep track of where we were. But her explorations of different avenues are intriguing. She carries on vibrant dialogues with deceased authors; simultaneously dives into multiple pie-in-the-sky endeavors without being certain of her landing pads; and leans into the power of her ancestors and traditions, growing spiritually closer to them. She believes in the power of empowering, educating, and expanding the horizons of youth, and she actively enters into doing so for the youth conductors involved in her shop. Cook communicates often with her father, who is increasingly disabled, seemingly still in love with his estranged wife, Cook's mother, and who often seems to talk over and at Cook, as she does with him. Their relationship seems as though it would be more fraught; Cook references her parents' volatile relationship and mentions that her mother's blindness in her second eye was due to being kicked and stomped by Cook's father. But abuse is not mentioned again, and Cook feels deep emotional links to her dad. The author's faith in resolutions presenting themselves despite logistical roadblocks (and, sometimes, what feel like logical challenges that might cause others to hit the pause button) means that she has at times had a bookstore missing drywall, shelves, finished flooring, and paint when it is due to open; she has lived in a home without plumbing--going to the bathroom in a bag--as she believed in its bones and promise; she has crisis-crowdfunded her bookshops; and she has taken many more leaps of faith, seemingly certain (and correct) that somehow it will all work out. This was often nerve-racking for me personally to read about, but I took some deep breaths and jumped in with Cook. Most of the details of wonderfully ambitious, enormously complicated, often high-stakes plans resolve themselves--sometimes seemingly through the force of Cook's will but, one has to think, also likely due to a cast of unnamed, supportive, supporting, busy figures helping serve as a framework for Cook's endeavors but largely invisible to the reader. Cook's zigzagging journey in this memoir was often tough to track; she leans into various avenues of spirituality, accesses the presence of her ancestors, runs from mission to mission, promotes activism, and develops new ideas and passion projects. The book's voice and its jumps from topic to topic feel like a reflection of the author's nonstop mind and relentless push to explore, share, and manifest her ambitious dreams. There's surprisingly little "book talk" here. Cook's connection to deceased authors feels mystical and mysterious--it's all deeper and shapes her more fully than simply a "love of books." Shut Up and Read feels as though it explores the roots of family and pivotal figures who came before, the growing branches of all that's happening in the present, and the promise of later generations' leaves and flowers to serve as the tree's crown to come. I've read many memoirs, and Shut Up and Read  was unlike any I've encountered before. I listened to Shut Up and Read courtesy of Amistad and Libro.fm . More Books You Might Like I listened to Shut Up and Read courtesy of Amistad and Libro.fm . Jeannine A. Cook is also the author of the novel It's Me They Follow , the writing of which she references in Shut Up and Read . Please also check out these Bossy reviews of other books about books and memoirs you might enjoy.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to Valerie Bertinelli's memoir Getting Naked ; I'm reading Ian McGuire's newest, unrelenting, suspenseful novel White River Crossing ; and I'm reading Saara El-Arifi's novel Cleopatra , an empowering, fascinating story told from Cleopatra's point of view and aimed at setting the record straight. What are you reading, bookworms? 01 Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect by Valerie Bertinelli Is my intrigue with this book due to my One Day at a Time nostalgia, my vague affection for the idea of Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen as an 80s power couple, or the charm of Bertinelli on her now-defunct, fourteen-season cooking show Valerie's Home Cooking ? Or is it just that Valerie Bertinelli, now in her mid-sixties, clearly seems to have no interest in foolishness or BS? I'm eager to find out if, as I hope, she's offering a straight-talking, funny, compassionate missive to women in this memoir. In Getting Naked , the author dives into aging, menopause, family, relationships, insecurities, and rewriting her own script. I'm listening to Getting Naked courtesy of Harper Wave and Libro.fm. Check out these other celebrity memoirs I've Bossily reviewed; or you might like my reviews of these memoirs . 02 White River Crossing by Ian McGuire Ian McGuire's newest novel White River Crossing is set in the brutal cold and wilderness of sub-Artic Canada. In the winter of 1766, a bedraggled fur peddler arrives at a remote Hudson Bay Company outpost with a chunk of gold, telling tales of more to be found farther north, at a place called Ox Lake. Greed and arrogance send members of the Company, along with native guides, to seek out further riches. But the Hudson Bay Company's boorish John Shaw and bookish Thomas Hearn, who are pushing the expedition, clash as Shaw brutalizes an innocent during the long journey north, and the repercussions of his wrongdoing aren't fully realized until the journey's end. I received a prepublication edition of White River Crossing courtesy of NetGalley and Crown Publishing. I mentioned Ian McGuire's novel The North Water in the Greedy Reading List Six Chilly Books to Read in the Heat of Summer . 03 Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi This is not the story of how I died. But how I lived. My knowledge of Egypt is limited but my interest was sparked by one of my favorite childhood reads, The Egypt Game . In Saara El-Arifi's Cleopatra , the author tells the story from Cleopatra's point of view of the infamous, fabled, often maligned figure who ruled Egypt as Pharoah from 51 to 30 BC--and whose relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony have added to the reductive caricature of Cleopatra as a seductress. The tone of the book is one of setting the record straight, illuminating Cleopatra's many facets, and bringing the reader into the titular subject's inner workings, fears, and complicated motivations. I received an electronic prepublication edition of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Ballantine Books; and I received an audiobook version of Cleopatra thanks to Libro.fm and Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group. Saara El-Arifi is also the author of Faebound and The Final Strife .

Six Bossy Favorite Historical Fiction Reads from Last Year Historical fiction is one of my favorite reading genres, and this is the first of three historical-fiction favorite lists I'll have for you as I revisit my reading for the Bossy best of the best from the past year. You can explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall favorite reads from last year, or you can click to read about past Bossy historical favorites . If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think! What are some of your favorite historical reads, whether from the past year or beyond? 01 Boy by Nicole Galland Galland offers a detailed peek into the London of Shakespeare's company and the life of starring "boy player" Alexander Cooke, his best girl Joan, who dresses as a boy to explore scientific pursuits, and the palace intrigue that occurs when their allies conflict with Queen Elizabeth. In Nicole Galland's historical fiction tale Boy , Alexander "Sander" Cooke is a famed, sought-after "boy player" in Shakespeare's company, and his roles skillfully playing lovely women have led highbrow ladies and gentlemen alike to seduce him with favors and attention. His apprenticeship is nearly over, and he has neither an assurance of steady work as a young man playing male roles with his company, nor a sponsor to support him. Joan Buckler is Sander's best friend. She's curious about everything and is the smartest person Sander knows. But her female sex holds her back from being able to find the knowledge she seeks, and she dresses as a boy to gain access to medical lectures and more. I wished for more behind-the-scenes peeks at Shakespeare's shows, and I was least interested in the political conflicts and drama, although they were essential to the conflict of the book. I loved the romantic connection between Joan and Sander, Joan's scientific pursuits--particularly the botany-related efforts she enters into with her eccentric friends, and how Galland deftly places the reader in the story's place and time with rich details. For my full review of Boy , please check out this link . 02 An Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell #6) by Deanna Raybourn While Veronica and Stoker stay close to home while entering into danger and solving the mysteries in book six of this series, Raybourn repeatedly evokes images of the fictional European country Alpenwald. Gruff Stoker conveys his adoration of Veronica in a poignant, lovely way. It's January 1889, and Veronica and her natural historian beau Stoker are working on a memorial exhibition showcasing the achievements of mountain climber Alice Baker-Greene. But evidence indicates to Veronica that Alice may have been murdered. And Princess Gisela of the Alpenwald, a dear friend of Alice's, goes missing just after Veronica shares her suspicion--requiring Veronica to pose as the princess in order to preserve a secret peace treaty that's being brokered. While Veronica and Stoker stick close to home for their adventures in this installment of the series, there's plenty of intrigue, and Raybourn evokes repeated images of mountain climbing in the Alpenwald, a fictional country sandwiched between Germany and France, as well as extensive forays into the country's traditions, political interests, and its royal family's interpersonal conflicts and loyalties. The LGBTQ+ love conveyed in the story is lovely, and Veronica's matter-of-fact approach to this relationship as well as cross-class romance is typical of her no-nonsense, pro-love (and, for her, anti-marriage) stance established in earlier books. The evolution of Stoker and Veronica's own relationship in this book is understated yet beautifully poignant; I teared up at one point when the gruff Stoker conveyed his feelings to Veronica. Raybourn is the author of A Curious Beginning , as well as the sequels A Perilous Undertaking , A Treacherous Curse , A Dangerous Collaboration , and A Murderous Relation . (There are currently nine books in the series, with a tenth scheduled for publication in 2026.) Raybourn is also the author of the wonderful title about retired middle-aged assassins, Killers of a Certain Age , and its sequel Kills Well with Others . For my full review of this book please see An Unexpected Peril . 03 I'll Be Right Here by Amy Bloom I'm a huge Amy Bloom fan, and I appreciated the strong main female character here and the World War II-era crises. At times the story felt somewhat disjointed and flagged in pacing as it addressed various events of the characters' later years . Gazala must be crafty, humble, and alert to get by as a Jew while World War II envelops Paris. When she emigrates to New York City, she is befriended by two strong young sisters, Anne and Alma, and Gazala's adopted brother Samir joins them in Manhattan. I'll Be Right Here  tracks decades in their lives, including victories, pain, unorthodox choices, and love. I was invested in Gazala's young life; the concessions, cleverness, and compromises necessary during desperate times; and particularly her ability to navigate a potentially deadly and complex wartime crisis with sometimes ruthless focus. I appreciated the highlighting of various shapes of relationships. I had significant difficulty getting past the fact that an adoptive sibling pair fell in love, while appreciating that the unprecedented trauma of World War II and the importance of human connection were essential factors in this. I received a prepublication edition of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group. For my full review please check out I'll Be Right Here . Bloom is also the author of White Houses , which I gave 5 Bossy stars, the heartbreakingly beautiful In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss , Away , Lucky Us , Come to Me: Stories , and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories .) 04 Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall In Hall's Broken Country , characters do their duties, find wondrous love, feel heartbreak, suffer tragedies, sometimes act impulsively, and reel from the consequences of all of the above. A mystery surrounds a deadly moment, and the book ends with a hopeful, imperfect, heartbreaking way forward. Beth and her kind husband Frank live and farm outside the small English village where they grew up. They love each other, but they are able to stay married only because they push down the memories of tragedies that could haunt them, and because secrets from the past stay buried. But when Frank's brother shoots a dog going after the family's sheep, the gunshot sets into motion events that will change everything. The dog belonged to Gabriel Wolfe, Beth's childhood love, and his return to town brings back long-suppressed complications around jealousies, love, choices, and the weighty consequences of the past. Broken Country  is a study of an extreme, life-and-death-stakes fallout after heartbreaking tragedy, but it's also a story of young love blossoming, then shriveling under the first pressures of the outside world; it's a mystery in which duty overpowers the difficult truth; and it's a hopeful view of how an imperfect set of characters can find their clumsy, sometimes beautiful, way forward. I read this immersive story in a flash. For my full review of this book please see Broken Country . 05 Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid I love an astronaut story, and while Reid spent far more page time on relationships than on the astronaut or space aspects, there was plenty of each to go around in this novel that was the perfect book at the perfect time for me. I loved it--and I listed this book as one of My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads . Joan has always been fascinated by the stars, and as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University, she teaches her passion to college students. On the side, she shows her beloved young niece the sky and serves as a second parent alongside her sometimes-trying single-mother sister. When she sees an ad seeking for the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program, Joan becomes obsessed with being part of the 1980s training and with becoming one of the first women in space. The complicated interpersonal situations added wonderful depth to the complexities of astronauts' training, stresses, competition, and life-and-death goals of entering space. The women's fights to fully be part of a traditionally male-dominated field and the various ways in which they navigated this were particularly captivating to me. The carelessness that partially leads to the crisis in space felt unrealistic to me, and the high drama and gasping reveal regarding the pivotal space scene toward the end could have felt over the top, but as usual, I was putty in Taylor Jenkins Reid's hands, ready to embrace every bit of it. This was exactly the right story for me at the right time, and I hugged it to my chest when I finished, then immediately began telling everyone how much I loved it. Taylor Jenkins Reid is also the author of Carrie Soto Is Back , The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo , Malibu Rising , and Daisy Jones & the Six . You might also want to check out these other Bossy reviews of books about astronauts  and space . 06 All the Broken Places by John Boyne All the Broken Places is a novel that is linked to Boyne's novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas . The exploration of gray areas between good and evil was the most intriguing aspect to me as our elderly protagonist faced a difficult past. Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby is living out her days in a posh flat in London. She's friends with her younger across-the-hall neighbor Helen, who is coping with dementia, and Gretel's three-times-married-and-divorced grown son lives in the city, but otherwise Gretel keeps to herself. When a couple and young son move into the flat below her, Gretel begins to worry that the man of the house is harming his wife and child, and her hesitant involvement leads him to discover elements about Gretel's youth in Berlin during World War II that she never wanted to face again . The present-day "bad guy" is a gleefully rotten, abusive, sinister character who is easy to detest. Gretel's unwanted bond with the young boy downstairs brings memories flooding back from her own childhood, and her resistance to his bond and then her deep loyalty to him lead to a ending that is centered around revenge, consequences, and justice. John Boyne is the author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas , and this novel is linked to that one. I found that book somewhat frustrating in the suspension of disbelief necessary for the plot to work, but the premise was also horrifyingly fascinating. Click here   for my full review.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to SenLinYu's 1000-plus-page fantasy novel Alchemised , which started as dark Harry Potter fan fiction; I'm reading Benjamin Wood's northern-England-set quiet, mysterious story Seascraper ; and for my book club I'm reading Lisa Ridz é n's story about a Swedish man aging and looking back at his memories, When the Cranes Fly South . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 Alchemised by SenLinYu This beast of a fantasy novel (it's 1040 pages) tracks a healer and alchemist suffering from significant memory gaps through three periods of time in her life. When we meet Helena Marino, she is a prisoner. All of her fellow Resistance members have been captured or killed, and Helena is treated cruelly and largely cared for by a staff of animated undead. On paper, she is a figure of little importance, but the deliberate tampering with her memories of the final months of the Resistance leads many to believe she was an essential part of their fight--and that she may be the key to understanding the entire system. But Kaine Ferron, a dark necromancer who is attempting to release her memories, turns out to be a key part of Helena's past, unbeknownst to her, and the book eventually begins to illuminate their complicated enemy/friend/destroyer/savior history. The heart of this story was originally a work titled Manacled , and it was dark Harry Potter fan fiction about Hermione, who had an Order secret buried in her mind, and Draco, tasked by Voldemort with unearthing it. Alchemised is SenLinYu's first published novel. I'm listening to Alchemised as a library audiobook through Libby. 02 When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridz é n Bo is an elderly Swedish man living in the woodland cabin where he grew up. He exists in somewhat of a haze between naps, frequent carer visits, calls and check-ins from his son Hans, short walks with his beloved elkhound Sixten, and vivid memories of his life--which sometimes feel more real than his reality. His wife, who suffers from dementia, is in a care center, and his memories of her pop up in painful, poignant vibrancy. Bo yearns for a deeper connection with his son. But when Hans determines that rehoming Sixten is best for all involved, Bo is devastated, angry, and unsure whether his shaky relationship with his son can be repaired. I'm reading When the Cranes Fly South for my book club. This is the author's debut novel. 03 Seascraper by Benjamin Wood Young adult Thomas Flett lives a quiet life as a shanker scraping the shore for shrimp with a horse and cart in a small seaside northern English town. He lives with his overbearing mother, who had him when she was quite young and has never revealed much information about his father. They bristle at each other, bicker, yet they live cooperatively: she feeds him and he pays the bills and fixes things around the house. Thomas's knowledge of the shoreline, its hazards, its topography, and staying safe among its many sinkholes and dangers, proves to be a ticket to adventure when he meets Edgar, a passionate American filmmaker eager to use the setting as a backdrop to his new film. But all Edgar says may not be the truth, and Thomas becomes more and more deeply entrenched in the drama, inspiration, unexpected twists and turns, and whirlwind of the stranger's orbit of existence.

This 1000-page fantasy novel is intense, brutal (significant trigger warnings are warranted), extremely dark, and not at all a universal recommendation. I struggled with and was also fascinated by the fact that in its original form, the story was Harry Potter fan fiction about Hermione and Draco. The structure and timeline is intriguing and illuminating. This beast of a fantasy novel (it's 1040 pages) tracks a healer and alchemist suffering from significant memory gaps through three periods of time in her life. When we meet Helena Marino in medias res, she is a prisoner. All of her fellow Resistance members have been captured or killed, and Helena is being treated cruelly largely by a staff of animated undead, directed by evil masterminds. On paper, Helena is a figure of little importance, but the obvious and deliberate tampering with her memories of the final months of the Resistance has led many to believe that she was an essential part of their fight--and that accessing her memories may be the key to understanding the entire Resistance system. But Kaine Ferron, a dark necromancer who is attempting to release her memories, turns out to be a key part of Helena's past, and the book eventually begins to illuminate their complicated enemy/friend/destroyer/savior history. The heart of this story was originally a work titled Manacled , and it was dark Harry Potter fan fiction about Hermione, who had an Order secret buried in her mind, and Draco, tasked by Voldemort with unearthing it. I didn't recall this when I first began the book, and I developed complex feelings about this premise and its implications. This begins as a dark, dark novel. The setting is literally dark, and more importantly, Helena is imprisoned, confused, grieving those she lost, and reeling from the trauma of the stasis in which she was conscious but unmoving, unspeaking, and unacknowledged for many months. She continues to be imprisoned, fully reliant on her captors, and discussed and treated as an owned object. Her body and mind are used to her enemy's desired ends. Rape, forced entry into her brain, and practical starvation are all part of her life. This was brutal text to dive into, and reading about her mental and sexual violation for significant page time in SenLinYu's novel almost sent me packing. But if you can steel yourself to continue, you might find the structure fascinating, as I did. The cruelty is real, and tough to take, but when, after the first grim, nerve-racking section ends, we skip back in time to read the origin story of Helena and Kaine, we find an unlikely love story built within a time of upheaval; trust overshadowing secrets and deception; and an opposites-attract scenario that serves as ballast for the novel. Context doesn't erase the horrors that we read about initially, but it softens some of the blows after the fact. An eventual second skip in time in the book follows chronologically from the first section, so it picks up the story and explores what happens to all surviving characters in the end. Mental images of Hermione and Draco slipped in and out of my mind as I read the book, causing uncomfortable feelings that were at times difficult to sit with yet, admittedly, fascinating. This is not a universal recommendation because of the shocking abuse (and the novel's significant length), but fantasy die-hards might want to test their mettle with this read. I listened to Alchemised as a library audiobook (it was over 36 hours long), narrated by the fantastic Saskia Maarleveld, through Libby. More Dark Fantasy Novels Alchemised  is SenLinYu's first published novel. The intense darkness and necromancy of this novel reminded me at times of Tamsyn Muir's The Locked Tomb series; Gideon the Ninth is the first book, followed by Harrow the Ninth , Nona the Ninth , and the future publication Alecto the Ninth .

In Wood's slim book, a practical young man is scratching out a life in a small seaside English town when an energetic young American filmmaker bursts into town. Thrills and inspiration follow--along with danger and and uncertain implications for the future in this atmospheric, eerie, beautifully written novel. Young adult Thomas Flett lives a quiet life as a shanker scraping the shore for shrimp with a horse and cart in a small seaside northern English town. He lives with his overbearing mother, who had him when she was quite young and has never revealed much information about his father. They bristle at each other, bicker, yet they live cooperatively: she feeds him and he pays the bills and fixes things around the house. Thomas's knowledge of the shoreline--its hazards, its topography, and how to stay safe among its many sinkholes and dangers--proves to be a ticket to adventure when he meets Edgar, a passionate American filmmaker eager to use the setting as a backdrop to his new film. But all Edgar says may not be the truth, and Thomas becomes more and more deeply entrenched in the drama, inspiration, unexpected twists and turns, and whirlwind of the stranger's orbit of existence. The book has a dark-ethereal quality, and the foggy coast with its literal deadly pitfalls hidden throughout the sand perfectly reflects the mysterious, brooding tone of the book in which the truth is uncertain and the future is suddenly anything but assured. There are a few indications of the time period ( Lawrence of Arabia is showing at the movie theater, and Elvis Presley is referenced), but the story feels largely to exist outside of time. Edgar begins to demonstrate that he is delusional, but the reader is left wondering if that diminishes his artistic eye and ability to create something or is irrelevant to his art. Thomas has always been practical, barely looking past the next moment, and when he enters Edgar's tumultuous universe, he is thrust into dangerous, unexpected situations, yet his desire to explore his own artistic musicality is cemented. In a near-death experience, Thomas hallucinates an afterlife, encounters his father, and understands the man's true nature. (I wasn't convinced that this experience and the "return to life" that occurs afterward weren't all part of Thomas's post-death consciousness, but I believe that this is supposed to reflect a recovery from almost dying and a fresh start with hopeful new directions indicated for every aspect of Thomas's life.) This slim story (the book is 176 pages) is eerie and unforgettable. More from This Author Benjamin Wood's Seascraper was longlisted for the Booker Prize. He is also the author of the novels The Bellwether Revivals , The Ecliptic , A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better , and The Young Accomplice .

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to bookseller Jeannine A. Cook's memoir about books and her inspiration in Harriet Tubman, Shut Up and Read ; I'm reading Charleen Hurtubise's novel about a woman who's escaped her past and living in Ireland, Saoirse ; and I'm reading Anna Quindlen's novel about friendship and family history, More Than Enough . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 Shut Up and Read: A Memoir from Harriett’s Bookshop by Jeannine A. Cook Jeannine A. Cook was raised by a blind librarian, and books have always been an important part of her life. She always imagined that she'd write a book of her own, and she imagined opening a bookshop in her old age. But instead, she found herself working three jobs, stressed out and without time to read, much less craft something of her own. In her journal, she began an imaginary conversation with Harriet Tubman about the woman's strength and resilience. And in 2020, Cook opened a bookstore called Harriett's Bookshop in Philadelphia, which was one of Harriet's first stops on her Underground Railroad journey. But then Covid hit, and Cook had to shutter the store. But because of Cook's strength of spirit--and the power of books--Harriett's Bookshop remains open today. I'm listening to Shut Up and Read courtesy of Amistad and Libro.fm. 02 Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise When she was old enough, Sarah ran from an emotionally cold childhood in Michigan to the rugged coast of Donegal, Ireland, where she now lives as an artist and goes by the name Saoirse. She and her partner and two daughters live peacefully, and Saoirse often paints the members of her beloved family. But if the truth of Saoirse's secrets came out, it would upend her existence, and she is terrified that her past will somehow become revealed. When a piece of her art wins a competition, she garners added attention and publicity that might uncover all she has done to escape her origins. I received a prepublication edition of Saoirse courtesy of NetGalley and Celadon Books. 03 More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen Polly is a high school English teacher who leans on her close-knit, longtime book club for support, reason, venting, and laughter. Along with her husband, they are her closest people. They gift her an ancestry DNA kit, and when she lightheartedly submits her results, she is matched to a stranger. Sure that it's an error, Polly digs into her family history to make sure she is who she has always thought. But the truth throws everything into question. Anna Quindlen is also the author of After Annie , One True Thing , Every Last Thing , Object Lessons , and other books.

