The Half Life: A Novel
by Rachel Beanland
Strong historical fiction (6/22/2026)
The Half Life is an entertaining, informative historical fiction about the US Navy’s presence off Sardinia in the mid 1970s. Eileen is only 23 when Lt. Paul Archer sweeps her off her feet, marries her within months and then whisks her off to Italy. Beanland does a great job of portraying the hierarchy and protocol of Navy wives, of being a stranger in a strange land, especially a young, naive one. And as someone who lived through the 70s when women were still fighting to be treated as equals even at a cocktail party, Beanland nails it. The sad part is always how many women were willing participants to keep their sex down. Eileen realizes how little she knows, but at least she wants to learn. I was less than enthralled by how much of the book was devoted to Eileen’s sexual awakening along with her infidelity. It was hard to root for someone who was too chicken to just cut the strings on her marriage.
The book is written as if Eileen is writing to someone. While awkward at times, it also enables Adler to sneak in all sorts of facts about Italian, US and world history and politics. But it also made me question why she was so willing to share so many personal details about her sex life with this unnamed (until the very end) person. The book covers a lot of interesting themes, including fidelity, political involvement and activism, trust and friendship when beliefs don’t align.
I was thrilled to learn via The Author’s Note that Beanland actually spent part of her youth on La Maddalena with a father who was in the Navy.
My thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book.
Some People: A Novel
by Parini Shroff
Loved these two main characters (6/22/2026)
Some People is based on a great premise. An almost divorced man is forced to care for his mother-in-law when she is injured and her daughter is out of town. Nathan and Malti didn’t get along even when his marriage to her daughter was going swimmingly. But, he’s nothing if not dutiful and so he takes on the job.
At times, this comes across as a little preachy and didactic. Still, I loved both of these main characters and what they were willing to share with each other. Although, having lived with a mother like Malti, I’m not sure she would have opened herself up to him quite so easily. They both have more than their share of unpleasant tendencies. But it’s the light bulb moments they both have that make the book special. It’s a story about forgiveness (of self and others), self realization, marriage, motherhood, societal racism and misogyny. If this sounds like it’s all serious thoughts, trust me, there’s plenty of humor.
The writing is beautiful and poignant. I was highlighting like mad, both big swaths of a page or just a line. I’ve never experienced divorce, but Nathan’s musings on how his marriage came apart were some of the best explanations I’ve ever read. Even though the book mostly encapsulates the interactions of Malti and Nathan, I also felt I learned enough about Kavya that she came across as a fully developed person. Nathan’s realizations about why Kavya didn’t want children rang especially true for me as they are ones I share (see above).
My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advance copy of this book.
The Night Hunter
by Natalie Moss
Ending was lacking (6/22/2026)
3.5 stars, rounded up
I’m always interested in a mystery that takes me to a different locale. In The Night Hunter, Danielle and her sister Grace unite to return to their dead mother’s house on a game preserve in South Africa. They both bring friends in an attempt to combine duty with pleasure. But, from the minute they meet up, there is obvious tension. And things quickly go downhill when one of their party is killed.
The book is told solely from Danielle’s POV, yet I never felt a connection with her. In an attempt to keep the reader off balance as to who to trust, Moss also underdeveloped the other characters , so we never get a good feel for them. The book moves at a fast pace. The tension is palpable and Moss does a great job of putting the reader in the scene. It worked well that potential danger came from multiple sides - wildlife, external humans and the group itself. I had no idea who was behind everything and that desire to find out kept me reading chapter after chapter. It was all going well until the final reveal when numerous holes appeared in the denouement.
My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an advance copy of this book.
A Far-flung Life
by M.L. Stedman
A true family saga (6/6/2026)
3.5 stars, rounded down
A Far Flung Life is getting all sorts of accolades, including from my friends. But I found it horribly depressing which tampered my enjoyment. It’s a family saga, watching three generations of MacBrides living on their sheep station in Western Australia. The story begins with a car crash that kills the patriarch and eldest son. Matt, the younger son survives but suffers memory loss. As the book progresses, we watch Matt as he recovers and then learns of something he did while not fully with it. It's the basis of the story. How the secret of it impacts not just his life but everyone in the family especially his sister, Rose and his nephew Daniel. In fact, the book revolves around all sorts of secrets being kept by almost every primary and secondary character in the book. It focuses on how people do or don’t move on from those mistakes.
