DNS & DNF: Books I Did Not Read in 2025

/ Suzanne / 14 Comments

I understand people who can stick with a book through thick and thin, I do. And I admire people who challenge themselves by reading material that pushes them or educates in some way. Both of those things take patience and dedication that I just do not have. I read mostly for entertainment and partly for inspiration, with a few parenting books thrown in there now and again when I feel like I’m failing at the parenting thing. My philosophy is that there are more books in the universe than I will ever get to read, so I might as well read books I enjoy.

That’s why, in addition to the 81 books I read in 2025, I downloaded 48 books that I didn’t end up reading. Some of them were DNSes – Did Not Start. The rest of them were DNFs – Did Not Finish.

Audiobooks I downloaded but didn’t end up listening to:

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • Buckeye by Patrick Ryan (bookshop.org / amazon): The same friend who recommended The Song of Achilles suggested Buckeye, but it expired before I could get to it. I kind of think I need to own this book in print, though.
  • Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah (bookshop.org / amazon): I had Big Plans to start listening to Sophie Hannah’s Agatha Christie books this year, but I only read the first one.
  • The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah (bookshop.org / amazon): Same.
  • Divergent by Veronica Roth (bookshop.org / amazon):  I was chasing that Memory Thief high with my daughter, but this one didn’t interest her at all.
  • Horns by Joe Hill (bookshop.org / amazon): Someone I trust (was it Allison?) recommended this, and then I didn’t get to it before it expired, and then it wasn’t available.
  • If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin (bookshop.org / amazon):  I downloaded this on audiobook but read it with my eyes instead.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman (bookshop.org / amazon):  I will download this one again. Not sure why I thought I could get through both Night Film and The Crow Girl before this one expired, and I did not.
  • Murder in the Smithsonian by Margaret Truman (bookshop.org / amazon): Someone I trust (was it Gigi?) suggested this book, so I downloaded it… but never got around to it. I still think it sounds good!
  • Murder Town by Shelley Burr (bookshop.org / amazon): I have no recollection of why I downloaded this, but I didn’t even give it a try.
  • Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate (bookshop.org / amazon): It cracks me up that I never got around to reading this one, because that makes it clear that I probably NEED to read this one. A friend recommended it and I dutifully downloaded it and then… didn’t listen.
  • Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume (bookshop.org / amazon):  Another book I loved as a kid, and another Judy Blume book, but my daughter was still only interested in scary books.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • The Beige Man by Helene Tursten (bookshop.org / amazon): Not quite sure why I downloaded this, as it is number 7 in a series I have not read.
  • The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024 edited by S. A. Cosby and Steph Cha (bookshop.org / amazon): I keep coming up with short story ideas, but the truth is that I don’t really know how to WRITE a short story, so I wanted to listen to a few to absorb their cadence. And then didn’t.
  • The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (bookshop.org / amazon): I love Ann Patchett. I own this book in print. My husband listened to the audiobook and said it was fantastic. And… I didn’t listen to it OR read it with my eyes in 2025. I will, though. I will.
  • The Ghost in the Third Row by Bruce Coville (amazon):  I am desperate to read this series (a favorite of mine as a kid) with my daughter, but even though Libby claims I borrowed it for 21 days, my library doesn’t actually have it in its audiobook collection. You know what, amazon has all three Nina Tanleven books for under $9 apiece… maybe I will just buy them.
  • The Perfect Affair by Angela Henry (bookshop.org / amazon): I’m not sure why I downloaded this one; perhaps it was Available Now, so I got it as a backup, and then a book I really wanted to read came in, instead?
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (bookshop.org / amazon): This was a Hot Book with the middle school set and for a minute my daughter was going to read it, so I downloaded it to read along with her. Neither of us ended up reading it.
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (bookshop.org / amazon): Same.
  • Trust and Safety by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman (bookshop.org / amazon): Sounded good at the time; never got to it.
  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (bookshop.org / amazon): I wanted to listen to this with my daughter, but at the time she was only interested in reading scary books.
  • Unless by Carol Shields (bookshop.org / amazon): Downloaded it, didn’t give it a chance.
  • Woodworking by Emily St. James (bookshop.org / amazon):  It’s possible one of my friends recommended this; it’s also not outside the realm of possibility that I misread the author as Emily St. John Mandel. In either case, I did not open this one.

DNFs

Audiobooks I tried to listen to but ended up ditching:

Image
Image
Image
  • A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr (bookshop.org / amazon):  This dystopian novel sounded – and still sounds – fascinating to me. Not sure why Bookshop.org has it categorized as historical fiction; it’s speculative fiction from 1961. I’m pretty sure I picked it up because I wanted to replicate the amazing experience I had reading I Who Have Never Known Men. It was not as instantly captivating, though, in part because it’s quite weird and requires the reader to adjust to the rhythm and  style of the dialect. I suspect it will be better to read with my eyes. I only gave it forty minutes before I moved on.
  • An Odyssey by Daniel Mendelsohn (bookshop.org / amazon):  A friend recommended this memoir in the same conversation we discussed The Song of Achilles. I put both on hold and the Mendelsohn was available first. The first 34 minutes were interesting and well written, but The Dream Hotel came in and I made the mistake of starting it and it swept me completely off my feet.
  • Black Beauty by Anna Sewall (bookshop.org / amazon):  My daughter and I listened to this for one minute before we decided the narrator (John Rayburn) was not for us. Maybe we need to try this one in print.
Image
Image
Image
  • Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall (bookshop.org / amazon):  I stuck it out for just under two hours with this one, but – reluctantly, because I’d heard such good things – that’s where I left it.
  • Fair Play by Louise Hegarty (bookshop.org / amazon):  Four minutes on this one. That hardly seems like enough time to make a decision. And I swear I saw this one all over the place in 2025; I should definitely give it another go.
  • I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier (bookshop.org / amazon):  I started to listen to this one with my kid; Cormier’s books were dark and upsetting and yet deeply compelling to me when I was her age. We listened for just over an hour before she asked to move on. I’m not sure she was on board with the unreliable narrator trope.
Image
Image
Image
  • Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang (bookshop.org / amazon):  I swear I got through more than the ten minutes Libby claims I listened to – I have a clear memory of listening to it as I cleaned my daughter’s closet earlier this year – but maybe not. It sounds like such a compelling premise; I will try this one again.
  • Look Closer by David Ellis (bookshop.org / amazon):  I have heard great things about this one, but I only listened for 15 minutes before I gave up.
  • Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum (bookshop.org / amazon):  This one still sounds appealing (although I can’t recall if someone recommended this or if I got it mixed up with All the Other Mothers Hate Me), but the first 25 minutes weren’t captivating enough for me to keep going. It had the misfortune of coming after The Dream Hotel and The Song of Achilles, which were extraordinary books, so maybe it would fare better another time.
Image
Image
Image
  • Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (bookshop.org / amazon):  My daughter and I listened to this one for a whopping eleven minutes, but it didn’t capture her interest. I would like to go back to it. I’m a sucker for Newbury Award winners from the 1900s.
  • Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld (bookshop.org / amazon):  This was another attempt to read short stories, but sadly, this book had the misfortune of being the first book I picked up after The Correspondent. I gave it four minutes, though certainly it deserves another shot. I like Sittenfeld and really enjoyed her novel Romantic Comedy.
  • Sisters of Fortune by Esther Chehebar (bookshop.org / amazon):  I really wanted to like this. It’s a family story, humorous, multi-perspective. I remember it being billed, somewhere, as a Jewish Pride and Prejudice, and I loved that idea so much. But the two hours and forty minutes I listened to just felt like a slog and I reluctantly let it go.
Image
4.1.2
Image
Image
  • Straight Man by Richard Russo (bookshop.org / amazon):  I feel like Sarah will hate me for this (don’t hate me, Sarah!), but this book was not for me. I listened to it for more than an hour before returning it.
  • The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White (bookshop.org / amazon): Theoretically, I love the idea of three not-super-well-known authors getting together to write a book about three not-super-well-known authors writing a book and getting embroiled in a murder mystery. I listened to about a third of this book and then got bored.
  • The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe (bookshop.org / amazon):  Another book I really do intend to read, another narrator (Joe Barrett) who wasn’t for me. (He IS for lots of people, though; the book was nominated for an Audie Award.) I gave up after nine minutes. Fortunately, I own a physical copy of this book so I can read it at my leisure. (Will I ever read it?)
Image
Image
Image
  • The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (bookshop.org / amazon):  I only got through five minutes of this one.
  • The Usual Desire to Kill by Camilla Barnes (bookshop.org / amazon):  Nine minutes and I was done.
  • The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (bookshop.org / amazon):  I want so very badly to love this book, and I stuck it out for an hour and twenty minutes, but it just wasn’t doing it for me, so I gave up. I will definitely come back to this one.
Image
Image
Image
  • This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead (bookshop.org / amazon):  My recollection is that the narrator spoke in a near-WHISPER and I couldn’t deal with it. I adore Winstead, though, so I am definitely returning to this one. Fortunately, I have this one in print so I can read it with my eyes.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (bookshop.org / amazon):  My daughter and I listened to this book for more than three hours, but she grew weary of the story (and/or the repeated use of the
    N-word) and we stopped it. I hope we can pick it back up again – we hadn’t even really gotten to the main event.
  • We Don’t Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry (bookshop.org / amazon): While I have heard great things about this book, it does tend to fill my brain with the similarly titled song from Encanto. Great song, not one I need earworming around inside me all the time. This one got a whole seven minutes of my time.
Image
Image
Image
  • We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (bookshop.org / amazon): Someone suggested this as a good book to read with my daughter (was it Lisa?) and I was excited when it was available. My kid and I started this, listened to it for 21 minutes of one drive to school, and then moved on. I think it may have been too embarrassing listening to a romance story with her mother.
  • We Would Never by Tova Mirvis (bookshop.org / amazon):  I supposedly listened to this book for an hour and forty minutes, but I have no recollection of ever having seen the book title or the author’s name before. No idea what it’s about.
  • West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman (bookshop.org / amazon):  I listened for just under a half hour to this one and then returned it.
Image
Image
  • You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego (bookshop.org / amazon):  Well, I only gave this one three minutes to pique my interest and it wasn’t the right book at the right time, so back it went.
  • We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer (bookshop.org / amazon):  This is another one I downloaded in a burst of optimism about how quickly I could read the two monstrous mysteries I read in December. I’ve been listening to it over the holiday break, while doing dishes and laundry, but I’m not making a ton of progress. I suspect I will have to put it on hold again. But I LIKE it and intend to finish it.

This is a lot of books to Not Have Read. The sad truth is, this list represents only a portion of the books I started or intended to read in 2025. I have a whole slew of books on my kindle that I downloaded to take with me on vacation, and I read bits and pieces of a lot of them. There are also a not-insignificant number of physical books I started and did not finish. Libby makes it fairly easy to see which books I read or didn’t, but tracking down all the ebooks and print books I didn’t read would be a whole other project in itself. The main reason I finished so few ebooks and print books is not necessarily reflective of the books I tried to read. It’s more the fact that I read mostly before bed, and I tend to fall asleep very quickly. Maybe, in 2026, I need to devote more time to reading during the day.

