Hi there. Let’s talk books!
I’m a lifelong bookworm and a freelance reviewer for Shelf Awareness. I read a lot, I read widely (and deeply), and I love talking about what I read. My favorite genres are mystery, young adult, food and travel writing, well-written fiction with heart, compelling nonfiction, memoir, poetry and essays.
I post semi-monthly reading roundups on the blog, which are linked below as they appear. You can also find me on Goodreads.
December, part 2
The Sweet Spot, Amy Poeppel
Inciting Joy, Ross Gay
Of Manners and Murder, Anastasia Hastings
Healer and Witch, Nancy Werlin
Love in the Time of Serial Killers, Alicia Thompson
The Mushroom Tree Mystery, Ovidia Yu
Travel as a Political Act, Rick Steves
Kantika, Elizabeth Graver
Winter Solstice, Rosamunde Pilcher
December, part 1
Every Good Boy Does Fine, Jeremy Denk
Peril in Paris, Rhys Bowen
What Wildness is This, ed. Susan Wittig Albert et al.
Killers of a Certain Age, Deanna Raybourn
Maureen, Rachel Joyce
Hijab Butch Blues, Lamya H
The Holiday Switch, Tif Marcelo
November, part 3
My Own Lightning, Lauren Wolk
The Siren of Sussex, Mimi Matthews
Really Truly, Heather Vogel Frederick
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Sangu Mandanna
The Wild Robot Escapes, Peter Brown
November, part 2
Absolutely Truly, Heather Vogel Frederick
The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre, Natasha Lester
The Bullet That Missed, Richard Osman
Windfall, Erika Bolstad
Yours Truly, Heather Vogel Frederick
November, part 1
A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting, Sophie Irwin
Merci Suarez Plays it Cool, Meg Medina
A Trace of Poison, Colleen Cambridge
The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker
The Wild Robot, Peter Brown
The Lost Ticket, Freya Sampson
October, part 3
The Monsters We Defy, Leslye Penelope
Woman, Captain, Rebel, Margaret Willson
Blackmail and Bibingka, Mia P. Manansala
Anne of Windy Poplars, L.M. Montgomery
Independence, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Princess and the Scoundrel, Beth Revis
October, part 2
The Maid, Nita Prose
The Lipstick Bureau, Michelle Gable
Key Player, Kelly Yang
Requiem for the Massacre, R.J. Young
Ways to Share Joy, Renee Watson
Specter Inspectors #1, Bowen McCurdy and Kaitlyn Musto
October, part 1
Picture in the Sand, Peter Blauner
Book Lovers, Emily Henry
Seasons: Desert Sketches, Ellen Meloy
The Verifiers, Jane Pek
The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights, Kitty Zeldis
The Vanderbeekers on the Road, Karina Yan Glaser
Take My Hand, Dolen Perkins-Valdez
The Woman with the Cure, Lynn Cullen
Holy Spokes, Laura Everett
September, part 3
The Littlest Library, Poppy Alexander
World of Wonders, Aimee Nezhukumatathil
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid
The No-Show, Beth O’Leary
The Gilded Girl, Alyssa Colman
Animal Life, Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
The Wind at My Back, Misty Copeland
September, part 2
The Midnight Orchestra, Jessica Khoury
Marmee, Sarah Miller
Nora Goes Off Script, Annabel Monaghan
The Perfumist of Paris, Alka Joshi
Last Call at the Nightingale, Katharine Schellman
September, part 1
The Lost Summers of Newport, Beatriz Williams, Karen White and Lauren Willig
The House of Eve, Sadeqa Johnson
Blood from a Stone, Adam McHugh
Love, Lies & Spies, Cindy Anstey
Viviana Valentine Gets Her Man, Emily J. Edwards
Bicycling with Butterflies, Sara Dykman
What Comes from Spirit, Richard Wagamese
The Star That Always Stays, Anna Rose Johnson
Saving Main Street, Gary Rivlin
August, part 3
Just Another Love Song, Kerry Winfrey
The Lonely Stories, ed. Natalie Eve Garrett
Argyles and Arsenic, Molly MacRae
Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting, Clare Pooley
Essential, Jamie K. McCallum
Death at the Manor, Katharine Schellman
August, part 2
Rivals, Katharine McGee
The Matchmaker’s Gift, Lynda Cohen Loigman
The Dead Romantics, Ashley Poston
Black Women Will Save the World, April Ryan
The Mystwick School of Musicraft, Jessica Khoury
London’s Number One Dog-Walking Agency, Kate MacDougall
August, part 1
Horse, Geraldine Brooks
Flying Solo, Linda Holmes
By Any Other Name, Lauren Kate
Blurb Your Enthusiasm, Louise Willder
The Key to Deceit, Ashley Weaver
Wise Gals, Nathalia Holt
The Cannonball Tree Mystery, Ovidia Yu
Vinyl Resting Place, Olivia Blacke
Summer Solstice: An Essay, Nina MacLaughlin
July, part 2
The Mimosa Tree Mystery, Ovidia Yu
The Murder of Mr. Wickham, Claudia Gray
Welcome to the School by the Sea, Jenny Colgan
Where There’s a Whisk, Sarah J. Schmitt
Finding Me, Viola Davis
For the Love of the Bard, Jessica Martin
They Called Me a Lioness, Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri
The Marlow Murder Club, Robert Thorogood
July, part 1
Tokyo Dreaming, Emiko Jean
Hello Goodbye, Kate Stollenwerck
The Paper Bark Tree Mystery, Ovidia Yu
Barakah Beats, Maleeha Siddiqui
Jacqueline in Paris, Ann Mah
Mirror Lake, Juneau Black
Church: Why Bother?, Philip Yancey
