Love by the Book: A Novel
by Jessica George
Platonic friendships (3/9/2026)
I think Jessica George has found her niche. That is, she has the ability to write sweet, poignant books about women discovering themselves and friendships. And as in Maame, she has created two marvelous characters you grow with in her second book.
Remy Baidoo has written a best seller about her friendship with three other woman extolling platonic love. But soon after life brings changes and the "old gang" is breaking up, leaving Remy lonely and confused. Simone Beduah's best friend, her sister, but she's moving on too. And when Simone's family learns she's a sex worker, her life is fractured, leaving Simone in desperate need of a friend.
The story about Remy and Simone's friendship becomes incorporated into our novel, as Remy starts writing her next book based on this budding friendship, giving us a book within a book. I found this clever as this becomes the author's way to highlight that sometimes platonic friendships are more meaningful than romantic ones especially as contrasted with Simone's romantic "paid" relationships. Also Remy must learn how not to rent on her friends and Simone must learn to open up.
I liked Remy and Simone as characters and I liked how each was forced to look at their situations and realize friendship is worth much more than fleeting encounters with people.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this ARC
Morsel
by Carter Keane
Folklore horror (3/9/2026)
I enjoy horror books for what reason I don't know. I think I like the idea of being scared. Morsel is definitely a horror book that provides "scare." Lou is kind of a sad, lonely and unsure person who's grieving the death of her mother and on the verge of losing her job when her boss, Ellis, sends her out into the Appalachian countryside of Ohio to check out and appraise a parcel of land. What Lou sees is terrifying.
She soon learns her job could eat her up or she could eat up her job. This short book (really a novella) delivers on scare. It uses folklore to create the scare, though the folklore monster in the book comes almost 85 in. I'm not crazy about folklore scare but this was ok. Lou's also an unreliable narrator so that adds to the creepiness.
I did like the ending but I would have liked more detail about the folklore and a few other things. Still I was an okay read.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Tor Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC.
The Book Witch: A Novel
by Meg Shaffer
Delightful read (3/8/2026)
This is a delightful novel filled with magical realism dealing with the importance of literature and the beautiful connection between readers, authors, and characters. As the beginning of the book reads:
“All stories are love stories when you love stories.”
Rainy March is a third generation Book Witch, sworn “to defend all fiction” from real or imaginary foes. With her familiar, Koshka (Russian for cat), she can journey into books to resolve plot or characters issues. One of the eight Book Witch rules is never to fall in love with a character (which Rainy does, complicating things for her).
The book is divided into seven sections, all genres: Mystery, Romance, YA, Fantasy, Nonfiction, Horror, and Thriller. The story line is then fit into these story lines - done fairly well and very clever indeed.
I liked Rainy. She’s sassy, sharp, resilient and funny. Her love, Duke, is a Chicagoland PI. Both are nicely developed. While the book kind of slows at a point, this is still a fun and sweet read. I loved the addition of Elizabeth Bennet and Nancy Drew.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read this ARC.
Yesteryear: A Novel
by Caro Claire Burke
Return to the past (3/8/2026)
A tradwife and influencer, Natalie Heller Mills, wakes up one morning and finds herself transported back to 1805 "living the old style life she's been peddling." This is such a clever premise, satirically funny but deeply sad too.
Every woman wants to be Natalie. Her life is perfect. She runs a flawless house, cares for five children with a sixth on its way. Her ranch in Idaho, Yesteryear, is the ideal place for any woman who wants to live a healthy Christian life. But not all is what it seems.
Behind the perfect facade lies a web of secretes and lies that eventually gets exposed and Natalie 's world starts to crumble at which point she's back in the time that her on-camera persona had projected her to be.
Natalie is an interesting character. For me she's the kind of woman I love to hate - perfect beyond reason and too full of herself. She's also very shallow, "bitchy, narcissistic, an uncaring" but also has a way about her that still captures your interest.
The book makes some highly political statements about our times. It probes the meaning of what it means to be a woman today, about ambition, kindness and consumerism. It makes you question reality - especially as it seems today we live in alternative one and just like Natalie we don't how we got there.
Interesting read.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Random House for allowing me to read this ARC.
