Trace Temple is a disillusioned, angry young man whose family lost its ranch after hard times. mother's three husbands and a beloved figure from Daphne's childhood--whom she never saw nor heard from after This is lovely, poignant, and unexpected--and it's possibly my favorite Ann Patchett novel ever, certainly evil" stepmother, who is here actually a savvy, strong woman determined to provide for her household after respectability of her deceased husband's title to secure invitations for her daughters (who are not, after

death and then a feud (the impetus of the bitter rift is the making of a family-favorite apple cake after the most powerful to me, as I was able to witness interactions and dynamics among the larger group (after

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading what may be a perfect summer read with plenty of nostalgia; a dark 01 Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland Two families meet for the summer at their formerly sought-after resort in the Catskills, but the Weingold and Goldman families aren't as close as they It feels like a perfect book for summer reading.

The reality-show setting and LGBTQIA+ representation in Ever After flips the traditional fairy tale Dev has dedicated his career to the reality dating show Ever After , helping to shape it into the popular

After a few days you receive multiple personalized reading recommendations in an email. Voila! In fact, after remembering how fun it was the last time, I just submitted another request.

and go-to grains, all built around the idea that "simple is something so perfectly constructed that every are friends with José Andrés, head of the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, which feeds populations after From Lahmajoun Flatbread prepared after a Beirut explosion in 2020 to Ukrainian Borsch offered to families

Fifty-year-old Elle is in her happy place--the house where she's spent a whole life of summers. example, “I’ve never been able to make myself throw up, no matter how hard I try" follows some pages after with no bearing on anything significant that nevertheless kept jumping out at me: almost all--possibly every

My very favorite Bossy November reads! Lila has planned her million-dollar wedding down to the last detail, and Phoebe's depression and her very But after Sciona blasts the competition at her entrance exam and is admitted, she finds that not all The misogyny and contempt of her peers means she faces a lack of respect and resources at every turn. Main protagonist Violet Powell is being released after 22 months' imprisonment for the drunk-driving

Described as Mean Girls meets The Parent Trap, Together for Never explores each girl's point of view, and after complications of potentially blending a family and the layers of complexity involved in sharing a parent after

And everyone seems to be forgetting that Jenna Chen ever existed. fell in love with Ann Liang's fake-dating young adult novel This Time It's Real , read it in one rainy afternoon Reading Lists Six of My Favorite Light Fiction Reads from the Past Year , Six Rom-Coms Perfect for Summer Reading , and My Bossy Favorite Reads of Summer  the year I read it.

And Princess Gisela of the Alpenwald, a dear friend of Alice's, goes missing just after Veronica shares Berry After her grandmother dies, Sydney finds an old photo that looks almost exactly like her--but she No one ever speaks about Carol.

But after her father's untimely death, daughter and mother quickly face the hard reality of women's inability

The very end of the book quotes from a personal set of writings and for some reason this felt a little Jimenez is also the author of Part of Your World, The Friend Zone, and The Happy-Ever-After Playlist. You might also like the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Light Fiction Stories Perfect for Summer

Sally Gould's memoir is named after a darkly humorous term of affection for paramedics in Australia (

For my full review of Utopia Avenue, click here. 02 The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez On The other is a shockingly talented artist who abandoned the creation of new work after an incredibly For my full review of this book, see The Happy Ever After Playlist. 03 Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby Annie After a slow start, the story pace picked up, and I was really curious to follow these characters to Taylor Jenkins Reid is also the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Maybe In Another Life, After

Her husband has been away fighting for the Confederacy since soon after they were married, and Libby After all, she hasn't sacrificed, obsessed, planned, spent all her money on voice lessons, and humiliated He is, after all, an imperfect person whose fear of failure caused him to abandon each chance at a wonderfully making missteps and forging a path forward while adjusting to romantic, family, and work complications after rich inner life filled with wonder. forty women (one is a young girl, our main protagonist) live year after

They clash, hurt each other deeply, and wonder if they can ever reconcile. Along with the brothers' divergent paths forward after loss, their distinct voices--one machine-gun-like just-out-of-college, contract-worker brother who feels socially awkward and is doubting his chess prowess after

challenges of three strong women in her life: her best friend Zikora, a successful lawyer who must regroup after Drawn to locals like high schooler Betty Campbell, who is physically and psychologically changed after

Maisie Dobbs is a formidable, dogged, whip-smart investigator working to ferret out the truth in the aftermath to care deeply about them, their roles in the wartime efforts, and their potential for various happy-ever-afters set in the early 20th century, as Violet, a young ship's stewardess bent on providing for her family after It's hundreds of years after King Arthur's reign, and his descendant and namesake Arthur, a future lord And when they're forced to spend the summer together at Camelot to prepare for their upcoming nuptials

Maggie just can't figure out who's still alive and who would suddenly be after revenge. She also suspects that she can't trust the Agency after a data breach revealed the names of the Malta Now they operate as a team to try to determine who is after Maggie and why.

spirit--and the power of books--Harriett's Bookshop remains open today, as do Ida's Bookshop (named after Wells) in New Jersey and a literary installation, Josephine's Bookshop (named after Josephine Baker),

was tough to read and that was so disturbing for me, it made it difficult to continue with the story afterward After he learns what occurred, he feels that it's impossible to go on.

Bookworms, I hope your summer is full of fun, relaxation, adventure, and some breaks from the day-to-day I sometimes like to dig into a big nonfiction read during the summer, when I feel like time stretches

And you can explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall 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 different boy, a significantly shaped sister Maia, drastically different paths for mother Cora, and altered

More from Jennifer Weiner Weiner is also the author of the novels Good in Bed,   That Summer,   Good Summer , The Summer Place , and more.

