BOOK REVIEWS
Y is for Yesterday (by Sue Grafton)
I started Sue Grafton’s Alphabet series in 2017 after seeing her in conversation with John Grisham. A few months later, she was gone. This year I finally reached the last book she wrote, Y Is for Yesterday—and I didn’t care much for it. Too many threads, too few people to root for, and a sharp turn from the Kinsey novels I liked best. I finished it anyway. Here’s why.
The Ghost of the Cuban Queen Bordello (by Peggy Hicks)
A shopkeeper in Jerome pressed a signed book into my hands: Peggy Hicks’s The Ghost of the Cuban Queen Bordello. I expected a ghost story. I got a harder history—and a madam who was no one’s heroine.
A Secret in the Keys (by Hope Holloway)
Hope Holloway’s A Secret in the Keys showed up in my Audible library after I’d already enjoyed her Asheville Christmas book. The Keys setting was hard to resist. I almost bailed before Beck reached Coconut Key—then the story opened up, and I was glad I kept listening.
Her Last Breath (by Taylor Adams)
After loving No Exit, I grabbed Taylor Adams’s Her Last Breath as soon as it hit Libby. The cave scenes are uniquely frightening—I’ll be sticking to Mammoth Cave—but I could see the ending coming. Well written. I just wished I liked it more.
The Women (by Kristin Hannah)
I wasn’t sure I wanted to read a Vietnam War novel. I’m so glad I did. Kristin Hannah’s The Women doesn’t just tell Frankie’s story—it made me feel it.
Theo of Golden (by Allen Levi)
I was skeptical of the hype around Theo of Golden—and then I started the audiobook. By dinner that first night, I was already telling my husband about Theo.
The Secret Life of Sunflowers (by Marta Molnar)
The sunflowers caught me first. Then I realized the woman on the cover was Jo van Gogh-Bonger—the sister-in-law who made Vincent famous. Dana Marton, writing as Marta Molnar, turns Jo’s fight to save his unsold paintings into a dual-timeline novel I was more than ready to hear.
We Will Be Watching (by Ruth Ware)
Leaving Instagram meant losing author updates—until newsletters. Signing up for Ruth Ware’s list got me a free copy of her unpublished short story “We Will Be Watching,” a tense escape-room thriller I loved. Review + how to read it inside.
Dear Debbie (by Freida McFadden)
I’m such a Freida McFadden fan. Her books reliably deliver the kind of twisty, bingeable entertainment I crave, and I only wish I could catch up on her new releases and dive into the…
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