Book Review: "Meet the Newmans" by Jennifer Niven

As someone who grew up watching family sitcoms, from The Brady Bunch to Good Times, Family Ties to Full House, I absolutely loved this book. Jennifer Niven wrote one of my all-time favorite books—All the Bright Places—and I’m so glad to read her again!

The Newmans—Del and Dinah, and their sons Guy and Shep—have been a part of the public consciousness for years. The real Newman family plays themselves on their popular sitcom, and are America’s favorite television family. Every problem is solved in less than 30 minutes.

But it’s 1964, and the televised Newmans have gotten out of touch with the world around them. Their ratings are awful, sponsors are withdrawing, and it’s possible that the show might be canceled at the end of the season. And while the future of the show is up in the air, the real-life Newmans are in freefall as well.

When Del, who runs all aspects of the show, gets into a car accident and is placed into a medical coma, the show has two more episodes in the season. Dinah decides she’s going to handle it, so she hires a strong-willed reporter named Juliet to write the script for the finale with her. But Juliet will only do this if Dinah is willing to break the Newmans out of their bubble of perfection. Both women want to write a script the world will remember.

As Dinah takes control of the show, she discovers some secrets her husband has been hiding. Older son Guy has a secret too, but will it be exposed by the tabloids first? And Shep, the heartthrob, is finally realizing his charm can only get him so far. Each of the Newmans are ready for life after the show—but first they want the finale to succeed.

While Niven has said the book was inspired by 1950s stars Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, it also reminded me of the movie Pleasantville. For the first time, Dinah is confronted with the realities that women face in society as exposed to the “ideal” she portrays. I found this funny, emotional, and thought-provoking, and I’m so glad I met the Newmans!!

Book Review: "The Flightless Birds of New Hope" by Farah Naz Rishi

“Aden Shah’s parents flew before they died, and even he couldn’t miss the morbid punch line in that. After all, no one loved birds more than the Shahs.”

When Aden gets word that his parents have died in a freak accident, he leaves Chicago to head for his childhood home in New Hope, Pennsylvania. It’s been years since he’s been home or spoken to his family, but as the executor of his parents’ estate, he has to put his feelings aside.

His return is met with anger from his younger siblings, Aliza and Sammy. Aliza has essentially raised Sammy, since their parents were often traveling or neglectful. Aden must also confront one of the main reasons he fled home 10 years ago: Coco Chanel, his parents’ prized Major Mitchell’s cockatoo. Coco got more attention than anyone else in the Shah household.

Frayed by grief, anger, and resentment, one night Aden opens Coco’s cage and lets her fly away. Of course, when his siblings panic about Coco’a disappearance, the three of them hit the road to find her and bring her back home. They follow her tracking chip and tap into a vast network of bird watchers to try and find her.

But what they figured would take just a few days at most turns into a cross-country road trip where everything that can go wrong does. Along the way, they argue, reopen old wounds, and try to process their grief and anger toward one another, their parents, and life in general.

This is a powerful meditation on grief and resentment as well as growing up knowing you’ll never be as important as your avian sibling. I just felt everything repeated itself too much—the failed rescue attempts, the rehashed arguments, and the crazily farcical incidents that arise. The characters’ growth arc took a bit longer than necessary, but the emotions were still very palpable.

Book Review: "Just Watch Me" by Lior Torenberg

This book was an all-out wild ride. Reading it was like watching a car crash—it made me wince and cringe a little bit, but I absolutely couldn’t look away. Thanks so much to Avid Reader Press for the complimentary advance copy!

Dell’s life is out of control. She’s just gotten fired from her job at a smoothie place and she’s not sure how she’s going to be able to pay her bills. To top it off, her sister Daisy has been in a coma and the hospital wants to either take her off life support or transfer her to home care. For that, she’ll need $14,000. Quickly.

With no income source except selling plants online, she decides to turn to live-streaming to raise money. Under the user name @mademoiselle_dell, she mocks, cajoles, and even begs her followers for money to help Daisy. And then she decides to start a 7-day, 24-hour livestream.