Thinking about the books I didn’t read is a little depressing. But I’m choosing to believe it’s not a character flaw, but instead an understanding that not every book is going to be right for me or right for me right now. Also, if I have another forty years left to live, and only manage to complete 80 books a year… well, that’s a staggeringly tiny number of books to get to. Perhaps I need to be even MORE discerning.

What’s the last book you DNFed?

Books I Read in 2025

/ Suzanne / 12 Comments

In 2025, I read 81 books. Over half of those books (53) were audiobooks, which is a smaller number than I anticipated. I read 29 books with my eyes, six of which I read on my kindle and 23 I read in print. Five of the print books were books I read out loud to my twelve-year-old.

Image

Speaking of books I enjoyed with my kiddo, 18 of the books I read in 2025 were middle grade or young adult fiction that I read with or to her. (I also read one book while she was reading it; it was The Book among her middle school friends, and I wanted to see what all the hype was about.)

I did some partial series rereads in 2025; I read through nine Sophie Hannah books, four of Robert Galbraith’s books, and two of the original Hunger Games books.

Other authors who showed up multiple times this year were Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Anthony Horowitz, Judy Blume, E. L. Konigsburg, Peter Swanson, and B. A. Paris.

Of the books I read to or with my daughter, only a few of them were new to me. The rest I’d enjoyed when I was her age, and enjoyed again with her.

Overall, I consumed nearly 29,000 pages this year. At 1,391 pages, the longest book I read was The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith (bookshop.org / amazon), a reread for me. The shortest book I read, at only 128 pages, was Jennifer, Hecate, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E. L. Konigsburg (bookshop.org / amazon).

Best Books I Read in 2025

Image
Image
Image
  • Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (bookshop.org / amazon):  Part climate dystopia, part thriller, part family drama, this book was gorgeously written with compelling characters and a story I couldn’t put down. My review here.
  • The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (bookshop.org / amazon):  Lyrical, romantic, and heartbreaking. My review here.
  • The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (bookshop.org / amazon):  A riveting and too-real dystopia. My review here.
Image
Image
Image
  • The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (bookshop.org / amazon): A woman’s life and character sketched out in a series of letter didn’t sound like my thing, but it very much was. My review here.
  • I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (bookshop.org / amazon): A strange, unsettling, and very bleak exploration of the stories we tell and the connections we form. My review here.
  • Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (bookshop.org / amazon): Why didn’t I review this book? It was so good – the writing was fantastic and the scenarios were batshit crazy, but also kind of relatable? This was a book about love and survival and confidence in yourself and the power of writing. I loved it.

Pretty Darn Excellent Books I Read in 2025

Image
Image
Image
  • The Names by Florence Knapp (bookshop.org / amazon): This book was hard to listen to at times, with many detailed depictions of domestic violence and its repercussions, but it was also beautiful and full of hope, with well-drawn characters and a very cool concept.
  • Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten (bookshop.org / amazon): What a fascinating life Ina Garten has led – so far. She is the epitome of taking big swings for the change of a big payoff, and (mostly) hitting it out of the park. This should be a cooking metaphor and not a baseball one. Ina read the audiobook herself and that only added to its depth and my enjoyment.
  • Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (bookshop.org / amazon): I admire Emily Henry so much. Her books are marketed as women’s fiction or romance, which feels to me – as a person who LOVES both of the genres – like it’s minimizing the reach of her work. This had a lovely romance at its heart, a nice though a tad bit boring to me historical fiction kind of subplot, and a lot of lovely themes about family and what we carry with us.
Image
Image
Image
  • What Are You Going Through? by Sigrid Nunez (bookshop.org / amazon): I love Sigrid Nunez; her writing is exceptional and its style unlike anyone else’s I’ve encountered. She manages to get right down to the marrow of an emotion while still being spare and often humorous in her prose. This book was hard to read – it was so sad – but it was ultimately quite beautiful and I’m glad I read it.
  • The Love Haters by Katherine Center (bookshop.org / amazon): The title of this book is dumb, and has, in my opinion, next to nothing to do with the content. That flub aside, I loved this book. It’s fun and heartfelt and information – I know so much about Coast Guard rescue swimmers now! – plus there’s a delightful dog.
  • The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (bookshop.org / amazon): I will read and every Thursday Murder Club book because I am so invested in the characters. I figured this book would break my heart, and it did, but in the best way.

Really Good Books I Read in 2025

Image
Image
Image
Version 1.0.0
Image
Image
  • Doll Bones by Holly Black (bookshop.org / amazon): This was a weird little middle grade adventure that I fully enjoyed.
  • The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (bookshop.org / amazon): I loved this book about the power of imagination and friendship.
  • Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiney (bookshop.org / amazon): A really great collection of short stories. I loved how some of them were linked, as well.
  • Heartwood by Amity Gaige (bookshop.org / amazon): I didn’t love this book quite as much as many people did, but I did enjoy it. Strong writing, interesting premise. The “solution” wasn’t my favorite, but I did really like this one.
  • Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney (bookshop.org / amazon): This was good and different.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy (bookshop.org / amazon): This YA dystopia got a little convoluted for me, but overall I really enjoyed this book about the power of memory. It reminded me a little bit of The Giver, though not quite as stellar.
  • The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan (bookshop.org / amazon): Great writing and well-executed character development made this book work for me.
  • Famous Last Words by Gillian McCallister (bookshop.org / amazon): A solid thriller with an intriguing premise.
  • The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz (bookshop.org / amazon): I enjoyed this.
  • The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah (bookshop.org / amazon): This was very good, and I still prefer Sophie Hannah’s own characters to Hercule Poirot.
  • The Orphan Choir by Sophie Hannah (bookshop.org / amazon): This had a great uneasy atmosphere, but it was not my favorite Sophie Hannah.
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith (bookshop.org / amazon): While I continue to struggle with my feelings about the author, whose opinions are vile and whose platform makes them dangerous, I continue to get a lot of pleasure from her Cormoran Strike mystery series. The books are too long and could all benefit from some heavy editing, but I still devour every word.
  • Night Film by Marisha Pessl (bookshop.org / amazon):  My review here.
  • The Crow Girl by Eric Axl Sund (bookshop.org / amazon):  My review here.
  • All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman (bookshop.org / amazon): Usually I hate books with unlikable protagonists, but this book was an exception to the rule. I did not care for the implications of the ending, though.

