I never buy books (libraries for the win!), but I‘m buying this one. Loved the short essays as a daily prompt to write (or think) a bit. The essays were written by a range of interesting people- each with their own style. Loved this idea, loved the essays. Wonderful.

This little book explores a happy life, a meaningful life, and a psychological rich life. Stability or movement? Exploration or living close to family? Can you have it all? Interesting anecdotes about who are more likely to travel, try new foods or places, and the benefits of a meaningful life. I was impressed with the wide ranging literature references. Definitely a book to ponder.

Little bit jewel heist, romance, mystery, Paris in 1942, and wise cracking 90 year olds that make this historical fiction a delight.

The true story of Marguerite is a 5/5. This novel is somewhat entertaining but the pace, the love story, and parts of the main character‘s internal dialogue didn‘t quite work for me. Other parts were great, so an uneven quality gives this a 3.5/5 rating from me.

Quick historical fiction novel about a Confederate woman saving an Union soldier from death by nursing him back to health while hiding him. It‘s entertaining, engaging and the plot moves nicely.

I finished this thinking, “that was so sweet.” This is an excellent debut, considering that the majority of the book deals with addiction, forgiveness, death, family, and recovery. It was wonderful.

Roach is an enjoyable writer and it was entertaining to read about lesser known problems and solutions of human space travel. Hygiene, separation anxiety, motion sickness, and isolation issues are explored in a witty and informative manner.

If you are looking for a love story, this is a great book. If you are excited about the NASA, first women in the program, this book leaves you wanting more. The ending has many flashbacks to create context and tension, but I wanted more on the details of the present. Good love story, and it‘s easy to root for this love to live happily ever after.

This book celebrates those of us who believe that we should “dance in different disciplines”, meander in experiences, and not confuse a too early obsession with grit. In a time where year round and travel team youth sports have taken over, this is a testament to the value of learning and thinking from a wide range of disciplines and perspectives. Great book!

One of Hannah‘s first novels and it‘s clear that she has a page turning writing style. Characters are mostly likeable, good plot, and I like how the story is told but, again, romance is a driving force for confidence and life affirmation for the characters. Good, not great.

A common science essay: “describe the journey of a water molecule” is transformed into an epic POV novel based in Nineveh, London, and Iraq. I rooted for each main character for different reasons. Each POV had their own strengths and I loved the history lesson of the Yazidi faith and history. Narin‘s grandmother had wonderful nuggets of advice and one-liners that made the novel worth reading in itself. Wonderful.

This missing hiker thriller has multiple POVs that connect to in the search. Good, the Maine warden‘s character was its strength. Nice mix of interviews, media and narratives to move the plot along. It‘s good as a summer read.

Based on Obama‘s 2024 recommendations, I picked up this economics book. Using graphs and historical data, Susskind explains economic growth over time, and, like most Obama picks, gives the reader some thought provoking insights and moral questions to ponder. I don‘t think this is the summer page turner for most of us, but the discussions about sustainability, AI, and investment in R&D are timely and relevant.

Vuong is an exceptional writer, and the connection between these two characters is interesting. Parts didn‘t sit well for me, but that‘s because of my experience with dementia not the storyline. Good book, lots to think about, yet some parts unresolved and unbelievable. Overall, good novel.

Excellent journalism following five families in Atlanta and their quest to find a place to rent, food and childcare and stay on top of their bills. There is very little correlation between how hard one works with how much one gets paid. This book does a fantastic job of showing the system- the heroes and villains- and explains how expensive it is to be the working poor.

There are heinous, graphic acts of violence, morally decrepit characters, and nonstop action. It‘s a stressful page turner- and though I understand that the character that I was rooting for amidst of of this was a very, very bad person who justified every action for “his family”, Cosby delivers another book I simply cannot put down (without flipping to the end to just see a name confirming life or death.) It‘s graphic, it‘s dark, and captivating.