Lázár: A Novel
by Nelio Biedermann
Multigenerational story at its best (3/5/2026)
Historical fiction at its finest, this book tells the story of the rise and fall of an aristocrat Hungarian family during the 20th C based on the author's own family. Hailed as belonging to Intergenerational German family epics such as Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks (a great favorite of mine), the book's mood captures the essence of that novel.
The book follows the aristocratic Hungarian family, the Lázárs, from its roots outside Pécs, a southern city in the early 1900s through their escape to Zurich in 1956 at the time of the Hungarian uprising. The family's decline and fall is part of the "interminable bloodletting of Mitteleuropa" in the 20th C. It begins with the birth of Lajos von Lázár who represents the many secrets that plague the Larárs. The family's decline is seen through the many choices they make that go wrong as time's cruel fate of wars and devastation take its to toll. But intermittently there are moments of hope.
This is a hauntingly beautiful story written in lyrical and poignant language. That the author is only 22 and can capture the plight of civilization through the Lázár family so insightfully is a credit to his talent.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read this ARC.
Last Night in Brooklyn: A Novel
by Xochitl Gonzalez
Coming of age in America (3/4/2026)
This is a coming-of-age character driven novel about a young woman living in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, in 2007 where on the verge of the 2008 election where a black man could possibly be elected president, she too is looking for a change. Alicia Canales Forten feels stifled by the conventional Latino world in which she finds her self. She is looking for bigger horizons so she leaves her home for Fort Greene, lured by a wealthy cousin and La Garza, "a larger-than-life, up-and-coming designer."
Captivated by this world Alicia also sees that the white world puts limits on the dreams and aspirations of the colored world. Alicia is a compelling character, flawed, naive and so desirous of fulfilling big dreams. She's very likable for this. Her new world is also flawed and a facade, especially as she watches La Garza compromise her future for a worthless liar. I will say the ending is a shocker - perhaps a paean to dreams that shatter.
The book is about a specific period in time in a specific place that Gonzalez captures. After 2007 Fort Greene changes and is absorbed into greater NYC losing the character Gonzalez wants to memorialize.
I listened to this nicely narrated book.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen/read this ARC.
Honey in the Wound: A Novel
by Jiyoung Han
Magical powers of a Korean family (3/1/2026)
An enchanting story of a Korean family with magical powers who is able to survive Japanese brutality to reclaim themselves. The book covers the years 1911 through 1992. In this family a daughter transforms into a tiger and later generation girl can divine secrets - all nicely told in magical realism. But the heart of the story is Young-Ja who loves to cook and whose food is infused with love and sunshine. When the Japanese arrive in 1931 all this changes. She and her family are crushed by the Japanese and Young-Ja's food becomes better. A Korean rebel secrets her off to Manchuria where she joins a secret group of women. Young-Ja finds purpose again. The story ends with her granddaughter, Rinako, finding her and through her ability to read dreams, resolves the secrets of the past.
As much as I like magical realism I think I would have enjoyed this more if it had been straight historical fiction. Nonetheless I can understand why the author used that technique as it is part cultural and it also allows for greater expansion of the themes of colonialism, Intergenerational trauma and female resilience.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for allowing me to read this ARC.
Two Kinds of Stranger: Eddie Flynn #9
by Steve Cavanagh
Exciting thriller (3/1/2026)
I didn't realize this was the sixth book in a series (Eddie Flynn) but I soon realized you didn't have to know because the book can be read as a stand alone and is so so good!
Eddie Flynn isn't as much of a character in this book as are all those who surround him - Lake and Bloch, Katie, Harry, Amy and Logan (you must read the book to find out who they are - trust me, it's worth). But Eddie is in the midst of two cases that all the other characters have a stake in and which actually are connected: the double murders alleged to by Elly Hatfield and the murder of Andrew Cross by Eddie's ex-wife and her husband. Both of these are stunner cases and the sleuthing is excellent. The trials were so good too. Plus the author has created such a delicious killer! And the twist at the end is to die for (not literally).
This is my second book by this author and I am so blown away by his cleverness (how does one think up these characters, motivations, evidence, etc. - I'm in awe!). The title is so clever too. I really liked Eddie and his "crew." Bloch is the bomb! And I'm so geeked by this book, I'm going to start the series somehow.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read this ARC.