Forgiveness, especially of the self, and acceptance are main themes of the story.
The writing is wonderful and Stedman definitely captures the hard life on a sheep station. There was also a real sense of tension throughout - how would the secrets be revealed and what would the outcome be. At least the book ended on a note of hope and resilience.
I listened to this and kudos to Lewis Fitz-Gerald who narrated.
The Yahoo Boys: Love, Deception, and the Real Lives of Nigeria's Romance Scammers
by Carlos Barragán
Focused but well done (6/6/2026)
I had a special interest in The Yahoo Boys, a nonfiction book about romance scams. My mother was the victim of one and lost thousands. As the book states at one point, white men pay fast, but white women pay long. And she did. The scam continued for years and no amount of talking to her could convince her that “Lonnie” wasn’t real.
Carlos Barragan became interested in the Nigerian romance scam industry after his own mother fell victim. As a journalist, he decided to investigate and ended up spending a year in Lagos. He spent time with four different scammers, young men able to pretend to be either sex and string multiple people along at a time. He does a good job of delving deep into their lives and what propelled them to take up scams as a “job”. He explains the economy of Nigeria, especially the ferocious inflation that makes most jobs too low paying to afford essentials.
Barragan definitely feels a sense of compassion for these young men. And I might have, too, if they were maybe helping their families and not wasting the money on liquor, drugs, hotels and jewelry. Plus, I know first hand the anguish of families dealing with someone giving their money to these criminals. But Barragan also gave the most complete and understandable explanation of why the victims fall for the stories and often hang in even when they have to know in their hearts that they’re being scammed. It’s a testament to the loneliness created by today’s society, which was exasperated by Covid.
Be aware this is a look at just one small component to the romance scam field. Barragan says it’s not an attempt to be an academic study. His efforts were limited due to funding.
I listened to this. Nathan Luwa was just an ok narrator.
The Calamity Club: A Novel
by Kathryn Stockett
Entertaining (5/25/2026)
It’s been 15 years since The Help was published. Stockett’s sophomore effort was worth the wait. The Calamity Club takes place in 1933 Mississippi. The book focuses on two characters. Meg is an 11 year old orphan currently housed at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum. Birdie is a 24 year old spinster who’s come to town to ask for money from her sister who married up. I immediately became invested with Meg and Birdie. Both are so smart, with a common sense approach to life. Despite the age difference, they’re kindred spirits.
Stockett does a great job of putting the reader smack dab in the time and place. The hypocrisy of the upper classes, the misogyny, the racial prejudice, the poverty. The eugenics laws of the time feature prominently. It was a shock to learn in the Author’s Note what the IQ test was developed and used for.
My one complaint is that all the supposed twists were so obvious. But the characters were so wonderful and the writing so spot on, I forgave that issue. The book is long but it moved well. There’s a true sense of suspense and tension throughout. It veers much more towards entertainment than serious literature. Still, it would make for a good book club selection.
There’s a lot of humor here. The kind that makes you moan because it’s of the sad variety. “When I get in bed, I repeat my prayer a couple more times. I figure if it is already in the till, it can’t hurt to say it again. Plus Mama always said men are slow learners, so you got to repeat it until it sticks.”
My thanks to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for an advance copy of this book.
Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt: A Novel
by Ben Reeves
I struggled to become engaged (5/25/2026)
It’s funny how book themes seem to come in waves. I’ve read several books lately on forced sterilization in the south. Now, here’s the second book in two months with Death as the main character. Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt takes a serious approach. Death, aka Travis, is a young man living in a small town. He visits both those who are dying and don’t want to be and those who aren’t but wish they would. He comes as a witness, as a companion. He’s powerless to change what is about to happen. As you would expect, he’s detached from life. That is, until he meets Dalia, a young midwife and her 8 year old daughter, Layla.
