The Eyes are the Best Part

The Eyes are the Best Part

By Monika Kim
Erewhon Books, 2024. 277 pages. Horror.

With her life in disarray after her Appa's extramarital affair and subsequent departure, Ji-won, plagued by horrifying yet enticing dreams of bloody rooms full of eyes, is overcome by hunger and rage that can only be sated by deceit, manipulation and murder as victims accumulate around her college campus.

The epitome of "I support women's rights and wrongs!" This book does a fantastic job of mixing relatable feminine rage with just enough body horror and cannibalism that you'll still be horrified throughout.  I also felt that despite being inside Ji-won's mind with her, there was still an element of mystery to the story that made it hard to put down. If you want to be justifiably angry, a bit disgusted, slightly worried, and ultimately satisfied, definitely give this book a chance.

If you like The Eyes are the Best Part, you might also like: 

My Sister, the Serial Killer

By Oyinkan Braithwaite

Doubleday, 2018. 226 pages. Fiction.

Satire meets slasher in this short, darkly funny hand grenade of a novel about a Nigerian woman whose younger sister has a very inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends. "Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer." Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola's third boyfriend in a row is dead. Korede's practicality is the sisters' saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the trunk of her car is big enough for a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures of her dinner to Instagram when she should be mourning her 'missing' boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit. A kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where Korede works is the bright spot in her life. She dreams of the day when he will realize they're perfect for each other. But one day Ayoola shows up to the hospital uninvited and he takes notice. When he asks Korede for Ayoola's phone number, she must reckon with what her sister has become and what she will do about it. Sharp as nails and full of deadpan wit, Oyinkan Braithwaite has written a deliciously deadly debut that's as fun as it is frightening.

The Lamb

By Lucy Rose

Harper, 2025. 328 pages. Horror.

From an incendiary new talent, a contemporary folktale in which a mother and daughter take in passersby and eat them, exploring queerness, first loves, and tense mother-daughter relationships. Margot and Mama have lived by the forest ever since Margot can remember. They spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Strays, Mama calls them. People who have strayed too far from the road. Mama loves the strays. She feeds them wine, keeps them warm. Then she picks apart their bodies and toasts them off with some vegetable oil. But Mama's want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must face the possibility that her life is changing for good. The Lamb is a folktale, a horror story, a love story, an enchantment. With this teeming, gothic debut, Lucy Rose wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.

Victorian Psycho

By Virginia Feito
W.W. Norton & Company, 2025. 195 pages. Horror.

Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess--she'll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate's dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family--Mr. Pounds can't keep his eyes off Winifred's chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband's wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery . . . and creeping across the moonlit lawns. . . Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Victorian Psycho plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath.

KJ

No One Can Know

No One Can Know

By Kate Alice Marshall

Flatiron Books, 20204. 324 pages. Fiction

Emma hasn't told her husband much about her past. He knows her parents are dead and she hasn't spoken to her sisters in years. Then they lose their apartment, her husband gets laid off, and Emma discovers she's pregnant right as the bank account slips into the red. That's when Emma confesses that she has one more asset: her parents' house, which she owns jointly with her estranged sisters. They can't sell it, but they can live in it. But returning home means that Emma is forced to reveal her secrets to her husband: that the house is not a run-down farmhouse but a stately mansion, and that her parents died there. Were murdered. And that some people say Emma did it. Emma and her sisters have never spoken about what really happened that night. Now, her return to the house may lure her sisters back, but it will also crack open family and small-town secrets lots of people don't want revealed. As Emma struggles to reconnect with her old family and hold together her new one, she begins to realize that the things they have left unspoken all these years have put them in danger again.

This is an atmospheric and chilling thriller set in New England which makes it a great Fall read. The book kicks off especially eerie as it begins with Emma and her sisters as younger girls discovering their parents' bodies. What's next is an intricately plotted mystery that focuses on character development. While Emma is the protagonist, I enjoyed that Marshall also gives chapters to the other sisters for a multi-perspective narrative. As always, I rate thrillers on whether I could guess the twist or not and this one had enough misdirection and red herrings to keep me guessing.

