6.15.2026 - A Year of Marvelous Ways

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest novel by Sarah Winman.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Marvelous Ways has lived alone alongside a winding creek near the rugged Cornwall coast for nearly all her life, and has recently taken to spending her days sitting on the steps of her caravan with a pair of binoculars. She is waiting for something, but she's not sure what.  Francis Drake, a young soldier has seen too much of life and death, and washes up in Marvelous's creek, broken in body and spirit.  Marvelous will come to his aid, and an unlikely friendship will grow between these two solitary souls, as they share their stories and dreams.

This was another beautifully written story by Winman, author of Still Life.  Her writing is so lyrical and magical that it leaves you feeling otherworldly.  This book will really have you thinking of the ways that people are put in our lives for reasons that we can't always see.  It's the story of friendship, love, loss, and new beginnings.  There's a touch of magical realism here as well as no quotation marks, so you need to pay attention!  

6.15.2026 - New Skin

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut novel by Sarah Wang.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 3.5 stars rounded up!

At twenty-six, Linli Feng is still trying to escape her mother Fanny’s orbit.  But after three years of estrangement, just when Linli has been accepted into a prestigious graduate program, she is dragged back by Fanny’s latest medical catastrophe and forced to return home.  For decades, Fanny has been addicted to plastic surgery, and now Fanny has won a spot on America’s Beauty Extreme, a reality television competition in which botched plastic surgery addicts compete for reconstructive surgery.  When Linli attempts to rescue Fanny from the sinister subculture that has already claimed her mother’s face, she must at last confront the corrosive reality of American success that is at the fraught heart of their relationship. 

This was a solid debut and brings up so many interesting topics - mother/daughter relationships, family secrets, and the chase of whatever is considered beautiful.  The extremes that people will go to in order to achieve what they think is beautiful runs the gamut from hair dye to botox to the extreme plastic surgeries depicted in this book.  Plus, that beauty bar keeps changing, as we've seen lately with the very skinny celebrities.  In addition, the damage done to daughters seeing their mothers striving for perfection is big.  A thoughtful debut - looking forward to more from this author!

6.13.2026 - Watching Alice

 

Many thanks to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing | Thomas and Mercer, and Brilliance Publishing for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest domestic thriller by Sue Watson, with the audiobook wonderfully narrated by Eilidh Beaton.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Alice knows that her marriage to Jason is over, but neither wants to walk away from their children.  They come up with a "nesting" arrangement, where the children will stay put, and the parents will take turns living there.  Sounds reasonable, right?  But it quickly becomes suffocating, and Alice is getting more frustrated with Jason.  She also feels like she's being watched - is she or is she losing her grip on reality?

Sue Watson has once again written a gripping domestic suspense novel that kept me flipping the pages to figure out just what's going on.  As the book opens with a body at the bottom of the stairs, we know it's not going to end well!  But getting there is all the fun here as things just stop adding up.  It was tense, relatable, and I loved the twist at the end!  I ended up listening to the audiobook mostly and thought the production and narrator were great.

6.12.2026 - Someone Else's Husband

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by a favorite, Kimberly McCreight.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Gretchen and Richard have been married for a long time, with three grown children, and a very comfortable lifestyle.  But things start unravelling when Richard and his college friends travel to Africa to climb Mt Kilimanjaro.  There they meet an artist, Frankie, and Richard seems taken by her.  Once they return home, Frankie is found dead and Richard is accused.  

I'm a fan of McCreight's books and this one is a perfect example of why - the writing kept me glued to the pages as the story is told from the POV of both Gretchen and Frankie as well as with police transcripts and interjections from an unknown narrator.  The author's real life climb of Kilimanjaro definitely put a realistic and frightening spin on that aspect of the story.  It's very character-driven and I found myself feeling for both women.  The story was tense and twisty right up to that ending - bravo!  Grab this one for sure when it comes out on June 16th!

6.11.2026 - The Spin

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Mirror House Press for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful novel by Faith Gardner.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

In the 1960s, we meet the Crawford family - Leo, an ad man, his wife, Rose, pregnant, brilliant and restless, and teenage daughter, Melinda.  During a family vacation at a cabin in the woods, Rose vanishes.  When she comes back, she's not the same.  Then things get worse when a new color tv triggers a breakdown.  

I don't want to give too much away, but this is a must read.  It's a look back at how women and specifically mental illness were treated during this time period.  You can't help but be angry at so much.   Melinda is caught up in the rebellions of the time and heads to San Francisco, Leo puts all his trust in the doctors and he has to bring in his mother, Harriet, to help but it just causes more issues.  I loved the way this story was written, from the POV of each the family members circling Rose showing how they were affected,  There are also journal entries and doctor's notes to further the story.  Be sure and read the author's note.  Wonderful!

6.10.2026 - The Forty-Year Grudge

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for gifting me the second in this fun mystery series by Liza Tully.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

It's been four decades since the women of Sigma Delta Tau were last together.  The group is having a reunion at one of the sisters' ranches in New Mexico, and private investigator Aubrey Merritt is planning on reconnecting with her friends.  She brought along her assistant, Olivia Blunt, to help her with her bags.  But then one of the sorority sisters is murdered, and it's up to Aubrey and Olivia to solve the case.

This is a fun, cozy-style mystery series, with great characters and I enjoyed my second adventure with them.  Aubrey is a bit surly but is trying to train Olivia to be a good investigator.  There are multiple mysteries here to solve and plenty of suspects with motives.  What makes this series shine is the relationship between the two - Aubrey is old school where Olivia relies heavily on technology for her research.  There's plenty of drama but also that something more.  I'm looking forward to more from this pair!

6.10.2026 - The Killer and Frank Lloyd Wright

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest nonfiction book by Casey Sherman.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 3.5 stars rounded up!

We all know about the iconic buildings that Frank Lloyd Wright made, but this book explores his private life.  He had a stormy marriage and an infamous affair with another woman, igniting one of the country's first celebrity scandals.  Then scandal turned to horror when there was a fire at Taliesin, the home Wright built as a monument to love.

Once again, Sherman has thoroughly researched his subject and we learn all the details of Wright's life.  I was fascinated with so much of it, especially how the press hounded the family even back then.  Of course, societal morals were very different then, and Wright's actions were seen as completely scandalous.  I did feel bad for his children, because they appeared to be just peripheral figures in his orbit.  The title of this book is somewhat misleading - the murders at his house were certainly impactful but the book spends very little time on them.  A good read!