Six More Favorite Fantasy Reads This is the third of three fantasy-favorite lists I've developed as I've scoured my reading for the Bossy best of the best from the past year. You can find my first list of favorites from the past year here and my second list here . You can also explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall favorite reads from last year, or you can read about past Bossy fantasy favorites here . If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think! What are some of your favorite fantasy reads, whether from the past year or beyond? 01 Katabasis by R. F. Kuang I loved the dark--and often darkly funny--journey of Cambridge postgraduate magick students Alice and Peter to hell, a quest they undertake because their advisor has died and they really  need his recommendations. Also, they each fear they're the one who killed him. In Kuang's dark academia fantasy novel Katabasis , Alice Law is a postgraduate student in a ruthlessly competitive analytic magick program at Cambridge. She is intrigued by and also deeply irritated by her academic rival, Peter Murdoch, who seems to be showing her up at every turn in their relentless slog of blood, sweat, and tears. Luckily, recommendations from their selfish, brilliant advisor, Professor Grimes, should set them up for successful careers. But Grimes dies a grisly death while trying to enter the underworld, and Alice and Peter are separately, secretly convinced that they are each the one who killed him. What else is there to do but journey to hell together to try to get him back--and preserve their precious recommendations? This is a clever, strange, dark, and often darkly funny fantasy. The pacing flagged for me throughout the middle of the story, during the slog through various avenues of hell, and the worldbuilding felt slim and glossed over during some of the many courts of hell. I was, ultimately, here for the character development and redemption, which Kuang provides in satisfying fashion . The bendable, undefined rules of hell (which I didn't understand and which kept being sprung upon the reader) turned out to be quite convenient, and after Peter's disappearance, Alice shines as the sole problem solver, capable of sacrifice and dealmaking. R. F. Kuang is also the author of Yellowface , The Poppy War , Babel , The Burning God , and The Dragon Republic . Another book that involves an attempted escape from hell is Leigh Bardugo's Hell Bent . For my full review of this book please see Katabasis . 02 Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-Il Kim In this first installment of The Bleeding Empire, Kim sets three characters on paths to discover their worth, their purpose, and their power. When the protagonists' journeys intersect, the story ramps up in intensity and in epic scope. In Blood of the Old Kings , dead sorcerers power the empire, which has long been run on a system of necromancy and sacrifice. Arienne knew since she was a young girl that because she was born with magic, her future would end with her locked in chains in a casket, an essential, dark end used to benefit others by generating immense power. But when a long-dead sorcerer takes the shape of a voice in her head and pushes her to question the rules she's always lived by, Arienne dares to dream of defying her fate. Cain is savvy, street-smart, and living in the capital. When his best friend goes missing, he'll do anything to find out what's happened to her. Loran is a brokenhearted widow and a skilled swordswoman willing to make deep sacrifices to ally with the fated, powerful, dangerous dragon who might empower her and save them all. This three-character-driven plot sets the scene by exploring the unrest within the empire, the desperate struggles of its people; and the dark intents of those ruling it all. Each of the three main protagonists begin to understand their own power--and when their paths intersect, they realize that together, they are more formidable than they could have ever imagined. For my full review, please see The Blood of the Old Kings . 03 Voyage of the Damned by Frances White This wonderfully creepy lesbian vampire story is largely about female empowerment, but also about love, discovery, reinvention, and revenge. I loved each time period and the evolution of each strong female character . Schwab's lesbian vampire tale spans centuries, beginning in 1532 Santo Domingo de la Calzada as a young woman named Maria makes choices to shield her from being a man's pawn and vessel for children until her death--then enters into a future she never could have imagined. In 1827 London, naive young Charlotte lives a sheltered, lovely pastoral life, until an indiscretion results in her banishment to London society. There she encounters an intriguing widow with promises of freedom with deep repercussions. And in 2019 Boston, Alice is trying to break out of her shell at college, and a one-night stand feels like a daring start. But the evening leaves her forever changed, and she's bent on finding answers--and revenge. I loved that the women of each time insist upon creating situations in which they have autonomy and agency. The storyline threading the three timelines together is deliciously intriguing, and a character that was initially a wilting flower finds her strength, her purpose, and her desire for vengeance, all of which is satisfying to witness. For my full review please check out Bury My Bones in the Midnight Soil . Schwab is also the author of The Fragile Threads of Power , Vengeful , and the wonderful Invisible Life of Addie LaRue , as well as the Shades of Magic series. (The first two books in that series are A Darker Shade of Magic  and A Gathering of Shadows , each of which I gave four Bossy stars. You can check out my review of book 3, A Conjuring of Light , here .) 04 A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher This was dark, sometimes wryly funny, haunting, and intriguing, and the resolutions to the significant dangers at hand required the messy found-family to employ their collective intelligence, creativity, and teamwork. For some reason this was my first T. Kingfisher (this is Ursula Vernon's pen name) read, and I loved this retelling of the Grimm Brothers' story Goose Girl . Young Cordelia is becoming aware of her mother's significant power and reach, and she is terrified senseless. She is made to be magically "obedient" to her mother, and as such she is incapable of warning others about how dangerous her sorceress of a mother is--and how extensive and dastardly her plans are for those around her. The novel is sometimes funny, and it's consistently suspenseful and character-driven. I appreciated that resolutions weren't obvious or easy, that friendship and bonds were key, and that some overlooked, unlikely-seeming characters played important roles in the undoing of the evil at hand. Kingfisher's characters love, but they're never swoony. In an extreme version of keeping a stiff upper lip, they sometimes carry on wryly funny conversations, even in the midst of the quite dark forces threatening them. And the found-family element is a favorite of mine; Kingfisher builds this aspect poignantly, messily, and wonderfully. This story felt smart, strange, and intriguing. I can't wait to read more books by this author. I listened to this novel as an audiobook. Kingfisher/Vernon is a prolific author who has published many standalone novels as well as multiple series. For more fantasy novels I've loved, please check out the titles at this link . For my full review of this book please see A Sorceress Comes to Call . 05 The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig The shadowy, eerie tone of the first title in Gillig's Stonewater Kingdom series gives way to heartwarming, sometimes funny moments as an unlikely pack of allies sets out on a journey of discovery, complete with battles, evolving loyalties, and an increasingly high-stakes quest. The romantic aspect is less essential than the fantasy elements, which I appreciated. The first book in Rachel Gillig's Stonewater Kingdom series, The Knight and the Moth , considers Sybil Delling ("Six") and a group of five other foundling girls who have given up ten years of their lives to serve as Diviners, dedicating themselves wholly to being submerged in magical waters and conveying their visions and dreams of Omens at her abbess's whim. But the shrouded girls, who have bonded over the years like family, begin to disappear, and Sybil doubts for the first time whether their collective purpose is holy and noble after all. She starts to question the motivations of those with influence, including the abbess who has tasked them with the violent drowning dreams and the Omens themselves. I don't love an overly swoony, melodramatic "romantasy" story in which characters' energy is spent on pining and obsessing, where dramatic declarations overshadow a novel's fantasy elements. The Knight and the Moth  is built on a spare yet satisfying fantasy world with a limited number of characters and an essential engaging romance aspect that is far more than a swoony distraction. I really, really liked this balance. I can't wait for the next books in this series. For my full review, please check out this link . 06 The Summer War by Naomi Novik Novik's novella The Summer War  reads like a fable, with unexpected twists and turns; duty, clever evasion, and curses; a strange world full of vengeful creatures; and satisfyingly proud, brave moments for each of our main protagonists. The Summer War is a novella by one of my favorite authors. The day young Celia's oldest brother Argent left the house in their war-torn homeland, determined to head to battle, he did so with barely a backward glance, and she was furious with her idol. But she didn't know that her enraged curses, uttered in the heat of the moment, carried immense weight. Until that moment Celia didn't understand that she held magical powers, nor that in spouting off angry words, she would dooming her brother to a life spent seeking fame for brave acts without the possibility of feeling love. Celia must try everything she can to undo the hex she placed on her beloved Argent. The key might lie within the centuries-old war her people have waged against the ruthless summerlings--and the ferocious grudges those mysterious creatures have nurtured against the humans. The story dives into the plot with little hesitation (we do have to get going, after all--we only have 144 pages!), and its somewhat spare, streamlined structure made it feel like a fable or fairy tale. I don't read very many novellas, and regarding Novik and her rich world-building, charming supporting characters, and intriguing subplots, it was probably inevitable that I was going to be left wanting more at the conclusion of this short work. But that's due to my greedy reading habits and my active denial throughout reading this that this was always going to be fewer beloved Novik words than I wanted. Naomi Novik is the author of richly wrought fantasy novels featuring main protagonists I love: Uprooted  and Spinning Silver  as well as the story collection Buried Deep  and the Scholomance trilogy: A Deadly Education , The Last Graduate , and The Golden Enclaves . Novik has also written the Temeraire series of nine fantastic books about dragons, their riders, their friendships, and their wryly funny interactions. I received a prepublication edition of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Del Rey. Click here   for my full review.

Kitasei's stark dystopian science fiction sets sisters adrift in a future world where oceans have risen and consumed much of the earth. Leaving a stressful daily life of scarcity, two sisters embark on a far-fetched rescue mission for the third in this messy, danger-filled journey that tests each of their mettle. In a near-future world reeling from environmental catastrophe, oceans have risen and destroyed the cities along the world's coasts. Skipper and Carmen are sisters getting by with Carmen working and Skipper selling scavenged plastic from the water so they can get by and help care for their gruff, ailing grandmother. Their oldest sister, Nora, left home years earlier to try to help develop crops to sustain the world. Food shortages, job shortages, risen waters, mutated and often toxic wildlife, and scarcity in all areas mean life is stressful. They all have enough daily concerns to stop them from dreaming of anything more. But when Carmen and Skipper receive a desperate, cryptic plea for help from Nora, the younger sisters begin to worry that she's gotten mixed up in the dark underbelly of the business of chemicals, pollution, fortunes, and great power involved in crop production. They decide to set out across the dangerous sea and into the unknown to try to save her. Much of the novel centers around the sisters' unlikely, disaster-ridden ocean voyage, with dips into the past to revisit memories and further illuminate the reasons for their current-day dynamics and personality traits. Kitasei considers matters of duty and loyalty versus desire for individuality and imagination; emotional frigidity in the face of a crushing desire for warmth; and love, complications, and disappointments around family ties and friend bonds. The story is sectioned into disparate parts, and at times the sisters are privy to little or no information about the situation at hand. This creates a cold, distant tone for periods of the book. But the hard-fought connections between the sisters is often powerful and moving. The sisters persist in their ever-changing mission, never giving up and boosting one another when they despair, and, against all odds, they drive themselves forward, sometimes seemingly only by the force of their will. Kitasei offers multiple almost feral, incredibly strong female protagonists making their way in an unforgiving future world decimated by earlier populations, carelessness, and mistakes. The bonds between the sisters are never too easily forged, and the novel is never earnest-- Saltcrop is gritty, unrelenting danger balanced with adventure and layers of back story. It seems amazing that anyone lives through the novel's many challenging situations. More Books You Might Enjoy Yume Kitasei is also the author of The Deep Sky  and The Stardust Grail . You can find other books about life near the ocean , ocean voyages , and environmentally focused novels on this Bossy blog.

McCurdy translates the singular voice she displayed in her candid, darkly funny memoir into fiction with a story about a taboo relationship that serves as a catalyst for an increasingly strong young protagonist to reject what doesn't work for her and move forward with her life. McCurdy's unique voice came through loud and clear in her personal, unflinching memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died . The premise of her debut novel Half His Age  made me cringe, and I wasn't sure I was going to ultimately be able to read it, but I wanted to find out how McCurdy's significant command of narrative nonfiction storytelling would translate into fiction. Waldo is a seventeen-year-old senior working at Victoria's Secret after school, binge-buying cheap clothing online to fill the emotional void she often feels, and often sleeping alone in the trailer where she lives with her often-absent, man-crazy mother. She becomes wildly, lustily fixated on Mr. Korgy, her fortysomething, married creative writing teacher who shows her hints of encouragement in her work. McCurdy plunges the reader into a fascinating, deeply uncomfortable scenario in which Waldo, a young woman--legally underage at 17 when the story and relationship begins and certainly morally off-limits regardless of her official age--aggressively, sexually pursues the one character in the book who inspires her and seems to believe in her creativity, intellectual ability, and promise: her off-limits high school teacher. Waldo is eager for affection but in many ways is not a desperate young woman, nor is she gleefully testing the limits of the power of her sexuality. She is an untapped well of deep thought; she is an alternative mind in a small town seemingly without alternatives to the mainstream; and in terms of self-sufficiency and practicality, she is somewhat of an older soul in a nubile young body. Yet her youth--or at least her youthful fallibility--comes through in her frequent, obsessive online shopping. She realizes she cannot afford to do this, and sometimes she fills her cart without clicking through to pay, but she recognizes the act provides stimulation and dopamine hits she yearns for. She recognizes the shame spiral she creates with her buying-and-returning cycle (she feels that returning the cheap items comes with judgment about her income and class), but until she's in an all-encompassing situation with Mr. Korgy, this shopping is a frequent crutch. In Half His Age  McCurdy offers a complicated story about an illegal, inappropriate, mystifying, all-encompassing obsession. But the book is primarily about Waldo and her path forward. I had the feeling that if it hadn't been Mr. Korgy, Waldo would have wrestled with some other testing force, and it felt clear that she was always destined to emerge from a messy scenario as more fully herself, stronger, and increasingly determined. If--and this is an enormous if --we can consider the legal and moral atrocities of the relationship that drives the book somehow separately and compartmentalized from the story, it's clear that Half His Age features a strong main character who moves past sex, a desire for love, and a need for affection as the drivers of her actions. We watch Waldo (within a consensual but morally horrifying relationship) grow into herself as a young woman who knows what she wants, understands that her life could be expansive and hopeful, and recognizes that she can shed what is holding her back: limiting people, class judgment, poverty, and a lack of knowledge about the vast possibilities out there. McCurdy ultimately challenges the reader to see past the erotic relationship to the person Waldo is and the person Waldo becomes. Waldo wants what she wants--a grown-up relationship with someone who knows about culture and literature, someone who believes in her. She isn't allowed to desire Mr. Korgy (who she calls "Mr. Korgy" throughout the book, eeks), and he isn't allowed to accept her advances, yet they each do. But most importantly to me as a reader, as Waldo more fully lives into herself, Mr. Korgy, who takes up so much of her emotional energy and so much page time in the book, ultimately seems destined to fade away as a blip on her radar screen; while he has imploded his life and show himself to be small-minded, immature, and shallow, his presence in Waldo's life is a catalyst for the changes that take her away from her small existence and out into the world. McCurdy offers powerful, darkly funny, and suprisingly poignant moments with an edge. In Half His Age , she builds outstanding storytelling around a taboo, discomfiting situation. I listened to a prepublication version of Half His Age , which is wonderfully narrated by Jennette McCurdy, courtesy of Libro.fm and Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group. More Books You Might Like You can click this link for my Bossy review of I'm Glad My Mom Died . On the blog you can also find Bossy reviews of books about forbidden love , unconventional relationships , and books that intrigued while making me uncomfortable .

I really liked the magical realism, details of life in 1800s England, the young widow main character, the ocean voyage scenes, and the romance, but I had trouble pinning down the tone and the heart of the story, which followed a somewhat predictable path. In early 1800s England, Isabel is a young widow who is suddenly poor and plagued by destructive rumors after the Napoleonic Wars. She must flee her London home, and she heads for the Cornish coast where she was once mysteriously washed up as an orphaned small girl, wet and alone. While grieving her husband George, who she never had enough time to deeply know because of his naval career, she is thrust into a self-sufficient life, learning for the first time to make her own fires, shop at the market and cook, clean her house, and care for herself. Her kind, adoptive parents have passed on, and Isabel realizes that in her long absence, rich folklore has grown up around her in the community, and the locals largely believe that she is the daughter of a sea spirit, the Sea Bucca. This association carries powerfully held superstitions about her luck and good fortune. Isabel has always been a strong swimmer and loves the water, but she doubts this outlandish fable and her own role in it, although as time goes on she becomes more receptive to the possibility. When some of the smugglers who regularly run up and down the coast (widely providing eager customers in this area of England with French goods that would otherwise be too dear for anyone to consider) show up at her door with their injured captain, Jack, Isabel thinks of her husband, who suffered deadly injuries in the war and is now gone, and she takes in Jack to nurse him back to health, although this is considered an act of treason. Isabel is drawn to Jack, and she ultimately feels destined to head to sea--in a time in history when it was unacceptable for a woman to sail, much less sleep on a ship of men. Meanwhile she is trying to figure out the truth about her past. A local, self-important, creepy Revenue Officer who aims to hang any smugglers he can threatens not only Jack's but Isabel's safety. He is a thorn in the side of the couple. His role in the story, his bad-guy positioning, his threat of sexual predation, and his holier-than-thou views lead fairly predictably to his demise. The cover of this novel is gorgeous; the seaside setting is a favorite of mine, the ocean voyage is a particular love--and I adore a sprinkle of magical realism in my novels. I had trouble feeling invested in the novel, however. Wilgus often tells instead of showing, and it was difficult for me to pin down the tone and the heart of the story. The romance is a large element, and in this adventure-romance, as with many romance novels that follow a general pattern, I easily anticipated the broad strokes that occurred. The Jack-Isabel romance was set up cleanly and was clearly going to occur; the bad-guy Revenue Officer was going to serve as the villain; the Sea Bucca was going to serve as a mysterious but key force in an important moment; and Isabel and Jack would end up together. I especially appreciated the details of life in Isabel's tiny cottage, of the constraints of society of the time, of oceanfaring voyages, and of the swirling romance budding between Isabel and Jack. I received an electronic prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Ballantine and a beautiful hardcover edition of this title courtesy of Ballantine Books. This is Linda Wilgus's first book. More Seafaring and Related Novels You might want to check out these Bossy reviews of books about ship life , books set in the seaside , and books about ocean voyages . For more books set in the 1800s, take a look at these Bossy reviews .

