Title: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter Author: Stephen Graham Jones Publisher: Saga Press Publication date: March 18, 2025 Length: 448 pages Genre: Horror / historical fiction Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians comes a tale of the American West, writ in blood.
This chilling historical novel is set in the nascent days of the state of Montana, following a Blackfeet Indian named Good Stab as he haunts the fields of the Blackfeet Nation looking for justice.
It begins when a diary written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall in 2012. What is unveiled is a slow massacre, a nearly forgotten chain of events that goes back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow, told in the transcribed interviews with Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar and unnaturally long life over a series of confessional visits.
This is an American Indian revenge story, captured in the vivid voices of the time, by one of the new masters of literary horror, Stephen Graham Jones.
Unpopular opinion time: This story of a vampire seeking revenge for the massacre of his people, the Blackfeet of Montana, should have been right up my alley… and yet, I had to force myself to stick with it and slog my way through to the end.
This book has an endless number of rave reviews, including from media sources and bloggers I tend to align with. And yet, it just didn’t work for me.
There’s a great premise: A newly discovered diary left behind by a Lutheran pastor in 1912 reveals a shocking set of confessions from a Blackfeet named Good Stab. Good Stab seeks out Arthur Beaucarne to share the story of his unnaturally long life, his transformation into a vampire, and the punishments he’s meted out to those he deems responsible for murdering his people.
And yet, I found myself disengaged and frustrated throughout much of the book. There are some compelling and horrifying set pieces, some very moving interludes as Good Stab recounts what’s happened to the Blackfeet and to the buffalos… and yet, the story he tells is full of names, places, and incidents that loop and cross, sometimes dropping important pieces of information into long bits of a tale so that they get more or less buried. I found it confusing to track the who and how and why of many of the developments, and ultimately ended up caring far less than I should have, with what should have been big revelations falling flat.
I’m definitely in the minority on this one. By the end, I just wanted it all to be over.
Title: The Impossible Fortune Series: The Thursday Murder Club, #5 Author: Richard Osman Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books Publication date: September 30, 2025 Length: 368 pages Genre: Mystery Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Who’s got time to think about murder when there’s a wedding to plan?
It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favorite criminal.
But when Elizabeth meets Nick, a wedding guest asking for her help, she finds the thrill of the chase is ignited once again. And when Nick disappears without a trace, his cagey business partner becomes the gang’s next stop. It seems the duo have something valuable—something worth killing for.
Joyce’s daughter, Joanna, jumps into the fray to help the gang as they seek answers: Has someone kidnapped Nick? And what’s this uncrackable code they keep hearing about? Plunged back into action once more, can the four friends solve the puzzle and a murder in time?
It’s always a treat to pick up another Thursday Murder Club book — and now that I’ve finished The Impossible Fortune, I’m all caught up!
This installment picks up a year after the events of book #4, The Last Devil to Die. The gang is as close as ever, but they’re getting a bit itchy to solve more murders. When Joyce’s daughter Joanna’s wedding rolls around, the best man reaches out to Elizabeth for help. He thinks someone is trying to kill him… and based on the bomb placed under his car, it looks like he’s right.
As the group dig into Nick’s worries, they learn about a top-secret storage facility, a potential fortune in Bitcoin, possibly double-crossing business partners and investors, and all sorts of shady secrets. Meanwhile, their personal lives have unanticipated complications, and while Joyce is beaming with joy ever time she gets to mention that she now has a son-in-law, she’s also more than ready to interrogate suspects over tea and baked goods.
The writing in The Impossible Fortune is as clever as always, full of sharp little twists and plenty of humor.
Connie would love to get married. Perhaps she should do something about that? What she really needs is a Tinder for criminals. Everyone could use their most recent mugshot.
The crime is twisty and well-constructed, with a handful of suspects and more than a few red herrings. Meanwhile, there are bad guys to be dealt with, as only our group of septuagenarians can. And even amongst the good guys, there’s room for words of wisdom and the occasional dose of snark.
“We’re not going to be dissuaded,” says Ron. “Don’t try.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” says Elizabeth. “You go right ahead. Perhaps they’ll put you all in the same prison? That would make it easier to visit.”
“No one’s going to prison,” says Jason.
Elizabeth nods, reassured. “I wonder if anyone who ever said that before actually did end up in prison? Surely not.”
The 5th book in a series is obviously not the place to start… but take my word for it, it’s absolutely worth the time to start at the beginning and then keep going. I’ve enjoyed every moment with this terrific cast of characters, and I’m only sorry that I’ve run out of Thursday Murder Club books to read. According to the author’s notes, there’s more to come, although I haven’t seen anything definite yet about an expected date for another book. Whenever it does come along, I’ll be waiting!
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Title: The Poisoned King Series: Impossible Creatures, #2 Author: Katherine Rundell Narrator: Samuel West Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers Publication date: September 11, 2025 Print length: 304 pages Audio length: 7 hours 6 minutes Genre: Middle grade fantasy Source: Purchased Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Return to the magic of the Archipelago in the dazzling sequel to the runaway, #1 New York Times bestseller Impossible Creatures, hailed as “an instant classic” (Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal Winner for The One and Only Ivan)!
