November 2025

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1. When Breath Becomes Air

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SUMMARY

Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.

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MY REVIEW

This book had been on my “must reads” list for quite some time. Perhaps it was an overdose of too much fiction (is that even a thing?); maybe the firework explosion of colors on the trees reminded me that in the Midwest we are in the season where leaves die before winter.

Within this short memoir, Kalanithi packs a poignant punch of what it means to walk the line between living and dying. As a neurosurgeon, he experienced that almost daily as he navigated his way around fragile spinal columns and complicated brains. He thought he understood the reality of death and our own finite timelines…until he himself was given a terminal cancer diagnosis.

I loved how this memoir was written in two sections: one of his life pre-cancer and one after it. In the first part, we empathize with his fast-paced, goal-oriented life. How much can he get done in a day? How can he advance his career? He celebrates crawling into bed at night, beyond exhausted, from having accomplished more than was humanly possible. He thought he was living life to the fullest.

And then. Life came to a screeching halt with his cancer diagnosis. Not just early stages either–stage 4. Kalanithi writes about how time changed, from a clock-driven, calendar-based concept to something more arbitrary. Instead of “what time is dinner?” or “what day should I get that done?” he asks himself, “what should I do with the rest of my life?”

Despite his father’s relentless positivity, Kalanithi’s story does not end happily. Or maybe it does. As his wife writes in the epilogue, Paul lived his life with an authenticity as he “griev[ed] the loss of the future he planned and forge[d] a new one” (219).

Maybe that’s all we should strive for in our own lives.

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2. Challenger Deep

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SUMMARY

Caden Bosch is on a ship that’s headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.

Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behaviour.

Caden Bosch is designated the ship’s artist in residence to document the journey with images.

Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.

Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.

Caden Bosch is torn.

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MY REVIEW

Neal Shusterman is coming to a writing festival a local university holds in my area, and this was a recommended read. I am always looking for a middle grade-to-young adult novel; there’s something for me in the way authors of this genre are willing to tackle seemingly “adult-only” topics and bring them down to the middle school and high school level. I feel we have always underestimated this age group, and my years teaching middle school and high school confirmed this. They are clearly aware of what is going on in the world and what is happening to people; they just need it brought to them on a level they can understand. Since the onset of the internet and mobile devices, I believe this is even more true today. We shouldn’t shelter this age group from reality; instead, we should carefully choose how to present it to them.

Shusterman accepts this challenge and presents a world where Caden Bosch lives in a deep dark place of mental illness. “Unable to function in everyday society” mental illness. “We have no choice but to hospitalize you” mental illness. It’s a fascinating journey into Caden’s head, to experience med changes and hallucinations and friendships and reconfiguring life. But the world of mental illness is not an easy one for those who live it, or for those who love someone with it.

Shusterman’s ability to write so poignantly comes from–as I feared while reading this novel–his own pain and heartbreak as he watched his son battle mental illness. The drawings in the book come from his son. Not all stories end well, but Brendan Shusterman “found his piece of sky and escaped gloriously from the deep” (Author’s Note).

I appreciated Shusterman’s final thoughts that he hopes Challenger Deep will help others “to empathize, and to understand what it’s like to sail the dark, unpredictable waters of mental illness” (Author’s Note).

This was a difficult, but worthwhile read. And I would gladly put it in the hands of someone of a younger age who is able to handle the depth and struggle of this topic.

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3. What Happened to Rachel Riley?

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SUMMARY

An eighth grader uses social media posts, passed notes, and other clues to find out why a formerly popular girl is now the pariah of her new school in this #metoo story.

Anna Hunt may be the new girl at East Middle School, but she can already tell there’s something off about her eighth-grade class. Rachel Riley, who just last year was one of the most popular girls in school, has become a social outcast. But no one, including Rachel Riley herself, will tell Anna why. As a die-hard podcast enthusiast, Anna knows there’s always more to a story than meets the eye. So she decides to put her fact-seeking skills to the test and create her own podcast around the question that won’t stop running through her. What happened to Rachel Riley? With the entire eighth grade working against her, Anna dives headfirst into the evidence. Clue after clue, the mystery widens, painting an even more complex story than Anna could have anticipated. But there’s one thing she’s certain about, if you’re going to ask a complicated question, you better be prepared for the fallout that may come with the answer.