Six More Favorite Fantasy Reads This is the second of three fantasy-favorite lists I'll have for you as I mine my reading for the Bossy best of the best from the past year. You can find my first list of favorites from the past year here . You can explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall favorite reads from last year, or you can read about past Bossy fantasy favorites here . If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think! What are some of your favorite fantasy reads, whether from the past year or beyond? 01 A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna Mandanna's is a fun magical story featuring an oddball cast of characters, satisfying justice, love, chosen family, funny dialogue, and heartwarming moments . Sera Swan was one of Britain's most powerful young witches. She showed so much promise, her skill threatened to overtake that of her belittling, greedy mentor. But she uses a forbidden spell to save the beloved aunt who raised her, and she is exiled from the magical Guild. Sera returns home to her magically enhanced inn, run by her treasured aunt. Sera's former mentor is out in the world wreaking havoc, grasping at ever-increasing power, and frightening other witches into doing his bidding. Meanwhile, Sera realizes that a very old spell exists that could restore her powers. Then Luke Larsen, a handsome, grumpy magical historian, comes to stay at Jasmine and Sera's inn along with his neurodivergent young sister, and suddenly Sera and her messy, oddball chosen family are forced to reconsider their collective futures. I loved Sera's discovery of her inner strength and her willingness to rewrite her future. This is heartwarming and shies away from being too cute yet is consistently charming. The dialogue is lovely, and the oddball set of characters is nicely developed. For my full review, please check out A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping . 02 Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger The first in the author's young adult steampunk Finishing School series offers wonderful, typically strong Carriger women with unique talents, clever minds, a nose for mystery, and next-level bantering capabilities . Fourteen-year-old Sophronia Temminnick constantly tests her mother's patience, as she's more apt to occupy herself by dismantling a clock or to arrive to tea disheveled, having climbed a nearby tree to ponder life's mysteries, than she is to master the proper curtsy or perfect her needlework, as is becoming to a Victorian-era young lady. So she is horrified to learn that she's been enrolled in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. But Sophronia soon realizes that the students at Mademoiselle Geraldine's aren't simply learning to dance and dress, but to use household items as weapons, use their feminine wiles to distract, and use diminishing assumptions about young women to craftily spy on unsuspecting victims. Sophronia is an immensely likable, clever, quick study who defies societal expectations. I loved the steampunk aspects--the airship transport, steam-powered mechanical animals, and the mechanical robot servants within the alternate Victorian England setting. For my full review, please check out Etiquette & Espionage . I loved the first book in Gail Carriger's five-book (plus a prequel short) Parasol Protectorate series, Soulless  and its sequel, Changeless . 03 Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab This wonderfully creepy lesbian vampire story is largely about female empowerment, but also about love, discovery, reinvention, and revenge. I loved each time period and the evolution of each strong female character . Schwab's lesbian vampire tale spans centuries, beginning in 1532 Santo Domingo de la Calzada as a young woman named Maria makes choices to shield her from being a man's pawn and vessel for children until her death--then enters into a future she never could have imagined. In 1827 London, naive young Charlotte lives a sheltered, lovely pastoral life, until an indiscretion results in her banishment to London society. There she encounters an intriguing widow with promises of freedom with deep repercussions. And in 2019 Boston, Alice is trying to break out of her shell at college, and a one-night stand feels like a daring start. But the evening leaves her forever changed, and she's bent on finding answers--and revenge. I loved that the women of each time insist upon creating situations in which they have autonomy and agency. The storyline threading the three timelines together is deliciously intriguing, and a character that was initially a wilting flower finds her strength, her purpose, and her desire for vengeance, all of which is satisfying to witness. For my full review please check out Bury My Bones in the Midnight Soil . Schwab is also the author of The Fragile Threads of Power , Vengeful , and the wonderful Invisible Life of Addie LaRue , as well as the Shades of Magic series. (The first two books in that series are A Darker Shade of Magic  and A Gathering of Shadows , each of which I gave four Bossy stars. You can check out my review of book 3, A Conjuring of Light , here .) 04 Silver Elite by Dani Francis While I should probably stop reading "romantasy" because I prefer my fantasy and romance to remain separate, I was taken with the double-edged quest, elite training, magical abilities, and complex conflicts between classes in the first in this dystopian series. In Dani Francis's dystopian novel, Wren Darlington is a Mod who has lived under the radar for her twentysomething years. A select few fellow members of the rebel Uprising are aware that she is psychic, but no one but her adoptive uncle is aware that she can, dangerously and inconsistently, incite--forcing others to do her bidding. But one careless, heroic move by Wren draws the attention of the enemy, and the military forces her to enlist in a training program for Silver Block. Wren attempts to sabotage her own success, but in order to aid the resistance she must excel and earn her way into Silver Elite, a small unit sure to access more sensitive information that could assist the rebels . Francis explores issues of class and race through her characters' strongly held assumptions and prejudices surrounding Mods and Primes, and Wren's fierce loyalty to her kind is complicated by the secrets she's keeping about abilities that would make her even more feared, a deeper outcast, and a terrifyingly unknown quantity to both types of person in her world. This is the first in a series and I'm really looking forward to reading the next installment. For my full review please check out Silver Elite . 05 The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty I loved the worldbuilding and the headstrong, powerful loose cannon of Nahri, as well as the Middle Eastern fantasy setting. I found myself yearning for the expert pacing, intrigue setup, and rich character development of my beloved Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi  by the same author . Nahri makes a living on the streets of eighteenth-century Cairo, skillfully thieving and honing her skills as a con artist. The only thing that isn't a lie is her mysterious ability to instinctually, instantaneously heal others and herself. During a con she accidentally summons a djinn warrior, Dara, and the two must flee across the desert to Daevabad, a magical city whose most powerful citizens rely on fire. But the city is split between two groups, those holding the throne and palace and those eking out a living on the streets. Centuries-old resentments and conflicts threaten to bubble up into war--and Nahri and Dara's arrival only serves to feed the flames of conflict. I loved the headstrong, powerful but untrained main character Nahri, the complex cultural backgrounds clashing in the book, and the Middle Eastern-based, fantastical worldbuilding. Chakraborty is also the author of the wonderful novel The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi , the first in the series of the same name; she published that book under the name Shannon Chakraborty. I listed Amina in the Greedy Reading List Six Four-Star (and Up) Science Fiction and Fantasy Reads I Loved in the Past Year . Click here   for my full review of The City of Brass . 06 The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman Grossman's reimagined Arthurian legend gives center stage to a ragtag band of misfits, celebrates diversity, and builds a patchwork of adventures, discovery, and widened horizons culminating in a satisfying new, reimagined path forward. Collum is an instinctually gifted, strong knight who has literally fought for sword training as a lowly ward; his family has little use for him; and his heart is set upon joining King Arthur's court. But when he finally makes his way to the Round Table, only elderly, impaired, has-been knights are left, and he learns that Arthur was killed weeks earlier. But Collum refuses to believe that a life as a knight is no longer possible for him. Along with Merlin's apprentice, Nimue, he becomes determined to usher in a new age, where Excalibur will be reclaimed, Camelot will be secure from would-be usurpers, and the kingdom will be inspired again by bravery and might . I appreciated the epic length of the book (688 pages), in which each remaining knight gets page time and a recounting of key adventures. But the many points of view and meandering stories also felt a little broad at times, and I wished for more focus on Collum, while understanding that his early-days position didn't warrant the majority of the storytelling. Grossman addresses issues of diversity in satisfying fashion; a transgender knight, a Muslim knight, and a gay knight are all represented. The full roster of knights--and the women who hold important roles in the tale--are all misfits who don't inspire great confidence, but collectively, they fight to find a path forward in a world that is changing around them. I listened to The Bright Sword  as an audiobook (it was twenty-three hours long). Click here   for my full review.

The second book in the series takes big swings with two large-scale mysteries (one that is hauntingly realistic and one that feels more outlandish) that only the wonderfully peculiar, genius PAR unit members of the FBI can solve. The mysteries take most of the focus, but we also witness some character development that I loved. The initial installment of John McMahon's police procedural series introduced Gardner Camden, a genius, socially awkward leader, and the rest of his special team of FBI investigators who reinvent methods of finding their culprit. That first book was a smart, intriguing, and satisfying mystery. In the second book in the Head Cases series, Camden is back on the job--with two enormous, strange, urgent, intersecting cases that it seems only the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) Unit can possibly unravel. The story twists and turns through confidential informants, militias arming themselves with black-market guns, a serial killer, and missing women with something bizarre in common. The two mysteries feel gigantic, with extensive ripples and effects. Their scale almost overshadows the character development I loved in book one. One of the mysteries is so strange and horrifying (and, seemingly, outlandish), I found myself physically cringing as I heard aspects of a big reveal of its specifics late in the book. But McMahon emphasizes the family connections for Gardner here as he does in Head Cases , seamlessly harkens back to important interpersonal issues and complications that helped shape the first book, and, ultimately, also allows some minor Gardner-related romantic groundwork to build. The personalities and individual strengths of each of the PAR members from book one shine and contribute to the solving of the complex mysteries at hand. Multiple characters have anguishingly close calls with death. I read Inside Man  as a library audbiobook through Libby. Will Damron was excellent as the narrator. I first heard about this series in a roundup of mystery novels recommended by national security agents. I'm in for all the books in this series. Please keep them coming, John McMahon! More Mystery Books to Check Out John McMahon is also the author of Head Cases , the first in this mystery series, as well as the P. T. Marsh series and other books. For more Bossy reviews of stories involving law enforcement officers, please check out the titles at this link . And for more mysteries I've reviewed, check out these lists and titles .

This classic memoir is told through letters between Hanff, living a passionate reader and writer's life in New York City, and a group of booksellers across the ocean who are struggling in postwar Great Britain. The structure allows for poignancy and wonderfully frank self-reflection. In interviews about her wonderful book The Correspondent , Virginia Evans mentioned another epistolary book, the 1970 classic memoir 84, Charing Cross Road , and I hadn't ever read it so I decided to dive in. This slim book consists of the charming twenty-year correspondence between a hotheaded, opinionated New York writer (Hanff) and an antiquarian bookseller in London, Frank Doel. Deep friendships build across the ocean through Hanff's particular book requests and life commentary, Frank's steady, warm replies, Hanff's postwar parcels of food and treats for the staff, and the grateful reactions sent her way. Along with Helene ("HH") and Frank's correspondence, the gradual expansion of Helene's communication to others working in the shop, Frank's wife, and, ultimately, his daughters, paints a poignant picture of the significant roles the pen pals played in each other's lives. The memoir's back-and-forth gems illuminate the evolving wartime struggles of British citizens such as the booksellers and their loved ones, and in comparison we hear of the relative largesse Hanff is able to provide from across the ocean. Yet it becomes clear that Helene lives a frugal New York City existence focused on books, self-taught education, writing, and stimulating her mind. Her generosity is significant, but her ability to share her meager resources emphasizes the chasm between the existences of the parties who are corresponding with each other. A much-anticipated, repeatedly postponed visit between the pen pals seems destined to never occur, yet the emotional bonds between the various parties are meaningful and substantial. Candid observations and occasional confessions flow freely between the friends who have never met in person. When one side suffers a loss, it is a blow felt on the other side of the ocean. The correspondence is only half Hanff's, but this epistolary memoir structure and its rich content allow for poignant self-reflection, honest observations, deep connections, and a rich portrait of the author. More from Hanff and More Epistolary Gems Helene Hanff is also the author of The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street and Q's Legacy . You can find my review of The Correspondent here ; and for more Bossy reviews of epistolary novels, please click this link .

DeLozier's debut novel is richly detailed historical fiction set in fourteenth-century Avignon. Eleanore is an herbalist who finds herself thrust into the role of an essential healer as the Black Death looms, dangerous rumors of witchery threaten, and she juggles family, a forbidden romantic interest, and her own shaky future. In Elizabeth DeLozier's historical fiction Eleanore of Avignon , it's 1347, and the titular character Eleanore is a young midwife and herbalist in Avignon living with her beloved, betrothed twin sister and their kind father. Eleanore is in the woods gathering herbs when she has a happenstance meeting with Guy de Chauliac (Guigo), the personal physician to Pope Clement. Eleanore talks herself into the role of his assistant and shares her deceased mother's tried-and-true herbal remedies, while he teaches her about surgery and allows her access to a rich library of knowledge. Her class, her gender, and the pervasive rumors of witchery involving her mother threaten to destroy Eleanore before she can even begin her future. At various turns, DeLozier showcases historically accurate, dangerous demonstrations of men's fears of capable, educated women. Eleanore's sudden access to Pope Clement as an increasingly respected and effective healer means that the scope of her world explodes. She occasionally speaks frankly in front of the Pope or asks blunt questions, and this feels satisfying to me as a reader, however unlikely that may have been. When a pregnant, storied Queen Joanna arrives in Avignon to stand trial for the murder of her husband, Eleanore is presented to her as her midwife, and Eleanore's power--and the danger if she should fail--grows. When the looming, terrifying Black Death reaches their lands, Avignon citizens, friends, and family members begin dying horrible deaths, and some days it seems that only Eleanore and Guigo, desperate to understand the disease's nature and treatment, stand between the plague and the decimation of their city's entire population. A dark, deranged figure from Eleanore's past reemerges, spouting rumors of witches and growing in influence. When Guigo falls ill, Eleanore tries to hold together all the pieces of her world and each of her immense challenges without being destroyed herself. Eleanore's sudden access to great figures is overly convenient, but this moves the story along nicely. DeLozier's research into the Middle Ages, plague, and the city of Avignon feels evident, and I particularly enjoyed the details that made the time and place feel immediate. The religious fervor, fears, and the queasily specific medical practices of the time (lancing buboes! cleansing the blood! burning fires to clear the air!) help the story come alive. Romantic storylines for the twin sisters diverge and serve as important elements in the plot and in the young women's character development. I liked the book's ending! More Books You Might Like I listened to Eleanore of Avignon  as a library audiobook via Libby. One of my favorites, Saskia Maarleveld , is the narrator. Elizabeth DeLozier's second book, The Whitechapel Full Moon Society , set in Victorian London, is slated for publication in August 2026. If you're interested in other books about female doctors, please check out the titles at this link .

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Tayari Jones's newest novel, Kin , about childhood friends and the diverging paths of two Southern women; I'm listening to Inside Man , the second book in the Head Cases mystery series about a special FBI unit solving complex mysteries; and I'm listening to memoirist Jennette McCurdy's debut fiction about an inappropriate obsession, Half His Age . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 Kin by Tayari Jones Young Annie and Vernice were best friends in small-town Louisiana. Both grew up without mothers, but then their paths diverged. Vernice headed to Spelman College, befriending powerful young women, fighting inequality, and finding her voice. Annie became fixated on her mother's absence, and her search for her place in the world led to adventure and bordered on self-destruction. Tayari Jones is also the author of An American Marriage . I received a prepublication edition of Kin courtesy of NetGalley and Knopf . 02 Inside Man (Head Cases #2) by John McMahon The initial installment of John McMahon's police procedural series introduced Gardner Camden, a genius, socially awkward leader, and the rest of his special team of FBI investigators who reinvent methods of finding their culprit. That first book was a smart, intriguing, and satisfying mystery. In the second book in the Head Cases series, Camden is back on the job--with two enormous, strange, urgent, intersecting cases that it seems only the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) Unit can possibly unravel. The story twists and turns through confidential informants, militias arming themselves with black-market guns, a serial killer, and missing women with something mysterious in common. I'm reading Inside Man as a library audbiobook through Libby. John McMahon is also the author of Head Cases . I heard about this series in a roundup of mystery novels recommended by national security agents. 03 Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy McCurdy's unique voice came through loud and clear in her personal, unflinching memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died . The premise of her debut novel Half His Age made me cringe, but I had to find out how McCurdy's command of narrative nonfiction storytelling would translate into fiction. Waldo is a seventeen-year-old senior working at Victoria's Secret after school, binge-buying cheap clothing online to fill the emotional void she often feels, and often sleeping alone in the trailer where she lives with her often-absent, man-crazy mother. She becomes wildly, lustily fixated on her fortysomething, married creative writing teacher, and in Half His Age McCurdy offers a complicated story about an illegal, inappropriate, mystifying, all-encompassing obsession. I'm listening to Half His Age , which is narrated by Jennette McCurdy, courtesy of Libro.fm and Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group.

Bossy Favorites of the Month Please enjoy this roundup of my six favorite reads of February--three medieval-set fantasy stories I loved; a messy family story of feuding and forgiveness; historical fiction about strong women and the power of books; and the first in an FBI procedural mystery series. I hope you've read some great books during this shortest month of the year. Have you read any of these titles? What were some of your favorite reads this month? 01 The Once and Future Queen (Lives of Guinevere #1) by Paula Lafferty A medieval setting, time travel, a quest, and intriguing complications--did Paula Lafferty write this book especially for me? She wrapped some of my favorite elements in funny banter, poignant (non-swooning) romance, and enough plot complexity to keep the whole thing chugging along and keep me riveted. I loved this . Twenty-two-year-old Vera is feeling generally aimless and unseen. Then a strange man comes to town, telling Vera an unbelievable story of her true origins and her destiny. He says that she is actually from Camelot, in King Arthur's time, and that he himself is Merlin. Oh, and that her full name is Guinevere, as in "Queen." He says that she was placed in her current time to grow up in safety into the woman she needed to be. The existence of the kingdom and magic itself are reliant upon Vera's time-travel back to Arthur's world, and only she can save them . Upon her arrival, she must figure out how to help the kingdom. Meanwhile, she finds that the traditional thinking about a Guinevere-Lancelot romance is off base, but Vera builds a friendship for the ages with Lancelot. This funny, poignant, powerful connection is one of my favorite aspects of the novel. I liked the injection of just enough modern feminism into a medieval setting (running! speaking her mind! wearing that modern underwear! jousting!). A newly imagined relationship with Arthur is hard-won and lovely. For my full review, please see The Once and Future Queen . 02 The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin The tone of The Secret Book Society  is darker than I'd anticipated, but appropriate as Martin explores weighty issues for women in Victorian England. The power of books and of friendship ultimately triumph in Martin's historical fiction . The women in Madeline Martin's Victorian London exist within tightly constrained rules and at the whims of their fathers' or husbands' often controlling, sometimes abusive, always limiting requirements. But when three women, all strangers to each other, are invited to the reclusive, three-times-widowed Lady Duxbury's home for tea, they discover a space where they can speak frankly about their lives and also about the revolutionary, modern, feminist books they secretly trade among themselves (and must hide from the aforementioned men). If you'd like to raise your blood pressure by reading about a bunch of destructive men subjugating women--sometimes seemingly on a whim and at other times systematically, in order to destroy their spirit and force complacency--this book should do the trick . The story becomes truly dark as it progresses, which I had not expected, but the issues explored within that time around women's lack of autonomy in all areas of their lives warrant a grim tone. The end of the story involves a dramatic death and the promise of solidarity for the women who move forward in their lives with each other's support. For my full review of this book please see The Secret Book Society . 03 Head Cases (Head Cases #1) by John McMahon The initial installment of John McMahon's police procedural series follows a genius, socially awkward leader and a special team of FBI investigators who reinvent methods of finding their culprit in a smart, intriguing, and satisfying mystery. Head Cases  tracks FBI agent Gardner Camden (who has a brilliant analytical mind but is interpersonally awkward) and his group of agents in the Patterns and Recognitions (PAR) unit. A recent murder victim's DNA matches a long-dead serial killer, and a string of bodies hold clues that seem to be left specifically for Gardner to find. He and his unorthodox team must use their areas of expertise and their instincts to solve the riddles and catch the serial killer who is killing serial killers--before he harms their loved ones and gets away with it all. This group of genius, odd, complementary main protagonists often felt like an FBI version of Slough House in Slow Horses , in the best way . This was smart, intriguing, action-packed at times, and both the complexity of the investigation and its resolution felt satisfying. I hope Head Cases  is made into a movie . Inside Man is the newly published sequel. For my full review, please check out Head Cases . 04 The Second Death of Locke (The Hand and the Heart #1) by V. L. Bovalino Bovalino's story hooked me with a main protagonist who's a female knight, her best-friend mage, intriguing magic, a terrifying destiny, showstopping secrets, danger and adventure, and a deep romantic connection. I loved every bit of the first book in Bovalino's Hand and the Heart series . Captain Grey Flynn is a knight pledged to protect the mage Kier, who she has known since she was a child. She is not only a blade but a source of magic, a well. Unbeknownst to others, she and Kier have gone through a forbidden process to become tethered, so that magic flows between them like an unspoken language. But Grey is also secretly in love with Kier . This, my friends, is my sweet spot for romantasy. There is no Outrageous Character Swooning meant to stand in for actual character development or used as a shortcut to attraction and bonds. Bovalino offers a wonderful in medias res  introduction to the deep emotional and platonic, affectionate connections between Grey and Kier. What keeps the main protagonists apart is a realistic-feeling set of emotional barriers intended to preserve their lifelong friendship--the stakes of messing with their friendship are understandably high. And Grey is keeping a significant secret; it keeps her somewhat at an emotional distance from Kier. All of this feels warranted. The magic in Bovalino's world is strange and the circumstances around the island feel like a grayscale, murky pause in the book's action and a potentially heartbreakng tease of a second chance. The pacing sloooowed during this section, but I was invested. You can read my full review here: The Second Death of Locke . 05 This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman The many points of view within Allegra Goodman's novel made it feel somewhat disjointed, but the peeks into each character's internal struggles, motivations, and emotions coalesced into final gathering scenes that felt poignant and hopeful for individual characters and for the family as a whole. This Is Not About Us  is poignant and wryly funny . Allegra Goodman's This Is Not About Us  is a story of an extended Jewish-American family. The three matriarchs are split by a death and then a feud (the impetus of the bitter rift is the making of a family-favorite apple cake after an agreement not to do so) that promptly blows up between the two remaining, elderly sisters and ultimately threatens to stretch on until their own deaths. The story is told through multiple points of view as the various Rubinstein family members navigate the dramas large and small that make up their individual and collective lives. The story's small moments are heartbreaking; the dialogue is often wryly funny; and the words that are unspoken are at times the most powerful communication between characters who flounder as they try to get out of their own way in order to love each other. The various perspectives allow for a more full picture of each character yet create a somewhat disjointed-feeling book as the novel jumps from person to person. The final section of the novel captures many of the characters in extended scenes together. This part of the book felt the most powerful to me, as I was able to witness interactions and dynamics among the larger group (after being privy to each person's inner workings) as the situation played out and to see the heart behind their foibles, struggles, and attempts to support and love each other. I received a prepublication edition of This Is Not About Us  courtesy of NetGalley and Random House (The Dial Press). Goodman's novel Isola   was one of my favorite reads of 2025. Click here   for my full review of This Is Not About Us . 06 The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri The Isle in the Silver Sea  offers a medieval setting, magical elements, a story within a story, romantasy without swooning,  and characters fighting to reimagine their futures. This fantasy novel about the power of storytelling was wonderful . In an alternate medieval England, an island exists because of stories. Those who play key roles in tales die and are repeatedly reborn into various versions of the characters they must play, and they are fated to reenact their own battles, love stories, and ends so that the isle and those on it may continue to survive. Simran is a strong female knight sworn to the queen, and Vina is a witch of the woods. They each know they have been called to be in a story, but when they meet, they feel an instant link--and it goes well beyond their roles in the story that they discover has been scripted for the two of them. Evil forces are in play, and Vina and Simran are discovering their fates, whether with or without each other, while also determining how to preserve their world. They fight, they figure things out, and they fall in love. They are reimaging what is possible, while remaining brave, worrying about their found-family members, and trying not to implode the future of civilization on their isle. I love romantasy that doesn't involve me to suspend my disbelief in order to buy into the relationship, and Suri offers up a wonderfully romantic, possibly doomed love story to feel angsty about and to cheer for. For my full review, please check out The Isle in the Silver Sea .

The tone of The Secret Book Society is darker than I'd anticipated, but appropriate as Martin explores weighty issues for women in Victorian England. The power of books and of friendship ultimately triumph in Martin's historical fiction. The women in Madeline Martin's Victorian London exist within tightly constrained rules and at the whims of their fathers' or husbands' often controlling, sometimes abusive, always limiting requirements. But when three women, all strangers to each other, are invited to the reclusive, three-times-widowed Lady Duxbury's home for tea, they discover a space where they can speak frankly about their lives and also about the revolutionary, modern, feminist books they secretly trade among themselves (and must hide from the aforementioned men). The guidance from Lady Duxbury, their new friendships, and their new reads are rejuvenating and inspiring forces for the young aspiring poet, the outspoken American with a fortune, and the mother cowering from her cruel husband. But all of the women of the time have a great amount at stake: they could find themselves committed unvoluntarily--and potentially permanently--to an asylum if the men in their lives determine that they are too headstrong, passionate, or inconvenient. If you'd like to raise your blood pressure by reading about a bunch of destructive men subjugating women--sometimes seemingly on a whim and at other times systematically, in order to destroy their spirit and force complacency--this book should do the trick. The male characters in The Secret Book Society are generally one dimensionally negative figures, although one father seems mildly redeemable and one husband feels promising in showing potential layers and redemption. Only one love-filled marriage is put forth. The characters spend little time discussing books (although now-classic feminist novels are mentioned), as their life issues become their collective focus for discussion and support. The story becomes truly dark as it progresses, which I had not expected, but the issues explored within that time around women's lack of autonomy in all areas of their lives warrant a grim tone. The end of the story involves a dramatic death and the promise of solidarity for the women who move forward in their lives with each other's support. I listened to The Secret Book Society  as a library audiobook through Libby . More Books about Books and Victorian-Set Novels I've Loved For Bossy reviews of other books about books, please check out the titles at this link . For other Victorian-set novels, check out this link . Madeline Martin is also the author of The Librarian Spy , The Last Bookshop in London , The Keeper of Hidden Books , and The Booklover's Library .

