Book Review: "The Burning Side" by Sarah Damoff

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff was my second-favorite book of 2025. Having gotten the chance to read her upcoming book (thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy), I can unequivocally say it will be very high on my year-end list this year!

“Suffering is easy to imagine. It’s our responses that take us by surprise. The ways trials edit who we are.”

In the middle of the night, April and Leo awake to find their house filled with smoke. They get their two young children to safety and then watch powerlessly as fire rages. They head to April’s childhood home in Dallas, where her parents can provide comfort and a place to stay.

At this point, only April and Leo know that their relationship was damaged even before the fire wrecked havoc. But while they hold off on talks of divorce for a bit, the tension between them isn’t lost on April’s parents or her family. And their issues aren’t the only secrets being kept in the house—Billy, April’s father, has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.

The story alternates between present and past. It traces the path of Leo and April’s relationship from the beginning and how things came to where they are now. It also focuses on Billy and Deb, April’s mother, and how their relationship transformed over the years. The book is narrated by April, Leo, and Deb.

This is a powerful and emotional story of love, anger, uncertainty, pain, and the scars we carry with us. I was fully immersed by the story of these people and found myself being touched by the issues they confronted. Damoff is such an amazing writer and it’s hard to believe this is only her second book.

It will publish on 5/19.

Book Review: "In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss" by Amy Bloom

This memoir is poignant, beautifully written, and quietly hopeful.

I’ve been a fan of Amy Bloom’s writing for years and have read everything she has written, short story collections and novels. Needless to say, Bloom's memoir was just as good as her fiction, and it will be something I think about for a long while.

Amy and her husband Brian enjoyed life together—travel, food, intellectual conversation. But suddenly Brian started changing, withdrawing from social gatherings with friends, retiring from his job (which he loved), and once his issues with memory loss and struggling to find the right words intensified, they received the bad news: Brian had Alzheimer’s disease.

Both Amy and Brian knew what that diagnosis meant, and how little by little he’d lose himself. After much conversation, they decided to go to Dignitas, a Swiss-based organization that helps people die when they want, with their dignity intact.

“I don’t want to end my life, he said, but I’d rather end it while I am still myself, rather than become less and less of a person.”

The book follows Amy and Brian’s emotional journey to Zurich and the steps they had to take. It also chronicles Amy’s life after his death, how she had to find the strength to live and work and hope again.

Although short in length, this book is so powerful, so thought-provoking. Is it sad? Of course. But at the same time, it’s hopeful and it could provide some inspiration for others facing similar challenges.