The premise of the book was interesting enough, but the execution was kind of dark and broody.  A golem and a jinni find each other living parallel lives from Syria to New York, navigating a life of otherness, interspersed with kindness from strangers they befriend and lovers they become entangled with in various ways. I did appreciate the historical depiction at the end of the 1800's in those locations.  Overarching themes of loneliness and trying to connect when your very nature seems to disallow for connection make this a melancholic,  intellectual read. In some ways, the ways in which the golem, in particular, avoided abuse of lovely people who protected her and her secret was heartwarming, but the overall mood of the book left a sad haze over me that I couldn't shake and didn't love. But I for sure can see how folks who love this type of fantasy could love this tale.

Not recommended.

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Often when a book gets this much hype, I find it doesn't live up, but Reid came through again and I loved this book.  I was completely sucked in, stayed up much to late to finish it. In fact, 4 minutes from the end, which was a thrilling ending, my phone ran out of battery and I was left in wicked suspense while I recharged it in the middle of the night to find out what happened. 

This book is like The Hidden Figures meets Erich Segal's Love Story meets Lessons in Chemistry. The backdrop of working at NASA in the 1980's sets the stage for a relatively nuanced portrayal of the many ways that women adjusted to make their way in that workforce.  I loved the character development, the love story, the family relationships, and the way in which the plot unfolded with flashbacks. I often do not like when a book starts with a harrowing scene and then leaves you hanging while it backs up to fill in what is happening, but this book used that structure better than almost any book I can remember and it kept me engaged, not just in the that scene unfolding, but in the back stories as well. I can definitely see why so many people thought this was their favorite book of 2025 and, for once, I am going to join the crowd on this one.  

What a great start to my reading year!

​Recommend.

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A steamy fantasy romance centered around Scottish legend and lore, this was a fun, light read for my Scotland trip.  With magic and mythology, family dysfunction, and definite adult content, I wouldn't say this is high literature by any stretch of the imagination, but added to a traveling book list, it is a definite yes for romance fans. The one major bummer is that it is an American author, writing about an American woman doing a legacy trip to Scotland to find her roots after the death of her father.  But, as a fun, light, sexy plane book?  I would add it to your list.

Recommend.

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Although when traveling, I prefer books not only set in the location I am traveling to, instead of books about foreigners traveling to those locations, I am making an exception for this story of three wealthy, self-centered Americans traveling to Loch Ness during WWII.  It is a well crafted story, with the personal growth of the main character against the lack of it by the two men who strand her in Scotland.  

The descriptions of the country and the people and the culture were well done, but it really was the plotting and character development that had me engrossed.  A definite story to add to your Scottish vacation.

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One of two books by this author, with very similar premises.  Spent time in Venice, reassess your life, fall in love, explore the city.  Nothing more than a light, kind of fun read, but set in the city I was traveling in, which did add value to the story.  
Not not recommended.

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Light mid-life crisis romance book about a Londoner who goes to Venice for the summer. It was fun, without offense, but nothing deep or particularly special.  It is still on the list for something to read on a trip to Venice if you want something light that is set there.  Finding-yourself while on a touristy trip isn't really my favorite storyline, but it surely is popular.
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​Not not recommended.

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This is a sequel to My Name is Lucy Burton, which I read as part of my 2017 reading challenge. That was a year when I had categories of books that I was reading from and I can't remember which category this fulfilled.  I had trouble finding books to fill those lists the few years that I did that and started asking for recommendations, which is how I ended up ditching that list and just taking recommendations for my yearly booklist. 
In any event, I did not write reviews back then, so I decided to reread My Name Is Lucy Barton after reading the first chapter of this book in order to remember the backstory.  In retrospect, this wasn't necessary to appreciate this story, but it did help connect many of the relationships in the book.
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And there are a lot of relationships in this book.  There are a ton of characters and the history between them is complicated. I often felt like I do when I visit friends in a close-knit community or try to join a new group of people who have been tight for a long time.  There are all these backstories that touch on each other and it is hard to keep up with how they all touch on each other.  This makes the details of the book hard to keep track of and sometimes I would be well into a new storyline before I realized these were the same people from another storyline. In many ways, this is the magic of this series. It really makes you feel what Lucy Barton's small town life with judgy, hurtful people was like--and not just for her.  Those who bullied her, those who were indifferent to her, and those who saw and helped her in big and small ways are all portrayed sometimes in sympathetic ways, sometimes not, and most often in both ways at the same time. 

There is so much depth here, so much hurt. Child sex abuse and sexual assault play prominent roles as they play out in families and relationships in ways that fill in the backstory for many characters. It is the story of kids who were bullied and kids who did the bullying and kids who were both bullied and did the bullying and how this plays out in their adult lives.  The emotion of childhood trauma, indeed sometimes of torture, is on painful display here--told with a perspective that conveys deep empathy for the damage done and the damage done to the people caused the damage.  It is heart-wrenching the whole way.

Recommend.

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This has been an eclectic year of recommendations, with more horror than I have ever read, but also more really sweet novels that are just heart warming, lovely, light reads.  This is one of the latter. Even the book cover reflect the soft care that I felt when reading it.

A group of intertwining stories set in Japan in which people unhappy with their lives find themselves at the library getting lists of books from the quirk, eccentric librarian, who also felts small knickknacks that she gives away.  The book lists always include a recommendation that seems unrelated to the inquiry, but ends up being part of the recipe people need to transform their lives. 

It is a fun and delightful concept book. I found it to be slightly longer than was necessary to make and develop the project, such that I finished the book a little bit bored in a way that I wasn't through most of it. Like binge watching a good show that has a simplistic formula, if I had read it more slowly, I might have found this to be an endearing and comforting quality.

Not not recommended.

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Louise Erdrich does not disappoint in this sweet novel about a book lover with complex relationships, searching for family, while being haunted by her past and the past of others. It is complex, but I was easily drawn into the layers of stories.

And what booklover does love a book that talks about books and drops the names of titles like they are celebrities? Set in a bookstore to a large extend, I particularly loved that this was perhaps the first novel to incorporate the pandemic into its storyline and it was done exquisitely, with such emotional detail. 
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I just really loved this story.

Highly recommend.

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Set mostly in Edinburgh, this is a layered book with a multi-generational story that unfolds when the mental health facility where Esme has been living for decades is being closed.  Her great-niece, who was oblivious to her existence, is the next-of-kin contacted and the story to understand Esme's -- and by extension the whole family's--life history unfolds.  With themes addressing intergenerational family dysfunction and the control of rebellious women, I found the book engaging and charming.

Recommend.
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