Book Review: "Switzy" by Emma Cline

“Disconcerting, this mental ice floe, populated only by David, floating off into the polar darkness. He was sometimes a figure standing on the shore, watching himself float away, and sometimes he was on the ice floe, losing sight of land.”

David, a retired businessman, is on a private plane to London. He sleeps a bit on the flight, but when he gets restless, playing solitaire on his phone soothes him. At times he feels a bit disoriented, but he finds his notebook inside his jacket pocket and it acts as a comfort.

His assistant, Cody, is ever-vigilant, seeing to David’s every need and making sure he rests during the flight. He reminds David of their itinerary—dinner with his daughter in London, visiting her home the next day to see his grandson, a quick trip to France where he will reunite with an estranged high school friend, and then to Zurich.

David is in the throes of Alzheimer’s disease. It is definitely taking its toll on his memories and his mind. One moment he is perfectly cognizant of where he is and why he’s there; the next moment, his mind travels at warp speed, shifting between different times in his life. The gaps between lucidity and confusion are getting shorter and shorter.

This is a powerful story, told in stream of consciousness so it mirrors David’s mind. As he loses his grip on reality, it became more and more difficult to follow, because the narrative kept meandering. If you’ve had someone in your life deal with dementia, you may find this book to be very triggering.

Book Review: "Meet Me in Paris" by Kristin Harmel

C’est magnifique!! I had a feeling when I picked up this book that it would leave me all kinds of emotional, but wow! This was sappy and beautiful and moving and just excellent.

“It’s in our nature as human beings to search for logical explanations for everything, but sometimes, all we need to do is find space in the quiet to listen to what our hearts are telling us.”

Julia has returned to Paris after nearly 30 years, bringing her daughter, Piper. Julia is dying, and wants this trip to be full of memories her daughter can cherish. Piper meets a handsome waiter and Julia surprises herself by falling for an American man, but how can she tell him she’s dying?

Jackson, a singer, had the biggest song of the 1990s. He’s in Paris to kick off a tour he hopes will revive his career, but he’s not counting on love, too. Ninety-nine-year-old Henry wrote Jackson’s big hit, inspired by his love for a French woman during WWII. He thought she died during the war, but he was wrong—so he’s returned to Paris to see if, despite her dementia, she remembers him at all.

Lou and George became friends as soldiers in Vietnam, and are in Paris for a tour for veterans. But there are secrets both have kept from one another. Shelby is on a trip with her two best friends, supposedly celebrating her divorce. However, celebrating is the last thing she wants to do, and when she meets Russ, a bar owner, she finally starts to see the woman she knows she is.

These stories, as well as a few others, unwind over several days. Kristin Harmel said she was inspired by Love Actually, so that was more than enough incentive for me! I was fully engaged in all of the stories, and just wish Lou and George’s story got as much page time. But this was such an amazing book.

Book Review: "Unsayable: A Life in Writing" by Michael Cunningham

“When you set out to be a writer you may or may not understand all that you’re agreeing to. You’re saying, by implication, that you’re qualified to write about the passions and sorrows and underlying motives of others. You live, with various degrees of comfort and discomfort, with the fact that even if your work is read by only a handful of people, you’ve claimed the right to set down the definitive version of relations that, in fact, have no definitive versions.”

Michael Cunningham is one of my all-time favorite writers. The Hours and The Home at the End of the World, in particular, are books that, more than 30 years after they were published, still profoundly affect me. So I couldn’t resist reading his new memoir, which talks about how he found his way to writing and how his love of language and storytelling shaped him.

Even as a young child, he was obsessed with language, and the specifics of it. There wasn’t just a tree in his yard, it was an oak tree, while there was a maple tree in his neighbor’s yard.

He started writing stories when he was young but he never had much confidence in them. So he turned to painting and drawing as a creative way of expressing himself. But he never stopped searching for the words to convey emotions or share accounts of his experiences—true or false.

Cunningham touches on specific moments in his life—being with his best friend in high school, who was his first love; spending time in Provincetown with an elderly gay couple who loved his stories about his adventures; working briefly as a hustler; and the first time he met the man who would become his husband.

This was a fascinating, at times emotional, book. I definitely thought it provided some insight into a writer’s mindset and it made me appreciate Cunningham’s writing even more.

Book Review: "Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt" by Ben Reeves

“I always thought life was a bit like a house. People buy a house and they spend their whole lives trying to make it perfect. They decorate the rooms the way they want them. Make it a happy place to be. Make it somewhere they could die in.”

