⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy Format: Kindle Date finished: December, 22, 2025 This book was honestly tracking at a 3 for me for some of the time, but the ending launched it to a 4. It’s set on an extremely remote island near Antarctica, and it is, as the title suggests, wild and dark, both physically and metaphorically. A woman named Rowan quite literally washes up on the shore of the island having come in search of her husband who had been there but had gone dark, and she finds the family of island caretakers there. They nurse her back to health, and she tries to unravel what has happened there and how to proceed. I typically enjoy a more pleasant book setting, to be totally honest. The setting here was unspeakably cold and wild and dangerous, and reading felt like discomfort and mild fear for everyone involved. But I also read to learn about people and situations and I loved understanding life in this completely unlikely place. I enjoyed unraveling the family and relationships and what happened. I loved reading about the wildlife, and how much the kids in the family love the whales, penguins, seals, birds, seeds. This isn’t a comfortable book or a sunny, happy read. It’s worthwhile, though.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia Format: Paperback Date finished: 12/19/25 I was a little extra excited about this one. I knew it would have cozy fall vibes, that it was set in a small town involving a small bed and breakfast (I have a fascination with running something like this one day), and the time frame was the 90s, which was prime time for fun references. I definitely enjoyed it, and I loved everything I mentioned above. The story itself, though, was exactly what you'd expect from this type of book. You know what's going to happen from this start, this is basically a Hallmark movie in book form. The only thing was, it's a 500 page book, and typically these sorts of books are more in the 300-400 realm, so I must admit I struggled a bit in the 100-200 range where there was perhaps a bit more setup than needed. The premise is, a city girl from Seattle with a big career in advertising is called to the east coast to run her parents' B&B after her mom passes away. It's meant to be a stopgap for a few months while her sister finishes school, so she can come run it. There is, of course, a handsome neighbor who happens to be the town baker and divorced father of two sweet girls. I know you'll be shocked to hear that some romance develops and I'll leave it to you to either guess or read the rest. Again - lovely book. You know what you're getting. The 90s setting was SO fun, the references, the technology, I loved it all. Just settle in for the ride.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Look Closer by David Ellis Format: Audio Date finished: December 9, 2025 I like to do thrillers as audiobooks. There’s not very likely to be quotes I want to capture (but sometimes, which is a challenge!), and they keep me listening. Sometimes too well. Like this one. I listened to this in every spare moment for like 3 days. Could not stop. He does a masterful job of setting things up to look one way, and then proceeds to spend the rest of the book twisting and turning all around until you’re really not sure what’s true at all. We start by learning that someone has killed one of the main characters on Halloween night, and then we jump back in time to learn that the person who seems to have done it started a relationship with her… It’s fun to be unsure what to think of every character, unsure who to trust, all of it. I definitely didn’t guess the ending, which I love too. Great thriller.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown Format: Hardcover (Book of the Month!) Date finished: December 7, 2025 This is an unusual book. It's classified as historical fiction, which is alarming when you realize it's set in the 90s. I liked it for the very unusual world that I got to see, and for the unique (and alarming) mindset we experience; one of my favorite things about reading is the front row seat into a TOTALLY different world than I even knew existed. The premise is: a girl grows up with her father in an off-grid cabin in the woods in Montana. He shelters her from everything, and fills her mind with his selection of approved philosophy. She gets to grow up in nature, which of course is positive, but knows very little of the outside world. When she's a teenager, she starts to get curious and learns that her background and things about their life aren't what she thought. She ends up having to run away alone, and has to navigate the Bay Area and learn about life, while trying to unravel the life she thought she had, that she now knows is a lie. I enjoyed the book. Some parts dragged a bit for me, and I wanted to know more about her life at the end. And the feeling throughout the book is a bit on edge, uncomfortable. We see how crazy her father is, how inexperienced and gullible the main character is, and it is hard to know what chaos will come next. There's something a little unsettling about seeing the world from such a naive set of eyes and not being able to do anything to prevent the inevitable destruction. It's a genuinely interesting book. If you're intrigued by the premise, you'll likely enjoy it.