#39 [2026/CBR18] Bombshells by Sarina Bowen

I went through a phase some years ago where I read a lot of books by Sarina Bowen because I found them fun and entertaining. Recently, I was looking for good road trip books, and I looked her up again. I realized that I had missed a couple, and decided now was the time to do some catch up. I'm not sure if I intentionally skipped over Bombshells (2021) or I somehow missed it, but I was happy to find another Bowen book that I had not read.

Sylvie is from Canada. She is still grieving the recent death of her mother. She has a crush on one of the Brooklyn Bruiser stars who lived at her home when she was a teenager. And she has just joined the Brooklyn Women's Hockey team, the Bombshells. With almost no warning, Sylvie takes what she can and moves in with some fellow Bombshells players. The player she's had a crush on most of her life keeps her at arms length, but she meets another Bruisers player, Anton.

Anton is immediately transfixed by Sylvie, and they begin spending time together. They both teach a swim class to local youths, and they jog together. Their attraction is immediate and undeniable, and soon enough they give in to it. Sylvie is confused at first, but she's been slowly giving up on her crush for quite a while now, and Anton is irresistible. Anton was having a more difficult time because he felt like he was betraying his teammate.

So the two keep their trysts secret for a while until it becomes impossible. However, it all works out in the end.

There's not too much drama in this book. Sylvie does have to improve her performance on the ice, and the two share some fun times together. Anton is known as a playboy and he has to stop being scared of commitment before they stop keeping secrets. But for the most part, Sylvie and Anton are on the same page.

I have always enjoyed reading Bowen's novels, and this one was no different. I never get bored while I'm reading. However, I wasn't very interested in the dead mother leaving impenetrable "signs" via hairpin for Sylvie. I found it both annoying that Syvie's mother was controlling her daughter from the grave--and unbelievable. I also realize that Bowen needed a couple of obstacles to throw at Sylvie and Anton, but Sylvie's crush seemed a little bit of a stretch. It was a tricky balance to have Sylvie be hung up on someone else, but also hooking up with her happily ever after.

On the whole, though, I enjoyed this book.

#38 [2026/CBR18] Bound by Ali Hazelwood

I'm a sucker for all Ali Hazelwood books, so when I saw that she had a new novel out, I picked up the Audiobook without even thinking. Bound (2025) is apparently only available on Audiobook until October of this year, when it will be released in print with its partner book, Unbound. I'm assuming that Unbound is a continuation of Bound, but I'm not really sure.

Veronica "Vero" is a grad student who grew up with her con artist parents. She mostly did not follow in her parents' footsteps, but when she needed money, she began forging some old books and manuscripts for her boss. This brought her to the attention of Dr. Viktor Ashworth, a professor at her school. He kidnaps her and then offers her a million dollars to help him out with his own forgery. Vero agrees.

For months, Vero is driven to Viktor's museum/palace-like residence to work on the manuscript. After a couple of unusual incidents, she figures out that Viktor and his friends aren't quite human. It turns out that Viktor is hundreds of years old and is a Revenant (vampire). He can handle the sun with sunglasses, but that's because he's old and powerful. As the two work together, they begin to like each other more and more.

Viktor wanted Vero to fake a very old document that Viktor had written himself and contained the instructions for turning people into Revenants. He wanted her to change some of the instructions because there was a rogue Revenant killing people left and right, and he did not want him to have the knowledge to turn people.

One day, Vero is attacked as she is leaving Viktor's residence. Viktor saves her, and the two become a real couple. The finale takes place in Boston when the document is finished, and the Revenants lay a trap to find the bad guy. It doesn't quite work out the way they hoped, and Vero runs over there to try to help a friend that gets caught up in the mess. Vero is badly injured. When she wakes up, Viktor has turned her into a Revenant, and the book is over.

This is my least favorite Hazelwood book so far. I'm not that into paranormal stories anyway, but this did nothing for me. The romance was incredibly slow, the love interest's voice was very stodgy. In addition, the whole purpose of the forgery and the bad guy was undeveloped, with everything wrapping up very quickly in the end. 

I also couldn't help but compare it to complaints I've heard about Twilight. Viktor is centuries old and a professor, but interested in a young, graduate student. Before she is aware, he sneaks into her apartment and drinks her blood, so he can read her thoughts and keep track of her better. She told him in conversations that she did not want to be immortal, but he thought he felt something different from her in her thoughts. He also didn't want to lose her, so he turns her without any discussion. She is happy about this, so it's not a problem in the book, but I found it all more creepy than sexy.

Not for me. Unbound might be better, but it also might be the first Hazelwood book that I skip.

#37 [2026/CBR18] Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burk

I can't remember where I first heard of Yesteryear (2026) by Caro Claire Burk, but I was immediately intrigued by the premise. A successful Youtuber "trad wife" suddenly finds herself back in the year 1855 as an OG "trad" wife. I knew nothing else about the novel, but I was hoping for some clever satire.

The book begins with our protagonist, Natalie Heller Mills doing an interview. She lives in a gorgeous farmstead with her husband and five (?) children--with one on the way. Their lives are picture perfect and enviable--at least the lives that are projected out on social media. Natalie makes bread from scratch and homeschools her children while her husband takes care of the farm. They live a beautiful, romantic life. 

But like almost everything on social media, appearances can be deceiving. Natalie has two nannies who do most of the childcare and all of the schooling. They started with money from her husband's father, and they have an army of immigrant labor to help with the farm. In addition, Natalie and her husband are really a couple in name only. They act for the cameras, but there is nothing to envy there.

One morning, Natalie wakes up and its freezing cold. She's in her house, but it doesn't feel like her house anymore. There is no electricity, refrigerator, or heat. All of her creature comforts are gone. Her children look like her children, but not quite. And her husband seems like her husband, but he looks like an old, bearded man. 

The book alternates chapters between Natalie back in 1855, and how Natalie grew up and came to be the wildly popular social media influencer that she was. I found the chapters about Natalie's past more interesting to read. I felt myself feeling sorry for her as well as being shocked at some of her actions towards her roommate, employees, and family. But all of these chapters really clarified Natalie as a character.

I was expecting a quick satire about some of these women I've seen on Instagram who loudly deride feminism while ignorantly using the power feminists of earlier generations fought for. However, this book was much more complex than I was expecting. The characters and relationships were intricate and there was more going on than a simple satire. Instead, the overwhelming feeling I got from this book was that no matter what direction you try to go, being a woman can suck. Natalie tried to do what she had been taught was right, and she found herself trapped and miserable. Natalie's sister was trapped and miserable in a different way. Even Natalie's progressive roommate was trapped in a miserable job that took over her life and men that treated her badly.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending of this book, but overall I'm impressed with it. It was original, intricate, timely, and thoughtful. 