What a profoundly moving book this was! I honestly didn’t know what to expect, and it absolutely blew me away.

Travis seems like an ordinary man. He lives with his cat and mostly keeps to himself. But Travis has a very specific role in the world: he is Death.

Travis visits people in the last hours of their lives. He tries bringing them comfort, calm, a friendly face in their final moments. These are people he has kept track of throughout their lives; many of them are ready for his visit.

One day he meets Dalia, his neighbor from across the hall, and her young daughter, Layla. For the first time, he understands what it feels like to have someone want your company, to belong. But in the end, he has a purpose, and he must keep his responsibilities in mind.

I loved this concept and found the way the story was told to be so beautiful. Travis is an incredibly compassionate character and you can see how conflicted he feels at times. This really touched me.

The book publishes 7/7.

Book Review: "The Someday Garden" by Ashley Poston

I love magical realism in books, particularly romances. Ashley Poston is one of the authors who has helped develop my fondness for magical realism. I love the way each of her books have challenged my mind and touched my heart.

While in college at Duke University, Sophie saw a documentary about Lilymoor House & Gardens up in Maine. The beauty of the gardens, the mazes, even the legendary stories about the magic to be found intrigued her completely. She and her best friend Harriett visited during their senior year and were utterly obsessed. They made a promise to return 10 years later.

Ten years later, Sophie is a horticulturist for the New York Botanical Garden. She gets a summer job at Lilymoor, helping prepare the estate’s gardens for its bicentennial celebration. Working at Lilymoor is everything she dreamed it would be, and she quickly falls in love with its grounds, its staff, and Eula Beck, the spry and crafty old woman who owns the place.

There are definitely mysteries she can’t quite figure out, including the origin of vines that threaten to kill the hedges. But one evening she finds a door that she’s never seen before. It leads to an unfinished garden no one seems to know about. And there’s a handsome man who seems to be stuck there. But the door is never in the same place twice.

As the celebration draws closer, the estate’s quirks prove endearing and frustrating. Eula plans to retire but is quiet about what she plans to do with Lilymoor. And Sophie wants to help free the man from the garden, but not her heart.

There are a lot of separate storylines that take a while to gel and pick up momentum. I felt like the book really hit its stride in the last third or so, and there’s lots of emotion to be had. The supporting characters, including Damnit, the ornery goose, are endearing as well.

Book Review: "Meeting New People" by Daniel M. Lavery

Barbara is in her fifties, and one of her best friends, Susan, has just surprised her by ending their friendship. This wasn’t a random argument—Susan had a list of things about Barbara that she found objectionable. This incident bothered Barbara more than anything.

“But there’s nothing in the world as immovable as a woman who’s finished with you. A woman who’s finished with you, not just mad at you but finished with you, might as well be dead or on the moon or living a thousand years ago because there’s no path a person can walk anymore between the two of you, not even a little one, no matter how wide the road was before.”

As Barbara reflects on the dissolution of her friendship with Susan, she realizes that she has had nine other best friendships in her life. All of them ended at one time or another, for one reason or another. But it makes her wonder if there’s some flaw in her personality that has caused these relationships to fall apart.

She starts thinking about how she’ll meet her next best friend—hopefully someone she can grow old with. It’s so difficult to make friends as adults, especially once you reach a certain age. She weighs the options—should she befriend a colleague, join a group or a church? And what should she do differently this time?

This is really a thought-provoking book. I’ve thought about the challenges of making new friends as an adult. Parts of this book are really funny, but my challenge is that the majority of the book is told as an inner monologue. I needed more interaction between the characters to move the plot forward.

Book Review: "Villa Coco" by Andrew Sean Greer

I hope when I eventually get the opportunity to travel to Italy that I love it as much as I love books set there! Even when I don’t love the book, an Italian setting always makes me feel better.

Our narrator has just (barely) graduated from college but his career prospects seem dim. He’s encouraged by his advisor to apply for a job in Italy, to be assistant to the Baronessa, an eccentric wealthy woman who shows no signs of slowing down, even at age 92.

Of course, what he pictured the job to be and what it is are vastly different. While he expected to spend the majority of his time cataloguing the art and antiques in the dilapidated estate, he quickly gets pulled in many different directions by the Baronessa, who is known as Coco.

