Suspense/Mystery
I, Spy by L.M. Kemp (2026). Ex-spy Kendal got out of the game when one of her operations went wrong and she realized she was pregnant. She’s built a new life for herself and her daughter in Switzerland when her cover is blown and she has to go on the run. This book combined suspense and humor very cleverly - I really liked Kendal and look forward to more from this author.
One by One by Ruth Ware; narrator, Imogen Church (2020 ). When a tech company brings its top staff to Switzerland for a meeting, the expectation is for everyone to enjoy the ski slopes and conduct business, particularly to discuss a lucrative offer to buy the company, which would make all the shareholders millionaires. Then there is an avalanche, cutting everyone off, and then people start dying . . . .
Historical Fiction
A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick (2003). This is the story of John FitzGilbert, a charismatic leader, the marshal to Henry I, and just 25 when the story begins. His life is thrown into turmoil when the king dies, he has to decide whether to support Henry’s chosen heir, his daughter, or his nephew, Stephen, as the country is plunged into civil war. He has to decide what will help his family survive, with no clear answers and an ever-changing landscape. I am looking forward to the sequel, which I own but am saving for fall. My review.
Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran (2026). The mysterious death of the school’s most popular student, Violet, distresses her best friend Emily. She and her classmates try to reach Violet through seances, as a series of escalating supernatural events unnerve everyone at the boarding school. The best thing about this strange book was the cover.
The Kindness of Strangers by Emma Garman (2026). Mrs. Wilson rents rooms in her large Victorian house in London to help pay the bills, and everyone gets along well until Jimmy Sullivan moves in. When he starts blackmailing the occupants, it turns out that everyone has secrets they don’t want shared. Something must be done about Jimmy! I had this on my 2026 Historical Fiction to look for list. My review.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)(reread). Stevens, a dedicated English butler who has spent most of his life working at Darlington Hall, takes a road trip to visit former housekeeper, Miss Kenton, whose friendship he rebuffed years before in his efforts to be the perfect servant. I reread this for my legal book group - I had forgotten how sad it is! Looking forward to his new book in 2027, Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger, a 1930s-era spy caper set in London and the English countryside.
A Far-flung Life by M. L. Stedman (2026). Tragedy strikes a family on a sheep station in Australia in the 1950s, and those who survive have to rebuild their lives. It’s full of family secrets and how three generations of a hard-working family juggle loss and daily responsibilities. Sad but worth reading. My review.
A Murder in Marylebone by Emily Sullivan (2026). I chose this for the title because I had lived at the University of Westminster’s dorm in Marylebone for a month in 2022, but was disappointed by the lackluster historical detail. My review.
Fiction
The Reef by Edith Wharton. This was a Wharton title I’d never heard of, which someone in my book group picked up when visiting The Mount, Wharton’s estate in Western Massachusetts, and I enjoyed it. Diplomat (but not very diplomatic) George Darrow is still in love with Anna Leith, a woman who turned him down years ago but is now a widow. On his way to see her, his visit is postponed and George rescues a comely fellow traveler, Sophy Viner, instead, then seduces her. What a pity that when he finally reaches his true love, now ready to accept his proposal, that Miss Viner is the family’s governess! Awkward! Of all the jin joints in all the towns . . . It wasn’t just the double standard that annoyed us - that Sophy Viner was beyond the pale and George, more or less engaged when he was carrying on with her, was not, but that Wharton accepted this. A book group choice is meant to inspire good conversation so I thought this was very successful.
Nonfiction
The Locker Room is Not for Sale: Why the Human Touch Always Wins by Brian White (2026). Brian was the Harvard quarterback, and has dedicated his career to coaching; he is currently on the staff at Bowling Green. The premise of this book is that locker rooms build character and teach leadership through loyalty and teamwork. My review.
YA/Juvenile
Sabriel by Garth Nix (1995). One minute Sabriel is a Sixth Form Prefect at Wyverley College, a boarding school for young ladies, and the next she has set off on a quest (in the depths of winter) to find her necromancer father, who is missing. Her journey - and her only sources of help - leads to a dangerous, enchanted cat and a young man, also enchanted, who was transformed into a figurehead for a buried ship. Sabriel has to figure out how to manage these two to achieve her goal. My review.
The Whirling Shapes by Joan North (1967)(reread). Liz is spending a year living with family while her mother is recovering from TB. What seems like an ordinary house in or near London is suddenly surrounded by strange shapes and, at first, Liz is afraid no one will believe what she sees. Then she becomes afraid the shapes are dangerous and are making her relatives disappear. North is an author I read as a teen from the Brighton Library - she wrote three realistic fantasies that are very hard to find. I don’t remember where I found this copy. My review.
Lo and Behold: A Cape Cod Mystery by Myna Lockwood (1954). Sally (who dislikes her name and oddly goes by Estrildis for most of the book) has spent her entire life with her clergyman father in Iowa so is apprehensive when he sends her to Cape Cod for the summer to stay with an unknown cousin. She spends most of her time working for the cousin’s antique shop so could be anywhere but she does make one friend - bafflingly, he uses the word “icky” as slang for awesome. In case you were wondering (and even if you were not), the phrase “lo and behold” is first recorded in an 1808 letter in the Correspondence 1787–1870, of Queen Victoria’s lady of the bedchamber - Lady Sarah Spencer Lyttelton. I picked this up at a recent book sale when the title caught my eye.
