Category Archives: United States

The Emerson Circle: The Concord Radicals Who Reinvented the World by Bruce Nichols (2026)

22 Monday Jun 2026

Posted by in Biography, History, nature, Non-fiction, United States

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“How did a tiny Massachusetts town explode with such intellectual force—setting off a detonation that, only a decade or so later, would deliver the foundational works of American literature and upend American politics? Bruce Nichols offers the most lucid of answers in this vibrant account of our influential early disrupters.” —Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize–winning author 

“A striking group portrait . . . The charming and expansive result renders the contours of many lives with warmth and breadth, and paints a complete portrait of a man who once declared, ‘I am a fragment.’” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 
“Wars, a shipwreck, the Underground Railroad, loves, tensions, and above all a thirst to understand the world: this bold venture in group biography brings alive an extraordinary moment and a remarkable circle of people. And it makes the reader feel, as all good history writing does: I wish I had been alive then.” —Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight

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The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (2026)

13 Saturday Jun 2026

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“I always know I’m in steady hands when reading Elizabeth Strout, whether it’s a Lucy Barton book, or one from another of her multiverse. . . . Strout is consistent and satisfying: her writing is . . . always delightful, and illuminates the world in new, brighter colors with every book she writes.”—Literary Hub

“Let’s hope that this fine author continues steadily along her path, delivering unto her loyal readers story upon story, gift upon gift.”—The Guardian 

“Strout’s decision to start fresh feels like a promise: new characters to obsess over, new quiet devastations to survive. Here, a high school teacher’s seemingly settled life is upended by a long-kept secret. Strout will always make ordinary lives feel urgent. New territory just raises the stakes.”—Oprah Daily 

“Tantalizingly perceptive and compassionate . . . Strout fans will flock to her latest, thrilled to meet new characters in her always compelling fictional universe.”—Booklist, starred review 

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Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage  by Belle Burden (2026)

05 Friday Jun 2026

Posted by in Biography, memoir, Non-fiction, United States

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“Burden’s journey speaks to anyone broken by the unimaginable and courageous enough to forge a new beginning.”—Adrienne Brodeur, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Game

“In reclaiming her voice and story, Burden refuses to keep the silence and make the excuses as implicitly expected by society . . . and she remains charitable and gracious even when she does not have to be. A measured, empathetic, and modern response to an enraging callousness.”—Kirkus Reviews 

“In Strangers, Belle Burden writes with piercing honesty about what happens when the life you trusted vanishes overnight—and the deeper reckoning that follows when the story you’ve lived no longer holds. With astounding compassion, she asks us to examine life’s most perplexing questions alongside her: Can we see the invisible fault lines in a marriage or truly know the people closest to us? This is an unforgettable story not just of heartbreak, but of self-recognition—of the quiet courage of learning to live in your own truth.”—Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone 

“Reads like a love story and a horror story and, in one nail-biting section, like a financial thriller.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)​​

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The Gales of November : the Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon (2025)

27 Monday Apr 2026

Posted by in History, Non-fiction, suspense, United States

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May 14, 2026 @  2 pm Selection for the Weston Public Library Non-Fiction Reading Group.

On November 10, 1975, during one of the fiercest storms ever to hit the Great Lakes, the massive freighter Edmund Fitzgerald vanished beneath the waves of Lake Superior, taking all twenty-nine crew members with her.  You may recall the Gordon Lightfoot popular 1975 song The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald.

“An absorbing Perfect Storm-esque literary narrative.”― Christopher Borelli, Chicago Tribune

“John Bacon has done it again! This is another riveting narrative that puts facts on a still mesmerizing legend. But this is more than getting the details right. Bacon has distilled the essence of the story and rendered a huge monument to those lost and a great gift to the rest of us.”― Ken Burns, filmmaker

“An exciting and heartbreaking narrative that relies heavily on interviews with relatives and friends of the 29 lost Edmund Fitzgerald crew members…. A lifelong Michigander, Bacon beautifully describes the gritty world of the Iron Range ore-mining districts and the Great Lakes ship­ping industry. His writing is most absorbing when he recreates the lives of the 29 victims, from the admired captain to the newest rookie. But the tour de force is his gripping hour-by-hour narrative of the wreck, enriched by inter­views with men who had served previously on the Fitzgerald – or were on other ships in the same horrendous storm…. A definitive accounting that may be the last book that can draw on direct contemporary observations of this colossal tragedy.”― Bookpage, starred review

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My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney (2026)

13 Monday Apr 2026

Posted by in Drama, Fiction, suspense, thriller, United States

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There were a lot of twists and turns in this one and I didn’t see the surprises coming. 