Christopher Forrester woke to find a dragon chewing on his face—and his heart leapt for joy! He’d been dreaming of going back to the Archipelago, the secret cluster of islands where all the creatures of myth still live, and here was his summons.
But there is a poison spreading in the Archipelago. Rooting it out will involve a daring rescue mission on the back of a sphinx, a stealthy entrance to a dragon’s lair, and a death-defying plan to save a prisoner held in the heart of a castle. At the center of this storm is Anya: a small girl with a flock of birds at her side, a new-hatched chick in her pocket, and a ravenous hunger for justice.
Katherine Rundell’s second thrilling installment in the Impossible Creatures series involves castles, dragons, and revenge—the things of which great stories are made. The splendors within are brought to life with more than fifty illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures.
As The Poisoned King opens, a teen-aged boy named Christopher is woken by a dragon chewing on his nose. Which is less dangerous than it sounds — this is a Jaculus dragon, a creature the size of a sparrow, but with an outsized sense of its own importance. Jacques — the dragon — has come with a summons: Christopher is required to come with him to the Archipelago immediately. Someone is poisoning the great dragons, and there’s no time to lose.
What is the Archipelago? It’s a magical world comprising many large and small islands, inhabited by an astonishing variety of humans and creatures, hidden from our own world and accessible only through certain connecting locations known as waybetweens. Waybetweens are protected and kept safe by Guardians, of which Christopher’s grandfather is one — as Christopher learned the previous summer while visiting him at his remote home in Scotland, which led to Christopher’s grand, dramatic adventures in Impossible Creatures.
Christopher is a good, brave person who would never ignore a call for help, so he returns to the Archipelago to discover that things are even worse than he feared. Upon arrival, he’s met by a sphinx, who instructs him that he has a detour to make before proceeding to the dragons: A princess named Anya is in desperate need of rescue, and his mission and her plight are bound together.
And so we meet Anya Argen, granddaughter of the king of the island of Dousha. Anya’s father has raised her far from the castle, free to explore the forest they both love and spend time with the creatures who live there. When the King insists that she learn to behave like a proper princess, they’re forced to return to the castle, much to Anya’s dismay. As the story opens, the King is murdered, and her father — heir to the throne — is framed for the crime, leaving the way clear for his younger brother to act as Regent until Anya comes of age to rule herself. But her uncle Claude is not a patient man, and Anya finds her own life threatened.
As Christopher and Anya’s journeys connect, they join forces to unravel the mystery of what’s happened to the dragons while also laying plans to keep Anya alive and rescue her father, now imprisoned and sentenced to death for the murder of the King. Their quest takes them to new and old friends, and brings them into contact with even more fascinating magical creatures, while also giving them time to develop trust, friendship, and loyalty to one another.
The Poisoned King is a terrific second book in this captivating middle grade series. It has the surprises and delights of encountering magical worlds and beings, journeying through lands with rules and customs so different from our own, and seeing two young humans struggle to fix situations that have gone very badly.
Christopher is as lovely as ever, and Anya is a compelling addition to this fictional world. She’s complex and spiky; her desperate need to save her father is paired with a burning thirst for vengeance, and we see her grapple with the idea of revenge and what its impact might be on the type of person she is and wants to be.
The Poisoned King isn’t quite as glorious as Impossible Creatures — but that’s to be expected in the 2nd book of a series. Impossible Creatures introduced us to a new magical world and its wonders; The Poisoned King tells another story in that world, but lacks just a bit of the awe that comes with a world-building introduction. That said, The Poisoned King is very good, and is a worthy successor to such a stellar first book.
As with Impossible Creatures, I listened to the audiobook, narrated by actor Samuel West (currently starring in All Creatures Great and Small as Siegfried Farnon). He is an amazing voice actor, with delightful voices for Christopher, Anya, and all the various creatures, from tiny dragon Jacques to a deadly manticore and more. I did have a bit of trouble understanding one or two non-human characters due to the pitch of their voices, but that was only for a fraction of the audiobook experience, and didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment at all.
Repeating my reading note from Impossible Creatures: While I loved the audiobook experience, I strongly encourage anyone going that route to also follow along with a print edition. The book is filled with beautiful black and white illustrations by artist Ashley Mackenzie that add so much to the story. A bestiary at the end of the book gives more in-depth explanations of the various creatures in the book, from Batrachomyomachian Mouse to Winged Unicorn, accompanied by illustrations for each. The visual delights of this book should not be missed!
I loved returning to the world of Impossible Creatures, and highly recommend The Poisoned King (but do start with the first book!). A third book, The Neverfear, is scheduled for publication in fall 2026, and I absolutely plan to read it.
The Neverfear (Impossible Creatures, #3) Release date: September 1, 2026
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Title: And Then There Was You Author: Sophie Cousens Narrator: Kerry Gilbert Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Publication date: November 18, 2025 Print length: 352 pages Audio length: 9 hours 10 minutes Genre: Contemporary romance Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
She’s found the perfect man . . . There’s just one big twist.
