Dolly All the Time

 

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

Fiction

2026

Narrated by Julia Whelan

Finished on July 21, 2026

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.

So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield—annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high-society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself—can she really start now?

When asked what type of books I enjoy reading, I usually state that fiction (contemporary, literary, and historical) is my go-to, as well as mysteries and the occasional (very occasional) science fiction and horror. I also enjoy nonfiction, with memoir as my main focus. What I don't typically read is romance novels. I think that last book that I read that falls into this category is The Wedding People, which I classified as a "romantic comedy." 

OK. Searching my blog for a similar book to Dolly All the Time, I came up with You Are Here by David Nicholls. And then when I searched for the audiobook narrator, Julia Whelan, I come up with several others. Thank You for Listening. Evvie Drake Starts Over. My Oxford Year. Book Lovers. Those titles reminded me also of Me Before You, Things You Save in a Fire, as well as The Lost and Found Bookshop. Obviously, I misspoke. Apparently, I do read romances! These mostly earn average (3/5) ratings from me, although there are a few that I loved (Me Before You, After You, and Still Me, all of which were written by Jojo Moyes). 

Listening to this genre is pure brain candy, especially those read by Julia Whelan. She breathes life into each character, their voices distinctive and as unique as if narrated from an ensemble of readers. When a character is on the verge of tears, Whelan's voice cracks as though she is on the verge of breaking down. (And yes, I choked up more than once.) And when she reads a humorous scene, I chortle out loud, not at all concerned if anyone hears me.

Dolly All the Time is written by Annabel Monaghan, an author with whom I'm unfamiliar, but I will most certainly read more from her backlist. As with most "romances," the usual tropes (fake dating, as well as rich man--poor woman) can't be ignored, and the storyline is not without predictability, but I was thoroughly entertained.

Recommend!

Yesteryear

 

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Fiction

2026

Narrated by Rebecca Lowman

Finished on July 2, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A traditional American woman, a “tradwife” influencer, suddenly awakens in the brutal reality of 1855—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.

My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

I can't remember when a novel was as popular as Yesteryear, but with such opposing opinions. Many readers either gave up early on or disliked the book, calling it trash or poorly written. Others, who may have eagerly awaited long library waitlists, enjoyed the tale, happy to chat about it with friends and book groups. Whatever your opinion, one can't argue that this is the most buzzed about novel of the year. 

I went into the audiobook prepared to dislike the story, but was surprisingly captivated by Burke's ability to pull me into Natalie's world(s). Several years ago, I saw an Instagram story which showed a mother of several children making lunch for her family. She made fresh bread from a sourdough starter, cheese with milk from one of their cows, as well as other items, all in her quaint farm kitchen. Not unlike the beautiful photos in Ree Drummund's (Pioneer Woman) cookbooks, Hannah (Ballerina Farm) gave viewers a glimpse inside a home that may or may not be all that it appears. I guess I was naive to think that women like Drummond and Neeleman were doing all the work to create delicious and hearty meals from scratch, and yet, if I'm not mistaken, they have a staff of assistants behind the scenes prepping and styling every shot and angle. As with Natalie's online image in Yesteryear, not all is as it seems. Nannies, producers, farm hands, etc., are all there to make life look easier than it truly is. 

Online influencers, whether those promoting products related to nutrition and health, or those styling classic wardrobes (like my daughter, Fashion Jackson) have become so ubiquitous and profitable that young children aspire to be influencers when they grow up. Perhaps I'm biased because I've seen how hard my daughter works to create content for her followers, but I do believe that not all influencers are frauds. And perhaps that's why I was less critical than other readers of Yesteryear.

Plus, I had to keep listening to find out what the heck happened to Natalie! Not only is this a work of satire, but there's a strong element of mystery, as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio production, and I will probably watch the series once it hits a streaming platform. 

The Safekeep

 

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

Fiction

2024

Finished on June 28, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Booker Prize Nominee for Shortlist (2024)

National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction (2024)

Women's Prize for Fiction (2025)

Publisher's Blurb:

An exhilarating, twisted tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961—a powerful exploration of the legacy of WWII and the darker parts of our collective past.

A house is a precious thing...

It is 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is truly over. Living alone in her late mother’s country home, Isabel knows her life is as it should be—led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis brings his graceless new girlfriend Eva, leaving her at Isabel’s doorstep as a guest, to stay for the season.

