Not very enjoyable.

For a relatively short book, The Things We Never Say packs in plenty of wonderful characters, lots of food for thought and emotion in a small town New England town. Artie Dom is a high school history teacher who loves all his students and has a gift for opening up conversations among his them that otherwise might not be addressed openly. Artie has a loving wife and son, longtime work colleagues, extended family and what he considers his one true friend, yet he grapples with profound loneliness. Just a warning, some very current political and world issues are mentioned in Strout’s work with strong opinions. Artie and his best friend never speak of sensitive political topics with each other.

This was a very good book about 2 sisters who do not get along. They live in Brooklyn, NY. On the brink of WWII Ruth, the eldest sister and her husband live in Springfield, MA. Ruth's husband is a scientist who now has a position at the Springfield Armory. Ruth's sister Millie is married, but it is not happy. She decides to go to Springfield with her young son to reconcile with Ruth. There are several secrets which are revealed as the sisters try to overcome their differences.

I enjoyed this suspense/romance novel by one of my favorite authors. The protagonist, Arden, is an aspiring novelist at the beginning of her career. She attracts the attention of a fan who turns out to be a stalker. Moving to a small town in Oregon, Arden begins a new life with family and new friends. But in the background her stalker is there. When will he strike again?

This book was fun to read with it's history and the spicy chapters. A good read.

Anita De Monte is an up-and-coming Latina artist in the book ANITA DE MONTE LAUGHS LAST by Xochitl Gonzalez, an up-and-coming Latina author. It is a story sadly based on the real life murder of a young artist by her artist husband in the 1980's. Anita dies at the start or the book and the reader is then given a trail to follow to understand why and how it unfolded. A second story is skillfully intertwined where years later a young Latina is instrumental in bringing Anita to life again. The book deals with questions of cultural identity, individual self worth, and artistic value among other themes. A touch of supernatural thrown in makes for an unusual and ultimately satisfying read.

Archaeologist said is called to investigate a grave site with human remains. It seems to be an ancestral grave of Native Americans. The grave happens to be on the property of a powerful historical society, where a young girl went missing a few weeks earlier, and so she begins her investigation

A "whisper sister" is the slang term for a female bartender during

A hard book to review because it is very dark and twisted but I was entertained. There is a book in this universe that came out prior that I suggest reading before to understand one of the characters. It's called the Good Samaritan

THE PROVING GROUND by Michael Connelly 5 stars is not enough. The perfect book to start the Summer Reading program 2026 Some novels are good – The Proving Ground was PERFECTION. I was spellbound.