But if you want to keep your viewers engaged all that time, you have to give them content. Dell discovers—despite suffering chronic stomach pain—that she can eat hot peppers, so she encourages people to donate money for her to eat them. She becomes obsessed not only with how much money she’s raising, but also with her ranking among other streamers.

The pressure of living life online starts to get to Dell. She doesn’t really know how to sustain her followers except to get increasingly more outrageous. And as she battles online trolls and deals with frayed relationships with her mother and her next-door neighbor, it appears that Dell hasn’t been quite honest. With anyone.

The book follows one week of Dell’s live-streaming, with a section for each day. You know she’s going to have consequences to deal with, but how bad will it be? Can she save her sister? Can she eat even hotter peppers? I wanted to shake Dell more than a few times, but I couldn’t turn myself away from her story.

This book will publish 1/20.

Book Review: "Recipe for Trouble" by Dylan Morrison

As I was reading this fun, sweet, and swoony rom-com, I really wished it was adapted into a movie. The chemistry between the two main characters was adorable and intense.

Ben is a video editor for a multimedia company. He’s good at his job, although he hates it and his colleagues don’t make him feel like he’s a part of the team. He’s a fairly solitary person and he’s tried to convince himself that’s fine.

One day he gets a request from someone in another part of the company to help with a video. Apparently Ben is told it’s a disaster. And that couldn’t be more accurate. It’s a cooking demonstration, and while the chef is clearly knowledgeable (and very hot), he’s an absolute mess in front of the camera.

Ben makes Pete, the chef, look like an expert. He does such a good job that the powers that be want Pete to host more videos. Pete does not want to, but he has no choice, so Ben starts to collaborate with him to help Pete adjust. The more time they spend together, Ben starts to understand what makes Pete tick, and Pete can somehow charm cranky, cynical Ben.

As the chemistry between them intensifies, the videos they produce garner more and more viewers. But when outside forces threaten to sabotage their work and their burgeoning relationship, both will need to prove what they’re made of—and whether the two of them together can truly be a recipe for success.

There was so much I loved about this book—the banter, the cooking, the supporting characters, and, of course, Ben and Pete. I will admit I didn’t quite understand Pete’s major hangup which seems to hang over them, but I was rooting for both of them to stop flailing about. This really made me grin like an idiot.

Book Review: "Dead Money" by Jakob Kerr

My first read of 2026 was a twisty thriller-ish mystery about the multibillion-dollar machinations of the tech industry and the double crossing that occurs in the thirst for power and money.

Mackenzie Clyde is more than a fixer. A trained attorney, she’s worked her way up to be the director of investigations for one of the biggest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. She makes problems—and problem clients—disappear before they harm the firm’s investments.

But then Trevor Canon, CEO of Journey, one of the hottest startups, is found murdered and his assets are frozen. It just so happens that her boss and his firm are the biggest investors in the startup, so getting answers ASAP is crucial. Mackenzie gets a role as an “advisor” to the investigation, which means she has to collaborate with the FBI, who aren’t the most forthcoming.

Everyone’s a suspect—the other executives at Journy, other venture capitalists, even organized crime. Because the murder—and the motive behind it—is about more than money. And Mackenzie doesn’t know whom to trust—or if she’ll be left out to hang when the truth is uncovered.

“It was much simpler, she thought, to see the world for ‘what it could be’ if you never had to actually experience the world as it was. It’s a lot easier to be a visionary when you’re at the top of a skyscraper than when you’re battling for elbow room on the street.”

This is an interesting read which gets a bit technical from time to time. There were definitely lots of twists and red herrings that kept me guessing. I would’ve liked a little more action, but I still couldn’t stop reading.

The Best Books I Read in 2025...

Happy New Year! I can't believe that 2025 has come and gone. It was an interesting year, for sure!