Eva is Isabel’s antithesis: she sleeps late, walks loudly through the house, and touches things she shouldn’t. In response, Isabel develops a fury-fueled obsession, and when things start disappearing around the house—a spoon, a knife, a bowl—Isabel’s suspicions begin to spiral. In the sweltering peak of summer, Isabel’s paranoia gives way to infatuation—leading to a discovery that unravels all Isabel has ever known. The war might not be well and truly over after all, and neither Eva—nor the house in which they live—are what they seem.

Mysterious, sophisticated, sensual, and infused with intrigue, atmosphere, and sex, The Safekeep is a brilliantly plotted and provocative debut novel you won’t soon forget.

I finished this debut novel late last night and am glad I hadn't given up on it. The Safekeep is a quiet and unique tale, nothing like any novel I've read about post-World War II. The writing is lovely, but it was slow to draw me in, possibly due to the frenetic pacing of the book I read prior to this one. 

Isabel and Eva are complex, nuanced characters, both lost and broken in their individual lives, ultimately finding comfort with one another. It's a moving story of self-discovery and love, and yet the explicit revelation of Isabel's sexual awakening felt unnecessarily excessive, leaving nothing to the imagination. It didn't help to move the narrative forward, but rather became a distraction. The final chapters, however, rewarded me with an ultimately moving, and hopeful, conclusion. I look forward to reading more by the author in the future.

Recommend.

Clear

 

Clear by Carys Davies

Fiction

2024

Finished on May 20, 2026

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

1843. On a remote Scottish island, Ivar, the sole occupant, leads a life of quiet isolation until the day he finds a man unconscious on the beach below the cliffs. The newcomer is John Ferguson, an impoverished church minister sent to evict Ivar and turn the island into grazing land for sheep. Unaware of the stranger's intentions, Ivar takes him into his home, and in spite of the two men having no common language, a fragile bond begins to form between them. Meanwhile on the mainland, John's wife Mary anxiously awaits news of his mission.

Against the rugged backdrop of this faraway spot beyond Shetland, Carys Davies's intimate drama unfolds with tension and tenderness: a touching and crystalline study of ordinary people buffeted by history and a powerful exploration of the distances and connections between us. Perfectly structured and surprising at every turn, Clear is a marvel of storytelling, an exquisite short novel by a master of the form.

Slow and gentle to start, Clear reminds me of When the Cranes Fly South, another slim novel of a solitary life. The book's quiet tone, full of emotional depth, evokes a strong sense of place, as well as characters who come alive in Davie's spare details. Learning to communicate with one another, Ivar and John become friends as their time together continues on the isolated island. I was pleasantly surprised with the final outcome, and was even tempted to start reading from the beginning again, but my overall rating doesn't reflect that inclination. Maybe with a second reading, I'd be more apt to bump that rating up to four stars. Clear is one to discuss with others, maybe with a book club. This deeply affecting story will appeal to fans of Claire Keegan and Marilynne Robinson.

Recommend.

The Road to Tender Hearts

 

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

Fiction

2025

Narrated by Mark Bramhall

Finished on May 13, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A darkly comic and warm-hearted novel about an old man on a cross-country mission to reunite with his high school crush—bringing together his adult daughter, two orphaned kids, and a cat who can predict death—from the beloved author of Rabbit Cake and Unlikely Animals.

At sixty-three years old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren’t for the tragedies of his life: the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. Since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar, and he probably doesn’t have much time left—he’s had three heart attacks already.

But when PJ reads an obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. Filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he’s going to drive across the country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win Michelle back.

Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother’s grandchildren. Anyone else would be deterred from the planned trip, but PJ figures the orphaned kids might benefit from getting out of town. PJ also figures he can ask Sophie, his adult daughter, adrift in her 20s, to come along to babysit. And there’s one more surprise addition to the roster: Pancakes, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack of predicting death, who recently turned up outside PJ’s home.

This could be the second chance PJ has long hoped for—a second shot at love and parenting—but does he have the strength to do both those things again? It’s very possible his heart can’t take it.

My first thought as I read the publisher’s blurb was that 63 is not old. I’m 64, and I certainly don’t think of myself as an old lady. PJ may be middle-aged, but he is not an old man.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, here’s my review:

I started listening to this audiobook after hearing so many great things about the book. But about ten minutes in, I was ready to stop. At first, I didn’t like PJ; he came across as very annoying and needy. I also wasn’t sure about the narrator’s voice. The next day, I decided to give it another chance, and I was hooked. I laughed out loud and fell in love with the characters, especially Luna and Otto. Those two kids reminded me of Bessie and Roland in Kevin Wilson’s dark comedy Nothing to See Here. Then there’s Pancakes the cat, who brought to mind Marcellus the octopus in Remarkably Bright Creatures. Not only is Pancakes able to predict death, (and Marcellus is dying, of course, so there's that additional connection between the two animals), but both animals are highly intelligent with an uncanny ability to observe and understand the humans around them, acting as a sort of observant, wise "Greek chorus."