Honey in the Wound: A Novel
by Jiyoung Han
Magical realism historical fiction (3/1/2026)
An enchanting story of a Korean family with magical powers who is able to survive Japanese brutality to reclaim themselves. The book covers the years 1911 through 1992. In this family a daughter transforms into a tiger and later generation girl can divine secrets - all nicely told in magical realism. But the heart of the story is Young-Ja who loves to cook and whose food is infused with love and sunshine. When the Japanese arrive in 1931 all this changes. She and her family are crushed by the Japanese and Young-Ja's food becomes better. A Korean rebel secrets her off to Manchuria where she joins a secret group of women. Young-Ja finds purpose again. The story ends with her granddaughter, Rinako, finding her and through her ability to read dreams, resolves the secrets of the past.
As much as I like magical realism I think I would have enjoyed this more if it had been straight historical fiction. Nonetheless I can understand why the author used that technique as it is part cultural and it also allows for greater expansion of the themes of colonialism, Intergenerational trauma and female resilience.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for allowing me to read this ARC.
Life: A Love Story: A Novel
by Elizabeth Berg
Sweet Love Story (3/1/2026)
Elizabeth Berg has a magical touch in writing. I've read one of her other books and was blown away. She has done it again for me. Flo Greene has terminal cancer. She's 92. Flo is planning to leave all her possessions to a dear friend and former neighbor, Ruthie, who's facing some tough things in her life too. Flo writes Ruthie a letter to explain what her possessions have meant in her life, to explain her marriage and to offer Ruthie hope for the future. The book alternates between the letter (Flo's biography if you will) and her present-day life where she befriends her neighbor, Teresa McNair, a death doula, who is single. Flo helps Teresa navigate the online dating world.
Flo is a magnificent creation. She's real, not saccharine. She's the kind of person you'd want in your life. Flo is a lover - a lover of all the glorious things in life no matter how small or simple.
Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire
by Simukai Chigudu
Exploring roots and colonialism (2/28/2026)
This is a captivating memoir. Knowing little about Rhodesia or Zimbabwe, I read with a ferocity trying to gather as much information as possible in this brilliant book. What I learned about growing up in Africa is the powerful effects of colonialism that still linger today. Simukai Chigudu traces his journey from Zimbabwe to Oxford with simple language but in a powerful voice.
His mother left Uganda and met Simukai's father in Zimbabwe. She is a force in this book. I loved her strength. His father is a cloaked figure in a way because he suppressed so much emotion - though as the author notes both his parents did which is what makes his stay in Ireland with a friend of his mother fascinating - here he learned a whole other way of living.
I liked how this memoir fleshes out the hypocrisy of colonialism. Simukai becomes a first, an only black among whites in many situations. And the irony of going to Oxford and seeing the Cecil Rhodes stature on campus illustrates this. As Simukai seeks to trace the impact of decolonization on him and his country, I think he finds that the trauma endures (PS: he is working to get the statute removed).
This was an excellent read. Highly recommend.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC.
You Did Nothing Wrong: A Novel
by CG Drews
Creepy psychological thriller (2/28/2026)
This is definitely a horror/ psychological thriller that is creepy, suspenseful, and crazily confusing with all its twists and turns - especially the ending. Eloide is a young mother expecting her second child. She's found the man of her dreams and is living the good life she feels she's always deserved. Her husband, Brendan or Bren, is renovating an old home he inherited and which the couple has moved into. Jude, Eloide's son, is a handful and he's saying the house is haunted. Eloide is an unreliable narrator and a really weird woman. She's found hot on my nerves but I can understand why the author made her so vile - she is. I want to thank NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC.
The Young Will Remember
by Eve J. Chung
Cold War historical fiction (2/26/2026)
Very little historical fiction deals with the Korean War. Nonfiction books like The Coldest War by David Halberstam are more common but this war remains shadowy if not forgotten in American history, so a novel set in this period is a very welcome and rare one indeed.
Set in the coldest winter between early December and February, 1950-1951, this stunning work of fiction deals with a Chinese American reporter, Eleanor "Ellie" Chang, after she is shot down in North Korea and is rescued by a Korean woman who identifies her as her daughter. The novel then covers how Ellie is able to get home during this war-torn period. Befriended by "Emma" (the Korean word for mother is close to this word) and the Paks, religious missionaries, the ties Ellie forms in her return to safety are deep and the stuff of why differences do not matter where love prevails.