#36 [2026/CBR18] America the Beautiful? by Blythe Roberson

My husband recommended America the Beautiful?: One Woman in a Borrowed Prius on the Road Most Traveled (2023) by Blythe Roberson. I have a bit of a contest going with my oldest brother to see who can get to more U.S. national parks (I'm winning), and this book seemed on point. Roberson was taking an epic summer road trip to visit every U.S. National Park in the lower 48 that she hadn't yet been to. I chose at the time not to read it, but this summer we were driving back from Glacier National Park and needed some entertainment. We started the Audiobook.

It's hard for me to explain why I originally passed on this book. I have a hard time reading or watching people do things that I've done. This is especially true for Youtube videos of people going to places I've been, especially if it was a meaningful trip. There's a little bit of FOMO that I might have missed out on something cool, but there's also the frustration that comes if I feel they didn't do it "right". I understand that it's not rational, but it might help explain my reaction to this book.

Roberson is a millennial from New York City who grew up camping and obtaining junior ranger badges at various national parks. Now she's decided to take a break from her desk job and go earn junior ranger badges from all the lower 48 National Parks she hasn't been to yet. She picks up her step-father's car and begins at Isle Royale National Park, an island in Lake Superior. She continues around the country, with stops to visit friends along the way.

I thought Roberson could often be funny and entertaining. I enjoyed hearing about her experiences in the parks. I have also camped out of my car, so I could definitely relate. I have gone on a number of road trips to see a couple of national parks at at time, but mine are always limited to a week or two. I think two months would be exhausting. I have also never paid much attention to the junior ranger badges, but it seems like it could be a--sometimes--interesting way to learn more about the parks.

However, I did get a little bored/frustrated with this book. First, I wish there had been more content on the actual national parks. Roberson tended to have very little time, so she would drive in, do a hike, and then leave in a couple of hours. Glacier--the park my husband and I had just left--had maybe a sentence. Others had more, but this book was not really about the parks. In addition, the narrator for the Audiobook mispronounced two of the parks' names: Isle Royale and Guadalupe.

Second, even though I agree with all of Roberson's liberal, feminist tangents, I don't think they all fit well into the book. It felt like she was trying to hit every liberal talking point as filler. Some of these certainly related to the parks, like the fact the land was originally Native American and how Climate Change is affecting these unique and beautiful spaces. However, it all felt like something I'd read before, and her arguments felt a little superficial. 

In the beginning of the book Roberson talks about how few women write travel memoirs or go on adventures like hers. She says that men have much more freedom than women to adventure (often true when kids are involved, but it depends on the couple). She said that fathers can disappear for two months and no one thinks anything of it. I disagree. Again, it depends on the family, but my little brother could not and would not abandon his wife and kids for two months to go on an adventure. I think men traveling solo more than women was more true thirty to forty years ago. I travel by myself all the time, and I see plenty of women traveling solo. There are also tons of Youtube accounts of solo women sharing their journeys. It's not as remarkable anymore.

Although there were some entertaining parts, this book did not really resonate with me.

#35 [2026/CBR18] Patchwork by Kate Evans

I try to read a graphic novel every once in awhile to expand my literary tastes. This year, I saw Patchwork (2025) by Kate Evans on NPR's Books We Love List and knew that I needed to read it. I love Jane Austen, and Pride and Prejudice has been my favorite book since I first read it back in college. I've heard little tidbits about Austen's life here and there, but I really don't know much about her. I figured this book would be perfect for me.

Jane Austen and her sister sewed a patchwork quilt for their mother, which is the inspiration for the title. I thought Patchwork was very well done. The drawings are beautiful--especially the full-page drawings. They really allowed me to dive into Austen's world and imagine what her life was like. In fact, I learned a lot about Austen, including her early years, her family, her connections, and how her writing was originally received. I had heard that Austen and her sister were close--much like Jane and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, but I saw how important they were to each other while reading this book.

Evans often uses text from Austen's books in order to show what happened in Jane Austen's life back in the day. This is a fascinating technique because I could imagine Austen using her own life as inspiration for her novels. I am not as familiar with all of Austen's work as some, so I imagine the people that really know Austen's work would get even more out of this technique. Of course, we don't know what was actually said or thought back then, and apparently Jane Austen's sister, Cassandra, may have burnt the more interesting letters she exchanged with Jane.

In addition, Evans weaves in context of the time period. In one section of the book, Evans describes where all of the different layers of the quilt came from, including cotton from American slavery, linen from the Irish, and other textiles from the East India Company. The context was insightful, helpful, and well done.

The only frustrating thing about this book is that I occasionally found it a little hard to follow. I came in knowing so little about Austen that I sometimes wanted a little more context about her life and how we know what we know about her. In fact, this book has piqued my curiosity so strongly that I am now interested in reading a traditional biography of Austen in order to learn more.

This was a relatively quick read with beautiful pictures. There are also extensive notes in the back. I read a good portion of them, but it was a bit of a slog and I ran out of time to finish all of them. However, I would recommend this book to any Jane Austen fan.

#34 [2026/CBR18] Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

I saw Raising Hare (2025) on so many different lists at the end of the year, but I was a little resistant. All I knew was that a woman raised a baby hare and wrote a book about it. I love animals, so you'd think I'd jump at a chance to read more about them. However, I'm not a big fan of turning wild animals into pets, and I feared that Raising Hare would be some kind of Disney-fied rendition of nature.

Fortunately, I was wrong. I listened to Raising Hare as an Audiobook, and I loved it. As soon as I finished, my inclination was to immediately get the hardcover, so I could read it again myself. (I haven't done that yet, but I think it's only a matter of time).

In February 2021, Chloe Dalton has returned to her country home in the English countryside while everything is shut down by Covid. Her home is a converted barn that sits in the middle of a field and family members live close by. One day she stumbles on a newborn hare lying flat in the middle of the lane. She hopes that its mother will come for it and leaves it be. But when she walks by again, many hours later, the hare is in the same place. Worried that it will get run over or that dogs will get it, Dalton picks up the hare and brings it home.

I learned a lot about hares in this book--primarily, that hares are different from rabbits. Rabbits burrow underground and are born furless and with their eyes closed. Hares do not burrow, but have their babies above ground. Hares are born with fur and with their eyes open. They are able to move very shortly after birth but rely on hiding until they are a little older and faster. When hares are a year or younger, they are called leverets.

Dalton quickly learned that it is very difficult to keep a leveret alive in captivity. It is rarely, if ever, done and there is very little information about it. But she was informed that it was too late to bring the leveret back, now that it had her smell on it. After trying to pawn the leveret off on her sister, Dalton focused on keeping the little thing alive. 

