⭐⭐⭐✰✰ (3.5 stars) When I picked up Fun for the Whole Family, I expected a breezy, heartwarming story about quirky siblings reuniting for some chaotic-but-lovable family drama. I blame the cover—it practically screams “rom-com road trip.” What I got instead was a slow-burning, emotionally tangled reunion where nearly everyone is famous, everyone is frustrated, and North Dakota is the punchline a few too many times (especially annoying if, like me, you have family ties there). The Endicotts are a wildly improbable bunch: a novelist, a pro soccer player, and a movie star, all from the same family. Jude, the actress, calls her siblings together in a remote North Dakota town […]
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A Stirring Tribute to Librarians Who Fought with Books
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars) Janet Skeslien Charles truly levels up with Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade, a novel that surpasses her debut The Paris Library in both heart and storytelling power. Inspired by the real Jessie Carson—an American librarian who helped restore wartime France through the written word—this book highlights a forgotten chapter of literary history. Charles’s fictionalized Jessie is brave, grieving, and driven. Her journey through WWI-ravaged towns, delivering books to soldiers and rebuilding libraries, is both emotionally resonant and vividly detailed. The novel explores how stories create connection, community, and healing—especially when everything else has been shattered. The dual timeline follows a modern-day librarian, Wendy Peterson, in 1987 New York, who stumbles across […]
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The Artful Origins of a Notorious Rogue: Fagin Gets His Say
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars) What happens when a classic villain gets a second shot at telling his side of the story? In Fagin the Thief, Allison Epstein breathes fresh life into the teeming streets of Dickensian London and reclaims one of literature’s most misunderstood characters. This is not the Fagin of Oliver Twist fame—at least, not entirely. Epstein’s version is still a thief, a liar, and a rogue, but he’s also a survivor, shaped by loss, poverty, and prejudice. The story takes us back to Fagin’s childhood in a Jewish enclave, where he lives with his mother and eventually falls under the spell of a charismatic pickpocket. From there, we’re swept into the dark […]
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Smart and Sassy: A Book Club Worth Joining
This one reminded me so much of Lorna Landvik’s Angry Wives Eating Bon Bons—strong women, suburban setting, and a whole lot of heart. Set in early 1960s Virginia, The Book Club for Troublesome Women follows four women who start reading The Feminine Mystique and suddenly start seeing their own lives in a new light. From tea and cake to personal revolutions—it escalates quickly. The real beauty of this novel is in the friendships. Margaret, Bitsy, Charlotte, and Viv are flawed, funny, brave, and loyal. Their bond feels authentic, and their individual arcs show how liberating (and scary) it can be to start dreaming again after years of playing it safe. […]
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The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare Review
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 stars) This novel had so much going for it—a dual timeline, a real historical figure, and a mystery rooted in the fate of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. I went in eager to learn more about Eleanor Dare, a woman I find absolutely fascinating. And while the premise had great potential, the execution didn’t quite live up to it. The story follows Alice, a war widow, and her daughter, Penn, as they return to their family’s ancestral home in the 1940s. There, they begin to uncover secrets tied to their lineage and the legacy of Eleanor Dare. The emotional threads—grief, identity, forgiveness, and healing—are the strongest parts of […]
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Funny, Quirky, and Totally Entertaining!
Vera Wong is back, and she’s nosier than ever. In Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man), Jesse Q. Sutanto serves up another delightful cozy mystery with a side of dumplings and unsolicited advice. This time, Vera stumbles upon a case involving a drowned influencer with more aliases than a spy. While cat-sitting for her son Tilly and his detective girlfriend Selena, Vera finds a file in Selena’s briefcase about the mysterious death. Naturally, she takes it upon herself to investigate, because why let the professionals have all the fun? What follows is a hilarious, heartwarming romp through San Francisco’s Chinatown as Vera inserts herself into the lives of her suspects—who […]
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The Lady’s Mine by Francine Rivers: Grit, Guns, and God in the Gold Rush
⭐️⭐️⭐️½ (3.5 stars) I normally wouldn’t pick up a book like The Lady’s Mine, but it was a book club selection—and I’m glad I gave it a chance, even if it didn’t completely win me over. Set in the rugged mining town of Calvada, California, Francine Rivers introduces us to Kathryn Walsh, a fiery suffragette exiled from Boston by her stepfather. She inherits her late uncle’s newspaper and quickly finds herself shaking up a corrupt and chaotic community. The setup has all the makings of a satisfying Western: a gutsy heroine, a brooding saloon owner (hello, Matthias Beck), and the kind of moral showdown that’s become a Rivers signature. I […]
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A Lush Return to India That Takes Too Long to Get Going
★ ★ ★ ½ Alka Joshi’s Six Days in Bombay kicks off with a bang—a famous painter dies under suspicious circumstances, and Sona, a young Anglo-Indian nurse, is suddenly the prime suspect. What follows is a globe-trotting journey from Bombay to Europe as Sona tries to clear her name and untangle the truth about Mira Novak, the enigmatic artist who changed her life in just six days. The setup is rich, and the premise has real intrigue. Joshi brings exotic locations to life with her usual flair. But where The Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur gripped me from the start, this one took a while to warm up. The first third drags, bogged […]
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Double Agents, Double Timelines, and Double the Tension
Charles Cumming’s Box 88 kicks off a gritty and brainy spy series with a foot in two eras: the Cold War’s dying days and the chaos of modern espionage. Lachlan Kite is the man in the middle—recruited straight out of boarding school into a shadow agency so secret even MI5 doesn’t know it exists. One minute he’s in France tailing an Iranian businessman tied to the Lockerbie bombing. The next, it’s 2020, and he’s being tortured for the secrets he uncovered thirty years earlier. Cumming pulls off the dual timelines with real finesse. The flashbacks don’t feel like detours—they add layers, deepen the stakes, and keep the tension tight. The 1989 […]
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A Stirring Journey of Faith, Friendship, and Finding Peace After War
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Long Way Home by Lynn Austin is a beautifully written novel that tugs at the heart and offers a hopeful message about healing after trauma. Set in the wake of World War II, the story follows Jimmy Barnett, a shell-shocked veteran confined to a VA hospital, and Grace, a quiet young woman determined to uncover the truth behind his silence. As Grace digs into Jimmy’s past, she uncovers a moving tale of love, sacrifice, and the unseen wounds soldiers carry home. The book also weaves in a second powerful storyline: that of Gisela Wolff, a young Jewish woman trying to survive the horrors of Nazi Germany. Her family’s journey—from […]
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