Books
A cozy corner for every kind of book—and the reviews that bring them to life.
Dorothy “Dee” Gale flees Kansas for Trinity College Dublin after a scandalous breakup with a bestselling novelist leaves her humiliated. In Ireland, she forms unexpected friendships—with charming Sam, guarded Tim, and loyal Reeti—and is guided by powerful mentors who challenge her to grow. Over a transformative year of love, loss, and self-discovery, Dee learns to confront her fears, embrace her creativity, and find where she truly belongs.
The Once and Future Me by Melissa Pace takes readers to Virginia, 1954, where a woman wakes up on a bus bound for Hanover State Psychiatric Hospital with no memory of who she is or how she got there. The doctors insist she’s Dorothy Frasier, a violent schizophrenic, but her mind tells a different story—one filled with flashes of a dystopian future and a mysterious mission to save humanity.
The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim follows Margot Lee, who returns to her childhood home in Koreatown and finds her mother, Mina, dead under mysterious circumstances. As Margot searches for answers, she uncovers her mother’s hidden past and realizes how little she truly knew her. This poignant novel explores identity, family, and the secrets that shape us.
Disabled, unmarried, and more passionate about writing than a “respectable” career, Zelu has always been the black sheep of her Nigerian family. But during her sister’s lavish Caribbean wedding, everything falls apart—she’s fired from her university job and her latest manuscript is rejected. In a moment of defiance, she writes something wildly different: Rusted Robots, a futuristic saga of AI and androids battling in the ruins of human civilization.
ER doctor Mackenzie Carter has had her fair share of disastrous dates—from model train fanatics to men obsessed with her tail. Noah has his own problem—his secret alpha identity has been exposed, and unless he can prove he’s stable and mated, his career is at risk. When Mackenzie proposes a fake relationship, it seems like the perfect solution for them both. But as their pretend romance heats up, the line between fake and real begins to vanish—and love might be the wildest risk of all.
Third-year Ph.D. candidate Olive Smith doesn’t believe in love, but to convince her best friend she’s dating, she impulsively kisses the infamously grumpy professor Adam Carlsen. When he agrees to be her fake boyfriend, their pretend romance quickly turns complicated, especially as chemistry, career pressures, and unexpected feelings ignite. Olive soon discovers that love, like science, can be unpredictable—and dangerously exciting.
If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura is a quietly powerful story about a young postman who learns he has only months to live. Isolated from his family and living alone with his beloved cat, Cabbage, his world is turned upside down when the devil appears with a bargain: erase one thing from existence, and gain one more day of life.
Ashley Smith, an American art student spending Christmas in the Cotswolds, is enchanted by Starvewood Hall and the Chapman family—until she learns Emma’s brother Adam is a suspect in a local girl’s murder. Strange sightings in the nearby woods and a growing sense of danger make Ashley question whether she’s in a holiday romance or a gothic nightmare.
Kate Turner begrudgingly joins a holiday dating agency and embarks on twelve chaotic dates in the small town of Blexford, hoping to finally find love before Christmas. But as each date becomes more disastrous, she begins to realize that the love she’s been searching for may have been right in front of her all along.
