Category: books

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Week in Review: April 5, 2026

Happy Easter!

This was a pretty good week. I felt fairly productive at work and Michael’s job seems to be going pretty well. One thing I have been avoiding is making a phone call to the place where I got my dental implants a few years ago to discuss the issues I am having now. My dentist feels like it would be a good idea to pursue whether they will do anything for me since the implants seem to have been placed too close together, but that seems like a terrifying phone call for me to make so I didn’t get it done last week.

I have still not been reading as much as usual, but I did finish one book last week. It was a short story collection called Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld. I have enjoyed several of her novels, but this book was a bit more difficult to read. The stories seemed designed to expose toxic beliefs and prejudices, and I have to admit some of them hit close to home. The two stories I liked the most were “Follow-Up” and “Lost But Not Forgotten.”

I hope all of you who are celebrating Easter have a wonderful day however you choose to spend it. I will be having a quiet day at home with Michael.

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What I’m Reading – April 2026

What I’m Reading Now

Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld – this is a collection of short stories. I am not sure how I feel about it so far. It seems to be designed to expose the hidden parts of ourselves and our beliefs about ourselves and others.

Jigsaw by Jonathan Kellerman (Alex Delaware #41) – I really like this series. When my turn came for it on Libby, I was in a bit of a reading slump and I only got to 80% before it got automatically returned. Now I am back on the waiting list to get it again so I can finish it.

What I Recently Finished

  • Stolen in Death by J.D. Robb (In Death #62)
  • Storm Peak by John A. Flanagan (Jesse Parker Mystery #1)
  • Avalanche Pass by John A. Flanagan (Jesse Parker Mystery #2)

What I Added to my TBR

  • Braving the Truth: Essential Essays for Reckoning with and Reimagining Faith by Rachel Held Evans
  • The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston
  • The Miseducation of Caroline Bingley by Lindz McLeod (Austentatious #2)
  • The Fake Matchmaker by Sonya Singh
  • Everyone’s Favorite Guy by Katherine Center

TBR Stats/Goal Updates

  • I currently have 187 books on my TBR. Of these, 8 are nonfiction and 179 are fiction.
  • I have read 16 books so far in 2026. My goal is 100, so I am 9 books behind. I do occasionally have times where I read less than my usual, so I’m sure it will pick up later in the year.
  • I have not finished any nonfiction books so far in 2026. My goal is 6.
  • I ended my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I read 15 books and had 1 DNF during the time I had KU.
  • Here are some more stats from StoryGraph:
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Jesse Parker Mystery Duology

I have been a fan of John Flanagan for several years. His main claim to fame is his middle grade series Ranger’s Apprentice and its spinoff series, The Brotherband Chronicles and Ranger’s Apprentice: The Royal Ranger. I have read them all and loved them, so when I learned that he had written a mystery duology, I was excited to read it.

The main character in the books is Jesse Parker, a former Denver police detective, who has returned to his hometown in Colorado to work with the ski patrol. When there are a series of killings in town, he is pulled into the investigation by Sheriff Lee Torrens, a longtime friend and former flame. I really enjoyed the mystery and the rekindling of the relationship between Jesse and Lee.

In the second book, Jesse has taken a trip to Utah to face his fears after a skiing accident and ends up in the middle of a hostage situation. It was interesting to see the character in a very different type of mystery, and I really liked the ending, especially the epilogue.

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ICYMI: Benni Harper series by Earlene Fowler

ICYMI: my quest to highlight books you may have missed

The Benni Harper series by Earlene Fowler consists of fifteen books published between 1994-2011. The protagonist, Benni Harper, has moved to fictional San Celina, California after losing her husband a few months earlier and is managing an artist’s co-op and art gallery. When she encounters a fellow artist’s dead body, she decides to play amateur sleuth and try to solve the mystery.

I really enjoyed these cozy mysteries. I liked the main character a lot, even though she is quite headstrong, and appreciated the inclusion of the arts. Each book title was taken from the name of a quilt pattern, which I found really charming.

The book names in order:

  • Fool’s Puzzle
  • Irish Chain
  • Kansas Troubles
  • Goose in the Pond
  • Dove in the Window
  • Mariner’s Compass
  • Seven Sisters
  • Arkansas Traveler
  • Steps to the Altar
  • Sunshine and Shadow
  • Broken Dishes
  • Delectable Mountains
  • Tumbling Blocks
  • State Fair
  • Spider Web

Have you ever run across these? Are you familiar with any of the quilt patterns?

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Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne – Tomes & Tea book 1

Reyna is one of the Queen’s private guards, and Kianthe is a powerful mage, but all the pair wants to do is leave their responsibilities behind and open a bookstore that sells tea. After a couple of years of sneaking around to spend time together, they make their move and flee to a small town where they can follow their dream. 

If you think this book is reminiscent of Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, you would not be wrong. Thorne says in her acknowledgments that her book was directly inspired by his work. There are some definite similarities between the two, but Thorne has put her own spin on “leave a life of adventure for a cozy shop” story.

This book has a lot more adventure because there are people who don’t want the two women released from their obligations. There is also a mystery in the town that needs to be solved. I did like the action, but it was the cozy parts of the story that I enjoyed the most–watching Reyna and Kianthe explore their relationship now that they were living together, and seeing how they gradually became part of the town where they had settled. 

All in all, this was a fun read and I look forward to reading more of the series.