I’m not sure how the humor comes across in the print edition, but the audiobook is excellent and anything but predictable. Fans of quirky, chaotic stories like Nothing to See Here and So Far Gone by Jess Walter are sure to enjoy this book. And who doesn’t love a good road trip tale?

Recommend.

Raising Hare: A Memoir

 

Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton

Nonfiction

2025

Narrated by Louise Brealey

Finished on 4/29/2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman’s unlikely friendship with a wild hare.

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end and gave birth to leverets in your study. For political advisor and speechwriter Chloe Dalton, who spent lockdown deep in the English countryside, far away from her usual busy London life, this became her unexpected reality.

In February 2021, Dalton stumbles upon a newborn hare—a leveret—that had been chased by a dog. Fearing for its life, she brings it home, only to discover how impossible it is to rear a wild hare, most of whom perish in captivity from either shock or starvation. Through trial and error, she learns to feed and care for the leveret with every intention of returning it to the wilderness. Instead, it becomes her constant companion, wandering the fields and woods at night and returning to Dalton’s house by day. Though Dalton feared that the hare would be preyed upon by foxes, stoats, feral cats, raptors, and even people, she never tried to restrict it to the house. Each time the hare leaves, Chloe knows she may never see it again. Yet she also understands that to confine it would be its own kind of death.

Raising Hare chronicles their journey together, while also taking a deep dive into the lives and nature of hares, and the way they have been viewed historically in art, literature, and folklore. We witness first-hand the joy at this extraordinary relationship between human and animal, which serves as a reminder that the best things, and most beautiful experiences, arise when we least expect them.

I did not expect to enjoy Raising Hare was well as I did! When I first learned about Dalton's memoir, I associated it with H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald, which I read in 2017. (Does anyone else look back on a review with astonishment that it was written almost a decade ago rather than two or three years??) While I liked Macdonald's book, it's not one that moved me with the same tenderness as Raising Hare. 

Dalton educates her readers on the differences between hares and rabbits, as well as other details about the life and history of the hare. I have deep respect for the author who rescued the leveret, but did not cage or attempt to adopt it as a pet. She did not name the small creature, nor did she confine it to her home. I thought it was remarkable that once old enough to leave the safety of Dalton's home, it returned day after day, joining Dalton in the house, eating the oats provided for nourishment, as well as giving birth to its own leverets behind the curtains in Chloe's study. Each time the hare disappeared for a few weeks, I felt a sense of foreboding, worried that it had been attacked by a fox or raptor (or run over by a car or tractor), and breathed a sigh of relief when it returned from its adventures. 

Part memoir, part natural science, Raising Hare is both entertaining and informative. It's a beautiful story that I won't soon forget. The audiobook is read by Louise Brealey, whose lovely narration added to my enjoyment. 

Highly recommend!

Note: I understand the print edition includes illustrations. All the more reason to order a gift copy in order to take a peek before wrapping!

Celestial Lights

 

Celestial Lights by Cecile Pin

Fiction

2026

Finished on 4/9/2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A beautiful, heartbreaking novel about ambition, love, and space from the award-winning author of the Women’s Prize longlisted Wandering Souls.

January 28, 1986: Soon after launch, the Challenger shuttle falls out of the sky and into the sea. At the same time, Oliver Ines is born. Celestial Lights is his story.

Ollie spends his childhood in an English village where his bedroom is covered in glow-in-the-dark wallpaper bearing the planets and stars. Decades later, he has become one of the most renowned astronauts of his time. When an enterprising billionaire taps him to lead a landmark mission to the distant moon Europa, Ollie makes a choice that will send his whole world spinning.

As the mission advances deeper into unchartered territory, Ollie finds himself retreating into the past: his university days in London and years in the navy, relationships found and lost, becoming a husband and father. But will the world he remembers still be waiting for him when he returns?