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MY REVIEW

When a beloved middle school teacher “highly” recommends a book, I read it. In fact, in this particular case, I walked to the library that very afternoon and picked up a copy. She was spot on that this was a great read, and I had it finished within 48 hours.

I loved how this book was told through different elements in addition to narrative writing. There were emails and announcements and text strands, completely immersing itself in contemporary Middle Grade fiction. Because the story was told in reverse order (we don’t actually know what happened to Rachel Riley until the end of the book, although the “what happened” occurred before the book was written), many of the emails and announcements don’t entirely make sense as we untangle the massive plot knot that is teenage relationships.

More importantly, this is a novel about what constitutes as bullying and teasing. Yes, there is a gendered aspect to this particular tale and it is an important one. However, what is critical for this age group in our social media filled society is understanding what qualifies as bullying, “soft” as it may be. People may laugh it off or say it was “just for fun” and that “no one was really hurt,” but until we can teach this next generation to protect themselves physically, mentally and emotionally and to place their own safety first, we have to keep preaching loudly. Personally, I find a MG novel is the perfect way to do that.

All ages should read this book. And, if you’re a parent of a teenager, read this book and talk about it together.

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4. Wreck

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SUMMARY

Rocky, still anxious, nostalgic, and funny, is living in Western Massachusetts with her husband Nick and their daughter Willa, who’s back home after college. Their son, Jamie, has taken a new job in New York, and Mort, Rocky’s widowed father, has moved in.

It all couldn’t be more ridiculously normal . . . until Rocky finds herself obsessed with a local accident that only tangentially affects them—and with a medical condition that, she hopes, won’t affect them at all.

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MY REVIEW

After reading and loving Sandwich earlier this year, I highly anticipated Newman’s sequel. I had considered purchasing it as my special Winter Break vacation book, but when my hold request became available at the library, I decided to read it early.

When people ask me what Newman’s books are about, I usually respond with a shoulder shrug and the word “nothing.” Because Newman’s books aren’t about driving plots or action over the course of a certain period of time. Both have been about a middle-age woman living with all the thoughts and feelings that come with the age and learning to unpublished rule book that comes with having adult kids.

In a way that Sandwich was lovely to me, Wreck felt a little bit too much like its own title. Perhaps it’s because this book was not set in the nostalgic beach home with her family on vacation. Perhaps it’s because both wrecks in the novel, an external event and her own internal one, posed a much darker view on life. For me, whereas Rocky was pleasantly emotional in the first book, she became unpleasantly mental in this novel. A friend saw this coming with the first book and told me that Rocky just thinks everything and every situation is about her.

Ultimately, I am glad I did not spend my money on purchasing this rather expensive, shortish-length hardcover book. It did continue to offer provoking thoughts and perspectives on middle age and what “wrecks” us (or, maybe more astutely, what we allow to wreck us), but overall it felt like a country song where the same, sad tune was sung, just different lyrics in the second verse.

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October 2025

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1. My Friends

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SUMMARY

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.

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MY REVIEW

I have always been a fan of Frederik Backman. He captured me first with A Man Called Ove and had never let me go. My friend Kim (yes, I’m actually referring to another person) gifted me with her hardcover copy to read and enjoy on my own time with no library due date. I

didn’t know it, but I would need all the time to slowly and carefully read this deep and moving story of four friends and a painting that would change all their lives. I have confessed before that I can be a skim reader, but this book required a detailed read of every chapter, every page, every sentence. I felt like every third or fourth sentence was profound enough to be a poster on someone’s wall. Backman’s writing is witty and heartfelt and deep…and then he makes some reference to a fart (endearing and funny a few times, mostly weird and redundant in my opinion).

This is a story about a painting. But it’s so much more. If you were given a checklist of thematic options, my guess is most readers would check almost all of them: love, pain, grief, sacrifice, friendship, death. So I guess that makes this novel the single most handbook on “how to live life.”

