It has been an amazing month of non-fiction and stories of powerful women. This book was no exception. Elizabeth Zott is a powerhouse and challenges societal norms at every turn- and the world pushed back often. It is the second book this month that referenced The Feminine Mystique so that book is moving up on my TBR list as well.

An insightful and bloody examination of the axe's foundational role in human history, from prehistoric violence, to war and executions, to newspaper headlines and popular culture.

Every single title that I've read by Nadia Hashimi is 5 star. They make me ponder long after the last page about the world around me and the privileges I forget to notice every day. I complain about gender equality while others just don't want to be considered property or be the 3rd, 4th, or 5th wife whose sole purpose is to bear male children. Let us learn from one another, let us never forget that it could and is worse for so many others.

Unlike many self-help/motivational books this one honestly had me chuckling in parts because it's written for normal people! I specifically loved the condensed pep talks in the back. I am a habitual over committer so I need all the help I can get.

I feel like my public school understanding of what the woman's right to vote entails was little more than a textbook paragraph. Oh how wrong I was. I get that this was written for YA but I certainly learned a lot about American History that I didn't before reading this novel in verse.

As a parent and kids library staff member I'm extremely familiar with Lauren Tarshis' I Survived series that gives a child's perspective on different parts of history along with a narrative. This book however adds in the sciences and probability of hindsight to make history survivable. Everything from plagues, to crewing with Black Beard, to finding safety during the TriState Tornado. Read the entire thing over just the chapters that intrigue...

This is historical fiction written in verse from the standpoint of a teen who receives a job in a manor house while her family and so many others are starving to death during the potato famine. There is so much death and land owner negligence, the dogs eat better than people. She finds love that tests so many restraints during this time period and they are each keeping it a secret for many good reasons. The story absolutely gripped me. So good.

One of the best books I've read so far this year. I began to feel as if these four Bettys became friends. All so vastly different from each other but not willing to stick to the status quo. I've added several of the books they read to my own reading list, as I had only read Herland (just this year). Even now, some 50 years after much of the setting, a lot hasn't changed for women. How disheartening.

Clean grumpy x sunshine rom com. Both having lost a sibling and grieving. I've wanted to visit Scotland for a very long time and this book setting is keeping it on my someday house with an emphasis on a Manor House stay.

Sibling storylines are a frequent thing in books but these brothers felt more authentic then I've read in a while. They loved and supported one another, had fist fights, and called each other out for nonsense- I'd assume one is neurodivergent but likely undiagnosed. Similar to the brother bond from 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?' There is definitely some gore and blood but not quite what I was expecting and the pacing was good.

If ordered top to bottom ranking my favorite Katherine Center books- this one would be closer to the bottom. It was really relatable in several places but I went back and forth in liking the main character and there were just so many unneeded side storylines that felt disjointed from the larger storyline.

Wow, there was lots to unpack in this one. I found it funny that two books in my last few read titles ended up with wayward houseboats. I also did not see a huge plot building so it was fun to be surprised.

I love books like this- quick 1.5-2 page biographies. Some I knew but many I didn't. However I felt it completely unnecessary to specifically point out who had same sex partners when it didn't also, in balanced measure, also feel the need to mention if the person was heterosexual. At first I thought it was a fluke but definitely not. Only if the highlighted historical figures had a life partner or such was it mentioned. Just let people be!

Listen to the newest episode of Maggie's Book Bites! 📚 🎧
Maggie, Sarah, and Garrett chat about books that feature untraditional characters, settings and plots.. Listen in for recommendations!

Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Google, Amazon, and Stitcher!

Publishes May 6, 2025

Twisty. Not sure if I love or hate having local towns as part of the settings in Ashley Flowers titles- first Wakarusa and now Osceola and Mishawaka. I know I would feel differently if these were romcoms and not suspense but...

This was a great second title from this author. It definitely kept me guessing until the very end.

Audio ALC while baking homemade brown sugar pop tarts. I always worry for a debut authors follow up but it's good so far and so are the smells in my kitchen!

I wanted a little more plot, I think.

April 2025
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Based loosely on the real life female serial killer from Norway who relocated to Chicago and later 60 miles away to LaPorte, Indiana. This book is going to live, unfortunately, in my head for quite some time due to the preferred dismemberment murders as means of income.

For fans of The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson

so many applicable truths.

This was not the Emily Henry writing I have read before. Yes, there is a love story, or two, if you include both sets of the dual timelines. While I didn't piece the whole storyline together- I did figure out quite a bit of it. This story, the glamor, the larger than life fame, tragedy, etc reminded me a lot of "All The Stars In The Heavens" by Adriana Trigiani, a book I read back in 2021.

While I enjoyed the storyline about loving yourself before you can love others and related to that a lot, the rest of the story just okay. I'd like a full complete story about Rue and her marriage and the day that connected her with Cole & Hutch through found family.

Way more open door than I prefer to read but second changes are my second favorite trope so that was good. It was also fun to get a few updates from other Spoons couples from earlier in the series. P.S. this book made me so hungry for baked goods, especially the holiday pie! 🤤

Well, I didn't see that coming.

Wow. I don't think I've read a better book with a character in the thick of loss and alcoholism. I rooted for Cass, got mad at her, understood, and mourned with her.

