A Book A Week

From the outside looking in, Natalie has the perfect life. She lives on the picturesque Yesteryear Ranch, tucked into the quiet hills of Idaho. Her husband, Caleb—a ruggedly handsome cowboy—runs the agricultural side of the farm, while Natalie raises their six seemingly perfect children. She shares their simple, rustic, all-natural lifestyle with over eight million followers, who watch with envy.

But if social media has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is ever quite as it seems.

In reality, Natalie relies on a team of nannies to wrangle the kids while she maintains her carefully curated image. Her live-in producer, Shannon, ensures everything runs smoothly behind the scenes. And Caleb? He’s never successfully grown a plant or kept an animal alive. Natalie secretly employs real farmers to keep the ranch functioning under the cover of night. Oh, and Caleb is also having an affair with Shannon.

This picture-perfect life is nothing but a façade, and it’s about to collapse.

After discovering the affair and Shannon’s sudden resignation, Natalie retreats to her bedroom, overwhelmed. When she awakes the next day, something is…off. She’s still in the same house, but Caleb is older—years older—and strangely competent. The children are there, but they aren’t her children. And all the modern conveniences that sustained her life are gone. No nannies. No producer. No electricity. No running water.

Has Natalie somehow slipped into the very past she’s been pretending to live in? Or is something far more unsettling at play? Whatever this is, if she wants to salvage her life—and the empire built on it—she’ll have to find a way out.

With Yesteryear, Caro Claire Burke bursts onto the literary fiction scene with a debut that may be one of the most original novels I read all year. There’s a sharp, biting irony in forcing a character to confront the harsh realities of the lifestyle she’s built a brand on promoting, but the exploration of hypocrisy is only the beginning of what Burke has in mind.

Burke alternates between Natalie’s present-day predicament and glimpses into her past, gradually constructing the version of her we meet at the novel’s start. It’s a smart, effective structure that deepens our understanding of an admittedly complex and often frustrating protagonist. As Natalie struggles to make sense of her situation, the novel expands into a thoughtful meditation on motherhood, womanhood, religion, politics, and the performative nature of life in the age of social media.

I found myself completely absorbed, eager to uncover the truth behind what was happening. The answer is as bold as you might expect from a novel this daring, though I suspect the ending will prove divisive for some readers. Even so, I was captivated from beginning to end. Yesteryear is a striking debut novel that will almost certainly make my list of favorite reads of the year.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2026, 28)

I've been a fan of author Megan Goldin since devouring her 2019 novel The Escape Room. She followed up that standalone thriller with The Night Swim, a searing portrait of a small-town rape trial and a cold case that cast a shadow over the entire city. When I learned she was writing a sequel to that work, I jumped at the chance to read it. Goldin's publisher provided me with the audiobook of Dark Corners. As I hit play, I was immediately immersed in the podcast, consumed by the crime and the story that was about to unfold. 

As Terence Bailey's release from prison for breaking and entering draws near, investigators' suspicions about his involvement in six unsolved murders of women intensify. Are they seriously about to let this man walk free? Things are further complicated when Madison Logan, a popular social media influencer, visits Bailey. The details of their meeting aren't known, but Madison goes missing soon after her encounter with Baily. Investigators fear she may have been kidnapped or, worse, murdered. What has happened to the young woman? More troubling, why was she meeting with Bailey?

Crime podcaster Rachel Krall isn't exactly surprised when she gets a call from the FBI. A few years ago, she covered a high-profile rape trial that spiraled into a cold-case murder investigation. Her little podcast became a national sensation, skyrocketing the reach of her work. She is surprised, though, at what they are calling her about. With Rachel's social media popularity, the FBI seeks her help to uncover answers about the missing Madison Logan. In exchange for her assistance, Rachel will receive unprecedented access to the active missing persons case. 

The case becomes even more perplexing as Maddison seems to exist solely within the realm of social media, with no trace of her offline identity. Undeterred, Rachel takes on an undercover persona using a fake Instagram account to delve into the world of influencers at BuzzCon, a significant influencer conference. As Rachel immerses herself in this fiercely competitive community, she discovers that the secrets and rivalries run deep. The discovery of a body with a disturbing tattoo raises fears that Bailey might have a dangerous accomplice and an alarming obsession with influencers, including Rachel herself. 

Dark Corners sees Megan Goldin continue the story of her most intriguing character Rachel Krull. While this is a continuation of the story that began in The Night Swim, this book can be read as a standalone. Goldin provides enough backstory to fill in any gaps you may have missed from the prior novel. Where that book focussed on small-town politics and the haunting of the past, this work is much more rooted in the present. Layered in amongst the thrilling missing person case is a deeper contemplation on the impact of social media on our everyday lives. The line between reality and the persona we see on an app is called into question, adding a unique level of suspense to the story. The audiobook is narrated by a cast featuring André Santana, January LaVoy, Samantha Desz. They breathe life into the characters, and the podcast sections specifically feel ripped straight from reality. Megan Goldin is a standard setter in the world of thrillers, and Dark Corners continues to set that very high mark in the genre. 

For more information, visit Amazon and Goodreads. 

(2023, 46)

In the past three decades, the rise of the internet has connected people and information across the globe. Before that, there simply wasn't mass global interconnectivity. As the first employee at social media juggernaut Instagram, Josh Riedel had a front-row seat in the company's ascension from a humble start-up to a worldwide phenomenon. He witnessed the way that technology could impact people's lives in both positive and negative ways. Following his time in the tech industry, Riedel pursued his passion for creative writing, seeing many of his short stories featured in various publications. Now he's combined his insider knowledge of big tech with his love of inventive storytelling into his debut novel Please Report Your Bug Here. 

There's no denying that Silicon Valley is the place to be. Yes, living in San Fransico is expensive. Yes, Ethan Block has a crippling amount of student loans lingering over every financial decision he considers. But there's something intoxicating about starting an app from the ground up. At least, that's what Ethan told himself when he became the first employee to work for the buzzy dating app DateDate. His idealized enthusiasm for changing the world has given way to a sobering reality that sees him crammed into a cubicle as he manually reviews an ever-growing queue of flagged photos. To make matters worse, Ethan has just ended a serious romance. So much for revolutionizing love. 

Reeling from the depression that comes from realizing one's insignificance within the corporate machine, Ethan decides to break one of DateDate's rules. He decides to override the system and find his own soulmate. At least, the one the algorithm says he most perfectly matches with. When he clicks on the profile, Ethan is transported from his dingy startup office to an infinite field of grass. When he thrust back to the office, Ethan is unsure of what just happened. Was this a mental break of some kind, or worse, a  severe bug in the code of DateDate? 

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for a book where the protagonist shares a name with me. Even before I read the full synopsis, I knew I had to read this book. Thankfully, my friends at Henry Holt and Macmillan Audio both shared copies of Please Report Your Bug Here with me. In the book, Riedel vividly illustrates the realities of working for a startup while painting a more romanticized portrait of Silicon Valley. As someone who is emotionally invested in the company but still just an employee, the main character Ethan helps to bridge the gap between the lofty aspirations and harsher truths of technology. Riedel balances this realism with fantastic trips through the multiverse, showcasing a vision of possibility to the most thrilling effect. As I read, I was reminded of the works of Blake Crouch. Like those sci-fi thrillers, Please Report Your Bug Here manages to be both an entertaining page-turner and a book that allows readers to think about the larger implications of our reliance upon technology. It is a tricky balance to strike, but Reidel does so with ease. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2023, 4)