Category — Book Reviews

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from January.

A Deadly Inheritance (Charlotte Vassell): This is the third book in a very good series, and you probably have to read the others to get all of the references. It was a great first book of the year. Charlotte Vassell is so clever, and I love the way all of the characters are interconnected. It would be even better if I didn’t forget so much between books, or if I re-read the earlier books so I could remember all the small details. But no matter; time with Caius and Callie is well-spent, and I love the exchanges between Caius, Matt, and Amy.

Fleishman Is in Trouble (Taffy Brodesser-Akner): I would put this book on a list for the top 100 contemporary fiction books ever written. Does that mean it is perfect? No! And that is the point of the book. We are messy, imperfect, restless, hopeful. It is a brilliant brilliant brilliant book that should be reread every few years. Libby is one of the greatest characters who ever lived.

Death and Other Occupational Hazards (Veronika Dapunt): A cozy mystery with a good ending, with a few highs and lows along the way. Some parts were clever. Some made me cringe. But overall, a lighthearted read about the Apocalypse with shades of Good Omens.

Beth Is Dead (Katie Bernet): Super clever idea, and you will enjoy it (if you like YA because this book is definitely aimed at teens) even if you are only moderately familiar with Little Women, like me. I sense I like this book more than I would enjoy the original Little Women. It’s true — I’ve never read Little Women. But I’m still glad I picked this up.

Meet the Newmans (Jennifer Niven): A solid story that feels like a tv show; everything wraps up exactly as predicted, and you spend your time with lovely people, saying the right things, feeling the right things, and knowing at the end of the book that all will be well in the world. Sometimes you need that kind of story.

It Should Have Been You (Andrea Mara): 4.5 stars rounded up. Mara’s books suck you in. This would make a great beach read – short chapters, you can pop in and out of the story. My only pet peeve with thrillers is when people behave in ways that don’t feel real. There was some of that here, but I still raced through it and enjoyed the twists.

Lost Lambs (Madeline Cash): 4.5 stars rounded down. Rounded down, Melissa? You never round down. Well, there is a first for everything. I mostly enjoyed the story. It was a little… gimicky? It went a lot of places, most of them interesting, but it felt a little empty, too. There were times I underlined a phrase – what a beautiful thought. So. Yes. 4.5 rounded down.

What did you read last month?

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from December.

The Rose Field (Philip Pullman): What a long strange trip with Lyra and Pan. I started in August rereading the series so I would be ready for this book when it came out. It was wonderful to cross the world with some of my favourite characters and know how the story ends. Or how the story begins, as I think Lyra would probably say when she gets to the end of a good, long tale.

The Shakespeare Requirement (Julie Schumacher): I skimmed the first book in the trilogy, and while it was nice to have a general sense of what happened in the first book before coming into this one, it isn’t necessary. I laughed and cringed through this book. I missed and did not miss academia in equal measure. I liked every character. It was just a great story. Go Payne! Especially Pup-Dog.

The Heir Apparent (Rebecca Armitage): Like The Royal We but maybe a little more think-y. I really loved this book and thought about it when I wasn’t reading it. I’ve read many thinly disguised royal family books, and this one had something new to say and said it well. I can’t wait to see what this writer does next.

That’s Not How It Happened (Craig Thomas): I loved this book. Clearly – I devoured it in three days. I didn’t know what to expect because I didn’t know the author’s show, but this made me want to see it because this story had big squishy heart. I laughed. My heart hurt for the valleys and cheered for the high points. Such a great story.

The Christmas Appeal (Janice Hallett): I didn’t review this book on Goodreads because it was a re-read, but the first time I read it, I wrote: “Janice Hallett is a gift to the world. I am not a fan of Christmas, but if she is writing the story, I am reading it. And this was so well done – funny and clever. Loved being back with the Players.” Still true.

Best Offer Wins (Marisa Kashino): I had a very hard time with this book. I liked the pacing and the plot. I disliked all of the characters. In fact, I considered stopping because the characters were all so unpleasant that I didn’t enjoy spending time with them. But it moved quickly and wrapped up neatly. I guess I was happy that I finished it. So 1 for characters and 4 for plot, for a 2.5 average. With an extra point for DC references.

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer (Ragnar Jónasson): It was my first Ragnar Jonasson, but I was deep in before I realized I should have read the first book in the series. No worries — it was easy to keep up with the characters. A great, fast-paced winter read. I’ll double back and read the first book, and then I have the third book on my TBR for next fall.

The Correspondent (Virginia Evans): I’m still thinking about this book, weeks later. I read this in two days. I didn’t think I wanted to read it, and then it became the only book I wanted to read. Heartbreaking, beautiful, frustrating, relatable, this story will stick with me for a long time. The only thing that bothered me were letters back from actual people. For some reason, that crossed the line for me, maybe because those exchanges were tied to loss. But that was a tiny thing for me. On the whole, this was incredible and a good way to end the year.

What did you read last month?

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from November.

