REVIEW The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick

 

I read this for my book club - which is wonderful because I have been wanting to read it forever. This is an uplifting work of historical fiction about women who want more, decide to pursue it and support each other in these endeavors even as the America of the 1960's tells them they couldn't. It was so nice. 

The main character is Margaret Ryan and when we first meet her, she has won a writing contest from a women's magazine and is hired to write a regular column as a result. She is pigeonholed into writing what her (male) editor tells her, her husband is pissy about her not having more time for the care of the family (because why would he help?!) and her paycheck is actually less than minimum wage. The job also somewhat sparks the "Betty Friedan Book Club" (the first book they read is, you guessed it, The Feminine Mystique). There are three other women in the club - Charlotte, Bitsy and Viv. Charlotte is a woman who is prescribed Miltown, a tranquilizer, by her male psychiatrist and struggles in her marriage with her cheating husband. Viv was a combat nurse and is Margaret's best friend and neighbor.  Bitsy is an avid horse lover who wanted to be a vet and is also a neighbor. 

I loved that it addressed issues of race and class: Viv meets a black Army nurse who was barred from going overseas in WW2. Margaret is denied the ability to open a checking account without her husband's signature.  It's CRAZY. 

I LOVED this book. I wanted to be best friends and a member of the Betty's book club.  The story was thoughtful, warm, and very subtly insightful about how stifling the 1960's actually were. The characters were well written and showed a lot growth over the course of the book and I could not put this book down.

5/5 

REVIEW: The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers

 

There has been a lot of chatter on this book so I wanted to check it out for myself. I blew through it in like three or four days.  It was really great.

Cora and Sam meet in a baby group. Cora is married, happily she believes.  Her husband, however, seems to disappoint her at every turn - he spends his free time smoking a lot of pot on the porch while the kids sleep and that carries over into the bedroom. He's failing at work and so she's picking up the slack everywhere, and she's miserable while doing it.  Sam is married as well - to a high achieving spouse who is a lawyer and also believes he's happy, but is he?  It's almost like he is emasculated, or feels that way, right from the get go. So when the two meet at the baby group, they are instantly attracted to each other. Cora believes that Sam listens to her in ways that her husband does not. They become fast friends and then decide to bring their spouses into the mix. 

Cora, however, begins to fantasize about what an affair between them would look like. In that timeline, they are seeing each other while in the "reality" timeline, they refrain.  Things in that alternate timeline become super serious super fast. The timelines remain distinct at first, with the reader bouncing between the two, but then they blur together until there is only one timeline.

I really liked this book but it is INTENSE. Their relationship spans ten years of wishing and longing, until the trigger is pulled. The book is VERY readable and Somers has created real and flawed characters.  They are absolutely relatable.  SO good and the way that the timelines are slowly blurred is absolutely brilliant. Highly recommend. 

REVIEW: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

 

This book took me, and the publishing world, by surprised.  Candidly, I wasn't expecting to like it and worried that it would be completely smarmy and self righteous. It was self published in 2025 but only really took off this year. The story follows Theo, an elderly man who travels to Golden, a small town in Georgia. He visits the local coffeehouse, where he sees portraits of the townspeople on the wall. The artist is also a local artist - said artist lives in Golden as well. Theo decides to purchase the portraits and distribute them to the subject of the portraits. With each meeting, he collects their stories and they are inspired by his kindness.

What I loved about this book is that it deals with several important themes:  the importance of slowing down and observing, being kind, loss and grieving and love among others and it does so in a captivating way. I loved Theo as a character - his background is very mysterious but what he does for the people he comes into contact with is very laudable and to be admired.  It's a timely reminder of the importance of kindness.  I did wish that there was some conflict or other tension, which would have made the book more interesting,  and I could have done with less of the religious stuff, but those were both minor, nit picky things on my part.

I flew through this book in about two days. Definitely worth the read and I may read it again to make sure I caught everything!

Links I love

 

I saw my pulmonologist on Monday - and I have an echocardiogram scheduled on June 10.  Hopefully nothing to see here but better to be safe than sorry. Yesterday we were in Worcester, MA for NEIRA's. My daughter's boat qualified but unfortunately my son's did not. 

Thank you to all our service members for protecting us!

• Goodreads has summer reading lists galore!
• What does Costco do with unsold appliances?
• Boston has its first non alcoholic cocktail bar.
• Why you dream about what you do.
• What's the best type of exercise to lower blood pressure? i'm also a fan of just minimizing or dealing with stress!
• The Guardian has published its list of the 100 best novels of all time.
• Horror books where the town is the main character.
• Taiwan Travelogue won the International Booker. 
• Family centered thrillers and mysteries. 
• The 2026 McKitterick Prize Shortlist.
• Having trouble focusing on your book? Try immersive reading.
• Why do planes dim the lights on takeoff and landing?
• Literary thrillers set in Italy.
• Why you shouldn't feel guilty for being well read. Is feeling guilty for this actually a thing?
• Why do different types of bottled water taste differently?
• Pizza Hut has a reading challenge. Here is the official link.
• The best mysteries and thrillers for Truce Crime podcast listeners (like me). 
• 25 books that capture this American moment. 
• If you're traveling to Kentucky, here is a reading list for you. 