Dalton fed the leveret three times a day, but otherwise handled it only when necessary. She pulled some grasses from the field near where she found the leveret and set up a little home in a shoebox. Critically, Dalton made a hole in the shoe box, so the leveret was not trapped. In fact, the one time Dalton followed "hare-raising" advice from the internet and put the leveret in a cage, was the one time that the leveret did not do well and seemed close to dying. It seems that the stress of captivity is not good for them.

I loved Dalton's approach to keeping the leveret. She used a mix of common sense and a respect for its autonomy as an independent creature. She did not think of it as her pet. She tried not to interfere or control it, and she was always opening up doors in her house so that it had free rein. Dalton wanted the leveret to grow up and live a normal life outside.

It was clear the leveret felt safe with Dalton and the two had a relationship. But this book isn't just about the leveret, but also about how much the leveret changed Dalton. She became so much more aware of the other animals in the fields and the dangers they faced. She started doing research on a large number of new topics as the natural world became more important to her. She learned a number of small things she could do around her house to improve wildlife habitat. The leveret even changed her perspective on success and what she wanted out of life. This small animal that is often overlooked or dismissed as a pest became so interesting and so important as soon as Dalton took the time to observe it with its best interests at heart.

It was inevitable that the leveret raised by Dalton would eventually take off into the fields. Sometimes it would come back in the morning, and sometimes she wouldn't see it for weeks. But one day, Dalton found the young hare's new babies in her garden. And so, she got to learn even more about hares as she watched the hare that she had raised, raise others. 

I loved this book. It seemed like both a small, personal story, and also a meaningful glimpse into a larger world. I'm still thinking about this book many days later. I'm not sure if everyone will find this book as emotional and as powerful as me, but I would highly recommend it.

#33 [2026/CBR18] A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar

I was seeing A Guardian and a Thief (2025) by Megha Majumdar all over the place at the end of last year. It was on every best-of list that I could find. It's a finalist for the National Book Award, and has many other accolades. I thought this book was very memorable and well written, but also difficult to read because of the subject matter. It feels a little too real and a little too on point, and it is horrifying to be an intimate viewer to its tragedy. If you haven't read this book, but are interested, I would recommend skipping my review and reading the novel with as little foreknowledge as possible.

Ma, her aging father, and her 2-year-old daughter, Mishti live in Kolkata in the near future. Climate change has wreaked havoc on the city. There is very little food, it is dangerously hot, and the pollution is suffocating. They are lucky to live in a nice house with air conditioning and have a small stock of food. The book begins with the small family making their way to the American Embassy to receive their passports and visas. They are traveling to the United States in one week in order to join Ma's husband and Mishti's father, Babu. Ma is desperate to get out before things get even worse. They were able to obtain the visas because Babu is a climate scientist. He is now waiting for the arrival of his family in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

However, the night they receive the passports, Boomba, a young man from outside of the city comes into their home and steals almost all of their food, Ma's purse with the passports, and even Mishti's small toy truck. The family wakes in the morning and realizes their lives have turned from a short-lived struggle to one of desperation and possible despair. The police do not help them. The embassy also has no sympathy for them, and will likely not be around much longer anyways. Both Ma and her father will do anything to protect young Mishti as they figure out what to do.

As I read this book, it was interesting to focus on how I felt about the characters. Beginning the book with Ma, her father, and Mishti naturally had me rooting for them. Who doesn't want an adorable little toddler reunited with her father and living in relatively safer conditions. I hated that Boomba ignorantly stole the precious documents they needed for safe passage--not even recognizing what they were for. Sure, Ma took a little food from the shelter she worked for, but who doesn't want to feed their kids.

But then I learned more about Boomba. He had a family in much worse straits with no promise of the relief of moving to the United States. He came to the city out of a desperation to bring his family to a better place, but he had so few options. When everything was stolen from him, he was left with nothing. And then he saw Ma steal some eggs at the shelter he was staying at and decided to steal them back from her. 

In the end, this story has no heroes and no villains. Ma is a caring person who ran the shelter with compassion; she sacrifices so much for her daughter and family; but she can also steal from that shelter for the security of her family. Boomba is a loving, hardworking brother and son who is willing to work hard to bring them to a better life. But when that is not an option, he will steal, lie, and threaten violence for them. Even Ma's father, an artist at heart with an abiding love for the city of his birth, will do anything it takes to provide for his granddaughter. 

This book was a stressful read because it was obvious that there would be no happy endings with such desperation. But it was also memorable and felt like a pointed reminder of where our world might end up (or has ended up in some places) with climate change and drastic inequalities of wealth.

#32 [2026/CBR18] Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About by Isabel Klee

I stumbled on Isabel Klee on one of my Instagram-reeling marathons (@Simonsits). She seemed like a nice, young woman who fosters dogs and documents their stories on Instagram. She lives in Brooklyn, which I recognized from my visits to my brother and enjoyed seeing again. I've liked her Instagram stories for awhile now. The publicity she brings to her rescue dogs and the rescue organizations she works with bring in a fair bit of money and many potential adopters. Every time she works with partners to advertise things on Instagram, she donates some of that money.

So, when I saw Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About (2026) by Klee, I figured it might be fun to read. I'd heard that she had worked for The Dogist (another NYC-based, social media, dog person), and I was curious about the details. I was also curious how she came to have her dog, Simon, and how he changed her life. In addition, I'd seen Isabel's fiancé on Instagram, and I was curious about their story. I used Audible to listen to the Audiobook, which is read by Klee.

Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed in this book because it wasn't what I was expecting. I wanted to like this book because I liked Klee from Instagram, but there wasn't enough detail for me. If I'm going to read a memoir, then I want to really understand what makes them tick and how they became who they are. Although I superficially learned about some of Klee's previous relationships, I didn't really get a sense of who she was. Many of the dogs that she discusses in her book, I'd seen on Instagram, so she'd taken care of them relatively recently. But she has them interspersed throughout the book with mini lessons of what we can learn from them. I found I enjoyed seeing their stories in person more than reading about them.

Klee writes that she dropped out of college and moved to New York City, something she's always wanted since growing up in New Jersey. She lives in a number of not great apartments with various roommates and dates men who are not great for her--at least two of them cheated on her. I was interested to hear how she adopted Simon, and when she found out that he had a seizure disorder. It was also interesting to see what she thought about her now-fiancé when she first met him. 

It's hard for me to describe what put me off this book. First, I do wish I could have understood her trajectory better. Although she mentions working for Elias for many years (the dogist), there was very little detail about what she did for him besides a couple short stories here and there. I had assumed that it was her work with Elias that led her to developing her own social media platforms, but she never talks about it. Second, I wish Klee had been more specific when discussing her relationships. She would mention an ex-boyfriend and that they had problems, but there were never enough details for me to really see what was happening. Even when she has problems with her current fiancé, she says that she pushed him away because he wasn't crazy about her, then she went to therapy and it was better. It is certainly her right to only divulge what she is comfortable divulging, but I found it frustrating and difficult to relate to. Instead, she used generic descriptions about love and friendship and lessons learned that were hard to hear from someone younger than me without the details to back it up.

