The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer ★★★★★ Well! I guess what they say about not judging books by their cover is actually true once in a while, because when my friend suggested we read this for a book club, I nearly dismissed it outright from its generic woman-walking-away cover art suggesting a depressing yet Oprah-esque WWII melodrama, but my god, I loved this book. While it does fall victim to the trap of most dual-timeline narratives where the historical storyline ends up being more interesting than the present-day one, Rimmer does an impressive job at balancing the stakes—not an easy feat when one character is struggling to survive in Nazi-occupied Poland and one is dealing with modern domestic challenges. One of this book’s strengths for me was how refreshing of a protagonist Alina was for a WWII novel—not particularly brave or exceptional, Alina is ordinary and romantic and sheltered, which really allowed for Rimmer’s depiction of the disruption of daily life to shine through.

Stoner by John Williams ★★★★★ This book gutted me. Life can be so banal and disappointing and unfulfilling and yet it’s all we have and there’s something beautiful in that, and I don’t know that this concept has been explored with more care or expert craftsmanship by any other writer. This might just be the Great American Novel of the twentieth century. Truly exceptional.

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell ★★★★☆ I liked this a lot! I think it could have been shorter and Sophie’s POV was bordering on extraneous for me, but something about this mystery and Tallulah’s character really grabbed me.

The Bell by Iris Murdoch ★★★★☆ Not nearly as strong as The Sea, The Sea, which is the only other Murdoch I’ve read, and one of the best books I’ve read ever, but I enjoyed this depiction of an odd little religious community nestled next to an abbey, whose bell tower is conspicuously lacking a bell. No one blends humor and philosophy like Murdoch.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham ★★★★☆ Competent but exceedingly predictable. I pretty much guessed where this was going at every turn, but I loved the Louisiana setting and I’m excited to read more by Willingham if her debut was this solid.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien ★★★★★ When I finished this, I fought the urge to google “how much of The Things They Carried was true,” which I think is both a natural curiosity that arises when reading this book and also one that completely undermines the point of this project. Really fascinating insights here about subjectivity and how to most accurately distill the brutalities of war down to a true story—how truth isn’t always in the details but in how the details make you feel. I was never assigned this in high school and then it fell off my radar, so I know I’m late to the game, but happy to have finally read this. I picked it up when in Chicago with my friend Jill this summer for an Oasis concert; there was quite a moving exhibition about the Vietnam War being hosted in the Chicago Public Library, which got us talking about Vietnam War literature.

Heartwood by Amity Gaige ★★☆☆☆ Very odd book. I don’t think this succeeded very well in the mystery aspect (the whereabouts of the missing hiker were ultimately not very interesting; one POV character was very trying on the reader’s patience), but what I found most intriguing about it was its depiction of the Covid-19 pandemic. I understand the impulse that a lot of writers have to skirt around the pandemic, or to mention it as an afterthought, but Gaige really delves into its psychological impact on both society and the individual in a way that I found refreshing. Unfortunately the rest of the book really did not hold up.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell ★★★☆☆ I’ve been enjoying Lisa Jewell this year and I expected this to be a standout based on its popularity, but I think I just don’t love cult narratives. I thought the twists and reveals of hidden identities were all well-executed and I don’t have much to fault it for except that I didn’t care much for the premise. I find that a lot of stories about cults just hit all of the same beats and this was no exception. I will still be reading the sequel, hopefully soon before I forget all the characters.

Escape! by Stephen Fishbach ★★★★★ Enjoyed this debut from Survivor contestant-turned-my-Twitter-mutual-turned-author, Stephen Fishbach, about a reality tv show modeled heavily on Survivor. Review to come for BookBrowse.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach ★★★★★ Stylistically this is nothing like My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but it reminded me of it because both books indulge in such an absurd fantasy that there’s a perverse sort of escapism to both reading experiences. What if I could sleep for a year? What if I could step on a plane and leave my whole life behind and reinvent myself? The Wedding People has an incredible hook: Phoebe, depressed, books a suite in an upscale hotel room that she can’t afford and plans to kill herself that evening—little does she know every other room in the hotel has been rented out by a wedding party, and the bride is none too pleased that her wedding is about to be ruined by this random suicidal girl. It’s funny, it’s refreshing, it’s surprisingly incisive, and it really challenged me to shift my perspective on certain aspects of life that usually go unexamined. I was not expecting to love this or feel its impact as much as I did.

The Red Tenda of Bologna by John Berger ★★★★★ I generally care a lot less than I used to about # of books read in a year, but when I noticed I’d read 49 books on December 31 I figured that would be a good excuse to read this tiny slip of a book that I was gifted a while back. I briefly lived in Bologna and it remains my favorite city in the world and Berger captures the atmosphere so, so well in this travel essay/meditation on the death of his uncle.

