Martha Hall Kelley, one of my favorite historical fiction novelists, delivers another captivating tale in The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club. The title is a bit misleading—it isn’t really about a book club—but what unfolds is far richer and more intriguing. The dual timeline begins in 2016, when Mari Starwood travels from California to Martha’s Vineyard with nothing but a name on a scrap of paper. There she meets Elizabeth Devereaux, a reclusive painter whose family story reshapes Mari’s understanding of her own past. The heart of the novel, though, lies in 1942. Sisters Cadence and Briar Smith struggle to hold their farm together while U.S. troops train on […]
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Books, Blackouts, and a Mother’s Choice
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Madeline Martin’s The Booklover’s Library drops us into Nottingham during WWII, where widow Emma Taylor faces an impossible choice: risk keeping her daughter Olivia in a bombing zone or send her off to live with strangers in the countryside. With little hope and even fewer job options—married and widowed women were barred from most work—Emma persuades Boots’ lending library to hire her. There she finds unlikely friendships, quirky patrons, and a reminder that books can keep people afloat when the world is sinking. What caught me most wasn’t the “library angle” (frankly, I’m getting a little worn out on book-about-books stories), but the history tucked inside. I had never heard of […]
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When Twisty Turns to Icky
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Every once in a while, I’m in the mood for a dark psychological thriller, so I gave Freida McFadden’s The Teacher a try. On the surface, it’s got the right ingredients—short chapters, plenty of twists, and a storyline about a teacher whose life unravels after a scandal. It’s undeniably readable; McFadden knows how to hook you. But here’s the rub: the subject matter left me cold. A predator targeting high schoolers? Sick. Layer on too much cheating and way too many graphic sex scenes, and what could have been a tense, smart thriller turned into something that felt more exploitative than entertaining. This was my first McFadden book, and while I […]
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Family Drama Meets Legal Intrigue in The Truth About the Devlins
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4 stars) Lisa Scottoline knows her way around a page-turner. With thirty-six novels under her belt, she’s mastered the mix of family drama, legal thrills, and a dash of mystery. Her latest, The Truth About the Devlins, has all of that in spades. The Devlins are a powerhouse family of attorneys—except for TJ, the black sheep who’s fresh out of prison and working hard to stay sober. He’s barely getting his life back together when his golden-boy brother confesses he may have killed a client. Suddenly TJ is pulled into a mess that could blow up his family’s reputation, and for once, he’s the only one who might be […]
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Unsung Heroines of the Arsenal
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Jennifer Chiaverini’s Canary Girls shines a spotlight on a little-known chapter of World War I history—the British “munitionettes” who risked their lives making bombs while their brothers, husbands, and sweethearts fought on the front lines. Through the perspectives of three women from different walks of life—April, a former housemaid; Lucy, the wife of a football star; and Helen, the boss’s socially conscious wife—the novel captures both the camaraderie and the danger of working in the factories. The women’s skin literally turns yellow from handling TNT, earning them the nickname “canary girls,” yet they persist, fueled by patriotism and the fellowship they find on the soccer pitch. Chiaverini blends historical fact with […]
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New Cop, New Island, Same Connelly Magic
🌟🌟🌟🌟 Michael Connelly is back with Nightshade, the first book to feature Detective Stilwell. Once a homicide cop in Los Angeles, Stilwell gets shoved aside by department politics and reassigned to Catalina Island, stuck handling property crimes. Sounds easy—until a woman’s body turns up at the bottom of the harbor, identified only by a streak of purple in her hair. Then a routine poaching call explodes into violence, dragging Stilwell into the dangerous orbit of a powerful island figure and an old rival determined to bring him down. The setting is terrific: Catalina’s picture-perfect charm hides plenty of shadows, and Connelly makes the most of it. Stilwell isn’t polished or […]
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Amy’s Picks and Pans, Issue 38
Not Quite All Fours 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (and One 🌟🌟🌟) Almost every book I read this month landed a solid 4 stars—except for one little outlier. Indescribable Atlas Adventures (the only kids’ book in the bunch) didn’t quite measure up and came in at 3 stars. Still, no duds, no DNFs, and plenty of variety. I crossed paths with Judy Garland, shadowed an assassin, rode shotgun with a S.W.A.T. medic, and followed a Russian spy through enemy territory. I also eavesdropped on Bonhoeffer, argued with a socialite, admired an artist, and got oddly attached to a bookshop with a mind of its own. Oh, and there was an Egyptian scribe too—because why […]
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Love, Loss, and the Bonds That Bind
⭐⭐⭐✨ Ann Napolitano’s Within Arm’s Reach is a tender, multigenerational portrait of an Irish-American family in New Jersey, told through the alternating perspectives of three generations of women. Catharine McLaughlin, the strong-willed maternal grandmother, carries the family’s history and grief; her daughter, Grace, juggles a shaky marriage and the demands of motherhood; and Grace’s daughters, Lila and Meghan, navigate adolescence, first loves, and the slow pull toward independence. Napolitano’s prose is intimate and perceptive, revealing the small moments and unspoken tensions that shape family life. The shifting viewpoints show how the same events can be interpreted in vastly different ways, depending on where you stand. It’s a quiet novel, more […]
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A Haunting Farewell for Maisie Dobbs
⭐⭐⭐⭐ In The Comfort of Ghosts, Jacqueline Winspear gives Maisie Dobbs one final case—and it’s a poignant one. Set in post-WWII London, the story centers on four adolescent orphans squatting in a crumbling Belgravia mansion. Traumatized, street-smart, and fiercely loyal to one another, the teens are under the watchful eye of a wounded ex-soldier and a troubled nurse. When Maisie is asked to intervene, she uncovers secrets about the house, the young squatters’ pasts, and a wartime murder that still casts a shadow. As always, Maisie brings empathy as much as intellect to the investigation. Alongside her inquiries, she’s grappling with big life decisions—about love, family, and her future. Familiar characters […]
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Grief, Glitches, and a Message from the Beyond
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I Think I Was Murdered blends grief, tech, and suspense into a twisty, emotionally charged mystery. After her husband Brian dies, Katrina finds herself relying on a cutting-edge AI chatbot that mimics his personality and speech patterns. Built using Brian’s digital footprint—emails, texts, videos—it becomes her lifeline. She chats with “him” daily, unable to let go. But when the bot suddenly types the chilling sentence “I think I was murdered,” Katrina’s world is turned upside down. The concept is both eerie and fascinating. The bot isn’t just a gimmick—it’s Katrina’s crutch, a digital ghost she confides in, argues with, and leans on to cope with overwhelming loss. Her emotional dependency adds depth […]
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