I enjoy Klee's content, and I wanted to enjoy this book, but it just wasn't for me.

#31 [2026/CBR18] Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood

By this point, I will read any book by Ali Hazelwood, and I'm usually not disappointed. However, she's so prolific that her books often sneak up on me. As soon as I became aware of its existence, I put Two Can Play (2026) on hold at the library and just recently finished it.

Two Can Play feels very much like a Hazelwood romance novel, but it is also shorter than many of her novels--about 200 pages. The story is about two video game developers who work for rival companies. Viola is excited because her favorite book series is going to be adapted into a video game, and she desperately wants to work on it. The problem is that the developer wants both the company Viola works for as well as the warring video game company to work together.

There are a lot of personal conflicts between these two companies, but the only problem Viola has is with Jesse Andrews. Back when she was first applying for jobs, she interviewed with Jesse and his boss. At the time, Jesse worked for yet another company. Jesse's then-boss was inappropriate and sexist, and Viola walked out of the interview. Jesse was embarrassed by his boss's actions and caught up to Viola. He apologized for his boss and recommended another company that he thought would be a good fit for her.

It ended up being good advice because Viola is currently working at the company Jesse had recommended. The problem was that she often ran into him at various industry events and conventions, and he was always aloof and indifferent. She didn't understand why he disliked her, but it was unfortunate because for a short time, she'd had a little crush on him. The final straw was at a recent, Christmas wedding (his best friend and her cousin, or something, were getting married, so they were both there). He looked horrified and publicly refused to kiss her when they found themselves under the mistletoe. He abandoned her, stalking away without even a kiss on the cheek. This humiliated Viola and whatever was left of her crush officially died.

In order to facilitate the better relations between the two companies, the developer set up a ski retreat at a lodge in the mountains. This would be the test to see if the companies can work together and do the job. Suddenly, there is a lot of forced proximity between Viola and Jesse. Jesse continues to be perfectly polite and distant with her until he loses a drinking game and Viola helps him back to his room. It comes out that he liked her, but due to a misunderstanding when they first met, he thought Viola wanted nothing to do with him. 

It doesn't take much after that for the two to get closer and closer, with all of the action taking place during the retreat. 

Hazelwood does her normal thing where the couple is absolutely perfect for each other. Although it might not be realistic, it is satisfying to read. The misunderstanding felt a little unrealistic--especially that it lasted so long, but I was willing to buy it. I did appreciate that Hazelwood didn't throw a last-minute wrench into their relationship, but just let them get together without extra drama. 

Final summation: I liked Viola and Jesse and I was happy to see them together. I enjoyed this one.

#30 [2026/CBR18] To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage

I was a little surprised to find that this is the second book about a lesbian astronaut that I've read in the past six months. Back in December, I read Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and I loved it. I can't remember where I first saw To the Moon and Back (2025) by Eliana Ramage, but at some point I put it on hold at my library. 

I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I began this book, but I liked it. Steph Harper is a teenager living in Tahlequah, Oklahoma--the Capital of the Cherokee Nation, with her mother and younger sister, Kayla. Steph is obsessed with everything space and her one goal in life is to become an astronaut. Steph is not interested in her Cherokee roots and wants more than anything to get to a fancy boarding school in order to begin her long road to space.

Steph's sister, Kayla, has fully embraced her Cherokee roots and is much more involved in the community. Steph's mother, Hannah, views Tahlequah as a safe place for her and her daughters to grow up and stay. Neither one understands Steph's obsession, but her mother dutifully creates a Cherokee culture and space camp, when she can't afford to send Steph to the real Space Camp.

As she gets older, Steph begins to explore her sexuality--primarily in college when she meets Della Owens. Della was made infamous in the Cherokee community as a young girl. Della was adopted by a Mormon couple in Utah, but her father and the tribe challenged the adoption under the Indian Child Welfare Act. Della was torn from her father and grandmother as a young child when she was given back to her original adoptive family. Now as an adult, she is more interested in exploring her Cherokee heritage.

This story is told in many different ways. It begins simply from Steph's point of view as she grows up in Tahlequah. Then there are some intermittent chapters from Della's perspective as she visits her father and continues on to college. After college, there are texts, emails, and even dating profiles. I thought it was a unique and interesting way to tell a story.

What sticks with me most about this story was how well Ramage did in showing real, flawed characters. She described where they were coming from and what motivated them, and they always felt real. More than once, I was so frustrated with Steph and how she treated other people in her life. But I could also see how much she was struggling. That is also true with Kayla and her mother. They felt like a real family with a truckload of baggage who cared about each other and were doing the best they could--even when they unintentionally hurt each other. 

***SPOILERS*** Two chaotic scenes were some of the best in the book, in my opinion. The first was when Steph discovers that her mother kept her acceptance letter from Exeter from her. At this point in the book, we know how desperate Steph is to get into Exeter as a stepping stone to NASA. She's planned her whole future around it. To find that acceptance letter and know it was too late was gutting, and Steph's reaction was understandable. But there were layers on top of it, too, because they are at a public climbing gym, Kayla is upset because she thinks Steph is talking to her mother about something else. There is pandemonium on the climbing wall, and a nearby birthday party is watching the whole thing with judgment of the Cherokee kids.

The second scene that was so memorable is the graduation dinner. Steph's family and her conservative Mormon girlfriend's parents are all going out to dinner to celebrate. Steph's mother is nervous and accommodating. Kayla is defiant and provocative. Della's parents are trying, but are disapproving on a number of levels. Della is keeping quiet, and Steph is missing a lot of important information. It was spiraling and funny on a number of levels, even though serious things were happening. ***END SPOILERS***

#29 [2026/CBR18] Not My Type by E. Jean Carroll

I had heard of E. Jean Carroll, her accusations of sexual assault against Donald Trump, and her subsequent lawsuit against him, but I did not pay much attention to the specifics. This was clearly a he said/she said situation, and I believed her. On the one hand you have a woman who told a believable story. On the other hand you have a creepy misogynist, a friend of Epstein, a man who brags about sexual assault on tape, and someone who lies constantly and loudly. Now having read the book, I'm even more sure about Trump's guilt.

I have read a couple other memoirs involving rape, and I think they are important in shedding light on how damaging rape is and how difficult the legal system is for rape victims. It's after reading some of these that I wonder how any victims manage to get through this process. I read Know My Name by Chanel Miller back in 2023, and it was very eye-opening--even though I already knew the basic facts. Miller did a phenomenal job describing the long-lasting physical and emotional impacts of Brock's assault and the subsequent court proceedings.