The many points of view within Allegra Goodman's novel made it feel somewhat disjointed, but the peeks into each character's internal struggles, motivations, and emotions coalesced into final gathering scenes that felt poignant and hopeful for individual characters and for the family as a whole. This Is Not About Us is poignant and wryly funny. Allegra Goodman's This Is Not About Us  is a story of an extended Jewish-American family. The three matriarchs are split by a death and then a feud (the impetus of the bitter rift is the making of a family-favorite apple cake after an agreement not to do so) that promptly blows up between the two remaining, elderly sisters and ultimately threatens to stretch on until their own deaths. The story is told through multiple points of view as the various Rubinstein family members navigate the dramas large and small that make up their individual and collective lives. The story's small moments are heartbreaking; the dialogue is often wryly funny; and the words that are unspoken are at times the most powerful communication between characters who flounder as they try to get out of their own way in order to love each other. Goodman thrusts the reader into the fraught dealings among husbands and wives, wives and wives, young siblings, grown siblings, partners, nieces and nephews, parents and children, and exes, including passive-aggressive snips, long-held resentments, well-meaning interference, stubborn anger, heartfelt confessions, and hints of growth and redemption. Unspoken messages are intuited; simple phrases belie perceived slights or underlying criticisms; and characters often assume to know each other's unvoiced motivations and intentions. (Often, the characters' imagined understanding of each other is accurate.) Characters repeatedly struggle to overcome their worst impulses; some connect deeply with animals, music, dance, or writing in ways that change them (and sometimes in ways that connect to ancestors' passions); and some fight for independence and privacy. Jewish tradition is interwoven through many of the family gatherings, sometimes reimagined into new iterations of long-held ways of connecting with the past and each other. The reader can see patterns of behavior snaking through generations, while other long-held conventions are snapped off abruptly, allowing for new paths and fresh beginnings. "Take it anyway." Surely Helen had hit rock bottom, not just giving, but forcing aid on those in need. "Please," she said. "Do me a favor. Take this from me." The various perspectives allow for a more full picture of each character yet create a somewhat disjointed-feeling book as the novel jumps from person to person. The final section of the novel captures many of the characters in extended scenes together. This part of the book felt the most powerful to me, as I was able to witness interactions and dynamics among the larger group (after being privy to each person's inner workings) as the situation played out and to see the heart behind their foibles, struggles, and attempts to support and love each other. Goodman captures the nuances of messy situations and layered interpersonal dynamics among a complex set of characters. I sympathized with the busybody grandmothers who can only sometimes hold their tongues, their blunt delivery of advice as they age and their time on earth runs short, and their superhuman attempts to open their rigid minds to modern and for them, unorthodox, scenarios. Goodman also presents sympathetic younger characters withholding information to avoid unsolicited feedback or, heartbreakingly, to preempt loved ones' too-intense emotional investment and potential disappointment. Goodman offers unvarnished peeks into the internal challenges and thoughts of each of the divorced characters in the novel's most sticky relationship, doling out equal responsibility for the marriage's end and equal credit for the newly imagined shape of their family. I received a prepublication edition of This Is Not About Us courtesy of NetGalley and Random House (The Dial Press). More Love for Allegra Goodman Allegra Goodman is a longtime favorite author for me. I first read her work 25 years ago, when I enjoyed her novel Kaaterskill Falls . Since then she has published many more novels, including Sam . Her novel Isola   was one of my favorite reads of 2025.

Sullivan's debut dystopian romantasy novel presents a fraught futuristic world where an elite group rules through laws around eugenics. I found myself wanting more worldbuilding and more depth for our main character in this first book in the series. Ariel Sullivan's futuristic world is centuries past a catastrophic world war that eliminated much of the human race, and things are run by an elite group of powerful people called the Illum. They mandate all marriage and procreation in the land for the Elite as well as for Major and Minor Defects. And in secret, the Illum control far more. Young adult Emeline lives a largely solitary life as a Minor Defect. She spends her days underground viewing holograms of artwork (the book references actual works of art) and clicking on many of them for permanent destruction, per her instructions from an unseen boss. Then an Illum does the unthinkable: for the first time in decades, an Illum intends to take a Mate. And it's a Defect: Emeline. Emeline is thrust into a whirlwind, mingling with powerful people and their traditions and conformity, instantly attracted to her prescribed Mate Collin, a brooding, doting toward Emeline, but professionally cruel and cutthroat man. Yet she is also drawn to Hal, a mischievous young man who is far from part of the Elite and who makes her think about the world differently than she ever has. (He shows up for the first time as the book begins, appearing in Emeline's underground workspace, the only person ever to do so, which seems oddly convenient for the story; he also seems to almost certainly be the purportedly mysterious Reaper.) But the love triangle that is taking shape has repercussions beyond anything Emeline could imagine. Strict class division, segregation, selective breeding, and eugenics are at the heart of this story and its conflicts. For such weighty, fraught, creepy, troublesome matters, the implications feel largely unexplored. This could be a case of setting up for book two. I wanted to understand Emeline's inner self more fully. But there seemed little depth to her. She demonstrates a generally flighty manner, ready to swoon over any male in her path, and she doesn't yet know her own mind. She shows unquestioning follow-through at work (Why is any person needed to click buttons to confirm destruction of art that is already designated for destruction? In a futuristic world, surely this could be automated?). She is caught between sympathizing with the resistance (including the Reaper) and her new position, poised to officially join the Elites. The glacial speed of her realization that she must choose sides doesn't feel justified and is somewhat frustrating to witness. Romance-wise, Emeline experiences an almost-immediate attraction to two men who are nearly precise opposites. Her swooning attraction doesn't seem based in the factors we are privy to. She experiences a constant anguish over her own inability to determine which of the two contradictory men she is most attracted to, and this mental back and forth feels interminable and bordering nonsensical. Note that she is, conveniently, also almost immediately irresistible to both of these men in turn. I enjoyed what was present in the novel, but the characters, the plot, the details, the worldbuilding, the overarching conflict, the feelings, and the motivations all felt too surface-level to achieve a cohesive story with enough depth to dig into. For me, Conform didn't dig into its dystopia or its romance fully enough to make me believe in or feel particularly invested in either. I wanted more. Much of the book feels designed to set up for later books, but I felt that this first installment in the series simply didn't deliver as much as I wanted it to. I listened to Conform as a library audiobook through Libby.com . Other Books You Might Enjoy Conform is Ariel Sullivan's first novel. The next installment in this series is scheduled for publication in March under the title Beneath . Click the links here to explore Bossy reviews of other dystopian , fantasy , and romantasy titles.

The Bright Years tracks a family through years of life shaped by alcoholism, secrets, tragedy, and messy redemption. The story kept me at an emotional remove, but I was most struck by Damoff's characterization of addiction and those in its orbit. Sarah Damoff's novel begins with a young couple, both reeling from past traumas, who forge a future together. But secrets, addiction, and disappointment are threads that run through their lives and largely keep them apart. The Bright Years follows multiple generations through ups and downs, and tracks the messy mix of joy and sadness that make up the many days, months, and years in the characters' lives. The book's synopsis paints a picture of a potentially charged story, but Damoff tells us this story rather than showing it, which kept me somewhat removed from its immediacy and from feeling a strong emotional link to it. Details at times felt too cute for me and took me out of the moment. The sometimes too-clean links placed in the reader's path made me feel a little undervalued as a reader able to draw my own links, and for me this also made the novel feel a little bit overplanned and less authentic than it might have felt. (One minor example: When Gette is a grown woman, she conveniently recalls a moment when she was a very young child and her mother cried when reading a story to her, and she specifically recalls that the book was Are You My Mother? which ties in quite neatly to a key secret within the book.) For me, the strongest element of the novel was the laying bare of the unreliability, heartbreak, and hopelessness of addiction. Because we spend the majority of time in Lillian's point of view (we later hear from Ryan and daughter Georgette--called Gette), we witness the struggle to exist in the orbit of someone floundering through life with alcoholism without being sucked into a loved one's whorl and destruction. She raises Gette alone, first lonely, then resigned, then, terrifyingly, hopeful again. When we hear from Ryan, we view his crooked logic; his wreck of a path forward; his pattern of behavior, which is shaped by his life in the shadow of his broken father; and, ultimately, some redemption. I loved that Damoff didn't make the reconciliations among characters too fast, clean, or easy. After prolonged disappointment, hardened hearts, failed attempts, and years of heartbreak, coming back together requires imaginging and building a new version of relationships and boundaries, forgiveness and forgetting, and Damoff deftly handles this realistically muddled jumble of confusion and the hints of hope that slowly emerge. I received a prepublication edition of The Bright Years , which was published last spring, courtesy of NetGalley and Simon & Schuster. More Family Stories If you like reading stories about families, you might want to check out the books at this link . For more books that address addiction, please take a look here . Check out this link for redemption stories, this link for books with family secrets , and for stories about difficult family situations, check out these books .

A medieval setting, time travel, a quest, and intriguing complications--did Paula Lafferty write this book especially for me? She wrapped some of my favorite elements in funny banter, poignant (non-swooning) romance, and enough plot complexity to keep the whole thing chugging along and keep me riveted. I loved this. Twenty-two-year-old Vera is the beloved only child of two dear parents, but the rest of her life is a shambles. Her love Vincent died in an accident, her father is very ill, she's waiting tables, and she feels generally aimless and unseen. Then a strange man comes to town, telling Vera an unbelievable story of her true origins and her destiny. He says that she is actually from Camelot, in King Arthur's time, and that he himself is Merlin. Oh, and that her full name is Guinevere, as in "Queen." He says that she was placed in her current time to grow up in safety into the woman she needed to be. The existence of the kingdom and magic itself are reliant upon Vera's time-travel back to Arthur's world, and only she can save them. Was this premise developed for me and my personal reading enjoyment? I happily fell into this story hook, line, and sinker. When Vera plunges into the past, she retains reservations about the situation (she also insists on bringing her jog bra, modern underwear, and running shoes; this complicates things in time-travel world but I loved it), and Arthur clearly harbors reservations about her. She wants to help as directed but isn't sure how to achieve her goal of saving Camelot. And growing conflicts, puzzling developments, and murky motivations and loyalties complicate everything. Vera struggles against the powerful, mysterious former presence of herself as Guinevere, looming like a specter, and she frequently must puzzle out the meaning behind her prior acts and feelings as that other version of herself. I was disappointed that she doesn't dig into her former self's memories enough to unlock a real connection between her current and prior times and existence; I was hoping to more deeply link the Vera we know to the Guinevere of the past and to witness her reconciliation between them and better understanding of her whole self. She finds that the traditional thinking about a Guinevere-Lancelot romance is off base, but Vera builds a friendship for the ages with Lancelot. This funny, poignant, powerful connection is one of my favorite aspects of the novel. I liked the injection of just enough modern feminism into a medieval setting (running! speaking her mind! wearing that modern underwear! jousting!). A newly imagined relationship with Arthur is hard-won and lovely. Lafferty handily skirts the logistical difficulties of time travel and modern-medieval (Middle English) communication with a "magic will automatically translate" solution that I was all in for. Vera naughtily and hilariously brings a few minor modern elements into the past (high-fiving; rock paper scissors) while Merlin frowns about the implcations. One frustration I had with the book: Vera is not in fact essential to discovering why magic is seeping from the realm as Merlin originally posited, so her uprooting of her life and everyone else's years-long workarounds were not necessary--except for my own significant reading enjoyment. I found this unsatisfying but loved the rest of the book so much, I was ready to overlook it. Gawain (a favorite, scene-stealing character) is key to that discovery. And we are all set up for a book two. I listened to The Once and Future Queen as a library audiobook via Libby . It's narrated by the fantastic Julia Whelan. My friend Jamie told me about this book, and as we both read it we messaged each other with our adoration for the whole situation. The Once and Future Queen is the first in a series from Lafferty about Vera/Guinevere. (She first funded this book's publication as La Vie de Guinevere through Kickstarter.) The second installment is not yet published. More Books You May Love For more books I've read with medieval settings, please check out the titles at this link , and feel free to check out these Bossy reads about knights . For more books about time travel, one of my favorite narrative devices, please check out these titles .

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Sarah Damoff's novel about family generations, patterns, and the fascinating, messy nature of life, The Bright Years ; I'm listening to Elizabeth DeLozier's historical fiction, set in 1347 France as the plague begins to spread, Eleanore of Avignon ; and I'm listening to Helen Hanff's short epistolary memoir, the classic 84, Charing Cross Road . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff Sarah Damoff's novel begins with a young couple, both reeling from past traumas, who forge a future together. But darkness and pain drive them apart, and secrets, addiction, and disappointment are threads running through their lives and keeping them separate. The Bright Years follows multiple generations through messy phases of life--ups and downs, and the many days, months, and years that built upon both great joy and intense sadness. I received a prepublication edition of The Bright Years , which was published last spring, courtesy of NetGalley and Simon & Schuster . 02 Eleanore of Avignon by Elizabeth DeLozier In Elizabeth DeLozier's historical fiction Eleanore of Avignon , it's 1347, and titular character Eleanore is a young midwife and herbalist in Avignon. After a happenstance meeting with Guy de Chauliac, the personal physician to Pope Clement, Eleanore talks herself into the role of his assistant. She shares her deceased mother's tried-and-true herbal remedies, and he teaches her about surgery and allows her access to a rich library of knowledge. But when the Black Death reaches their lands, citizens, friends, and family members begin dying horrible deaths, and some days it seems that only Eleanore and Guy, desperate to understand the disease's nature and treatment, stand between the plague and the decimation of their city's entire population. 03 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff In interviews about her wonderful book The Correspondent , Virginia Evans mentioned another epistolary book, the classic memoir 84, Charing Cross Road , and I hadn't ever read it so I decided to dive in. This slim book consists of the charming twenty-year correspondence between a hotheaded, opinionated New York writer (Hanff) and an antiquarian bookseller in London, Frank Doel. Deep friendships build across the ocean through Hanff's particular book requests and life commentary, Frank's steady, warm replies, Hanff's postwar parcels of food and treats for the staff, and the grateful reactions sent her way. Along with Helene ("HH") and Frank's correspondence, the gradual expansion of Helene's communication to others working in the shop, Frank's wife, and, ultimately, his daughters, paint a poignant picture of the significant roles the pen pals played in each other's lives.

Six Favorite Fantasy Reads This is the first of three fantasy-favorite lists I'll have for you as I mine my reading for the best of the best from the past year. You can explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall favorite reads from last year, or you can read about past Bossy fantasy favorites here . If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think! What are some of your favorite fantasy reads, whether from the past year or beyond? 01 The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow The Everlasting  involves jaunts through multiple versions of the same story, as our fantastic main protagonists shift and change, bravely outsmart those who would control them, dare to hope for a future together, and fight dark forces until the bitter end. This is adventure-heavy, sometimes tender, and always intriguing. I loved it. Centuries after the death of the legendary Sir Una Everlasting , spindly, awkward, cowardly historian Owen Mallory unearths her story--and becomes inexorably intertwined with the events of Una's life as they occur in the past. Harrow's tale involves multiple do-overs and attempts to shift events and alter reality--while the unlikely couple of Una and Owen fall in love again and again. The Everlasting  is filled with rich adventure; twisty jaunts through time; tragedy and loss; dark turns, boundless hope; messy, happy discoveries; outsmarting those in power; and noble victories. It ticked a million boxes for me as a reader. This is the type of romantic fantasy I adore. No swooning, childish behavior, or foolishness, just hard-won connections, deep character development, bravely defying expectations, and absolutely lovely love. This broke my heart and mended it over and over, in the best ways possible. For my full review, please check out The Everlasting . The Everlasting was one of my favorite reads across all genres in 2025. You can check out my full list of favorites here . 02 The Book of Love by Kelly Link In Kelly Link's wonderfully oddball debut novel The Book of Love , she uses every bit of the book's 640 pages to build realities, possibilities, magical developments, quirky fun, deep connection, and second chances you'll be cheering for. Teenagers Mo, Daniel, and Laura have tragically disappeared from their hometown of Lovesend, Massachusetts, and have been presumed dead. One year later, they find themselves sitting in a fluorescent-lit classroom in their seaside town with Mr. Anabin, their high school music teacher, before them. They soon realize that Mr. Anabin is capable of powerful magic, that he knows where the teens have been trapped for the past year and why, and he's advising them on what to do next. Along with a quirky, sassy magical being whose intentions are unclear, Mr. Anabin offers them a chance to compete in magical tasks in order to reclaim their lives. I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending, but I also appreciate that Link didn't take an easy way out in which the teens and their allies fix everything, voila! Some aspects are resolved, while others are left in a limbo that feels appropriate in its uncertainties and dark shadows. This is twisty and odd, quirky and fun, and has lots of heart. At almost 650 pages long, there's enough page time for Link to build various realities, tear them down, and reimagine new ones while the reader scrambles to keep up. The Book of Love  explores reality, connections, loyalty, possibilities, and second chances. I was hooked. I received a prepublication edition of this book (which was published the year prior, oops!) courtesy of NetGalley and Random House. For my full review, please check out this link . 03 Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1) by Sebastien de Castell Kellen begins as a principled, headstrong young man lacking in the magic crucial for power, familial stability and social standing in his world. By the end of the book he is satisfyingly resolved, stronger, and accepting of his complicated fate. “I’m a woman, kid. You probably haven’t met one before, coming as you do from this backward place, but it’s like a man only smarter and with bigger balls.” Kellen is struggling in his mage's trials aimed at earning him a name among his privileged people, the Jan'Tep. And the struggle feels even worse because his younger sister is living up to the family's powerful name by demonstrating more powerful magic than any student in their school. But Kellen's magic hasn't come in--and he fears that it never will. But as he uses his smarts, his unlikely allies, and his loyalty to get by, he finds himself discovering uncomfortable truths about his family and his community--and questioning everything he thought he knew. I loved the characters' dynamics, the outsider Ferius Pargosi who becomes a mentor and deeply loyal friend, the quest, the uprising of the downtrodden, and the setup to book two, Shadowblack , which I definitely want to read. I also appreciated witnessing Kellen's tough road to self-acceptance--particularly in light of his discovery that his parents have hidden, tamped down, and diminished his particular type of magic, deeming it destructive to Kellen and to the family's status. I can't wait to see him come into his own in book two. For my full review please check out Spellslinger . 04 Hemlock & SIlver by T. Kingfisher Based on my two Bossy reads so far, T. Kingfisher writes my favorite kind of fantasy novel: a wonderfully oddball main protagonist, a strange adventure, a mystery to be solved, and simmering romance with No Swooning or Annoying Drama whatsoever. I loved this story about an expert in poisons, with banter and clever deduction in an imagined world. In Hemlock & Silver , Anja is a healer who since her young cousin's preventable death has obsessively focused on learning about, combating, and teaching others about poisons. To determine antidotes and treatments, she must regularly ingest deadly substances, but duty calls. She's somewhat of a loner, part of a beloved family, and a merchant's daughter, but she's plainly dressed, tall, work-driven, and uninterested in social niceties, so she spends her time exhaustively researching and trying to help those who have ingested a potentially harmful substance. But when the king personally arrives at her workshop, desperate for help with his sole surviving daughter, who he suspects is being poisoned, Anja must not only navigate the ins and outs of royal customs, adjust her practical wardrobe, and leave her personal research behind to travel to the king's distant palace. I am allllll in on Kingfisher's novels. Everyone who recommended this author's work to me was correct, and I have no one to blame but myself for the delay in diving in. Kingfisher imagines richly imagined fantasy worlds, and within them she slots fantastically imperfect and wondrous main protagonists whose thoughts, dialogue, motivations, and actions have me completely hooked. Romantic undercurrents are wonderful, and there is No Swooning or Ridiculousness. This is my fantasy sweet spot. For my full review of this book please see Hemlock & Silver .   05 The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path #1) by Antonia Hodgson The first book in Hodgson's trilogy is smart, mysterious, charming, and layered. I loved the dark academia setting; the brilliant, socially awkward, unlikely heroine Neema; and the strange elements, such as talking, opinionated, sensitive ravens that are not only linked to Neema but a part of her . Neema Kraa has been keeping busy as High Scholar in the land of Orrun, and her focus hasn't been on making friends. The imperious genius is eager to preserve the peace that has reigned for twenty-four years--but forces that she doesn't yet understand are tearing apart the kingdom. A representative from each of the seven regions must compete to replace their ruler, who is about to step down. The ruthless young competitors are warriors and strategists who have been cultivating the skills and cunning for this their whole lives. And after a series of unlikely, unfortunate events, bookworm Neema becomes one of them--the least threatening, as she is clearly doomed to fail the dangerous challenges and battles and probably won't survive the ordeal. The Raven Scholar  is smart, charming, and wonderfully weird. I love the headstrong, unyielding, unlikely-heroine Neema and the dark-academia elements. There is a romantic element, but this is, happily for me, a richly built fantasy and not a romantasy. The romance is lovely, poignant, and just enough. Click here   for my full review of The Raven Scholar . 06 Shield of Sparrows (Shield of Sparrows #1) by Devney Perry This first installment in the series sets up an overlooked princess who becomes a heroine; deadly monsters who may be being treated unfairly; an enemies-to-lovers romance; and shifting loyalties. The dialogue is often dramaaaatic, but I'm in for the next book. Odessa is the oldest daughter of a king, but she has always felt like a placeholder; her father has always focused on vigorously teaching and training her younger sister May as his heir. You might predict that Odessa will be the unlikely heroine of this story when you find out that she has red hair . This character is not going to go along with the plans set out for her, everyone! Dear reader, she is going to end up being brave, and finding love, and and Doing the Right Thing. I knew all of this was coming, but I didn't mind it. I did, however, grow weary of Dess's repeated rhetorical questions and revisiting of the same issues over and over, neither of which felt like it moved the plot forward. The dialogue is sometimes dramaaaaatic, but generally the pacing rolled right along in this one. This first romantasy in Perry's planned trilogy offers monsters, royalty, secrets, hidden identities, battle training, some oddly modern-seeming profanity, and, abruptly, some steamy scenes. The swearing felt modern, but the setting felt more medieval. I listened to this as a TWENTY-HOUR audiobook. For my full review of this book please see Shield of Sparrows .

