“Bad Bad Girl,” by Gish Jen, has been named by Time  magazine as one of the 100 must-read books of 2025. The autofiction novel is an account of the conversations the author Jen wishes she had had with her Chinese mother before her mother’s death in 2020 at age 96. When Jen was born, a multi-generational chain of dysfunction and abuse sadly continued, broken only when Jen had her own children. The novel also chronicles the immigrant experience and the complex relationship be

“The Ivory City,” by Emily Bain Murphy, is a historical romance/murder mystery set in our own back yard. With thorough research, Murphy has captured the sights, sounds, smells, and wonders of the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, making this world-class event the center of her story. Grace, the poor cousin of Lillie and Oliver, experiences the excitement of exploring the attractions of the fair by day and attending the gala evening events thanks to her cousins. Early in the op

After an 8-year hiatus Jan Karon is back with her 15 th  book in the Mitford series. This gentle story is full of love, laughter and faith. Father Tim Kavanagh, the main character, is a retired Episcopal priest who married his artistic wife, Cynthia, late in life. Cynthia tells Tim that the one thing she wants for Christmas is a love letter. Christmas is a big deal for the Kavanaghs and a special time in the small mountain town of Mitford, North Carolina. After much thought

Mesmerizing and complex, “The Land in Winter,” by Andrew Miller, is an atmospheric British novel set in a village near Bristol in the 1960s. A record-breaking snowstorm mirrors the disquiet and turmoil its main characters face. The novel paints pictures with words, the English countryside, and the cities of Bristol and London coming to life on its pages, the sacrifices of World War II an undertone pervasive in the narrative. Two young Brit couples from vastly different backg

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down             Of the big lake they call Gitchie Gumee So begins Gordon Lightfoot’s iconic 1976 ballad “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Michigan journalist John U. Bacon’s book, “The Gales of November,” published only weeks before the 50 th  anniversary of the Great Lakes shipping disaster, (11-10-2025) offers a deep dive into the details of the tragedy. But Bacon’s book offers more than a recounting of the Fitzgerald’s loss.

Historian Bruce Henderson draws on personal interviews and extensive research to tell the story of the collaboration between U.S. bomber crews and the French Resistance during World War II. The military operation, code-named Operation Carpetbagger, commenced in 1942 and continued through D-Day, June 6, 1944. The mission was for U.S. B-24 Liberators, based at a secret airfield near London, to "fly low and slow in the dead of night to parachute spies and supplies" into Nazi oc

Journalist Beth Macy, born and raised in the small city of Urbana, Ohio, was able to attend college on the support of funding by a Pell Grant. For 25 years she was a reporter for the Roanoke (Va.) Times. During her years with the paper she developed a keen eye for the changes in America, particularly its smaller cities and rural areas. The result of those observations was a series of books detailing the effects of globalization on the non-urban sector as well as the nationwi

There are events in life one wishes could be undone. This is something readers are reminded of in “The White Octopus Hotel,” by Alexandra Bell, a novel that takes us on a magical journey through time. No one knows regret better than Eve Shaw, a young art appraiser, who is constantly haunted by the demons of her past. When an old man, someone Eve feels she may have known in the past, gives her a most peculiar birthday gift she embarks on a quest that could change her life for

Sometimes a new book awakens our interest in an author’s earlier works, especially when the characters remain the same. This happened to me with the recently published novel, “Wreck,” by Catherine Newman. The newbie’s protagonist, middle-aged Rocky, narrates “Wreck” and also is the voice of Newman’s previous, companion novel “Sandwich” (2024) now available in paperback. I remain surprised that “Sandwich” slipped past me. I nearly missed the chance to get to know Rocky, a dow

Thanksgiving puts bees and humans in thankful mode. In Clover’s flyovers, she’s touched by what she often sees, people “Grateful for Great Pets” lavishing love on their devoted dogs—pedigree pups and shelter saves—and independent kitties of all shades that amaze with their curious ways. Pets reward and astound, enriching our lives, and trying our patience at times too. This month, Clover hopes you’ll enjoy three superlative stories about pets, unforgettable dogs and a cat wit