Multi-generational POV novel, that jumps characters and time periods to help the reader understand each character. Great writing, good characters and beautiful settings, make this a page turner. The racism- blatant and covert- was believable, with generations of the family searching for “home”.

As a 49 yo woman, I felt that parts of this book were so well written and hilarious, and other parts were so “WTF?”. Like a raunchy comedian who is so funny…and then tells a joke that makes you think “ok, that‘s too far.” I‘m not sure who or if I‘d recommend this, but I flew through it in 24 hours, and am both confused by and understand completely what I just read.

Admittedly, I thought the title was a metaphor for other items, but was pleasantly surprised to read an entire book about TB- history, culture, treatments, research, patients. It‘s incredible, written by the wonderfully talented John Green. I like him more, and hope this book gives people pause who consider that medical research should be more than solely profit focused.

Part history, part memoir of the impact of the Indian boarding schools on individuals and their families. Great research on history and impact of generational trauma but, though completely related, it felt jarring bouncing between the two styles of writing. Good information.

The strength of the storytelling in this novel is the last third of the book. I had a hard time believing the beginning of the book- not really likeable characters and events that seemed like they came from left field. The setting and writing were enjoyable, and I‘m glad I pushed through to the end, but wasn‘t one of my favorites this year.

Part memoir, part history tracing the kids whose parents advertised their children to be taken in by British households in 1938. They originated in Vienna, and each of the stories told had such different paths throughout their lives. It‘s heartbreaking, but the biggest impact is thinking of the parents who knew that sending their children to complete strangers in a different country was the best decision they could make to keep them safe.

I‘m a big fan of Williams- of how he describes daily life expertly and beautifully, and he does the same in this novel. I felt it moved too slow (even though I like that about his writing). The plot was interesting at times, but didn‘t hit with the same punch that others had. Good, but not great.

I‘d give this a 4.5/5 stars. It was so interesting and informative- one of those books that make you see things just a little bit differently. The beginning and end of the book were fantastic about the science of airborne particles, but the middle dragged a bit. I understand that not everyone would find the physics of particulates intriguing, but how infectious diseases spread is. Maybe this one is for the science nonfiction nerds😜!

A quick read, as Annie, who is 37 weeks pregnant, walks to find her husband after a major earthquake hits Portland. I loved the alternating timelines that gave Annie‘s character depth, flaws, and likability. She‘s far from perfect, her choices are haphazard, which helps the pages turn. My only complaint is the ending- I like a bit of wondering, but some events were forced and other parts hanging. Overall, good book!

I liked a lot of this book, and it‘s interesting reading about traveling in the 1970s. Steves chronicles the mishaps, learning and euphoria of traveling to lesser known places on the Hippie Trail. His learning that it‘s worth it to spend a little more for good sleep and good food is a precursor to his travel books.

I devoured this, even with knowing the ending. It‘s been a long time since I‘ve read about the reaping, training, parade, trying to overthrow the Capital with disastrous results, and the arena where all things go to hell. This pairs fantastic with sitting poolside and is nostalgically wonderfully dramatic.

This was riveting, and I‘ve read some tech memoirs. Maybe it‘s the story telling, the cultural pieces of issues different countries had with facebook, or the juicy bits of gossip of the upper echelons of FB. Whatever it was, this one is engrossing and I highly recommend.

This book has promise if you like philosophy. I, however, ended up taking a lot of naps when I started to read this. I don‘t think I‘m a philosophy student.

It‘s definitely dystopian, no closure, depressing, not even sure I liked the main character, yet somehow, I loved it.

This is a repackaging of good advice to control what you can control. It‘s a good recentering, though I‘d like a little more information about parenting and this theory. The best part I thought was the section of adult friendships: why it‘s hard, what to do and what it takes to meet new friends and preserve old friendships. Overall, good reminder of how to not get engaged in the drama.

It takes a creative and well written story to turn an unlikable character with questionable moral character to be likable.