Villa Coco always seems to be full of larger-than-life guests, from princesses to plumbers. The whole experience is well beyond his comfort zone, but he falls under Coco’s spell. And while his cataloguing efforts are hampered by the disappearance of items he knows he saw, he finds an even more noble calling. When the Baroness loses someone close to her, she realizes the one thing she must do is locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late.

There is definitely lots of emotion (repressed and otherwise) in this book, and the eccentric characters lightened the mood a bit. Parts of the book felt almost like an E.M. Forster novel—I kept expecting Maggie Smith to pop in. I wanted to love the book more than I did, but it was fun.

Book Review: "Whistler" by Ann Patchett

I have been eagerly anticipating the release of Whistler since I first saw it pop up sometime late last year. Ann Patchett is one of my absolute favorites, so needless to say, I snapped this one up with a preorder!!

“She would say it was because childhood never leaves us. We seal the room up and cover it in sheetrock. We dry and sand and paint, but the pocket of history remains, and sooner or later someone always winds up tapping on the wall, commenting on the way it sounds strangely hollow in there, and then the whole thing comes tumbling down.”

Daphne and her husband Jonathan are spending an afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As they walk through the museum, Jonathan notices that an older man is staring at Daphne and is following them. She doesn’t recognize the man at all.

It turns out the man is Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather. Eddie was married to Daphne’s mother for about a year when she was 9, about 45 years ago. While Daphne had long forgotten about Eddie, seeing him triggers her emotions. He was very special to her (and her to him), and despite being in each other’s lives for a short time, both played impactful roles.

Eddie is thrilled that Daphne is happy to see him, and it’s clear from their first few minutes together that they intend to rekindle their connection with one another. They share some special—and traumatic—memories, but they also learn the full truth of why Eddie’s marriage ended and what Daphne and her younger sister knew about it all. This renewed relationship brings joy to both of them.

Patchett has an uncanny talent to wring complex emotions out of what initially seemed like a simple reunion. I knew how I wanted the story to go, and I was pleased she didn’t take it down any overly melodramatic paths. This is a beautiful story of love, bravery, family, reconnection, and the warmth of memory. I absolutely loved it.

Book Review: "The Midnight Train" by Matt Haig

Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library was a profoundly moving book, and one of my favorite books of 2020. This book is in the same world but isn’t a sequel, so either can be read as a standalone.

“I think the trouble with life is we do things because we should. We act for outside eyes. I’m trying to live it the other way round. To do what feels right deep down even if it shouldn’t be.”

Wilbur is in his eighties when he dies. He was once a business tycoon, with bookstores all over the world. He was an adviser to prime ministers and sought after as a speaker and consultant. It was quite a journey from being raised poor in post-World War II England.

Moments after he dies, the Midnight Train comes to pick up his ghost. The Midnight Train can take you back to your past, giving you the chance to relive the moments that meant most. To see what kind of person you really were.

Wilbur knows he was happiest on his honeymoon in Venice with his wife, Maggie, whom he loved since they were children. But as the train takes him through his life, he sees all of the moments he’s squandered, the things that were unsaid to loved ones, and the things that should never have been said or done. Can he help the Wilbur he sees in these memories change course without completely ruining the future?

I loved the concept of this book. I definitely found many moments that spoke to me and made me realize the importance of being a good person, saying the things I want to the people who matter. I didn’t find this book as emotional as The Midnight Library, but that didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the book.

Book Review: "Enormous Wings" by Laurie Frankel

Every time I read a book by Laurie Frankel I’m tremendously moved but I’m also changed. Her books make me think beyond my worldview and they challenge me both intellectually and emotionally. Her newest book is no exception.

“People like their old ladies polite and demure, but as one ages, things get more fucked-up, not less, and it seems important to say so.”

Pepper is a feisty, independent 77-year-old whose children force her to move to an independent living community in Austin, Texas. She’s not happy about it but she quickly finds a group of friends and, much to her surprise, starts up a relationship with her next door neighbor, Moth.

Not long after they sleep together, Pepper starts feeling sick—woozy, nauseous, tired, and sometimes disoriented. She starts to worry that there’s something seriously wrong with her. But the doctor reveals an even more surprising diagnosis: Pepper is pregnant.

She cannot believe that some 40-plus years after her last child was born that she’s pregnant again. The doctors don’t expect the pregnancy to be viable for long, but as the months go on, Pepper is faced with some serious decisions. But living in Texas, abortion is illegal, and once the press gets ahold of her news, she is approached by groups on both sides of the issue. Her life is turned inside out, and the facility where she lives is overrun with media.

