A Book A Week

It’s the last day of 2025, and I can hardly believe how productive my reading year has been. I’ve been blogging since 2012, and over the years, I’ve had varying levels of success with my Book a Week goal. But for the first time ever, I doubled it—finishing the year having read a total of 104 books! While I’m not quite ready to rebrand as Two Books a Week, I’m incredibly proud of this milestone.

Before I dive into the exciting titles already waiting for me in 2026, I wanted to take a moment to highlight ten of my favorite reads from 2025. Reading this many books exposed me to a wide range of authors, genres, and perspectives. While no single title stood head and shoulders above the rest, each of these books left a lasting impression and stayed with me long after I turned the final page. Below are my top ten favorites of the year, listed alphabetically by title.

Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivy

Eowyn Ivey’s Black Woods, Blue Sky is a quietly powerful, genre-blurring novel set against the stark beauty of Alaska. It follows Birdie, a young single mother doing her best to raise her daughter on her own, whose life is altered when a reclusive outsider enters their world and offers both connection and the possibility of escape.

Written with Ivey’s signature lyrical prose, the novel unfolds like a modern fable—tender, haunting, and emotionally rich. Black Woods, Blue Sky is a moving meditation on love, survival, and the pull of freedom, and a deeply memorable read.

Read the full review here. 

Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell is a razor-sharp psychological thriller about deception, charm, and the danger hiding behind a familiar face. The novel centers on a magnetic man who appears in multiple women’s lives under different names—offering comfort, love, and stability while quietly unraveling everything around him.

Told through shifting perspectives, Jewell expertly tightens the tension as the connections come into focus and the truth turns dark. Don’t Let Him In is twisty, compulsive, and deeply unsettling, delivering the kind of page-turning suspense that defines the thriller genre.

Read the full review here. 

Ghosts of Hiroshima by Charles Pellegrino

Few moments in history carry the weight and devastation of August 6, 1945. Ghosts of Hiroshima revisits that day through the voices of those who survived the atomic bombing, offering an intimate, deeply human account of a tragedy too often reduced to dates and numbers.

Centered on memory and survival, Ghosts of Hiroshima examines how trauma endures across generations—through illness, guilt, fractured families, and an unresolved moral reckoning with nuclear warfare. Unflinching yet compassionate, it is a sobering, essential work that honors the people behind the history and insists their stories be remembered.

Read the full review here. 

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert is a bold, inventive novel that imagines a world where historical figures return to life and confront the modern age. When Harriet Tubman reappears and decides the best way to continue her fight for freedom is through a hip-hop album, she teams up with a washed-up record producer whose life—and purpose—may be changed forever.

Sharp, funny, and surprisingly moving, the novel blends speculative history with pointed social commentary. Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert sees Bob the Drag Queen use humor and imagination to explore freedom, legacy, and the ongoing struggle for equality, marking a confident and thought-provoking literary debut.

Read the full review here. 

The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter

The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter is a quietly devastating novel about fathers and sons, memory, and the uneasy space between who we believe our parents are and who they truly were. The story follows Steven Mills, who idolized his charismatic father as a boy—until ambition, secrecy, and eventual disappearance fractured his family and left lasting wounds.

Years later, as an adult grappling with his own failing marriage and strained relationship with his child, Steven sets out to uncover what became of his father. Porter’s restrained, elegant prose turns this search into a profound meditation on nostalgia, identity, and inheritance. The Imagined Life is intimate, searching, and deeply human—a novel that lingers with quiet emotional force.

Read the full review here. 

King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

S.A. Cosby’s King of Ashes is a blistering Southern noir epic about family, loyalty, and the violence woven into legacy. When Roman Carruthers returns to his hometown after his father is left comatose in a suspicious crash, he’s pulled back into a web of buried secrets, criminal debts, and long-simmering trauma alongside his brother and sister.

With razor-sharp prose and relentless momentum, Cosby delivers a crime novel that’s as emotionally charged as it is brutal. King of Ashes is gritty, ambitious, and morally complex—a modern American crime saga that confirms Cosby as one of the genre’s most powerful voices.

Read the full review here. 