Books I Read in 2025 That Were Either Fine or I Don’t Remember Them One Way or Another

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • The Prisoner by B. A. Paris (bookshop.org / amazon): This was decent.
  • No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall (bookshop.org / amazon): This was okay. I don’t know, there was something about the characters or their relationships that I found tiresome.
  • Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (bookshop.org / amazon): This was cute.
  • The Dark Hours by Amy Jordan (bookshop.org / amazon): I have only the faintest memory of this book, even after reading the blurb.
  • It’s Not the End of the World by Judy Blume (bookshop.org / amazon): This was as insightful as any Judy Blume, but it wasn’t as memorable for me as most of her books.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman (bookshop.org / amazon): I normally love dark academia, but this was not for me.
  • Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove (bookshop.org / amazon): This was fine.
  • Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi (bookshop.org / amazon): The premise was intriguing, but my memory is that my mind kept wandering while listening to this one.
  • Cross My Heart by Megan Collins (bookshop.org / amazon): This was fine, but it left no impression on me at all.
  • Someone in the Attic by Andrea Mara (bookshop.org / amazon): I did not remember this at all until I read the blurb again. The premise is great, and I think I liked this just fine, but I cannot recall the ending.
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • The Vacancy in Room 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass (bookshop.org / amazon): This went places I didn’t expect, but also it was a big meh.
  • The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean (bookshop.org / amazon): This was fine, but some of the twists felt unearned and too over-the-top.
  • If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin (bookshop.org / amazon): This was the It Book among the sixth grade set last year, and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. This book is A Lot – and I can see how it would be extremely shocking and titillating to read as a pre-teen.
  • The Guest by B. A. Paris (bookshop.org / amazon): This was less the thriller I anticipated and more an exploration of the discomfort that comes with having a guest who overstays her welcome. It was okay.

Books That Made Me Grouchy in 2025 That I Can at Least Appreciate from a Literary Standpoint

Image
Image
  • Trust Exercise by Susan Choi (bookshop.org / amazon): I feel like I wasn’t smart enough to understand this novel. Reviewers kept saying there was this magical click in the third part that made everything the came before worthwhile… but that didn’t happen for me. If the act of reading the book were a trust exercise, I feel like my scene partner dropped me on my head.
  • Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Ackner (bookshop.org / amazon): I hated the main character of this book, I was baffled – until near the end – by the choice of narrator, and I thought everyone behaved terribly. There was a point where I think I got what the author was trying to do with this book, and I liked it slightly better at that point, but overall this was not a hit for me.

Books That I Actively Disliked in 2025

Image
Image
Image
  • Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown (bookshop.org / amazon): Sometimes a book that has all the right ingredients is still a miss. My review here.
  • The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (bookshop.org / amazon): There was no depth to this book. My review here.
  • The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (bookshop.org / amazon): I did not need an entire novel trying to justify the villainization of a character I loathe, especially because it didn’t feel particularly compelling. My review here.
Image
Image
Image
Image
  • The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha (bookshop.org / amazon): I read a review billing this novel as Succession meets Knives Out, which sounded extremely my thing, but the book was so predictable and I hated all the characters. I hated everyone in Succession, too, but that was its own perfect thing.
  • We Solve Murders by Richard Osman (bookshop.org / amazon): I am such a fan of Osman’s Thursday Murder Club mysteries that I was eager to love the first in what I assume will be a new series. I did not love it. Most of the characters felt like half-drawn caricatures, the “mystery” was overly convoluted, and the writing felt cutesy and stilted.
  • The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger (bookshop.org / amazon): I should really stop reading books with unlikable characters; I hated everyone in this book and all of their terrible choices. This one did have a big, juicy twist that I didn’t predict, which is always fun. But it was also so unbelievable I nearly toppled over with rolling my eyes so hard.
  • The Weekend Retreat by Tara Laskowski (bookshop.org / amazon): I don’t know why this annoyed me so much. I guess it just felt predictable and tired? That’s not the fault of the author though; it’s my fault for reading too many similar books. (The Hunting Party and The Guest List, both by Lucy Foley, are, in my opinion, better versions of this story. There are also Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson, The Retreat by Sarah Pearse, and, of course, The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha.)

Books I Reread in 2025 and Still Love

Image
Image
Image
Version 1.0.0
Image
Version 1.0.0
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Version 1.0.0
Image
Version 1.0.0
Image
Version 1.0.0
Image
Image
Image
Version 1.0.0
Image
Version 1.0.0
Image
Image
Image
Image
Version 1.0.0
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

That’s a wrap on the books I read this year. Do we share any books in common?

Books I Gave and Got as Gifts

/ Suzanne / 11 Comments

Books make the best gifts. If all I ever got for any gift-giving occasion was a book, I would be a very happy gal.

My family has many book lovers in it, which means that I get to buy books for many people each year. Buying books is nearly as fun as getting books!

Image

Here are the books I gave as gifts this holiday season (all images from bookshop.org):

Image

Bad Best Friend by Rachel Vail (bookshop.org / amazon)

Image

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan (bookshop.org / amazon)

Image

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (bookshop.org / amazon):  My review here.

Image

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (bookshop.org / amazon):  My review here.