Cleo and Ethan find themselves in a nightmare of grief: their daughter Daisy dies at the hospital soon after

Nothing was ever enough on Mirabilis. Every discovery made, every hour spent in someone else's sheets, every conversation and collaboration

son of Russian dissidents as they work to evade the thousands of cameras documenting London citizens' every Why not take this fantasy all the way, after all?).

fell in love with Ann Liang's fake-dating young adult novel This Time It's Real, read it in one rainy afternoon Greedy Reading Lists Six of My Favorite Light Fiction Reads from the Past Year, Six Rom-Coms Perfect for Summer Reading, and My Bossy Favorite Reads of Summer the year I read it.

of a close-knit network of community members) and a successful city doctor with expensive taste and very Meanwhile every visit to Daniel and his town builds up Alexis, fills her heart, teaches her about unconditional Jimenez is also the author of Life's Too Short, The Friend Zone (The Friend Zone #1), and The Happy Ever After Playlist (The Friend Zone #2), which I included on the Greedy Reading List Six Rockin' Stories

For my full review of Utopia Avenue, click here. 02 The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez On The other is a shockingly talented artist who abandoned the creation of new work after an incredibly For my full review of this book, see The Happy Ever After Playlist. 03 Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby Annie After a slow start, the story pace picked up, and I was really curious to follow these characters to Taylor Jenkins Reid is also the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Maybe In Another Life, After

The ending isn't unexpected, but it does feel hard-fought and satisfying. 04 Life After Life by Kate In Life After Life, Atkinson focuses her literary fiction lens on the character of Ursula, her relationships I read (listened to) the immersive story about do-overs from Kate Atkinson, Life After Life, at the recommendation I'll post my full review of Life After Life next week! aimed to help her sleep during this difficult time induces an incredible side effect: when she sleeps after

More Favorite Bossy Mystery Reads I love looking over my favorite reads from the past twelve months in every You can explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall McConaghy is also the author of Migrations and Once There Were Wolves Wild Dark Shore was one of My Very But just after she visits a psychiatrist, Dr. Byrd, Jane goes missing.

Now I Rise , Lada is tough as nails but faulted, and we see her forge her identity more fully through every It's a little dark, consistently fascinating, sometimes funny, and very satisfying. and Storm , The Darkness emerges with a destructive and dangerous plan to crush everything Alina has ever The Cruel Prince , Jude and her sister are sent to live with the enemy in the High Court of Faerie after

Every character grapples with obligation, safety, and family issues. I mentioned Damnation Spring along with Tokyo Ever After and Good Girl, Bad Blood in the Greedy Reading

Robin is trying to keep the household afloat after the deaths of his parents, to support his bright, And Emma would very much like to make it out of this alive as well. longest night of their lives as they work to evade the thousands of cameras documenting London citizens' every Sign me up for every bit of this! A new United States administration has been sworn in after a period of upheaval and upset.

The Summer Favorites These titles aren't classic, light "summer reads," but they were my favorite reads from a summer past, and they all stand the test of time. In case you missed them the first time around, I'm reposting them as this summer begins so you can add For classic light fiction and rom-com titles that are also great for summer reading, check out these before WWII, with its giant hotels, piers, and general hubbub, is the backdrop for the story of a few summer

fell in love with Ann Liang's fake-dating young adult novel This Time It's Real , read it in one rainy afternoon Reading Lists Six of My Favorite Light Fiction Reads from the Past Year , Six Rom-Coms Perfect for Summer Reading , and My Bossy Favorite Reads of Summer  the year I read it.

Still, Dorothy was supposed to be in stasis for years after suffering an emotional loss. She is often exasperated and very funny. I enjoyed this very much and wished it were a full-length novel.

octogenarian and mistaken identity was too cloyingly sweet for me, but Fred's stumbling through life after attempts are ignored as evidence of dementia, although unlike Bernard's, Fred's mind is as sharp as ever But a revelation about Bernard's past very much affects Fred's present, and Fred's situation becomes This is very sweet--at times it felt too cloyingly sweet for me.

After what happened on her last job, she can't afford to make mistakes. Mr.

I felt confident throughout the book that some version of a happy ending would be delivered after the

This book made it onto the recent Greedy Reading List Six More Great Rom-Coms Perfect for Summer Reading intriguing, you might also be interested in the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Rom-Coms Perfect for Summer Reading, Six Great Light Fiction Stories Perfect for Summer Reading, and Six More Great Light Fiction His writing is just gorgeous and I'm in for every word. This was a wonderful summer read for me and I loved it.

Upgrade presents a future version of our world in which humans are teetering closer than ever to extinction realizes that he's been infected by a virus--one designed to make him seem uninfected, then to modify his very He’s becoming stronger and smarter every day--but he’s also being hunted down for potential destruction his deceased, brilliant mother's life's work--from before she was banned from gene experimentation after

Nothing Like the Movies ; and I'm listening to John Gwynne's Norse-inspired saga of life in the time after a rom-com I adored, Better Than the Movies , as well as the cute Betting on You and Happily Never After

She is determined to find a teacher for him, and after years of musical giftedness and hard work, at

My very favorite Bossy September reads! The reveal of the true story behind the abductions, cruelties, and murders seemed far-fetched (every Emiko Jean is also the author of the great young adult stories Tokyo Ever After  and Tokyo Dreaming   irresistible character of 19-year-old Margo discovers her strength, drive, creativity, and vulnerability after

After the twins made a home in Wilkes County, North Carolina, buying up land, slaves, and establishing

Characters' reimagined futures feel all the more powerful after the struggles within the book.

considerable talent for bringing history to life by tackling the McCarthy era--in what feels like a very At times, it feels a little as though Quinn is ticking every social justice box possible, but I didn't Nora thought of the Bill of Rights, which she saw in its case every day.