“A straight-up mystery-thriller―there’s no alternate dimensions or woo-woo involved. Just nuclear-grade deception.” ―Goodreads (Most Anticipated)

“My Husband’s Wife is propulsive, compulsive, addictive and everything else you could possibly want a psychological thriller to be. I read it in under a day, breathlessly, with wide eyes, and in awe of a writer at the top of their game.”―Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Let Him In

“Feeney delivers another gripping psychological thriller enhanced by an immersive, sound-rich

listening experience. . . These vivid soundscapes don’t just enhance the atmosphere―they transform the listening experience into something truly cinematic and unforgettable. Readers of twisty psychological fiction by such as Freida McFadden, Riley Sager, Ruth Ware, and Lisa Jewell will rush to listen.”―Booklist, audio (starred review)

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Good People by Patmeena Sabit (2026)

06 Monday Apr 2026

Posted by in Fiction, murder, murder and investigation, mystery, suspense, United States

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I thought the author did a really good job of showing the court of public opinion. I liked how she keeps the reader off balance depending on which character is speaking.

“A triumphant debut! With the sophistication and assurance of a seasoned writer, Patmeena Sabit has crafted a prescient East-West story as only a third culture talent could have.

The plot: masterful. The writing: beguiling. The pacing: breakneck. The possibility I will read this again and again: absolute. I can’t wait to read what Sabit will create next!”—Alka Joshi, author of The Henna Artist and the Jaipur Trilogy

“Sabit’s first novel masterfully dissects the glittering facade of the American Dream . . . This all unfolds like a binge-worthy true-crime podcast . . . At once heartbreaking and hypnotic, Sabit’s is a novel that demands to be devoured.”—Booklist, starred review

“One of those novels where you know right away that a mysterious, unspeakable something has happened, and you are simultaneously terrified and desperate to get the details. . . . This skillful debut is both a bated-breath thriller and a richly atmospheric portrait of an immigrant community.”—Oprah Daily

“With startling empathy for all sides, Patmeena Sabit plumbs the fault lines of honor, truth, prejudice, and how identity shapes guilt in the aftermath of tragedy. What a spectacular triumph this book is.”—Khaled Hosseini

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Paper Girl : a Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America by Beth Macy (2025)

30 Monday Mar 2026

Posted by in Biography, History, memoir, Non-fiction, United States

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“Want to know why America is fractured? Read Paper Girl, an indispensable account of how things got so ugly here. Beth Macy grew up poor, with an alcoholic dad, in Urbana, Ohio, yet through education she made the jump to the middle class. Returning to her homeplace, she probes the factors that make a move like hers almost unimaginable for the kids who sit in the same classrooms as she did. Heartfelt, intimate and enraging, it is more than a memoir; it’s a manifesto.” —Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Memorial Days

“A slew of books have attempted to reckon with the growing divide between urban and rural populations in the United States. Few do so as deftly as Beth Macy’s new book, Paper Girl . . . [Macy] toggles between personal narrative, history, and reportage to weave together a surprisingly moving account of how politics can rupture the personal . . . a cogent and thrilling story.” —The New Yorker

“How do you reach com­mon ground with those who want to burn it all down? Macy plants a hopeful stake in the vampiric heart of collective fear and apathy. Both wide-ranging and strikingly intimate, Paper Girl is an affirmation of faith in human­ity, and Macy lights the way ahead, even as the darkness stretched before us threatens to swallow our conviction.” —BookPage (starred review)


“Journalist and Dopesick author Macy poignantly interweaves her personal history with that of her decaying hometown in this perceptive account . . . Timely, clear-eyed, and empathetic, her insights provide a welcome salve for a festering social wound.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy

13 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Fiction, Humor, murder, United States

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My good reader friend from Colorado just put down this book and called me up to rave about this title. Surprisingly I hadn’t heard of it, nor was it in the Minuteman system anywhere! If you liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime years ago, this character also is trying to do the right thing but struggles with the limited pieces of this modern world as best he can with often very humorous outcomes. Minuteman now owns copies.