Bovalino's story hooked me with a main protagonist who's a female knight, her best-friend mage, intriguing magic, a terrifying destiny, showstopping secrets, danger and adventure, and a deep romantic connection. I loved every bit of the first book in Bovalino's Hand and the Heart series. Captain Grey Flynn is a knight pledged to protect the mage Kier, who she has known since she was a child. She is not only a blade but a source of magic, a well. Unbeknownst to others, she and Kier have gone through a forbidden process to become tethered, so that magic flows between them like an unspoken language. But Grey is also secretly in love with Kier. Early in the story Grey, Kier, and choice members of their army are assigned to the protection of a young woman and told to spirit her through the mountains to safety. She is believed by many to be the key to the land's future and the heir to its magic. But she is not who the army thinks she is...and Grey herself is hiding an enormous secret about her own identity, which not even Kier knows. This, my friends, is my sweet spot for romantasy. There is no Outrageous Character Swooning meant to stand in for actual character development or used as a shortcut to attraction and bonds. Bovalino offers a wonderful in medias res introduction to the deep emotional and platonic, affectionate connections between Grey and Kier. What keeps the main protagonists apart is a realistic-feeling set of emotional barriers intended to preserve their lifelong friendship--the stakes of messing with their friendship are understandably high. And Grey's secret is significant; it keeps her somewhat at an emotional distance from Kier. All of this feels warranted. As danger intrudes upon the story and everything Grey and Kier have known feels up in the air, their relationship changes, and the dramatic development of a romantic relationship when death is breathing down their necks feels warranted, perfectly complicated, and heartstoppingly saucy. When the swooning arrives, it's after Bovalino has set the perfect stage for it. The magic in Bovalino's world is strange and the circumstances around the island feel like a grayscale, murky pause in the book's action and a potentially heartbreakng tease of a second chance. The pacing sloooowed during this section, but I was invested. I found the ending a little bit unsatisfying, but I didn't expect the direction the story took, either. Bovalino doesn't offer easy answers, but messy, fought-for, and deserved resolutions. I loved this. I listened to The Second Death of Locke  as a library audiobook on Libby . Please check out these Bossy reviews of medieval-set books . You can click this link for more books about knights. More from V. L. Bovalino The second book in the Hand and the Heart series is currently scheduled for publication in fall 2026 and is titled The Thief and the Traitor Bride . Bovalino writes young adult novels under the name Tori Bovalino; this is her first book for adults.

The premise and wild tangle of storylines--not deep character development--are the highlights in this story about an easy-to-hate villain and his shocking, dastardly deeds. Strong women prevail in a messy lead-up to imperfect but ultimate justice. I've been continuing my cold-weather mystery-reading habits, and Lisa Jewell is always a good bet for an intriguing story, so I was excited to listen to another of her novels. After Nina Swann's semi-famous chef husband Paddy is killed, Nina receives a condolence card from a stranger to her, one of Paddy's former colleagues, the handsome Nick Radcliffe. Nick follows up with in-person charm and comfort. But Nina's young-adult daughter Ash thinks Nick might be too smooth, and the timing of his entrance into their lives seems strange to her. Meanwhile, Martha is running a small-town florist shop, sometimes with the help of her husband Alistair. But lately he's been acting oddly, leaving town suddenly and remaining unreachable for long stretches of time. As the female characters in Don't Let Him In  begin to ask questions about the men in their lives, they head on a crash course straight toward each other--and the truth. I was hooooked on this premise (spoiler alert!) in which a man lives out multiple overlapping lives, deceiving and lying all the while. Jewell offers a peek at the psychologically twisted motivations of the story's main protagonist, his dissatisfaction with his lot in life, his greed for the next conquest, and his misguided hope that he will be satisfied by a "perfect" woman and can attain an ideal set of life circumstances. The stakes grow ever higher as his irrational fixations come up short--and as various women begin to find cracks in his story. Some of the lengths he goes to feel at times extreme and dramatic, but I was fine with rolling with all of it, because so are his self-crafted tangle of identities, hidden crimes, and delusional, I-deserve-this pie-in-the-sky dreams. I was in for the over-the-top mania and the slow unraveling of his terrible lies, all of which pick up speed as various women race to unmask the man and reveal his chillingly methodical manner of imploding the lives around him. Dipping in and out of the protagonist's various identities and life paths (and those who surround him) doesn't allow for significant depth in character development, but that's not what Don't Let Him In is built upon. The creepy premise, the interwoven story structure, the dark plot, the psychopathic impulses, and the eventual mission of renegade justice are what drive this story and offer its intrigue. I physically cringed each time another vulerable female character who was, understandably, looking for companionship, adoration, and love fell into the web of this abomination of a man-child who thinks he deserves anything he lays eyes upon and who resists any sense that his deadly entitlement warrants repercussions and punishment. Nothing can fully undo the wrongs of the past, but Jewell makes things satisfyingly messy and complex as the story draws toward a close, and the novel's final scenes offer some justice. Strong, determined women prevail! I listened to Don't Let Him In  as a library audiobook on Libby . More Mystery Love Lisa Jewell is also the author of The Family Upstairs , None of This Is True , and other books. You might want to check out the lists and titles at this link for more Bossy mystery reviews.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Allegra Goodman's newest novel, which follows members of an extended Jewish-American family through life dramas large and small, This Is Not About Us ; I'm listening to Paula Lafferty's first novel in a series about a modern-day young woman told she is actually Queen Guinevere and asked to return to Camelot to save magic, The Once and Future Queen ; and I'm reading Yume Kitasei's climate fiction featuring two sisters determined to save their oldest sibling, Saltcrop . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman Allegra Goodman's This Is Not About Us is a story of an extended Jewish-American family. The three family matriarchs are split by a death and a feud that promptly takes place between the two remaining, elderly sisters and threatens to stretch on until their own deaths. The story is told through multiple points of view as the various Rubinstein family members--grown children, grandchildren, exes, and partners--navigate the dramas large and small that make up their individual and collective lives. I received a prepublication edition of This Is Not About Us , which was published February 10, courtesy of NetGalley and Random House (The Dial Press) . I first read Allegra Goodman's work 25 years ago, when I enjoyed her novel Kaaterskill Falls . Since then she has published many more novels, including Sam . Her novel Isola was one of my favorite reads of 2025. 02 The Once and Future Queen (Lives of Guinevere #1) by Paula Lafferty Twenty-two-year-old Vera is the beloved only child of two dear parents, but the rest of her life is a shambles. Her love Vincent died in an accident, her father is very ill, she's waiting tables, and she feels generally aimless and unseen. Then a strange man comes to town, telling Vera an unbelievable story of her true origins and her destiny. He says that she is actually from Camelot, in King Arthur's time, and that he himself is Merlin. Oh, and her name is Guinevere, as in "Queen." He says that the kingdom and magic itself are reliant upon Vera's time-travel back to Arthur's world, and that only she can save them. This is the first in a series from Lafferty about Vera/Guinevere. The second installment is not yet published. For more books I've read with medieval settings, please check out the titles at this link , and feel free to check out these Bossy reads about knights . 03 Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei In a near-future world reeling from environmental catastrophe, oceans have risen and destroyed the cities along the world's coasts. Skipper and Carmen are sisters getting by selling scavenged plastic from the water so they can care for their ailing grandmother. Their oldest sister, Nora, left home years earlier to try to help develop crops to sustain the world. But when Carmen and Skipper receive a desperate, cryptic plea for help from Nora, they must set out across the sea and into the unknown to try to save her. Yume Kitasei is also the author of The Deep Sky and The Stardust Grail .

Six More Favorite Contemporary Fiction Reads This is the third of three contemporary fiction lists I've put together as I've mined my recent-past reading for my favorite reads of the past year--you can find my first list of contemporary fiction favorite reads from last year here and my second list here . And you can explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall favorite reads from last year, or you can read about past Bossy contemporary fiction favorites here . If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think! What are some of your favorite contemporary fiction reads, whether from the past year or beyond? 01 The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai Desai's first novel in decades is a 688-page tale that meanders through India, New York, family and romantic relationships, and career false starts, with missteps, mysterious, powerful magical realism elements, and an undercurrent of darkness and despair. The messy resolutions felt appropriately hard-fought after the characters' extended struggles. Sonia is living away from her Indian family while she studies writing in Vermont, and after growing up used to having multiple family members around, feeding and speaking to her constantly, Sonia is still adjusting to the quiet of college, only having one housemate, and the cold and snow. Sunny is a journalist in New York City, eager to escape his overbearing family home in India. This is not a straightforward novel. Desai offers an ambitiously meandering tale in which many issues stretch out, increasingly twisted and unresolved, for much (sometimes all) of the book, often with little sense of progress for our characters. Desai weaves darkness, powerful superstition, and magical realism through a wide-ranging story about family, tradition, fear, missteps, danger, and obtuse elements whose significance only in the end become clear(er) to our main protagonists. The situations around relationships and life choices are often messy, complex, mystifying, and frustrating. Current-day conflicts link to generational trauma, storytelling, and mysterious power. Kiran Desai is also the author of The Inheritance of Loss . I listened to the 688-page The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny  as a 25.5-hour audiobook. You can read my full review by clicking this link . 02 Bunny (Bunny #1) by Mona Awad Bunny begins with an outcast main protagonist in a MFA program who's infuriated by her twee fellow seminar students. It builds into an increasingly unhinged, intriguing phantasmagoria, equal parts dark nightmare and outrageously silly absurdity. Samantha is a scholarship MFA student at the progressive Warren University in New England. An outsider, a solitary type immersed in her own sometimes dark writing, she is disgusted by the rest of her cohort--childish women who call each other "Bunny," dress in twee outfits, speak in high voices, and, aside from their hilariously outrageous creations, seem to be of one unimaginative mind and to operate in a mindless echo chamber of nonsense. But then the Bunnies invite Samantha to their "Smut Salon" and into their hive mind of dottiness. She becomes oddly entrenched in their circle, then increasingly unsure of herself and vulnerable. She ditches her few true friends, also outsiders, and feels at a loss to determine the line between reality and richly imagined dark, seemingly impossible developments. Just as the novel felt as though it were lasting too long for me and began to teeter toward the tedious; just as I wondered if I could stand to listen to the Bunnies' perfectly horrible, put-on baby voices for another couple of hours (narrator Sophie Amoss deftly handles the voices in this novel to great effect), the story went in a truly unhinged direction that intrigued me. It's difficult to describe how bonkers this story is. I was surprised by how hooked I became on it. This is not a book I would universally recommend, but for an audience that appreciates cutting satire and a bananas story, this one will fit the bill. For my full review of this book please see Bunny .   03 The Names by Florence Knapp Knapp's novel explores three life paths for a set of characters, all set into motion by the naming of the youngest child--whimsical, Mom's choice, or named for his cruel father. The trauma was difficult to read, but the various timelines were fascinating, as were the intersections of events and characters among them. Florence Knapp's novel The Names  explores three paths in a life--determined by three different names given to a baby upon his birth. In one timeline, an abused wife makes a stand for a whimsical name suggested by her daughter Maia, Bear; in a second, she makes a less aggressive but unsanctioned name choice that's her favorite, Julian; in a third, she registers her baby's name as "junior" to her brutal husband Gordon. In this sliding-doors story, the three paths diverge dramatically, and the whole family's destiny is shaped in different ways for each option. Each timeline produces a vastly different boy, a significantly shaped sister Maia, drastically different paths for mother Cora, and altered futures for father Gordon. Supporting characters make Easter-egg appearances in other timelines. None of the paths are too easy or perfect, but each offers varied satisfaction and challenge in the form of justice, tragedy, self-realization, fulfillment, confidence, and hope. The epilogue surprised me; I wasn't sure it was necessary or that I bought into the point of view and the version of a reckoning that it offered, but it was an interesting way to set up slight closure to the story. I found this novel fascinating. Please click here  for my full review of The Names. 04 The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner Jennifer Weiner's newest novel offers a behind-the-scenes peek at the music business, songwriting, and the pressures of fame, layered with complications from clashing sisters, devastating tragedy, and a messy path toward reconciliation. Cassie and Zoe Greenberg are sisters who have always been opposites. Cassie, a musical prodigy, loved losing herself in and expressing herself through playing and singing, but avoided the limelight. Zoe dreamed of stardom since she was a child and was driven more by fame than the music itself. But Zoe realizes that Cassie is key to any musical future, and she convinces Cassie to join her on stage, beginning their meteoric climb to stardom. For one year when they're young adults, the sisters reach mindboggling heights of fame as the pop duo The Griffin Sisters--featured in Rolling Stone , performing on Saturday Night Live , and making videos for MTV. Then their run abruptly ended, and for the public, the reasons for their breakup were a mystery. Twenty years later, Zoe is a housewife and Cassie is a recluse who hasn't spoken to her sister at all. But when Zoe's headstrong daughter Cherry becomes determined to become a star, she digs into the past and forces a confrontation between the estranged sisters at last. This is a great behind-the-scenes look at the music business, musical creativity and songwriting processes, and body-image pressures on women earning a living by being in the limelight. Griffin Sisters  also takes on deep familial conflicts, coping with loss and a devastating blow for future plans, lies and betrayals, and, finally, a messy but hopeful chance for reconciliation. If you like to read fiction about music, you might also like the titles I included in the Greedy Reading List Six Rockin' Stories about Bands and Music . Click here   for my full review. 05 The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy This bighearted novel holds a mystery, but its main focus is  neurodivergent main protagonist Denny and his dogged persistence, ambitious acts, decisiveness, wisdom, and loving kindness as he gets into increasing trouble, touches lives, faces loss, and establishes just who he is and wants to be. Denny lives a quiet life in small-town Minnesota, caring for his elderly mother with the companionship of his blind and deaf Saint Bernard, George. A developmental delay--caused by an accident at his birth--means that his options are limited, but Denny seems to keep finding himself in grave trouble. There was the time he kidnapped a neighbor's pet goose, the time he accidentally aided and abetted a bank robbery, and now he's under arrest for the murder of a candidate for mayor. As Denny's big personality, kindness, and discerning views become clear, the story tracks the lead-up to the recent death in the community and how Denny became a murder suspect. We see how he touches strangers' lives, frustrates neighbors, is ambitious in addressing societal wrongs, and we (and he) begin to understand previously unknown elements of his origin story--which he refuses to allow to define him. The Author's Note details how Kennedy's main character and some of the story's side plotlines were built from relatives and loved ones in her own life. The Sideways Life of Denny Voss  is a bighearted novel with an irresistible main protagonist and surrounding players, and the mystery keeps the story humming along. I loved this story. For my full review, please check out this link . 06 The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett In this heartwarming story of wonderfully faulted characters who face tragedy and often make a mess of things, loyalty and steadfastness overcome all and allow a makeshift family to heal, find adventure, discover their individual strengths, and realize that they're meant to be together forever. PJ Halliday is 63 and won the million-dollar lottery. Now he's about to set off on a cross-country road trip to track down his high-school sweetheart following the death of his former nemesis and rival. But not everything in his life has been luck and adventure. PJ has weathered terrible tragedies in his life.  Before he can set out for Arizona to try to win back his young love, his estranged brother dies, and PJ becomes the guardian for his brother's grandchildren. So he packs them into the car, enlists his grumbling grown daughter to help him, and hits the road. Tough situations are real but are surrounded by lighthearted, zany circumstances; characters are faulted and make missteps but learn to forgive themselves and those around them; loyalty and steadfastness serve as bridges to love and caring; and animals work with magical realism to shift and affect outcomes. While the characters in The Road to Tender Hearts  face sometimes devastating turns of events, the tone of the story is such that you won't wonder whether a happy ending is coming. Past hurts aren't erased, but love overcomes, and the ending is sweet sweet sweet. Annie Hartnett is also the author of the wonderful novel Unlikely Animals , which was one of my  Bossy Favorite Fiction Reads of the Year  when I read it. Click here   for my full review of The Road to Tender Hearts .

The initial installment of John McMahon's police procedural series follows a genius, socially awkward leader and a special team of FBI investigators who reinvent methods of finding their culprit in a smart, intriguing, and satisfying mystery. Head Cases  tracks FBI agent Gardner Camden (who has a brilliant analytical mind but is interpersonally awkward) and his group of agents in the Patterns and Recognitions (PAR) unit. A recent murder victim's DNA matches a long-dead serial killer, and a string of bodies hold clues that seem to be left specifically for Gardner to find. He and his unorthodox team must use their areas of expertise and their instincts to solve the riddles and catch the serial killer who is killing serial killers--before he harms their loved ones and gets away with it all. This group of genius, odd, complementary main protagonists often felt like an FBI version of Slough House in Slow Horses , in the best way. There seems to be someone on the inside of the FBI assisting the killer, or at least compromising the investigation, and McMahon made me question who this might be without cheap red herrings or manipulation. The crimes essential to the plot were disturbing and gory, but McMahon doesn't glorify the gore, and the book's heart is the PAR's power and success in inventing fluid approaches to solid procedure--here, carried out by unorthodox, possibly neurodivergent, not politically savvy, and excellent investigators. This was smart, intriguing, action-packed at times, and both the complexity of the investigation and its resolution felt satisfying. I hope Head Cases is made into a movie. I listened to Head Cases  as a library audiobook through Libby . I believe I heard about this book in a roundup of mystery novels recommended by national security agents. Bossy Love for Mysteries The next installment of this series, Inside Man , was recently published. McMahon is also the author of the Detective P. T. Marsh series. For other Bossy reviews and mysteries I've loved, please check out the books at this link .

I love a book that explores issues around mortality. Vigil , by the author of the strange, wonderful novel Lincoln in the Bardo , introduces fascinating elements such as fate, responsibility, and forgiveness, yet Saunders doesn't dig into them, which left me feeling unsatisfied with this slim book. Vigil has been one of my most-anticipated reads of 2026. In Lincoln in the Bardo , Saunders explored the worlds of characters existing in limbo between life and death. His novel Vigil touches on mortality and deathbed reflections. The story involves the otherworldly "Doll" Blaine, who is preparing to usher yet another soul peacefully into death. But her charge, K. J. Boone, is a powerful, wealthy oil company CEO facing his end with no regrets. Many live and beyond-the-grave souls demand a reckoning with Boone, requiring apologies and recognition--and often disputing Boone's accounts of events. This all leaves our main protagonists Doll and Boone in uncharted territory as death draws nearer for the earthly former executive and he refuses to take responsibility for grave harm to the earth and those living upon it so that he may pass peacefully into the next world. Doll's own memories flit in and out, and she experiences moments of clarity about her past. Remembering her worldly life causes her form to become temporarily more solid and her emotions stronger (and shows us that truthful consideration of the past is, in Saunders's story, what helps make us human and vulnerable). At other moments Doll is focused on the job task at hand: serving as a facilitator for her current charge as he hopefully begins to consider his mistakes, repents, and seeks and finds peace before death. I felt a familiar, powerful truth being beamed into me by a vast, benificent God, in the form of this unyielding directive: Comfort. Comfort, for all else is futility. But Boone is largely set upon whitewashing the past and reaffirming his own willful version of events in which he has been brave, inspiring in his ambition, and intent upon moving the world forward--and not , as others suggest, to blame for widespread manipulation, outright lies, and his own almost-singlehandedly driven environmental destruction of the earth and the lives upon it, possibly forever. He has moments of wavering guilt but then in full bluster talks himself around difficult issues and out of uncomfortable feelings around his actions and their significant consequences. Boone's beloved daughter inserts doubt into his solid self-absolution, but when she is not present he takes up his convenient, delusional ways again. As Doll enters into and drifts out of Boone's deathbed room, she reveals her own life in bits and pieces. She met an early, untimely, dramatic end, and we witness the first time that the supernatural version of Doll delves into what happened on earth in the aftermath of her accident. This was the most poignant aspect of the novel for me: a heartbreaking and maddening yet distantly comforting set of circumstances showing Doll how the world kept turning without her. Issues around immense wrongdoing and forgiveness for wrongdoing, even if the forgiveness is not sought, seemed to promise complex explorations and nuances. But Saunders didn't delve deeply into the many possible weighty issues around fate, responsibility, repentance, and amnesty. Saunders might have pursued this concept of unconditional forgiveness from God within Vigil . But there is a difference between blanket absolution and the idea that a human was always fated to do and become what he did and became, and Vigil has this teed up yet doesn't explore it. Gradually he came to seem, if I may say it this way, inevitable .... Who else could he have been but who he was? To consider, as Doll does--apparently as a directive from God--that Boone, a key figure in the destruction of the planet, might have been "inevitable" and thereby incapable of being or doing better (which in this case sets a particularly low bar) feels like a shocking, undeserved erasing of his decades of knowing, lie-filled, greedy pushing of his own agenda in order to be noticed and "succeed." The "inevitable" concept carried forward by Doll and, presumably, the others tasked with similar deathbed jobs, which apparently comes directly from God, seems to shrug shoulders about responsibility for self, for actions taken, and for resulting events. This letting Boone off the hook with a simplistic Popeye-esque "I yam what I yam," "boys will be boys," "what was he gonna do, after all" felt particularly jarring in light of present-day, famously bullheaded mindsets that seem consider little else besides exerting power. This feels like a shocking blanket absolution for anyone taking actions that are harmful to individuals, whole groups, society, and the world at large. It feels facile and unproductive to support a small-minded shrugging-shoulders approach positing that a destructive, unthinking fool would be fated to do what he did and that he was incapable of other paths or of change and improvement. Saunders offers a system of comfort provided by otherworldly angel creatures after their dying charges seek and find forgiveness. (When they do not genuinely seek clemency, horrors await, as we see ultimately with Boone.) But Vigil introduces many other complex questions (about the common earth, selfishness, advancement, preservation, change, safety, responsibility for future generations, not to mention theological questions), and this short (192-page) book didn't really dig into them. I received a prepublication version of Vigil courtesy of NetGalley and Bloomsbury ANZ. Please check out the reviews and lists on the blog if you're interested in books that address mortality . Love for Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders is also the author of the Booker Prize-winning   Lincoln in the Bardo   as well as Tenth of December , A Swim in the Pond in the Rain , Fox 8 , and other books.   I included Lincoln in the Bardo  in the Greedy Reading List   Six Fascinating Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War .