If you liked No One Can Know, you might also like:

Darling Girls

By Sally Hepworth

St. Martin's Press, 2024. 359 pages. Fiction

From the outside, Alicia, Jessica and Norah might seem like ordinary women you'd meet on the street any day of the week. Sure, Jessica has a little OCD and Norah has some anger issues. And Alicia has low self-esteem that manifests itself in surprising ways. But these three have a bond that no one can fully understand. It's a bond that takes them back decades, to when they were girls, and they lived on a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild, and they thought they were free. But the reach of someone with such power is long, and even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When bones are discovered buried under the farmhouse of their childhood, they are called in by the police to tell what they know. Against their will, they are brought back to the past, and to Miss Fairchild herself.

The Stranger Upstairs

By Lisa Matlin

Bantam Books, 2023. 278 pages. Fiction

Sarah Slade is starting over. She and her husband just bought a beautiful though crumbling Victorian house in a charming and lush community. The fixer-upper is a perfect opportunity to reach a new audience on her highly successful lifestyle blog, and it also serves as a distraction from her failing marriage. But Black Wood House has a grisly history--one involving a gruesome murder-suicide. And even as Sarah wallpapers over the house's horrifying past, she knows better than anyone that a new façade can't conceal every secret. The renovations are a challenge: The workers coming by to inspect and fix the house are acting erratically and experiencing strange accidents--and there's only so long she can continue to sleep in the bedroom with the bloodstained floor and suffer the mysterious footsteps she hears from the attic. When menacing notes start appearing everywhere, Sarah becomes convinced that someone or something is out to kill her. The more she remodels Black Wood House, the angrier it seems to become. With every passing moment, Sarah's life spirals further out of control and with it, her sense of reality. Though she desperately clings to the lies she's crafted to conceal her own secrets, Sarah Slade must wonder…was it all worth it? Or will this house be her unraveling?

BW

We Don't Talk About Carol

We Don't Talk About Carol
By Kristen Berry
Bantam, 2025. 328 pages. Fiction

Yes, the title drew me in because when I read it, the Disney song We Don't Talk About Bruno started playing, immediately, in my head. Same for you? It's unrelated to this book, but a fun little anecdote. 

After her grandmother's passing, Sydney Singleton finds a hidden photograph of a little girl who looks more like Sydney than her own sister or mother. She soon discovers the mystery girl in the photograph is her aunt, Carol, who was one of six North Carolina Black girls to go missing in the 1960s. For the last several decades, no one has talked about Carol or what really happened to her. But now, with her grandmother gone and Sydney looking to start a family of her own, she is determined to unravel the truth behind her long-lost aunt's disappearance, and the sinister silence that surrounds her. As she delves deeper into Carol's fate, her own troubled past reemerges, clawing its way to the surface with a vengeance. Without spoiling everything, Sydney’s quest leads to a number of revealing truths about Carol’s fate and about her own family’s role in keeping the past buried. The process forces her to reckon with what it means to heal, both personally and within her family.

The novel balances suspense (a cold case, possible cover‑ups, hidden truths) with emotional, psychological drama (trauma, motherhood, trust, identity). It is also commentary on racial injustice — specifically, how cases of missing Black girls have historically been neglected or minimized by both law enforcement and the media. This book was haunting, captivating, and will stick with me for a long time.

If you like We Don't Talk About Carol, you might also like: 

The Kindest Lie 
By Nancy Johnson
William Morrow, 2021. 326 pages. Fiction

It's 2008, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated Black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He's eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to--and was forced to leave behind--when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she'd never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past. Returning home, Ruth discovers the Indiana factory town of her youth is plagued by unemployment, racism, and despair. As she begins digging into the past, she unexpectedly befriends Midnight, a young white boy who is also adrift and looking for connection. Just as Ruth is about to uncover a burning secret her family desperately wants to keep hidden, a traumatic incident strains the town's already searing racial tensions, sending Ruth and Midnight on a collision course that could upend both their lives.

The Care & Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
By Anissa Gray
Berkley, 2019. 294 pages. Fiction

The Butler family has had their share of trials, as sisters Althea, Viola, and Lillian can attest, but nothing prepared them for the literal trial that will upend their lives. Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband Proctor are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. The worst part is, not even her sisters are sure exactly what happened. As Althea awaits her fate, Lillian and Viola must come together in the house they grew up in to care for their sister's teenage daughters. What unfolds is a stunning portrait of the heart and core of an American family in a story that is as page-turning as it is important.