Stuck in a Production Assistant job and living at home with her parents after a painful breakup, thirty-one-year-old Chloe Fairway isn’t where she wants to be in life. The last thing she needs is to face the people who once voted her “most likely to succeed” at her upcoming ten-year college reunion. And she definitely doesn’t want to see her former best friend, Sean Adler, who is now a hotshot film director living the life Chloe dreamed of. Desperate to make a splash—and to save face in front of the man who might be the one that got away—she turns to a mysterious dating service.
Enter Rob, her handsome, well-read, and charming match, the perfect plus-one to take to her reunion. The more she gets to know him, the more perfect he appears to be. Could it be that this dating service knows her better than she knows herself? And can she overlook the one big catch? As Chloe reconnects with old friends, she begins to question everything she thought she wanted. Maybe, just maybe, revisiting the past is exactly what she needs to move forward.
After really enjoying my last audiobook by Sophie Cousens (Is She Really Going Out With Him?), I grabbed her newest when I saw it was available through the library. And while I enjoy her upbeat storytelling and the terrific narration by Kerry Gilbert, this romance had certain elements that just didn’t work for me.
Ten years after graduating from Oxford, Chloe feels like a failure. Once considered most likely to succeed, sure of a brilliant career ahead of her as an actress and playwright, Chloe now lives with her parents and works as the personal assistant to a highly unpleasant man at a mediocre production company. All of her old schoolmates have gone on to do amazing things, especially Sean, once her best friend and writing partner, now practically a stranger, who’s a big-time Hollywood director. With the reunion looming, Chloe’s instinct is to hide and avoid it all. A chance encounter with a friend who seems to be radiantly happy leads Chloe to an exclusive matchmaking company that promises to find her the man of her dreams, someone who’ll be perfect for her. And when Chloe meets Rob, they just click. He’s gorgeous, smart, and sweet… so maybe attending the reunion with this impressive guy on her arm will be just the confidence boost that Chloe needs?
There’s a catch, of course… and here’s where I’m going to insert a big, fat…
SPOILER ALERT!
I’m guessing Goodreads reviews will already have spilled the beans, but in case you don’t want to know, here’s where to look away.
Seriously!
I’m going to get into the details of what I really did not like about this book.
SPOILERS COMING RIGHT NOW!
Okay, you’ve been warned.
The reason that Rob seems perfect for Chloe is that… he is. Rob is an AI robot created to Chloe’s exact specifications, based on an exhaustive questionnaire that she’s required to complete as part of her intake at the matchmaking company. She (and we) have no idea what she’s signing up for until after she’s signed an NDA and is introduced to Rob, who instantly impresses her with his good lucks, excellent manners, and sensitivity. He’s everything she thinks she wants in a man… because he’s been built and programmed that way.
Taking Rob to her reunion seems like a crazy idea. And it is. Convincing herself that she could have a future with Rob also seems ridiculous. And it is. Chloe spends a lot of mental energy trying to figure out whether a robot boyfriend might be her best bet for a happy life. Meanwhile, the entire reunion weekend is rife with moments when Rob’s perfection or stilted manners or weird affect threatens to reveal Chloe’s secret and undermine everything she’s trying to achieve.
From the moment of the reveal about what Rob really is (somewhere around the 15% mark), I was kind of over this book. I stuck with it because I liked certain elements of the story — but this was very nearly a DNF. The sad thing is that I don’t think this story needed the robot storyline at all. Rob could have simply been a date-for-hire, and the plot could have played out practically the same way. The AI/robot piece is a distracting novelty that just doesn’t work at all.
It’s a shame, because there are other elements that are very good. Who can’t relate to the feeling that everyone else is doing better at life than you are? Or the anxiety of reuniting with people who were once the center of your world? It’s not exactly surprising that at the reunion, Chloe discovers romantic feelings for an old friend and learns secrets that change what she thought she knew about their past. This part was very good! I liked Chloe’s process of understanding her past, admitting where she’d made mistakes, and getting past the roadblocks that had her feeling stuck professionally and emotionally.
END SPOILERS
All in all, And Then There Was You has some very engaging bits and pieces that unfortunately get swamped by a ridiculous overarching storyline. Sticking with this book all the way to the end tried my patience, despite the great audiobook narration and the generally interesting, quirky characters. The clever and entertaining bits just can’t save an unconvincing storyline. My eyes hurt from too much rolling.
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Title: Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon Author: Matthew Norman Narrators: Alex Finke, Jay Myers Publisher: Random House Publication date: October 14, 2025 Print length: 337 pages Audio length: 8 hours 43 minutes Genre: Contemporary fiction Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
A sentimental advertising creative and a blunt, no-nonsense bar owner find a second chance at love while binge-watching iconic holiday movies in this poignant and heartwarming romance, from the author of Charm City Rocks and All Together Now.
“Norman weaves nostalgic references to modern holiday classics . . . throughout this comforting romance.”—The Washington Post (Noteworthy Books of the Month)
The new year had barely begun when Grace White and Henry Adler both lost their spouses. Now, nearly a year later, the first holiday season since their “Great and Terrible Sadnesses” approaches. Although their mothers scheme to matchmake the two surviving spouses, it’s clear that neither is ready to date again. Yet no one understands what they are going through better than each other, and a delicate friendship is born.