Not My Type (2025), although it covers similar ground, has a very different feel. E Jean Carroll was 81 when Not My Type was published. She is from a different generation, and she is a very unique woman. She is funny and opinionated and optimistic. She'd prefer to focus on the positive in her life rather than dwelling in painful memories. She is not here to psychoanalyze her feelings. Thus, Not My Type does not go into the same detail describing the emotional toll of the assault that I've seen in other memoirs. Instead, Carroll begins the book by recounting her deposition with Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba as they discuss every man she's ever had sex with. For Carroll, her sex life began after college with her then boyfriend, an Olympic swimmer, and continued to stay [shall we say] impressive throughout most of her life. But after Trump attacked her in the dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, she never had sex again. 

Because Carroll focuses more on clothing, random asides, and specifics of the trial, her true emotional state mostly comes through with inference. We hear that Trump destroyed her sex life, we hear that she can't even talk about the hundreds of thousands of ugly threats she received after Trump publicly denounced her. Occasionally, Carroll becomes emotional on the Audiotape when talking about her legal team, and you can see how hard this all is on her.

Carroll describes many parts of the trials in great detail, and I learned a lot about what led up to the assault, as well as specific testimony in each of the trials. In fact, I didn't even know there were two trials when I started the book. I loved Carroll's descriptions of all of the attorneys involved, and the testimony was really interesting. It almost made me want to read an entire transcript of the trial. What really stood out, though, was how aggressively Joe Tacopina, Trump's attorney, went after Carroll on cross examination. I can only imagine the optics of a giant, muscle bound man deriding an 80-year-old woman for not screaming when she was sexually assaulted.

I was not looking to read this book until I saw it was available when I was looking for a new Audiobook to read. Now I'm glad I listened to it. Carroll deserves a chance to share her story in a way that is unfettered by Trump's attorneys throwing judgment and blame at her. I'm glad that I now know what she went through and how brave she is to stand up to Trump (well, really, his attorneys). I hope she gets all the money that's owed her.

#28 [2026/CBR18] The Good Liar by Denise Mina

I'm not sure how I first heard of The Good Liar (2025) by Denise Mina, but I probably saw it on some end-of-the-year-best-novels list. Mina seems to be a pretty prolific writer, but she was new to me. The Good Liar is a thriller/murder mystery that takes place in London. On the whole, I found this book well written and interesting to read. However, I've found I'm not too into murder mysteries these days. I'm finding them a little too dark and sometimes unrealistic.

Claudia Atkins O'Sheil is a forensic scientist. She has developed a computer program that can analyze blood splatter data and pictures from a crime scene and spit out details of the assailant. For example, the program can estimate how an attack took place, how tall the assailant was, and other details of the crime. This computer program has come to be relied on more and more by the English Criminal Courts, which is great for Claudia's career.

The Good Liar has two timelines. The book begins with Claudia about to make a speech that will blow up her life and the lives of many around her. Then the book falls back some months in order to show how Claudia ended up where she was and what kind of speech she is going to make.

Claudia is with Phillip at a party for the grand opening of a new building when Phillip receives a phone call. A good friend of his and his fiancé have been found murdered in their home. Claudia drives Phillip in his car to the scene so he can identify the bodies. Immediately, suspicion falls on the victim's estranged son, who shows up on scene when Claudia is still there. Claudia sees enough to know that the son cannot be the killer, and she is disturbed that they take him in for questioning without explaining to him what's happening.

Besides the mystery of this double murder, Claudia has a lot of heavy stuff going on in her life. Her husband died almost a year before in a car accident. She is trying to navigate her own grief as well as her life with her two sons without him. Her sons are grieving in their own ways, and she struggles to relate to them. At the same time, Claudia's sister is a drug addict. She had been clean for some time, but relapses in the middle of the book. 

Finally, a young scientist challenged Claudia's blood splatter computer program openly in court, saying that it is fatally flawed. Claudia realizes that the woman is right, but doesn't know what to do about it. If Claudia admits to its flaws, it could invalidate hundreds of convictions. But the police are currently using her blood splatter analysis to wrongly convict the son for the double murders.

When a friend and rogue attorney of Claudia's dies on the same road and in the same way as her husband, she finally knows that her husband's death was no accident. She's determined to figure out what happened, but also desperate to protect her sons. When she figures everything out, she has to make a choice: whether to let everything go and protect herself, her family, and her living--or do what's right and go public.

Class is a big theme in this book, and I appreciate how Mina handled it. Claudia was not born into high society, but she married into it and wants to stay a part of it--even though she doesn't completely fit in. There are a number of titled gentlemen and ladies in this book who live a pretty privileged life. It was interesting to see their interactions and expectations. In addition, I liked that Claudia felt like a real and flawed person. She wanted better relationships with her sons and her sister, but often couldn't manage to act in a way that could make that happen. It was very relatable. I felt all of the pressure she was under while I read the book, and I was glad I was not her. I think fans of thrillers and murder mysteries should like this book.

#27 [2026/CBR18] Burn Book by Kara Swisher

My book club chose Burn Book: A Tech Love Story (2024) by Kara Swisher as our latest book. We'd already read another tech memoir, Careless People, which I enjoyed. I was hoping I would like Burn Book as well. In the end, I didn't love it. Although there were parts that were engaging, I did not have enough interest in or knowledge about the subject matter for me to appreciate it. 

Kara Swisher has been a tech reporter for three decades, covering tech from the very beginning back in the 1990's. She knows all the players, has scooped a good number of stories, and seems to be important in her field. I might have found this book more interesting if I'd heard of her or knew anything about her. But even though I begrudgingly and eventually accept technological progress, I am usually one of the last ones on the bandwagon. My phone does so much for me now, and I really do appreciate it. However, I also feel relief when I go backpacking, and I'm completely disconnected from all of it.

Swisher discusses her relationships with various tech moguls over the years. She mentions conversations she's had with them, articles she's written about them, and interviews she's done with them. Some of these people I'd heard of, including: Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sheryl Sandberg. Many of them I had not heard of, but sometimes I'd heard of their companies. Most of this I didn't find particularly interesting. I understand that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates did some pretty cool things, but I just don't care if they were interviewed together. 

In a similar vein, I appreciate that Apple was at one time a pioneer in products and design, but I'm not a fan. I don't like how you have to have everything Apple to use anything else from Apple. I don't like that I can't see my brother's photo albums because I don't have an iphone. Everyone says Apple is intuitive, but that's only if you've been using Apple products all your life. Sometimes Apple users feel like a cult that I have no interest in joining. Swisher, on the other hand, seems to love Apple and Steve Jobs and she talks about them a lot.

Swisher seems to be smart and funny, and some of her takes were interesting and/or amusing. (She calls Rupert Murdoch, technically her boss at one time, Uncle Satan). I think I would have been more drawn into the book if she had made it more in depth or personal. She would give a little anecdote about a famous tech dude, and then move onto the next one. But because I don't follow that world at all, I did not have the context for it to be meaningful, I often didn't know anything about the person she was talking about, and I didn't feel like I was learning anything.