I loved this book because while it focuses on the issue of bodily autonomy and women’s rights, it’s also a very human story. I love how Frankel focused on the emotions everyone felt over Pepper’s pregnancy more than the morality and politics, even though that needed to be addressed as well.

Book Review: "Good Joy, Bad Joy" by Mikki Brammer

After reading Mikki Brammer’s wonderfully heartwarming book, I feel the need to give all of my friends hugs and tell them how important they are to me. So for those of you reading this review, consider yourself hugged and loved.

“Do we ever truly shed the lessons ingrained in us as kids or are they part of our beings forever? Is there still time for me to try out a different way of being in the world? I think I’d like to find out.”

Joy is 89 years old. Although she’s surprised at her longevity, and it’s been sad losing her husband and her friends, she still has a lot to live for. She loves her daughter Elizabeth and her grandson Finn, her young piano students, and her bountiful garden.

One of her biggest joys is her best friend Hazel. They’ve known each other since they were 8 years old, and while the paths they took in life were quite different, there is a fierce love between them. Hazel has always seemed larger than life, wearing brightly colored clothes and dyed red hair, and she has so much gusto for adventure.

But when Hazel tells Joy she has terminal cancer, Joy can’t fathom a world without her friend. And while she’s always done the right things in life, trying not to make any ripples, Joy is suddenly wanting to be different. She starts causing mischief, which leads to shoplifting, and suddenly she’s in the midst of a crime. While she loves the recklessness of “Bad Joy,” she knows this isn’t her real self.

I was both moved and amused by this book. Brammer did such a great job being true to her characters and keeping the story melodrama-free. (There were many places a lesser writer might have gone for big crises.) Joy is a memorable character, and I’m inspired to borrow some of her kindness for myself.

Book Review: "The Things We Never Say" by Elizabeth Strout

“In his study of history, he had learned about the leaders, and the various groups involved, but he had somehow missed this fact about every single person: that they held within themselves a vast, unknowable universe. And he understood that it could make a person lonely; people had to take and give to one another whatever they could. If it was not enough…Well, then it meant one just had to be a grownup.”

The power of Elizabeth Strout’s storytelling often catches me by surprise. At first glance, her books seem to be straightforward, yet when I’ve finished, I find myself marveling at the numerous moments which took my breath away. This was also the case with her newest book, The Things We Never Say.

Artie Dam is a high school history teacher. He loves his job and he loves his students, and they love him right back. He’s the kind of teacher that you look back on years later and you realize what a profound impact he’s had on your life. He always has a kind word for those in need.

But while Artie seems like an affable guy—a good husband, father, and friend—internally, he is struggling. As the 2024 presidential election looms, he’s becoming increasingly disheartened by the world around him. He feels lonely, even when he is surrounded by people. He thinks about taking his own life in a way that can’t be classified as suicide.

One day, his son shares a secret that has been kept from Artie for a number of years. He cannot believe it, and it turns his world upside down. How can life go on as usual? Should he pretend not to know anything about the secret, or should he confront the person responsible? This knowledge changes his perspective, not to mention his relationship with many people.

Strout always shows such incredible empathy to her characters amidst their struggles and idiosyncrasies. This is an emotional book but it’s never melodramatic. It’s a beautifully written gem that will linger in my mind.

Book Review: "Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block" by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Oh, what a fun and thought-provoking book this was! If there’s any justice, this will be adapted for television, because Ms. Mebel is a character who needs an audience!

Growing up in Indonesia, Mebel was raised to be the perfect trophy wife. She always looks impeccable, anticipates her husband’s every need, and knows how to be the ultimate hostess and guest. Imagine her surprise when at age 63, her husband Henk says he’s leaving her for Wendy, their much younger private chef.

Mebel is angry and devastated, and worried about how a divorce will affect her social standing. She is determined to win him back, but how? Her solution: go to culinary school and learn to make a fancy dish which will dazzle him.

She enrolls in culinary school in Paris (just down the street from the flagship Hermès store), but due to a clerical error, she finds she’s been accepted to the school’s branch in England. But not London—a small town outside of Oxford. She quickly realizes that culinary school isn’t something you decide to do on a whim, or half-heartedly, and she’s three times as old as many of her fellow students.

Little by little, Mebel’s outspokenness endears her to her classmates. But when her friend Gemma drops out of school without warning, Mebel is determined to find out why. In the process, she realizes she doesn’t have to let things happen to her or those she cares about—she has the power to change things.