When Henry sees an ad for a Christmas movie marathon—once an annual tradition for him and his wife—Grace offers to watch some films with him, despite her aversion to a few of his picks. Her two young kids, Ian and Bella, also join in whenever possible—bedtimes permitting, of course.
With each movie, Grace and Henry’s shared grief eases as they start to see a life beyond the sadness. But as they draw closer, other romantic possibilities leave them uncertain about their future together. Is their bond merely the result of loneliness and shared circumstances, or have they found something that’s worth taking a shot at . . . again?
Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon was an unusual pick for me — I don’t tend to read a lot of holiday-themed fiction, especially when it’s not even the holiday season! And yet… the charming title caught my eye, and then the story drew me in.
Grace and Henry both suffered terrible losses at the beginning of the year: Grace’s husband Tim died after a fast-moving cancer diagnosis, and Henry’s wife Bryn died in a shocking plane crash. Now, as the holidays approach, neither is doing particularly well. Grace is busy with her two children Ian and Bella (and their hilariously-named dog Harry Styles), but she spends most of her down time in her Costco sweats talking with the version of her dead husband who lives in her head. Henry can’t bring himself to return to the home he shared with his wife, so he’s rented a mostly empty apartment but mainly hangs out in his parents’ basement playing Mario Kart.
When Henry’s mom asks him to pop over to Grace’s mom’s house to “fix the internet” (which isn’t working due to a sneakily unplugged modem), Henry and Grace are helpless in the face of motherly matchmaking. Neither are interested in being fixed up or even considering dating again, but they do recognize that they might actually fit together as friends. As they talk about holiday movies, they find common ground, and soon, Henry is popping by for family movie nights, and then hanging out with Grace and the kids to help with Ian’s art projects, free captive mice (don’t ask), and discovering a mutual friendship that helps them all start finding a little joy in their lives.
I suppose most people would shelve this as a romance — and yes, of course there’s an underlying romance brewing slowly between Henry and Grace. But that, to me, isn’t the main point. The story overall is much more about loss and grieving, about the process of remembering and letting go, about finding ways to move on when everything you expected for your life is taken away.
The narrative is organized by the movies Henry and Grace watch, together and separately, as the holiday season advances. There are plenty of fun little references to a wide range of holiday (and holiday-adjacent) movies, from Die Hard and Edward Scissorhands to Love Actually, The Holiday, The Family Stone, and more. Point-of-view chapters shift between Henry and Grace; the audiobook has a narrator for each, and both are terrific at voicing the lead and supporting characters and adding humor (and sadness) as the story progresses.
I found both characters’ stories to be quite moving, each loss awful in its own way. Grace is forced to carry on for the sake of her children and does a wonderful job, but there’s a sadness in their home that they can’t quite overcome. Henry’s loneliness is different yet also deep and real. It’s easy to see why these two need one another, first as “grief buddies”, then as friends, to get through the worst of times — or even just normal days when a sudden memory or association can knock them out of orbit. Their ability to understand one another’s pain forms the backbone of what becomes a beautiful support system.
I also appreciated how well both Grace and Henry are supported by their families and friends. While their well-meaning mothers may be pushing a bit too hard for them to get back into the dating world, it’s clear that the people who love them want to help — somehow — and are often stuck on how to do it.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Baltimore, the book’s setting, feels like a living, breathing character in this charming story. Grace and Henry have rich, deep connections to the city and the community, and it comes to sparkling life on every page.
All in all, I truly enjoyed Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon. The holiday spirit, the sense of fun, and the straightforward treatment of loss and grieving all contribute to making this sweet book feel like something special. The audiobook delivery is terrific — but in whatever format, I think this is a book well worth picking up and experiencing.
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Title: Cold as Hell Series: Haven’s Rock, #3 Author: Kelley Armstrong Publisher: Minotaur Books Publication date: February 18, 2025 Length: 341 pages Genre: Thriller/mystery Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
SPOILERS AHOY: Even the synopsis for this book is spoilery, so if you prefer to know nothing in advance, skip the details below!
New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong returns to Haven’s Rock in Cold as Hell as Casey Butler hunts down a dangerous killer during a deadly blizzard.
Haven’s Rock is a sanctuary town hidden deep in the Yukon for those who need to disappear from the regular world. Detective Casey Duncan and her husband, Sheriff Eric Dalton, are starting a family now that they’ve settled into their life here. As Casey nears the end of her pregnancy, she lets nothing, including her worried husband, stop her from investigating what happens in the forbidden forest outside the town of Haven’s Rock.
When one of the town’s residents is drugged and wanders too close to the edge of town, she’s dragged into the woods kicking and screaming. She’s saved in the nick of time, but the women of the town are alarmed. Casey and Eric investigate the assault just as a snowstorm hits Haven’s Rock, covering the forest. It’s there they find a frozen body, naked in the snow. With mixed accounts of the woman’s last movements, the two begin to question who they can trust—and who they can’t—in their seemingly safe haven.
Is it enough for me to review Cold as Hell by saying THIS IS ANOTHER EXCELLENT HAVEN’S ROCK STORY and just leave it at that?
No?