Cecile Pin’s novel is a portrait of a complicated man whose unparalleled understanding of the universe doesn’t always translate into stellar relationships on Earth. A breathtaking tale of memory, personal choices, and the relationships that define us, Celestial Lights is an unforgettable story of fate, love, and sacrifice that questions what we owe ourselves and our loved ones when our ambitions and loyalties collide.

I was gifted Celestial Lights by Tina (Turn the Page) a few months ago. I'd not read anything by Cecile Pin, but after reading the blurb for her latest book, I was eager to give it a try. Pin is a consummate storyteller, and her writing is lyrical and informative. The narrative is interspersed with Ollie's personal flight log, which gives the reader insight into the mission to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. I started off liking Ollie, but toward the end of the novel, I had begun feeling that he was selfish and egotistical.  I read this book at the same time as the Artemis II mission, which made it fun to think about that crew's experience, albeit much shorter than Ollie's Phoenix mission, which lasted 3,650 days.

Earth is now a pale blue smudge. Morale is good so far, but I worry what'll happen when it's no longer visible. We've had no contact with Earth for almost a year now, so having it within our sights feels like our only anchor. I often catch Shane and Lucia looking out through the round windows, as if willing it to stay, to accompany us on our ten-year journey.

The novel is divided into three parts, and the final section begins almost 2,000 days after Ollie's last journal entry. Basically, the journey home to Earth is omitted from the plot, which felt somewhat abrupt. Years have passed and relationships have altered in Ollie's absence. It's hard to imagine a mission that would take ten years, especially for those left behind.

Sometimes, when I've done my tasks for the day and Talos is quiet, I try and imagine my life had I followed her path. But then, I look out of the viewing port. I see the crescent moon and the faint shimmers of Venus and Mars. I see the deepest dark that surrounds us infinitely, awash with stars and the misty hues of nebulas, their rich purples, their vibrant reds. I see the Milky Way in all its glory, untainted by city lights, and the sun rising over Earth's atmosphere. I see them all, those celestial lights, and I know that no other path would have shown them to me.

Celestial Lights is the third space story I've read in less than a year. I didn't love it as much as Project Hail Mary, but I thought it was better than Orbital. I look forward to reading more by Cecile Pin.

Culpability

 

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

Fiction

2025

Narrated by Stacy Carolan and January LaVoy

Finished on 4/5/2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Set at a summer rental on the Chesapeake Bay, a riveting family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence, from the bestselling author of the “wise and addictive” (New York Times) The Gifted School.

When the Cassidy-Shaws’ autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun. In the back seat, tweens Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work. Yet each family member harbors a secret that implicates them in the accident.

During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident—suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal. When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.

Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.

Technology, and more specifically A.I., is becoming increasingly ingrained in our daily lives. I don't know anyone who doesn't use Siri, Google, or Alexa. We have Alexa set up to turn on lights with a simple command. I ask Google questions throughout the day with my phone. I've also started using ChatGPT for random medical queries. 

Oh, and just last year we bought a new Subaru Outback. This is our second Subaru, but the two models are nothing alike. Our 2025 model has all the bells & whistles you could ever imagine: Touchscreen information display. Android Auto. EyeSight® Driver Assist Technology (rear-vision camera, pre-collision braking, automatic emergency steering, front view monitor, blind-spot detection, reverse automatic braking, high beam assist, lane departure prevention, etc.). Voice recognition to control navigation, entertainment, phone calls, and climate control. The car recognizes me when I'm in the driver's seat, knows when I depart from a lane without signaling, alerts me if I take my eyes off of the road for too long, lets me know when the car in front of me as moved, dims my high beams (I love this feature), etc., Our first Subaru didn't even have a back-up camera! I'll admit that I don't enjoy lane assist "feature" while using cruise control. My family jokes about my need to be in control (I always prefer to be the driver rather than a passenger), and this was most apparent when my car took over the steering when I tested the cruise control. I can honestly say that I will never ride in an autonomous vehicle. And yet, I can appreciate the safety advantages of driverless cars.

"Every accident in a self-driving vehicle is huge news, because it's covered as if a malevolent robot has killed a human. Meanwhile some random truck driver falls asleep at the wheel and kills a young couple, yet we never once consider taking all eighteen-wheelers off the road."

She turns and looks out over the inlet. "I want to believe in humans. I want to believe that even at the last second, an AI can and should be over-ridden by a knowing, human conscience. By a moral mind with a soul. Now I'm not so sure. There's a place for algorithms, a bigger and bigger place. But people have to be better, too. They have to not drink and drive. They have to not text behind the wheel. We shouldn't make these machines because we want them to be good for us, or good instead of us. We should make them because they can help us be better ourselves."