The Emma Project, Sonali Dev
June, part 3
Dinners with Ruth, Nina Totenberg
In a New York Minute, Kate Spencer
The Last Mapmaker, Christina Soontornvat
My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayor
Portrait of a Thief, Grace D. Li
So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix, Bethany C. Morrow
June, part 2
Empathy Economics, Owen Ullmann
Now What?, Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers
The Betel Nut Tree Mystery, Ovidia Yu
The Last Karankawas, Kimberly Garza
Alias Emma, Ava Glass
With Love from Wish & Co., Minnie Darke
June, part 1
Fencing with the King, Diana Abu-Jaber
The Unsinkable Greta James, Jennifer E. Smith
The Cartographers, Peng Shepherd
The Farm on the Roof, Anastasia Cole Plakias
Room and Board, Miriam Parker
A Dish to Die For, Lucy Burdette
The Codebreaker’s Secret, Sara Ackerman
Where the Rhythm Takes You, Sarah Dass
May, part 3
The Many Meanings of Meilan, Andrea Wang
The Suite Spot, Trish Doller
Across the Pond, Joy McCullough
One Italian Summer, Rebecca Serle
Tokyo Ever After, Emiko Jean
The Frangipani Tree Mystery, Ovidia Yu
Wreck at Ada’s Reef, Michael D. Beil
Found, Micha Boyett
Maame, Jessica George
The Heart of Summer, Felicity Hayes-McCoy
May, part 2
This Story Will Change, Elizabeth Crane
Delphine Jones Takes a Chance, Beth Morrey
The Unkept Woman, Allison Montclair
Any Other Family, Eleanor Brown
The Bodyguard, Katherine Center
I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet, Shauna Niequist
Framed in Fire, Iona Whishaw
May, part 1
Just Haven’t Met You Yet, Sophie Cousens
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
Extra Helping, Janet Reich Elsbach
Cold Clay, Juneau Black
A Duet for Home, Karina Yan Glaser
April, part 3
How to Find Your Way Home, Katy Regan
Lost & Found, Kathryn Schulz
Four Aunties and a Wedding, Jesse Q. Sutanto
The Year I Stopped to Notice, Miranda Keeling
Witch for Hire, Ted Naifeh
A Shoe Story, Jane Rosen
A Sunlit Weapon, Jacqueline Winspear
Under Lock and Skeleton Key, Gigi Pandian
April, part 2
The Ghosts of Paris, Tara Moss
A Full Life in a Small Place, Janice Emily Bowers
Vacationland, Meg Mitchell Moore
Murder at Mallowan Hall, Colleen Cambridge
Here for the Drama, Kate Bromley
April, part 1
Freedom is an Inside Job, Zainab Salbi
Five Things About Ava Andrews, Margaret Dilloway
The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
Reading the Water, Mark Hume
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead, Elle Cosimano
A Natural History of Now, ed. Sara J. Call & Jennifer Li-Yen Douglass
The Year of Miracles, Ella Risbridger
March, part 3
Forward Me Back to You, Mitali Perkins
The Golden Season, Madeline Kay Sneed
Sisters in Arms, Kaia Alderson
Kind of a Big Deal, Shannon Hale
A Valiant Deceit, Stephanie Graves
The Stubborn Light of Things, Melissa Harrison
March, part 2
Iced in Paradise, Naomi Hirahara
Her Country, Marissa Moss
All the Queen’s Men, SJ Bennett
Jackie & Me, Louis Bayard
Adult Assembly Required, Abbi Waxman
The Bangalore Detectives Club, Harini Nagendra
March, part 1
The Wide Starlight, Nicole Lesperance
The Last Dance of the Debutante, Julia Kelly
Shady Hollow, Juneau Black
Our Last Days in Barcelona, Chanel Cleeton
A Trip of One’s Own, Kate Wills
Homicide and Halo-Halo, Mia P. Manansala
When You Get the Chance, Emma Lord
February, part 3
Love & Saffron, Kim Fay
A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times, Meron Hadero
Lost and Found in Paris, Lian Dolan
Friday Barnes: Under Suspicion, R.A. Spratt
February, part 2
Learning America, Luma Mufleh
The Month of Borrowed Dreams, Felicity Hayes-McCoy
The Printed Letter Bookshop, Katherine Reay
Shelf Life, Nadia Wassef
Small Marvels, Scott Russell Sanders
Dear White Peacemakers, Osheta Moore
Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World, Clara Parkes
February, part 1
Love, Lists and Fancy Ships, Sarah Grunder Ruiz
Joyful, Ingrid Fetell Lee
Some of It Was Real, Nan Fischer
The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane, Kate O’Shaughnessy
Just the Two of Us, Jo Wilde
Shoutin’ in the Fire, Dante Stewart
The Wicked Widow, Beatriz Williams
A Place to Hang the Moon, Kate Albus
Every Living Thing, James Herriot
January, part 2
Kisses and Croissants, Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau
Our Wild Farming Life, Lynn Cassells and Sandra Baer
Taste, Stanley Tucci
Blanche on the Lam, Barbara Neely
The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts, Annie Darling
Strange Birds, Celia C. Perez
The Joy of Small Things, Hannah Jane Parkinson
The Reading List, Sara Nisha Adams
Room to Dream, Kelly Yang
Majesty, Katharine McGee
January, part 1
Incognegro, Mat Johnson
If You Ask Me, Libby Hubscher
An Eternal Lei, Naomi Hirahara
The Weekday Vegetarians, Jenny Rosenstrach
Home/Land, Rebecca Mead
Sisters of Night and Fog, Erika Robuck
Most Likely, Sarah Watson
Search, Michelle Huneven
The First Rule of Punk, Celia C. Perez
The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson
cakes, tea and dreams 