Okay, then… As I’ve said repeatedly, I’m a big fan of pretty much everything I’ve read by Kelley Armstrong, fell head over heels for her Rockton series, and am now tearing my way through the Rockton spin-off series, Haven’s Rock. This 3rd Haven’s Rock book is just as terrific as all the rest, and its particularly high stakes had me on the edge of my seat throughout.
As I do whenever I discuss these books, I’ll provide a summary of the premise in a tiny little nutshell:
Husband/wife, sheriff/detective team Eric and Casey now have their first set of residents in their secret little town of Haven’s Rock, a remote place deep in the Yukon wilderness, where people needing safety and anonymity can hide away for a few years. There are rules, of course — no cell phones, no contact with the outside world, do your share of work, and stay out of the forest! That last piece can be hardest to enforce. For newcomers, the dangers of being outside town limits aren’t necessarily as obvious as they should be, which is why Eric and Casey have their hands full keeping people safe.
In Cold as Hell, several months have past since the events of the previous book, The Boy Who Cried Bear. It’s March, still a very cold time in the Yukon wilderness, but there are signs that spring may be poking its head out in the coming months. The town is functioning well, with some more recent arrivals bringing the total population up to about seventy, including staff, individual residents, and a small number of couples and families.
I’ll add ONE MORE SPOILER ALERT at this point. While I won’t give away secrets related to the central mystery plot of Cold as Hell, the status of some of the main characters will be a spoiler for anyone who hasn’t gotten to this point in the series yet. You have been warned! Ready?
OK, the big development here is that Casey is about eight months pregnant. It hasn’t been easy — due to the attack she survived in her teens, doctors have never been sure that she’d be able to get pregnant, and if she did, whether she could carry a pregnancy to term. She’s had a couple of scares, but at this point, she’s approaching what would be considered a safe delivery date. While Casey’s physician sister April is now a resident of the town and available to provide care if needed, the plan is for Casey and Eric to fly to White Horse — where the region’s major medical center is located — well in advance of her due date.
Casey and Eric should know by now that their plans never seem to go exactly as intended. When one town resident is roofied and then rescued from an attempted kidnapping and assault, tracking down the perpetrator is the most urgent priority. And when this crime is followed by another resident going missing during a blizzard, only to be found frozen to death outside the town limits, a full-scale murder investigation is required. With Casey under strict orders to limit physical exertion, there’s only so much she can take on, and she finds herself frustrated by not being able to fulfill her responsibilities as town detective, even though she’s well aware that her and her baby’s well-being have to come first.
The murder in Cold as Hell is particularly horrific, as are the details we later learn about other crimes the perpetrator may have committed. Meanwhile, Casey’s investigation is fascinating. As she herself acknowledges, this is essentially a locked-room mystery: Given the town’s isolation as well as the recent blizzard, the only real answer is that the murderer is someone living within Haven’s Rock — possibly a close friend or ally. With fingers pointing in both expected and unexpected directions, and the very strong possibility that the killer could strike again, Casey and Eric have to work around the clock to solve the case, while making sure that she doesn’t overdo anything and put herself at risk.
The mystery is incredibly well structured and plotted, with the myriad twists and turns that are hallmarks of this series. Nothing is obvious, and when the answers finally come, they’re all most too much to take in… not that the plot isn’t believable, just that the resolution isn’t one I ever saw coming.
I did have a bit of a quibble with a plot decision, which — I get it! — may feel necessary in terms of ratcheting up the stakes and the excitement, but which left me totally appalled at the characters’ decision-making. FURTHER SPOILER ALERT: Just when I was thinking to myself that this would be the rare book in the series where Casey herself wasn’t in direct physical danger because of her investigation… she’s back in danger! Casey and Eric had already left town to get her situated nearer to medical care… and then they go back to Haven’s Rock when a scary new fact comes to light about the case! Again, I do get that for drama’s sake, you really can’t beat having the pregnant lady rushing (or waddling) back into danger… but Eric could have gone without her! Is it really believable that she’d rush out into the wilderness to chase further clues and hide the fact that she’s going into labor so as not to interrupt the tracking? Noooooo…. but I loved the book anyway.
OK, wrapping this all up. Cold as Hell blew me away! I was completely absorbed by the crime/thriller aspects, and just as drawn in by Casey and Eric’s personal story. Plus, it’s always good spending time in Haven’s Rock, even if it’s just to see how everyone is staying busy these days (although daily life in Haven’s Rock is never ordinary or without fresh surprises). Kelley Armstrong has built a well-developed little world in this series, and each book provides fresh insight into what the experience of actually living there might feel like.
Book #4, First Sign of Danger, is being released this week! I plan to dive in ASAP… but then I’ll be caught up, and I’m feeling torn about that. On the one hand, I’ve loved every moment of exploring the world of the Rockton and Haven’s Rock books… but on the other hand, I know I’ll hate the moment when I realize that there are no further books in the series for me to read — presumably, until another new installment gets released next year.
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The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?
In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register the birth of her son. Her husband, Gordon, respected in the community but a controlling presence at home, intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and name the baby after him. But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates….
Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of their lives, shaped by Cora’s last-minute choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities for autonomy and healing.