As some of you may be aware, in June I fell and wound up fracturing my hip and my pelvis in multiple places. I was in a lot of pain and I really couldn't move much, but I had trouble focusing, so it took a while for me to get back into reading. So while my total of 339 books is lower than the last few years, I'm not disappointed by it. (I know some of you are rolling your eyes at the book total anyway, lol.)

Choosing my favorite books of the year is always a challenge given how much I read. I usually make a first pass and then have to whittle the list down to a more manageable number. This year I chose a top 25 and then an additional 15 books that I really wanted to call attention to. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts about this list and what your favorite books of the year were!

The Top 25

1. Life, & Death, & Giants by Ron Rindo: If I could give this book 10 stars, I would. This was an emotional and thought-provoking read with some of the most memorable characters, and I was all choked up at the end.

2. The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff: This was a beautifully written, powerful, and emotional debut novel. It’s an exploration of the myriad ways people we love impact our lives and it really struck a chord with me.

3. Don't Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp: This book was totally not what I was expecting but it was utterly fantastic. You may think this book is primarily a family drama, and while there are some elements of that, be ready to be thrown some curves.

4. The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead: Each of Ashley Winstead's books is totally different. It’s a book about grief, loss, love, family, and hope, as well as fighting for your dreams. It will publish 1/20/2026.⁣

5. My Friends by Fredrik Backman: I’m a huge fan of Fredrik Backman’s, and he sure knows how to make me cry!⁣ You can obviously tell from the title that this is a book about friendship, but it is also a story about loss, loneliness, the love we feel in our souls, and the joy when that love is reciprocated.

6. The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy: This was such a wonderfully special book with one of the most memorable narrators I’ve found in a long while. It's full of humor, emotion, and charm, and it’s very heartwarming. Check out the world from Denny Voss' perspective.⁣

7. I See You've Called In Dead by John Kenney: I often say that what makes a 5-star read for me is a book that moves me and makes me think. This book is definitely one of those.⁣ I couldn’t have loved it any more if I tried. It’s beautifully written, sarcastic, and packs such an emotional punch.

8. Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft: I was hooked from the very first lines of this book. As the host of a true crime podcast, Daphne Woolsoncroft knows her stuff and she has created one terrific page-turner. The book definitely got my heart rate up!!

9. Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston: There's just something about the way Ashley Poston writes. I cannot get enough of the way she sprinkles her romances with magical realism as well as humor and such gorgeous emotion. ⁣⁣With this book, I found myself highlighting so many quotes and definitely getting choked up.

10. When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy: This book scared the crap out of me, grossed me out on occasion, and broke me emotionally. Horror is definitely not a genre I read much of, but this is easily one of the most powerful and memorable books I’ve read in some time.⁣

Book Review: "A Good Animal" by Sara Maurer

Funnily enough, this is the second consecutive book I’ve read in which sheep farming is involved. What are the chances? Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy of this beautifully written coming-of-age novel!

For many young people, growing up in a small rural town can be confining, making them feel stuck in place. They dream about getting away, living a whole different life. But not Everett. He has grown up on a sheep farm outside Sault St. Marie, Michigan. It’s the only life he’s ever known and it’s the only one he wants.

Everett is biding his time, waiting to finish high school so he can get a job as well as raise and breed sheep. He dreams of one day buying the family farm from his parents and making good money from his animals.

Then he meets Mary. Mary has just moved to town with her father, who is in the Coast Guard. She’s moved around a lot and done what’s expected of her. But all she dreams of is getting away, going to art school in California, doing what she wants to do and being totally free to live her life her way.

The two fall for each other, even though Mary is clear that she doesn’t want to stay in Michigan. But for the first time, she feels seen for who she is. When they come to a crossroads, Everett wants a life with Mary in his hometown; she wants so much more. What decisions can they make for their future?

This is a very quiet, character-driven novel. It’s as much a love story about farming and raising animals as it is a romantic love story. There are a few graphic scenes in which nature and predators have an impact, but you can easily skim over those. This is a memorable debut novel, one that could have easily turned to melodrama, but I’m thankful it didn’t.

The book will publish 2/24/2026.