“I can’t rave enough about this novel. The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is simply magical, a heart-wrenching, unconventional tale that moved me from laughter to tears. Denny is a true original, an authentically portrayed protagonist who leaps off the page. His story is irresistible. I want to know him. I want to be his friend. And even though the feel-good ending was perfect, I didn’t want his story to end.” ―Patricia Wood, PhD in disability studies, author of Lottery

“Original, deftly crafted, and told with author Holly Kennedy’s distinctive and narrative driven storytelling style…Unreservedly recommended.” ―Midwest Book Review

“The Sideways Life of Denny Voss will be a modern classic. Kennedy’s Denny is not idealized. Instead, he is fully revealed, with a clarity not seen in the pages of a novel since Carson McCullers wrote The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. His story is a meditation on justice, bigotry, gun violence, and equity. Read it, perhaps as I did, all night, in one sitting, then look deep into your own community―and into your own heart.” ―Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean

“The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is a coming-of-age story that ticks all my boxes. Beautifully written, authentic characters that will tug at your heart, and the kind of story that will keep you turning the pages long after lights out. It’s the best novel I’ve read in a very long time. Don’t miss this one!” ―Lesley Kagen, New York Times bestselling author of Whistling in the Dark and Every Now and Then

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Making the best of what’s left: when we’re too old to get the chairs reupholstered (2025) by Judith Viorst

30 Friday Jan 2026

Posted by in Humor, meaning of life, Non-fiction, United States

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Author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Viorst has written books bringing us wisdom with humor for every decade of her life.  Now she is in her nineties!

“The great humorist, poet, and observer of life passages turns her attention to the ‘Final Fifth’ of life. . . . We should all be in such fine form in our 10th decade. Viorst is as charming, and smart, as ever.” ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Judith Viorst has chronicled our century with wit, wisdom and an unflinching eye for the agonies and absurdities of ordinary family life. Now in her nineties, and in the shadow of her husband’s recent death, she offers an exhilarating meditation on final chapters: how to grasp the richness and grace that remains, even as much slips away.” — Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Memorial Days and March

“Writer and poet Viorst may be in what she calls the ‘Final Fifth of Life,’ but she’s every bit as witty and observant as she always was. . . . Readers of a similar age will be nodding along and be reminded to be grateful for the time they have left.” ― Booklist (starred review)

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Heart the Lover by Lily King (2025)

05 Monday Jan 2026

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This was such a delight to read and curl up with that I reread her earlier Lovers & Writers all over again!

“Might be her best book yet . . . It stands as one of the most emotionally devastating and soulfully wise novels I have ever read . . . Like all of King’s fiction, Heart The Lover is literary without pretension, emotional without maudlin sentimentality . . . heartrending, swoonily romantic, rigorously clear-sighted.”—Priscilla Gilman, Boston Globe

“[T]his affecting novel…questions whether a person can inhabit any moment other than the present.”—New Yorker

“King’s swoony story of love and literature, of paths taken and not taken, of the past selves we never truly leave behind, is quietly robust and nearly impossible to put down.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Intensely moving . . . The structure of Heart the Lover is so ingenious, its emotional charge so compelling . . . [A] great triangular love story . . . about screwing up, wising up, finding yourself and realizing what you may have lost in the process.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR

“[Y]oung and intense and foolishly stubborn, this love triangle takes a redemptive turn that feels grounded, believable and quite beautiful. Jordan is a wonderful protagonist—funny, despairing, self-deprecating, lonely and determined to write novels. This is a satisfying, emotionally rich tearjerker, a book that just may make you sob out loud.”—Bookpage (starred review)

“King is a genius at writing love stories . . . Her mostly sunny version of the campus novel is an enjoyable alternative to the current vogue for dark academia. Tragedies are on the way, though, as we know they must be, as nothing gold can stay and these darn fictional characters seem to make the same kinds of stupid mistakes that real people do. Tenderhearted readers will soak the pages of the last chapter with tears. That college love affair you never got over? Come wallow in this gorgeous version of it.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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