Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
by Zayd Ayers Dohrn
Reassessing the Radical Sixties Radicals (4/1/2026)
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent and Young by Zayd Ayers Dohrn is a kick-in-the-teeth wakeup call for all of those thinking that they had the Weathermen and Black Panthers figured out. As the son of two of the Weathermen founders, Zayd Dohrn had a front row seat on the 60s Underground movement, including the shifting alliances, vicious rhetoric, explosive encounters and unexpected consequences that came with his parents' involvement. The reader will find this true-life story to be more compelling than fiction as Dohrn leads us through the many emotions and events of this tumultuous time in history. His stark honesty about the macro- and micro-environments that he lived in will bring the reader a greater understanding and compassion for the people involved and their resultant actions out in the world.
The Family Man: Blood and Betrayal in the House of Murdaugh
by James Lasdun
All In the Family (3/28/2026)
The Family Man by James Lasdun is a chilling account of the corruption in what Alex Murdaugh's family referred to as "the House of Murdaugh." The three-generation family of lawyers knew lives of great privilege in their small southern town as well as out in the world at large. This true-crime tale recounts the many red herrings and barricades family members threw up in order to protect themselves and attempt to put the onus on others nearby. It was fascinating and horrifying at the same time to realize how very much great wealth allows a family to get away with. Most readers will find that the Murdaugh family cast so many aspersions on others that even the reader begins to doubt her/his own judgement. This is definitely a cautionary tale for our time.
Summer's Never Over
by Darby Bozeman
Summer Is Sometimes Forever (3/27/2026)
Summer's Never Over by Darby Bozeman chronicles the double timeline of Greer both before and following a fatal summer fire at camp that claims the life of her friend, Steph. Greer has always felt intuitively that something is very off about this horrendous incident and its aftermath. Following her mom's death, Greer is led to return to the camp to confront several former campers and also her own sense of loss and deep grief. Another young woman, Margo, is hunting down the truth too, and they must band together to discover the secrets hidden at the camp. This novel is for all who enjoy unraveling intrigue as to who the "phantom" might be stalking the girls at nightfall and just why a young girl had to die.
Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I Have Known
by Scott Simon
The Cat's Meow (3/2/2026)
Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I Have Known by Scott Simon is the sweetest and most delightful book I've read in a long time. I alternated between hearty chuckles and flowing tears at the stories presented from the Simon family's pet encounters. You'll enjoy this book greatly if you like true stories told without filter--even the ones that don't turn out as you'd expect. Though I've had a variety of animals and have known both domestic and wild ones well, Scott Simon's tales still surprised and even amazed me. You'll find by reading this book that humans and animals aren't so very different after all.
Fatherland: A Novel
by Victoria Shorr
His Legend Loomed Large Until It Didn't (1/27/2026)
Fatherland by Victoria Shorr is an all-too-true delving into how an emotionally absent father affects his daughter's life for the worse. Although he has two sons as well, Martin Brier's child Josie is most moved with the hole he leaves in their lives. I loved the fact that although his words and actions caused Josie to be "damaged goods" most of her life, she demonstrated resilience in creating her own happiness ultimately. The novel takes us through her difficult, fatherless childhood in the 60s through the Midwest's sorrow in closing down the mills with the resulting economic disasters of the 70s. Martin's four marriages and additional character flaws cause his first wife and his children immense pain and confusion. Karma at last has her way, though, when everyone except Martin develops good marriages and careers. There is no real moral here, but rather the story of a doctor who appears warm-hearted toward his patients but is cold and calculating with his family members.
Everything Lost Returns: A Novel
by Sarah Domet
Halley's Comet Arrives with a Bang and Whimper (1/9/2026)
Everything Lost Returns by Sarah Domet is a nostalgic, harsh but tender intertwining of the two Halley's comet arrivals (1910 and 1986) with their social and metaphysical repercussions. Just one person, Bertie Tuttle, lives through both and ties the events together in this story of the Earthshine Soap factory's workers. Physical life is brutal at the factory, but the author demonstrates how a belief in "cures" and the spiritual world eases some of its pains. This is an authentic rendering of factory as well as show business life, and how inner and outer worlds can both oppose and benefit one another. However tiny and weak our powers in this world, Domet shows how we can indeed make a difference, in our survival and thriving.
The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs
by Beth Ann Fennelly
The Irish Goodbye Is a Compelling Hello (11/28/2025)
The Irish Goodbye was my introduction to the works of Beth Ann Fennelly, and it was a touching and stunning read. How surprising that chapters so small, and even tiny, could be that moving and impactful! The author demonstrates, through vignettes of her life, how alike we all are in our reactions to and handling of our ordinary existence. Though her and my upbringings and subsequent times of growing up and then aging are very different, Ms. Fennelly manages to find not one but many common threads. It was inspiring reading the ways in which her regular/irregular life intersected with mine at unexpected angles, and I think other readers will find the same to be true.