My favorite parts of the book were when Swisher wrote about where tech was going (AI) and how it could change all of our lives for better or for worse. She warned us a number of times that having a small, homogeneous group of rich, white, men who care more about money and power than the greater good is not who we want making all these decisions. Many of these tech moguls started out wanting to do good in the world, but they've proven that they do not care about harmful side effects and collateral damage (Mark Zuckerberg). Whether spreading misinformation that potentially sways elections or foments violence around the world, or targeting young teens with predatory advertising, they've shown that new technology needs a legal and ethical framework to be safe.

I can imagine the right person loving this book, but I am not that person.

#26 [2026/CBR18] Here's Looking At You by Mhairi McFarlane

After finishing Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane, I wanted more and started looking through McFarlane's novels to see if I'd missed any. I was happy to find Looking At You (2014), an older McFarlane novel that I hadn't read before. Looking At You was fine, but it did feel a little dated and is not on the top of my McFarlane list.

Anna Alessi is a history professor in England, forcing herself to go online dating in order to meet the one. She has mostly gotten over a traumatic history of intense bullying from what in America would be called her high school years. The book begins with Anna in high school. Her secret crush, James Fraser, asks if she wants to do a duet at the final school lip sync show. But he just leaves her on stage, laughs at her, and calls her an elephant while the rest of the school throws candies at her. It was premeditated and appallingly mean.

Now, many years later Anna has transformed herself into someone literally unrecognizable after losing about fifty pounds (not the best of tropes). She goes to her high school reunion for closure--or something. James Fraser and his friends are there, but they don't even know who she is. Shortly thereafter, Anna is helping out with a museum exhibition and James's company is brought on for some of the tech. Anna and James have to work together, and he still doesn't know who she is.

At first Anna is very prickly and defensive with James, which he doesn't understand. But slowly the two start getting along better. and even become friends. But one day, they go to Anna's place and James sees an old picture of Anna and the truth is out. James barely remembers what he did to her, and thinks she's making too big a deal out of it.

Eventually James understands how miserable Anna's life was in high school and properly apologizes. There are also some side stories with Anna's sister and James's wife.

I think its pretty gutsy to have a main character do something so mean in the very beginning of the book, and then bring him back as the romantic hero. The problem for me is that it didn't work. I know he was only sixteen and sixteen year old's are especially stupid with undeveloped brains. But there's a difference between stupid and cruel. And I never got the sense that James changed enough for me to really trust him. He consistently seemed low on the caring about other's feelings scale. And he didn't have any good relationships. He hated his best friend and coworkers and had nothing in common with his wife. He didn't know who he was. Even though he supposedly figured this out at the end of the book, he still went back to his wife before finally deciding he should stick with Anna. Their relationship didn't feel very romantic to me.

Anna was more sympathetic, but a lot of her character was just her looking to get married, which seemed a little tiresome. I'm also not a huge fan of the losing weight to become an entirely different, and very hot, person. I might have preferred if Anna had stayed the same and James had changed into a more substantive adult who noticed and cared about other people who weren't as hot as him. I love McFarlane, but I don't think this one aged as well as some of her others.

#25 [2026/CBR18] Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove (2025) by Barbara Demick is another book I first saw on NPR's Favorite Books List. Then my husband read it, and he also recommended it to me. Demick is a journalist who was based in China for a number of years. She writes about China's one-child policy, and how that affected children and families in China. Because of the draconian rules around having too many children, children were being abandoned in growing numbers, especially baby girls. In 1992, China allowed for international adoption and over 160,000 children were placed out of the country--most to the United States--over the next three decades. 

Demick focuses on two twin girls, who were the third and fourth children of two rice farmers born in an isolated mountain town in China in 2000. The twin girls were Fangfang and Shuangjie. While the parents were in the city with Shuangjie making money to pay the fine for their children, Fangfang was brutally kidnapped from her aunt and uncle's home where she had been staying. It is estimated that as many as ten percent of the children adopted out of China were forcibly taken from their parents or relatives.

So, Shuangjie grew up with her family in China with the shadow of the traumatic kidnapping of her twin sister. Fangfang was adopted to an older, religious couple in Texas who had already adopted one little girl from China. Both girls grew up in a loving family, but they had drastically different experiences. Through Demick's reporting, she met Fangfang's family in China, and thought she might try to figure out where Fangfang ended up for them. With a lot of luck, Demick discovered Fangfang's likely location, but when she reached out to the family, they were not interested. Fangfang--now Esther--was only nine years old and her adopted father had just died. Demick told Fangfang's Chinese family that their daughter was safe in America, but left it alone after that.

Many years later when the girls are seventeen, Esther decides that she wants to know more about her birth family, and they get in touch with Demick again to help them. Demick facilitates some Facetime calls and then finally a meeting in China with the two families.

This book was fascinating. I was aware of the one-child policy in China, but I knew almost no specifics and had never thought critically of what it would entail. The breadth of the Family Planning Association, how many people were involved, and their powers over people's bodies and lives was shocking to read about. The kidnapping of children to sell them to orphanages was brazen and astonishing.

I was impressed by Demick's ability to explain complex policies in a huge country without getting bogged down in too many details. I also like that the book starts out in China, from the point of view of the birth parents. It gave me a better understanding of the people in China and the tragedies they faced through the one-child policy. In addition, I was impressed by how much compassion she had for everyone involved. She really focused on the people and their love for their children.

Demick also discusses orphans, specifically Chinese and Korean orphans raised in the United States. When Esther came to China, she finally looked like everyone around her, but she was also an American foreigner.

I found this book hard to put down, and I feel like I learned a lot. Highly recommended.

#24 [2026/CBR18] Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane

I've read many books by Mhairi McFarlane and really enjoyed most of them. So, when I saw she had a new book out, Cover Story (2025), I knew I was going to read it. McFarlane writes romance-centric novels but with more developed characters and storylines than you sometimes see in your flimsier romances. McFarlane is Scottish and her books take place in England, so there are a lot of Britishisms and other cultural references that sometimes fly over my head. I still enjoy reading them, though.

Bel is an investigative journalist working in a tiny satellite office in Manchester with her coworker Aaron and a rotating intern. The latest intern is Connor. Older than the usual intern, Connor has recently switched career tracks from finance to journalism. He's not happy about being up in Manchester, he recently dealt with a bout of depression, and he's unsure about his relationship with his girlfriend of five years. So, his first impression of Bel, Aaron, and the Manchester office is not positive, and he doesn't hide his feelings. Bel immediately labels Connor a snobby finance bro and wants nothing to do with him.