Culpability, Bruce Holsinger's relevant and timely novel, takes a deep dive into the moral issues of A.I., whether used in personal vehicles, chatbot friends (or therapists), or autonomous warfare systems. It's a compelling book, and I enjoyed the audio narration, which kept me entertained on my afternoon walks. Holsinger teases out information, revealing each family member's secret regarding the accident. It was easy to assign blame as I read the early chapters, but as the story progressed, what I was sure was a black and white case became muddy and gray.

 

I love it when I come across a book that I can recommend to my book group. With ethical questions about artificial intelligence, Culpability will appeal to a broad range of readers, and is sure to prompt lively discussions.

A Family Matter

 

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch

Fiction

2025

Finished on 3/25/2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A young wife following her heart. A husband with the law on his side. Their daughter, caught in the middle. Forty years later, a family secret changes everything.

1982. Dawn is a young mother, still adjusting to life with her husband, when Hazel lights up her world like a torch in the dark. Theirs is the kind of connection that’s impossible to resist, and suddenly life is more complicated, and more joyful, than Dawn ever expected. But she has responsibilities and commitments. She has a daughter.

2022. Heron has just received news from his doctor that turns everything upside down. He’s an older man, stuck in the habits of a quiet existence. Telling Maggie, his only child—the person around whom his life has revolved—seems impossible. Heron can’t tell her about his diagnosis, just as he can’t reveal all the other secrets he’s been keeping from her for so many years.

A Family Matter is an exploration of love and loss, intimacy and injustice, custody and care, and whether it is possible to heal from the wounds of the past in the changed world of today.

Last year there was a lot of buzz about A Family Matter, so I ordered a copy, eager to give it a try. As usual, I went in cold, knowing nothing about this debut work. Told in alternating timelines, and with a relatively short list of characters, Claire Lynch's spare novel was easy to get into. If one allowed, it could easily be read in one sitting.

I felt sympathetic toward Heron (nicknamed by his brother who couldn't pronounce Henry as a child), Dawn, and Maggie. Each carries the pain of the past. Dawn, at the young age of twenty-three comes to the realization that she has fallen in love with someone other than her husband. Heron, Dawn's husband, seeks legal advice for a divorce and chooses to fight for full custody of his daughter. Maggie, Dawn and Heron's three-year-old daughter, is never told why her mother had to leave her until forty years later when she herself is married and a mother of two. Such a sad tale. 

When my husband and I were living in San Diego, we got to know a woman with whom I worked with at a biotech company. She introduced us to her "roommate" and over the months, as we became closer friends, they finally came out to us. We weren't shocked, and of course it really didn't matter to us, we were just sad that it took so long for them to trust us. What upset me even more was that they had to hide their relationship, and live many miles from where one of them worked as an elementary school teacher, fearful that a student or student's parent would see them in public, perhaps holding hands or displaying some sort of physical affection. While neither of them had been married, or had children, the risk of losing a teaching job was certainly a possibility. This was 1990. Twenty-five years before same-sex marriage was legalized nationally.

From the author's note:

In the 1980s in the United Kingdom, around 90 percent of lesbian mothers involved in divorce cases like Dawn and Heron's lost legal custody of their children. Exact numbers are almost impossible to trace since most, knowing the outcome, chose not to go to court. 

While homophobia still exists, we have seen improvements in society over the past forty years. Celebrities, sports figures, and politicians are no longer forced to hide their personal lives from public view. We've since lost touch with our teacher friend in San Diego, but I hope if she's still teaching, she's doing it openly as a gay woman.  

I enjoyed this quiet story, but would have been just as happy to borrow the book from the library rather than use my Christmas gift card toward its purchase. It's not one that I'll read again, but I am happy I read it. It gave me a lot to think about, and would make a good choice for a book club discussion. Readers of Claire Keegan's novels (Small Things Like These and Foster) will enjoy Lynch's thought-provoking debut. 

Update: I've been thinking a lot about this novel since drafting this blog post, and I've decided it's one that I want to keep to re-read in the future. In a word, powerful.