And with that I have officially reviewed all 50 books I read in 2025, which was a goal that I set myself in the middle of the year when I randomly decided to take up blogging again. This has been a good and successful experiment that I intend to continue into the new year, as long as it doesn’t start feeling like a chore again, but so far so good. If you’ve been reading these posts I think my best and worst books of the year are evident, but I may write those posts for old time’s sake.

Reading-wise I also intend to continue doing what I’ve been doing lately: using the library more, reading more books off my shelves, reading strictly one book at a time, not trying to chase the literary zeitgeist by prioritizing new releases constantly. I’ve currently got Discontent and Katabasis out from the library and then I think I’ll browse my shelves for my next read—I think I’ll try to read a very long book this month since January is interminable anyway.

I’ll ask about your best books of the year in my next post, so for now, what have you guys been reading lately?

Hello, happy fall! Let’s catch up.

Want to Know a Secret? by Freida McFadden ★★☆☆☆ (Mild spoilers ahead!) I enjoy an unreliable narrator, but I don’t love when a plot twist revolves around the fact that the narrator was straight up lying to the reader, I don’t think that’s much fun. (Ok, fine, explicit spoilers ahead.) It’s revealed in the end that April killed her elderly neighbor, but when we were reading in April’s POV, she had suspicions that Maria killed the neighbor…? Girl why are you suspicious if you know you did it?! Just a very badly constructed book in many ways—Freida’s thrillers are always a bit on the silly side, but this really pushes credulity past its breaking point. 

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy ★★☆☆☆ I really liked Migrations but I just found this one a little too unsubtle and didactic. The relationship between Dominic and Rowan I felt was a classic case of telling rather than showing—it’s such a large part of the story but I didn’t feel it or understand it. I really dislike the convention of using child characters to spoon feed complex subjects to the reader and I felt McConaghy leaned too heavily into this in her treatment of climate change. I’m also not sure I agree with anything this book has to say about the complicated decision to bring children into a world that’s burning—McConaghy’s take seems to be that it’s always worth it, and while I’m happy for those who feel that way, I don’t love the choice to illustrate this position through the character who spends most of the story diametrically opposed to it.

Coram House by Bailey Seybolt ★★★★☆ I enjoyed this! I love a Vermont setting when executed well and you can really tell Seybolt has spent time here. The story itself is based on the sexual abuse scandal in St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Burlington—I thought Seybolt researched and handled the subject well. Some of the character motivations felt a little lazily manufactured but that’s my only complaint. This was a decent way to spend a few hours.

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman ★★★★★ Finally a good fucking book. This is a challenging book to categorize or get to the root of—certain passages suggest that the whole project is an allegory for patriarchal oppression, but the way male characters were integrated throughout the story muddies that reading and I find the book all the more interesting and unsettling for that. For a book that holds so much back, I haven’t felt this rewarded by a reading experience in a while.

I Am You by Victoria Redel ★★★★★ Set in 1600s Amsterdam against the backdrop of the Dutch Golden Age, I Am You tells the story of still life painter Maria van Oosterwijck, as narrated by her servant Gerta. The complex, ever-evolving relationship between these women as well as the lush, evocative setting is what makes this historical fiction novel well worth a read. Full review here on BookBrowse.

The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers ★★★★★ I haven’t given a thriller 5 stars in a long time, and I’m just as surprised as you are that the book to finally receive this honor is by the host of the Crime Junkie podcast, but this just ticked all of my boxes. It’s gripping, the mystery is compelling, the characters are three-dimensional, the twists are well-executed, the ending is both emotionally upsetting and narratively satisfying—not sure what more I could ask for. (I am curious about how much of this Flowers wrote and how much was penned by her coauthor Alex Kiester, who I’d love to read more from.)

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall ★★★☆☆ The Reese Witherspoonification of Thomas Hardy. This rural melodrama is certainly compulsively readable and at times emotionally affecting, but when you put it up against Far From the Madding Crowd (which it’s impossible not to do when Hall lifts all of her characters’ names straight from Hardy’s work), it’s just a bit anemic. I was never fully convinced by these characters, particularly Gabriel, who doesn’t have a single flaw, apparently.

The Pretender by Jo Harkin ★★★★☆ I think you need to already have an interest in the Wars of the Roses going into this to enjoy it, which I most certainly do, thankfully, but this wasn’t quite the slam dunk I expected it to be for me. There’s a very long section of this book set in Ireland that ends up being the emotional crux of the novel, but that’s the section that I felt dragged the most, which is probably why I ended up not having a very strong emotional connection to this story. Still, it’s hard not to admire Harkin’s incredibly thorough research, and the offbeat, jaunty tone she sustains for nearly 500 pages. 

Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje ★★★★☆ After reading the first few chapters I assumed this was going to be a fairly standard Divorce Book, but it ended up having a lot more to offer, particularly in its examination of Croatia’s postwar economy. As a Divorce Book I don’t have much to fault it for—I think Hilje (writing in her second language, no less) does a great job of depicting the complex unraveling of two intertwined lives. My only criticism is that the emotional beats of the subplot didn’t totally dovetail with the main narrative—one wraps up and then the book somehow continues for another hundred or so pages, and it feels unbalanced. Still mostly very good, especially for a debut.

One by One by Freida McFadden ★★☆☆☆ This premise was just so insanely contrived to a point where I realize it’s not deserving of any of the brainpower I’m giving it but nonetheless, here is an abridged list of questions this inane book left me with.

Spoilers!

– How did Lindsay/Warner tamper with Claire’s battery?
– How could they guarantee exactly where Claire’s van would break down? If Noah had kept driving without hesitating it wouldn’t have stalled—then what??
– How did Lindsay and Warner guarantee that they’d pass by a blueberry bush, and that nobody else would eat any blueberries? And when Lindsay was faking her seizure, her skin was described as pale with a greenish hue—how did she manage that if she was faking?!
– Six fully grown adults manage to get lost in the woods for 3 days walking in circles in a 2-mile radius which begs a number of questions, but the one I keep coming back to is: Claire recognizes the same dead squirrel that she passes multiple times. Would she not be concerned that there’s no sign of Lindsay’s body where they left it?!
– If Noah was planning to use this trip to reconcile with Claire, why did he spend all morning antagonizing her even before she revealed that she got them separate bedrooms?
– If Michelle’s death was always just going to be collateral damage, why invite her on this trip? Why not convince Jack to let her stay behind and work, which she wanted to do anyway??

Two stars for entertainment value as always with Freida.

What have you guys been reading lately? I have so many of your blog posts to catch up on.

Hello, I’m back again! I can’t promise that I will be posting with any consistency, but I am making it a goal to review everything I read in 2025 at some point or another, so, let’s get caught up from where I left you.

The Crash by Freida McFadden ★★☆☆☆ A sort of riff off Misery that makes you wish you’d stuck with the original. For this premise to work, for us to believe that Tegan is truly trapped, we have to endure a lot of tedium, which is one thing that certainly can’t be said of the other McFadden books I’ve read–readability is kind of her whole thing. It’s still a perfectly fine way to spend a few hours but that’s about it.

Summer by Edith Wharton ★★★★☆ Jesus Christ, bleak as hell. Summer is only my second foray into Wharton after Ethan Frome, a novel I hate, but Eleanor promised this one is much better despite Wharton viewing the two novels as companions. It’s easy to see why she did so, but Elle was right, this is the superior work. Lush and beautifully crafted, it’s shockingly modern in a lot of ways (its frank and haunting depiction of the sexual threat Royall poses to Charity, as well as the way it depicts Charity’s own sexual desire; its sequence about seeking an abortion). This makes me rethink my previous ambivalence toward Wharton. I do want to read The Age of Innocence at some point as I adore the Scorsese film.

Siracusa by Delia Ephron ★★☆☆☆ Ok, well, for one thing, I’m annoyed at the misleading summary promising ‘Rashomon-style’ narration which implies that these characters’ recollections are going to contradict one another’s. That is not the case, this is just a run of the mill multiple-POV thriller—which is fine, I had just gone into this book expecting it to have more interesting aims so I was disappointed that that wasn’t the case. I did think Ephron’s deplorable characters were well-crafted, but I unfortunately didn’t click with her writing style at all—I couldn’t get over the impression that this book thought rather highly of itself. Sicily is my favorite place on earth but I didn’t think Ephron particularly brought the setting to life.

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney ★★★☆☆ Freida McFadden aside, I don’t read this type of thriller very often, where it’s plot twist after plot twist after plot twist (I generally gravitate toward more slow burn/character-driven type mysteries). The novelty of it was fun, but I’m not sure any of the ludicrous reveals in this book hold up to much scrutiny. Great setting and atmosphere, but I think I’m done with thrillers set on remote Scottish islands for a while (see: the new Paula Hawkins, which is the superior novel in just about every way).

Open, Heaven by Sean Hewitt ★★★★☆ A tender, slow-paced, nostalgic stroll through the narrator’s memories of his first love, a boy he knew when he was sixteen. Hewitt, with a background in poetry, has a gorgeous command of the English language, but the characters and setting are at times a bit overly archetypical. Still worth spending some time with. Full review here on BookBrowse.