Time's Undoing: A Novel
By Anastasia Hastings
Dutton, 2023. 371 pages. Fiction

Birmingham, 1929: Robert Lee Harrington, a master carpenter, has just moved to Alabama to pursue a job opportunity, bringing along his pregnant wife and young daughter. Birmingham is in its heyday, known as the "Magic City" for its booming steel industry, and while Robert and his family find much to enjoy in the city's busy markets and vibrant nightlife, it's also a stronghold for the Klan. And with his beautiful, light-skinned wife and snazzy car, Robert begins to worry that he might be drawing the wrong kind of attention. 2019: Meghan McKenzie, the youngest reporter at the Detroit Free Press, has grown up hearing family lore about her great-grandfather's murder--but no one knows the full story of what really happened back then, and his body was never found. Determined to find answers to her family's long-buried tragedy and spurred by the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement, Meghan travels to Birmingham. But as her investigation begins to uncover dark secrets that spider across both the city and time, her life may be in danger.

LKA

Hemlock and Silver

Hemlock and Silver
by T. Kingfisher
Tor, 2025. 359 pages. Fantasy

Healer Anja regularly drinks poison. Not to die, but to save—seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on. But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her. Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick. Or it might be the thing that kills them all.

I love T. Kingfisher's dark fantasies that make the lightest nod to fairy tales (last year she did something similar with A Sorceress Comes to Call). While Snow White is a side character in this story, the plot is a completely different tale full of mysterious creatures, dark spaces, evil villains, snarky talking cats, and light romance. I also love that the main character of this tale is a fully grown adult. This is a great choice for adults who grew up loving the magic of fairy tales, but ask for a little more from their fiction now.

If you like Hemlock and Silver you might also like:

Starling House
by Alix E. Harrow
Tor, 2023. 308 pages. Fantasy

Eden, Kentucky, is just another bad-luck town known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive 19th century author who wrote The Underland—and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. Everyone agrees that it's best to let the house—and its last heir, Arthur Starling—go to rot. Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses, but a job offer at Starling House might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden. Soon Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she's never had: a home. As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a choice: to dig up secrets and confront their fears, or let Eden be taken over by nightmares.

The Bear and the Nightingale
by Katherine Arden
Del Rey, 2017. 322 pages. Fantasy

In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, a stranger with piercing blue eyes presents a new father with a gift—a precious jewel on a delicate chain, intended for his young daughter. Uncertain of its meaning, Pytor hides the gift away and Vasya grows up a wild, willful girl, to the chagrin of her family. But when mysterious forces threaten the happiness of their village, Vasya discovers that, armed only with the necklace, she may be the only one who can keep the darkness at bay.

MB

The Unwedding

The Unwedding 

by Ally Condie 

Grand Central Publishing, 2024. 337 pages. General Fiction. 

Ellery Wainwright is alone at the edge of the world. She and her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth wedding anniversary together at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Where better to celebrate a marriage, a family, and a life together than at one of the most stunning places on earth? But now she's traveling solo. To add insult to injury, there's a wedding at Broken Point scheduled during her stay. Ellery remembers how it felt to be on the cusp of everything new and wonderful, with a loved and certain future glimmering just ahead. Now, she isn't certain of anything except for her love for her kids and her growing realization that this place, though beautiful, is unsettling. When Ellery discovers the body of one of the wedding party floating in the pool in the rain, she realizes that she is not the only one whose future is no longer guaranteed. Before the police can reach Broken Point, a mudslide takes out the road to the resort, leaving the guests trapped. When another guest dies, it's clear something horrible is brewing. 

This book got me out of a reading slump. It hooked me from the start, and kept me guessing what would happen next, all the way to the end. Not only is there intrigue for finding out the killer, but each guest seems to have a secret, including Ellery, our narrator. A fast-paced story, just enough is revealed at a time to keep the reader wanting more. It’s a suspenseful and intricately-plotted novel, perfect for a rainy fall day with a cozy blanket and a cup of tea. This book is recommended for anyone looking for a book they won’t be able to put down, and people that enjoy hearing about other people's wedding drama. 

If you like The Unwedding, you might also like: 

The Midnight Feast 

by Lucy Foley 

William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2024. 354 pages. General Fiction. 