Before I Forget

 

Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen

Fiction

2025

Finished on 3/22/2026

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A funny, heartfelt, late coming-of-age story that examines the role of memory in holding us back—and in moving us forward

Call it inertia. Call it a quarter-life crisis. Whatever you call it, Cricket Campbell is stuck. Despite working at a zeitgeist-y wellness company, the twenty-six-year-old feels anything but well. Still adrift after a tragedy that upended her world a decade ago, she has entered early adulthood under the weight of a new burden: her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

When Cricket’s older sister Nina announces it is time to move Arthur from his beloved Adirondack lake house into a memory-care facility, Cricket has a better idea. In returning home to become her father’s caretaker, she hopes to repair their strained relationship and shake herself out of her perma-funk. But even deeply familiar places can hold surprises.

As Cricket settles back into the family house at Catwood Pond―a place she once loved, but hasn’t visited since she was a teenager―she discovers that her father possesses a rare gift: as he loses his grasp of the past, he is increasingly able to predict the future. Before long, Arthur cements his reputation as an unlikely oracle, but for Cricket, believing in her father’s prophecies might also mean facing the most painful parts of her history. As she begins to remember who she once was, she uncovers a vital truth: the path forward often starts by going back.

I spotted a copy of Before I Forget on the new release shelf at my library and decided to give it a try. Other than the Alzheimer's premise, I went into the novel cold. Had I read the blurb, I might have thought twice about borrowing the book.

Before I Forget is no Still Alice. Hoen's novel deals with young love and loss, finding oneself, caregiving of an aging parent, and a new romance. Alzheimer's is a backdrop to Cricket's story, rather than being placed front and center. The specifics of her duties as her father's caregiver are simplistic: fixing a glass of lemonade; walking down to the lake with her father; driving him to restaurants or grocery shopping. The only indication of his dementia is his inability to recognize his daughters, and toward the end, climbing into a stranger's car. 

Before I Forget lacks the depth and nuance of Lisa Genova's brilliant novel about early-onset Alzheimer's. Genova's book informs her readers, evoking compassion and understanding of what it means to be afflicted with the disease, as well as how it affects family and loved ones. Hoen's novel, while dealing with the loss of a high school sweetheart, and a twenty-something-year-old floundering to find herself, is a lighter take on the family demands of Alzheimer's. Arthur's disease provides a backdrop to Cricket's return to the family home in the Adirondacks, which gives her a sense of purpose. 

Hoen's characterization and setting save the book from feeling trite and overtly simplistic. I had no trouble envisioning the cabin set nestled in the trees, overlooking the lake, the loons calling to one another at dusk. However, not one to believe in divination, I felt the subplot of Arthur's new found ability to predict the future, casting him in the role of a local oracle, more than ridiculous.

When I began reading this novel, I was hoping for a more meaningful, literary work, but despite its flaws, I was entertained enough to finish the book.

Heartwood

 

Heartwood by Amity Gaige

Fiction

2025

Narrated by Justine Lupe, Alma Cuervo, Rebecca Lowman, Cary Hite, Helen Laser, Ali Andre Ali

Finished on 3/15/2026

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Heartwood takes you on a journey as a search and rescue team race against time when an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.

In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.

At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental.

Meh. The writing is quite good with some lovely passages, but I wish I had read Heartwood rather than going with the audio. There are several narrators, some better than others. One had the habit of dropping the volume of her voice toward the end of a sentence, which should have been caught and corrected in production. The plot isn't very suspenseful, the pacing uneven, and I didn't care much for any of the characters. The ending felt rushed with a few loose ends. All in all, a mediocre read. 

Edited: I've decided to bump up my rating up to a 3/5.

Theo of Golden

 

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Fiction

2023

Narrated by David Morse

Finished on 3/3/2026

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…

His name is Theo. And he asks a lot more questions than he answers.

Theo visits the local coffeehouse, where ninety-two pencil portraits hang on the walls, portraits of the people of Golden done by a local artist. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and putting them back in the hands of their “rightful owners.” With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born, and a life altered.

A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another.

I was really excited about reading this debut novel after seeing so many glowing reviews, so I purchased a copy, something I rarely do unless I'm certain it's one I'm going to love. I read several chapters, but wasn't impressed. I decided to try the audiobook with hopes that it wouldn't be as slow as the print edition. I increased the listening speed, and eventually got interested in the story. I wish I could say that I loved Allen Levi's book, but it just wasn't for me. I liked the novel well enough to finish, but it's not one that I can recommend. Theo of Golden is an uplifting and inspirational story (with an underlying Christian message), which will appeal to fans of Mitch Albom and Nicholas Sparks. For me, the pacing was too slow, and overall the book was a touch too saccharine and sentimental.