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Returning to Panem with Sunrise on the Reaping proves far more necessary—and powerful—than expected. Set during the 50th Hunger Games, the novel follows a teenage Haymitch Abernathy as the Capitol marks the Quarter Quell by doubling the number of tributes, turning the Reaping into an even crueler spectacle of control and punishment.

Freed from the question of who survives, Suzanne Collins delivers a sharper, more politically charged story that digs deep into propaganda, resistance, and the cost of defiance. Sunrise on the Reaping is darker, more emotionally devastating, and strikingly relevant—a prequel that not only enriches the series’ mythology but stands as its most urgent and accomplished entry.

Read the full review here. 

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler’s Three Days in June is a sharp, tender novel set over the emotionally charged days surrounding a wedding—where joy, resentment, and unresolved history collide. Gail Baines, recently pushed out of her long-held job and on the brink of unwanted change, must navigate her daughter’s impending marriage, the return of her ex-husband, and a family secret that threatens to upend everything.

With wit, warmth, and remarkable emotional precision, Tyler explores aging, independence, and the fragile negotiations of family life. Three Days in June is deceptively light yet richly layered, balancing humor and heartbreak in a way that feels both honest and quietly profound.

Read the full review here. 

Whistle by Linwood Barclay

Linwood Barclay’s Whistle is a chilling supernatural thriller about grief, guilt, and the horrors that refuse to stay buried. After losing her husband and watching her career unravel following a devastating tragedy tied to her children’s books, Annie Blunt retreats with her young son to a quiet town upstate—hoping distance will bring healing. Instead, a mysterious model train set and increasingly unsettling events suggest something far darker has followed them.

Blending emotional realism with creeping dread, Barclay delivers a story that feels both classic and sharply modern. Whistle is eerie, fast-paced, and deeply unsettling, anchored by rich characters and an atmosphere of mounting unease. This compulsively readable novel proves that even the smallest things can carry immense terror.

Read the full review here.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore is an atmospheric, emotionally rich novel set on a remote island near Antarctica, where a grieving father and his three children safeguard the world’s largest seed bank. Their isolated existence is upended when a mysterious woman washes ashore during a violent storm, bringing connection—and secrets—into their fragile world.

With lyrical prose and a deep reverence for nature, McConaghy crafts a haunting story of family, trust, and survival. Wild Dark Shore is quietly powerful, deeply moving, and lingers long after the final page.

Read the full review here. 

Have you read any of these books? What was your favorite read of 2025? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. This year has been a huge reading year for me, and I can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store. Whatever the future holds, you can count on me to share all my bookish thoughts right here on A Book A Week!

I’m ending my reading year with a book that’s been on my radar since it was released earlier this year. Jeneva Rose's The Perfect Marriage was a novel that completely blew me away when I read it with my book club back in July. I was hooked on its premise of a defense attorney who chooses to represent her own husband after he’s accused of murdering his mistress. It was a twisty, fast-paced psychological thriller with an ending that completely blindsided me. So while I was excited to dive into the sequel, A Perfect Divorce, I was also anxious to see whether it could possibly live up to the thrills of the original.

It should go without saying, but I’ll note it just in case: everything that follows contains potential spoilers for The Perfect Marriage. If you haven’t read that one yet, I highly recommend doing so before continuing. You won’t regret it.

Eleven years after the trial that blew up her life, Sarah Morgan has finally moved on, or at least as much as she possibly can. Her husband, Adam, was convicted of murdering his mistress and sentenced to death. In the aftermath, Sarah changed careers, founding a nonprofit to help defend the wrongfully convicted. It’s too little, too late for Adam, of course, but the work gives her purpose.

On the personal front, life appears settled. She’s married to Bob, her former law partner, and together they have a daughter, Summer. For the first time in years, things feel good. But that stability doesn’t last.

When Bob has a one-night stand, and Sarah discovers the betrayal, she files for divorce. As their marriage implodes, a far more dangerous complication emerges. New DNA evidence surfaces in Adam’s case, calling his conviction into question. The investigation is reopened, thrusting Sarah back into the spotlight.  Then Bob’s mistress goes missing, and suddenly the past isn’t just resurfacing, it’s repeating itself. History has a way of circling back, and in Sarah Morgan’s life, the past is far from finished.