It's the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests' healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the "Manor Mule" cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen. And yet, just outside the Manor's immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. The local community resents what they see as the Manor's intrusion into the local woods and attempts to privatize the beach, and small skirmishes have erupted on the edges of the property between locals and the staff. And the whispers keep coming, about an old piece of pagan folklore — it must be folklore? — the Night Birds, an avenging force that can be called upon to make right wrongs that elude the law. Though surely everything at the Manor has been done above board. On the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. There's been a fire. A body's been discovered. Something's not right with the guests. What happened on the grounds of the Manor the past 36 hours? And who — or what — is the cause? 

This is Not a Game 

by Kelly Mullen 

Dutton, 2025. 310 pages. General Fiction. 

Widow Mimi lives on idyllic Mackinac Island where cars are not allowed and a Gibson with three onions at the witching hour is compulsory. Her granddaughter, Addie, is getting over the heartbreak of her fiance, Brian, dumping her and cutting her out of the deal for the brilliantly successful video game, Murderscape, they invented together (with Addie doing most of the heavy lifting). When Mimi gets an invitation from local socialite Jane Ireland—a seventy something narcissist who is having an affair with her son-in-law—to a charity auction, it is the perfect excuse to get Addie to join her for the weekend. What Mimi isn't telling Addie is that a blackmail threat from Jane looms over the party's invitation. In case the scene wasn't already set for a turbulent weekend, a big storm rolls in, trapping everyone in the mansion. And then, Jane's body is found. Soon Mimi and Addie are caught in a dangerous game, relying on their skills... to narrow down the suspects. When another body turns up, the sleuthing pair realize someone else is playing a deadly game, and they might not survive the night. 

The Engagement Party 

by Darby Kane 

William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2023. 354 pages. General Fiction. 

Emily Hunt went missing from her affluent liberal arts school on graduation weekend. Her body was found floating in a river, and a quiet loner who most people on campus really didn't know died by suicide. A tenuous link—one text—bound the two dead students together and was enough for law enforcement to close the case. But they got it wrong and now someone is determined to set it right. Twelve years later, college friends gather to celebrate an engagement over a long overdue getaway on a swanky private island in Maine—with only one way in and one way out. Sierra Prescott, invited as a guest and unconnected to past events, is the only person who soon senses not all is what it seems. The tension in the air is ignited when they find a dead man in the trunk of a car with a note: time to tell the truth. And things only get worse. As a torrential storm strands them together, the group’s buried stories begin to surface and secrets are bartered. To survive this deadly party, they'll need to stop a killer before they become prey.

Sky Daddy

Sky Daddy 

by Kate Folk

Random House, 2025. 352 pages. Fiction

Linda has a thing for planes; their intelligent windscreens, comely slats, and rumbling turbulence make her feel a way that no human ever could. In fact, she desperately believes her destiny is to marry one by uniting their souls for eternity in what the rest of us may vulgarly refer to as a plane crash. Linda's unusual proclivities distance her from the rest of humanity, so she's surprised and pleased when her charismatic work friend, Karina, invites her to a quarterly Vision Board Brunch. She wants to hasten her romantic fate through manifestation, but as her vision boards start coming true a bit too literally, Linda must choose between being her authentic self or abandoning her destiny for a more "normal" life. 

Sky Daddy is the second book I've read by this author—it’s hilarious and surprisingly tender. Folk's writing is so clever and her sentence-level writing is so crisp. Everything she writes feels intentional, which makes the story fly by. I am weary of modern references, but Folk approaches them thoughtfully. Time spent in Linda's head is a hoot. As a reader, you can feel the love and understanding the author has for her peculiar female lead. If you’re like me, the ending may even make you a little misty eyed. If you enjoy sardonic humor and eccentric characters Sky Daddy is one not to miss. 