The book flows in a sort of run on style, one scene to the next. The perspective changes from first person to second person to third person, often on the same page. While I could acknowledge the beautiful writing, I just struggled to engage with the story. Travis was just sort of a blah personality. I felt for Dalia and Layla, but they weren’t as big a part of the story as I would have wanted. And all the others, those poor souls that Travis shepherds through to the other side. That just got old. Instead of making an impact on me, I found myself zoning out. Until the end, which totally caught me off guard. But it wasn’t enough to make up for the rest of the book. It’s an obvious message - don’t take life for granted. If you’re going to tackle this subject matter, have something new to say.
I’m an outlier but this one was a miss for me.
My thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for an advance copy of this book.
Country People: A Novel
by Daniel Mason
Great fun (5/25/2026)
Daniel Mason has such a unique writing style. And it’s one that I love. It manages to incorporate so much sly humor, often with just the addition of a few words. I found myself highlighting whole swathes of a page, just for the joy the story brought me.
He has once again created a unique story, one that immediately drew me in despite a languid pace and meandering style. Miles and Kate come across as cliched Californians. They only eat organic foods, they’re educated liberals who've never lived anywhere the least bit red. He’s 12 years into his doctoral dissertation on (currently) Russian folktales; she teaches esoteric literature classes on Milton and Blake. So when Kate accepts a one year visiting professorship at a rural Vermont college, they have no idea what they’re getting into. To top it off, they accept a house sitting agreement for a house way out in the country.
In addition to Miles and Kate, they have two precocious children and a dog that was bred to hunt truffles. At times, the book comes across as more a series of vignettes than a straightforward plot. But in the end, it all comes together in its own convoluted, adorable way. I got a huge kick out of Mike and his radio show The Miscellaneous Minute. He reminded me of Fred Willard playing Buck Laughlin in Best in Show. And what to think of the hard working women supporting their husbands and their dreams? But while in real life I would have probably strangled such a husband, here I was able to smile with bemused affection on them.
A warning that Mason’s vocabulary will test all but the most erudite and I was constantly having to refer to a dictionary. Learning that Mason is a doctor and an associate professor of psychiatry probably says a lot about his views on human nature.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
Dissection of a Murder: A Novel
by Jo Murray
Multilayer plot (5/25/2026)
Dissection of a Murder is an engrossing, multilayered legal thriller. Leila is handed her first murder case, representing a prior client accused of murdering a prestigious judge. On the other side, her former mentor and current husband is the prosecutor. Her husband has a competitive streak a mile wide and all’s fair in love and war. My husband and I were competitors for over a decade. We were lucky that we could keep our business lives separate from our personal one. It was fascinating to see this husband who just couldn’t put love ahead of ego. The other issue with the case is her client’s refusal to talk or help her prepare a defense in any way. The reader is also introduced to the mysterious Witness X with her set of rules. Probably the primary rule being “trust no one”. As if things couldn’t get any more stressful for Leila, someone from her past is sending her ominous messages.
I did not see the twists which made this even more fun. I love when an author can pull one over on me. This great bit of entertainment asks the reader to decide what is Justice. Fans of legal thrillers will find the court room scenes well done. I don’t often recommend mysteries as book club selections, but this could be the exception. The main character is well developed and nuanced.
I listened to this and Joanne Froggatt did a decent job as the narrator, although she didn’t always do a good job differentiating between voices.
The Killing Stones: A Detective Jimmy Perez Novel
by Ann Cleeves
Worth the wait (5/15/2026)
It’s been seven years since the last Shetland mystery. It was worth the wait.
Jimmy now lives on the Orkney Islands but when his friend Archie goes missing on Westray, Jimmy comes in to investigate. And he’s the one to find Archie’s body in an archeological dig site with a Westray stone used as the murder weapon. It’s a difficult investigation because of Jimmy’s closeness to the victim and his wife. Willow, even though she’s on maternity leave awaiting their next child, also gets involved in the investigation. Both Jimmy and Willow are well developed characters and Cleeves gives us a lot of insight into what they are thinking.
Cleeves leads the reader on a merry chase with plenty of twists and red herrings. I never saw the ending coming. She does a wonderful job of detailing life on the islands, not just the community, but the history, the traditions and the landscape. As Jimmy thinks to himself “in the islands, everything was too close to home”.