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison Format: Kindle Date finished: December 6, 2025 Time travel / alternate life books can be tricky. I always read them holding my breath a little bit, bracing myself for something cheesy, or absurd (more absurd?), or for a resolution that I hate. This one was GREAT. Lana, real name Meg, is a famous TV actress in LA. One night, she gets fed up with her life and books a last minute trip to Avalon, Ireland, which is where she and her best friend, Aimee, dreamed of going to college but didn’t. But when she gets there, she has…quantum slid? Time traveled? Something? Into her alternate life, what would have happened if she had gone to college there. What follows is her experience of getting to live the road not taken, learning to appreciate the important things in life, and navigating this wild timeline shifting scenario. There are also sweet dog characters (Dido and Maureen!) that I love. The real key here was the ending. I enjoyed the book, certainly. But I could see a lot of ways it could go and truth be told I didn’t totally know what I wanted. I wanted her to get to stay in the Ireland life, but also that felt a little too easy, but the LA life kind of sucked…you’ll have to discover it for yourself, but I loved the ending. I also loved that this particular alternative life book was not entirely focused on romantic love, as they typically are. That was there (and much appreciated, Cillian is amazing) but the core relationship in the story is about Lana / Meg and her best friend Aimee. It was nice to see her work through a more well rounded life, not just the romance. Also, I want to find that town in Ireland and visit, or possibly move there. It sounds lovely. I loved it. I came close to giving 5 stars on this one. If I were a half star person, it’d be 4.5. To get to 5, I would really have just wanted more. It’s just over 300 pages, I think that a few parts could have been built out further. Not because anything was clearly wrong or missing - I just loved this world (worlds?) and these characters and would have enjoyed going deeper and getting to know them more. Strong recommend.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Never Over by Clare Gilmore Format: Audio Date finished: December 3, 2025 I heard some reviewers of this book saying that it didn't feel realistic to them, like no one would really go back to their ex for songwriting inspiration, they didn't buy it. I am here to say- I do not read these types of books for their extreme realism. I read them because I enjoy a love story, with a little banter and fun humor, characters I enjoy and root for, and an overall predictably good experience. If we were looking for something truly realistic, let's be honest, not a lot of those things would be on the table. Rant over. I liked this book. Was it one of the very best of these types of books I've read? No, but I enjoyed it, and I think others would enjoy it too if they're looking for a classic romance type book. The premise (as I alluded to earlier) is that Paige, a waitress and aspiring songwriter, gets a callback from a music industry guy who likes her stuff but wants more emotion in it, less generic. She decides that the way to do this is to ask her ex and only real past love to get back together with her, and then break her heart. Everything proceeds from there, she joins him on a tour, I'm sure you see where this is going. I like books about topics I enjoy, like music. It was fun to read something set in Nashville and around that scene. While Paige had many flaws, I liked her and I was rooting for her. There's a bit at the end where it talks about the impact of song lyrics and how they encouraged people to take big, important life steps, and I liked that, I agree with it. Music is powerful. If you're looking for a classic romance book and you think the music element sounds interesting, this is a good one for you.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Advance copy for review thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. Publish date May 19, 2026. Good Joy, Bad Joy by Mikki Brammer Format: Kindle (ARC) Date finished: November 29, 2025 What a life-affirming, sweet, charming, positive book. The interesting thing about reading fiction is that you're effectively spending several hundred pages in someone's mind. In the case of this book, that's extra true because we hear everything through the thoughts and voice of the main character, Joy. And what a joy she is. She's not perfect, she's made mistakes, but she's such a genuine, earnest soul that it's hard to feel anything but hopeful seeing the world through her eyes. The story goes that Joy, an 89-year-old woman who has spent her entire adult life in a small town in the Hudson Valley, finds out that her lifelong best friend and one of her only remaining friends at all has terminal cancer. This friend, Hazel, is the wild child to Joy's prim and proper, and they've spent their entire friendship living that out. Hazel has no kids or long term relationship, but has built a successful business, travels the world, tries everything. Joy, on the other hand, takes the safe route, is a homebody, sticks to what she knows. This diagnosis shakes something loose in Joy and makes her want to try things Hazel's way, so she sets out to do some living in her remaining time with Hazel. I really enjoyed the book. It read fast and easy, it was positive, and Joy is funny and quirky and fun to get to know. The only wishes I had were to know Hazel a bit better and see more of Joy's adventures with her. Hazel seems like so much fun, and like she probably has some wisdom, too. I'd have loved to hear a little more of it. All in all, I loved it, and I think anyone contemplating their path in life or who just wants an easy, sweet read would love it too.