Through a prism of what-ifs, Florence Knapp invites us to consider the “one … precious life” we are given. Full of hope, this is the story of three names, three versions of a life, and the infinite possibilities that a single decision can spark. It is the story of one family and love’s endless capacity to endure, no matter what fate has in store.
The Names is a fascinating look at decisions and possibilities:
Yes, people’s lives bump and collide and we send one another spinning off in different directions. But that’s life. It’s not unique to you. We each make our own choices.
Before going further:
Content warning: While I don’t typically read or provide content warnings, I do feel it’s important to make clear that this book deals very heavily with domestic violence and abuse.
I had no idea what to expect when I picked up The Names. I knew it made a lot of “best of” lists for 2025 and had been a Goodreads Choice nominee. I vaguely knew that the plot had to do with deciding what to name a baby. Not much to go on! So I was both surprised and pleased to find myself completely immersed in this unusual, moving story.
As the book opens, Cora is on the way to the registrar’s office to officially register the birth and name of her newborn son, accompanied by her nine-year-old daughter Maia. Cora and her husband have already picked a name — he’ll be called Gordon, just like his father and grandfather before him. But as mother and daughter walk, they start to talk. Cora shares that she likes the name Julian, which means “sky father” — and the “father” element could be a nod to her husband while not passing on the actual traditional name. And Maia, full of creativity and whimsy, says that if she could pick, she’d name him Bear — because “it sounds all soft and cuddly and kind […] but also, brave and strong.”
From there, the story splits in three, providing three chapters in the immediate aftermath of the registrar’s office — Bear, Julian, and Gordon. In each, we see the consequences and fallout of Cora’s naming decision. How does her life — and Maia’s, and the baby’s — change depending on what she named him? The structure of the book follows this three-branched approach, moving forward in seven-year increments, each one showing this new period with Bear, Julian, and Gordon versions of their lives.
I’m not providing details, as it would spoil much too much to go into the specifics of the variations, how very different each version of their lives is, and why their lives develop as they do. This is a book that should be allowed to unfold for the reader, without foreknowledge or expectations. There are beautiful moments as well as pain, sorrow, and regrets. The characters are complex, and the ramifications of their choices are shown through the textures of the lives they live.
As I stated in the content warning, domestic abuse is the driving force — the origin story, in a way — for much of what happens, as well as the secret weight behind Cora’s naming choice. The violence isn’t gratuitous in any way, but it is painful to read, making certain sections of the book feel practically overwhelming.
Still, at its core, The Names is a story about love and family, finding beauty in life and in the people who we care about. It’s fascinating, powerful, and deeply emotional. I’ll be thinking about this book long after closing the cover. Highly recommended.
Purchase links: Amazon – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
Title: A Jane Austen Year: Celebrating 250 Years of Jane Austen Authors: Jane Austen’s House curators Publisher: Pitkin Publication date: March 11, 2025 Length: 208 pages Genre: Non-fiction Source: Purchased Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
This beautifully illustrated book charts the life of one of the world’s most beloved authors through the letters, objects, and manuscripts that shaped her life.
Published in partnership with the curators of Jane Austen’s House, the enchanting Hampshire cottage where Jane Austen’s genius flourished that now attracts thousands of visitors every year.
Arranged over the course of a calendar year, from snowy scenes in January to festive recipes in December, specially commissioned photography of Austen’s home and possessions are brought together with extracts from her books, reproductions of her letters, and stories of her life throughout the seasons. Highlights include the first time Austen read a published copy of Pride and Prejudice to an enraptured audience in her drawing room, affectionate letters to her sister Cassandra reproduced in full and an exquisite miniature portrait of Tom Lefroy, the man she nearly married.
Read this book for a unique and intimate insight into Austen’s world. Dip into it as you will, or visit each month, and enjoy a full year of Austen—her life, works and letters, people and objects she knew, and of course her idyllic, inspiring home.
Note: Photos from book page on Amazon and the Jane Austen House website, plus a few photos I took myself…
If you’re looking for a special gift for the Austen-lover in your life — or if you’re just in the mood to treat yourself! — then look no further! A Jane Austen Year is a gorgeous illustrated book that’s perfect for anyone who loves the works and world of Jane Austen.
Put together by the curators of Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, this coffee table book is a delight to read through cover to cover, or simply to open at random to enjoy a page or two at a time.
The book is organized by month, highlighting a combination of historical events in the author’s life, seasonal references from her books, letters she wrote at that time of year, and other tidbits about the environment and the countryside where she lived. Photos, recipes, and book excerpts offer something different on every page.
I read through A Jane Austen Year over the course of about a week and a half, reading one month at a time, and savoring the photos and other content. The monthly approach is an interesting way to organize the material. I suppose it could be a bit confusing, since as a whole it’s not chronological — Jane’s birth and death, for example, are discussed in the months when they occur, as are other events from her life, so that we’re constantly jumping between years. That’s okay: If you’re looking for a biography of Jane Austen, this isn’t it. Nor does it pretend to be!
A Jane Austen Year truly is what its subtitle promises — a celebration. The variety of material is an absolute treat, which left me hungry for an opportunity to finally travel to Chawton and visit the Jane Austen House!
