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I love a book set in the wild (Peter Heller's novels The River and The Guide come to mind as favorites Much of the story takes place in an Idaho forest, and it made me reminisce about my college summer spent The story is more of a thriller than a mystery; after a time we aren't wondering what happened, rather

The pacing flagged for me throughout the middle of the story, during the slog through various avenues Woolever also recounts her time as assistant to the kind, passionate Tony Bourdain until the time of I was most interested in the travel, food-focused writing, eating accounts, and breakneck-speed, often But in Parry's novel he must also reckon with his fantastical origin story. This took me out of the story and killed the momentum for me as a reader.

Reading Now I'm listening to Sarah Rees Brennan's darkly playful dive into life as a villain in a fantasy story 01 Long Live Evil (Time of Iron #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan I love a story that flips a traditional setup But wars are being waged, and Rae quickly figures out that she's not the heroine of the story. Mountains Remember by Joy Callaway I love a North-Carolina-set story, and Joy Callaway's historical For more North Carolina stories, check out the books on this Bossy list .

peek into the life of a paramedic; a horrifying look at a cluster of serial killers; the fascinating story In John Green's nonfiction book Everything Is Tuberculosis, he tells his story of befriending a young title was one of My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads across all genres. 04 A Marriage at Sea: A True Story Sophie Elmhirst revisits a decades-old true story that she crafts like fiction, skillfully using dry The story's pacing doesn't flag, although the tale sets a slower tempo as Maurice and Maralyn settle

True Biz is a coming-of-age story that also explores the importance society places on language; past Straub offers a story that plays with time, explores sentimental moments, offers do-overs, and sweeps I am a huuuuuuge fan of books that play with time, and Straub offers up all the best parts of a time-travel The story offers up lots of loving moments as well as perfectly imperfect decisions and mistakes. Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories.

The story is dark, nerve-racking, irreverent, tragic, and poignant. Late in the story a fateful connection made the story really take off and feel meaningful. dark humor, a haunting thread of tragedy, some irreverence, strange and off-balance moments, and a story For the majority of the novel I felt as though I appreciated the story more than I was taken in by it For me, the book really took off and intrigued me once Cyrus traveled to New York to visit an artist

01 Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn This fun, darkly funny, feminist story about a retiring Shapiro's fascinating book Inheritance. 03 Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver Kingsolver offers an epic story extreme poverty in Victorian England inspired him to highlight its cruel impacts on children in his story The story comes alive through the little moments Keegan highlights; while she explores decisions often aims to answer questions that have been frequently posed to her, along the way sharing more of the story

01 Sandwich by Catherine Newman Sandwich is beautifully wrought story of complications and familial adoration I felt like the fascinating build-up in so many areas of the story warranted much more at the novel's The story and its characters feel unexpected and fascinating; Margo's Got Money Troubles  is an edgy my full review, check out Margo's Got Money Troubles . 04 Family Family by Laurie Frankel Frankel's story a few cases delving back into their past to set a stage for current-day events--and building a rich story

months, attempts to improve ATP ranking, sleeping on floors, and struggling to focus as a young man traveling youthful missteps, bonding (or clashing) with other players, and trying to be savvy about money, lodging, travel

01 Funny Story by Emily Henry Funny Story is the perfect rom-com read. The banter is fantastic, and I laughed many times while reading this one. For my full review of this book, please see Funny Story. 02 Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck I listened to Shark Heart: A Love Story as an audiobook. travel.

upcoming mystery Anatomy of an Alibi ; and I'm listening to Jennifer Givhan's mystery-thriller-horror story 01 Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden It was a great love story, one for the ages. Then she decided to speak her mind, write her story, and share her stories. This is her story of her pain, confusion, and reemergence as a truer version of herself. onto multiple best-of lists for 2025, and I've been in a mystery-reading mood, so I'm diving into this story

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading the story of an heiress turned abandoned orphan, based on a real-life Isola is inspired by the story of a real-life sixteenth-century heroine. I fell in love with Ann Liang's fake-dating young adult novel This Time It's Real , read it in one rainy Find You   here and my review of Liang's young-adult historical fiction fantasy novel A Song to Drown Rivers Jonathan Haidt uses his decades of research into moral psychology to address the reasoning between a timely

Perfect for Summer Reading , and Six More Great Light Fiction Stories 01 Funny Story by Emily Henry Funny Story  is the perfect rom-com read. The banter is fantastic, and I laughed many times while reading this one. For my full review of this book, please see Funny Story . Which means traveling together to a tropical island for his sister's wedding, pretending to be soulmates

Kennedy draws the reader into the specific place and time of the story, vividly building the constant heart of the book and is the center of the wheel of characters rotating around her, yet little page time Late in the story a fateful connection made the story really take off and feel meaningful. The book really took off and intrigued me once Cyrus traveled to New York to visit an artist whose final But the story is primarily about human connections.

