I read a number of excellent books again this month. I’m so glad my reading choices have improved this fall, since the first half of this year felt very MEH. This month I read:

• Nothing Can Erase You by Michel Bussi – Last month I read and loved After the Crash by Bussi, so then I went back to his catalog to request more of his books from my library. I enjoyed this thriller almost as much. We meet Maddie and her son Esteban right before Esteban disappears. Maddie spends the next decade trying to figure out what happened to Esteban and having to convince the people around her that she isn’t crazy, especially when she moves to a town just because a young boy named Tom looks just like Esteban (but would be 10 years younger). This was a wild ride of twists and turns with lots of quirky characters.
• Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben – I love Harlan Coben’s books and I’m always happy when I rediscover him and find new ones to read. The first book in this series was written in 2016 and I read it then, but didn’t realize the connection until after I finished this, which could be a standalone story. Our main character Kierce, kicked off the police force, is hired to help solve a very old kidnapping case in which he has a surprising connection from the past. Along the way, we learn about Kierce’s family, his past, and the family of the young girl who was kidnapped. There were a variety of twists in this, as well as some information hidden from us as the reader, but I enjoyed the entire ride!
• The Black Wolf by Louise Penny – I love the Three Pines series and everything Louise Penny writes. This book was a continuation of book 19, the Grey Wolf. The message between the books being that there are grey wolves, which are good, and black wolves, which are evil. Armand and his crew stumbled upon a government conspiracy to poison the water in Montreal in book 19, and this book begins with the ramifications of their arrests, injuries, and them doubting whether they truly caught the right black wolf. Penny’s introduction says that she turned in this manuscript in September of 2024 and was shocked to see some of her plot in the news in 2025. What follows is an eery story that feels more like nonfiction than fiction, with connections between Canada and America, with leaders no one can trust, and plot lines reminiscent of Animal Farm and 1984, both of which are quoted a lot. This book SHOOK me. The writing was flawless and the characters were so human it hurt to watch them make mistakes, even as I cheered them on to keep going. This was a PHENOMENAL book, which is incredible when you realize it’s #20 in a long series!
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath – This is my book club’s “classic read” for the year. Since I never read it, I was interested to read it, despite my hesitation with classics. Plath’s writing is very informal in tone and rich in details. The beginning of the book we are on a journey to NYC in the 1950’s with a young woman, Esther, who is selected as part of a magazine scholarship group for summer work and fun. Right away, Esther is different from the other young women in the group and much less interested in the fun they are having. The second part of the book is Esther’s fall into madness, with suicidal ideations long before there was a name for this. The book is dark, sad, and a vivid portrayal of deep depression and the failings of the mental health system back then.
• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy [audiobook] – When this book first came out, I hated the title and refused to read it on that principle alone. Over time, I heard good things about it from many people, including my cousin, who confirmed that the mother in this memoir is nothing like mine and wouldn’t bring up sad memories for me. Well, she was right about that, but it brought up other feelings. This memoir chronicles the life of a young girl whose imbalanced mother forces her to become an actress, to become anorexic, and other awkward and inappropriate situations that were described through the lens of a young child. The majority of the book was gross to me, espcially as it was told from a child’s point of view, with no reality checks or reflections until the very end of the book. This was a hard memoir to read with not a lot of impactful lessons. I didn’t enjoy the reading experience.
• The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron – I’ve been reading a chapter a week from this book since early September, as part of the Secret Stuff book club with Laura Tremaine. I have also written morning pages and gone on artist dates, two key principles the author outlines in the book. Along the way, she provides concrete actions to take to unblock creativity, leaning into the fun and silliness of childhood and the importance of being disconnected and bored long enough to tap into your own creativity.
• A Killer’s Wife by Victor Methos – This was a quick, fun mystery to read, that is first in a series that is new to me. in this book, we meet Yardley, whose husband, and the father of her teenage daugther, is on death row after being prosecuted for multiple murders. Just when she is moving on with her life, Yardley hit some significant bumps along the way. This story takes place in Las Vegas, in and out of courtrooms and jails, with many dark characters. Though I disliked almost all of the characters, especially most of the men, I enjoyed the fast-paced story and I will look into the rest of the series.