Currently reading two books: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and Theo, Golden by Allen Levi.  Listening to To the Moon and Back (almost done!) and podcast - Your Own Backyard and Women and Crime. 

Please browse in my Pangobooks store. 

Links I love

 

Last weekend was REALLY busy!  We were at NEIRA's for rowing and, while no hardware ws brought home, our boats did really well and all of our rowers should be proud of that!

• I'm going to listen to this artist's music to see if I like it. 
• How generational sagas help readers to set roots. 
• Time Anxiety and what it is.
• The man who reads books for a living - I'm jealous.
• Ten thrillers set in the near future.
• This seems like a fun way to determine your next read.
• Why the Pope quoted Gandalf in his speech on AI.
• 19 books to read this summer.
• Books for people that are fascinated by museums.
• Songs inspired by True Crime cases.
• Spotify audiobooks is paying off.
• Best beach reads for this summer according to NY Times.
• Pacific Island historical fiction books.
• Summer mystery books.
• 7 novels featuring a book within a book.
• 5 takeaways from the new colorectal screening guidelines.
• New Yorker's best books of 2026 (so far). Esquire also has a list as does the BBC. 
• 5 mysteries set in the wilderness.
• Knox County, TN has banned Alex Haley's Roots.
• There's a 2700 year old ceramic Roman cup that has been found.
• Sharks have tested positive for drugs, including cocaine.
• Celebrity mugshots that became embedded in our culture.
• Oprah has a summer list up.
• Hudson Williams has pretty good taste in books. 
• May's bet reviewed non-fiction and fiction.
• The best books on soccer. 

Please visit my Pangbooks store!

REVIEW LA Weather by Maria Ampano Escandon

 

This 2021 book was part of Reese's book club - and I generally enjoy the books she selects. So I picked it up from my local library. This novel tells the story of the Alvarado family as they navigate major life changes - not one of the characters isn't experiencing a major shakeup. When we meet them, Oscar, the patriarch, has become distant, leaving his wife Keila feeling lonely and emotionally abandoned. This has prompted her to threaten divorce, which devastates her three daughters: Olivia, Claudia and Patricia. The girls convince their parents to give it a year before finalizing any decision to divorce. During that year, each member faces major life challenges that we navigate with them. 

Stories about families and relationship dynamics are stories that I'm drawn to. I'm insanely curious about them, so this book was definitely in my wheelhouse and satisfied that itch to some degree.  It wasn't the best novel that I have read that looks at these dynamics though. I felt like the characters were one dimensional and I had a hard time empathizing with any of them (except maybe Dani, who is Patricia's child). There was not a satisfying resolution for any of the characters except for Oscar and Keila, which was frustrating.  No one besides them seemed to actually learn anything or develop at all.  I did appreciate seeing how families were dealing with divorces, but that was pretty much it.  I mean, Escandon literally threw everything she could at this family in addition to divorce: gender/sexuality issues, infertility, cheating, stealing, cancer, you name it.  I found myself thinking: can we just pick like one or two big things and do a deep dive instead of barely scratching the surface on many things?

That being said, it was a pretty quick read, which was good.  

You can skip this one if you'd like!

REVIEW The Last Policeman by Ben Winters

 

I'm going to be completely transparent here - Ben Winters is a local author whose brother I occasionally try cases against.  So when I heard that Ben wrote this trilogy, I was excited to start it because not only do I love reading about places that I know about, but it's written by someone I'm connected to, albeit tenuously.

In this book, the asteroid Maia is on a crash collision with Earth and that collision can't be stopped. Society is falling apart but it's not as bad as you would think although there has been a significant uptick in suicides, people walking away from jobs and people walking away from families to do whatever suits them in the moment. Except for Henry Palace, a detective with the Concord PD who has responded to a suicide call at a local McDonald's.He quickly believes that this was a homicide, not a suicide. 

What I enjoyed about this book is its critique of society when everyone knows they're going to die and the questions it poses.  Henry, for instance, is trying to figure out why someone would commit a MURDER now of all times. I enjoyed how quick paced the novel was and its introspection - you're in Henry's head for the entire novel. He's likeable and a nerd at heart. I also like Winters' writing style - it's precise and quietly humorful (don't blink or you'll miss the humor). I also really enjoyed seeing how different people were reacting to the news that the world was ending - some were pursuing bucket lists, some adrift, some committed suicide and some just did what they loved or were plodding along. This was a great commentary about the value of life and time and the message that I got was that our time was limited so best to enjoy every moment you have.

Definitely worth the read.