While this is the ninth in the series, it would work as a stand-alone. While the Westray Story Stones of the book are fictional, there is The Westray Stone which obviously provided the influence for Cleeves. Kenny Blyth narrates the audio book and did a fabulous job. But also having the e-book helped me decipher some of the Orkney terms, like the Ba’.
My thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the chance to both read and listen to this advance copy.
The Long Call: The Two Rivers Series Book #1
by Ann Cleeves
Accessible and easy to envision (5/15/2026)
Ann Cleeves has started a new series with The Long Call. The book, named for the cry of a herring gull, “The cry which always sounded to him like an inarticulate howl of pain.”
Cleeves has developed a great set of characters here. Our main character, Matthew is a DI in Barnstaple. He’s smart, a complex thinker, a loving and loved man in a healthy relationship. The story starts with Matthew watching from afar the funeral of his father. He’s left the evangelical church he grew up in. It soon becomes apparent it’s because he’s gay. But Jen is probably my favorite character. She’s one of Matthew’s DS’s and she’s transferred to Barnstaple to escape her abusive husband. She’s got great instincts and I love her insights, not only into motherhood, but into the people she’s interviewing. Even Ross, the brown noser, is eventually shown as a complex person.
Cleeves also gives us a true sense of the area. It’s easily apparent why her books are turned into TV series as they’re accessible, smart and engaging. The same is true for this new series. It’s suspenseful and I had no idea how things were going to shake out until almost the end.
I can only hope that Cleeves writes enough of these books so that some wise tv producer can pick up this series as well.
My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.
The Black Wolf: Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #20
by Louise Penny
Very political (5/15/2026)
3.5 stars, rounded up
The Black Wolf begins only a few weeks after the ending of The Grey Wolf. It should definitely not be read without having read The Grey Wolf first. It quickly becomes apparent to Gamache that the plot they halted was just part of a larger scheme. He has also become concerned that the man arrested and jailed as the head of the plot might not have been guilty.
Penny is known for her distinctive writing style - very philosophical in nature, (lately) politically oriented, character rich stories that blend multiple storylines together. The plots are often convoluted, with chapters that end at a critical moment and are designed to keep the reader off balance. All that is the case with this book. Themes include climate change, the impact of misinformation via social media, a move away from democracy and how easy it is to unite people against a common enemy (Groupthink). George Orwell’s two dystopian novels figure prominently. I would love to say that the threat Gamache and his cohorts are fighting against is unrealistic, but if anything it seems prescient. Penny even has a short author’s note at the beginning reminding the reader the book was written before the events of 2025.
As much as I love these characters, I’m hoping Penny returns to a smaller scale in her next book. “Gamache saves the world” is getting a little old. I’d like something a little less didactic. She should keep the political themes to her stand-alone books.
I appreciated that Ruth and Rosa had a larger part in this story. Ruth is almost a soothsayer and her poetry always resonates.
I listened to this. Jean Brassard brings a French accent to the mix. I was a fan.
The Inheritance of Loss
by Kiran Desai
Appreciated but didn’t enjoy (5/14/2026)
The Inheritance of Loss won the Booker Prize in 2006 and it’s obvious why. It’s a story about big issues - post-colonialism, globalization, prejudice, lack of representation, exile and the myth of first world countries told in emerging market countries. It’s not an easy book to read. It’s deeply depressing (way too many rats) although beautifully written. And while I understood its message, I didn’t really enjoy it.
The story focuses around a handful of characters - a retired Indian judge, his sixteen year old orphaned granddaughter and her boyfriend, his cook and Biju, the cook’s son who has emigrated to the US and is there illegally. The blurb focuses on a Nepali insurgency in the area where the judge and his granddaughter live. But that insurgency doesn’t even start until the book is 50 over. In the meantime, the story focuses on her romance with her 20 year old tutor, how the judge has fallen on hard times with his house crumbling around him and how Biju moves from shitty restaurant job to shitty restaurant job in NYC. It’s a book about people looking down their noses at others. Biju’s friends contrast the English who tell them to go home with Americans who are just hypocrites.
The book definitely picks up once the GNLF takeover attempt begins. It’s apparent that power, fear and terror bring out the ugliness in almost everyone. And there lies part of the problem. These were not people I liked or even appreciated.