With The Perfect Divorce, Jeneva Rose delivers a sequel that expands the drama, twists, and thrills of The Perfect Marriage in a way that feels fully earned. Because we already know what Sarah is capable of, there’s an added layer of anticipation this time around—an ever-present tension as the threat of her secrets coming to light looms over the story. Watching her navigate yet another cheating husband makes for the kind of delicious, compulsively readable drama that’s impossible to resist. Rose employs shifting perspectives to stack the suspense and keep the twists coming. And while the ending may not land with quite the same shock factor as the first book, it still delivers a satisfying conclusion. The Perfect Divorce is a fast-paced psychological thriller that proves Jeneva Rose knows exactly how to keep readers hooked.

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

(2025, 104)

When Charlie and Eve stumble upon an old house full of character in a perfectly picturesque neighborhood—at a reasonable price, no less—they can hardly believe their luck. The couple has been flipping houses for several years, but this latest find promises to be their best project yet. One afternoon, as the two women are working inside the house, there’s a knock at the door. Standing on the porch is a man with his family, claiming he lived there years before, and asking if he might show his children around. Eve, always the people-pleaser, agrees and lets them in.

From the moment the family crosses the threshold, Eve feels uneasy. Maybe it’s the wife’s reaction when she realizes Eve and Charlie are a couple. Maybe it’s the way the man moves through the house as if he still owns it—their house. Or maybe Eve is just being paranoid. But when the family’s young son goes missing, and a strange, ghostly presence begins to manifest in the basement, Eve’s fears are impossible to ignore. Even more disturbing, the family refuses to take the hint that their visit should be over. Then Charlie vanishes. As Eve’s grip on reality begins to slip, she’s forced to confront the terrifying possibility that something is deeply wrong—with the house, with the visiting family…or with her own mind.

We Used to Live Here marks a striking debut from Marcus Kliewer. It's a story rooted in psychological horror and creeping paranoia. From the very first pages, Kliewer destabilizes both his characters and the reader, blurring the line between reality and delusion until nothing feels entirely trustworthy. The result is a constant, low-grade unease, an impression that something is wrong long before the story ever confirms it.

The novel’s horror isn’t driven by shocks or gore, but by erosion of certainty, safety, and sanity. The book’s blurb compares the experience to quicksand, and it’s an apt metaphor. The deeper you sink into the story, the harder it becomes to orient yourself or pull free. Familiar spaces turn threatening, motivations feel slippery, and even perception itself comes into question. At times, I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but that disorientation feels intentional. It mirrors Eve’s own unraveling.

Kliewer resists tidy explanations, and even as the novel reaches a deeply unsettling conclusion, it refuses to offer clarity or comfort. Instead, it leaves you with lingering doubt, the sense that reality itself may have shifted just out of reach. In We Used to Live Here, the fear doesn’t come from what’s seen but from what can’t be trusted. And that’s what makes it so effective. The story doesn't end on the final page. Instead, it follows you, quietly asking whether the house was ever haunted at all, or if the real terror was watching a mind slowly lose its grip on reality.

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

(2025, 103)

It’s a misty December day when Laurie squeezes into the seat of a double-decker bus. Christmas is nearly here, and her mind is cluttered with lists and obligations. Then, through the fogged-over window, she sees him. He’s a stranger, of course, but something about him feels unmistakably right. Laurie has never believed in love at first sight—until that moment. When he looks back, and their eyes meet, she’s certain there’s a spark, a shared recognition that feels almost impossible to ignore. And then, just as suddenly, the bus lurches forward, the brakes release, and he’s gone, left standing behind in the haze.

Laurie knows it’s silly, but she can’t let the image of him go. For the next year, she searches for “bus boy” everywhere—every bar, every street, every shop. She becomes fixated, convinced he’s the one and that she’ll never feel that kind of connection again. But as days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and months into a year, hope begins to fade. Then, just as she’s finally ready to let the fantasy go, he reenters her life, hand in hand with her best friend and flatmate, Sarah. Jack, as she learns his name, is Sarah’s new boyfriend, the man she can’t stop talking about.

Laurie wants to scream the truth, to tell Sarah that Jack is the man she’s been searching for all along. But when she sees the happiness on her friend’s face and realizes Jack doesn’t seem to recognize her, she swallows her feelings and says nothing. Maybe it was all just a foolish dream. Except it wasn’t. Jack does remember her. And now he’s caught between loyalty to his girlfriend and the lingering pull of a moment that neither of them ever forgot.

One Day in December sees Josie Silver write a romance that stretches far beyond the familiar tropes of a typical holiday love story. The love triangle that unfolds between Laurie, Jack, and Sarah feels genuine, thanks to the patience and care with which Silver allows their relationships to develop. Yes, you can probably guess where the story is headed, but that predictability isn’t the point. This is a novel about the way life twists and turns, carrying us through the joys and heartbreaks of love and friendship.

Silver asks us to consider what true love really means and whether we’re willing to settle for something less than what we truly want. By writing from both Laurie’s and Jack’s perspectives, she lets us experience their longing, happiness, and regret across several years of their lives. The result is a novel that satisfies as a cozy holiday romance while offering deeper character exploration than the genre typically provides. That blend of romance, longing, and emotional honesty makes One Day in December a perfect holiday read, one that captures the magic of the season while lingering in your thoughts well into the new year.

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

(2025, 102)

Lisa Unger is no stranger to holiday-themed thrillers. Her 2023 release, Christmas Presents, successfully blended a compelling mystery with the backdrop of a small town at Christmastime, delivering a short read that still packed an emotional punch. So when I saw that Unger had a new holiday-themed release—this time a free short story from Amazon—I jumped at the chance to read it.

Even with Christmas fast approaching, Paige still has work to do. Only her job isn’t one you’d typically imagine. She’s an assassin, paid by a shadowy organization to swiftly and quietly “get the job done.” When Paige slips into the home of her latest wealthy target, she expects nothing out of the ordinary. The house is decorated for the holidays, of course, but that doesn’t slow her down. What stops her cold is the realization that her target isn’t alone. His young daughter is there too. Risking the wrath of her employers, Paige retreats. There are some lines she simply won’t cross.

Now her employers aren’t pleased, and these aren’t the kind of people you double-cross. No one gets out of that kind of situation alive. So Paige returns on Christmas Eve, determined to finish the job. But her plans are thwarted once again when she discovers the daughter is still there…along with someone else. Someone from her past she never expected to see. Forced to confront old traumas while the walls close in, Paige must outmaneuver her own organization if she hopes to survive the night and make it to Christmas morning alive.

At just over 70 pages, The Kill Clause still manages to pack quite a punch. Lisa Unger writes with an urgency that’s hard to resist. I found myself flying through the pages, finishing it in a single sitting. Sure, with such a short story, there isn’t much room for deep character development, and the twists aren’t as plentiful as in some of Unger’s longer works. But as a quick, punchy holiday thriller, The Kill Clause delivers exactly what it promises and is an absolute blast to read.

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

(2025, 101)

I’m a sucker for a good murder mystery. There’s something about the thrill of peeling back the layers of a well-crafted whodunit that grips me like nothing else. So when I stumble upon a new crime novel—especially one as compelling as Head Cases by John McMahon—I tend to read it straight through, determined to reach that final reveal. The premise of McMahon’s latest, which also launches a new series, first caught my attention when it was published in January. For whatever reason, I didn’t pick it up until now, but I’m thrilled I finally did.

When FBI Agent Gardner Camden signed on to join the agency’s quirky Pattern and Recognition (PAR) unit, he knew he’d be facing the kinds of cases no one else could crack. He’s built his career on untangling the impossible, using his gift for puzzles to bring clarity to investigations that defy logic. If that were all the job required, Gardner would be just fine. Unfortunately, the very traits that make him invaluable in the field make him a liability everywhere else.

Gardner struggles with the human side of investigations. Social cues that others instinctively pick up on sail right past him, stalling his career and straining his relationship with his seven-year-old daughter. As a result, Gardner and his team are typically confined to cold cases, working quietly from behind their desks. But that changes when DNA links a current murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead. When a second victim appears, and a clear pattern emerges—along with clues and riddles seemingly crafted just for Gardner—the PAR team is thrust into an active investigation. No longer buried in case files, they’re sent into the field, following a killer who appears to be playing a very personal game.

Head Cases is the kind of hardboiled crime mystery that feels both timeless and timely. John McMahon sticks to the familiar conventions of the genre, then twists them into chilling new directions. The villain here—aptly named Mad Dog—sent a genuine shiver down my spine. He’s the perfect foil to McMahon’s hero, Gardner Camden, and watching the two engage in a cat-and-mouse battle of intellect is a pure thrill.

McMahon smartly balances the high-stakes suspense with grounded character work, deftly exploring Gardner’s personal life while thoughtfully examining the challenges of living somewhere on the spectrum. I couldn’t help but care deeply for Gardner and his family, which only heightened the tension as Mad Dog began making the case increasingly personal. All told, Head Cases is an excellent crime thriller and a must-read start to a new series. I can’t wait to see where McMahon takes Gardner next when the sequel arrives early next year.

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

(2025, 100)

This time of year is busy for most of us. The holidays bring a flurry of decorating, shopping, gatherings, and travel. For me, that usually means I have less time than I’d like to commit to reading, and I find myself craving books that are quicker, easier to finish. I’ve found the perfect series in Greg Kincaid’s holiday novels. A Dog Named Christmas and Noelle both deliver heartwarming holiday cheer—with plenty of adorable puppies thrown in. It’s a combination that’s hard to resist! Thankfully, the series has more entries, so I eagerly picked up A Christmas Home to see what would happen next.

Twenty-four-year-old Todd McCray never thought he would find a place in the world where he truly belonged. His developmental challenges often left him feeling out of step as he grew up. That began to change when he met a Labrador retriever named Christmas, a rescue dog who gave Todd a sense of purpose he never knew he was missing. Now, Todd works at the local animal shelter, the very place where he once fostered Christmas all those years ago. With his gentle nature and intuitive understanding of animals, Todd excels at training the dogs and helping match them with the right families.

While Todd is doing well, the rest of his small town is not. Economic times are tough. Businesses are shuttering, families are moving away in desperate search of opportunity, and tragically, many are leaving their family pets behind. The result is an animal shelter overflowing with dogs in need of homes just as the holidays approach. Worse still, with tax revenue dwindling, the city council has voted to close the shelter at the end of the year. Now, Todd faces an impossible task of finding homes for every animal before Christmas, while also coming to terms with the loss of the one place where he has ever truly felt he belonged.

A Christmas Home expands the world Greg Kincaid introduced in A Dog Named Christmas, making for a perfect holiday read. While Kincaid initially uses the economic downturn of a small town to kick off his story, I was pleased to see it evolve into a tale rooted in hope and optimism. My only real complaint with the first book was the author’s handling of Todd’s disability, and here that issue is thoughtfully corrected. Todd is given real agency as the hero of the story, and even a gentle romance subplot that feels earned rather than patronizing. All told, A Christmas Home is a warm holiday read that reminds us of the importance of hope, community, and making sure everyone has a place they can call home.

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

(2025, 99)

It’s always good to read outside your usual genres. How else would we discover new authors and stories? And while I like to think of myself as an adventurous reader, fantasy has often been a stumbling block for me. Sure, I was swept up in the Harry Potter phenomenon, but beyond that, the genre has rarely managed to hold my attention. So when my sister-in-law recommended Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses, I was understandably hesitant. If fantasy was already a stretch, romantasy felt entirely out of my wheelhouse.

Still, against my better judgment, I picked up the first book. Before I knew it, I had read—and, dare I say, enjoyed—the second as well. And so, as the year draws to a close, I found myself ready to take the plunge once more with A Court of Wings and Ruin.

This third book finds Feyre in her most fully realized incarnation yet. She’s found her soulmate in Rhysand and completed her transformation into High Fae of the Night Court. With a firmer grasp on her powers, she’s no longer simply surviving—she’s striking back, taking delicious revenge on those who betrayed her trust and threatened the people she loves. But as much as Feyre wants to revel in the happiness of this new life, peace is not in the cards. War looms on the horizon, and she must learn to balance her magic, political influence, and divided loyalties to both court and family.

