Poet’s Square : A Memoir in Thirty Cats

Poet’s Square : A Memoir in Thirty Cats

by Courtney Gustafson

Crown, 2025. 241 pages. Memoir

When Courtney Gustafson moved into a rental house, she didn’t know that the property came with 30 feral cats. In a new relationship, during a pandemic, with poor mental health and a job that didn’t pay enough, she was reluctant to spend her own time or money caring for the animals. But the cats didn’t give her a choice. She had no idea they would help pierce a personal darkness she’d wrestled with for much of her life. She also didn’t expect that the social media accounts she created to share the quirky lives of the cats would end up saving her home. Taking care of the cats reshaped her understanding of empathy, resilience, and the healing power of showing up for something outside yourself.

A memoir about cats? Sign me up! Along with the cat antics and lovely writing, one of the most enjoyable elements of this memoir is the author’s earnest self-reflection. She asks herself some tough questions: How can she invest so much in something else when she is struggling herself? How much obligation does she have to the suffering animals (and humans) she encounters? What are her motivations? Though much of the book is emotional and introspective, Poet’s Square is also a delight to read. I love how the author describes the cats and their idiosyncrasies. Gustafson is a keen observer, and that attention shines through in her writing. A tender story of resilience and the importance of care, this is a book perfect for animal lovers and memoir enjoyers alike.

If you like Poet’s Square, you might also like:

On Cats

by Charles Bukowski

Ecco, 2017. 118 pages. Nonfiction

Felines touched a vulnerable spot in the unfathomable soul of Charles Bukowski, the Dirty Old Man of American letters. On Cats brings together the acclaimed writer's reflections on the animals he so admired. Bukowski's cats are fierce and demanding -- he captures them stalking their prey, crawling across his typewritten pages; waking him up with claws across the face. But they are also affectionate and giving, sources of inspiration and gentle, insistent care. Poignant yet free of treacle, On Cats is an illuminating portrait of this one-of-a-kind artist and his unique view of the world, witnessed through his relationship with the animals he considered among his most profound teachers.

Raising Hare : A Memoir

by Chloe Dalton

Pantheon Books, 2025. 285 pages. Memoir

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, and that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end and gave birth to leverets in your study. For political advisor and speechwriter Chloe Dalton, who spent lockdown deep in the English countryside, this became her unexpected reality. Raising Hare chronicles their journey together, while also taking a deep dive into the lives and nature of hares, and the way they have been viewed historically in art, literature, and folklore.

What It Takes to Save a Life : A Veterinarian's Quest for Healing and Hope

by Kwane Stewart

HarperOne, 2023. 304 pages. Memoir

Full of warm and inspiring stories of human-animal relationships, this unforgettable and powerful memoir follows a struggling veterinarian's nine-year journey caring for pets and their humans who are living on the streets, showing animals provide more than companionship, they offer love, hope and a sense of security.

RP

Storybook Ending

Storybook Ending
by Moira Macdonald
Dutton, 2025. 305 pages. Fiction

Wanting to combat the isolation caused by her work-from-home setup, April, a 33-year-old Seattle tech worker, leaves a note for Westley, a cute local bookstore employee. But April's note is unknowingly intercepted by Laura, a widowed single mother who thinks Westley left the note for her. The two women form a friendship via correspondence, each thinking they're talking with someone else. Meanwhile, Westley doesn't know about his possible budding romances--he's preoccupied with the movie that's being filmed at the bookstore. It's a heartwarming web of mistaken identities, romance, friendship, and the love of books.

This new twist to the plot of You've Got Mail is a heartwarming and comical read about the power of friendship and connection. The story jumps between the points of view of April, Laura, and Westley, which keeps the story moving forward in interesting ways. As April and Laura learn to open themselves up to friendship, Westley's side story of becoming more and more involved in a film set adds an extra level of wackiness.

If you like Storybook Ending you might also like:

The Last Chance Library
by Freya Sampson
Berkley, 2021. 325 pages. Fiction

June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library, and through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life-changing friendships along the way.

The Reading List
by Sarah Nisha Adams
William Morrow, 2021. 373 pages. Fiction

Working at the local library, Aleisha reads every book on a secret list she found, which transports her from the painful realities she's facing at home, and decides to pass the list on to a lonely widower desperate to connect with his bookworm granddaughter.

The Museum of Ordinary People
by Mike Gayle
Grand Central Publishing, 2023. 336 pages. Fiction

Tasked with cleaning out her childhood home, Jess comes across something she just can’t part with: an old set of encyclopedias. In the process of finding the books a new home, Jess discovers the Museum of Ordinary People, where she unravels heart-stirring stories that span generations and continents.