Readers, this one is worth it. Find your copy, whether it be at the library, the bookstore or your good friend Kim (side note: everyone should have a good friend Kim in their lives). Read it, enjoy it, savor it. Let it take up rent in your head long after you’ve finished it. And then pray to the gods in Hollywood they never try to mess it up by making it into a movie.

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2. The Keeper of Lost Things

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SUMMARY

Anthony Peardew is the keeper of lost things. Forty years ago, he carelessly lost a keepsake from his beloved fiancée, Therese. That very same day, she died unexpectedly. Brokenhearted, Anthony sought consolation in rescuing lost objects—the things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidentally left behind—and writing stories about them. Now, in the twilight of his life, Anthony worries that he has not fully discharged his duty to reconcile all the lost things with their owners. As the end nears, he bequeaths his secret life’s mission to his unsuspecting assistant, Laura, leaving her his house and all its lost treasures, including an irritable ghost.

Recovering from a bad divorce, Laura, in some ways, is one of Anthony’s lost things. But when the lonely woman moves into his mansion, her life begins to change. She finds a new friend in the neighbor’s quirky daughter, Sunshine, and a welcome distraction in Freddy, the rugged gardener. As the dark cloud engulfing her lifts, Laura, accompanied by her new companions, sets out to realize Anthony’s last wish: reuniting his cherished lost objects with their owners.

Long ago, Eunice found a trinket on the London pavement and kept it through the years. Now, with her own end drawing near, she has lost something precious—a tragic twist of fate that forces her to break a promise she once made.

As the Keeper of Lost Objects, Laura holds the key to Anthony and Eunice’s redemption. But can she unlock the past and make the connections that will lay their spirits to rest?

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MY REVIEW

I believe I saw a recommendation for this book on social media, and not by any person I knew. But their review said that reading this book was “like getting a hug,” and I thought I could use a bookhug right now.

I wanted to like this book more. Perhaps it’s Backman’s fault for exposing me to the highest level of literature for my previous read. I believe the plot is worthwhile; the synopsis reminded me a bit of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper (Patrick) which I thoroughly enjoyed. And the running themes of lost love and found love and friendship and holding out hope when all seems bleak–these are all themes I appreciate in a good novel.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find myself caring about the characters, and as a result, I could not connect to the plot. This might have been a book I would have abandoned halfway through had it not been the feeling of responsibility to finish and report on it to you, my dear readers. Perhaps it moved too slow for my fast-paced brain; perhaps I’m not someone who can appreciate “charming” books the way others can.

Goodreads claims this is a book for readers who loved The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Bender). Now that is a book that I loved and would highly recommend to any reader.

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3. How to Read a Book

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SUMMARY

Violet Powell, a twenty-two-year-old from rural Abbott Falls, Maine, is being released from prison after serving twenty-two months for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher. Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club, is facing the unsettling prospect of an empty nest. Frank Daigle, a retired machinist, hasn’t yet come to grips with the complications of his marriage to the woman Violet killed.

When the three encounter each other one morning in a bookstore in Portland—Violet to buy the novel she was reading in the prison book club before her release, Harriet to choose the next title for the women who remain, and Frank to dispatch his duties as the store handyman—their lives begin to intersect in transformative ways.

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MY REVIEW

At this point, how this book got on my “to read” list is insignificant; the fact that it got into my hands and I got to devour it in a few short days is all that matters. The title gives nothing away, so I had no idea what to expect. Imagine my shock and surprise when the novel opens in a prison ward.

This book was an absolute delight to read in so many ways. It captured a small glimpse into prison life and what it means for those women to live on the Ins. It enforces the importance of literature and reading and education, and how that is the one universal freedom we all are given. Yes, it’s about friendship and romance, but I loved how it viewed those idyllic aspects of life through broken humans who repeatedly screw up.

I think I adored this book so much because above all, it is a story of forgiveness and offering grace. I believe those are what we need today, in this world, above all else.

Do yourself a favor and find a copy of this book. Even better if you buy it and share it around. This one deserves circulation.

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