A Beginner’s Guide to Dying (Simon Boas): I don’t read a lot of nonfiction, but there was a book that kept popping up on “best of” lists, and when it came in at the library, I decided to check out the short audio book. I liked that this book started by pointing out that every single person on earth is a beginner in their own death. We never get to become an expert on our own dying because we only do it once. That quirky truth is a good example of what you’ll find in this lovely, helpful book: a bit of humour, a bit of profound knowledge, a bit of useful advice. It’s less a book about dying and more a book about living. I am so glad I read it.

The Secret Commonwealth (Philip Pullman): This was my first time reading this book as part of my massive re-read of His Dark Materials before the release of the final book. This is the rare series where each book gets progressively better with each book, and this book, the 9th in the series, is the best one yet.

Other People’s Houses (Clare Mackintosh): Mackintosh is one of my favourite writers, and I always enjoy spending time with Ffion. This was a great thriller, and I liked it as much as I liked the first book in the series. I hope she brings Ffion back for a fourth book (especially after that cliffhanger ending), though really looking forward to a standalone thriller from Mackintosh this spring.

The Queen Who Came in From the Cold (SJ Bennett): As always, SJ Bennett is an absolute treasure, and I hope she writes many many many more of these books. They’re fun, enlightening, clever. I love the note at the end over what was real, what was invented, and what was borrowed and twisted. Clever, clever, clever x 1000.

The Impossible Fortune (Richard Osman): It has gotten to the point where I should just give Osman books five stars from the get-go because they are always five stars. Even the acknowledgments page was five stars. I loved the twists in this book. That’s all I’ll say.

What did you read last month?

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from October.

What We Can Know (Ian McEwan): This book is an excellent reminder that sometimes you feel bored or want to stop something or don’t know where it is going, but if you hang in there, you will have your mind blown. What a fantastic ride. What a hard gulp of a thought about what we leave behind and how it will be interpreted in the future. This is one of my favourite reads of 2025.

Lyra’s Oxford (Philip Pullman): A bit thinner as a story than the Collectors or the novels. Enjoyed it because I enjoy all time with Lyra in Oxford, but it feels more like a sketch than a finished drawing. Still, as a completist, I felt like I had to read this one before getting to The Rose Field.

A Particularly Nasty Case (Adam Kay): I liked this but didn’t love it because it felt like a repeat of This Is Going To Hurt without the emotional bits. On the plus side, I laughed quite a few times. It’s a cute cozy mystery with an unlikeable narrator but I wanted to like him. There is a moment early on when the narrator points out why he and Nina should be friends on paper, and that’s kind of how I felt about the book. We should connect on paper.

Serpentine (Philip Pullman): Again, His Dark Materials completist, so I needed to read this tiny novella before continuing on to The Secret Commonwealth. Each tiny Lyra story hurts and heals my heart. This one was no different. I love this world so much. I’m glad I decided to reread and catch up on the novellas I missed on the way to the Rose Field. It is a great way to spend time in this tumultuous world.

Guilty by Definition (Susie Dent): Word nerds, rejoice. I read two books set in Oxford at the same time — The Secret Commonwealth (Philip Pullman, fantasy) and this — and they often visited the same places: The Trout or Cornmarket or Godstow. So it was a very strange experience jumping back and forth from real Oxford to fantasy Oxford, and a great way to experience the word play of this mystery. I loved being in the CED (or… alternate OED) offices, learning about the world, and following the twisting path of the story.

What did you read last month?

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from September.

Could Should Might Don’t: How We Think About the Future (Nick Foster): I read this because I wanted to become more comfortable with thoughts about the future, and the book ultimately achieves that, giving you ways of seeing though messaging and balancing your thoughts. I admittedly skimmed sometimes, but would highly recommend to anyone who thinks a lot about the future. I’ve been talking about it a lot the past month.

The Subtle Knife (Philip Pullman): Part of my re-read of His Dark Materials before the release of the final book at the end of October. No matter how many times I read it, it is just as beautiful and thought-provoking as the first time. I love being with Lyra and Will.

Displeasure Island (Alice Bell): Solid follow-up to last year’s Grave Expectations. The characters are still great. It was a light-hearted read during a time when I needed a light-hearted read.

The Killer Question (Janice Hallett): Janice Hallett is a treasure. Every book is brilliant. Even if you guess something, I guarantee that you will not guess everything. She has trick after trick after trick, and makes you laugh over and over again. Thank you for such an enjoyable experience.

The Wasp Trap (Mark Edwards): I’m so happy that I finally got to read a Mark Edwards book – they are hard to get in the U.S. – and it was a solid thriller. Good characters, great pacing, interesting situation. Well done.

The Amber Spyglass (Philip Pullman): As much as I’m disappointed that the ending doesn’t change with the re-read, it is the only ending that makes sense. It breaks your heart. But life does. Luckily, I still have two novellas and a novel left in my re-read of His Dark Materials before the final book is released.

What did you read last month?