Image

Exceptionally Bad Dad Jokes by Spiffy McChappy (bookshop.org / amazon)

Image

The Magic Words by Joseph Fasano (bookshop.org / amazon)

Image

Night Film by Marisha Pessl (bookshop.org / amazon):  My review here.

Image

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (bookshop.org / amazon):  My review here.

Image

Strange Pictures by Uketsu (bookshop.org / amazon)

Image

Whatever Happened to Janie? by Caroline B. Cooney (bookshop.org / amazon)

Image

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (bookshop.org / amazon):  My review here. I bought this book for four people this year, if that’s any indication of how much I loved it.

My family really came through for me this year, and I found multiple book-shaped presents under the tree.

Image

Here are the books I received for Christmas (all images from bookshop.org):

Image

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (bookshop.org / amazon): My sister-in-law gave me this work of historical fiction.

Image

Senseless by Ronald Malfi (bookshop.org / amazon): I got this one from my husband, and, as usual for the books he picks for me, it sounds right up my alley. It’s a mixture of horror and thriller and I am super excited to dive into it.

Image

Heart the Lover by Lily King (bookshop.org / amazon): This is one of those books that I initially thought wouldn’t be right for me, because it’s a love story… but then I started hearing about it all over the place, and I kind of got FOMO and I decided I would read it. The thing is, I only told my husband that I thought it wouldn’t be right for me. He’d already bought it for me, based purely on the conviction that I would enjoy the celebration of literature aspect of this book, and I’m glad he did.

Image

Lightbreakers by Aja Gabel (bookshop.org / amazon): I had never heard of this book, but my in-laws sent it to me and I am intrigued by the themes of family and loss and, oh yeah, there’s time travel which often appeals to me.

Image

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (bookshop.org / amazon): My husband is a big fan of McEwan, but I’ve only ever read a couple of his books. Yet this one sounds dystopian and murder-y and I have been eyeing it for a while. I was delighted when I saw that he’d chosen it for me.

Image

Best Laid Plans by Sarah Hart Unger (bookshop.org / amazon):  Okay, okay, this was technically a gift from myself. But I am SO excited to read it in early January and use Sarah’s wisdom to change my life.

Image

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman (bookshop.org / amazon): Somehow I managed to completely miss that Osman had come out with another Thursday Murder Club book. I will read any and every edition of this silly, outlandish, and deeply moving mystery series. My in-laws sent me a gift card, so I bought this one right away.

Image

Replaceable You by Mary Roach (bookshop.org / amazon): I love Mary Roach’s witty and deeply curious exploration of super specific subjects, and have all her books, so this was another I ordered immediately with my gift card.

Image

The Morningside by Tea Obreht (bookshop.org / amazon): I love Tea Obreht and had neglected to buy this book when it came out earlier this year. It was an easy way to spend the rest of my gift card.

Did you give or get any books this holiday season? Are any of these books on your list for 2026? Which one of the books I got should I read first?

Mystery Monday: Two Long and Twisted Mysteries

/ Suzanne / 16 Comments

My husband has forbidden me to speculate about where things are going in the TV shows and movies we watch together. That’s because I’m usually right with my guesses, and I end up spoiling the surprise. But oh do I love to speculate!

I think this is either the result of or the reason behind my lifelong love of mystery stories. As far back as I remember, I’ve loved reading mysteries. Cam Jansen, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Encyclopedia Brown – I craved books I could try to solve. Surely there are psychological forces behind this fascination – but whatever the reason, I love a good mystery.

This month, I read two of them. Both were gripping, both were long. If you are a fan of long, complicated mysteries – in the vein of Robert Galbraith or Anthony Horowitz – these books may be for you.

A caveat, though: the second book I review below has ALL the content warnings. It is seriously so disturbing from a content perspective that I have no idea who among my reader friends would even read it.

Night Film by Marisha Pessl (bookshop.org / amazon)

This novel from 2013 clocks in at 640 pages, or 23 hours. I chose the audiobook, which was perfect for my two-hours-in-the-car-daily lifestyle, but I do think I missed out by not reading the print version. There’s a whole section of visual material in the center of the book that would have been much more effective to read with my eyes. Sarah recommended this book when I was looking for scary reads, and I am grateful to her for doing so. This was one of those books I did not want to stop listening to – I would manufacture chores so I had an excuse to listen to the book at home.

Image
image from amazon.com

Rating:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Mini Synopsis: Investigative journalist Scott McGrath is in a rut. His career came to a halt after he got on the bad side of Stanislas Cordova, the acclaimed and reclusive director of horror films. His marriage fell apart. He doesn’t get to see his daughter enough. And now he’s at loose ends. So when Cordova’s daughter Ashley dies under mysterious circumstances, Scott can’t help but look into the cause of her death. As he digs into Ashley’s life, and that of her mysterious father, Scott gets hopelessly tangled in the dark depravity the legendary director has been trying to keep secret.

What I Liked About This Book: I loved the premise, that the reclusive director of gory, disturbing horror films might himself be deeply disturbed. I loved the characters: Scott, the straight-laced investigative reporter who has too much time on his hands and everything to prove; Nora, the enthusiastic aspiring actor who has no one else; and Hopper, the jaded drug dealer who turns up at the site of Ashley’s death. They have distinct personalities that harmonize well with one another. The best thing about this book, for me, was the world building. Pessl’s description of Stanislas Cordova and his films, the dark web site for ultra-fans, and the creepy, unsettling things that happened to people in Cordova’s orbit created this incredible tension that built and built and made it impossible to put the book down.

