Book Review: "The Amateur" by Chris Bohjalian

“…when you kill someone, it breaks you. It changes you. You’ve shattered the water glass—your soul is something different and new—and the shards can never be glued back together.“

Mira is 18 years old in the summer of 1978, and she’s a talented golfer, heading to Yale in the fall. But in an instant, everything changes. While at the practice net, the ball she hit flies through the net and strikes Kenny, a 17-year-old caddy, in the head. He dies moments later.

Everyone is quick to point out the sheer unlikelihood of this tragedy happening, and they tell Mira that Kenny’s death is not her fault. But she is so rocked with guilt that she can never play golf again and decides she can’t even go to Yale because it will remind her of what she did.

But Kenny’s death is just the tip of the iceberg. Because Mira happens to be having an affair with a much older married man, and when Kenny’s father realizes he’s seen the two of them together, a new scandal erupts. Suddenly Mira isn’t just an unlucky young woman—the people in her town start to turn on her, and she gets embroiled in the lawsuits trying to identify who is at fault in Kenny’s death.

The book is ostensibly Mira’s memoir, written years later, after she’s enjoyed a successful writing career. The courtroom drama definitely added some new twists to the plot, and the epilogue was a bit of a sucker punch. Mira isn’t the most likable character, but this book is really excellent. I couldn’t put it down!

Book Review: "When She Was Ours" by Anna Nordberg

This was my Amazon First Reads selection for July. What a powerful and emotional book this was! I really hope lots of people read this.

Thea was an excellent surgeon—tough, compassionate, always willing to go the extra mile for her patients. But for the last several years, she’s been fighting a losing battle with cancer, and she knows she’s coming to the end of her life.

As family and friends gather for her older daughter Phoebe’s wedding, she’s so grateful she’s alive to see it happen. At the same time, she’s full of sadness that she won’t live to see her younger daughter Astra graduate from college or forge her own path. But the last thing anyone is prepared for is an incident during the wedding that will change many lives.

Despite being a woman of science, Thea keeps feeling premonitions of imminent harm to her family. So before she dies, she meets with a family friend and makes one request, not knowing if it will ever be needed.

Years later, Phoebe and Astra have moved on with their lives but their grief is still hard to process. When they are contacted by a man who offers them a glimpse of their mother’s early life and her innermost thoughts, they jump at it. But the decision sets in motion a chain of events that will impact a number of lives.

This was just excellent. It’s so thought-provoking and moving in its exploration of grief and how it impacts each of us differently. Another fantastic debut novel in 2026!

Book Review: "No Matter What" by Cara Bastone

“‘Don’t waste your energy over how you think things should be,’ Deb booms. ‘See things for how they actually are.’”

It has been a rough year for Roz and Vin. They were involved in a serious accident that upended their lives, causing injuries to both of them and Vin’s brother Raff. But even though their physical recovery has gone well, Roz and Vin haven’t slept in the same bed in nearly a year, and can barely stand to be in the same room.

As tough as it gets, Roz still hopes that they’ll be able to work things out. Although the fact that neither will come out and say what they’re thinking or feeling certainly complicates matters. But when Roz finds that Vin has signed a lease for an apartment of his own, she is devastated.

The two are moving in separate orbits and living in separate rooms. To help absorb some of her time alone, Roz signs up for a figure drawing class. She finds herself inspired by this exploration of her creative side.

As the date for Vin to move out draws closer, they’re still drawn to each other, physically and emotionally. Vin agrees to serve as Roz’s model for her to sharpen her skills. And it is through the time they spend together, with Roz focused on every aspect of her husband’s body, that they start to see each other more clearly again. Is there a chance they’ll make it back to one another before it’s too late?

I wanted to love this book but for some reason it never quite clicked with me. I found their struggles very emotional and I wanted them to rebuild, but neither of them communicated clearly, which always drives me crazy in books. Still, the story was a powerful one.

Book Review: "Rabbit Moon" by Jennifer Haigh

This was such a powerful and emotional book, one I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

Claire and Aaron’s 22-year-old daughter Lindsey is teaching English in China. When they get a call telling them that Lindsey was hit by a car in Shanghai, they’re both devastated and confused, because as far as they knew, she was working in Beijing.

Lindsey is comatose and her parents come to Shanghai to sit with her and pray that she wakes up. Both Claire and Aaron, who got divorced a few years earlier, want to understand what happened to their daughter. The hit-and-run happened in the early hours of the morning and there were no witnesses.