Jesse Q. Sutanto’s books are always filled with memorable characters, and Mebel was no exception. Watching her growth, her vulnerability, and her empathy was really enjoyable. And boy, did the descriptions of food make me hungry!!

Book Review: "The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances" by Glenn Dixon

Are you the kind of person who says “thank you” to Alexa or Siri? Do you worry that one of these devices will spill all your secrets one day? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you may enjoy The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances.

⁣ ⁣ Harold and Edie are an elderly couple who live in a smart house, where all of the devices watch over them. A young yet technologically advanced Roomba feels comfort in various things that happen in the house, from Edie playing the piano to Harold reading To Kill A Mockingbird to his ailing wife.⁣

⁣ Inspired by the courage of one of the characters, the Roomba names herself Scout. She seems to feel things in a more visceral way than her older appliance counterparts, and they think she’s a bit foolish and naïve.⁣

Edie dies, leaving Harold alone in the house. The all-powerful Grid, which operates all of the smart devices in the world and monitors homes, decides the house is too big for one person, and makes plans to move Harold to a facility. His estranged daughter, Kate, returns home and has a debt to be paid to the Grid, so she is expected to pack Harold up.⁣

⁣ But Scout doesn’t think this is fair, and she tries to rally her fellow smart appliances to help Harold keep his house. Yet most of the appliances are frightened of the Grid, and of being turned off for good. So it’s up to Scout, with help from Kate and Adrian, one of Edie’s former piano students, to try and figure out how to defeat the Grid.⁣

⁣ I was really fascinated by this concept and impressed by the world-building Glenn Dixon did. This book definitely had a creepy vibe (more menace than horror) but there are lots of emotions at play, too! I want a Roomba to talk to!

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: "Love by the Book" by Jessica George

Remy’s debut novel was a huge hit and became a bestseller. It was a fictionalized account of the relationship with her three best friends, and particularly, the fierce bond among them. The pressure is on for Remy to write her second book, but she can’t seem to find any inspiration.

As if writer’s block wasn’t bad enough, her friends have finally decided to follow their own paths. One is moving to a house an hour outside of London and having a baby, one is moving to New York for a new job, and one has reunited with her horrible boyfriend. Remy is devastated, lonely, and adrift. Even trying a dating app disappoints her.

One day, Remy (literally) runs into Simone, who remembers Remy from secondary school. Simone is now a teacher, and she is tremendously devoted to her students. She also has a second job to help make ends meet. But when her family finds out about her side hustle, they cut her off.

Remy wants to become friends with Simone, as they both seem to see each other clearly. But Simone isn’t used to sharing herself with anyone, and she rebuffs Remy’s attempts at friendship. Little by little, however, they start to realize how important they are to one another, a valuable discovery as each comes to a crossroads in their life.

“The way you love has always been an inspiration to me, I guess, and something I’ve maybe never told you is that being loved by you is one of the greatest things in the world…and one of the easiest to take for granted. I know I have, just because I’m so used to it, you know?”

This is a platonic love story, and a beautiful one. It would be interesting to read this and then Andrew McCarthy’s new book on male friendships. Jessica George’s debut novel, Maame, was fantastic, and it’s great to see how her talent has gotten even stronger.

Book Review: "American Fantasy" by Emma Straub

“So often, the word nostalgia felt coated in bile—a nostalgia act. Annie understood and she didn’t. Nostalgia was for the Smurfs, for erasers that smelled like strawberries. Maybe that was what the costumes were about, the goofy T-shirts, but inside her head, which is where she heard the music, it had touched some lever so deep that it couldn’t be reversed, as much as she’d chosen to ignore it. Maybe that was nostalgia after all, that the music was a direct vein to her own childhood, the least complicated part of her life.”

Annie remembered enjoying the 90s boy band Boy Talk when she was a teenager. It was a subject that bonded her and her younger sister together. All these years later, her sister is still a huge fan, while for Annie, Boy Talk is firmly in the past.

Yet here Annie is, about to board the cruise ship American Fantasy, for a four-day cruise with all 5 members of Boy Talk. And her sister isn’t even able to make it, so she’s going solo. But she quickly makes a friend in Maira, a veteran of these cruises, who takes Annie under her wing.

The cruise is unlike anything Annie has ever experienced. There are throngs of (mostly) middle-aged women, screaming and cheering for their favorite band member. Lots of alcohol is imbibed, there is so much clothing and merch with the band’s faces on it, and there are so many opportunities to interact with the band members. Some of them go after these events with gusto, while some can’t wait to go back home.