MB 

The Lover's Dictionary

The Lover's Dictionary : a novel
By David Levithan
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012. 211 pages. Poetry

How does one talk about love? Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves? Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator of David Levithan's The Lover's Dictionary has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifles of being within a couple, giving us an indelible and deeply moving portrait of love in our time.

The Lover's Dictionary is both a book of poetry and a single, cohesive narrative constructed through fleeting glimpses and gathered details expanded on from one poem to the next. While each "Dictionary" entry can very well stand on its own, the book is best appreciated as a single story, albeit one told out of order and in poetic language. Thrilling and heartbreaking, dreamy and despairing in equal measure, Levithan captures the highs and lows of every relationship in a way that somehow feels equal parts intimate, relatable, and unique. I particularly enjoyed how the only names in the book are those of "side characters", friends and family of the narrator and the lover. These two are never given a name, simply referred in the first person as "You" and "I". It feels as if the reader is in the unique position of approaching each poem as both narrator and lover. And in a way, as in all real relationships, we are.

If you like The Lover's Dictionary: a novel, you might also like:

Why We Broke Up
By Daniel Hadler
 Little, Brown and Company, 2013. 354 pages. Romance.

Sixteen-year-old Min Green writes a letter to Ed Slaterton in which she breaks up with him, documenting their relationship and how items in the accompanying box, from bottle caps to a cookbook, foretell the end.

Eleanor & Park By Rainbow Rowell  St. Martin's Griffin, 2013. 328 pages. Romance.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

MD

Hello, Cruel World!

Hello, Cruel World! : Science-Based Strategies for Raising Terrific Kids in Terrifying Times 

by Melinda Wenner Moyer 

G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2025. 299 pages. Nonfiction. 

In the blink of an eye, our kids will be adults facing countless serious threats--climate change, gun violence, political polarization, and disinformation, to name but a few. We're not going to be able to solve all these intractable problems before our kids grow up--so how are we to prepare them for an impossibly complex and scary future? Plagued by this question, award-winning science journalist Melinda Wenner Moyer interviewed parenting experts and researchers across multiple fields--psychology, education, information literacy, technology, business, and even addiction. What she discovered: even in these uncertain times, we can still teach our kids how to take care of themselves, fight for what they believe in, and bridge divides in ways most adults aren't equipped to do. In Hello, Cruel World!, Moyer provides practical, comprehensive, science-backed tools to help our children handle the world they will inherit. By being activists in our parenting, we can set our kids up to not just survive, but also build a better world for themselves and future generations. 

I’ve read a few parenting books in my time as a parent and this book stands out to me. I appreciate the author's approach. She presents the findings of many different scientific studies. Rather than making sweeping conclusions or using fear tactics to sway the reader to her agenda, her writing is nuanced and even keeled. The author has no agenda except support for parents. As parents, we want to raise children who will become adults that can take care of themselves as well as others. This book is a hopeful read and offers simple recommendations that I found very helpful as a parent trying to do her best.

If you like Hello, Cruel World! you might also like:

Thrivers: The Surprising Reason Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine 

by Michele Borba 

G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2021. 306 pages. Nonfiction 

The difference between those who struggle and those who succeed comes down not to grades or test scores, but to seven character traits -- confidence, empathy, self-control, integrity, curiosity, perseverance, and optimism. These traits will allow kids to roll with the punches and succeed in life and they can be taught to children at any age. In Thrivers, Dr. Borba offers practical, actionable ways to develop these traits in children from preschool through high school, showing how to teach kids how to cope today so they can thrive tomorrow. 

Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen 

by Michelle Icard 

Harmony/Random House, 2020. 300 pages. Nonfiction. 

The fourteen essential conversations to have with your tween and early teenager to prepare them for the emotional, physical, and social challenges ahead, including scripts and advice to keep the communication going and stay connected during this critical developmental window. 

JK

Galaphile

Galaphile (First Druids of Shannara, Book 1)
by Terry Brooks
Del Rey, 2025. 319 pages. Fantasy.

One of the most iconic structures in the Four Lands is Paranor, the fortress home of the Druid Order, which legend tells was built by the Elven leader Galaphile Joss. But who was this Galaphile, and how and why did he choose to establish this center of magic and learning? Within these pages we meet the real Galaphile, following him from a friendless teenage orphan stranded in the Human world to a powerful adult and master mage. We learn of the forces that shaped him--those he loved, and those he lost; those who aided him, and those who stood against him. As he begins construction of the citadel that will one day be known as Paranor, another being, corrupted by evil, seeks dominion over the Four Lands, laying the groundwork for some of the darkest times the realm will ever face…

I am a relative newcomer to the writings of Terry Brooks (having only previously read The Tangle Box and his novelization of Star Wars Episode I), and I was curious as to whether this novel, a prequel to the long-running Shannara series, would be a good starting point for me?