This was a book club selection and I’m sure it’ll lead to a fascinating discussion. But I’m very glad to be finished reading it.
Honey: A Novel
by Imani Thompson
Boring main character (5/7/2026)
2.5 stars, rounded down
If you’re going to write a thriller from the POV of a serial killer, it’s important to make the character interesting. But Ysra just kind of bored me. She’s a PhD student, writing her thesis on afropessimisim at Cambridge, teaching undergrads. One of her friends has just been dumped by a professor she was working with. After Yrsa witnesses the professor die from a bee sting, she has a sort of epiphany and decides more bad men need to die. Thompson struggles to really rationalize Yrsa’s motives. At one point, the book frames it as an offshoot of the hypothesis of her thesis. The paper posited that liberation from racism would never be achieved except through death. So she decides to change the object of the violence, from the black woman to the white man. Think of it as revenge or retribution as the premise for a philosophical theory.
The story moves at a glacial pace. It’s disjointed, veering between thriller and character drama and succeeding at neither. Too often, Yrsa’s motives (drug addiction?) are only hinted at. The book just left me confused and disgruntled, especially with what I felt was a cop out ending.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
Washington Black
by Esi Edugyan
Excellent sense of time and place (5/7/2026)
This is such an interesting story. Wash is a young slave boy in Barbados when he is taken under the wing of the plantation owner’s brother to help with his science experiments. Edugyan does a fabulous job of painting time and place, whether it’s Barbados or the Arctic. We see the cavalier cruelty of the whites to the blacks, the fear that the slaves have for their personal safety. Titch is the exception when it comes to the whites, but even he displays a callous disregard for Wash once they reach the Arctic.
Wash is such a well defined character and we get to see him grow from boy to man, learning many lessons way too soon.
The main theme of the book is freedom, and skin color is no guarantee of having it. Titch is in many ways as trapped by circumstance as Wash. Edugyan also speaks eloquently of equality, whether it be a simple comment on an anti-slavery meeting separating out the blacks, Wash’s realization that Titch never truly saw him as an equal, despite protests to the contrary or the inability for Wash’s work to be recognized as his own.
This was a book club selection and I can hardly wait to discuss it.
The White Lady: A Novel
by Jacqueline Winspear
Interesting post WWII story (5/7/2026)
I’m one of the rare few readers who was not a fan of Maisie Dobbs. But I decided to take a chance on The White Lady and I’m so glad I did. The story begins in 1947, when Elinor White, living in the English countryside, gets involved with a young neighboring family. Turns out, the young husband is the youngest son of a London crime family. And they’re upset he’s left the fold and is trying to live an honest life. Elinor was a spy during WWII and still has connections. She turns to those connections to try and protect the family, especially the daughter, Susie.
Told in alternating chapters between the 1947 story and Elinor’s life, beginning with her as a young teen in Belgium during WWI. Both the early and latter stories move at a brisk pace and I was engaged throughout. The story is told from Elinor’s POV and she was fully fleshed out. The plot moves at a brisk pace, as Elinor realizes not everyone she knows can be trusted. I enjoyed the ending. While I could suss out some of the resolutions, others hit me out of the blue. I enjoyed Winspear’s writing and her ability to slyly weave in historical facts without disrupting the plot. For example, why the English pronounce Thames without a the sound. It’s obvious she’s done her research and she clearly presents the issues of the day, such as the continued rationing.
I was very impressed with Orlagh Cassidy as the narrator.
The Ending Writes Itself: A Novel
by Evelyn Clarke
Too unbelievable for me (5/7/2026)
The Ending Writes Itself is another take on the locked room mystery conceit. It starts slow and the first ½ of the book is much more a character study of six authors brought to a remote island. In fact, the book is literally half over before the first death.
A famous author has died. His editor and publisher, in a desperate grab to finish his fourth book, bring together six lesser known authors on a secluded island to compete for who can come up with an ending worthy of the master.