Ellie is a wonderful character. Smart, strong and resilient, she exhibits the spirit of women - whom many today want to bury from history - who often are the ones who stand strong against the forces of evil and destruction. This book brings this out as well in the other characters who help Ellie.
Kudos to the author for tackling an important piece of history and giving light to proud, defiant women.
I'd like to thank BookBrowse and Beckley Publishing for allowing access to this ARC.
Sisters in Yellow: A Novel
by Mieko Kawakami
Japanese noir (2/26/2026)
What an interesting book hailed as Japanese noir - anything noir to me is a must read. And this turned out to be a very good read too. Hana Ito finds an article on the web about Kimiko Yoshikawa, someone she lived with 20 years ago. Kimiko is accused of "blackmail, abduction and battery." Kimiko is the woman with whom Hana set up a bar, Lemon, along with two other women. While set in 2019 during COVID, the book goes back in time to the 1990s when these women lived together. These women are bound by friendship and a death.
This book explores female friendships and how it can be undermined. The chilling revelations of the past soon appear and it's time to pay the piper. I liked Hana and her struggles are foremost in the book. Whoever are treated to the issues for the others, these characters are not as fully fleshed out - I would have liked to know more. Still this doesn't affect the read.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Knopf for allowing me to read this ARC.
Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Ordinary People Forging a Revolution
by Anand Gopal
Gripping novel of the power of people (2/26/2026)
This is a long book (almost 600 pages) and not for the faint of heart both for its length and the gripping story of a country's struggle for freedom (not always pretty but authentic in the telling). It's an authoritative and important read.
Spanning from 2011 to 2024, the book tells the story of the people who rose up in Syria to gain their freedom from the despotic authoritarian government of Bashar Al-Assad. Centered in Manjib, a city of ordinary people, the book is inspiring in its story of those who rose up against Al-Assad and the Islamic revolutionaries. In chronological order, the book tells of all the things these citizens did to counter the awfulness of these governments. Frankly at times I thought I was reading about Minneapolis and ICE actions in this country.
The author tells the story of several residents in Manjib (a list of all can be found the end of the book). He and local researchers conducted over 2000 interviews in developing this portrait. (Be sure to read the methodology sections at the end of the book.). This look into the intimate and painful moments of ordinary people engaged in a fight for freedom is painful at times to read but also eye opening in the importance freedom means to people.
It was very inspiring to read what people did - like elect a council to organize protests. As one reviewer pointed out this act of journalism yields an "important account of an uprising that shook the Middle East." It also as stated in the book shows how tyranny is a threat to democracy but inequality is what destroys democracy - an incredibly prescient statement in Today’s times. Anyone interested in the Middle East would find this a valuable asset to their library.
Polar War: Submarines, Spies, and the Struggle for Power in a Melting Arctic
by Kenneth R. Rosen
A wake up call about the Polar regiob (2/25/2026)
The publisher has described this book as "part travelogue, part front-line reporting" - and I would agree. The Arctic comes alive through Rosen's reporting delineating the affects of climate change on the region and the weariness of the polar counties over Russian and Chinese incursions into the area.
The book represents two years of travel and contact with the various polar nations - Norway, Sweden, Finland, the US and Canada - who live and/or patrol this vast area. What is also changing is the cooperation between the nation in large part exacerbated by the Trump Administration. We also get a lot of history on the region.
The US has an antiquated sea structure and will be ill prepared for any Russian incursions. Russian has the manpower and ships to be quite intrusive. China had also started to explore these waters. It's time for the US to wake up!
Excellent read - though at times it can get a little laborious - but the topic makes up for that.
The Feather Wars: and the Great Crusade to Save America's Birds
by James H. McCommons
Fascinating bird history (2/25/2026)
This is one of the more fascinating nonfiction books l've read. It's an extensive history of the bird conservation efforts in this country starting in the 19th C through the early 20th C. The book covers the efforts of diverse people - politicians, bird lovers, conservationists, writers and others - who sought to curtail the extinction of many bird species and preserve birds - all good for the species as well as the environments birds support.
The efforts sometimes translated into laws, formation of conservation societies, etc.