As it turns out, no, but that was really my own fault for having unrealistic expectations. I shouldn’t have expected a 319-page novel (and a Book 1, at that) to serve as a comprehensive primer for a vast literary world that’s been around since before I was born! Galaphile is really a love letter to long-time Shannara readers, filling in the gaps in the rich history of the Four Lands; as a first-time reader with no understanding of the Druids or their legacy, I felt like I was always one step behind. (To put it another way, I feel like a first-time Brandon Sanderson reader who started on the Cosmere with The Sunlit Man.) Galaphile Joss is a compelling and noble hero, and his story is only getting started, but I feel that my time would be better spent going back to the original trilogy and getting a better understanding of his world and legacy before Book 2 arrives.

If you like Galaphile, you may also like:

Legacy of Ash

by Mat Ward
Orbit, 2020. 788 pages. Fantasy.

A shadow has fallen over the Tressian Republic. Ruling families--once protectors of justice and democracy--now plot against one another, heedless of the threat posed by the invading armies of the Hadari Empire. Yet as Tressia falls, heroes rise. Viktor Akadra is the Republic's champion. A warrior without equal, he hides a secret that would see him burned as a heretic. Josiri Trelan is Viktor's sworn enemy. A political prisoner, he dreams of reigniting his mother's failed rebellion. And yet Calenne, Josiri's sister, seeks only to break free of their tarnished legacy; to escape the expectation and prejudice that haunts the Trelan name. As war spreads across the Republic, these three must set aside their differences in order to save their homeland.

 

 Ashes of the Sun
by Django Wexler
Orbit, 2020. 582 pages. Fantasy.

Long ago, a magical war destroyed an empire, and a new one was built in its ashes. But still the old grudges simmer. Gyre hasn't seen his beloved sister since their parents sold her to the mysterious Twilight Order. Now, twelve years after her disappearance, Gyre's sole focus is revenge, and he's willing to risk anything and anyone to claim enough power to destroy the Order. Chasing rumors of a fabled city protecting a powerful artifact, Gyre comes face-to-face with his lost sister. But she isn't who she once was. Trained to be a warrior by the Twilight Order, Mara wields magic for their cause. Standing on opposite sides of a looming civil war, the two siblings will learn that not even the ties of blood will keep them from splitting the world in two.

 

 The Mirror Empire (eBook only)
by Kameron Hurley
Angry Robot, 2014. 608 pages (eBook). Fantasy.

On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past . . . while a world goes to war with itself. In the frozen kingdom of Saiduan, invaders from another realm are decimating whole cities, leaving behind nothing but ash and ruin. At the heart of this war lie the pacifistic Dhai people, once enslaved by the Saiduan and now courted by their former masters to provide aid against the encroaching enemy. As the dark star of the cataclysm rises, an illegitimate ruler is tasked with holding together a country fractured by civil war; a precocious young fighter is asked to betray his family to save his skin; and a half-Dhai general must choose between the eradication of her father's people or loyalty to her alien Empress.

-LAH

Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder

Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder
By Kerryn Mayne
St. Martin's Press, 2024. 339 pages. Fiction

This delightfully dark novel is a character-driven mystery and psychological drama about Lenny Marks, a socially awkward, neurodivergent, trauma-affected woman living a carefully controlled life. She works as a teacher’s aide and spends her free time immersed in true crime shows and journaling letters to her long-absent mother. Her rigid routine unravels when a letter from the parole board informs her that someone from her past—specifically related to a traumatic event she’s repressed—is being released from prison. This triggers a cascade of memories, revelations, and emotional confrontations that force Lenny to re-examine her own history, the people around her, and what actually happened in her childhood.

The book combines dark humor, psychological suspense, and emotional depth and it explores trauma, recovery, and self-determination. While it plays with the expectations of the murder mystery genre, its focus is ultimately more on personal growth than crime-solving. Lenny Marks is a character I won't soon forget! I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator's Australian lilt is genuinely charming.

If you like Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder you might also like:

Blackmail and Bibingka
By Mia Manansala
Berkley Prime Crime, 2022. 270 pages. Mystery

Cozy meets culinary in this seasonal amateur sleuthing tale starring Lila Macapagal, who is balancing her new café and budding romance. She is forced to investigate when her estranged cousin Ronnie—back after 15 years—becomes the prime suspect in a local winery-linked murder. This book is rich with Filipino food, family dynamics, and holiday flair, and the story keeps a light tone even as it delves into greed, secrets, and the deep bonds that hold a community together.

