Book Review: "Old Ham" by Seraphina Nova Glass

This was absolutely unhinged!! It’s been a while since I’ve read one of Seraphina Nova Glass’ books and I had forgotten how talented she is at creating memorable characters. And Junie is definitely memorable!

At first glance, Junie Oldham appears to be an eccentric middle-aged woman. She doesn’t pay much attention to her appearance, she knits hats and sweaters for cats and mice, her childhood home has turned into an hoarder’s nest, and she doesn’t quite pick up on social cues.

But Junie is far more complex than she appears. At an AA meeting (she doesn’t drink; she’s heard the meetings are great for making new friends), she sees Blake, her high school crush, who used to torment her along with his buddies, calling her “Old Ham” and “Hammy.”

Blake was part of a scheme that changed Junie’s life forever. While she’s excited to see him at the meeting, she’s crestfallen that he doesn’t remember her. But she’s willing to give him a second chance. She finagles her way into getting hired as his daughter’s math tutor, and Blake’s wife Dessa befriends her. But Junie starts making Blake uncomfortable and he demands that Dessa fire her. And that’s before he realizes who she is.

When Dessa finds out what her husband and his friends did to Junie back in high school, she’s horrified. Dessa has barely been holding it together since dealing with her own family tragedy, so she wants to make Junie her pet project. But no one has any idea how far Junie will go to get her revenge and what wreckage she’ll leave behind.

Junie is a fascinating and twisted character. You don’t know whether to pity her or fear her. Glass created so much tension and suspense, I found myself racing through the book to see how the story would get tied up. Wow!

Book Review: "Thank You for Remembering" by Emily Harding

“Destiny is real—we just build it ourselves. And in that way, my grandmother was right after all. The magic isn’t what happens to us. It’s that we keep going anyway.”

When Marnie wakes up in the hospital, she has no idea why she’s there. But even worse, she quickly discovers that she has no memories of the last year of her life. She vaguely remembers moving to Boston with her boyfriend Matt, but that’s it.

It turns out Marnie had a traumatic brain injury, which is causing the memory loss. She’s surprised to learn that not only did she and her boyfriend break up and she has her own apartment, but apparently before her injury she got a horrible haircut. And now she has bangs…

She has no idea where she works (or if she even has a job), she can’t unlock her phone or access her ATM card, and apparently, there’s a mouse in her apartment. Luckily, her very handsome neighbor, Ben, helps her get readjusted. He shows her how to get to various places, and tolerates the emotional rollercoaster she finds herself on.

Marnie has apparently kept receipts and movie tickets from her time in Boston, so she tries to figure out what these keepsakes mean. And while her best friend insists it will all lead her back to Matt, she starts to realize that he might not be her happy ending after all. (Any guesses on who might be? 😉)

This was a really sweet and emotional book, and Emily Harding really did her research on how people can be affected by a brain injury. While the dreaded miscommunication trope popped up a few times, I loved the banter between her and Ben. I also found her journey to find her way to be really meaningful and moving.

Book Review: "Murder by Design" by Lee Goldberg

I previously worked for an organization that represented product designers and one that represented architecture students. So imagine my surprise when my May selection from Amazon First Reads was about how the design of our world makes it easier for murders to occur! (And the author credited books written by people I’ve known.)

Edison Bixby is an ex-police detective. He’s handsome, fabulously wealthy, and impeccably dressed—and he has no filter, as the result of a traumatic brain injury he sustained on the job. While the TBI causes him to speak his mind, it hasn’t halted his brilliance, and he now works as an insurance investigator.

Bixby is a firm believer that the design of the world around us enables people to kill. But before his next case, Wally Nash, an aspiring actor who truly believes in his craft, gets hired to be his assistant. It’s Wally’s job to apologize for Bixby’s rudeness and smooth things over for him. But Wally sees this as the ultimate acting job, at least until he lands his dream role.

From their very first case working together, Wally is dazzled by Bixby’s brilliance and his doggedness in solving crimes. He finds clues and motives where no one else can, and even the most outlandish-sounding theories come true. They often work at the behest of a police detective with whom Bixby has a “situationship,” although they often find themselves at odds with one another.

Their investigation of the death of a woman who fell down a flight of stairs at a shopping mall seems pretty cut and dried. But what looks like sheer negligence appears to be murder in Bixby’s eyes, and the deeper he digs, the more tangled the web he has stepped in gets.