Pete and Alice in Maine

 

Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly

Fiction

2023

Finished on January 23, 2026

Rating: 4.5/5 (Excellent)

Publisher's Blurb:

Reeling from a painful betrayal in her marriage as the COVID-19 pandemic takes hold in New York City, Alice packs up her family and flees to their vacation home in Maine. She hopes to find sanctuary--from the uncertainties of the exploding pandemic and her faltering marriage.

Putting distance between herself and the stresses and troubles of the city, Alice begins to feel safe and relieved. But the locals are far from friendly. Trapped and forced into quarantine by hostile neighbors, Alice sees the imprisoning structure of her life in this new predicament. Stripped down to the bare essentials of survival and tending to the needs of her two children, she can no longer ignore all the ways in which she feels limited and lost--lost in the big city, lost as a wife, lost as a mother, lost as a daughter, and lost as a person. 

As the world shifts around her and the balance in her marriage tilts, Alice and her husband, Pete, are left to consider whether what keeps their family safe is the same thing as what keeps their family together.

Had I stumbled upon this novel in a bookstore, I would have bought it simply for the beautiful cover art. But I had been seeking out a copy at every independent bookstore we visited last year, finally finding a copy at Winter River Books in Bandon, Oregon. After reading a friend's glowing review of Shetterly's debut novel, I was eager to read it, and now I'm happy to own a copy since it will be one to read again.

I love a novel that pulls me in from the opening lines, keeping me reading late at night, inhaling it in two short days. I also don't mind reading about Covid and the lockdown, which in some ways reminds me that we can do hard things. I've read a few novels that are centered around the pandemic (Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult, Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, and most recently Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout), and Shetterly's didn't disappoint. Her writing is reminiscent of Catherine Newman's (We All Want Impossible Things, Sandwich, and Wreck), and the minute I finished this book, I searched the Internet to see if she had more to offer. I was happy to see that she has a follow-up, The Gulf of Lions, which is due out in May. 

My only quibble about the novel has to do more with the characters than the writing. The eldest daughter's attitude and mouthy attacks on her little sister and her mother made me want to shake her. Alice's husband is no prince, either. And yet I loved this compelling book about marriage and parenthood, warts and all.

I thought this was a lovely passage:

Anyway, the peonies, yes. There's that Jane Kenyon poem where she calls them "outrageous flowers." This year, seeing them in bloom in Maine for the first time, my first June here, and taking the time to really watch them go from those tight little balls to these luxurious Victorian pom-poms, I have seen what she meant. And then, as if they know how overly--no, outrageously--blessed they are with good fortune, rather than hold their heads high with pride, they droop like little supplicants, heads down, apologizing. 

Highly recommend!

You Are Here

 

You Are Here by David Nicholls

Fiction

2024

Narrated by Lee Ingleby and Lydia Leonard

Finished on January 23, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Sometimes you need to get lost to find your way . . .

Michael is coming undone. Adrift after his wife's departure, he has begun taking himself on long, solitary walks across the English countryside. Becoming ever more reclusive, he’ll do anything to avoid his empty house.

Marnie, on the other hand, is stuck. Hiding alone in her London flat, she avoids old friends and any reminders of her rotten, selfish ex-husband. Curled up with a good book, she’s battling the long afternoons of a life that feels like it’s passing her by.

When a persistent mutual friend and some very unpredictable weather conspire to toss Michael and Marnie together on the most epic of ten-day hikes, neither of them can think of anything worse. Until, of course, they discover exactly what they’ve been looking for.

Michael and Marnie are on the precipice of a bright future . . . if they can survive the journey.

I love a good romantic comedy. I can't tell you how many times I've watched You've Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, or French Kiss, but when it comes to reading this genre, I'm hard pressed to think of any favorites. The Wedding People is one that I enjoyed a couple of years ago, but I lean more toward literary fiction (or mysteries and thrillers). You Are Here came along at just the right time. I've not read David Nicholls' previous novels, but after seeing a few glowing reviews for his most recent release, I decided to give it a try on audio. I'm glad I chose that format, especially since most of my listening time was during my afternoon walks. I felt as if I was walking along side Marnie and Michael, eavesdropping on their conversations and bantering. Lydia Leonard's narration for Marnie is fantastic, reminding me of Emma Thompson's dry sense of humor.

The bar was suddenly busy with what’s called ‘an older crowd’, hunched male backs in olive green, and she felt absurdly overdressed in her small black dress, Audrey Hepburn addressing the National Farmers Union.