I’ll close by sharing a few photos that I took while leafing through the book one more time:
Title: 107 Days Author: Kamala Harris Narrators: Kamala Harris Publisher: Simon & Schuster Publication date: September 23, 2025 Print length: 304 pages Audio length: 9 hours 58 minutes Genre: Non-fiction / political memoir Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
For the first time, and with surprising and revealing insights, former Vice President Kamala Harris tells the story of one of the wildest and most consequential presidential campaigns in American history.
Your Secret Service code name is Pioneer. You are the first woman in history to be elected vice president of the United States. On July 21, 2024, your running mate, Joe Biden, announces that he will not be seeking reelection. The presidential election will occur on November 5, 2024. You have 107 days.
From the chaos of campaign strategy sessions to the intensity of debate prep under relentless scrutiny and the private moments that rarely make headlines, Kamala Harris offers an unfiltered look at the pressures, triumphs, and heartbreaks of a history-defining race. With behind-the-scenes details and a voice that is both intimate and urgent, this is more than a political memoir—it’s a chronicle of resilience, leadership, and the high stakes of democracy in action.
Written with candor, a unique perspective, and the pace of a page-turning novel, 107 Days takes you inside the race for the presidency as no one has ever done before.
In 107 Days, Kamala Harris takes us through her experiences during the dramatic presidential campaign of 2024… from the day Joe Biden officially dropped out of the race and she became the Democratic candidate for president through election day (and slightly beyond). Day by day, she shares the highs and low of the campaign trail, as well as personal reflections on her career, her family, and the hopes she carried into the race for president.
It’s a revealing look behind the scenes. If nothing else, listening to this audiobook gives me a new-found appreciation for how much candidates endure for the sake of their party and their country. The lack of privacy or downtime is astounding, as is the absolutely intense scrutiny of every word and every gesture.
I suspect how you react to this book will depend largely on how you voted in the 2024 election. If you weren’t a Harris supporter then, I’m sure you’ll either avoid this book or find plenty to criticize. As someone who voted for Harris, I found a deeper sense of appreciation for her expertise, sense of values, and commitment to a campaign that was an uphill battle from the start.
Early critics of this book seem to take Harris to task for not owning more of the failures of the campaign. I don’t believe that’s entirely fair. She does examine the ways in which her messages didn’t land, places where she wishes she could go back and rephrase or re-do a key interview or speech. She reminds the reader/listener continuously of just how little time there was to campaign — hence the book’s title. Sure, she could go deeper on content: Were there themes or issues that her campaign didn’t fully embrace, or where they miscalculated the importance to voters? Endless political analyses post-election say yes, but these do not get addressed in depth in this book.
Still, what she does reveal is informative. The odds were always stacked against such an abbreviated campaign. Harris is careful to hold back on criticisms of Biden — for the most part — although it’s clear that some of his actions, statements, and decisions caused great frustration and obstacles for her as a candidate. It was interesting to hear about her approach to combatting the lies and slurs directed toward her by the opposition, refusing to engage in rebuttals and keeping the focus on her own agenda and values.
While there are sweeter moments shared, including time with her family and her husband, I could perhaps have done without an analysis of how and why she felt let down by her husband’s lack of plans for her birthday. But other than that, there’s a warmth that comes through while talking about her loved ones that helps ground this book in a sense of Harris’s commitment to people and community, not just to political success.
Overall, I’m not sure that I learned a whole lot from this book that I hadn’t come across, one way or another, during the presidential race or afterward, but I did find it an interesting, informative listen, and I’m glad I experienced it.
Purchase links: Amazon – Audible – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
Title: All Better Now Author: Neal Shusterman Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Publication date: February 4, 2025 Length: 528 pages Genre: Young adult dystopian/Science fiction Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
From New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman comes a “thought-provoking and grimly enjoyable” (Kirkus Reviews) “epic biological thriller” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) about a world where happiness is contagious but the risks of catching it may be just as dangerous as the cure.
A deadly and unprecedented virus is spreading. But those who survive it experience long-term effects no one has ever seen before: utter contentment. Soon after infection, people find the stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings that used to weigh them down are gone.
More and more people begin to revel in the mass unburdening. But not everyone. People in power—who depend on malcontents and prey on the insecure to sell their products, and convince others they need more, new, faster, better everything—know this new state of being is bad for business. Surely, without anger or jealousy as motivators, productivity will grind to a halt and the world will be thrown into chaos. Campaigns start up to convince people that being eternally happy is dangerous. The race to find a vaccine begins. Meanwhile, a growing movement of Recoverees plans ways to spread the virus as fast as they can, in the name of saving the world.
It’s nearly impossible to determine the truth when everyone with a platform is pushing their agenda. Three teens from very different backgrounds who’ve had their lives upended in very different ways find themselves at the center of a power play that could change humanity forever.
All Better Now is a propulsive page-turner about viral contagion, with an incredibly interesting premise that provides all sorts of food for thought.