Grimbold's Other World by Nicholas Stuart Gray (1963)(reread). Muffler, an orphan who was raised to be a goatherd, is brought to a hidden alternate world by mysterious Grimbold, a magical cat. He is needed there to assist with various rescues, including helping Gareth, the difficult son of a sorcerer. My review.
Did Not Finish
Kindred Schemes by R.K. Harrington (2026). I am getting better at discarded bad books without reading them. When a regency heroine says, “Okay,” that is a signal to throw the book across the room (except it was a library book, so I merely dropped it with disdain). When I was a romance editor, I sometimes suggested my authors read their dialogue aloud to see if they could strike a balance between historical verisimilitude and not sounding unbearably formal. Here, the language alternated between anachronisms and stilted language that read more like a word salad than the 19th century. I’m amazed Kirkus gave this a good review but it’s the influence of Bridgerton, I suppose.
Off the Blog: a tragedy on Thursday - my friend Laura’s daughter, Louisa, was hit by a truck and killed as she rode to City Hall on her bicycle. There is a vigil for her this afternoon. It is particularly terrible because her job involved making the streets safer. This has devastated everyone who knows her family, which is nearly everyone local.
Historical Fiction
Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran (2026). The mysterious death of the school’s most popular student, Violet, distresses her best friend Emily. She and her classmates try to reach Violet through seances, as a series of escalating supernatural events unnerve everyone at the boarding school. The best thing about this strange book was the cover.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)(reread). Stevens, a dedicated English butler who has spent most of his life working at Darlington Hall, takes a road trip to visit former housekeeper, Miss Kenton, whose friendship he rebuffed years before in his efforts to be the perfect servant. I reread this for my legal book group - I had forgotten how sad it is! Looking forward to his new book in 2027, Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger, a 1930s-era spy caper set in London and the English countryside.
A Far-flung Life by M. L. Stedman (2026). Tragedy strikes a family on a sheep station in Australia in the 1950s, and those who survive have to rebuild their lives. It’s full of family secrets and how three generations of a hard-working family juggle loss and daily responsibilities. Sad but worth reading. My review.
Fiction
The Reef by Edith Wharton. This was a Wharton title I’d never heard of, which someone in my book group picked up when visiting The Mount, Wharton’s estate in Western Massachusetts, and I enjoyed it. Diplomat (but not very diplomatic) George Darrow is still in love with Anna Leith, a woman who turned him down years ago but is now a widow. On his way to see her, his visit is postponed and George rescues a comely fellow traveler, Sophy Viner, instead, then seduces her. What a pity that when he finally reaches his true love, now ready to accept his proposal, that Miss Viner is the family’s governess! Awkward! Of all the jin joints in all the towns . . . It wasn’t just the double standard that annoyed us - that Sophy Viner was beyond the pale and George, more or less engaged when he was carrying on with her, was not, but that Wharton accepted this. A book group choice is meant to inspire good conversation so I thought this was very successful.
Nonfiction
The Locker Room is Not for Sale: Why the Human Touch Always Wins by Brian White (2026). Brian was the Harvard quarterback, and has dedicated his career to coaching; he is currently on the staff at Bowling Green. The premise of this book is that locker rooms build character and teach leadership through loyalty and teamwork. My review.
Sabriel by Garth Nix (1995). One minute Sabriel is a Sixth Form Prefect at Wyverley College, a boarding school for young ladies, and the next she has set off on a quest (in the depths of winter) to find her necromancer father, who is missing. Her journey - and her only sources of help - leads to a dangerous, enchanted cat and a young man, also enchanted, who was transformed into a figurehead for a buried ship. Sabriel has to figure out how to manage these two to achieve her goal. My review.
The Whirling Shapes by Joan North (1967)(reread). Liz is spending a year living with family while her mother is recovering from TB. What seems like an ordinary house in or near London is suddenly surrounded by strange shapes and, at first, Liz is afraid no one will believe what she sees. Then she becomes afraid the shapes are dangerous and are making her relatives disappear. North is an author I read as a teen from the Brighton Library - she wrote three realistic fantasies that are very hard to find. I don’t remember where I found this copy. My review.
Grimbold's Other World by Nicholas Stuart Gray (1963)(reread). Muffler, an orphan who was raised to be a goatherd, is brought to a hidden alternate world by mysterious Grimbold, a magical cat. He is needed there to assist with various rescues, including helping Gareth, the difficult son of a sorcerer. My review.
Did Not Finish
Kindred Schemes by R.K. Harrington (2026). I am getting better at discarded bad books without reading them. When a regency heroine says, “Okay,” that is a signal to throw the book across the room (except it was a library book, so I merely dropped it with disdain). When I was a romance editor, I sometimes suggested my authors read their dialogue aloud to see if they could strike a balance between historical verisimilitude and not sounding unbearably formal. Here, the language alternated between anachronisms and stilted language that read more like a word salad than the 19th century. I’m amazed Kirkus gave this a good review but it’s the influence of Bridgerton, I suppose.
Off the Blog: a tragedy on Thursday - my friend Laura’s daughter, Louisa, was hit by a truck and killed as she rode to City Hall on her bicycle. There is a vigil for her this afternoon. It is particularly terrible because her job involved making the streets safer. This has devastated everyone who knows her family, which is nearly everyone local.
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