On Copy-editing:

“Proofreading is “You misspelled ‘instantaneously’," copy-editing is “Why not say ‘instantly’?”

and

A common mistake in manuscripts was confusion over the words ‘envy’ and ‘jealousy’, the first meaning to want what someone else has, the second including the fear that someone might take what’s yours.

On Reading: 

Books saw her through the pupal stage of thirteen to sixteen, frowning at Kafka and Woolf, then tearing through John Irving and Maeve Binchy, widely read in the proper sense, making no distinction between Jilly Cooper and Edith Wharton. There were stories on film and TV and, a little later, in the rolling melodrama of the internet, but those were team activities, noisy and social. Private, intimate, a book was something she could pull around and over herself, like a quilt.

If you're seeking a quiet, gentle read that makes you laugh out loud, give You Are Here a try. In these difficult days, it was a balm to my soul. I'd love to go walking in the English countryside right about now. Who wants to join me? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Discovered in 2025

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is technically Bookish Discoveries, but other readers have chosen to write about their new favorite authors discovered in 2025. I hope to use this post as a reminder to seek out more books by these authors.

The Story of a Heart

 

The Story of a Heart by Dr. Rachel Clarke

Nonfiction

2024

Finished on January 20, 2026

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A riveting and inspiring true story of two families linked by one heart—written by a bestselling author and palliative care doctor. 

The first of our organs to form and the last to die, the heart is both a simple pump and the symbol of what makes us human; as long as it continues to beat, there is hope. In The Story of a Heart, Dr. Rachel Clarke interweaves the history of medical innovations behind transplant surgery with the story of two children—one of whom desperately needs a new heart.

One summer day, nine-year-old Keira Ball was in a terrible car accident and suffered catastrophic brain injuries. As the rest of her body began to shut down, her heart continued to beat. In an act of extraordinary generosity, Keira’s parents and siblings immediately agreed that she would have wanted to be an organ donor.

Meanwhile nine-year-old Max Johnson had been in a hospital for nearly a year, valiantly fighting the virus that was causing his young heart to fail. When Max’s parents received the call they had been hoping for, they knew it came at a terrible cost to another family—in what Clarke calls “the brutal arithmetic of transplant surgery.”

The act of Keira’s heart resuming its rhythm inside Max’s body was a medical miracle. But this was only part of the story. While waiting on the transplant list, Max had become the hopeful face of a campaign to change the UK’s laws around organ donation. Following his successful surgery, Keira’s mother saw the little boy beaming on the front page of the newspaper and knew it was the same boy whose parents had recently sent her an anonymous letter overflowing with gratitude for her daughter’s heart. The two mothers began to exchange messages and eventually decided to meet. This is the unforgettable story of how one family’s grief transformed into a lifesaving gift. Clarke relates the urgent journey of Keira’s heart and explores the history of the remarkable surgery that made it possible, stretching back over a century and involving the knowledge and dedication not just of surgeons but of countless nurses and technicians, immunologists and paramedics. The Story of a Heart is a testament to compassion for the dying, the many ways we honor our loved ones, and the tenacity of love.

Last year a couple of my friends read The Story of a Heart, giving it such high praise that last week I decided to borrow a copy from the library. I find that if I don't already own a book, it's too easy to forget about those that are on my friends' year-end favorites' lists. Unless it's a auto-buy author, I try not to buy every book that lands on my radar.

The Story of a Heart is a short book (220 pages, excluding the notes), but it wasn't one I could zip through quickly. The author doesn't simply tell the story of the two families and how their lives intersect, but provides extensive background on the history of new technologies in medicine. Ventilators, skin grafts, artificial heart-lung machines, LVADs (a titanium and gold HeartWare left ventricular assist device), are just a few that Dr. Clarke incorporates in her book. While not dry or too technical, these clinical details pulled me out of the story at hand, ultimately holding me back from what could have been a real tear-jerker. My heart went out to both families, reminding me of the importance of organ donation.

"In the back of my mind, I know nothing I say can make their day any worse because they've already lost their loved one. This is the worst day of their life. But if I can give them a slight bit of hope and comfort by offering organ donation as part of end-of-life care, then that's what I need to do. It's not a taboo topic. It's a normal part of critical care. If someone meets the criteria to be an organ donor and we're not offering it to them, then I'm not doing my patient justice, I'm not being their advocate. The foundation of who I am as a nurse is trying to support the family however I can. Organ donation can help a family feel as though something good has come out of an awful situation, so it can be incredibly positive." (Sarah Crosby, specialist nurse)