A little late coming to this great parenting resource, but I'm still going to implement some of other over great conversation starter ideas and bonding moments. Thanks Robin!

Absolutely left me emotional through the entire book, as I am with most of Abby's titles, since she always has characters that I connect with so deeply.

I've shelved this book dozens of times as a library staff member but watching my tween be engrossed in it and reading ahead of her assignments for school is what made me finally pick it up. Definitely left open for more titles in the series.

P. 104
What if, instead of being so frustrated by what we don't see, I let God's Word be the lens through which I get to receive glimpses of His goodness that only those of us who suffer get to see?

Lysa TerKeurst Adams
I Want To Trust You, But I Don't pages 102-104

Less about the list and more about trusting yourself as you are thrust into the big wide world. Love the technology ideas/apps mentioned; I wonder if something like The Dispatch and Getaway Lists are based on real things in big cities?

Reading spots don't get much better. #CampingPace

Well researched and I learned a lot from the Victorian Era about the luxury side of numerous objects and the history of imported trinkets at vacation destinations- way before I ever would have ever considered possible. Many other clutter/decluttering authors I've also already read included as well.

Is it normal to refresh the app continuously? 🤪

What a fantastic read. Part storytelling, with science and inspiration to reevaluate the ways we've supplemented everyday tasks with needless screen time. A few things Carlos touched on is that we aren't content with the quiet anymore, we can't maintain eye-contact, we don't know how to get lost, and we've lost our ability to wonder- simply because we can have answers immediately with a quick Google search.

I want a 13 year do-over. So many thing I could have done differently since taking on the mom-role. But I'll be implementing so many Danish things thanks to this books, so better late then never. Sigh. After reading a few excerpts to my husband, he's ready to up and relocate to Denmark. Highly recommend!

March 2025
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A little slow in parts but honestly I don't think I would have been able to read it any faster as I had to pace myself with the extreme spousal violence. I have a few Puritan/ Witch/ Massachusetts history books set aside to read this year and this was the first. I cannot imagine a more woven narrative to correlate the abuse within a marriage of this time, when women are property and of the inability to leave a marriage.

Not sure how I missed this book back in 2022, the cover and roller derby theme is everything that would have caught my attention in reading material back then and now. This was a fantastic book of found family and though I tend to group bios/memoirs as lifelong recaps this story focuses in on a much shorter time between college and early 20s for Gabe, her girlfriend, and impact roller derby had on her life.
Comp I'm Glad My Mom Died by J. McCurdy

Yikes. Well that was way more violent then I expected out of a teen western.

This book made me feel ewwwy. Open door romances don't bother me but early on they clearly both understood the abuse of power involved in a student & T.A. relationship and continued on anyway. Just a big no for me, wish it would have mentioned that in the blurb.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1915 book Herland is a thought-provoking work of utopian fiction and a time capsule of early twentieth-century feminism. On the eve of the First World War, sociology student Vandyck Jennings goes on an expedition with two of his friends to search for a society rumored to consist only of women. On the way to what they will name "Herland," Van and his friends ponder the type of women they hope or expect to see when they...

Herland keeps showing up on feminist book lists I'm trying to read through. Noticed it's book #2 in a trilogy. But book #1 is rarely mentioned. Do I need to read the first to understand what is happening in Herland?

Teenage homelessness, food insecurity, adult mistrust, sexual pressure, bullying, and an imprisoned parent all wrapped up in one book that would work well for topic driven discussions.

Expected publication: April 1, 2025

I really enjoyed this book, told in alternating chapters from modern day/2019, and 1999, and 1800s all in Australia and it's waters. I found the cadence of the writing weaving the known history of women convict ships and transportation into a story with magical realism a unique way to shed light on a lesser known part of Australian history (for me as an American).

I loved the blurb and construction of a split timeline style- this just felt far, far too long.

Historical fiction set in during the Civil War, one I don't read nearly as often since WW2 seems to overtake the genre more frequently. A quiet love story on a farm close to the front lines. Each character has a backstory that adds complexity to the scenes shared throughout the book. Not everyone makes it to the end but the found family in the midst of chaos is heartwarming.

Is there a name for a trope where one main character is supposed to be setting up the other and ends up falling hard themselves? That's what this was. Very cute.

Expected publication: April 22, 2025

While I connected better to 'Eat Cake, Be Brave' more than 'Chicken Fried Women's I think it was the timing for me. Several chapters absolutely hit my funny bone and had me rereading excerpts to my coworkers in the break room, or my mom & sister... but other sections missed the mark for me, or were maybe too close to home and emotional?

I definitely have a tribe but would they help wrap me in electrical...

A perfect narrative history and resource for a then and now world from an author who lives and breathes all he has learned about Tuberculosis and is doing something about it! Well done and worth the read!

Expected publication March 18, 2025

While I loved Amanda's passion and I agree to speaking up and out to raise awareness about book banning/censorship overall, I wanted more from this book. Her speech isn't until the end and would have helped readers more if it was included in the opening chapter since it is alluded to so frequently in the book. I wanted more specifics about each court battle (but maybe since it's still ongoing it can't be?) and way less repetitiveness overall...