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to V. L. Bovalino's non-swooning romantasy novel (featuring a female knight, one of my current-favorite elements), The Second Death of Locke ; I'm listening to the first in Ariel Sullivan's futuristic sci-fi romance series, Conform ; and I'm reading both an electronic advance copy (oops--this one was published January 20) and a gorgeous hardcover edition of Linda Wilgus's intriguing debut novel The Sea Child . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 The Second Death of Locke (The Hand and the Heart #1) by V. L. Bovalino Captain Grey Flynn is a knight pledged to protect the mage Kier, who she has known since she was a child. She is not only blade but a source of magic, a well. Unbeknownst to others, she and Kier have gone through a forbidden process to become tethered, so that magic flows between them like an unspoken language. But Grey is also secretly in love with Kier. Early in the story Grey, Kier, and choice members of their army are assigned to the protection of a young woman and told to spirit her through the mountains to safety. But she is not who the army thinks she is...and Grey herself is hiding an enormous secret about her own identity, which not even Kier knows. I'm listening to The Second Death of Locke as a library audiobook on Libby . Bovalino writes young adult novels under the name Tori Bovalino; this is her first book for adults. 02 Conform (Reform #1) by Ariel Sullivan Ariel Sullivan's futuristic world is centuries past a catastrophic world war that eliminated much of the human race, and things are run by an elite group of powerful people called the Illum. They mandate marriage and procreation and, in secret, far more. Young adult Emeline lives a largely solitary life. She spends her days viewing holograms of artwork (the book references actual works of art) and designating many of them for permanent destruction, per her instructions from an unseen boss. Then an Illum does the unthinkable: for the first time in decades, an Illum intends to take a Mate. And it's Emeline. She's thrust into a whirlwind, mingling with powerful people, attracted to her prescribed Mate, yet also drawn to a mischievous young man who makes her think about the world differently than she ever has. But the love triangle that is taking shape has repercussions beyond anything Emeline could imagine. The next installment in this series, Sullivan's first, is scheduled for publication in March under the title Beneath . 03 The Sea Child by Linda Wilgus In early 1800s England, Isabel, a desperate young widow after the Napoleonic Wars, must flee her London home for the Cornish coast where she was found as a small girl, wet and alone. Upon her return she realizes that in her absence, rich folklore has grown up around her, and the locals believe she is the daughter of a sea spirit. When some of the smugglers who regularly run up and down the coast show up at her door with their injured captain, Jack, Isabel thinks of her husband, injured in war and now gone, and she takes in Jack to nurse him back to health. A Revenue Officer who aims to hang any smugglers he can threatens not only Jack's, but Isabel's safety. Meanwhile Isabel is trying to figure out the truth about her past. I received an electronic prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Ballantine and a beautiful hardcover edition of this title courtesy of Ballantine Books. This is Linda Wilgus's first book.

Six More Favorite Contemporary Fiction Reads This is the second of three contemporary fiction lists I'll have for you as I mine my recent-past reading for the best of the best--you can find my first list of contemporary fiction favorite reads from last year here . You can explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall favorite reads from last year, or you can read about past Bossy contemporary fiction favorites here . If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think! What are some of your favorite contemporary fiction reads, whether from the past year or beyond? 01 The Favorites by Layne Fargo I loved the behind-the-scenes peeks at the drama, punishing hard work, sequins, and mind games of competitive figure skating. The backdrop for Kat and Heath's tumultuous mutual obsession was a series of destructive forces trying to tear them apart. The interview format and multiple perspectives add to the layers of the story. Young Katarina Shaw always felt that she was meant to become an Olympic champion. Heath Rocha was stuck in the foster care system. When he and Kat met, they made a connection that first built into a best-friendship between two lost young people, then love. Their mutual obsession ultimately translated into a powerful partnership on the ice, and when they eventually advanced to the Olympics, a dramatic event stopped their journey to the gold medal--and broke them up for good. Ten years later, we join the voyeuristic public and the insider news bursts in exploring what really happened years earlier. The delving into the past draws Kat and Heath back into each others' orbits--and reveals secrets they never could have imagined . The Favorites  is heavy on the skating--which I loved. (The prominent sports element reminded me of the tennis-focused novel Carrie Soto Is Back .) I love a peek behind the scenes, and I loved the politics, rivalries, determination, mind games, and sabotage in the story. The relentless pacing, romantic obsession, twists and turns, dramatic setbacks, exhilarating success, and sometimes over-the-top sabotage within The Favorites is immersive and irresistible. Johnny Weir is a standout audiobook narrator in the role of Ellis Dean, a mischievous rival of Kat and Heath's and an attention-grabbing behind-the-scenes reporter with redemptive, golden moments of loyalty. For my full review please check out The Favorites . 02 Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey Eowyn Ivey offers elements familiar from her other two novels--a cold, unforgiving setting; magical realism; attempts to overcome seemingly insurmountable complications; chosen family; and the healing power of love--in this atmospheric, strange, beautiful, and tragic story. Birdie's a single mother to Emaleen and a waitress in a small Alaskan town. She's not perfect, but she's getting by. Yet she often yearns for her more carefree youth and connection to nature. Arthur, a recluse who only comes into town at the change of seasons--and who others avoid as actively as he avoids them--saves Emaleen from being lost in the wilderness. Birdie is drawn to his capable outdoorsmanship, and against the advice of everyone she knows, she and Emaleen move out to his remote home to live off the grid. But Arthur is mysterious, and he's not who Birdie thought he was. Has she traded her safety and Emaleen's for the false promise of an idyllic life immersed in the natural world? Black Woods, Blue Sky is a cold-setting story--one of my favorites--in which the unforgiving weather, rough terrain, and remote location combine with the danger from wild animals to test Ivey's characters' mettle. A late portion of the story takes places in a time period years later than Birdie and Emaleen's foray into the wild; there are resolutions here, but the momentum of the earlier story felt lost to me. Eowyn Ivey is also the author of To the Bright Edge of the World , which I listed in the Greedy Reading List Six Chilly Books to Read in  the Heat of Summer , and The Snow Child , which I included in the list Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love . For my full review, please check out this link . 03 There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak There Are Rivers in the Sky  weaves together three stories set in three timelines, featuring disparate characters, to explore interconnectedness, the power of water, echoing tragedies, and the timelessness of the written word. Water remembers. It is humans who forget. In 1840 in London, young Arthur lives near the sewage-filled River Thames, desperate to escape poverty and his abusive household. In 2014 Turkey, ten-year-old Narin is living near the Tigris and is affected by a disorder that will cause her to go permanently deaf. And in 2018 London, Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames when she and her husband break up, but she can't shake her thoughts of suicide. Shafak makes what could have been an unwieldy or disjointed-feeling set of complex situations into a tragically beautiful intertwined novel that shines a light on weighty issues at three points in space and time. I was haunted by this and fascinated as well. Elif Shafak also wrote the lovely The Island of Missing Trees . Click here   for my full review of There Are Rivers in the Sky . 04 A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar A Guardian and a Thief is a fascinating near-future climate-change story of desperation, loyalty, and determination in Kolkata, India. A tiny bit of empathy might have unraveled the increasingly devastating whirlwind of conflict between the two main protagonists, who are each both hero and vill ain. In a near-future Kolkata, India, Ma is the manager of a food pantry for those in need. She's days away from bringing her daughter and aging father to meet her husband in Michigan. But the famine is devastating in Kolkata, and Ma has been skimming food supplies for her own household. She justifies this to herself as a temporary measure before her departure. But a desperate client of the food pantry has noticed her theft and becomes determined to strike back. And by happenstance, this revenge also threatens Ma's family's ability to travel to a land of plenty. Majumdar twists the situation between thief and mother, continually shifting the reader's loyalties as each character makes decisions that spin off into increasingly destructive consequences. The more each digs in--bitter, resentful, greedy, desperate--the worse each of their situations become. I can't stop thinking about this book and the mirror it holds to a reader, forcing an uncomfortable examination of excess, generosity, empathy, loyalty, but also greed, grasping, scarcity, and, in the end, encouraging a critical look at what we feel is our duty to one other in this world. This was stressful, often claustrophobic, and fascinating. I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Knopf. For my full review of this book please see A Guardian and a Thief . Megha Majumdar is also the author of A Burning . 05 Woodworking by Emily St. James Woodworking explores interconnected transgender characters' experiences, fears, challenges, and joys as they work toward living true, fulfilling lives. Emily St. James's debut novel is poignant, funny, heartbreaking, often surprising, an d heartwarming. Emily St. James crafts a tender, funny story with zing about a secretly trans high school teacher in a small town in South Dakota who befriends the only other transgender person she is aware of, one of her students. The novel flits between the stories of three women from disparate backgrounds, drastically different paths to becoming themselves, and poignant recognition among them of their struggles and victories, even as they diverge in their approaches to living fulfilling existences. The book title comes from the idea of trans people blending in and fading into the woodwork. The concept is mentioned in a conversation between a frightened young trans woman and a mentor of sorts; later in the novel the young woman realizes that "woodworking" wasn't meant to be a handbook, but a warning about hiding identity. I was most touched by the interconnectedness and love, the universal elements of the characters' experiences as well as their unique perspectives and circumstances, and the reimagined possibilities for their futures. Click here   for my full review of Woodworking . 06 Culpability by Bruce Holsinger Culpability  shapes questions regarding artificial intelligence--including societal and/or individual responsibility for it--around imperfect characters who have drifted apart and must now recognize each other's fallibility, whether through sacrificing or trying to protect each other. The Cassidy-Shaws are riding in their family's autonomous minivan when it crashes into another vehicle. Seventeen-year-old Charlie, the twins, their father Noah, and their mother Lorelei, an AI leader, are all shaken by the accident. But they're also all harboring secrets, and there's more to the circumstances surrounding the accident than meets the eye. Culpability  explores accountability and questions around the use of AI, making them personal, life-and-death, and far-reaching. Faulted characters reckon with their own imperfect motivations alongside the repercussions of human-created--but complicated, self-evolving--AI. Mistakes are made in life, Holsinger reminds us, and we must cope with the consequences of decisions, carelessness, overconfidence, or merely chance. But inserting a layer of artificial intelligence on top of tragedy dramatically complicates things. I didn't care deeply about the characters in Culpability , but I was interested in the lavish setting for the tech mogul, the family's attempt to circle up at the waterfront rental, the exploration of wealth and its ability to shape a narrative, and the protagonists' sometimes misguided attempts to protect each other. The pace of the story is swift, and Holsinger keeps the reader uncomfortable as the story draws to a close, with plenty of messy, imperfect resolutions shaped by money, politics, carefully crafted realities, and legal punch. For my full review of this book please see Culpability .   You might also be interested in my Bossy reviews of these other novels about AI .

The Isle in the Silver Sea offers a medieval setting, magical elements, a story within a story, romantasy without swooning, and characters fighting to reimagine their futures. This fantasy novel about the power of storytelling was wonderful. In an alternate medieval England, an island exists because of stories. Those who play key roles in tales die and are repeatedly reborn into various versions of the characters they must play, and they are fated to reenact their own battles, love stories, and ends so that the isle and those on it may continue to survive. Simran is a strong female knight sworn to the queen, and Vina is a witch of the woods. They each know they have been called to be in a story, but when they meet, they feel an instant link--and it goes well beyond their roles in the story that they discover has been scripted for the two of them. Evil forces are in play, and Vina and Simran are discovering their fates, whether with or without each other, while also determining how to preserve their world. They fight, they figure things out, and they fall in love. They are reimaging what is possible, while remaining brave, worrying about their found-family members, and trying not to implode the future of civilization on their isle. If they have any hope of rewriting their tale--and of saving the island--they must identify and stop the mysterious assassin who is destroying new stories and keeping those like Simran and Vina trapped in a loop of tragedy. The Isle in the Silver Sea is fascinating, and the story-within-a-story is everchanging even when characters repeatedly revisit The Story. Elements shift and the main protagonists insist on free will over fate, gradually succeeding in attempts to change what was previously thought to be their story's undeniable ending. I love romantasy that doesn't involve me to suspend my disbelief in order to buy into the relationship, and Suri offers up a wonderfully romantic, possibly doomed love story to feel angsty about and to cheer for. I loved reading this book. I listened to The Isle in the Silver Sea  as a library audiobook on Libby . More from Tasha Suri and More Female-Knight Stories Tasha Suri is also the author of T he Burning Kingdoms trilogy, The Books of Ambha duology, and other books. I'm in the middle of a small but fantastic pattern of reading female-knight-driven stories; check out Gwen & Art Are Not in Love  and The Everlasting .

Skylark gets off to a relatively slow start as the scenes are set, but then I quickly became hooked on McLain's dual-timeline historical fiction, which comes to life through incredible details of life in seventeenth-century and early World War II Paris and showcases characters pushed to their limits in the name of justice. Paula McLain's Skylark  is historical fiction set in Paris and told through dual timelines. In 1664, Alouette is the daughter of a master dyer at the famous Gobelin Tapestry Works. Certain dye colors are only available to the highest classes, and her father, striving to create a never-before-seen vibrant red, is constrained by longstanding rules and regulations. Alouette herself yearns for creative freedom, but as a woman with no standing, she is not allowed to express her artistic ideas--nor to pursue the development of a dazzling new blue she dreams of. In 1939, Kristof is beginning his medical residency and living on the Rue de Gobelins. His neighbors are a Jewish family that fled Poland, and when the Nazis enter Paris, Kristof may, implausibly, be the only one who can help save his friends, now under grave threat. Skylark started off sloooowly for me--my friend Kim was reading it at the same time and we were both struggling with the pacing. Early on, I wasn't sure I was going to feel drawn into either story. But after McLain set the scenes in each timeline and established the characters, the novel took off more steadily, building the world of each timeline with incredible details. In the seventeenth century timeline, McLain brings to life the toxicity of the process and the wonder of dyeing new colors; rigid gender roles and breathtaking power imbalances; dangerous mining practices; widespread captivity of inconvenient women in an asylum (this section was particularly horrifyingly fascinating for me); and precious stolen moments that sustain our characters through largely cruel existences. In the 1939 timeline Skylark explores the unfurling of Hitler's spreading suspicion through Europe, including the collective blaming of issues on immigrants; the betrayal of and by neighbors; the snatching of Jewish families for camps and outright murder; and the unlikely heroes who try to save those they can. Much of this felt especially haunting and uncomfortably familiar in light of the unfounded blame upon and hunting and persecution of suspected illegal immigrants in our nation. The past timeline's mining and the modern timeline's resulting tunnels below Paris allow for a literal upstairs-downstairs pairing within each tale, and the fight for justice exists in parallel in both stories. I was fascinated by multiple cases of extreme bravery, and by the sobering realities that everyday characters find themselves struggling within. I love a novel in which characters reckon with what they're willing to do in the name of what's right, and protagonists in both timelines are forced to do so in varied crises. I received a prepublication version of Skylark courtesy of NetGalley and Atria Books. More from Paula McLain McLain is also the author of When the Stars Go Dark , Circling the Sun  (a captivating account of the real-life Beryl Markham's adventures as an aviator in 1920s Kenya), and The Paris Wife (which due to my staggering to-read list I still haven't gotten to).   For more historical fiction I've loved, please check out the Bossy lists and reviews at this link .

The premise of Missing Sam was a slam dunk for me, and I appreciated the couple's strengthened bonds after unimaginable trauma. But the story jumped around and told more than it showed, and I didn't feel an emotional connection. After married couple Sam and Ali have a silly jealousy-spawned fight after a party, Sam wakes up for a solo morning run instead of inviting along Ali, as she normally would. One unlucky circumstance leads to another for Sam, and when Ali wakes up, Sam is missing. As Sam's disappearance stretches on, Ali, a gay culturally Muslim woman, is excoriated in the press for perceptions about her lack of sorrow, her failed attempts to locate her wife, and her sexuality, religion, and culture. While she reels emotionally, her interior design clients drop her due to the attention of the press, and she desperately reconnects with her estranged father for support. Meanwhile, Sam is in her own personal hell, with dwindling hopes of ever being reunited with her love. Most of the book's initial page time is spent with Ali, and I was surprised by how many outings and out-of-house distractions Ali took part in while Sam was missing. It might not be compelling for a character to spend extended page time obsessing over where her partner may have vanished to and what horrors may be taking place, or in anguish about whether Sam is even still alive. Yet I found it jarring that we weren't subjected to what I would expect to be more anguish andAli's temporary nightmare of existence, which seemed likely to include a wild drama of worrying, excruciating periods of waiting, and irrational searches and spiritual bargains, or other illustrations of her desperation for Sam's safe return. Ali wasn't coming to terms with a divorce or even a death, leaning on friends and getting out of the house to move on with her life. Ali's going to the movies and to see fireworks just didn't ring true to me. I kept panicking over Ali's lack of panic, wondering: BUT WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHERE IS SAM? When the story turns to Sam and her captivity, we are entrenched in a ghastly scene of horrified anticipation and delusion, abuse and violence. This section of the story was difficult to read, as felt appropriate, and this aspect took up relatively little page time. The aftermath of the kidnaping and abuse is fraught with what feel like Sam's realistic trauma, nightmares, hesitance toward intimacy, and outsized reactions to everyday events. But Missing Sam  often perplexed me with its structure and focus. Much of the novel feels told instead of shown, which left me without emotional connection to aspects like Ali's temporary dip into Islam; Sam's inexplicable mentoring of a mentally ill grad student who appropriates her trauma and exploits it; and the couple's rejuvenated closeness and commitment. The heart of the story is not, after all, Sam's sensational disappearance, Sam and Ali's unspeakable terror, and Sam's victorious return home. Much of the energy of the story centers around the women's reconciliation with each of their estranged parents, and, eventually, their cleaving to each other within their marriage in a way that they hadn't before Sam's abduction. The story felt jumpy, moving from topic to topic without fully diving in. Umrigar touches on but doesn't dig deeply into heavy issues such as religious discrimination, hateful attitudes toward members of the LGBTQ community, and the looming doom of Covid-19. The resolution of identifying Sam's abductor and abuser was satisfying, yet the key to pinpointing the monster was the result of heavily laid detail groundwork earlier in the story; it felt inevitable that that particular element would turn out to be essential. I received an electronic edition of this title courtesy of Algonquin Books and NetGalley. More Missing Persons Stories Thrity Umrigar is also the author of Honor . For Bossy reviews of other stories that involve missing persons, please click here .

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to Tasha Suri's rich story-within-a-story fantasy novel The Isle in the Silver Sea ; I'm reading Thrity Umrigar's recently published mystery about a missing woman, our political climate, the power of love, and the strength of assumptions, Missing Sam ; and I'm continuing my recent mystery mania by listening to the trusty, twisty Lisa Jewell's intriguing interconnected-story Don't Let Him In . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri In an alternate England, an island lives on stories. Those who play key roles die and are repeatedly reborn into various versions of the characters they must play, and they are fated to reenact their own battles, love stories, and ends so that the isle and those on it may survive. Simran is a strong female knight sworn to the queen, and Vina is a witch of the woods. They each know they have been called to be in a story, but when they meet, they feel an instant link--and it goes well beyond their roles in the story scripted for them. If they have any hope of rewriting their tale--and of saving the island--they must identify and stop the assassin who is destroying new stories and keeping those like Simran and Vina trapped in a loop of tragedy. I'm listening to The Isle in the Silver Sea as a library audiobook on Libby . Tasha Suri is also the author of T he Burning Kingdoms trilogy, The Books of Ambha duology, and other books. 02 Missing Sam by Thrity Umrigar After married couple Sam and Ali have a silly jealousy-spawned fight after a party, Sam wakes up for a solo morning run. But one unlucky circumstance leads to another, and when Ali wakes up, her wife Sam is missing. As Sam's disappearance stretches on, Ali, as a gay culturally Muslim woman, is excoriated in the press, and while she reels emotionally, her clients drop her, and she desperately reconnects with her estranged father for support. Meanwhile, Sam is in her own personal hell, with dwindling hopes of ever being reunited with her love. Thrity Umrigar is also the author of Honor . I received an electronic edition of this title courtesy of Algonquin Books and NetGalley. 03 Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell I've been continuing my cold-weather mystery-reading habits, and Lisa Jewell is always a good bet for an intriguing story. After Nina Swann's husband is killed, she receives a condolence card from one of his former colleagues, the charming Nick Radcliffe, who follows up with in-person charm and comfort. Nina's young-adult daughter Ash thinks Nick might be too smooth, and the timing of his entrance into their lives seems strange to her. Martha is running a small-town florist shop, sometimes with the help of her husband Alistair. But lately he's been acting oddly, leaving town suddenly and then remaining unreachable for long stretches. As the female characters in Don't Let Him In begin to ask questions, they head on a crash course straight toward each other--and the truth. I'm listening to Don't Let Him In as a library audiobook on Libby . Lisa Jewell is also the author of The Family Upstairs , None of This Is True , and other books.