What I Didn’t Like About This Book: Ultimately, the ending of this book felt like a letdown. I was completely invested in the story and 100% willing to follow the author into explanations of black magic and devil worship and human sacrifice. The story could have ended up in so many places, and where it did conclude was disappointing. Some of the elements Pessl introduced seemed to drop away, making them feel like the plot devices they were, which brought me out of the story. There were also a few moments where a potential romantic entanglement began to develop, and that made me both uncomfortable and annoyed.

Should You Read This Book? If you enjoy horror films, I think you’d enjoy this book. It’s almost reverential in its description of horror elements, and Stanislas Cordova is an amalgam of all the great horror directors like Kubrick and Hitchcock. It’s a fun, twisty exploration of illusion vs. reality and I enjoyed it immensely.  

The Crow Girl by Eric Axl Sund (bookshop.org / amazon)

If Night Film is a thick tome, this book is a chonker. The novel has 880 pages and the audiobook ran for 29 hours. And yet this was another book I could not put down. I will note that the subject matter of this book is deeply disturbing, and there are a number of extremely upsetting scenes throughout. Content warnings include but are not limited to pedophilia, sexual assault, incest, rape, child trafficking, and cannibalism. I don’t know what it says about me that I found this book compelling in spite of these things, but I did.

Image
image from bookshop.org

Rating:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Mini Synopsis: Detective Superintendent Jeanette Kihlberg is investigating a series of awful murders, young boys who were mutilated and tortured. One troubling similarity the boys share is that no one is looking for them. Kihlberg realizes the murders have some elements in common with crimes perpetrated by a man who is already in custody, and that realization leads her to psychologist Sophia Zetterlund, an expert in the boundless depravity of men. Working together, they discover a spiderweb of evil so intricate and vast that it ensnares nearly everything in their vicinity.

What I Liked About This Book: There were multiple narrators, and I thought that worked well here. I liked the protagonist, Jeanette Kihlberg – a cop who keeps pushing and pushing to find answers is a trope I find irresistible. I really enjoyed how intricate the story was, and found it appealing to peel back layer after layer to see how everything fit together. The character arcs were pleasing, too. Well, for the main characters at least. I enjoyed the psychological stuff; I find it interesting to delve into the reasons people behave the way they do. And I loved the Stockholm setting.

What I Didn’t Like About This Book: It’s hard to read graphic descriptions of murder and torture and sexual assault! Even if they serve the story, they are upsetting. I don’t feel good about having those things in my head, you know? There are a few big plot twists in the second half of this book that I didn’t love. One of them was a trope that was common in the 80s and it was fine, and well-explained, and made sense in the context of the book… and yet it still felt a little tired. The other one just seemed… I don’t even know how it seemed. It was wild. But not in a way that felt earned. Honestly, it kind of felt like the author(s) came up with one story, and then they felt bad for one of the characters and came up with a whole second story to make it up to her. The book may have been more satisfying for me (although admittedly much shorter and less complex) if it ended somewhere in the first half. Relatedly, I also didn’t love that there wasn’t a whole lot of solving the reader could do, here. The first half felt solvable, but then once the first major plot twist (or maybe it was the second? I’ve lost track), it felt like I was just along for the ride and couldn’t piece together the solution. And piecing together a solution is one of the pleasurable aspects of reading a mystery, so that felt like a letdown.

Should You Read This Book? This is a book I feel hard-pressed to recommend. I found it to be a propulsive and fascinating read. It reminded me of a few other books, like the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy (bookshop.org / amazon), or Child 44 (bookshop.org / amazon). If you found those books to be compelling, you might enjoy The Crow Girl too.

Caturday

/ Suzanne / 3 Comments
Image
Just trying to enjoy the desolate beauty of a December morning from the comfort of my personal perch, which is feeling inexplicably crowded right now.
Image
Excuse me, but WHY exactly is there a wobbly group of rectangles in MY perch?
Image
If I stare pointedly at the rectangles long enough, will you remove them?
Image
*Blergh.* Now they are TOUCHING ME.
Image
“Look at you?” “LOOK AT YOU?” No way, human, I’m outta here.

Books I Read in November

/ Suzanne / 13 Comments

It’s the first of the month, and I have just devoted an entire 30 days to writing posts on this much-neglected blog as part of NaBloPoMo. Thank you for reading!

Instead of being exhausted by all that posting, I’m feeling invigorated. Surely I can manage one more post, to capture all the books I read last month.

I read six books in November. I read two books with my eyes – one out loud to my daughter, and one I read on Kindle; the other four were audiobooks.  I read three books with my daughter and three on my own. Two were historical fiction, three were thrillers, and one was speculative fiction. Two of the books were rereads for me, four were brand new. Two are among the best books I’ve read all year, one was disappointingly among the worst.

Image
Image from bookshop.org
Image
image from amazon.com
Image
Image from bookshop.org
Image
Image from amazon.com
Image
Image from bookshop.org
Image
Image from amazon.com