Northern Spy by Flynn Berry ★★☆☆☆ I’m a fan of Flynn Berry’s writing—Under the Harrow is an underrated thriller that I still recommend—but this Northern Ireland-set IRA thriller was a letdown. I don’t think Berry did a great job contextualizing the conflict, which was sort of boiled down to Catholics vs. Protestants and felt like it was set in the 80s despite supposedly taking place in the present day (Good Friday Agreement, what Good Friday Agreement?!) It was also remarkably devoid of tension and the character motivations seemed paper thin.

Isola by Allegra Goodman ★★★★☆ I’m having a hard time working out my thoughts on this one. Yes, the story it’s based on is remarkable, but is that enough? (It is, I’m finding, for a lot of people—I’ve been taking note recently of how many people in my life recommend books by saying ‘and it’s based on a true story!’ as if that lends a story more value, and I suppose I just don’t think that way—which is more of an observation than a judgement.) Anyway, this is, of course, a great story written well, but I thought it lacked urgency. Placeholder 4 stars for the exceedingly competent writing and research.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid ★★☆☆☆ I made a grave error in thinking I would be the right reader for this book—I’ve enjoyed TJR in the past, enough to think that she was the kind of author who I’d be drawn to regardless of how suited the subject matter is to my personal tastes—only for me to reflect and realize the subjects of the three of her books I’ve read (Hollywood, 70s music, tennis) are ridiculously suited to my personal tastes. Space exploration, not so much. And while I knew the particularly science-heavy passages were going to drag for me, I did suspect that TJR’s character work would make up for it, but that just wasn’t the case. The domestic plotline involving the protagonist’s niece takes up too much space, and I found the romance very predictable–this is a book about discovering one’s sexuality, which is a great and important subject, but it does mean that the reader sees a lot of things before the main character, and when the romance does take off, it feels for the reader like retrodding already trodden ground.

The Compound by Aisling Rawle ★★★★★ Who was I to resist something that promises “Love Island meets Lord of the Flies“? Rawle immerses the reader in a positively diabolical reality tv show which is taking place amid a dystopian hellscape of a backdrop that hits a little too close to home for comfort. I absolutely devoured this. Full review here on BookBrowse.

The Tenant by Freida McFadden ★★☆☆☆ There’s just not a whole lot to say, all of her books are the exact same. A little goofy, compulsively readable, crazy twists, profoundly forgettable the minute you finish. I will probably read all of them.

How to Share an Egg by Bonny Reichert ★★★☆☆ This older man at my tennis club randomly gave me this book and said he thought I’d like it, and while it is sweet to be thought of in that way I’m not sure what the impetus behind this particular recommendation was. (Something about me is that I do not particularly care about food, I eat to live, not the other way around, so this “love letter to food” genre just isn’t for me, though I did think Crying in H-Mart was great.) Reichert’s dad’s story is a heartrending one, and when the focus is on him, Reichert’s writing shines. I understand the choice to structure the book the way she did and to interweave her own story with her father’s to echo what it was like to grow up under the shadow of the Holocaust, but it does necessarily mean that the finished result feels unbalanced.

Maame by Jessica George ★★★★★ I have coming-of-age novel fatigue, but this was a really special one, about a Ghanaian-British girl living in London trying to find herself. Jessica George has a really refreshing voice, capable of both humor and pathos, and Maddie is one of the more relatable protagonists I’ve encountered in this genre. I don’t tend to evaluate books on their relatability, but this one just hit extremely close to home in a lot of ways, and when you’ve read so much of this sort of narrative, I think the ones that do start to stand out are the ones that capture something about your own human experience.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing ★★★☆☆ The thing about me reading this book is that I work at a tennis club and my dad is a tennis pro and I am very familiar with the personality type that is shared by the tennis community at large and I could just NOT take the concept of a tennis pro serial killer seriously, but if you can get past that, I guess it’s fine? 

With a Vengeance by Riley Sager ★★★★☆ I was skeptical about this book for a lot of reasons. I’ve read everything Riley Sager has written and I’ve felt that he’s been going downhill for years (his debut Final Girls remains the standout to me of his 9 novels), and I also don’t tend to love mysteries told in the style of Agatha Christie, because no one does it as well as her so why even bother. But for whatever reason, this ultimately worked for me after a sort of slow start. Fusing elements of And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express, Sager adds his own twist to this premise with pretty entertaining results.

What Hunger by Catherine Dang ★★★★★ A macabre cannibal horror story but also a sharp look at intergenerational trauma. Dang fuses elements of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and Jennifer’s Body which sounds like a tall order but somehow it coheres seamlessly. Full review here on BookBrowse.

What have you guys been reading lately, any recs? Thoughts on the Booker longlist?