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Advance copy for review thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. Publish date May 6, 2026. Liberty Island by Virginia Hume Format: Kindle (ARC) Date finished: November 26, 2025 What a lovely book. Warm and satisfying, with threads that follow through the story. I really enjoyed this book. The only challenge that I had, and it's important to know before you start, is the beginning. For about the first third, I did like the characters but I had trouble keeping everything straight. I don't at all mind (and in fact prefer) timeline jumping, so it wasn't that, it was more that many characters were referenced and looking back I realize that some I wasn't meant to totally know yet and some I had forgotten so I spent the first third a little lost. But then...either the introductions died down or I finally got it figured out but whatever happened, it was wonderful after that. I loved the characters. I appreciated reading about a time period that I haven't read a lot of fiction in before. Despite the absolute mountain of historical fiction around the world wars especially WWII, I've not come across a lot from the late 1800s / early 1900s, and particularly about the experience of women's suffrage slowly moving through the nation. Of course, we look back now and it's hard to believe that anyone would have been against it, but a lot of people were. Different people, within families, people you wouldn't expect. It was fascinating. The book is about a family (and the surrounding characters) that summers in Maine. Growing up, the girls in the family went to a place dubbed Liberty Island to have adventures, and the aunt of these girls wrote a fictionalized book about them that, at the time, was quite scandalous. Girls, having adventures? Being involved with anything so immoral as playing imaginary pirates and treasure hunters? [Clutches pearls.] The timeline switch is between these girls as children and them as early 20s adults, plus all the relevant family / friends / lovers surrounding them. The author does a masterful job (though confusing, a little, at first, see above) of slowly revealing the relationships at play, how things would play out for the adults, and the true motives behind actions. Despite it not being an epic family saga in length, it felt a bit like one in reading, in the best possible way. We see such character development, and so many changes over the years thanks to the timelines. I finished the book enthralled with the family, and also wishing to visit Maine in the summer.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Everyone Is Lying To You by Jo Piazza Format: Audio Date finished: November 22, 2025 I almost didn't read this. I read this author's last book, The Sicilian Inheritance, and thought it was just ok. But I will admit, I have a slightly unnatural obsession with the concept of social media influencers, so when I saw that was the topic, I had to give it a go. Thank goodness I did! I couldn't stop listening to this. There was something about the outside-looking-in description of the influencer world, plus wanting to know what happened, plus loving these flawed characters that was the perfect combination. Lizzie is an editor at a declining magazine, and she hears from her 15 years estranged former best friend from college, Bex. Bex is a huge influencer in the mom / farm / tradwife world, and she tells Lizzie that she has a big story she wants her to break, and to come meet her at a big mom influencer conference. Lizzie does so, sees Bex, and then Bex disappears + her husband Gray is murdered. Lizzie puts on her reporter hat to try to figure out what happened and where Bex is, and we learn that there is WAY more under the surface of everyone's lives than it appears. I loved it. If the topic seems interesting to you, give it a try! I liked the audio in particular on this one, but the book would be great too.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Advance copy for review thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, publish date May 12, 2026. Burnout Summer by Jenna Ramirez Format: Kindle (ARC) Date finished: November 21, 2025 I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It opens with a comparison of corporate life to prison that I honestly could not have related to more. SOLD. Then, it moved on to my not-so-secret dream of living out a lovely, simple life in a sweet east coast beach town. Extra sold! I'll back up. The main character Cam (Corporate Camille), spends the summer with one of her best friends Danny, writing and waiting tables at his restaurant (inherited from his uncle) in a small beach town in the northeast. She's recovering from a layoff from a job she hated, as well as figuring out how to survive the huge student loans and credit card debt she has from the college where she found her best friends (yay!) and got a degree to prepare her for said hated job (boo). She realizes that she's burned out and that getting a similar job will just start the cycle over again, but of course, drama ensues as she navigates what she could do instead, a budding romance, and the evolution of her friend group after college. This book was particularly timely for me because I, too, recently left corporate for what I hope will be the last time, and understand Cam's desire never to return. The description of the beach life was lovely, and Danny's restaurant filled with quirky characters sounds like so much fun. I love the message in this book. The idea of leaving corporate and not doing the typical college to corporate to retirement thing IS getting more accepted, but not enough. The idea of this being ok and normal needs to be out there and this book does a great job of doing that. Is Cam self-centered sometimes in the book? Yes, and she acknowledges this and works to change it. I'd say this is pretty typical mid-20s-in-crisis behavior. Did I know what was going to happen for much of the book? Yes. Did that bother me? No! The fun is in seeing the unfolding. Great book. It's both an enjoyable read and an important message. Read it!