The cruise gives Annie the opportunity to reflect on what it’s like to be (and feel) middle-aged, and how it feels to relive a part of your younger years. She deals with divorce, career issues, and the uncertainty of what her life holds.

I’ve never gone on a cruise, and Emma Straub’s imagery made me feel sunburned and claustrophobic, lol. The book alternates narration from Annie, Keith (one of the band members), and Sarah, an employee of the production company that organizes the cruise.

Book Review: "Mad Mabel" by Sally Hepworth

What an absolutely fantastic book this was! I’ve been seeing so many reviews with people raving about how much they loved this, so needless to say, I was nervous if it would live up to the hype. Honestly, it blew the hype out of the water.

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is an 81-year-old woman who lives a mostly quiet life. Sure, she’s a bit cranky and doesn’t suffer fools, but she tries to keep to herself. She and her best friend Daphne can still crack each other up after decades of friendship.

When she finds one of her neighbors dead in his house, the past gets stirred up. Because years ago, Elsie was known as “Mad” Mabel Waller, Australia’s youngest convicted murderer who was suspected of killing others when she was even younger.

“‘It’s a lot of stuff to be held responsible for,’ I agree. ‘And yet, when you’re accused of one thing, it becomes pretty easy to be held responsible for others too, at least in other people’s eyes.’”

Interest in “Mad” Mabel has everyone buzzing. The police are suspicious of her role in her neighbor’s death, while the media wants to learn all it can about this legendary murderer. When she is ready to tell her story, it’s time for people to understand if she’s really a cold-blooded killer or just a lonely old woman who has been misunderstood all these years.

Elsie/Mabel is one of the most memorable characters I’ve read about in some time. While in recent years, older people have been cast as criminals or amateur detectives, Elsie is a unique character all her own. Sally Hepworth has imbued her with such complexity.

Book Review: "Life: A Love Story" by Elizabeth Berg

I would give this book 500 stars if I could! If I were to describe the kind of book that fills my heart, it would be this absolutely beautiful one.

“‘I think it means you can never really get to the bottom of knowing a person,’ Teresa says. ‘There’s so much inside each of us. But you can get a strong sense of certain fundamental qualities. You can come to a point of knowing enough.’”

Flo is 92 years old and she doesn’t have much longer to live. She plans to leave her house and all of its contents to her friend Ruthie. Flo and her late husband lived next door to Ruthie and her family when she was a child, and they doted on her like she was their own. When Ruthie became an adult, she and Flo became close friends.

Flo writes Ruthie a letter explaining the meaning of various possessions—why she keeps a rubber band in a box tied with a ribbon, where a single coffee mug came from and what it meant, etc. In the letter, she shares simple and extraordinary moments in her life and her marriage. She also gives Ruthie advice about love, loss, friendship, and generosity.

I found Flo to be an utterly unforgettable character, and I’m taking some of her advice to heart. This book was profoundly thought-provoking and immensely moving. Elizabeth Berg’s prose is gorgeous and paints indelible pictures in my mind.

“Terrence told her once about a language where there is no word for ‘hello.’ Rather, people greet each other by saying, ‘You are here.’ And the response is ‘Yes, I am.’”

Book Review: "We Burned So Bright" by TJ Klune

TJ Klune is one of my favorite authors of all time. Three of his books have been #1 on three year-end lists. His books leave me sobbing, smiling, and thinking, usually all at once. Thanks so much to Tor Books and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy of this book!

“‘Do we live to be remembered?,’ Don asked. ‘Or do we live to live?’”

Don and Rodney have been together for more than 40 years, and even got legally married in 2015. They’re both a little grumpy and stubborn at times, but the love they have for each other is fierce and beautiful. They’ve seen good times and bad, but they’ve faced everything together.

And while they take their vows seriously—even “‘til death do us part”—they’re not expecting the news that a black hole is headed for earth and the planet is going to be destroyed in a month. But they’re not going to wallow. They’re going to leave their home in Maine and drive to Washington State, to complete one final task they promised to do.

Along their drive across the country they encounter many different people. Some demonstrate great empathy and love despite their fears, but others definitely threaten the men’s sense of security. But as they reach their final destination, they realize how lucky they are to have shared each other’s lives.

This was absolutely beautiful. Of course it made me cry, but I also thought about what I would do in this situation. I highlighted so many sentences in this book; Klune’s prose always leaves me awestruck!

The book will publish 4/28.