If you like Sky Daddy, you might also like:

Big Swiss 

by Jen Beagin

Scribner, 2023. 325 pages. Fiction 

Greta lives with her friend Sabine in an ancient Dutch farmhouse in Hudson, New York. The house, built in 1737, is unrenovated, uninsulated, and full of bees. Greta spends her days transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach who calls himself Om. She becomes infatuated with his newest client, a repressed married woman she affectionately refers to as Big Swiss, since she's tall, stoic, and originally from Switzerland. Greta is fascinated by Big Swiss's refreshing attitude toward trauma. They both have dark histories, but Big Swiss chooses to remain unattached to her suffering while Greta continues to be tortured by her past. One day, Greta recognizes Big Swiss's voice at the dog park. In a panic, she introduces herself with a fake name and they quickly become enmeshed. Although Big Swiss is unaware of Greta's true identity, Greta has never been more herself with anyone. Her attraction to Big Swiss overrides her guilt, and she'll do anything to sustain the relationship. 

My Year of Rest and Relaxation

by Otessa Moshfegh

Penguin Books, 2018. 288 pages. Fiction

It's early 2000 on New York City's Upper East Side, and the alienation of Moshfegh's unnamed young protagonist from others is nearly complete when she initiates her yearlong siesta, during which time she experiences limited personal interactions. Her parents have died; her relationships with her bulimic best friend Reva, an ex-boyfriend, and her drug-pushing psychiatrist are unwholesome. As her pill-popping intensifies, so does her isolation and determination to leave behind the world's travails. She is also beset by dangerous blackouts induced by a powerful medication. 

Piglet

by Lottie Hazell

Henry Holt and Company, 2024. 288 pages. Fiction

Piglet, a successful cookbook editor with a loyal circle and a handsome fiancé, Kit, faces a shocking betrayal two weeks before her wedding. Despite deciding to proceed, she grows increasingly unsettled. By the wedding day, Piglet is nearly undone but ready to confront the lies we tell ourselves. 

RP

The Road to Tender Hearts

The Road to Tender Hearts

by Annie Hartnett 

Ballentine Books, 2025. 369 pages. Fiction.

At sixty-three years old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren't for the tragedies of his life: the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. Since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar, and he probably doesn't have much time left--he's had three heart attacks already. But when PJ reads the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. Filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he's going to drive across the country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win Michelle back. Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother's grandchildren. Anyone else would be deterred from the planned trip, but PJ figures the orphaned kids might benefit from getting out of town. PJ also thinks he can ask Sophie, his adult daughter who's adrift in her twenties, to come along to babysit. And there's one more surprise addition to the roster: Pancakes, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack of predicting death, who recently turned up outside PJ's home. This could be the second chance PJ has long hoped for--a fresh shot at love and parenting--but does he have the strength to do both those things again? It's very possible his heart can't take it. 

This book was such a fun journey to take (pun intended, its a book about a cross country road trip). The characters were eccentric and likeable despite their very apparent flaws. We have 3 generations of characters in the story (plus a surprisingly fun death predicting cat). I love a good intergenerational relationship story where all parties have something to learn from each other's life experiences. Except the cat Pancakes, he's perfect. Despite all characters experiencing tragedy and grief in their lives, the overall message is heartwarming and optimistic. 

Run for the Hills

by Kevin Wilson

Ecco, 2025. 244 pages. Fiction.

Ever since her dad left them twenty years ago, it's just been Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While she sometimes admits it's a bit lonely, and a less exciting a life than she imagined for herself, it's mostly ok. Mostly. Then one day, Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she's his half-sister. Reuben--left behind by their dad thirty years ago--has hired a detective to track down their father and a string of other half siblings. And he wants Mad to leave her home and join him for the craziest kind of road trip imaginable to find them all. As Mad and Rube--and eventually the others--share stories of their father, who behaved so differently in each life he created, they begin to question what he was looking for with each new incarnation. Who are they to each other? What kind of man will they find? And how will these new relationships change Mad's previously solitary life on the farm? 

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

by Rachel Joyce

Random House, 2012. 320 pages. Fiction

Harold Fry is convinced that he must deliver a letter to an old love in order to save her, meeting various characters along the way and reminiscing about the events of his past and people he has known, as he tries to find peace and acceptance.

JK

All Better Now

All Better Now
by Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster, 2025. 518 pages. Science Fiction.