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman Format: Audio Date finished: November 29, 2025 I heard huge amounts of praise for this book. I don't believe that said praise was from people typically into the video game type books, or whatever the formal name for this genre is called. Because of this, I also expected to love this book. I did not love it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. The audio was excellent, I have to say that. The voices, the humor, all fantastic. Carl sounded like Kronk from Emperor's New Groove which is huge points from me. But...unfortunately, the story was a little too much repetitive video game activity for me. After the initial setup of how they get into the game (which was excellent) it was a lot of wander about, find bad guys, kill bad guys in some different way than before, get some loot and points and stuff, wander some more, and so on. I understand that this is a whole genre that people love, and if you are into this genre, this book must be absolutely EPIC for you. I'm not sorry I read it, I was entertained, though towards the second half I did have to push through a bit. I'm glad I've experienced a book like this and understand what it's about. I'm glad I met Carl and Princess Donut and learned about the crazy video game. But, alas, I will not likely continue with the series. If it sounds at all interesting to you, I think it's worth a try. You might love it. Again, I can totally appreciate how well written this is for this genre of book. If nothing else, you'll also learn a little about a genre you didn't know about and know whether it's for you or not!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Advance copy for review thanks to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press, publish date January 20, 2026. Just Watch Me by Lior Torenberg Format: Kindle (ARC) Date finished: November 18, 2025 This was not what I expected, in any way. There is no way to expect this book. I didn’t like the main character, what she was doing, or really anyone in the book except Hot Pat. But I have never met a book that I found so compulsively readable and enjoyable while being annoyed by the characters and everything happening. Every time I picked it up, I wanted to keep reading. Not sure if it was a great edit, or the car-accident-compulsion to keep watching Dell’s shitshow, but here we are. Dell is the hottest mess I’ve seen in awhile. Living in New York in an illegal apartment without a bathroom (?!), running away from her job and getting fired after inexplicably throwing a jar of almond butter at a customer, cannot seem to make a good decision to save her life (or make rent on her terrible little apartment). She tries live streaming herself, and finds that people are interested and will give her money for random things, like setting herself on fire and eating really hot peppers, to try to raise money for her sister Daisy who is in a coma. She gets in some trouble…you’ll have to read and see why…and somehow the hot mess express gets even messier. I was torn about the ending. In some ways I wanted something different to happen, but in other ways it fits perfectly with this character and story. If the book had ended how I wanted, there is a very good chance I'd be here saying it wasn't believable, so we'll call this point a wash. I honestly am at a loss with this book, in an absolutely wonderful way. It’s a very unique premise, and it was a fun change to dislike the characters and love the book. I would love to read something else by this author, as I suspect that I would love it, regardless of topic or genre.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall Format: Kindle Date finished: November 13, 2025 Wow. First of all, just wow. This is quite a book. The story is about Beth and her family. The author reveals things beautifully throughout the book to keep you reading so I won’t tell you much, other than that it’s full of relationships and tragedy and redemption and love. The writing is lovely. It moves quickly, and sometimes there is a sentence that knocks you over with its truth or beauty. I LOVE that. It’s four stars, not five, because I had a hard time believing some of the characters' actions. Which, of course, is a bit bold of me as just the reader, but that’s what it is. I can’t go much further without spoilers, other than to say that some characters made so many stupid decisions I could hardly believe it, and others were so inexplicably good that it was hard to believe that, too. It’s a treasure of a book. You should absolutely read it. You may disagree with me on the characters- I hope you do!! Even if you agree, it’s more than worth reading.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Format: Kindle Date finished: November 9, 2025 So many people have told me that they love this author, and I somehow am just getting around to reading one of her books. As expected, it’s great. Good love story, funny, and the problem in the relationship that inevitably arises is believable and more than a couple of pages long. The idea is that Ethan and Olive, brother and (twin) sister to the groom and bride respectively, hate each other. But when the happy couple can’t make the honeymoon, these two go in their place. They plan to vacation separately, but of course things go awry… I also appreciated that there is more evolution to the main character than just love. We see her change in her career, her mindset, and we get to see secondary characters evolve too. I’ll read another one from this author for sure!