Bossy Favorites of the Month I've had a strong Bossy reading month. These were my six favorite reads of January--an intriguing memoir, a five-star literary fiction wonder, a contemporary novel about a novelist, a meditative story, a cozy fantasy, and a fascinating read (for my book club) about interconnected characters. I hope your January has allowed for some cozy reading time. Have you read any of these titles? What were some of your favorite reads this month? 01 Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden I was surprised by how interested I was in the implosion of Burden's privileged life. She captures the universality of heartbreak; the chilling notion that a partner in a decades-long marriage could wake up and leave without warning or remorse; and her emergence from the trauma as a stronger version of herself. Burden was more than twenty years into her marriage, living between posh homes in Tribeca and Martha's Vineyard, raising three children (with her own Harvard law degree largely languishing unused), when her hedge-fund-manager husband abruptly disclosed a recent affair and, seemingly without remorse or struggle, left Belle, the children, the dog, the houses--their whole life. He offered no explanation and no apology, then he set about threatening to take everything from her and the kids . As she sorts through the past and works to find support and to function more fully in the present, she decides to refuse to be shamed as the woman who was left, who is perceived as not enough to have kept her husband. She grows more bold, finds healing in speaking her mind, and becomes determined to write her story and share her perspective. Strangers grew out of a "Modern Love" essay and is her account of her pain, confusion, and reemergence as a truer version of herself. I was intrigued by this fast read; I finished it in a day and a half. I received a prepublication electronic version of Strangers courtesy of NetGalley and Random House. For my full review, please see Strangers . 02 This Is Happiness by Niall Williams This is gorgeous Niall Williams literary fiction, centering around an Irish country village, a young man searching for his path, and his unofficial mentor, zigzagging his way through life, embracing adventure, and bridging the gap between the old ways and modernity. Quiet connections and reflections make the story, with understated poignancy, humor, and heartbreaking moments that bring the book's world to life. In the rural Irish village of Faha, in County Clare, the years-long rain (whether sprinkling, torrential, misting, steady dripping) is stopping, and electricity seems poised to finally move from "the notional" to "the actual," as Father Coffey proclaims . Young Noe (short for "Noel") has abandoned the seminary but is unsure of his next steps, and he takes refuge at his beloved grandparents' cottage in the village. A stranger, Christy, arrives to begin coordinating the installation of electricity in the area, and he boards with Noe at Ganga and Doady's home. He is older, kind, capable, yet somewhat lost, and he's bent on making amends for past mistakes. He and Noe become fast friends and in the span of a few months go through weighty moments with each other. This Is Happiness  explores the small moments that make up a life worth living as well as explorations of the meaning of existence, religion, spirituality, reconciliation, commitment, and facing death. I adore this novel and its countless gorgeous passages, its understated, poignant, heartbreaking elements, and its unexpected moments of connection and beauty. When I was almost finished reading my (overdue) library copy, I bought a copy for a friend's birthday gift and ordered another for myself so I could finish reading it at my leisure and keep it forever. For my full review of this book please see This Is Happiness . For my review of Niall Williams's lovely Time of the Child , please click   this link . 03 The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan Cate Kay is a bestselling author--and a pseudonym used by a woman who's been running from her past for decades. Cate is at times a young dreamer, a haunted lover with a hardened heart, a wildly successful author dipping her toe in the world of Hollywood, and an imperfectly healed friend ready to face the future. The reclusive author Cate Kay has written a bestselling postapocalyptic trilogy (which is about to be made into a series of movies; meeting the star is a key part of the story later on), but Cate's extensive fan base has never seen her or even heard her voice. That's because Cate Kay doesn't exist. When the writer was just out of high school, she was set for a big cross-country adventure and artist's life in LA with her best friend. But a tragedy the day before their planned departure changed everything--and led her to a newly imagined identity that she uses to shield herself from exposure and from vulnerability . The Three Lives of Cate Kay  is built upon a gap in knowledge. It's necessary for the reader to sustain a suspension of disbelief so that this hole in our main protagonist's understanding feels at all plausible, and for the circumstances of the book and Cate's phases of identity to therefore exist and feel warranted. I typically strongly dislike a miscommunication plot point, particularly an extended one, but I didn't mind rolling with this one. For my full review, please check out this link . 04 Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood Charlotte Wood's literary fiction is quiet and meditative but packs a punch. Stone Yard Devotional concerns a woman who leaves her Sydney life behind to live among nuns as an unbeliever committed to the community. The past crops up in significant ways, and external judgment seems to be cast upon them all . The main protagonist (who is not named) in Charlotte Wood's literary fiction Stone Yard Devotional  is a middle-aged woman who leaves Sydney for some respite in her rural Australian hometown. Although both of her parents have passed away (they are buried nearby), she has little else to connect her to this place. She seeks out a small nearby religious community, although she does not believe in God and has not attended church. Despite her unbelief, she finds herself drawn to the structure of the nuns' days--prayer, church services, hymns, and a meditative life within simple surroundings. Without intentionally choosing to stay, she simply never returns to Sydney. She lives within the nuns' orbit, taking on gardening and cooking duties for the group. She remains agnostic and therefore exists spiritually adjacent to the nuns yet in daily tasks and time spent together, she is fully entrenched in their world . This is a quiet story with deep wells of significance and meaning beneath the peaceful surface. I loved it . You can read my full review by clicking this link . 05 Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz This debut cozy novel showcases many of my favorite elements--magic, banter, a grumpy-sunshine hard-won romance, and a quest--within a charming, surprising story that I loved . The powerful dark lord Shadowfade is dead, and Violet Thistlewaite is determined to shed her identity as the Thornwitch, Shadowfade's right-hand woman, and start anew. She decides to settle in the nearby town of Dragon's Rest and open a flower shop, attempting to use her magical powers for good and to create beauty and inspire joy. But it's tough to tame her power when she's been trained since childhood to be expecting attacks and enacting dastardly deeds. Another new arrival to town seems bent on hooking Violet to her past. And Violet is really distracted by the handsome, grumpy alchemist who's renting her the space for her shop. Violet Thistlewaite  has lots of my favorite elements: magic, a grumpy-sunshine matchup, a fresh-start promise, and a quest. This is charming, funny, and adorable. Violet has a secret that seems destined for revealing, but the sequence of events surrounding it and the reactions were wholly unexpected. I loved every bit of this book! I listened to Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore  as a library audiobook . Click here   for my full review. 06 Playground by Richard Powers Powers's novel is an exploration of the wonders of the ocean and also of the capacity of the human mind and imagination. The marching toward destruction of both of these makes for a nerve-racking, heartbreaking story. Playground 's final section held surprises I did not anticipate, and their exposure colors the entirety of the story that precedes them. Four people are connected across time and geography in Richard Powers's sweeping story of their lives and unlikely interconnectedness. Evie Beaulieu becomes obsessed with marine life and diving when as a young girl she tests her father's invention, the first aqualung; Ina Aroita grows up moving from naval base to naval base in the Pacific, crafting art as her only constant; two friends at an elite Chicago high school, a privileged young man and a scholarship student, bond over an ancient game while one leans toward literature and one toward AI development . While tracking these characters' lives, Powers explores issues around technology, ecology, humanity, responsibility, and interconnectedness. Each of the main characters drives the story in a different way, and I was invested in the struggles and settings for all of them. Their eventual, late intersection wasn't wholly satisfying: one of the characters, the one I was most intrigued by, is essential earlier in the book but served as only a minor force at the end (this is due to the surprise aspect of the story that ultimately shapes the book). I listened to Playground  as a library audiobook. For my full review, please check out the page at this link .

This debut cozy novel showcases many of my favorite elements--magic, banter, a grumpy-sunshine hard-won romance, and a quest--within a charming, surprising story that I loved. The powerful dark lord Shadowfade is dead, and Violet Thistlewaite is determined to shed her identity as the Thornwitch, Shadowfade's right-hand woman, and start anew. She decides to settle in the nearby town of Dragon's Rest and open a flower shop, attempting to use her magical powers for good and to create beauty and inspire joy. But it's tough to tame her power when she's been trained since childhood to be expecting attacks and enacting dastardly deeds. Another new arrival to town seems bent on hooking Violet to her past. And Violet is really distracted by the handsome, grumpy alchemist who's renting her the space for her shop. Violet Thistlewaite has lots of my favorite elements: magic, a grumpy-sunshine matchup, a fresh-start promise, and a quest. This is charming, funny, and adorable. Violet has a secret that seems destined for revealing, but the sequence of events surrounding it and the reactions were wholly unexpected. I loved every bit of this book! I listened to Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore  as a library audiobook . About This Author This is Emily Krempholtz's first novel. I'm in for alll the rest. More Violet, please! The tone and the cozy-magical-mystery focus reminds me of A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping .

Newman's second charming novel centering around Rocky and her family demonstrates the characters' quirkiness, concerns, love for each other, and plenty of heart in a heartwarming, often funny, and poignant novel. Catherine Newman's novel Sandwich  focused on a family and its menopausal matriarch Rocky as its members navigated close quarters, health issues, life changes, complicated dynamics, and messy love, all while on vacation. Wreck  picks up with the same family two years later at home, and life is just as unruly, complicated, and shaped by love, good intentions, and missteps as ever. When a local young man dies suddenly, Rocky and her young-adult daughter Willa, temporarily living at home again, become fixated on the circumstances, loss, and blame. Jamie's becoming uneasy with his job at a consulting company. And Rocky is facing a mysterious, possibly grave, illness that doctors find difficult to diagnose. Throughout their worries, occasional headbutting, and demonstrated neuroses, Newman showcases the wonderfully imperfect characters' intense love for each other. Their quirkiness is most often funny, but their many adorable inside jokes sometimes left me feeling on the outside. I would follow this family anywhere just for peeks into their snuggly, bickering, heartwarmingly obsessive connection to each other. Newman's smart, funky voice comes through in Wreck . More from Catherine Newman Catherine Newman is also the author of Sandwich  (one of My Very Favorite Bossy 2024 Reads ), We All Want Impossible Things , the wonderful nonfiction Waiting for Birdy , and How to Be a Person: 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills to Learn Before You're Grown Up.

Charlotte Wood's literary fiction is quiet and meditative but packs a punch. Stone Yard Devotional concerns a woman who leaves her Sydney life behind to live among nuns as an unbeliever committed to the community. The past crops up in significant ways, and external judgment seems to be cast upon them all. The main protagonist (who is not named) in Charlotte Wood's literary fiction Stone Yard Devotional  is a middle-aged woman who leaves Sydney for some respite in her rural Australian hometown. Although both of her parents have passed away (they are buried nearby), she has little else to connect her to this place. She seeks out a small nearby religious community, although she does not believe in God and has not attended church. Despite her unbelief, she finds herself drawn to the structure of the nuns' days--prayer, church services, hymns, and a meditative life within simple surroundings. Without intentionally choosing to stay, she simply never returns to Sydney, thereby abandoning her former life--including her husband, who she had been growing apart from, her friends, and her work. She lives within the nuns' orbit, taking on gardening and cooking duties for the group. She remains agnostic and therefore exists spiritually adjacent to the nuns yet in daily tasks and time spent together, she is fully entrenched in their world. A male (and married) acquaintance from her youth helps with the land and with handyman duties; there is an odd current--at least on the part of our main protagonist--that feels unresolved. A larger, more powerful unresolved situation revolves around a woman who has risen high in the ranks of the Catholic church through activism on a global scale. As a girl she was from the community, had a mentally ill and abusive mother, and endured cruelties from her classmates, including our main character. Her return seems destined to bring up past conflicts, and our main protagonist is left feeling adrift when time passes and they don't directly address their connection. A community-wide infestation of mice feels like a plague and occurs just as the remains of a nun from the past are returned to the premises (without permission to bury her peacefully). Wood explores themes of punishment and atonement, permission and rebellion, spirituality and unbelief, and bonds and distance grown due to long-ago proximity. This is a quiet story with deep wells of significance and meaning beneath the peaceful surface. I loved it. More from This Author Charlotte Wood is also the author of The Natural Way of Things , The Weekend , and other novels.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading George Saunders's upcoming novel Vigil , I'm listening to Madeline Martin's Victorian-London-set historical fiction novel The Secret Book Society , and I'm listening to the first in John McMahon's FBI-focused mystery series, Head Cases . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 Vigil by George Saunders I'm so excited to read this book--one of my most-anticipated reads of 2026. In Lincoln in the Bardo , Saunders explored characters existing in limbo between life and death. Vigil involves the otherworldly "Doll" Blaine, who is preparing to usher yet another soul peacefully into death. But her charge, K. J. Boone, is a powerful, wealthy oil company CEO facing his end with no regrets. Many live and beyond-the-grave souls demand a reckoning with him, disputing his account of events, which leaves our main protagonists in uncharted territory as death draws closer for Boone. George Saunders is also the author of the Booker Prize-winning Lincoln in the Bardo as well as Tenth of December , A Swim in the Pond in the Rain , Fox 8 , and other books.   I included Lincoln in the Bardo  in the Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War . I received a prepublication version of Vigil , to be published January 27, courtesy of NetGalley and Bloomsbury ANZ. 02 The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin The women in Martin's Victorian London exist within tightly constrained rules and at the whims of their fathers' or husbands' often controlling requirements. But when three women, all strangers to each other, are invited to the reclusive, three-times-widowed Lady Duxbury's home for tea, they discover a space where they can speak frankly, about their lives and also about the revolutionary, modern, feminist books they secretly trade among themselves. The guidance from Lady Duxbury, their new friendships, and their reads are rejuvenating and inspiring forces for the young aspiring poet, the outspoken American with a fortune, and the mother cowering from her cruel husband. But all of the women of the time have a great amount at stake: they could find themselves committed unvoluntarily--and potentially permanently--to an asylum if the men in their lives determine that they are too headstrong, passionate, or inconvenient. I'm listening to The Secret Book Society as a library audiobook. For Bossy reviews of other books about books, please check out the titles at this link . For other Victorian-set novels, check out this link . Madeline Martin is also the author of The Librarian Spy , The Last Bookshop in London , The Keeper of Hidden Books , and The Booklover's Library . 03 Head Cases (Head Cases #1) by John McMahon I'm not sure where I heard about this book, but I believe it was in a roundup of mystery novels recommended by national security agents. Head Cases tracks FBI agent Gardner Camden (who has a brilliant analytical mind but is interpersonally awkward) and his group of agents in the Patterns and Recognitions (PAR) unit. A murder victim's DNA matches a long-dead serial killer, and a string of bodies hold clues that seem to be left specifically for Gardner to find. He and his unorthodox team must use their areas of expertise and their instincts to solve the riddles and catch the killer--before he harms their loved ones and gets away with it all. This group of main protagonists feels so far like an FBI version of Slough House in Slow Horses . I'm listening to Head Cases as a library audiobook.

Six Favorite Contemporary Fiction Reads I love looking over my favorite reads from the past year and considering my favorite 2025 reads in each genre. This is the first of three contemporary fiction lists I'll have for you as I mine my recent-past reading for the best of the best. You can explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall favorite reads from last year, you can read about past Bossy contemporary fiction favorites here . If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think! What are some of your favorite contemporary fiction reads, whether from the past year or beyond? 01 The Correspondent by Virginia Evans This was my favorite read of 2025! This quiet, epistolary novel witnesses the creaky, sometimes difficult shifts and realizations that a septuagenarian achieves around her health, children, past secrets, friendship, romantic relationships, and previously unknown blood relatives near the end of her life. I feel like this book and I have been circling each other since early May, and I was so delighted as I finally dove into this charming novel. Sybil Van Antwerp has written letters her whole life--letters to dear friends and family, letters of complaint, letters of praise and wonder to authors of books she's loved, and more. She reflects, sorts out her thoughts and makes sense of the events of the world. Now Sybil is in her late 70s, she's set in her ways, she's sometimes out of step and old-fashioned, often grumpy--and she's facing immense changes. We find out early on that she faces the impending loss of her sight, that she is somewhat estranged from her daughter, that deep tragedy has shaped her life and closed off her heart, and that she may be stumbling into information about her biological parents. It's lovely to witness Sybil's slowly allowing herself to face the past, addressing difficult issues in the present, and allowing for surprising adventures in her life. The Correspondent  offers messy, imperfect characters in often difficult situations, and they find their way through having changed and grown. This was charming and I loved both reading this novel and listening to the audio version of this title. The Correspondent  was the right book at the right time for me. I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Crown Publishing. I love a novel told through letters. To find Bossy reviews of other books I've read, please check out the titles at this link . Click here   for my full review. 02 Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson In Kevin Wilson's latest gem, his quirky characters are irresistible and his heartwarming story is messy, strange, and lovely as a chosen-family element overshadows past tragedies and disappointments. Mad and her mother have run their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee, ever since Mad's father disappeared twenty years ago. Mad is a loner, and that's okay. But when a stranger who calls himself Rube shows up in a rented PT Cruiser and a story about how Mad is his half sister--explaining that their father has more kids spread across the country as well--Rube and Mad head out on an awkward, nerve-racking mission to find their siblings--and then try to track down their father. The tone of Run for the Hills  feels reassuring in that everything seems headed toward resolutions. Wilson allows for confrontation, and he doesn't spare our characters a messy, somewhat unsatisfying reckoning involving their dad. He is, after all, an imperfect person whose fear of failure caused him to abandon each chance at a wonderfully imperfect life. The most tragic aspect isn't that his children were left, but that he missed out on time with these quirky, caring, wonderful oddballs who find that he is, ultimately, a relatively minor note in their newly formed, forever sibling family. Kevin Wilson is also the author of Now Is Not the Time to Panic , Nothing to See Here , Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine , The Family Fang, Perfect Little World , and Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories . For my full review, please check out this link . 03 She's a Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock She's a Lamb! offers a delusional, self-congratulatory, single-minded, relentless would-be performer and builds tension and outrageously high stakes as the novel traces each of the unsympathetic protagonist's professional missteps and cutthroat choices, pushing toward what feels like an inevitable, disastrous climax to the campy story. In Meredith Hambrock's darkly funny, satirical novel, Jessamyn St. Germain is a performer as over the top as her name. She's booking occasional commercial jobs, but she firmly believes she's destined to become famous and perform on Broadway, singing and dancing her way to superstardom. She's hired to mind the bratty child actors for a community theatre production of The Sound of Music , but she's got her heart set on capturing the role of Maria von Trapp, and her systematic destruction of the show unfolds in gruesome detail as her powerful delusions about her talent and her deservedness shape each cutthroat decision she makes to try to propel herself onstage as the lead. After all, she hasn't sacrificed, obsessed, planned, spent all her money on voice lessons, and humiliated herself with men in powerful positions for a mediocre acting life. Not by a long shot . I often have a tough time reading about protagonists who are making poor choices, but the book's dark satire is skillful, and the situation is increasingly over-the-top. Jessamyn is so far gone, even I could give in to the fascination of reading about the growing life-and-death whirlwind of destruction she's causing. Readers will likely have a clear sense that our main character is prepared to burn it all down on her ill-advised, sledgehammer-unsubtle journey to achieve stardom, and I found it irresistible to wonder how dark things would get in her relentless quest. Meredith Hambrock's debut novel was Other People's Secrets . Please click here  for my full review of She's a Lamb! 04 Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart Gary Shteyngart's story of an uncommonly intelligent fifth-grader, Vera, allows for a precocious child's point of view and observations that are delightfully spot-on and insightful. This is zany, heartwarming, often funny, and just lovely. Through precocious fifth-grader Vera's point of view in Vera, or Faith , we get to know her family, the Bradford-Shmulkins, and its various dynamics. The family lives in New York City, and Vera's parents, Anne Mom (her stepmother, a stay-at-home-mom at times derogatorily called Trad Wife) and Daddy (a culturally Russian, self-aggrandizing magazine editor and sometimes-writer), struggle to cope with financial pressures and relationship issues, while young Vera tries to simply make a friend at school and find her biological mother--while avoiding her annoying little brother's roughhousing and meathead games. This was wryly funny, sometimes zany, and so very heartwarming. Gary Shteyngart is also the author of The Russian Debutante's Handbook , Absurdistan , Super Sad True Love Story , and other novels. I received a prepublication edition of this title, which was published July 8, courtesy of Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley. For my full review, please check out Vera, or Faith . 05 Definitely Better Now by Ava Robinson In Ava Robinson's debut novel, she offers an appealingly imperfect main character making missteps and forging a path forward while adjusting to romantic, family, and work complications after a year of sobriety. Emma is friendly but reserved with her coworkers. She's focused on extending her one year of sobriety--a fact that she doesn't share easily with others, except at her frequent recovery support meetings. When she's assigned to assist on the committee for the office's extravagant upcoming holiday party, she's thrown together with a cheesy, persistent executive who unfortunately spotted her joke of a dating profile before she pulled it down--and Ben, the intriguing IT manager she can't stop thinking about. I fell in love with Emma and her imperfect, determined path forward, her sometimes-regretful reckonings with her past, and her fight to be vulnerable for a potential relationship she begins to believe in. Her missteps felt relatable, and I was hooked by her difficult decision-making and her bravery. This is a great example of a light-fiction-feeling romance that deals with weighty, meaningful themes. It's a combination I love. This is Ava Robinson's first novel. Abby Jimenez  and Carley Fortune  are two more authors who offer deep, heartfelt situations, messy complications, and real-life consequences within a romantic structure. For my full review please check out Definitely Better Now . 06 A Family Matter by Claire Lynch Claire Lynch's novel shapes two timelines separated by decades into an engrossing, complicated family story of forbidden love, secrets, impending death, and second chances, against a backdrop of everyday minutiae. I read this in a day; I loved it. In A Family Matter , we track a British family along two timelines. In 1982, Dawn, a young mother in a fine but loveless marriage finds happiness in a socially unacceptable relationship, and the legal backlash causes her to lose custody of--and contact with--her beloved young daughter Maggie. In 2022, Heron, Maggie's father, has just received terrible news about his health, and he works to come to terms with it within his carefully prescribed daily routine and regular banal conversations with Maggie and family. It becomes clear that Maggie is unaware of the particular circumstances around her parents' divorce and the reason for her mother's subsequent disappearance--until a clean-out of her childhood home reveals long-held secrets. I read this engrossing family story in a day and can't wait to read future fiction by Claire Lynch. Claire Lynch is also the author of Irish Autobiography  and Small: On Motherhoods . For more family stories I've loved, check out the books at this link . For my full review of this book please see A Family Matter .

Powers's novel is an exploration of the wonders of the ocean and also of the capacity of the human mind and imagination. The marching toward destruction of both of these makes for a nerve-racking, heartbreaking story. Playground 's final section held surprises I did not anticipate, and their exposure colors the entirety of the story that precedes them. We make things that we hope will be bigger than us, and then we’re desolate when that’s what they become. Four people are connected across time and geography in Richard Powers's sweeping story of their lives and unlikely interconnectedness. Evie Beaulieu becomes obsessed with marine life and diving when as a young girl she tests her father's invention, the first aqualung; Ina Aroita grows up moving from naval base to naval base in the Pacific, crafting art as her only constant; two friends at an elite Chicago high school, a privileged young man and a scholarship student, bond over an ancient game while one leans toward literature and one toward AI development. While tracking these characters' lives, Powers explores issues around technology, ecology, humanity, responsibility, and interconnectedness. The ocean and its creatures inspire wonder in Evie and in those whose passion she ultimately ignites, and humans' destruction of ocean habitats--and destruction of our own critical thinking and capacity for imagination through AI--is presented as an unending, heartbreaking march toward our own end. For every island is a canoe, and all the earth is an island, living by the grace of the immense and slowly turning blue creature. Each of the main characters drives the story in a different way, and I was invested in the struggles and settings for all of them. Their eventual, late intersection wasn't wholly satisfying: one of the characters, the one I was most intrigued by, is essential earlier in the book but served as only a minor force at the end (this is due to the surprise aspect of the story that ultimately shapes the book). The final section of Playground seemed headed toward a too-convenient ending, but instead brought clarity to the story that felt shocking within what had to that point felt like a novel exploring deep themes through a standard structure. I didn't anticipate the denouement and its vast implications, and I keep thinking about the way Powers achieved this story within a story and the punch that was packed in its reveal. I listened to this novel as a library audiobook for my book club. More Literary Fiction Favorites Richard Powers is also the author of The Overstory , Bewilderment , and other novels. For more literary fiction titles I've loved, please check out the titles at this link .