They are promised a phenomenal sum of money and a three book deal for the one who actually does it. But they are only given 72 hours to write it. There is quite a bit of dry humor, especially as it pertains to authors and the publishing world. That’s one of the positives I can list. Each part is told from a different character. Clarke gives us each character’s backstory in an effort to make them sympathetic. But it didn’t work for me and I struggled to care about anyone.
The book doesn’t really cover any new ground. The second half tries to substitute action for intelligence and includes one unbelievable premise after another. It’s a book I’ll have forgotten by the time another month goes by. Fiona Hardingham does a good job as the narrator.
The Pretender: A Novel
by Jo Harkin
Great historical fiction (5/3/2026)
The Pretender has everything I want from historical fiction - it tells a great story, teaches me something and has characters I enjoy. And it does all this with a healthy dose of humor. The story is based on Lambert Simnel, also known as Edward, Earl of Warwick. The son of the Duke of Clarence, with a claim to the throne, he was raised in obscurity by a farmer to prevent Richard III from treating him like the princes in the Tower. But in 1480, at age 10, he’s taken from the only life he’s ever known. He becomes a pawn for the York side in the War of the Roses. Even after Richard’s infamous death, there is a movement to place him on the throne occupied by Henry VII. When that goes awry, Henry forgives him and makes him a spy.
Harkin has done an excellent job placing the reader in the time and place of late 15th Century England, Burgundy and Ireland. The language has just enough of the old style to give you a feel without being incomprehensible. And it’s a hoot - lots of bawdy terms to keep you chuckling.
Lambert/Edward struggles with his identity and learning whom to trust. And with each passing identity, he becomes more and more jaded and bent on revenge. He recognizes that he’s been used by multiple sides.
In Ireland, he encounters Joan, a determined young woman not afraid to do whatever it takes to get her way. In a book filled with great characters, she was my favorite. If this were a movie, she’d be nominated for best supporting character.
The book has a lot to say about political power, about religion, about revenge and justice. It’s a book that gets darker as it goes along.
I do hope that the author adds an Author’s Note before publication. I’m always curious about the research that goes into an historical fiction account.
My thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for an advance copy of this book.
Last One Out: A Novel
by Jane Harper
Lacked tension (4/28/2026)
I'm a big fan of Jane Harper, but Last One Out never truly engaged me. It’s a very slow paced story that focuses on a family after the disappearance of their son. The problem is that for most of the book, there was absolutely no tension or suspense. I felt like it covered the same territory again and again. Tighter editing might have helped because this truly dragged in spots.
Carralon Ridge was a great setting - a small town dying out as a neighboring coal mine encroaches, bringing air and water pollution as well. At this point, only a few people remain. Most businesses have shut down and there’s not much reason to stay other than bullheadedness. Spoiler and that was one of the problems I had with the story. Why would people, especially those with kids, stay in a place where their physical and psychological health was at risk? It was too obvious. /spoiler.
Twenty one year old Sam disappeared 5 years ago. Ro and Griff’s marriage only survived another 18 months after that. Ro left town but comes back every year for the anniversary of Sam’s disappearance. Griff is one of those who have stayed and now even he’s lost his job. This was much more a character study of a family at loose ends than a mystery. It’s all about the regret these two spouses feel.
I listened to this and Angeline Armstrong did an ok job as narrator. She didn't really differentiate voices and there were times I had to wait for an identifier to figure out who was speaking. But a book this slow wasn’t a good choice as an audiobook because it was too easy for my attention to wander.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this book.
Good Joy, Bad Joy: A Novel
by Mikki Brammer
Unlikeable choices (4/28/2026)
3.5 stars, rounded down.
I will always be drawn to a book with an older female main character. Joy Bridport is 89 years old. She’s always been one to play by the rules, to be the “good girl”. But when she learns her best friend since elementary school has only months to live, Joy gets a wake up call. This is a lovely story. We gradually learn what made Joy into the woman she is, with flashbacks to her early years.
I felt for Joy but I also struggled with some of the choices she made. I could appreciate her desire to step out of her comfort zone but there are ethical limits and several of her escapades felt positively stupid. Flip side, the story is an important reminder to never stop living or seeking out new friends. And to give everyone a little grace, including yourself. My complaint was that the book occasionally veered into the saccharine and schmaltzy.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance opt of this book.
Power Reviewer