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ No More Tears by Gardiner Harris Format: Audio Date finished: November 8, 2025 I'm always a little skeptical of the big "expose" type books. Sometimes there is a minimal story that the author is trying to make into something bigger, sometimes the author is clearly portraying only one side or perspective, sometimes facts are lacking. I did not find any of that to be the case here. While this book is quite a thing to get through simply because there are SO many products and SO many horrifying situations and facts that occurred, it appears to be very well researched and as balanced as it can be when you're talking about lying to federal agencies and consumers. It will definitely make me think twice before using any J&J products in the future, but also before using any pharma or med device products in the future without some deep checking into prior studies and safety records. Of course, that wouldn't have helped many people in the book because of hidden studies and unreported adverse events, but a lack of information is information as well. I won't claim that this is a light, easy read. I will claim that it's worth it. I found that the audiobook was easier, I could listen to a bit, then once my brain was full of facts, I could take a break. But whatever works for you, it's worth understanding what a company like J&J was able to do simply because they had the love of the American consumer and executives that weren't afraid to lie and conceal.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Billion Dollar Ransom by James Patterson Format: Audio Date finished: November 2, 2025 I was looking for a thriller that would keep my attention and keep me guessing and this delivered. It was exactly the typical thriller type you’d expect, moved fast, developed characters enough to maw you like / dislike them as appropriate and not much more, did the job. If this is the kind of book you’re looking for - it’s a good choice!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark Format: Kindle Date finished: November 1, 2025 This was a book club pick, so I didn’t know much going into it. It’s a sort of thriller, where a ghostwriter is hired to tell her estranged father’s story - one that may or may not include him murdering his two siblings when they were teenagers. I loved that this kept me guessing, right up to the end. I had some ideas of what happened, but just about every chapter had me changing my mind. There was also an interesting treasure hunt element. The father liked to make treasure hunts, first for his sister (who someone murdered), then for his daughter (writing the book). That plays out in an interesting way. This definitely kept me reading, and I love when I can’t figure out the ending. I got what I wanted here!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop Format: Audio Date finished: October 29, 2025 Some very important points before we start: 1) I ADORE Gilmore Girls. I've watched it way more times than I can count, both all the way through and at random, I can (and do) quote it, I still laugh every time. LOVE. 2) I am not very into show business. I don't read or care about celebrity gossip, I've never had even the slightest inclination or dream to be famous or on TV or anything. Therefore...the three stars here is fully due to my own personal preferences and not at all a reflection of the quality of book. The parts of this book about Gilmore Girls and her time there were amazing. Worth listening to the whole thing just for that. No regrets. The rest was not so interesting for me, all the different plays and shows and such that she's been in and how she got there, but again I would really consider that to be a me problem. Most people do like celebrity gossip and all that stuff. I think most people would like the rest of it. So, in short, I loved some of it. The rest was take it or leave it for me, but the Gilmore Girls part made everything worth it.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna Format: Paperback Date finished: October 27, 2025 I almost didn’t read this. The cute seasonal type books are not normally my thing. But MAN would I have missed out! This cozy magical stuff has something to it. Can I read a bunch of these in a row? Probably not. But they’re absolutely lovely for some fun and coziness in between all the murder and serious writing. This book, specifically, is about an innkeeper named Sera. She used to have very powerful magic, then lost most of it doing a resurrection spell on her great-aunt. From there, she collects a quirky and adorable little chosen family, all the while trying to get her magic back and (of course) falling in love. This is one of the few books where I just enjoyed reading it all the way through. It didn’t even much matter if a lot was going on in the story. The very proper and sweet language, but with some snark and swearing mixed in, proved to be a perfect mix for me. I did wish the ending had gone slightly differently. Just personal preference. But the joy of reading the whole way through made up for it. I’ve heard that this author’s first book is wonderful as well, and that The Spellshop is a similar vibe, so those are on hold at the library now!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Too Old for This by Samantha Downing Format: Audio Date finished: October 26, 2025 This book has an interesting premise: what if the serial killer is someone totally unexpected? Like…an otherwise largely sweet grandmother? We meet said grandmother late in her life, but throughout the story, we learn about her murderous lifetime. This was a perfectly acceptable thriller type book. It was interesting, I didn’t have to drag my way through it. But I also could take it or leave it. We know most of the facts throughout the book, which leaves us with how things will play out, whether she’ll get caught, her character development. It may be an unfair comparison because Stephen King’s Bill Hodges / Holly books are like that, but I found those a lot more gripping than this. I’m not here to tell you not to read it; if the premise sounds interesting to you, you may well enjoy it. I'm not unhappy that I read it, but it didn't particularly stand out to me. I was kind of hoping there might be a big twist at the end or something, but alas, what happened was roughly what I expected.