The book follows the couple in the days following the accident and also traces both the end of their marriage and the erosion of their relationships with Lindsey. We also see Lindsey’s life in China and the secrets she kept from her family, as well as the perspectives of her best friend Johnny and her younger sister Grace, adopted from China as an infant.

This is a book about family, the bond between sisters, and the desire to be loved. It’s also a book about cultural identity, found family, and the things we wished we had said before it was too late.

I’ve read a number of Jennifer Haigh’s books and I’m always dazzled by her talent. I loved the way the disparate elements of this story came together, and I loved how much Haigh’s storytelling drew me in.

Book Review: "The Three Lives of Cate Kay" by Kate Fagan

This book was utterly fantastic. Hard to believe that this early in 2025 I’ve found a book that will be one of my absolute favorites, but there’s no doubt.

Cate Kay has written an explosive bestseller called The Very Last. It’s being marketed as “The Road, but a beach read.” The movie adaptation has already been lined up.

But Cate Kay doesn’t exist. It’s a pseudonym for Cass Ford, which isn’t even her real name. Her story, however, is one of friendship, love, found family, dreams, fear, guilt, and second chances.

This book is essentially Cate/Cass’ memoir, but she’s asked many people who’ve touched her life to share their memories, since each played a part. From her childhood best friend Amanda to those involved in creating the Cate Kay story, as well as those who had her heart, it’s fascinating to get their perspectives.

I’ve seen the book be compared to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but apart from the similarity in titles and the sexual orientation of the main characters, I don’t see it. This deserves to stand in its own spotlight.

There were so many moments in this book that took my breath away. While Kate Fagan has written several books, this is her debut novel. It is really just so good and will be so memorable.

Book Review: "Dream On" by Angie Hockman

Sometimes our dreams seem so real…and they actually may be.

“Most people wake up from a coma with memory loss. I woke up with memory surplus—specifically, countless memories of a man named Devin Bloom.”

When Cass Walker awakens from a six-day coma after an accident, she doesn’t remember what happened that night. But she does have vivid memories of Devin, the guy she’s been dating for three months. Only one catch: Devin doesn’t exist.

A year later, as she’s attempting to restart her life and her law career, Devin remains a memory. So when Cass meets the actual Devin in a flower shop, she’s completely thrown for a loop. He’s never met her before yet all of the things she knows about him are inexplicable. As the two explore what possible connection they could have had, or whether it’s fate that brought them together, they embark on a real relationship.

Isn’t it funny, though, when you get all you want, it’s not quite what you wanted? Do you follow the path of your dreams, the one fate seems to have led you down, or do you carve your own path?

This is a sweet story. It has dashes of While You Were Sleeping in it but it’s also very different. I loved the concept and thought the romance part was sweet, but things tied up a little too neatly for me.

Book Review: "Ski Weekend" by Rektok Ross

It was supposed to be a fun weekend. No one expected all that occurs in Rektok Ross' Ski Weekend!

Everyone is looking forward to senior ski weekend. Except Sam. She has to look after her younger brother Stu (like always) to make sure he doesn’t get hurt following the lead of his best friend, Gavin. So now Sam, Stu, Gavin, Sam’s best friend (and Stu's girlfriend) Lily, and two others are in Gavin’s fancy new SUV, along with Gavin’s dog, Champion.

Sam once had a thing for Gavin, but when he left for boarding school a year ago, he never returned her emails or texts. So she’s got a bit of a chip on her shoulder where he’s concerned.

Not far into their journey, the cops start turning people around because of an impending snowstorm. One of their friends convinces them to try a shortcut through the mountains (those always work) and before they know it, they’ve crashed into a snowbank and their car is stuck. Of course, temperatures are dropping and cell coverage is non-existent.

When a foray to try and find help winds up with Stu getting hurt and then becoming feverish from his injuries, Sam has to keep him alive. But as their food supplies shrink and people start fighting, it’s becoming more a question of who will survive, not how. And it only gets worse from there.⁣

I never went on a lot of trips with friends when I was growing up, but if I was that age now, I’d never go anywhere!! Fun trips always seem to turn to disaster in books, lol, and I’m not the survivalist type. (To put it mildly.)

This was a very readable YA thriller. It was a little melodramatic, but Ross did a great job with the setting because I felt so cold while reading it! And boy, did I love Champion!!