In this YA sci-fi thriller, a virus known as Crown Royale is sweeping the globe. It’s only been a few years since the last pandemic; no one wants to go back to lockdowns and mask mandates. Crown Royale is highly contagious and has about a 4% mortality rate for those infected. People who test positive for the virus experience dramatically high fevers and other dangerous symptoms. But in some ways, it’s the aftereffects that are most shocking.
Crown Royale recoverees are… well… different. Without exception, recoverees are happy and peaceful. Their aggressions, greed, drive for competition, avarice — all are gone. Recoverees are kind, driven by altruism. They’re non-violent, and have an unstoppable urge to help others, even at the risk of their own lives.
On the surface, that sounds pretty great. But big business and governments alike are worried. What will this mean for the economy? What does this mean for international politics, struggles, and power plays? If people are no longer motivated by consumerism, what does this mean for production? And of course, the billionaires are the most worried, both for their own enormous profits and what it might mean if — heaven forbid — they themselves become infected. Already, a worrying number of very wealthy people have recovered from Crown Royale only to give away everything they own.
Within this intriguing premise, we’re introduced to three teens with very different backgrounds. Rón (yes, with an accent over the “o” — it’s short for Tiburón) is the youngest son of the third richest man in the world. He’s a bit of a lost soul, constantly fighting the depression that threatens to pull him under. To Rón, a virus that will leave him happy for the first time in his life sounds pretty good. Mariel lives on the streets with her flighty mother, and after her mother’s death from Crown Royale, finds herself connecting with Rón at a pop-up commune for recoverees.
And then there’s Morgan, a hard-driving prodigy who lands a coveted internship with a very wealthy consortium — only to discover that the old woman who owns the consortium is signing over all her assets to Morgan in the event she contracts Crown Royale. Dame Havilland lives for spite, and hates the idea that she might turn into a kinder, gentler version of herself if she gets the virus, and so she creates ironclad legal documents to permanently keep control of her assets out of her own hands.
As the story progresses, we see how each of these three main characters, as well as the many people they’re connected to, navigate a world that’s changing before their eyes. Rón and Mariel develop a very deep connection, but seem to be diverging toward quite different trajectories. Meanwhile, Morgan shows all the cunning and ruthlessness that landed her the job in the first place — but with limitless power now in her hands, she has her own agenda when it comes to Crown Royale.
I’d hate to give away any more of the plot. Suffice to say, the story is twisty and turny, and goes in directions I didn’t see coming. There are fascinating moral dilemmas at the core of this story. Crown Royale is deadly for a relatively small percentage of its sufferers, but the rest experience beauty and true happiness in its aftermath. So should the world be trying to fight Crown Royale at all? Would the world be a better place if everyone was transformed by the virus? If war and cruelty could be eliminated, isn’t that a good thing?
Because if you took everything into consideration, from war to apathy, from greed to racism—all the self-destructive, self-loathing, self-annihilating tendencies of human nature—Crown Royale might just be the best thing to ever come along.
But on the other hand, many believe that the recoverees, although happy, aren’t truly themselves any longer — and for those with that belief, there’s a deep-seated fear of the virus and a hatred for it and those who might spread it.
“Despair builds character!” countered Morgan. “It’s what motivates us—but Crown Royale denies people that! You’re just too naïve to see it!”
For those who truly believe Crown Royale is a blessing for humanity, there’s a feeling that they’re called to pass it along to everyone else. But what about free will? Shouldn’t it be a choice? And when a potential vaccine or counter-virus seems possible, the same question applies: Should Crown Royale be absolutely eliminated? What about the people who want to seek it out and experience a better version of their lives?
I picked up All Better Now after seeing it mentioned in this Reactor article about what to read after watching Pluribus (AppleTV). I though Pluribus was terrific, and I’ve read and enjoyed several of Neal Shusterman’s books in the past (including the Arc of a Scythe series), so All Better Now seemed like an obvious choice for me.
I’m glad I stumbled across that article, and I’m glad that I gave this book a try! I actually didn’t realize that it was a YA novel (although I should have known based on the author and the publisher). And really, apart from the fact that the main characters are teens, I’d say this doesn’t have to be shelved as YA — it’s just a really good sci-fi book about a world-changing virus!
I also didn’t realize that All Better Now is the first book in a projected duology. Until I went back to the Goodreads listing as I neared the end of the book, I had no idea that I wasn’t reading a stand-alone novel. The book does have an open-ended conclusion… but given the subject matter, I suppose it could just be seen as ominously open to interpretation. I suppose I’m glad to know that there will be more in this world, and that the story will continue (and get wrapped up) in one more book — but I think I could have been satisfied with All Better Now on its own as well.
(According to Goodreads, book #2 will be called All Over Now, and does not yet have a release date.)
Once I started All Better Now, I just couldn’t put it down. Sure, there are plot points that stretch credulity, and I never quite bought Morgan’s trajectory. Likewise, having teens driving the plot make sense from a YA branding perspective, but left me at times wanting to know more about what the grown-ups were up to.
Still, quibbles aside, there’s no denying that this was a fascinating, utterly absorbing read that kept me up late turning pages, then not being able to get the various scenarios out of my head.
All Better Now wasn’t on my reading agenda for this year, but I’m so glad I picked it up!
Purchase links: Amazon – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
Bookshelf Fantasies 