Wray's story of elderly British sisters who played key roles in fighting the enemy in World War II offers Archie begins wondering about unexplained aspects of his own family history, and when he and his aunts travel The story is heartwarming, the pacing moves along in both timelines, and the characters are explored about World War II and women spies, you might also like the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Stories

postapocalyptic and dystopian books, and I think it's for the same reason I'm captivated by wartime stories 01 Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson Robots, time travel, teen angst, and this gorgeous cover The interconnected stories here are made up of strange, affecting situations. Characters appear in the backgrounds of others’ stories; a necklace disappears from one story in the ; and we see varied points of view regarding aspects of the same stories.

of which was read aloud for the (obtuse, grumpy, belligerent) poet's wife's birthday, then lost to time I’d like to shout down through a hole in the ceiling of time and advise the people of a hundred years willful march toward global destruction, our exploded population and its range on the earth, our ease of travel Early on, I found the academic focus somewhat tedious, but then the story builds into unexpected, often The story ultimately unravels messy realities, secrets, and life-and-death stakes in the past as well

But when the relationship falters, she flees into a marriage with a sickly traveling minister and escapes Pachinko is a sweeping generational story of hardship, sacrifice, and fifty years of Korean-Japanese In The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After , Wamariya recalls her experiences The author's tone and voice is like poetry at times, raw and spare and true. 03 In the Country We Love : My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero The heart of Diane Guerrero's story is powerful: a hardworking

provide more reflection around events as she grew older and more emotionally mature within her own story , and this is when she starts to show more vulnerability and growth--and when I felt drawn into her story I love reading the stories of lives lived, so I frequently read memoirs. If you're interested in the stories of famous or little-known people's lives, you might want to check I love to hear people's stories, and I found all of this endearing.

within a story with magical realism elements and a struggle to stay true to one's self. I'm in for all Jane Harper and all Aaron Falk stories! Exiles was the right mystery at the right time for me. within a story is playful and satirical while providing deep issues to contemplate. The story culminates in tragedy or triumph, depending on your point of view.

In Darling Rose Gold, she offers readers a story involving Münchausen syndrome by proxy, lies, betrayals The characters, the story arc that isn’t too easy but leaves you in a promising place after all, and Wilson's story stars combustible children and the low-key, unambitious misfit who sticks with them, making them feel unequivocally safe and understood for the first time. Time-Travel Escapes.

The story is a dark, moody look at the underbelly of some dark business: mistreated cattle in a slaughterhouse upsetting than any of the rest of these, by the disappearance of her youngest daughter partway through the story even mutter a telling-off) often felt like caricatures, and the novel largely felt like a young adult story or other smells; this felt a little too on the nose for me as an alert to the dark undersides to the story More Books from This Author Jennifer Givhan is also the author of River Woman, River Demon; Trinity Sight

It's a story of chosen family, a chance reunion, illuminating and poignant revelations about the past Their deep connection is immediately evident once again, and, at times with Daphne's sister Leda and The structure of the story is wonderful, tracking back in time to Daphne's childhood and the pivotal Eddie, who was essential in encouraging Daphne to dream about her future, and we hear more of his life story More Ann Patchett Books Ann Patchett is also the author of Tom Lake, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

Harrow The Everlasting  involves jaunts through multiple versions of the same story, as our fantastic the legendary Sir Una Everlasting , spindly, awkward, cowardly historian Owen Mallory unearths her story I loved this story about an expert in poisons, with banter and clever deduction in an imagined world. and outs of royal customs, adjust her practical wardrobe, and leave her personal research behind to travel You might predict that Odessa will be the unlikely heroine of this story when you find out that she has

I did a lot of traveling and some great reading last month, but I didn't do a lot of reviewing. years away, because Rocky's menopausal rage threatens to undo any joy she might gain from spending time To save their treasured family time together, Rocky may have to share secrets she never intended to reveal Yet the cast of characters is colorful, and I enjoyed the time I spent with them. Towles's writing is so lovely, I'm willing to follow his stories and his characters anywhere.