Books I Read in November

  • The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney: My daughter and I listened to this audiobook on our drives to and from school. We got so sucked into the story that we had to make extra loops around the neighborhood during especially exciting parts, and we finished it at bedtime instead of waiting until the next school day. I listened to this book way back when I was in middle school, and ooooooh boy does it hold up. The premise is that Janie Johnson spots the face of a missing child on a milk carton during lunch… and recognizes it as her own image. The book is all about how she figures out the story behind the face on the milk carton and how she grapples with questions about family and identity. The story is fast-paced, the characters are fun, there’s romantic and emotional tension. It’s a fantastic book.
  • Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown: Maya is returning to Princeton not only to attend her ten-year reunion, but to celebrate her little sister Naomi’s graduation. As a student, Maya did a lot of things to fit in – some she wishes she could forget. When she gets the devastating news that Naomi has overdosed on drugs, Maya is convinced there’s something sinister behind her sister’s death – something that Maya may have set in motion more than a decade ago. This book should be exactly my jam, but alas. It wasn’t. You can read my full review here.
  • The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: Contrary to my assumptions going in, this is NOT some boring war story. It is a beautiful, complicated story of love and honor and ambition. The plot, which, yes, involves war, is driven by a cast of vivid and complex characters. The language is spare and lyrical, and the emotion infuses every page. Before you write it off (as I almost did) as “just” a retelling of The Iliad, please read my full review here and consider giving it a chance.
  • The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare: It’s 1687. After the death of her grandfather, sixteen-year-old Kit Tyler sets sail from her happy life in Barbados to join family she’s never met in Connecticut. This was a book I started reading to my daughter in October, with the idea that it would be spooky and witchy. I loved this book as a child, and it’s still a nice story… but it’s a bit slow for my current preferences. More a lovely depiction of a Puritan family and the restrictions women faced than a book about witched, but it was an interesting read nonetheless.
  • The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami: I loved this eerily realistic version of society where the government collects hundreds of data points about each person – including harvesting their dreams – in order to prevent criminal behavior. The writing was excellent, the characters were vivid and relatable, and the situation they all found themselves in was horrifyingly plausible. Full review here.
  • Doll Bones by Holly Black: Zach, Alice, and Poppy are now in middle school, and some people think their make-believe games involving dolls are childish. Zach quits playing without explanation. But then a bone-china queen starts visiting Poppy in her dreams, launching the three friends on a quest that could restore – or destroy – their friendship forever. My daughter and I listened to this charming story about imagination, secrets, and the power of friendship on our daily drives to and from school. The plot was delightfully odd and deliciously creepy, and the overarching theme of friendship made this book satisfying and sweet.

What was the best book you read in November?

Shelf Tour Sunday

/ Suzanne / 10 Comments

Ah, the last Sunday of November, the last day of NaBloPoMo, and the last legit bookshelves in my house.

Today we are visiting my daughter’s room.

She organizes her books by color, which I find very aesthetically pleasing… and which makes me feel disconcertedly frantic because HOW CAN ANYONE FIND ANYTHING?!?!

Image

My daughter’s favorite genre is very niche. It’s something I would call Adventure Story with Animal Protagonist, and there are a surprising number of really great books that fit the category out there. Anything by Roseanne Parry, for instance. The Black Stallion. Bunnicula. The World According to Humphrey. The only books that categorically fit her genre preference that she refuses to read are the Warriors books.

Image

I love how her shelves have changed over time. They used to be full of Mo Willems and Curious George books. Now, they are packed with the Wild Robot series and books by Raina Telgemeier and Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Rachel Vail. Her reading interests are varied and fantastic and I love reading to her (and I love reading her books that require weeks to complete, rather than books that she requires hearing five times in a row).

Image

Of course, it is bittersweet to think back to the days of reading her Time for Bed and Goodnight Moon.  

If you know – or used to be – a twelve-year-old, what books come to mind as particular favorites?

Caturday

/ Suzanne / 10 Comments

My librarian, as previously stated, takes his supervisory work very seriously. When I was photographing bookshelves for last week’s shelf tour, he inspected the poetry books carefully to make sure they were being treated with respect. He seems to have found some issues.

Image
“I shall make a fur bridge between nonfiction and poetry. I am the great uniter of genres.

Wait a second. This shelf is mostly Shakespeare.
Who in this house reads Shakespeare? Where are these books even from, anyway? College?
HIGH SCHOOL???? It’s not even a complete set!
And are we really trying to pass off plays as poetry?”
Image
“Please, look away while I adjust my position on Shakespeare.
‘Position.’ Ha. Pun.
Maybe not a great pun, but hey, I’m a cat.”

Image
“Listen. It’s time for some Real Talk, human. No one has even READ these plays, let alone even ATTEMPTED to determine whether a play written by a poet, even it DOES contain iambic pentameter, is more poem or play. Also, if you HAD read these plays, you would be well aware that Much Ado About Nothing, for instance, contains a TON of prose. If it were up to me, I would get rid of these entirely.”
Image
“Okay, okay. I may have been a bit harsh, there. We all make mistakes. Well. Not I.
Please, admire my whiskers while I surreptitiously dislodge all this unsuitable Shakespeare from this shelf. I will even pretend I’m not doing it. Then we can all move on with our lives as though this literary embarrassment hadn’t happened.”

Five for Friday: 5 Writing Essentials

/ Suzanne / 8 Comments

When you sit down to write, what’s your setup like? What are the non-negotiables you must have in order to get words on the page?

Here are five of mine:

1. Comfy Seating: I do not write at a desk. I cannot write at a desk. Well, okay, I can and I do. But I much prefer sitting in an overstuffed comfy arm chair with my feet up on an ottoman. I like the look of a high-backed chair, but if it’s too upright, I will not like it. I need to slouch. This chair looks so squashy and nappable – I do need to be able to nap if the creativity needs a little boost. This chair looks like it’s the perfect size for one-and-a-half, when my kid decides to climb up next to me.

Image
image from walmart.com
Image
image from target.com
Image
image from homedepot.com

2. Comforting Beverage: My drink of choice is tea, and I love Earl Grey the most. My favorite brand is Uncle Grey from Tea Squared, but it is rather spendy. Most days, you’ll find me drinking enormous quantities of Double Bergamot Earl Grey from Stashed. And, because I drink maybe one or two mugs-full a day, I need a really big mug. Like, twenty ounces. Preferably one with an inspirational writing quote on it.