Bel hears from a source that the mayor is having inappropriate relationships with young women in his office. She decides to go undercover to befriend the woman who runs the AirBnB the mayor uses for his liaisons. When Connor stumbles into her at an inopportune time, he is roped into the undercover business as her boyfriend. 

As Connor and Bel work together, their relationship slowly thaws into a good working relationship and then into friends. Part of why this case is so important to Bel is that she recently fell into a similar trap with an older man at her previous work. Even worse, when she wizened up and left, he began stalking and harassing her.

Bel and Connor's romance is a very slow burn, but I liked their interactions and I didn't get bored while reading. I also thought McFarlane did well in explaining how Bel felt about the man at her previous work who was pretty nefarious. The guilt and blame she put on herself was tremendous, but I imagine a lot of women could relate.

Connor was dreamy, but he sometimes felt too good to be real. And speaking of realistic, almost every male character in this book was obsessed with Bel. We have Connor, of course; Bel's ex-boyfriend; Bel's office fling/stalker; co-worker Aaron; and even the mayor of Manchester as soon as he sees her. It was a little much, but didn't detract from my enjoyment of the novel.

#23 [2026/CBR18] Heartwood by Amity Gaige

Heartwood (2025) by Amity Gaige is yet another book that I originally saw on NPR's Favorite Books List. It is about a woman who goes missing on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and the search to find her. Heartwood sounded like something I would like, so I got it from my library back in December. But I was about to do some solo backpacking and camping, and I wisely decided I didn't want to read a book about a missing hiker while I was sitting alone in my tent at night. Now it's about five months later, and I finally got around to it.

Gaige states at the end of this book that this story was partially inspired by the tragic story of Geraldine "Gerry" Largay, a 66-year-old woman who had been hiking the AT. When she went off the trail to go to the bathroom, the woods were so thick that she could not find her way back. She survived for 26 days in her tent before succumbing, writing to her family in her journal. Her body was found two years later.

In Heartwood, Valerie Gillis is a 42-year-old nurse who is hiking the AT as a way to take a break and reset after the heartbreak of being on the frontlines during COVID. She is alone, but her husband is supporting her trek, meeting her every few days with supplies and logistical support. Valerie is in Maine, but she doesn't show up to meet her husband as they'd agreed. He waits one day because she is often delayed and then goes for help.

Beverly is a Maine State Game Warden. She is 57 years old, and has been in charge of missing persons cases in the woods for a number of years. She is good at her job and has a great record. Beverly is fleshed out with details of what it's like to be the only woman in a male dominated field, her complicated relationship with her mother and sisters, and her determination to find Valerie.

Lena is a 76-year-old woman who is living in a Connecticut nursing home. She is immediately sucker punched by the news of the missing hiker because her own estranged daughter is the same age as Valerie and also a nurse. Lena's immediately takes it upon herself to find out everything she can about the case.

The search brings out hundreds of volunteers and wardens as they search for Valerie. But their confidence in finding her decreases as the days continue. It's possible that she's lost, but there's also the outside chance that she was the victim of foul play. There are a number of suspects, including Valerie's husband. Some hikers are also suspicious of Valerie's last hiking partner, who had already left the trail because of a sick father. In addition, there is a SERE campus that is right near where Valerie disappeared. SERE is military training for captured soldiers and it stands for: Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. Plenty of internet sleuths think the military is hiding something, and their poor relationship with the Maine State Game Wardens don't help.

I liked this book. It was well written and seemed to have a good understanding of what long distance hiking is like. The characters are developed and feel like real people. My wanting to know what happens kept me reading, although I was sometimes frustrated when I felt like we were finally getting somewhere and the book changes perspective. I had the hardest time understanding Lena. I wish I could have related to her more. 

Recommended.

#22 [2026/CBR18] Unshrunk by Laura Delano

Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance (2025) by Laura Delano is another book I discovered on NPR's List of Favorite Books. I have an older brother who fell into some major mental health problems when he was in college. He has had a very hard life since then. He is often difficult, nonsensical and hard to be around, but I also know what he was like before he got sick. In an effort to understand him better or maybe find something to help him, I find myself reading a fair number of books about Schizophrenia and mental health. When I saw Unshrunk, I was intrigued and was able to get the Audiobook from the library.

Laura Delano is the author and narrator of Unshrunk. She grew up very well off, an outstanding student, and a competitive squash player. But at 14 years old, she began having mental health problems--struggling with her feelings and anger towards her family. She saw her first psychiatrist who labeled her as bipolar and started her on a mood stabilizer and antidepressant. And so for the next thirteen years, Delano's life was a parade of more psychiatrists, more prescribed drugs, more symptoms, repeated stays in hospitals, thoughts of suicide, and one serious suicide attempt.

Delano's family was able to give her access to some very good psychiatric resources. She also managed to graduate from Harvard and go to a debutante ball in the middle of all of this. But her mental, and then physical health was such a struggle, that Delano did not want to live anymore. Doctors told her she had "treatment resistant" bipolar, which meant the drugs weren't helping  her, and she needed more.

After being put in a Borderline Personality Group Therapy class, Delano met another woman who convinced her to go to AA meetings. These meetings helped Delano get sober, and she started taking a more active part in her care. She read all of the information she could get about the drugs she'd been prescribed. Most of them were FDA approved because the drug's efficacy had been shown through six-week trials. (And sometimes this efficacy was only marginally better than the placebo effect). There were no long-term trials, and they had never been tested on children, including the ones she had been prescribed as a child. She also read about some of the debilitating side effects, many of which can cause new mental or physical issues.

Delano decided to get off of her meds, but there was also very little information about safely getting off psychiatric medications. These meds can affect every system in the body, and she'd been taking them for years. Lithium is the go-to drug for bipolar, but there is a very fine line between the amount of drug that is therapeutic and the amount that is toxic. In addition, getting off bipolar medication too fast can trigger a larger manic episode than never taking it in the first place. Delano found her best information on various online forums from other patients who had used trial and error to very slowly wean themselves off.

In the end, Delano was able to wean herself off all of her medications, stay sober, be a part of a healthy relationship, run a business, and raise her children. She says that her brain is certainly not always healthy, but she is better now at dealing with negative thoughts and emotions. Delano is not against all psychiatric drugs for all people, but she thinks they are pushed too quickly without adequately informing the patients of the real risks and other options.

I appreciated that Delano telling her own story really showed how difficult dealing with mental health problems can be. Some people are under the illusion that psychiatric drugs are some kind of panacea. If anyone has mental health issues, they just need to get on their meds. But it's not that simple. Delano was compliant with her meds and trying everything, desperate to get better. Instead, she kept spiraling down. I could see why she was hopeless.

In the end, though, like most psychiatric books I read, I found it kind of depressing. I'm glad that Delano was able to figure out what worked for her. But she is very smart, determined, and has a large amount of support and resources. Also, what worked for her, isn't necessarily going to work for someone else. There are plenty of people whose psych meds are incredibly helpful to them. What it comes down to in the end, is we don't really understand mental health very well.