It soon became clear to me that people back in the day killed many birds for food (understandable) and in the belief there were so many birds it would be impossible to kill them all off (magical thinking). Like the bison as the author points out birds like the carrier pigeon did become extinct. The "greed" option, the most prevalent Americanism when speaking about what is American culture, plays a big part too in extinction. I especially enjoyed the chapter on feather procurement between the late 19th and early 20th C when women wore hats and milliners needed these for their livelihood. And there is piracy of exotic birds and the like. The book abounds in stories of pure senseless in dealing with birds.
Many of the people mentioned are humble people who appreciated the need to preserve the environment and birds by some were more prominent like Teddy Roosevelt John James Audubon but regardless there were many heroes in the fight against wanton hunting and public opinion about birds.
There are so many fascinating things in this book that even if you aren’t a bird lover, you should find interesting.
Highly recommended.
Whidbey: A Novel
by T Kira Madden
What happens when you don’t look (2/25/2026)
This is quite a read - exhausting, sad, and maybe a little bit hopeful. It's a story of what happens when you look the wrong way and then have to face the consequences.
Three women have to deal with the consequences of a death. One is the mother, Mary-Beth, who cannot believe her son, Calvin, with "his big heart" is an abuser. One is the victim, Birdie Chang, who quietly deals with having to seek a protective order each year but rages within at what was taken from her. The last, possibly another victim but not of Calvin, Lindsay "Linzie" King writes a book about him and puts in Birdie's story under another name but this gnaws at Birdie - again something is taken from her. So when Calvin is found dead, everything is upended.
This is a dark and bleak novel - though I felt at the end Birdie could go on to a new life. Its suspense comes largely from the alternating POVs of the three main characters. Each woman is facing her own nightmares and desirous of proving something to themselves. And then there is Calvin trying to tell his story to Birdie. The complexity of this novel is very clever.
The characters are complex but realistically written. The book is structured well - how it begins sets up an expectation to "know" but the slow burn to that answer is what keeps you reading. Enjoyed the book.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Mariner Books for allowing me to read this ARC.
The Plans I Have for You: A Novel
by Lai Sanders
Race, identity and revenge (2/25/2026)
An atmospheric story about race, identity, and revenge with touches of magical realism that delivers. Two Asian women, Soyoung "Sophia" Moon and Shelley "Erin" Hu/Callaghan meet to exact revenge on three individuals (Amy Cloverfield, Gene Struzik, and Auggie Flores) who ruined Shelley's life. Sophia Moon comes to the seedy motel Shelley works offering her a chance at revenge. Sophia has been traumatized in a similar way so she is able to convince Shelley she can help her achieve a new and better life. Shelley accepts Sophia's offer and the plans begin. Told along with Shelley's story is Soyoung's duplicitous background which leaves you wondering what's the reason for Sophia's help, especially as Sophia's help turns into obsession and the revenge is darker than Shelley realizes.
This is kind of a thriller in a way but the friendship element that starts the book throws you off until that becomes weird as the book goes on. Another element explored in the book includes discrimination as both women have experienced this. My only criticism is the weird ending but otherwise I stayed riveted to the story lines
This is a pretty good debut novel. I encourage anyone interested is revenge stories to give this a try.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me access to read this ARC.
Boring Asian Female
by Canwen Xu
Obsession takes its toll (2/25/2026)
Intense and captivating story. A SIOW burn psychological thriller, the book depicts how unreasonable societal expectations and "self-inflicted" pressure can derail reason and bring out "the dark side" of one's nature.
Elizabeth Zhang has spent the last four years at Columbia waiting to be accepted into Harvard law school. She has high test scores and grade point. So when she's rejected and another girl, Laura Kim (with less distinction) is accepted, Elizabeth is astounded and upset. She sets out to find out what she did wrong and learns from her counselor, she's "boring." This sets Elizabeth on an obsessive course to get Laura to lose her scholarship, so she can get in, and the results are "astounding."
Elizabeth is a character you somewhat love to hate. Throughout her obsession with Laura, I kept wanting her to just accept what happened and maybe get to know Laura. However, the sly, clever ending disabused me of that. This a 50/50 character-plot-driven novel. Upon finishing the book I can understand why the author gave us the slow burn because she wants to show how Elizabeth's misguided beliefs about social class superiority that kept her out of Harvard and how she isn't liked are figments of her imagination-she never really tested any of her theories. Nonetheless these themes demonstrate how we can be our own worst enemies.
I enjoyed this read and highly recommend this book.
Power Reviewer