I thought this was such a great book. Bixby is one of the most unique characters I’ve read about in a long while, and his banter with Wally is top-notch. I really wasn’t sure how everything would tie up, but I really loved this, and I’m so glad a second book is on the horizon.

The book will publish 6/1.

Book Review: "Make Sure You Die Screaming" by Zee Carlstrom

Thanks so much to Flatiron Books for the complimentary advance copy of this book! This definitely is a bleak yet well-written book that will stick in your mind.

If you think your life is out of control, it’s nothing compared to that of our unnamed narrator. They’ve recently come out as nonbinary, lost their corporate job in fairly spectacular fashion, and probably suffered a brain injury in a fight with their ex-boyfriend.

“I guess you could call me the World’s First Honest White Man, but I don’t identify as a man anymore, so you’d probably call me other things first…”

To top it off, their mother called to let them know that their father, an ultra-conservative conspiracy theorist, has gone missing. So now they’re headed from Chicago to Arkansas (no culture shock there) in a fancy car they’ve stolen from their ex-boyfriend.

Their partner on this road trip from hell is Yivi, whom they met when they were both crashing at an illegal Airbnb. Yivi has her own issues: she screams in her sleep, she’s constantly high on something, and there’s apparently someone following her.

This book taps into some really raw emotions. The narrator has been avoiding dealing with some real emotional baggage beyond their father’s disavowal of their sexuality. There’s loss, trauma, and addiction, but there’s also real rage at the inequity that exists. This isn’t a lighthearted book but it’s a good one.

It will publish 4/8/2025.

Book Review: "The Night Before" by Harper Robson

So not only do I enjoy hockey romances, but I also enjoy what I’ll call “hockey-adjacent” romances! This book is the start of a new series and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Ben is a doctor and researcher studying traumatic brain injury, particularly CTE, which happens when a person gets multiple concussions. He’s been focused on sports, particularly hockey, because his stepfather is a former hockey star now dealing with dementia related to the concussions he sustained.

At a bar one night, he meets Aleks, a handsome younger man. The chemistry between them is intense, but beyond that, they really enjoy each other’s company. They go back to Aleks’ place and have an incredibly steamy night, but also one where they feel tremendously connected to one another emotionally. The next morning, when Ben sees a picture of Aleks’ family, he realizes that Aleks’ father was the hockey player who made the final hit on his stepfather, which ended his career. Ben leaves before Aleks wakes up.

Aleks is sad and angry when he realizes Ben left without a word. All he knows is his first name, so the likelihood of meeting him again is slim. Aleks thought their night was so much more than sex, and it certainly felt like Ben felt the same way, so he’s a bit confused.

Aleks’ disappointment leads to excitement when he is offered the opportunity to work with a researcher on some new helmets that might better protect players from concussions. It’s an amazing opportunity—and of course, the researcher is Ben. They’re going to have to work together, and through doing that they find their connection again, but the old family history crops up. Can they overcome this challenge and find happiness?

I really enjoyed the depth of this book. The CTE stuff was fascinating and well-researched, and enhanced the story a great deal. Of course, there’s intense steam, emotions, family drama, and miscommunication, but this was definitely one I got into.

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: "Hurricane Girl" by Marcy Dermansky

I literally read this in one sitting. I did not want to put it down!

Allison is tired of living in Los Angeles, tired of her movie producer boyfriend. After selling a script, she decides to take her money and buy a small beach house in North Carolina, where she can swim in the ocean and plan her next moves. But after living there only a week and a half, a Category 3 Hurricane hits the area and destroys her house.

Completely shaken by the sight of her house in pieces, scattered all around, Allison makes one bad decision after another. The next thing she knows, she decides to go home with a television cameraman who filmed an interview with her. He seems nice, and he says he has a cell phone charger, which she needs.

But the next day, things go spectacularly awry, and then she has a hole in her head and glass in her hair from a vase he hit her with. She’s determined to drive home to her mother in New Jersey despite her injury and the fact that she can’t quite think clearly.

This is a powerful, thought-provoking book, a significant portion of which is narrated by a woman with a brain injury. It’s tremendously accurate in the many different ways these injuries affect people physically, cognitively, and emotionally. And what’s so powerful is the fact that she’s desperately trying to regain control of her life at a time where she feels so out of sync.

I really was blown away by this. The narration is very blunt and to the point, and it works so well here.