The Woman in the Library
By Sulari Gentill
Poisoned Pen Press, 2022. 288 pages. Mystery

The tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning--it just happens that one is a murderer.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
By Jesse Q. Sutano, 2023. 338 pages. Mystery

Vera Wong's tea shop in San Francisco's Chinatown may have lost most of its customers and her Gen-Z son rarely returns her texts, but she manages to thrive on her own. After finding a dead body in her tea shop and stealing a piece of evidence from the crime scene, Vera uses her detective skills to try to solve the murder. Using tea and home-cooked meals, Vera draws close her four suspects. Each of them has a secret that connects them to the victim and might tear their newfound family apart. The author excels at creating lovably flawed characters, the mystery has plenty of twists to keep readers guessing, and Vera's case notes at the end of some chapters add humor to the deductive process.

After Annie
By Anna Quindlen
Random House, 2024. 304 pages. Fiction

When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Bill is overwhelmed without his beloved wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie's children, has to grow up overnight, to care for her younger brothers and even her father and to puzzle out for herself many of the mysteries of adult life. Over the course of the next year what saves them all is Annie, ever-present in their minds, loving but not sentimental, caring but nobody's fool, a voice in their heads that is funny and sharp and remarkably clear. The power she has given to those who loved her is the power to go on without her. The lesson they learn is that no one beloved is ever truly gone.

LKA

Dragonfruit

Dragonfruit

By Makiia Lucier

Clarion Books, 2024. 356 pages. Young Adult Fantasy.

In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person's greatest sorrow. But as with all things that offer hope when hope has gone, the tale comes with a warning. Every wish demands a price. Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most: a chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong. Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign, Sam is left with two choices: to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time--hope. But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape . . . that of the dragonfruit itself.

European dragons are out; Pacific dragons are in! Ocean lovers will love this new take on one of literatures favorite mythical creatures. I encourage you to judge this book by its cover because it absolutely is just as gorgeous, whimsical, and awe-inspiring as it looks. Highlighted by an incredible magic system, this story examines what it means to come home. The author handles themes of loss and belonging with amazing care. If you've ever had to grapple with the idea of returning to a place you are worried no longer has space for you, come find yourself in this book.

If you like Dragonfruit, you might also like: 

And Break the Pretty Kings

By Lena Jeong

HarperTeen, 2023. 440 pages. Young Adult Fantasy.

A teen must defeat an ancient evil to protect her family and claim her birthright as queen in Jeong's Korean mythology--inspired fantasy debut, a series launch. As the crown princess of Seolla, 16-year-old Mirae has for her entire life been preparing to become queen--and, by extension, the warden of an evil magic called the Inconstant Son. But when the "generational madness" brought about by the sinister magic's influence consumes her mother sooner than expected, Mirae must prove she's ready to ascend the throne by completing the Trial of the Gods. The trial is meant to test her ability to control all four elements, create illusions, and manipulate time--basic tenets of Sacred Bone Magic. Before she can complete the trial, however, Mirae's beloved older brother Minho is kidnapped by an unknown entity. To rescue him, Mirae, along with her younger brother Hongbin, Minho's palace aid Siwon, and Captain Jia of the Wonhwa guards, must combat the Inconstant Son's growing power and reckon with long-buried family secrets.

Six Crimson Cranes

By Elizabeth Lim

Alfred A. Knopf, 2021. 456 pages. Young Adult Fantasy.

Shiori'anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted. But it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother. A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes. She warns Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die. Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in a paper bird, a mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she's been taught all her life to forswear--no matter what the cost.

The Ivory Key

By Akshaya Raman
Clarion Books, 2022. 375 pages. Young Adult Fantasy.

Vira, Ronak, Kaleb, and Riya may be siblings, but they've never been close or even liked each other that much. Torn apart by the different paths their lives have taken, only one thing can bring them back together: the search for the Ivory Key, a thing of legend that will lead the way to a new source of magic. Magic is Ashoka's biggest export and the only thing standing between them and war with the neighboring kingdoms--as long as their enemies don't find out that the magic mines are nearly depleted. The siblings all have something to gain from finding the Ivory Key, and even more to lose if they don't. For Vira, the Ivory Key is the only way to live up to the legacy of her mother, the beloved former maharani. Ronak plans to get out of his impending political marriage by selling the Ivory Key to the highest bidder. Kaleb has been falsely accused of assassinating the former maharani, and this is the only way to clear his name. And Riya needs to prove her loyalty to the Ravens, the group of rebels that wants to take control away from the maharani and give it to the people. With each sibling harboring secrets and conflicting agendas, figuring out a way to work together may be the most difficult task of all. And in a quest this dangerous, working together is the only way to survive.

KJ