A deadly and unprecedented virus is spreading. Those who survive it experience a long-term effect no one has ever seen before: utter contentment. Stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings are inexplicably gone. More and more people begin to revel in the mass unburdening. But not everyone. People in power—those who make a living convincing the public that happiness comes from buying more, new, faster, and better everything—know this new state of being is bad for business. The race to find a vaccine begins. Meanwhile, a growing movement of Recoverees plans ways to spread the virus as fast as they can, in the name of saving the world. It's nearly impossible to determine the truth when everyone with a platform is pushing their agenda. Three teens from very different backgrounds who have had their lives upended in very different ways find themselves at the center of a power play that could change humanity forever.

Neal Shusterman excels at exploring very timely “what-if” questions, allowing his stories to develop around one intriguing central idea. The concept of “toxic positivity” has long fascinated me—I’m normally a pretty upbeat person who prefers to find silver linings wherever I can, but there comes a point when “looking on the bright side” starts to do more harm than good. Where is that line, though? All Better Now forces all of humanity to question what happiness truly means—and there are no easy answers. Shusterman’s earlier hit series, The Arc of a Scythe, took place in a far-future version of Earth, which made everything seem a bit more fantastical. All Better Now, on the other hand, takes place in a “five minutes in the future” version of our present day, which can make things hit more than a little too close to home. Character motivations vary wildly, and you definitely won’t always like them or agree with them. (Dame Glynis Havilland comes straight from the Maleficent School of Petty Villains.) But Shusterman always lets his characters behave in ways that feel very true to who they are. You can always count him to craft a thoughtful tale that will stick with you for a long time. The scene is definitely being set up for a sequel, and I'll be looking forward to it!

 

If you like All Better Now, you might also like:

The Darkest Minds
by Alexandra Bracken
Hyperion, 2012. 488 pages. Science Fiction.

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that killed most of America's children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Snowglobe
by Soyoung Park
Delacorte Press, 2024. 372 pages. Science Fiction.

Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that's warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city. The residents of Snowglobe have everything: fame, fortune, and above all, safety from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one day become actors themselves.

LAH

Raising Good Humans

Raising Good Humans: A Mindful Guide to Breaking the Cycle of Reactive Parenting and Raising Kind, Confident Kids 

by Hunter Clarke Fields 

New Harbinger Publications, 2019. 169 pages. Nonfiction 

As a parent, you strive to model kindness, compassion, and patience when interacting with your children. But no parent is perfect, and in difficult or stressful moments, you may react to your kids in ways that don't exactly fit your ideal model of parenting -- for example, yelling. You aren't alone. Parental reactions are often deeply ingrained, and you likely learned them from your parents. So how can you break this cycle and be the kind of parent you want to be? With this book, you’ll find powerful mindfulness skills for calming your own stress response when difficult emotions arise. You’ll also discover strategies for cultivating respectful communication, effective conflict resolution, and reflective listening. 

Raising Good Humans differs from many parenting books by spending the first half focused on the parents’ relationship with themselves, rather than their interactions with their children. The author emphasizes that unless parents learn first to regulate their own nervous systems, in moments of stress they’ll find themselves going into fight, flight, or freeze during tough interactions with their kids and struggling to behave and communicate the way they intend. After offering strategies for parents to develop those skills, she then describes techniques for connecting with children and helping them learn to self-regulate in times of stress. While this book won’t teach every skill parents need for success, it’s a good reminder of the importance of mindfulness, meditation, and self-compassion for parents and kids alike. 

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind 

by Daniel J Siegel 

Delacorte Press, 2011. 176 pages. Nonfiction 

In this pioneering, practical book, Daniel J. Siegel, neuropsychiatrist and author of the bestselling Mindsight, and parenting expert Tina Payne Bryson demystify the meltdowns and aggravation, explaining the new science of how a child’s brain is wired and how it matures. The “upstairs brain,” which makes decisions and balances emotions, is under construction until the mid-twenties. And especially in young children, the right brain and its emotions tend to rule over the logic of the left brain. No wonder kids can seem—and feel—so out of control. By applying these discoveries to everyday parenting, you can turn any outburst, argument, or fear into a chance to integrate your child’s brain and foster vital growth. 

Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be 

by Becky Kennedy 

Harper Wave, 2022. 315 pages. Nonfiction 

In Good Inside, Dr Becky shares her parenting philosophy, complete with actionable strategies, that will help parents move from uncertainty and self-blame to confidence and sturdy leadership. Offering perspective-shifting parenting principles and troubleshooting for specific scenarios―including sibling rivalry, separation anxiety, tantrums, and more―Good Inside is a comprehensive resource for a generation of parents looking for a new way to raise their kids while still setting them up for a lifetime of self-regulation, confidence, and resilience.