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“Library” Books

I love to read books about books, especially ones set in libraries. So when I was challenged by Hopewell’s Public Library of Life to post a list of books about libraries, I got right on it!

Here is my list of 11 books that are either set in a library or feature a librarian as the main character. Let me know if you have read any of these or have any others to recommend.

  1. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams – a story about the power of a mysterious reading list and the friendship that develops between Aleisha, a teenager working at the library, and Mukesh, a widower who visits the library after his wife has passed.

2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig – a magic library gives Nora Seed the chance to examine her regrets and discover whether life is worth living.

3. What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama – a special librarian senses exactly what people are looking for and gives the perfect book recommendations to give them the inspiration they need.

4. The Library by Bella Osborne – an unlikely friendship forms between a sixteen-year-old boy and a seventy-two-year-old woman as they rally the community to save their local library.

5. The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick – a book of fairy tales with a personal dedication leads a librarian to uncover family secrets that will change her life.

6. The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms – a school librarian gets an opportunity to escape her life for a summer and has to decide what future she wants for herself.

7. The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson – a library is threatened with closure and librarian June Jones joins forces with others in the community to fight to keep it open.

8. The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore – a librarian who is taking care of her three younger siblings gets involved in a mystery involving a rare book and a cranky neighbor.

9. The Lending Library by Aliza Fogelson – a small-town art teacher opens a lending library in her sunroom when the local library closes.

10. The Storytellers by Sue Heath – a library draws four people together through a writing competition (on my TBR)

11. Is This a Cry for Help? By Emily Austin – a librarian returns to work after a mental health crisis only to be faced with protests surrounding book banning (on my TBR)

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What I’m Reading – March 2026

What I’m Reading Now

Storm Peak by John A. Flanagan (Jesse Parker Mystery #1) – I have read all of the young adult fantasy books by this author and decided I wanted to read his mysteries, of which there are 2. I am really enjoying it so far.

What I Recently Finished

  • The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Cerulean Chronicles #1)
  • Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune (Cerulean Chronicles #2)
  • The Devil You Know by Freida McFadden (Dr. Jane McGill #2)
  • All the Broken Places by M. Jean Pike
  • Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne (Tomes & Tea #1)

What I Added to my TBR

  • The Final Target by Nora Roberts
  • Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts
  • Dear Debbie by Frieda McFadden
  • Destination Funeral by Paige Harbison
  • The Last Marriage of Dot Brightmore by Laura Pearson (Mabel Beaumont #2)
  • The Bookstore Diaries by Susan Mallery
  • A Pirate’s Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne (Tomes & Tea #2)
  • Tea You at the Altar by Rebecca Thorne (Tomes & Tea #3)
  • Alchemy and a Cup of Tea by Rebecca Thorne (Tomes & Tea #4)

TBR Stats/Updates

  • I currently have 190 books on my TBR. Of these, 8 are nonfiction and 182 are fiction.
  • I have read 13 books so far in 2026. My goal is 100, so I am a little bit behind.
  • I have not finished any nonfiction books so far in 2026. My goal is 6.
  • I ended my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I read 15 books and had 1 DNF during the time I had KU.
  • Here are some more stats from StoryGraph:
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Somewhere Beyond the Sea

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune – Cerulean Chronicles Book 2

This sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea was good, but not as good for me as the first book. I loved being introduced to the world Klune created, meeting the magical children, and seeing things unfold between Linus and Arthur. In this book, the story focuses on the fight the inhabitants of the island wage against the Department in Charge of Magical Youth to be able to live in peace. It was clever and had some really touching moments, and I appreciated the social commentary. I just didn’t feel that it drew me in the way book one did.

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All the Broken Places

I haven’t read a Christian fiction book in quite a while, not since my favorite Christian writer Jamie Langston Turner had a new book out. But I have been following M. Jean Pike’s blog for a while now and decided to read one of her books and really enjoyed it!

In All the Broken Places, we meet Monica Humphrey, who is a schoolteacher living with her cat Ginger. She is lonely and overweight. A fall in the grocery store leads her into a relationship with the store’s manager, Barry, as well as into a weight-loss journey. As both of these storylines unfold, we learn about Monica’s history, especially with her father and the female relatives who raised her after her mother died.

I was quickly drawn into this book and connected with Monica right away. As someone who is overweight myself, I really appreciated that Monica was portrayed as a complex human being with a range of emotions and abilities.I loved seeing her emotional growth alongside her physical transformation as she reflects on the past and how it has affected her.

Unlike many Christian fiction books, the story was not predictable, and I enjoyed the twists and turns that it took, especially at the end. I definitely recommend checking out this or one of her other books!

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The Devil You Know

The Devil You Know is a chick lit/romance by Freida McFadden. It is a sequel to The Devil Wears Scrubs, which I read back in 2023. I must not have realized there was a second book, but when I saw this one on Kindle Unlimited, I grabbed it to read right away.

The story centers on Dr. Jane McGill, who has a husband, a daughter, and a job at a VA hospital. At work, she runs into Dr. Ryan Reilly, who she had previously dated, and starts to wonder if she made the wrong choice back then.

I liked the first book better and would recommend starting with that one if you decide to read these, but this was a fun read and I’m glad I read it. I think it’s kind of funny that McFadden is known for her thrillers but I haven’t read any of them yet!