The Heart-Shaped Tin: Love, Loss, and Kitchen Objects
by Bee Wilson
The Heart-Shaped Tin Captures Hearts (10/28/2025)
Bee Wilson's "The Heart-Shaped Tin" revolves around the seemingly uncomplicated practice of accumulating household articles through the years. The author charmingly and humorously writes of how people of both genders and all cultures magically become "collectors," whether they want to or even realize it or not. I would highly recommend it to anyone who's on their own sentimental journey these days. This book speaks to the heart of those wrapped up in family traditions yet trying not to become clutterers or worse, hoarders. In addition, Ms. Wilson gives us all heartfelt advice concerning the quality and quantity of items we collect and how to rehome those things we can rightly do without. It's a book of both practicality and imprudence that gives homey insight on why we do the things we do.
When They Burned the Butterfly
by Wen-yi Lee
Human Butterflies, Burned Beyond Recognition (9/12/2025)
When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-Yi Lee is a harrowing tale of a Singaporean girl gang in the 1970s, the Red Butterflies. Rather than being light and elegant, these girls were the opposite of cultured ladies of the time or any time. This novel follows their fascinating journey of mysticism, bigotry and violence in the back alleys of a multicultural town. The subject was a very different one for me, and I trust it would be so for many others, as well. Regardless of the societal dysphoria portrayed, the author provided an explosive yet understandable review of life in "underground" Singapore, where abandoned and rejected young women ended up as escorts, barmaids and gang members. Whether you approve of their chosen lifestyle or not, you have to admire their tenacity in not only surviving, but for some girls, actually thriving in this milieu. I would recommend it as an honest study of the unseemly underbelly that exists in all towns and cities of the world.
This Here Is Love: A Novel
by Princess Joy L. Perry
Sorrow Upon Sorrow (7/24/2025)
While the conditions that the characters lived under were worse abuse than the animals suffered, the people of "This Here Is Love" by Princess Joy L. Perry somehow kept their dreams and built their lives, nonetheless.
Seventeenth-century slavery in America is graphically and poignantly shown in this novel that literally pulls no punches. I admired the way in which the author took us through the big sorrows and tiny joys of the many individual slaves. I was in tears time and again over the ruthless way nearly all Africans were treated in the 1670s, whether having their money, lands and possessions stolen or their trust, belief and innocence.
The enslaved people who occupy the pages of the book win over our minds and hearts effortlessly. Their resilience and courage will inspire anyone who reads this account, and the characters themselves will stay with you a long time.
A Land So Wide: A Novel
by Erin A. Craig
Far, Wide and Mistaken (6/28/2025)
"A Land So Wide" by Erin A. Craig is a dark and chilling fantasy concerning the deep wilderness village of Mistaken, Canada. The raw, emotional buildup to each plot point puts one's nerves on the cutting edge as the protagonist, Greer, holds nothing back in pursuing her love Ellis as well as the town's potential destroyers, the Bright-Eyed.
I enjoyed how Greer demonstrated mastery of the art of growing up where every person in town knows you. Despite having lost her mother in a mysterious and questionable manner and receiving nothing but criticism for simply living her life, Greer crashes through personal and social barriers bravely on her quest.
She finds, through a series of extremely trying and dangerous "tests," that she's ultimately the answer and the heroine she was seeking all along. Greer shows us that despite aching loss and many dead ends in life, we can still triumph--albeit much differently from what we ever assumed was possible.
Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution
by Molly Beer
Angel of the American Revolution (6/5/2025)
"Angelica" by Molly Beer, written in the contexts of the American Revolution, the French and British War of 1790 and the French Revolution, relates an American woman's tale of survival of not simply one but three wars. Throughout, she manages to become the silent, true-life confidante of such political luminaries as John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin and George Washington.
As women didn't have the vote and in general weren't even permitted to discuss politics in public without censure and possibly jail, Angelica Church was an anomaly and a leader among the women of her time. Those with a penchant for American history will learn much that they never had any idea of through Angelica's voluminous written correspondences.
Living in the American colonies/United States, England and France at various points, she was a diplomat's diplomat without ever having held an official post. Readers will enjoy the way she deftly combines law, finance and diplomacy and joins it with a healthy dollop of gossip at the highest levels to construct political relationships. She takes a women's tendency for building warm friendships and applies it to the chaotic times she was born into to produce her own unique take on history. You'll never again see American history in the same light after reading the educational and touching "Angelica."
The Whyte Python World Tour: A Novel
by Travis Kennedy
Charmed By Heavy Metal (4/3/2025)
The Whyte Python World Tour was an unusual read for me, being that I liked the music of such luminaries as the Who, Rush, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith--but I wasn't a follower or groupie of any of the bands. So, though familiar with some of the music, the heavy metal lifestyle was an education and an eye-opener. This story follows one 1980s band in particular as its members negotiate going from pizza-and-beer living in an abandoned warehouse to the champagne lifestyle of penthouse accommodations. They were boys not necessarily educated or popular who developed a worldwide, fanatic following, nonetheless. In the meantime, they shockingly become involved in clandestine intrigue with the FBI and CIA.