SGR

Papaya Salad

Papaya Salad

By Elisa Macellari
Dark House Books, 2020. 223 pages. Graphic Novel Biography.

The debut graphic novel from Thai-Italian illustrator Elisa Macellari, Papaya Salad tells the story of her great-uncle Sompong who found himself in Europe on military scholarship on the eve of World War II. A gentle and resolute man in love with books and languages, in search of his place in the world, Sompong chronicles his life during the war and falling for his wife, finding humor and joy even as the world changes irrevocably around him.

Summer Reading just ended but don't worry, the library has more challenges for you. One of them is A Year of Reading, where we challenge you to read 12 books from different categories.  This is a great way to expand your reading horizons, win prizes, and make the librarians proud of you.  This is the book I read to fulfill the Biography category.  I tend to leave my nonfiction books unfinished and biographies are often long and extra daunting.  So I went slightly unconventional and chose a graphic novel (yes, it still counts).  The other trick when reading outside your comfort zone is to make sure that there is something that really interests you about the book. For example, if you usually read fast-paced mysteries, maybe you can try one of our true crime books in the 364s. In this case I really loved the art style, a good color theme will always hook me. So even when I began to think there wasn't enough dragons in this story I was still willing to continue.  If you are also looking for a biography to read this was a great one!  The author takes us through some major world events through the lens of an ordinary man who very quickly found a place in my heart.  World War II buffs especially will enjoy this unique perspective on the time period. 

If you like Papaya Salad, you might also like: 

The Photographer of Mauthausen

By Salva Rubio

Dead Reckoning, 2020. Unpaged. Graphic Novel, Nonfiction.

This is a dramatic retelling of true events in the life of Francisco Boix, a Spanish press photographer and communist who fled to France at the beginning of World War II. Through an odd turn of events, Boix finds himself the confidant of an SS officer who is documenting prisoner deaths at the camp. Boix realizes that he has a chance to prove Nazi war crimes by stealing the negatives of these perverse photos--but only at the risk of his own life, that of a young Spanish boy he has sworn to protect, and, indeed, that of every prisoner in the camp.

Swansong 1945

By Walter Kempowski

W.W. Norton & Company, 2015. 479 pages. Nonfiction.

Swansong 1945 chronicles the end of Nazi Germany and World War II in Europe through hundreds of letters, diaries, and autobiographical accounts covering four days that fateful spring: Hitler's birthday on April 20, American and Soviet troops meeting at the Elbe on April 25, Hitler's suicide on April 30, and finally the German surrender on May 8. Side by side, we encounter vivid, first-person accounts of civilians fleeing Berlin, ordinary German soldiers determined to fight to the bitter end, American POWs dreaming of home, concentration-camp survivors' first descriptions of their horrific experiences, as well as the intimate thoughts of figures such as Eisenhower, Churchill, Stalin, Joseph Goebbels, and Hitler himself. These firsthand accounts, painstakingly collected and organized by renowned German author Walter Kempowski, provide the raw material of history and present a panoramic view of those tumultuous days. The more than 1,000 extracts include a British soldier writing to his parents to tell them there are no baths but plenty of eggs and chocolate, an American soldier describing "the tremendous burst of lilacs" as he approaches the Elbe, Mussolini wishing Hitler a happy birthday, Eva Braun bragging to a girlfriend about what a "crack shot" she's become, and much more. An extraordinary account of suffering and survival, Swansong 1945 brings to life the end of Nazi Germany and the war in Europe.

Audrey Hepburn

By Michelle Botton
NBM Graphic Novels, 2024. 175 pages. Graphic Novel, Biography.

When Audrey Hepburn is mentioned, one thinks of her being beautiful and elegant, of her films, or of how her image is used to recall something immortal and fashionable. But Audrey was also a little girl who saw the Second World War with her own eyes, a woman who was at times fragile at work and in her private life, with a strong desire for motherhood and, above all, a boundless love for children that would lead her to find her true vocation, far from dancing or acting: she will in fact become a UNICEF ambassador to raise awareness in the world and help minors in difficulty.

KJ