Noted astronomer Tycho Brahe became the first recorded recipient of a prosthetic nose after his natal proboscis was removed in a 1566 duel of honor. The first chapter of Mary Roach’s intriguing (and funny) “Replaceable You” recounts the history of facial reconstruction surgery from Brahe’s 16 th century interchangeable snouts to the current widespread use of advancement flaps to rebuild facial features damaged by injury or disease. Roach is quick to point out that human at

In the 1840s, Ulysses S. Grant, an anti-slavery soldier from Ohio, fell in love with Julia Dent, the daughter of a Missouri farmer who owned 30 enslaved people. Grant left Ohio to attend the US Military Academy, graduating in 1843. After graduation, he was sent to Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis. Ulysses shared a room with Fred Dent, who introduced him to his sister Julia, and it was love at first sight. Ulysses and Julia spent most of the pre-Civil War years courting at W

David Brock skewers the conservative bloc of the Supreme Court in a stridently partisan denunciation of the justices in "Stench: The Making of the Thomas Court and the Unmaking of America." Brock directs his vigorous criticism toward the politicians who enabled the appointment of the hardline justices, the Federalist Society that initiated the systematic effort to establish the right-wing court, and the GOP megadonors who funded the turnover. Brock begins with a well-known

Desperation drives the characters in the immersive novel, “The Guardian and the Thief,” by Megha Majumdar, a thought-providing page-turner nominated for the National Book Award. Majumdar makes story telling look easy in her beautifully written book, a must-read that raises questions about moral ethics, leaving readers asking, “does the end justify the means?” At the onset we quickly understand what drives Ma, the protagonist, to steal food from the shelter she manages in Kol

“Boudicca’s Daughter,” a historical fiction novel by Elodie Harper, is partially inspired by a statue in London. The statue depicts the Celtic Warrior Queen Boudicca in a chariot with her two daughters crouched behind her as they go into battle. The daughters names don’t appear in historical records. As the title suggests, this is a fictional story of Boudicca’s daughter, Solina, embellished with historical facts from Britain and Rome in 60 CE. The tale is told from several

Author Cailtin Starling has a talent for conceptualizing the worst-case scenario imaginable for a hospital setting—an isolated location where no visitors are allowed and where the main caretaker is a representative from a pharmaceutical company.  Meg Culpepper’s rheumatologist has recommended that Meg participate in a trial to cure a rare disease she has contracted, Fayette-Gehret syndrome. For much of Meg’s young adult years, she has been plagued with a disabling disease of

Toddlers will delight in the chunky, rhyming board book “Count Pet,” another in a series of books by Matthew Van Fleet. This adorable newbie features stand-out photos by Brian Stanton and clever pull-tabs kids are sure to get a kick out of, certain to improve their fine motor skills too. The cover is pure eye-candy, displaying what youngsters can expect with the turn of a page—unusual, and more common animals, domestic and wild, each introduced with an accompanying number.

In May, 2119, Thomas Metcalfe begins his search for a long-lost poem, “A Corona for Vivien,” by renowned British poet Francis Blundy. A corona is a poetic format, sonnets strung together in a chain, the last line of a sonnet repeated as the first line of the next. The corona most typically addresses one subject, that subject usually being a person whose life the poet wishes to celebrate. “Vivien” was written as a gift to the poet’s wife. He read it to her and a handful of d

Is a river alive? is the central question raised by the renowned nature writer Robert McFarlane in his latest book. His thesis is that rivers are living beings that should be recognized as such and protected by law like human beings. The author takes the reader to three imperiled river systems. To the spectacular Los Cedros River in Ecuador, the Chennai and its wounded lagoons and tributaries in India, and to the wild Mutehekau Shipu (Magpie River) in Canada. Ecuador became

Anika Fajardo’s novel, “The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore,” is a story about loss and finding your way forward to a new life. The book is told using a dual timeline, present-day Minneapolis, where Dolores is living, and Cali, Columbia, in 1989, where Delores was born.     We first meet Dolores as she is dressing for her mother Jane’s funeral. Dolores has experienced a lot of death in her 35 years—grandmothers, great aunts, her mother Elizabeth, and now her mother Jane. Delor