Anatomy of an Alibi pits privileged greed against savvy morally gray characters, and the women caught in the middle are left sorting out the truth. The bad guys are truly bad, and outsiders pay the price when those in power preserve outward appearances at any cost. I loved Ashley Elston's mystery First Lie Wins  (it was on my December favorites list ; it was one of my Bossy Fiction Ideas for Your Holiday Gift List ; and it was on my recent list of Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Reading Last Year ). So my hopes for Elston's recently published Anatomy of an Alibi were sky-high. Camille Bayliss is living a charmed life of wealth, prestige, beauty, and privilege in Louisiana, married to a handsome hotshot lawyer, Ben. Aubrey Price, a local bartender, was orphaned as a young woman when her parents were killed in a hit-and-run car accident, and she's been struggling and bending the rules to get by ever since. The two women become unlikely partners in sniffing out the truth about Camille's husband Ben's secrets. Aubrey takes Camille's place for twelve hours, and Camille attempts to spy on Ben to figure out what's going on. But it turns out that Ben is fully entrenched in situations more far-reaching than Camille could have imagined, and Aubrey's friends-like-family are drawn into the mess as well. Soon the women are facing a death, difficult truths, and a complicated web of destruction as their clever plan sets into motion a course of events will change each of them forever. Only one of the women has an alibi, and the security of both of their precarious lives is on the line. I enjoyed the morally gray characters--friends of Aubrey's--and the way they worked their savvy systems for their own benefit and to support each other. Yet they didn't feel like the "bad guys"; the greedy, privileged characters who manipulated the law and police investigations are the ones behaving despicably while seeming outwardly upstanding and respectable. I was obsessed with the premise of Elston's First Lie Wins (con woman possibly being double-crossed), and I enjoyed this mystery but wasn't quite as hooked by the setup, story, or characters. The ending of Anatomy of an Alibi introduces complications for the future of the surviving characters and calls into question yet another crime and alibi, which was entertaining. I listened to Anatomy of an Alibi  as an audiobook courtesy of Libro.fm and Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group. More Mystery Love I recently published Greedy Reading Lists of favorite mystery reads: Six Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Reading Last Year and Six More Mysteries I Loved Reading Last Year . And you can find my favorite mystery reads from the year before here .

This is gorgeous Niall Williams literary fiction, centering around an Irish country village, a young man searching for his path, and his unofficial mentor, zigzagging his way through life, embracing adventure, and bridging the gap between the old ways and modernity. Quiet connections and reflections make the story, with understated poignancy, humor, and heartbreaking moments that bring the book's world to life. We’re all, all the time, striving, and though that means there’s a more-or-less constant supply of failure, it’s not such a terrible thing if you think that we keep on trying. There’s something to consider for that. In the rural Irish village of Faha, in County Clare, the years-long rain (whether sprinkling, torrential, misting, steady dripping) is stopping, and electricity seems poised to finally move from "the notional" to "the actual," as Father Coffey proclaims. Young Noe (short for "Noel") has abandoned the seminary but is unsure of his next steps, and he takes refuge at his beloved grandparents' cottage in the village. A stranger, Christy, arrives to begin coordinating the installation of electricity in the area, and he boards with Noe at Ganga and Doady's home. He is older, kind, capable, yet somewhat lost, and he's bent on making amends for past mistakes. He and Noe begin going on periodic nighttime excursions quest to try to see a legendary but elusive Irish musician, and Christy reveals that he is on a greater mission to find and apologize to a woman in the village who he wronged long ago. That was one of the things about him. He walked this line between the comic and the poignant, between the certainly doomed and the hopelessly hopeful. In time I came to think it the common ground of all humanity. As their friendship begins, Noe feels privileged to exist within his new idol's world, but we witness Noe's emotional maturity grow during the course of story. He's simultaneously falling in love with a family of sisters, considering his future, witnessing his grandparents' heartbreaking aging (as well as their their somewhat inexplicable but undeniable loyalty to each other), and witnessing the change in the community forever as modernity pushes into their homes and businesses. This Is Happiness explores the small moments that make up a life worth living as well as explorations of the meaning of existence, religion, spirituality, reconciliation, commitment, and facing death. It was where, when darkness fell, it fell absolutely, and when you went outside the wind sometimes drew apart the clouds and you stood in the revelation of so many stars you could not credit the wonder and felt smaller in body as your soul felt enormous. I adore this novel and its countless gorgeous passages, its understated, poignant, heartbreaking elements, and its unexpected moments of connection and beauty. When I was almost finished reading my (overdue) library copy, I bought a copy for a friend's birthday gift and ordered another for myself so I could finish reading it at my leisure and keep it forever. Noe's character feels written as younger than his age, but I easily disregarded this disconnect as I immersed myself in the story. Story was the stuff of life, and to realise you were inside one allowed you to sometimes surrender to the plot, to bear a little easier the griefs and sufferings and to enjoy more fully the twists that came along the way. On my first venture out of the country, I traveled to London and to a small town in County Clare, Ireland, with my cousin and aunt and uncle, and while this story is set well before I ever visited, Williams's rich descriptions of the countryside evoked wonderfully nostalgic feelings for me. More Niall Williams Love For my review of Niall Williams's lovely Time of the Child , please click   this link . Williams is also the autho r of Four Letters of Love , As It Is In Heaven , The Fall of Light , Only Say the Word , Boy in the World, Boy and Man , John , and History of the Rain .

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Paula McLain's newest historical fiction told in two timelines, Skylark ; I'm listening to the charming Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz; and I'm reading the wonderful Catherine Newman's novel Wreck . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 Skylark by Paula McLain Paula McLain's Skylark is a historical fiction story set in Paris and told through dual timelines. In 1664, Alouette is the daughter of a master dyer at the famous Gobelin Tapestry Works. Certain dye colors are only available to the highest classes, and her father, striving to create a never-before-seen vibrant red, is constrained by longstanding rules and regulations. Alouette herself yearns for creative freedom, but as a woman with no standing, she is not allowed to express her artistic ideas. In 1939, Kristof is beginning his medical residency and living on the Rue de Gobelins. His neighbors are a Jewish family that fled Poland, and when the Nazis enter Paris, Kristof may, implausibly, be the only one who can help save the Jews under grave threat. McLain is also the author of When the Stars Go Dark , Circling the Sun  (a captivating account of the real-life Beryl Markham's adventures as an aviator in 1920s Kenya), and The Paris Wife (which I still haven't read).   I received a prepublication version of Skylark , published January 6, courtesy of NetGalley and Atria Books. 02 Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz The powerful dark lord Shadowfade is dead, and Violet Thistlewaite is determined to shed her identity as the Thornwitch, Shadowfade's right-hand woman, and start anew. She decides to settle in the nearby town of Dragon's Rest and open a flower shop, attempting to use her magical powers for good and to create beauty and inspire joy. But it's tough to tame her power when she's been trained since childhood to be expecting attacks and enacting dastardly deeds. And she's really distracted by the handsome, grumpy alchemist who's renting Violet the space for her shop. I'm listening to Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore as an audiobook . The tone and the cozy-magical-mystery focus is so far reminding me of A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping . 03 Wreck by Catherine Newman Catherine Newman's novel Sandwich focused on a family and its menopausal matriarch Rocky on vacation as its members navigated close quarters, health issues, life changes, complicated dynamics, and messy love. Wreck picks up with the same family two years later at home, and life is just as unruly, complicated, and guided by love, good intentions, and missteps as ever. When a local young man dies suddenly, Rocky and her young-adult daughter Willa, temporarily living at home again, become fixated on the circumstances, loss, and blame. And Rocky is facing a mysterious, possibly grave, illness that doctors find difficult to diagnose. Catherine Newman is also the author of Sandwich (one of My Very Favorite Bossy 2024 Reads ), We All Want Impossible Things , the wonderful nonfiction Waiting for Birdy , and How to Be a Person: 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills to Learn Before You're Grown Up.

Six More Favorite Bossy Mystery Reads I love looking over my favorite reads from the past twelve months in every genre. Something about the post-holiday cold gray of January lends itself to stories that chug along and keep me guessing. I've been in a mystery-reading mood lately, and I thought you might be too, so I'm sharing more mystery reads I've enjoyed for you to check out. You can explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall favorite reads from last year, you can read about Six Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Reading Last Year here , and you can find Bossy reviews of many other mysteries here . If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think! What are some of your favorite mystery reads, whether from the past year or beyond? 01 Nine Liars (Truly Devious #5) by Maureen Johnson The fifth in Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious young adult mystery series showcases Stevie Bell's instincts, doggedness, and ability to uncover the truth, this time in London while she and her friends visit Stevie's long-distance boyfriend David and investigate a decades-old double murder in a group of Cambridge friends. In the fifth in Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious series, skilled amateur high school sleuth Stevie Bell is in denial about her senior-year to-do list. She is overwhelmed about applying to college, and she doesn't have the funds to imagine that next step as a realistic prospect. When she and her friends get an opportunity to visit their former classmate (and Stevie's long-distance boyfriend) David in London, they cook up detailed research plans and immersion in the history and culture so their headmaster will approve the plan . The mystery's resolution isn't too easy, and Stevie leans on procedure, dogged determination, and her intuitive hunches to force a dangerous confrontation and to offer revelations about who is to blame and why. Stevie relies upon her friends for emotional support and for sleuthing assistance, and I liked the continued focus on the tight, complementary group of friends. But the novel doesn't wrap up Stevie's situation regarding college plans nor her long-distance relationship with David. A cliffhanger leaves her furious with him, betrayed, and at a loss regarding her future yet again. Maureen Johnson is the author of the six-book Truly Devious young adult mystery series: Truly Devious , The Vanishing Stair , The Hand on the Wall ,  The Box in the Woods , this book, and The Velvet Knife . For my full review, please check out this link . 02 The Hallmarked Man (Cormoran Strike #8) by Robert Galbraith I feel compelled to see this series through to its end. The Robin-Strike tension is finally spoken aloud, although not resolved, and the mystery twists to involve personal histories, secrets, and, ultimately, dark, devastatingly horrifying characters. I was hooked for the 31 hours of the audiobook. In The Hallmarked Man , dismembered body and Freemason symbols are found in a silver vault. Cormoran and Robin's newest client wants them to figure out whether or not the corpse is the father of her newborn baby. Things are already messy. The silver shop is next to a Freemason's Lodge with a broad reach, law enforcement is trying to keep the agency from succeeding in solving the case, some of their witnesses are tied to Strike's ex-girlfriend Charlotte, and the more suspects they consider, the more nefarious plots they uncover. Regarding the mystery: The dismembered corpse mystery leads to a whole host of even more dark, disturbing crimes and collective mental illness and abuse. The reveal was truly horrifying. The book teases around Cormoran and Robin's star-crossed attraction (again), but ultimately the issue is brought up head-on (though not resolved) . You can click here to check out my reviews of Cormoran Strike books 1 through 4 , book 5 , book 6 , and book 7 . You can read my full review by clicking this link . I support transgender rights and therefore am uncomfortable with some of views expressed by J. K. Rowling (Robert Galbraith is the pen name she uses for the Cormoran Strike series). 03 Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy Mysteries abound within McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore , but the story is largely an atmospheric story of isolation and loss set against the drama of climate change, tragedy, and finding the will to trust again. The description of Charlotte McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore  immediately ticked several of my reading-interest boxes--the setting is an isolated island (Antarctica is the closest land mass), the climate is cold (check out these other Bossy reviews of titles with cold settings ), and climate change  and shifting weather patterns are bringing matters to a head. When a mysterious woman washes up half-dead on the remote island of Shearwater, home of the world's largest seed bank and formerly a research hub, she finds only Dominic Salt and his three children manning the lighthouse. The lonely, broken characters reach out to each other. Although hesitant because of past hurts, they begin to form intense bonds. There are mysteries at the center of the story, but for me this was a captivating, atmospheric dive into the pressures, pain, and hope within extreme isolation, the power of external forces, and the push to protect each other at all costs. I was intrigued throughout. For my full review of Wild Dark Shore , please check out this link . Charlotte McConaghy is also the author of Migrations and Once There Were Wolves Wild Dark Shore was one of My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads . 04 We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1) by Karin Slaughter I like a story driven by a female investigaor of a main protagonist, and in this small-town mystery and tragedy, officer Emmy Clifton comes into her own. The situation quickly becomes dark and twisted, and Slaughter builds tension without red herrings or manipulation . In Karin Slaughter's We Are All Guilty Here , Emmy Clifton is a police officer for whom the job is all in the family--her aging father is the sheriff. It's the Fourth of July, and all hands are on deck with the police for the town's fireworks, crowd control, public nuisances, traffic snarls, and who knows what else. So when Emmy's best friend's teen daughter Madison brushes her off, then shows up, needy and asking for help, Emmy doesn't have time for the drama. But when Madison and her best friend go missing that night, Emmy realizes the girls have been keeping dark secrets and tangling with sinister figures . Slaughter doesn't rely on red herrings, and she adds in unexpected losses that complicate the truth-finding process. I didn't predict the identity of the bad guy, and while the interconnectedness of those at fault seemed like a little bit of a stretch, like calls to like, and it seems plausible that damaged, sick individuals would be drawn to each other . For my full review, please check out We Are All Guilty Here . 05 The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker Walker offers an unreliable main protagonist, her dedicated new psychiatrist, increasingly inexplicable and complicated occurrences, and speculation about unfathomable possibilities in this novel about memory, connection, love, and wonder. Jane is a young single mother and a librarian at the New York Public Library. She has a perfect memory: she's able to recall events, surroundings, and information down to the finest detail. But just after she visits a psychiatrist, Dr. Byrd, Jane goes missing. She is found face down and unconscious in Prospect Park, with no memory of what has occurred . Dr. Byrd begins to believe Jane is suffering from dissociative fugue, a rare condition that could account for her ability to act and function but recall no memory of doing so . The Dr. Byrd-Jane chaste yet deep connection made me feel uncomfortable because of their doctor-client relationship and even more so because of the complications of her intensely acted-out perceived mental illness. Yet the promise of their ongoing link is one of the only ways in which the novel's characters are satisfactorily "settled" for a future by the end of the novel. For my full review, please check out The Strange Case of Jane O . Please click here  for more Bossy reviews of books about memory. 06 Heartwood by Amity Gaige Amity Gaige's Appalachian Trail-set novel offers several of my favorite elements: a Maine setting, a missing-person storyline, an unforgiving wilderness, and a strong woman succeeding in a male-dominated field. This mystery hit the spot for me. But the nonbeliever is in a bind, because without God, who forgives? Human beings are pretty unforgiving. The law certainly isn’t forgiving. Forgiveness needs a messenger. Amity Gaige's Heartwood  offers the story of Beverly, a dedicated Maine State Game Warden who has fought for years for an amount of respect to match her commitment and ability, and Valerie, an Appalachian Trail hiker who has gone missing 200 miles from her final destination. Wheelchair-bound Lena, who is following the search from afar, Valerie, and Bev are inexorably connected, and Valerie's survival depends upon the other two women's bravery and relentlessness. Meanwhile, the novel explores imperfect parenting, compounding mistakes by clinging to fear or regret, and against-the-odds second chances. Forgiveness is a concept that emerges again and again here. I love a Maine setting, a missing-persons story, and a tale of brave women thriving in a traditionally male career. This story is so intriguing, I had trouble putting it down. Amity Gaige is also the author of O My Darling , The Folded World , Schroder , and Sea Wife . Check out the titles at the links here for more missing person stories  and for more books set in Maine . For my full review of this book please see Heartwood .

The corruption and dark underbellies throughout, the lurking folklore figure that seems to signal death and destruction, and the despairing community history of missing women set a brooding, ominous tone, yet Salt Bones often felt like a young-adult mystery. The reveal is immensely disturbing and makes various characters' sinister suspicions feel more than warranted. Jennifer Givhan's mystery-thriller-horror novel Salt Bones  made it onto multiple best-of lists for 2025, and I've been in a mystery-reading mood this month, so this novel went to the top of my library audiobook list. In Salt Bones , three generations of strong women in a dysfunctional Mexicali family struggle to come to terms with the disappearances and loss of beloved friends and family members, all women. The story is a dark, moody look at the underbelly of some dark business: mistreated cattle in a slaughterhouse; aggressive exposure of truth through environmental activism; and a series of women snatched from the area, seemingly never to be heard from again. A key character has existed on the outskirts of local society for decades, and a rich, evil legend has grown up around him, so that many in the community believe he is the woman-snatcher--and that he snatched his own daughter. But we find that our main protagonist Mal has been having a secret, fulfilling relationship with him for years, and that, unbeknown to Mal's daughters, he is their father. Yet strong-willed Mal, puzzlingly, doesn't speak up when his name is maligned throughout their town, and she has never revealed to her girls that he is family. Mal's life is made more complicated by her mother's dementia and verbal abuse around Mal's sister's long-ago disappearance, the lingering pain of her own loss, her daughters' secrets, the bro-like male power plays of the men who bring their game to her for butchering, and, ultimately, and more upsetting than any of the rest of these, by the disappearance of her youngest daughter partway through the story. Mal's younger brother/son (he is biologically her brother but she raised him as a son; her daughers call him "bruncle" because he is both a brother to them and their uncle) is a local cop, and her older brother is running for political office. Everyone pitches in to help try to find Mal's girl, but when Mal finds out what's actually happened to her and what's happened to the other missing women, the shocking reality of dark deeds layered throughout the commuity comes from multiple sources and shakes up everything. Some characters (Mal's twin niece and nephew, her browbeaten father, her mean-as-a-snake mother--to whom patient-as-a-saint Mal miraculously doesn't even mutter a telling-off) often felt like caricatures, and the novel largely felt like a young adult story to me. In multiple instances, a smell of rot on the breath is covered up by alcohol or other smells; this felt a little too on the nose for me as an alert to the dark undersides to the story. I was intrigued by the disturbing, mysterious magical realism imagery of the dark woman-horse, sometimes beheaded or skull-like, often chasing prey, which seems to refer to the legend of Siguanaba--although in this novel she seems aimed at guiding Mal to the difficult truths rather than luring her to her destruction. In Salt Bones , Givhan explores Latina culture, Indigenous issues, folklore, instinct, tough women, magical realism, horrifying betrayals, corruption due to wealth and power, and the strength of family. More Books from This Author Jennifer Givhan is also the author of River Woman, River Demon; Trinity Sight; Jubilee ; and other novels.

The past and present storms added thrills and chills to the dual-timeline coastal Alabama story. Predicting a few elements of the mystery didn't diminish my enjoyment of the fast-paced tale in which a young woman digs to understand a suspicious death and ends up coming to terms with her legacy and her future. St. Medard's Bay, Alabama, seems to attract the strongest of hurricanes, and the only building that's withstood every storm for a century is the charming Rosalie Inn. But St. Medard's Bay was also the center of a media whirlwind in the early 1980s following the mysterious death of Landon Fitzroy, the governor's handsome son, in the midst of that year's hurricane. Married Landon was having a passionate affair with a beautiful, spunky local young woman, Lo Bailey, who was later accused of his murder but never convicted. Now Geneva Corliss is running the money pit Rosalie Inn, taking up the mantle of her family's business. When Lo Bailey and a handsome ghostwriter come to stay while crafting a book about the events around Landon's death, Geneva begins uncovering secrets that shake what she always believed to be true regarding the inn, her community, and even her own family. The small-town setting was great, and the pacing of The Storm moved along nicely. I felt equally invested in the past and present timelines, and while I predicted a few elements of the big reveal, I was intrigued by how Lo turned the demonization of the Oth er Woman on its head and gained power from the media slander and efforts to discredit her. Hawkins delivers a wrapped-up, satisfying ending although (as becomes apparent in relatively early foreshadowing) not every character survives the modern-day storm. I received a prepublication version of The Storm  courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. More from Rachel Hawkins Rachel Hawkins is also the author of The Heiress , The Villa , Reckless Girls , and The Wife Upstairs .

I was surprised by how interested I was in the implosion of Burden's privileged life. She captures the universality of heartbreak; the chilling notion that a partner in a decades-long marriage could wake up and leave without warning or remorse; and her emergence from the trauma as a stronger version of herself. It was a great love story, one for the ages. The speed of our beginning and the speed of our ending felt like matching bookends. They both came out of nowhere. He wanted it, he wanted me. And then he didn’t.  Belle Burden, whose parents and grandparents were moneyed and well known in high society, grew up in a golden life of wealth and privilege. Burden was more than twenty years into her marriage, living between posh homes in Tribeca and Martha's Vineyard, raising three children (with her own Harvard law degree largely languishing unused), when her hedge-fund-manager husband abruptly disclosed a recent affair and, seemingly without remorse or struggle, left Belle, the children, the dog, the houses--their whole life. He offered no explanation and no apology, then he set about threatening to take everything from her and the kids. In Strangers , Burden recounts her shock, shame, and her reckoning; she had let her husband make too many of their decisions, handle all of their finances, shape the rhythms of the house, and force Belle to be quiet and small. As their lives crept along, she facilitated their uneven power structure by running their home lives and trusting him to look out for her and the kids through his side of the partnership--the salary-earning, financial planning, and, in what is eventually a pivotal point, legal ownership of essential assets she believed to be shared between them in a good-faith, love- and trust-based marriage. Her husband abruptly decides not to be emotionally (or financially) invested in his wife, children, or family life any longer, saying, "I feel like a switch has flipped. I'm done." He said, "You can have the house and the apartment. You can have custody of the kids. I don't want it. I don't want any of it." The family's extreme privilege could have felt offputting or could have made Burden's story feel unrelatable and remote, but I found the "lifestyles of the rich and famous" aspect of their situation fascinating. I was particularly struck by the universal heartbreak: their overflowing coffers and Burden's generational wealth surely cushioned their falls (while the fight for and splitting of significant assets added to their personal concerns during the split). Yet a forsaken marriage, an affair, and emotional abandonment like those Burden recounts causes turmoil and a broken heart regardless of other circumstances. A friend and I were talking recently about our younger days and our early perceptions of marriage, and we agreed that having heard nebulous "we just grew apart" divorce accounts had always been the most chilling, the most frightening, the most alarming. How did two people living in a home, sharing a life, and building a future grow apart? Could one person simply decide it was over, without the other person realizing they had been on shaky ground? Would it take one partner by surprise? Did it happen suddenly? Could it happen to us? As she sets up her part of the story, Burden delves into the backgrounds of her notable, famous, wealthy family members, their personalities, quirks, shortcomings, key histories, and often challenging family dynamics. At times their larger-than-life presences greatly overshadow Belle's own relatively small, quiet existence. But as she works through her personal trauma, she moves past others' legacies to retrace the stages of her own relationship; she begins to piece together how she and her husband got to where they are. As she sorts through the past and works to find support and to function more fully in the present, she decides to refuse to be shamed as the woman who was left, who is perceived as not enough to have kept her husband. She grows more bold, finds healing in speaking her mind, and becomes determined to write her story and share her perspective. Strangers grew out of a "Modern Love" essay and is her account of her pain, confusion, and reemergence as a truer version of herself. I could see that some people...were uncomfortable with me coming out of my lane, a place where women stayed quiet, where men are allowed to do what serves them, no matter what the wreckage.... To them, a woman writing about a man leaving is, somehow, worse than the man leaving. I was intrigued by this fast read; I finished it in a day and a half. I received a prepublication electronic version of Strangers , scheduled for publication today, courtesy of NetGalley and Random House. More More More Memoirs You can find other memoirs I've read and reviewed, including multiple lists of my favorites, here .