Image
image from wmgwritersstore.com
Image
image from lostsoulstories.com
Image
image from etsy.com

3. Writing Comfies: Do I write in business clothing? Not since I had an office job. Do I write in jeans? Rarely. What I prefer is loungewear. Joggers. Oversized sweatshirt – bonus points if the sleeves have thumbholes. I usually wear orthotic flipflops around the house, but I take them off for writing, and in the winter I like to wear fun socks. Sometimes, I’ll switch out the loungewear for athleisure – in case I need to leap on the treadmill or go for a walk or do a quick exercise routine. I love these leggings and have between six to ten pairs of them. A nice long tanktop is perfect for wearing under one of the above sweatshirts or this super soft cardigan. Sometimes I wish I were the type of writer who would wear flowing caftans and writing gloves, but I haven’t made it there. Yet.

Image
image from amazon.com
Image
image from cozyearth.com
Image
image from amazon.com

4. Writing Inspiration: The best way to get the words flowing is to read really good books. Obviously, “really good books” is super subjective, but you can find some of my favorites here. If I’m feeling stilted, the best solution is to start an audiobook on my phone – I use Libby extensively to check out books from several libraries, and if the libraries don’t have the book I want to listen to, I get it from Audible (which, by the way, often has deals like it does now: three months for ninety-nine cents per month, plus a $20 credit) – and go for a walk outside. There’s something about the combination of fresh air, movement, and the words of someone who did the very thing I’m trying to do that almost always works to dislodge whatever it is that’s keeping me from writing.

Image
Image

5. Routine Shaker-Uppers: Sometimes the fabulous set up I have needs a little bit of a shake-up, so one of my writing essentials is a tried-and-true way to break out of my routine. I do this in a couple of different ways. First, I enlist help. For me, writing happens most easily in isolation. Silence and solitude are necessities for me. But… sometimes they don’t work, in which case I need to involve others. I have found that writing side-by-side with another writer gives me a boost of motivation when I can’t find my own. I am incredibly lucky to have three fabulous writing companions. One lives in a different state, one lives in a different country, and the third lives right down the street. We talk about writing, we discuss challenges and brainstorm ideas, and, most importantly, we give each other dedicated space to sit and write. (Is it my competitive nature that makes the sound of a friend tapping on her keyboard super invigorating? Or maybe it’s the comfort that I’m not in it alone.) They provide me with accountability, support, and inspiration in droves. Excuse me: Leo wants me to say four, four writing companions.

Image
Image
Image

The second way I break out of my routine is to change location. The other place I write best is on my treadmill. I have a desk attachment (this one, although it’s not currently available; I would buy this one today if I needed to start all over, because it has a way to tilt my laptop so my wrists don’t ache) and I set the speed at two or three miles per hour and I walk and walk and walk and type and type and type. I don’t know why this works, but it works so well that I wonder why I don’t do it daily. I should totally do it daily. If you don’t have a treadmill (mine is a hand-me-down from my in-laws), I bet setting up a walking pad under your desk or countertop would work great.

Image

Okay, now it’s your turn: what do you need to do your best writing?

Two Bookish Memories

/ Suzanne / 9 Comments

Here in the U.S., it’s Thanksgiving and I suppose many of us are poring over recipes or chopping onions or pre-heating the oven for the turkey. On my end, I only have pumpkin caramel to make. Of the many, many things I’m thankful for this year, I am extremely thankful that my parents are hosting Thanksgiving dinner and that they are cooking the entire meal.

Because I’m posting every day this month for NaBloPoMo, I don’t want to not post today. But I don’t have a book review queued up. I considered listing some of the books I’m most thankful for, but oh goodness that list gets out of control fast. So I thought I’d share two bookish memories instead.

Image

My parents both worked full time in demanding careers my entire childhood. And yet my mother made sure to read to me every night, for years and years. I am certain that she is responsible for my love of books. Some of my favorite books, like the Ramona ones, are etched with the echo of my mother’s voice.

My mother has always been an avid traveler; she’s been all over the world, to five continents and countless countries. She instilled a love for new experiences in me, as well. When I was small – I want to say five, perhaps – she went to the Soviet Union.

She continued to read to me, every night.

At some point before her trip, in between writing legal briefs and court appearances and making dinner for our family, she’d taken the time to make recordings on cassette tape of a Nancy Drew book. I don’t remember the specific book, and I don’t remember anything else about her being gone. I just remember that feeling of comfort and love unspooling from the tape player in the form of my mother’s voice, calmly and soothingly reading to me as she did every night.

Image

My father didn’t read to me nightly – his career meant that he was often gone until very late – but he did read to me on occasion. I remember those moments not as calming but as delightful fun. He could never voice the characters the way Mom could, and I would shriek with laughter at his hilarious attempts. Sometimes he would fall asleep in the middle of a chapter, and I would giggle uncontrollably as I tried to wake him.

One night, a friend was sleeping over. Did we ask Dad to read to us, or did he volunteer? In any event, we certainly did not choose the book. He possessed a huge collection of scientific volumes that lived on a shelf above the set of hardbound encyclopedias we owned, and that night, he selected one about quarks.  

Did my friend and I know – or care – what a quark is? Of course not! (To this day, I only have the barest understanding of quarks.) We could not contain our giggling as he steadily, deliberately read to us from what amounted to a textbook about the building blocks of the universe. I’m pretty sure we ended up pretending to fall sleep and he closed the book and tiptoed out. “Quarks” remained an inside joke between me and my friend for years.

Image

Now that I’m an adult and a parent myself, I can easily look around and see the imprints my parents’ love of reading left on my own life. Books in nearly every room of the house. A daily practice of reading. The incorporation of what everyone is reading into regular conversations. Ending each evening with a few minutes of connection via book.

I am so thankful for my parents, in so many ways. And of course, I am grateful that they shared their love of reading with me. It has infused every aspect of my life. I hope that my husband and I are passing on the same gift to our daughter.