This is a creative, well written, 1/2 fiction, 1/2 sci-fi novel. I wanted more Wind, more Msizi chapters, less angry family, which shows the strengths of this evolving story telling strategy. With a novel inside a novel, this one jumps between two stories, and adds to the reader‘s understanding of the main character. Good read!

This isn‘t an easy read and it pairs well with “Everyone who is Gone is Here”. Following the human smugglers who are the guides or coyotes for people who are leaving Central America and migrating to Mexico or the US. It‘s intense, complicated, and told with humanity. Excellent!

Good family drama book. I just felt that the love triangle was over dramatized. Lots of characters and back stories to keep the plot moving, but some parts didn‘t hit perfectly for me. Loved the setting, vibrancy of Kolkata.

Creative and artsy way of chronicling stories of survivors of the Jeju Island Massacre.

There‘s a lot to like in this fast paced thriller- Handmaids Tale, Lord of the Flies, Hunger Games rolled into one dystopia. It‘s engaging and great beach read. I felt the middle romance was not needed and forced, but did like the ending. Flawed characters with hidden agendas make this one a good page turner.

This is the best book I‘ve read this year. It‘s imperfect, heartbreaking, challenging and cutting of every hypocrisy the West has in reference to the war in Gaza. The topic is the killing of innocent people in Gaza, but his points are far ranging and covers more ground than this one war. It‘s superb- as is leaves very few innocent other than the Gaza children.

I might be biased, but I read this the week I visited NASA with students. Whereas most of the ISS books I‘ve read focused on the science and engineering, this told the emotional and mental side of orbiting the earth- seeing it from afar- the beauty, your family continuing, its fragility, your “home”, while doing a job only a few can understand. The writing is exquisite- I simply loved it.

I feel like these books are superhero books written for women

The ego is the source a lot of anger, heartache and anxiety for many of us. Definitely a new age, philosophy take on how to let things go so that your ego doesn‘t consume your life. Some good parenting tips, but it was repetitive in its advice and anecdotes.

This reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant and I loved it. Predictable, yes, but still lovely.

Good WWII novel about a family in Poland. The book follows the parents and children in their quest for survival and staying together. Truly heartbreaking, and they were very lucky, most of the situations were believable (except for a few). Overall, the book showcases what one does for the family they love and to survive.

Good overview of the data bias of gender. It covers many areas of life that women‘s data has been overlooked. This book was definitely preaching to the choir, and I was curious about some more science and explanation of why women are so different. I fear that this problem will extrapolate in the next few years.

Well, my 17 year old daughter suggested this one to me as “a crazy book that you have to read!!!!” So, it does fit crazy, and with my life experiences I saw a number of things coming that I‘m not sure my daughter did. I might use this one as a teachable moment and go through the meaning, again, of what constitutes a red flag.

Good dystopian book and I‘m curious about book #2. Lots of connections, innuendos, and main characters were believable and engaging. Good twists and turns, some felt overdone. Overall, good quick read.

Though this book is centered on Brooks‘s processing the death of her husband, the aftermath and trying to grieve, she really gives the reader a guide of how to enjoy and savor the moments that one has now as we really don‘t know how long we all have to enjoy our relationships which make our lives worth living. I loved this.

The time period, Midwest farm culture references and growing up poor were spot on. I felt as if I was in a teenage brain who lived in a highly dysfunctional family.

I just didn‘t always like being in a teenage brain in a dysfunctional family.

I was hesitant about this one- i assumed it would be riddled with accounts of physical abuse. It‘s not. In fact, I finished with really liking and respecting Navalny as the positive, intelligent, curious, leader with integrity that he was. It was a life story and a love letter to the Russian people and his hope for a better world for his family. I loved it. Highly recommend!

This book was both some of the best writing I‘ve read in a very long time and a let down in the final few chapters. Characters were interesting, well developed and wonderful turns of phrase were rampant. The final few plot twists took away from the themes and development of this story. Overall, very good, just on the precipice of exceptional.