#21 [2026/CBR18] These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

I saw These Summer Storms (2025) by Sarah MacLean on NPR's Favorite Books List. I've never read anything by Sarah MacLean, but I'm a fan of romance novels, and this one seemed interesting enough. So I picked it up. Unfortunately, I found this one more disappointing than not. After a fun beginning, the plot did not feel believable, and I didn't like the characters. By the end of the book, I was curious how it was going to end, but I was also ready for it to be done.

Alice Storm hasn't seen her very rich family in five years. She is the daughter of a tech billionaire, Franklin Storm, who is egotistic, controlling, and unlikable. When she publicly outed her father's company for its bad practices regarding sexual harassment, her father told her to "get off his island." In all that time, Alice has not seen her mother, Elizabeth; her two older siblings Greta and Sam, and her youngest sibling Emily. She was cut off from all of the money and made her own way as an artist and art teacher in New York City.

But she has just received news that her father is dead from an accident, and she is on her way back to their private island off the coast of Rhode Island for his funeral/celebration of life. Her ex-fiance, Griffin, has just recently broken things off with no explanation. On the train, she sits next to a good-looking man who helps her get away from paparazzi and gives her a ride. They end up hooking up before she sneaks away in the morning.

Alice sails across the island to meet her mostly rude and obnoxious family--except for Emily, who is in a happy relationship and seems like a genuine, caring person. It doesn't take long before the guy Alice slept with the night before shows up at the island. He is Jack Dean, and her father's number two man at his company. Jack Dean is there to tell them about their father's wishes as far as the will is concerned and oversee/judge the process.

Franklin Storm gave most members of the family a personal letter with a task to fulfill. All members of the family must complete the task or none of them will get their inheritance. Greta must break off her years-long relationship with her father's bodyguard--a man she loves more than anything. Sam can only talk on even hours, and he has to clean and fix a bunch of things on the island. Alice did not get a letter at all, but she must stay on the island for the whole week. Even though Alice is now self sufficient and doesn't care about the money, she is facing incredible family pressure to stay. Emily did not receive instructions, and Elizabeth, their mother, was instructed to say one nice thing about Franklin every day and "tell the truth."

I'm pretty sure there is nothing remotely legal about this, but it also doesn't make a lot of sense. Greta is supposed to break up with the man she loves. Franklin is not a likable character, but it's still a mystery why he would do this to his daughter. The book says he doesn't like to share, but he's dead; he doesn't have to share. And wasn't he already sharing his favorite bodyguard when they were secretly, but not so secretly hooking up before he died. And Franklin liked his bodyguard. Why would he do this? Also, all Greta has to do is tell her beau everything that's happening. He can disappear until the end of the week, and people can think they broke up. Greta inherits the money, her bodyguard boyfriend comes back, and the problem is solved. This plotline drove me crazy.

Another big problem for me was that I didn't like Jack Dean. This book could have turned around for me if I had been into the love story. And when they first met on the train, he was really promising. But when they're on the island, they were always fighting. He never apologized or explained anything to her. He was constantly lying or withholding information, and I didn't trust him. He is too much like her father. The only thing they had going for each other was the physical attraction--not the best basis for a long-term relationship. Not my favorite book of the year.

#20 [2026/CBR18] West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

I read West With Giraffes (2021) by Lynda Rutledge because it was chosen by my book club. After reading some pretty bad books, we've made up a loose rule that you need to have read the book before nominating it for book club. Well, it didn't happen this time. The husband of one of our book clubbers said it would be a good book for us. I think the majority of us would agree that it was not. I think I was most frustrated at what it could have been.

It is the midst of the Great Depression. Woodrow Wilson Nickel (Woody) lost his family in the Dust Bowl in Texas. He made his way up to New York City to live with his unfriendly cousin. But then a raging hurricane came through, killing his cousin. Woody is hurt, and has just figured out he's on his own, when he sees the giraffes on the dock. One of the giraffes is hurt as well. Woody learns the giraffes are going to be trucked across the country to the San Diego Zoo. Woody decides to follow them to California, the land where dreams come true.

Eventually Woody ingratiates himself with the "old man" in charge of transferring the giraffes, and he becomes the driver. They have many adventures, including being followed by a young woman Woody calls "Red" who says she is taking pictures for Life magazine. Woody is enamored with Red, and she is a pretty large part of the story.

This story is told from far in the future when Woody is over one hundred years old and about to die in a nursing home. He is desperately writing down this story from his childhood. He wants it to get to someone. I think this is supposed to make the story more meaningful, but it didn't do much for me.

I found this book occasionally interesting, and I like that the author was trying to bring awareness and appreciation for the animals that we are constantly losing through habitat destruction and climate change. In addition, it is true that two giraffes were trucked across the country after surviving a hurricane, which was the inspiration for Rutledge's story. Finally, Rutledge touches on real aspects of The Dust Bowl, how it was affecting people, and how desperate it was. 

However, reading this book was primarily a frustrating experience. I often found the descriptions lacking, and many of the events seemed unbelievable. I never had a good idea of what the truck looked like or how it worked. The situations they got in felt absurd and impossible. Both people and animals acted and reacted in ways that did not make sense to me. I often felt physics was not being taken into account in many of these situations.

For example, the old man has a hand that is so mutilated he cannot drive. But when the giraffe starts choking on a hat, he grabs a hose and climbs up the side of the truck. That's problematic enough because that would be challenging with two good hands. But then he sticks the hose down the giraffe's throat and the hat comes back up??? I don't see how waterboarding a giraffe is going to help a choking situation. And even if that was somewhat possible, I imagine you'd need some pretty intense water pressure to do anything--although that pressure is going down on the hat, so I still don't see how it would work. 

In addition, as far as I can tell from the internet, giraffes do not "caterwaul." The most I could find is something that sounded kind of like a growl when a mother giraffe was fighting with lions over its baby. I could go on for quite a while with things that were unrealistic or not described well enough to feel realistic. Red's car bumped the big giraffe truck at 5 mph, and suddenly the truck is leaning over the edge of a cliff. Later, Red somehow uses her car to keep the truck from tipping over in a flood. I had no understanding of how these things were physically happening.

I was also disappointed in the ending. Red was a pioneering woman who traveled across the country on her own. Except that we got no actual details of her journey. And in the end, she loses all of her pictures in a flood, she's pregnant, and she very quickly dies of heart problems. What a lame journey for her character. Even Woody is frustrating. He finally gets the giraffes to San Diego, but he doesn't even see them settled. Instead he steals another motorcycle and is forced into the army. This book has thousands of positive Amazon reviews, and many people enjoyed it, including my friend's husband. But I cannot recommend it.