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I, Medusa

May 25, 2026

medusa

Is there anything worse than being the ugly duckling in a family of gorgeous women? Yes. You could be mortal and they could be goddesses. That’s life for 17-year-old Meddy in I, Medusa by Ayana Gray, a refreshing retelling of the Greek myth about the monster Medusa. Meddy is a tomboy who loves books and dreams of escaping their isolated island for Athens. Her only vanity is ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, fantasy, mythology, retellings, vacation reading

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

May 18, 2026

Natalie is a God-fearing women living a righteous life on a massive cattle ranch in Idaho. She is a loving wife and mother to five happy, healthy children with a sixth on the way. That she monetizes her life and that it might not be as “real” as she portrays it is the crux of Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel, Yesteryear. Especially when Natalie wakes one morning to find herself ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, women

Saoirse by Charleen Hurtobise

April 1, 2026

saoirse

A teenage girl in fear for her life steals both money and a passport to get out of the U.S. and into Ireland in the 1990s. This is the beginning of the novel Saoirse, but it’s nowhere near the beginning of the life of Sarah, the main character. That unspools slowly throughout the book as the years pass and Sarah morphs into Saoirse. She goes from a toxic childhood to a woman ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, Ireland, literary

Family of Spies

March 23, 2026

family

Here we are nearing the end of March and this is my first nonfiction review. That’s a pretty good summation of my 2026 nonfiction reading so far. I’m staying as far away from reality as possible. However, when I saw Family of Spies by Christine Kuehn at the library it looked intriguing enough that I picked it up. Once home, I jumped in and read the book straight ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, history, WWII

Lady Tremaine

March 10, 2026

lady

The wicked stepmother has been a mainstay in fiction since before the Brothers Grimm became grim. No fairy tale was complete without one, but the one in Cinderella was particularly vicious and cruel. So easy to hate. Maybe too easy? Author Rachel Hochhauser decides to remedy that in her novel, Lady Tremaine. This is not a modernization of the original story, but a recasting, a ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical, retellings

More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen

March 4, 2026

more than enough

Open Anna Quindlen’s new novel More Than Enough and you’ll meet Polly, a happy middle-aged woman. Her husband adores her and she him, she’s an English teacher at all girls’ school, and she has three stalwart, loving friends. Friends who give her a DNA test kit as a gag gift. When there’s a match for a family member she has no knowledge of it tilts the playing board of her life ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, women

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