• Animal Farm by George Orwell – I decided to read this very old classic because Louise Penny mentioned it and 1984, also by Orwell, so much in the last Gamache book. I have read 1984, but not Animal Farm, and she used both to illustrate governmental lessons of significance. This is a dystopian tale of a farm where the animals take over, chase off the humans, and create their own society. Everything is peaceful at first, but as the pigs become more powerful (they are the only literate animals on the farm), the rules keep changing, the blame keeps shifting, and the enemies are always responsible. This was written as a dystopian story mocking governmentla overreach, and it is scary how many similarities you can find to today’s political climate. Now we use terms like propoganda and gaslighting, but in Animal Farm, it was the literate pigs changing the commandments of the group. I’m glad I read this.
• Drive Here and Devastate Me by Megan Falley – I bought this poetry book last summer, when Megan’s partner Andrea Gibson passed away after a long battle with cancer. Both Megan and Andrea are gifted poets, and known for their spoken word performances. I just watched the documentary about their love of life, each other and poetry, called Come See Me in the Good Light on Apple TV (must watch!). It was stunningly beautiful and simple and profound. Both of these people are gifted with words and their poetry is gorgeous.
• Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanaugh – I love this Eddie Flynn series! Eddie is a former con man turned lawyer, who will only defend innocent people.. In this story, he is defening Sofia against the charge of murdering her own father. Her sister Alexandra, is also on trial for the same charge at the same time. We know that one of the sisteres committed the crime, but it seems like we will never figure out the truth. This was a fast-paced court drama that came to an explosive conclusion!
• Journey to Topaz by Yoshiko Uchida – While visiting a 6th grade class with a group of principals, we saw students just beginning to read this middle grade novel. Once one of my principal colleagues told me what it was about, I knew I needed to read it. This beautiful little book tells the story of one Japanese-American family in California and what happened to them, here in the U.S., right after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The father was immediately arrested and interned in Montana, while his family was forced to remain at home with no contact with anyone. Then they were relocated not once, but twice, until they, and all other Japanese families, were taken out of California. It’s a devastating part of American history that is a blib, if even mentioned in some history books. Told from a young girl’s eyes, it’s sweet and innocent and still hard to believe. This is an important story for more Americans to know and understand.
• Sold on a Monday by Kristin McMorris – For some unknown reason, I have owned this e-book on my Kindle for years. I finally got around to reading it and it was a delightful historical fiction story. Set in the Depression era, a young journalist takes a photo of two children with a “children for sale” sign in front of them and stumbles into quite an adventure. The reporter, Ellis, is fighting for his own bylines, while a work friend, Lily, is doing the same but as a woman in a male-dominated field. Both Ellis and Lily have their own secrets that drive them towards success, but they come together to help children in need in this story. It was sad, sweet, fun, and depressing, and I enjoyed it all.
• The Last Beekeeper by Pablo Cartaya [audiobook] – I found this middle grades story through my library, and was so happy to read yet another Climate Fiction story that takes place in the near future. In this traumatic story, humans have killed most living creatures and are trying to make technology the only thing of value for communication and survival. One young girl, Yolanda, is a gifted coder who uncovers family secrets related to the last known bee colony. Soon Yolanda and her friends are on a quest to save humanity from the evil taking over their world.
• The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards – This book takes place in a very tense dinner party, with flashbacks to a summer in 1999 when all of the dinner party guests lived and worked together on a dating app start-up. We are in the beautiful home of rich Georgina and Theo, and Will, Sophie, and the others are not sure what this reunion is all about. Quickly we learn that everyone has some secrets, some held since that summer in 1999. As bad things happen, we learn that each of these characters is less likeable than we thought. Without giving anything away, I enjoyed the fast-paced action, the twists, and the ending!