I think my main point is that even if you don't like that genre of music, you can identify with young people growing into adulthood under its influence. In many ways, the Whyte Python's band members' stories are very similar to those raised in other musical styles.
The book demonstrates simply but profoundly that everyone is basically the same inside, regardless of what art forms they admire or practice.
The Original Daughter: A Novel
by Jemimah Wei
Origins in the Original Daughter (3/8/2025)
The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei is a chronicle of a "first" child who has trouble reconciling with the second one, another daughter. Many will be able to identify with being the "original" (elder) child in the family until a usurper for the parents'/grandparents' affections comes along. In this novel, I appreciated the raw honesty of feelings between the Singaporean sisters.
Their uncertainties and jealousies provide the drama and impetus for the story as they each struggle in their own way to cope and succeed. Those readers with either a younger or older sister will both laugh and cry over the broad range of emotion displayed between the two girls. As with most families, the hurts and differences they have only expand, rather than contract, as they grow older.
I liked that the author didn't try to hide or diminish the bad feelings between the sisters but brought them forward such that we nod our heads in recognition. This is certainly a universal tale in that we all move toward our siblings and then away, uneasy with both complete hatred or total love.
The Dream Hotel: A Novel
by Laila Lalami
Nightmares In the Dream Hotel (1/2/2025)
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami is a frightening glimpse into what terrors an authoritarian government could visit on its citizens. Its main protagonist Sara unwittingly falls into a waking nightmare when she's arrested for having a dream (which are monitored by the state) in which she tries to kill her husband. Readers who enjoy dystopian fantasies and alternative histories will find this novel intriguing as it follows Sara's attempts to understand what's happening and to escape the observation facility she's placed in. In a world where anything can and does happen, there are are shocks along the winding road that Sara travels in her mind.
The Bog Wife
by Kay Chronister
Bogged Down (8/9/2024)
The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister is a depressive chronicle of the twisted lives of the Haddesley family of West Virginia. After their father's death, the adult children attempt dysfunctional coping with one another and the outside world, much of it to little avail. How each deals with habit and habitation is the subject of this novel, which I believe would appeal to those who like dark, gothic fiction. The Haddesleys' sideways approaches to life and its silent terrors remind us all that we're more like them than not. The family cranberry bog seems to be a euphemism for what happens to everyone as they wend their way through life. Misunderstand or defy the bog and you risk not only your sanity but your very physical existence. This is what each family member has to endure and comprehend in his or her own way.
The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl
by Bart Yates
A Life Review in Twelve Chapters (5/4/2024)
The Very Long and Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl by Bart Yates was a very different and intriguing read for me. Normally not the type of book I'd select to read, I found it delightful the way the author began at age eight and concluded at ninety-six in revealing Isaac's unusual life. Although living an admittedly "ordinary life," he survives such traumas as an avalanche, naval battle, civil rights riot and earthquake to tell his tale of American family life. I couldn't help admiring someone--if only a character in a book--who was so resilient and steadfast no matter what life threw at him. Through each challenging event, Isaac remains humble and nonplussed, not considering himself a hero or even someone worthy of praise. Readers will certainly enjoy this tale, as I did, of an extraordinarily regular person shining during the very irregular occurrences of life.
The Funeral Cryer: A Novel
by Wenyan Lu
Mourning With the Mourner (2/12/2024)
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu is an intriguing and profound look into the life of a professional mourner in rural China. This unnamed person is shunned by most because of her unique profession and actual becomes an outcast of her own village. I found this novel to be very different in both its subject matter and its approach to life, death and grief. A friendship with a local barber demonstrates to her the static nature of her marriage but also the possible way she can break out of societal structure and discover personal happiness for the first time.
Although the foreign nature of its premise made it difficult at first to get into, The Funeral Cryer provided a look into an alternative culture that most Americans don't get to see. I'm glad I had the chance to.
Help Wanted: A Novel
by Adelle Waldman
Selling Retail Lives (12/30/2023)
In "Help Wanted," Adelle Waldman cuts close to the quick in detailing the struggles of retail workers in a big box store. As a former retailer myself, I identified with many of the emotions the characters were attempting to work through. This novel gave me a mild case of the "cold dreads" as I vicariously faced what each of the workers were facing in their personal and professional lives. It was a good take on the realities of life in retail, which at times can be like trying to run through mud.
The Stone Home: A Novel
by Crystal Hana Kim
Hidden Horrors Brought to Light (11/11/2023)
Crystal Hana Kim's the Stone Home is a poignant fictional account of "reformatory school" atrocities committed in 1980s South Korea. The novel resonates deeply with today's hot-button topics of child abuse and wartime brutality. Anyone with an interest in hidden history and its resolution, not to mention finding solutions to human trafficking and forced birth, will find it both truthful and horrifying in its implications. Although written about a time long ago, the feelings and issues presented are timeless in nature. The book demonstrates, above all, that people are people, no matter what their circumstances, ethnicity or history.
