Fiction
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (2019). Evvie is devastated by the unexpected death of her husband – not because she misses him but because she was about to leave him when she got the news. Playing the grieving widow for friends and family feels dishonest and she has to find a way to move on with her life. This was my favorite book of the month as Evvie, despite flaws, is sympathetic and appealing character, and the plot was not always predictable.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (2025). Sybil Van Antwerp is a retired lawyer who has always used letters to navigate her life, avoiding interpersonal connection except with a very few people. Now, she is confronted with the need to explain to her children why she was such a distant figure as they were growing up. This was a great book group choice (except for the very long wait at the library - we should have waited for the paperback) as there were an infinite number of topics to discuss. My review.
Mystery/Suspense
Maid for Murder by Barbara Colley (2002). This is an unremarkable mystery I must have picked up in NY when it first came out because of its New Orleans setting. Charlotte LaRue runs a housecleaning business by day and reads crime fiction by night, so when one of her clients is murdered in his study and she is treated like a suspect, she decides to investigate herself. Clearly, I have had this for 23 years and it’s moved with me twice. This gives you an idea of how many books are in this house and how they sometimes come up to the surface!
The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly; narrator, Peter Giles (2025) (audio). In the eighth Lincoln Lawyer novel, Mickey Haller has taken on a ripped from the headlines case – a teenage girl killed by her boyfriend at the urging of his AI avatar. He is representing the girl’s mother against the AI company and is assisted by Jack McEvoy, a journalist who has featured in his own series. This was especially interesting because it is uncharted legal territory and there was a webinar with Connelly discussing it, sponsored by his publisher.
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (2019). Evvie is devastated by the unexpected death of her husband – not because she misses him but because she was about to leave him when she got the news. Playing the grieving widow for friends and family feels dishonest and she has to find a way to move on with her life. This was my favorite book of the month as Evvie, despite flaws, is sympathetic and appealing character, and the plot was not always predictable.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (2025). Sybil Van Antwerp is a retired lawyer who has always used letters to navigate her life, avoiding interpersonal connection except with a very few people. Now, she is confronted with the need to explain to her children why she was such a distant figure as they were growing up. This was a great book group choice (except for the very long wait at the library - we should have waited for the paperback) as there were an infinite number of topics to discuss. My review.
Maid for Murder by Barbara Colley (2002). This is an unremarkable mystery I must have picked up in NY when it first came out because of its New Orleans setting. Charlotte LaRue runs a housecleaning business by day and reads crime fiction by night, so when one of her clients is murdered in his study and she is treated like a suspect, she decides to investigate herself. Clearly, I have had this for 23 years and it’s moved with me twice. This gives you an idea of how many books are in this house and how they sometimes come up to the surface!
The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly; narrator, Peter Giles (2025) (audio). In the eighth Lincoln Lawyer novel, Mickey Haller has taken on a ripped from the headlines case – a teenage girl killed by her boyfriend at the urging of his AI avatar. He is representing the girl’s mother against the AI company and is assisted by Jack McEvoy, a journalist who has featured in his own series. This was especially interesting because it is uncharted legal territory and there was a webinar with Connelly discussing it, sponsored by his publisher.
The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia (2025). Stephanie and Jasmine meet on a plane and chat briefly. Stephanie is on her way to a business conference and Jasmine is escaping an abusive relationship. A few days later both have disappeared, with the only connection the mention of a man named Trent who attended Stephanie’s conference. Thank goodness Stephanie has friends who worry about her and investigate when they start getting strange messages from her. I had mixed feelings about this book - great premise yet so many unlikable characters - but it was a fast read and I finished it in one night.
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (2023). This book starts in the present but goes back to the murder investigation in which Armand Gamache first met Jean-Guy Beauvoir and rescued him from files in a basement. The now-adult children of that victim are involved in a new case that threatens the safety of all at Three Pines. This was well done although I had forgotten some key elements from an earlier book. I may need to do a complete reread before I move on to book 19.
Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner (2017). This was a disappointing mystery I picked up at a book sale, second in a series about DS Manon Bradshaw. She has adopted a preteen from an earlier case and he is now suspected of murder. Although Manon is pregnant and restricted to cold cases, once Fly is arrested she has to clear his name. Unfortunately, I did not like Manon and had to force myself to finish.
The Librarians by Sherry Thomas (2025). People seem to like or dislike this mystery in which four librarians, all with secrets of their own, become suspects when two patrons are murdered within 24 hours. I liked it, despite a plot that was hard to follow and did not make a lot of sense. My review.
Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben (2025). Brilliant surgeon Maggie McCabe has lost her license to practice medicine and her reputation after several family tragedies. When she gets an offer to perform secret surgery for a Russian oligarch who will pay all her and her sister’s bills, she decides to accept. This plunges her into an improbable but entertaining international conspiracy and various death-defying situations. This was one of my Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025. My review.
Nonfiction
The Jazz Barn by John Gennari (2025). This book – partly history, partly music, partly sociology – wholly absorbing – describes how the Music Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, became a crucial hub for jazz in the 1950s, blending high and popular culture in a predominantly white New England town. My review.
Romance
Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely (2025). Joni and Ren are two childhood best friends who were inseparable until something went wrong, which the reader can easily guess. Now that Joni’s sister is getting married, they have to be together and act normally so their families don’t realize something is wrong. I feel like I have read so many books just like this and the characters' angst seemed so unnecessary.
The Country Guesthouse by Robyn Carr; narrator, Thérèse Plummer (2020) (audio). When her best friend dies suddenly, Hannah becomes guardian to a five-year-old named Noah. She takes him for the summer to a small town in Colorado where she falls in love with a reclusive photographer, recovering from tragedy of his own. This was pleasant but predictable – the characters were all too good to be true.
Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner (2017). This was a disappointing mystery I picked up at a book sale, second in a series about DS Manon Bradshaw. She has adopted a preteen from an earlier case and he is now suspected of murder. Although Manon is pregnant and restricted to cold cases, once Fly is arrested she has to clear his name. Unfortunately, I did not like Manon and had to force myself to finish.
The Librarians by Sherry Thomas (2025). People seem to like or dislike this mystery in which four librarians, all with secrets of their own, become suspects when two patrons are murdered within 24 hours. I liked it, despite a plot that was hard to follow and did not make a lot of sense. My review.
Nonfiction
The Jazz Barn by John Gennari (2025). This book – partly history, partly music, partly sociology – wholly absorbing – describes how the Music Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, became a crucial hub for jazz in the 1950s, blending high and popular culture in a predominantly white New England town. My review.
Friends to Lovers by Sally Blakely (2025). Joni and Ren are two childhood best friends who were inseparable until something went wrong, which the reader can easily guess. Now that Joni’s sister is getting married, they have to be together and act normally so their families don’t realize something is wrong. I feel like I have read so many books just like this and the characters' angst seemed so unnecessary.
Risky Business by Annabelle Slator (2026). Jess is desperate to get funding for her start-up so applies to a tech competition posing as a man, hoping a male-led company will be taken more seriously, only to find her identity compromised when she has a fling with one of the men running the competition.
Children’s and YA
Searching for Shona by Margaret J. Anderson (1978). I loved this WWII historical about two girls who trade places when they are being evacuated. Shona goes to Canada for the duration of the war while Marjorie, now known as Shona, is sent to a small village in Scotland and is billeted with two elderly sisters. I wished Anderson had written a companion novel about Shona’s experience in Canada! My review.
Countdown by Deborah Wiles (2010) (reread). It’s October 1962 and Franny Chapman is a misunderstood (at least in her own mind) fifth grader during the Cuban Missile Crisis. She has to cope with being part of a military family as well as dealing with middle school friendships, an older sister with secrets, and an uncle’s PTSD that sometimes embarrasses the family. This was a reread for the NY Betsy-Tacy Society, which I recommended.
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