Despite some of the questionable, haunting choices that are made at times in the story, I was so taken stark, beautiful, heartbreaking historical fiction tracks former Union soldier John Chenneville as he travels Check out my reviews of So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men and the short story collection Antarctica McAllister McAllister offers a smart, intriguing, twisty story that plays with time and offers second with time.

evangelical preacher Beth Moore's memoir, All My Knotted-Up Life ; I'm listening to Melissa Caruso's time-travel For Bossy reviews of many other books that play with time, you can check out the books and lists at this

Annie, the teenaged orphan makes a questionable deal with an untrustworthy ship captain, hoping to travel Masks bestow upon the wearers the instincts, abilities, and reaction times of the animals after which

I struggled with and was also fascinated by the fact that in its original form, the story was Harry Potter pages) tracks a healer and alchemist suffering from significant memory gaps through three periods of time The heart of this story was originally a work titled Manacled , and it was dark Harry Potter fan fiction to read the origin story of Helena and Kaine, we find an unlikely love story built within a time of up the story and explores what happens to all surviving characters in the end.

Ina shares her life story, beginning with a difficult, abusive childhood, continuing to her marriage Barefoot Contessa--necessitating extended time apart from Jeffrey and, eventually, a very real scare I looked forward to getting back to this book each time I could, and I was as charmed by Ina's guileless which focuses on the famous guests on her "Be My Guest" television show, but I loved Ina's personal stories Ina reads the audiobook version of her story, and I enjoyed listening to her voice as she relates key

These interconnected stories are odd, fascinating, and sometimes panic-inducing, yet they offer glimmers children; hotels become elaborately designed spaces used for saying goodbye or for cremation rather than travel stays; and an irresistible, sentient pig commands its own story. Characters appear in the backgrounds of others’ stories; a necklace disappears from one story in the ; and we see varied points of view regarding aspects of the same stories.

John Mandel weaves together the past, present, and future in this post-apocalyptic story about a pandemic loved him, and back and forth to the past where the actor got his start and to the future, where a traveling John Mandel's post-apocalyptic story offers various minor, intriguing aspects that come together in an I was taken with her writing style and loved how smoothly the shifts in time and chronology worked.

Kline takes what might be a voyeuristic-feeling story of two North Carolina sisters (distant relations conjoined twins from Siam, Chang and Eng, and builds a suitably complicated set of dynamics; a layered story Kline paints a fascinating story of of the uncommon family structure and its logistics. , seeming impossibilities, and outsiders' desire for salacious details in this sympathetic, layered story She is skilled at building a story within a specific place and time, and the details made this story

In Emiko Jean's young adult story Tokyo Ever After, we met Izumi (Izzy) Tanaka, an everyday, average She was thrilled to travel to Japan to meet her father and the rest of her royal family for the first time. In Tokyo Dreaming, we pick up the story with Izzy dating her gorgeous bodyguard boyfriend, living with

Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Natasha Pulley's The Kingdoms, which involves historical fiction and time travel; I'm listening to Marie Lu's young adult science fiction book Warcross, the first in the series Natasha Pulley is also the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, another historical fiction story She's hacked into the game plenty of times and glitched the system to work in her favor. Migrations follows Frannie as she travels farther from civilization and safety--and as she considers

I hope you're settling in for a wonderful holiday, whether you're home or traveling and whether you're

Blake includes wonderful scientific detail and details of life in that time. it's 1849 in London, and Nora Gibson is a female surgeon (the only female surgeon in the city) in a time I love a story about a female doctor before that was common; I love the way Audrey Blake weaves in rich details of life in the time; I love how Blake shapes a story in which privileged education comes up I finished, and Blake doesn't incorporate any awkward hearkening-back moments in order to build the story

novel about a 1960s female scientist and cooking show host by Bonnie Garmus; Emma Straub's playing-with-time , reliving-the-past story This Time Tomorrow; and Something Wilder, Christina Lauren's newest, about a treasure hunter's daughter who gets roped into time with her ex. Lessons in Chemistry is Bonnie Garmus's first book. 02 This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub What if you When the trip involves mishap after mishap, the travelers begin to wonder whether the legend of the treasure

Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Dream Count , Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel Blackbird, One for the Crow , which I mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories

two historical fiction mysteries (one with magical elements at its heart), a fictionalized memoir, a story Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell turns her attention to Renaissance Italy to tell a historical fiction story for my full review of A Study in Scarlet Women. 03 True Biz by Sara Nović True Biz is a coming-of-age story True Biz is a coming-of-age story that also explores the importance society places on language; past fascinatingly odd situation, then offers characters' vulnerabilities and imperfections to bring the story

What is it about aviation stories and my being so in love with them? fiction novel Wingwalkers, Zeno, a former World War I ace pilot, and Della, his daring wingwalking wife, travel Depression-era America, wowing audiences and inspiring hope in a dark, sober time. When the characters from the two rich stories that make up Wingwalkers briefly intersect, it's fantastic "Stories," she said. Sometimes she could hardly believe her own.

Various points of view and side characters sometimes make the story meander as Huneven explores fissures I didn't love the recipes and their cutesy endings with story-specific conditions that are ideal for But I love a found-family story. , as well as essays and short stories. For my full review of this book please see Isola . 06 Trust by Hernan Diaz This story-within-a-story-within-a-story

The story is dark, nerve-racking, irreverent, tragic, and poignant. Late in the story a fateful connection made the story really take off and feel meaningful. The book really took off and intrigued me once Cyrus traveled to New York to visit an artist whose final Archie begins wondering about unexplained aspects of his own family history, and when he and his aunts travel This aspect keeps the story moving, although it frequently distracted me from the hearty story of Vietnam

The premise and wild tangle of storylines--not deep character development--are the highlights in this story continuing my cold-weather mystery-reading habits, and Lisa Jewell is always a good bet for an intriguing story Jewell offers a peek at the psychologically twisted motivations of the story's main protagonist, his 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.

The story swirls with seedy, sordid characters, and it's all built on a framework of heroes with heart Various depraved and frighteningly cruel characters help drive the story of Things in Jars and add to Veronica finds herself entangled in a dangerous set of circumstances, complete with intrigue, a traveling Gilbert, but I will tell you something I know: the truth depends on who it is that’s telling the story The Jackaby story is dark, mysterious, and feels Gothic, yet there's humor too.

Jess and Storey are childhood friends who spend their summer adventures exploring striking, remote areas Maine, like other states across the country, has been swept by a secession movement, but Jess and Storey Jess and Storey's situation becomes more and more complicated as they encounter survivors--some with I felt like the fascinating build-up in so many areas of the story warranted much more at the novel's Heller is also the author of The Last Ranger , The Guide , The River , and The Painter , as well as the

a story that plays with time, explores sentimental moments, offers do-overs, and sweeps the reader into I am a huuuuuuge fan of books that play with time, and Straub offers up all the best parts of a time-travel Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories. The present-day story alternates with peeks back in time to life before this space mission, which show Stories about Brave Women During World War II.

Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You, songwriter, singer, and musician Lucinda Williams shares stories author Charles Frazier offers historical fiction featuring a Great Depression-era painter, Val Welch, traveling McAllister offers a smart, intriguing, twisty story that plays with time and offers second chances, The story begins with a mother awaiting her teenage son's return home late one night. The story was fascinating and touching and chilling and sweet. I absolutely loved it.

Ann Liang's trading-places young adult story allows faulted, imperfect Jenna Chen to live as her perfect , beautiful, Harvard-bound cousin Jessica for a time, pressure and expectations and all--before having Because Jessica's body is usurped so quickly in the story, we don't get a chance until the very end to More Ann Liang love I fell in love with Ann Liang's fake-dating young adult novel This Time It's Real Find You   here  and my review of Liang's young-adult historical fiction fantasy novel A Song to Drown Rivers

I love Rachel Lynn Solomon's stories, and I loved this story of Barrett and Miles and youthful adventure Cristina Fernandez has crafted an irresistibly charming story that I absolutely adored. I am a huuuuuuge fan of books that play with time, and Straub offers up all the best parts of a time-travel book in This Time Tomorrow. Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories.