Cover art for the novel The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives, by Elizabeth Arnott. Cover art features portraits of three women. Their faces are partially covered by the title. One woman has blonde hair, another has red hair and glasses, and the third woman has brown hair. The background is orange and the text is in white lettering.

This was really good! Good historical fiction with an interesting premise. If you don’t like crime fiction thus may not be for you. The subject matter is dark, but Bev, Elsie, and Margot have stories that will pull you in. The audiobook was excellent. I give this 5⭐️.📚🎧

I think you’ll really enjoy it!

Cover art for the novel “Guilty by Definition,” by Susie Dent. Image features an open book with a knife piercing one of the pages.

Loved this book! 5 ⭐️! One of my favs for 2026. The mystery, the setting, the friendship between the main characters all make for an enjoyable read. The audiobook was fantastic. Glad to know there is a book 2 coming and I get to spend more time with the staff of the Clarendon English Dictionary! 📚🎧

Cover art for the memoir “Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage,” by Belle Burden.

This was excellent! Read it in one sitting. I’m not a usually a non-fiction reader, but this poignant memoir was beautifully written. Highly recommend this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📚

Cover art for the novel “The Storm,” by Rachel Hawkins.

This just came out last week and I was fortunate enough to snag a copy on one of my library’s lending apps. I’ve read her others and really enjoyed them.

Am I correct in remembering the first episode they filmed wasn’t episode 1?

In college one summer I worked the 800 number as reservation agent for a major hotel chain. It was intense, but as I became more comfortable w/the routine of answering calls, the stress eased up. I was still pretty wired after a shift, so watching mindless tv when I got home helped me unwind.

Image featuring a crown sketched in black on a yellow background. There is a red x through the crown and written in black below the crown is the phrase “NO KINGS.”

Ha! Thank you! It’s not a book I’ve seen talked about. I just kind of stumbled across it, but it turned out to be one of my faves for the year.

Cover art for the novel “Home of the American Circus,” by Allison Larkin. It’s a series of outlines of a house set one inside another. Colors are shades of blue and orange.

So good! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!
Great story, memorable characters, good pacing. Freya and her niece Aubrey are ones to root for. The ebook had a huge wait list but I found the hardcover at the library last week. I forgot how much I love reading a physical book. Whichever format, I highly recommend this one.

Ugh! Our dew point is 75 right now at 80 degrees and 84% humidity. It’s the corn sweat and the heat dome! 😓😩

Meryl Streep reads the audiobook and it was wonderful! Part of this book is set in Traverse City! That was a neat surprise, as I go to TC every summer when I’m at my family’s cottage in Benzie County.

Cover art for the novel “Tom Lake,” by Ann Patchett.

I loved this book! 5⭐️!
What a wonderful reading experience. Such beautiful writing. Northern Michigan during cherry-picking season acts as a wonderful through line as Lara tells her story to her daughters. The audiobook was one of the best I’ve ever listened to. I highly recommend this book!📚🎧

Cover art for the novel “The Ghostwriter,” by Julie Clark. The image is an artistic representation of flames where the flames are pages with typewritten writing on them.

This was really good! I gave it 5⭐️. I’ve read three of Julie Clark’s books and what I like about her writing is that she really respects her readers with the journey she takes them on with her stories. The Ghostwriter doesn’t disappoint. This will be a good beach read for summer. 📚

Cover art for the novel “Big Chief,” by Jon Hickey.

I liked this but didn’t love it. A weak 4⭐️ from me. It started out really strong and a good pace and then it kind of got bogged down in itself and where it and the MC, Mitch were going. 📚

Cover art for the novel “We Run the Tides,” by Vendela Vida.

I really enjoyed this one. 4⭐️. I especially liked that it was set in the mid-1980s. And I really liked Eulabee, the main character, and her family. This felt like special storytelling that keeps you engaged and wanting to know how the story will end, not when it will end. Great audiobook. 📚⭐️

Nothing To See Here is probably my all- time favorite book. It’s so funny and heartwarming. Such a good audiobook. I’ve listened to it several times!😂

Cover art for the novel “Run for the Hills,” by Kevin Wilson. Image features four people in a red car, driving down a road, with a chicken following them.

I loved this book! My favorite read so far for 2025. Kevin Wilson writes such wonderful characters. The audiobook is fantastic and Marin Ireland’s narration is why. This book is laugh out loud funny as well as poignant and heartwarming. It’s as good KW’s phenomenal “Nothing to See Here.”🎧📚

Cover art for “All the Colors of the Dark,” by Chris Whitaker. Image features night scene in the woods and a swath of red paint from a brushstroke superimposed over that.

And the last one I just finished yesterday. What an epic story! 5 ⭐️ from me. Saint and Patch will move right into your heart their first appearance in the story. Coming in at just over 600 pages, this is a story you get invested in. Have plenty of tissues on hand for the tears. Such a good read!📚

Cover art for the novel “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls,” by Grady Hendrix. Image features a lava lamp with a hand in it on a black background.

The latest from Grady Hendrix. A story about a home for “wayward” girls and the promise four of them make to each other and a mysterious librarian from the local book mobile. This is the 5th book I’ve read of this author and I’ve enjoyed them so much because of the compelling characters. Four ⭐️.📚

Cover art for the novel “Broken Fields,” by Marcie Rendon. Image features a lone white farmhouse in a rural setting with trees and a plowed field, with a rising sun in the distance.

Loved this! Five ⭐️ from me. Book number four in the Cash Blackbear series by Marcie Rendon. I can’t say enough good things about this series! Cash is one of my all-time favorite characters. I am really looking forward to future books from this author! 📚

Cover art for the novel “Exposure,” by Ramona Emerson. Features image of camera lens superimposed over eery night street scene with a lone figure standing under a street lamp.

This was really good! Five ⭐️ from me. The second book in the Rita Todacheene series, Rita is a Navajo forensic photographer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico who can see and talk to the ghosts of crime victims. Looking forward to more in this series by Ramona Emerson.

Cover art for the novel “The Library of Lost Dollhouses” by Elise Hooper. Image features full bookshelves with dollhouses intermixed.

It’s been too long since I shared what I’ve been reading! I’ll get to it! This one was ⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me. Didn’t love it. It felt a bit uneven in terms of which story to focus on: the story of the dollhouses or the story of the library curator. Audiobook was a good way to read it, though. 🎧📚

I’m putting this audiobook on my list! I was on the fence about this one considering how her last one left me in a puddle. But if this one has at least a less heart wrenching ending, I’m in!

No, I haven’t seen those. I’ll have to add those to my list as well! Thanks!

No, I hadn’t seen that one. I’ll have to put it on my list! Thanks!

Have you watched “North of North? That’s also on Netfl*x. I binged it yesterday and today. I thought it was really good.

Cover art for the novel “Where They Last Saw Her” by Marcie R. Rendon.

Current read. I really enjoyed this author’s “Cash Blackbear” series. I’m about 40 pages in. I think it’s going to be just as good as her previous work. 📚

Cover art for the novel “All The Other Mothers Hate Me,” by Sarah Harman.

This was very funny! Florence is truly a character you want to root for. This was a quick read that had a mystery that kept you guessing. If you’re lining up your summer vacay reads, this would be a perfect read by the pool and finish it in a couple of days read. 4.5⭐️ from me.📚

It really is a beautiful book. I can see why so many readers have loved it.