To protect everything she holds dear, Feyre returns to the Spring Court with vengeance in mind. Cloaked in a façade of obedience, she works to dismantle Tamlin’s alliance from within, carefully navigating treacherous court politics that threaten to expose her at every turn. The tension builds slowly, tightening with each revelation, as Feyre edges ever closer to the war she won't be able to avoid. 

A Court of Wings and Ruin marks the strongest opening of the series thus far. Sarah J. Maas has already done the heavy lifting of establishing the world and its characters, allowing this novel to dive straight into the action—and what a welcome start it is. Feyre exudes the strength she always seemed destined to claim, and it’s genuinely thrilling to watch her harness her powers at their fullest potential.

But as strong as the opening is, it’s everything that follows—nearly 700 pages’ worth—that began to lose me. The pacing is wildly uneven. Bursts of page-turning action repeatedly give way to long stretches of exposition: characters traveling great distances only to sit and discuss politics at length. While these conversations technically move the story forward, they stall the narrative momentum and linger far longer than necessary. Add to that the sex scenes popping up every fifty pages or so, and the novel starts to feel frustratingly bloated. What began as the strongest entry in the series ultimately became the most disappointing. In the end, it left me questioning whether the series could sustain the high stakes introduced here, or if it had already stretched itself too thin.

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

(2025, 98)

It’s officially feeling like Christmas around my house this week. The weather has cooled, the tree is up and glowing, the lights are strung across the porch, and every corner is decked out in holiday cheer. I’m fully in the spirit of the season. This time of year also nudges my reading habits in a slightly different direction. I still reach for my usual genres, but I also like to weave in a few festive titles.

After more than a decade of holiday reading (ever since I started this blog back in 2012), it’s become increasingly difficult to find new seasonal books to try. So I did what any self-respecting millennial would do: I Googled a list. Richard Paul Evans’s novels showed up on nearly every roundup I came across, even though I’d somehow never read him before. I decided to begin with his first book, The Christmas Box. It's a short, sweet, and sentimental fable with a message I think will resonate with many readers.

Richard is a busy father, working tirelessly to build the life he believes his family deserves. Unfortunately, that often means he’s more consumed by work than by time with his wife and young daughter. Despite his effort, the family still struggles to make ends meet. Then, almost by chance, Richard stumbles into what feels like a miracle.

A wealthy, older woman is seeking a family to live on her estate and help with cooking, cleaning, and other small household tasks. In return, she offers not only a salary but room and board in her spacious home. It seems too good to be true, yet it’s the very blessing Richard has been hoping for. As the family settles in, the arrangement proves to be a perfect fit.

Everything changes when Richard discovers an old box in the attic, filled with letters written by a grieving mother. As he reads them, piece by piece, he begins to understand the quiet sorrow carried by the woman who hired them. Through her story—and his growing awareness of what truly matters—Richard is gently led toward the deeper, more enduring meaning of the Christmas season.

I’ll be honest, The Christmas Box is a book that could be easy to bristle at. In the 30th Anniversary Edition that I read, Richard Paul Evans even admits in his introduction that his writing has evolved since he first penned this story on a whim decades ago. The novella is overtly sentimental, built on a simple premise and a predictable arc. And yet, there’s something undeniably enduring about the message of this story.

At its heart, The Christmas Box is about faith, family, and the importance of being present during the holiday season. It’s a universal reminder to focus on what truly matters, even when that means letting other priorities fall away. As I read, I found myself reflecting on the ways I’ve structured my own life—those late nights spent trying to squeeze in just a little more work, only to wake up and repeat the cycle the next day, often without carving out enough time for family and friends. It all adds up before you realize it, leaving you wondering how the time slipped through your fingers.

And that, I think, is the quiet power of The Christmas Box. Stories like this one nudge us to slow down, live in the moment, and savor the warmth that comes from community, especially at this time of year.

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

(2025, 97)

Such a Fun Age opens with an all-too-familiar and uncomfortable scene. A young Black woman walking through an upscale grocery store with a small white child is confronted by security, who assumes she must have kidnapped the girl. A crowd forms, someone starts filming, and Emira—mortified, angry, and just trying to do her job—is thrust into the kind of viral spectacle that she never dreamed she'd find herself a part of. When the child’s father arrives and clears things up, Emira wants nothing more than to put the whole incident behind her. Little does she know, this is only the beginning. 

From there, we get to know Emira more intimately. She's twenty-five, broke, drifting, and genuinely fond of watching little Briar, the daughter of her boss, Alix Chamberlain. Alix is everything Emira isn’t—wealthy, confident, and used to getting exactly what she wants. She’s built a brand on teaching women to claim their power, and when she learns about the grocery store incident, she becomes determined to “fix” things for Emira. With Emira approaching the birthday that will remove her from her parents’ health insurance plan, Alix sees an opportunity to guide her into a more stable future. But when the grocery store video resurfaces and draws someone from Alix’s past back into her orbit, both women find themselves barreling toward a collision that challenges everything they believe about themselves and each other.

Such a Fun Age finds Kiley Reid delivering a debut that deftly explores race, privilege, and the complicated dimensions of motherhood. She anchors the novel in characters who feel strikingly real and heightens the tension by making her two leads perfect foils. Alix is obsessed with the appearance of perfection—she has the perfect husband, the perfect career, and she’s determined to raise the perfect child. Emira, meanwhile, is both intrigued by Alix’s polished world and skeptical of it. She can imagine the appeal of that kind of stability, even sees flashes of a future she might want for herself, yet she can’t shake the suspicion that the whole thing is built on something hollow. That tension makes for compelling drama that kept me glued to the pages.

Reid strikes a remarkable balance between thematic depth, character development, and narrative momentum, crafting a story that challenges you even as it propels you forward. And it all culminates in one of the most satisfying, karmic endings I’ve read in ages. This is a fantastic debut from an author clearly just beginning to make her mark on the literary world.

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

(2025, 96)

December is here, and with it has come some very welcome colder weather in South Texas. My house is fully decorated for the holidays, and I’ve spent the last several nights curled up on the couch by the fireplace, snuggled up with my dogs and a good book. Several years ago, I read and enjoyed Greg Kincaid’s Christmas novel Noelle, the third story featuring characters first introduced in his hit novel A Dog Named Christmas. Even though I hadn’t read that first book, I was charmed by Noelle’s sweet message and told myself I’d eventually go back and start the series from the beginning. This week, nestled between my two dogs on the couch, I finally did just that. 

George McCray has always been protective of his son, Todd. Todd, who faces certain developmental challenges, still lives on the family’s Kansas farm well into young adulthood. George knows his son’s heart is good, but he also knows how unkind the world can be. As Christmas approaches, Todd learns that the local animal shelter is seeking families to foster their dogs for the holidays, giving the animals a brief respite from shelter life. Todd is instantly taken with the idea and longs to bring a dog home for the season. George is more hesitant. The thought of Todd bonding with a dog only to face the inevitable heartbreak of returning it on December 26th fills him with dread.

But Todd’s persistence—and his unfailing optimism—win out. Soon, the McCrays welcome a lovable dog into their home. Still, Todd can’t help but think about all the other dogs destined to spend the holiday in cages. So, using his natural charm and determination, he rallies his entire community to join the Adopt a Dog for Christmas program. What begins as one boy’s simple act of kindness becomes a lesson in compassion that transforms not just his family, but the whole town, reminding everyone of the true spirit of the season.

A Dog Named Christmas is a sweet little holiday story that highlights the power of community, the comfort of family, and the loyal love of our four-legged friends. Greg Kincaid writes with an approachable, heartfelt prose that perfectly suits this sentimental tale. Yes, it’s predictable and reads like something straight out of a Hallmark holiday movie, but honestly, that’s exactly the kind of story I’m perfectly happy to curl up with this time of year. In fact, the novel was later adapted into just such a film.

My only real complaint is the way the book handles Todd’s accessibility needs. Written in 2008, it includes the “R” word, which caught me completely off guard. Having read the third book in the series, it’s clear Kincaid’s perspective evolved with the times, but readers should be aware of that characterization before diving in. That said, I still enjoyed this cozy holiday read, especially while snuggled up with my own two dogs.

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

(2025, 95)