Unsayable by Michael Cunningham

   

Part memoir, part love letter to language and part advice, Unsayable is a gift from beloved author and professor, Michael Cunningham. The book reads as if we are being told a fascinating story, with life advice, while respecting the magic and process of writing. I especially related to his description of the demons all writers face. Particularly the acknowledgment that as we write stories, the world around us goes on, and that terrible things are happening to people. Writer’s guilt is real, and it is encouraging that someone who’s contributed so brilliantly to the realm of literature feels is too.

Unsayable was released July 21, 2026, by Random House. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

A Study in Sparkling by Jodi McAlister

   

I was intrigued with this book from the beginning. Fiona is such a likable character, and when her less than likable husband Matt informs her that he has another family across the country, and that his “wife” was expecting, and that he was leaving her and their three children, we can only hope that she finds a way to land on her feet.

Then we meet Satoshi, the younger owner of her favorite wine bar. Satoshi is amazing, and he is astonished to realize he is in love with Fiona. But he knows he has to be careful, and Fiona needs him to be her friend.

Then, if it couldn’t be better, we realize that Jonah, who we fell for in An Academic Affair is Fiona’s beloved brother, and his new wife, Sadie, is her best friend. They characters are wonderful, the romance excruciatingly careful and it makes for a wonderful story.

A Study in Sparkling will be released September 15, 2026, by Atria books. Thanks for this delightful read to NetGalley and the publisher, who sent me a review copy.

June Baby, by Shannon Garvey

   

Born the only child to a to a working-class family, Ruth is suddenly sent from her home by a father grieving his wife’s—her mother’s---horrible and long-awaited death from Cancer. Ruth has no direction—school is out and her mother is gone. They had been very close and now Ruth is alone on Block Island, a place her mother loved, but where Ruth has never been. She’s to stay with a woman her mother had known when she was seventeen, coincidentally Ruth’s age when she died.

Though she is grieving and afraid, Ruth goes to Dianna, a successful photographic artist, and serves as her intern. Dianna gives her a home, purpose and encourages Ruth’s own creativity. Even better, Dianna’s nephew Charlie comes to stay, and Ruth and Charlie become best friends.

But it is ten years later, and now Dianna has died. Ruth knows two things—she wants to stay on Block Island forever, and she’s in love with Charlie.

Grief is an overwhelming emotion in this book, and while it wants to be a meaningful summer read, it leaves the reader dreading every decision Ruth makes. The setting is wonderful—hard not to love the vacation atmosphere, and most of the characters are fun if a bit stereotypical. Ruth’s on again off again boy toy, Louis may be the steadiest of all the characters. Charlie’s new fiancée Natalie also seems a bit one dimensional. But they serve to lighten a book that seems to be wearing a shroud with little hope for recovery.

Garvey writes well, and I will look for something a little more hopeful in her future books. June Baby was published May 12, 2026, by Random House. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Encounters with Unexpected Animals by Bret Anthony Johnston

   

Bret Anthony Johnston encounters many strange animals in his thirteen story collection, Encounters with Unexpected Animals, but the one we gain empathy and insight to is the human one.  Set in primarily impoverished south Texas, the characters in this collection try to make connections—parents to children, children to parents, teenagers to each other.   

  My favorite was Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows About Horses, where Johnston creates not only a beautifully sad story, but takes the reader along to the joy of wild horses, and the way we all survive.  It’s a wonderful collection by a talented writer.  Encounters with Unexpected Animals was published on February 24, 2026, by Random House. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Beginning Middle End by Veria Luiselli

This is a lovely book about a novelist mother and her adolescent daughter living and traveling in Sicily. They have left an ex-husband and stepson/brother behind for a summer sojourn based at the Catania home of a well-to-do friend. The daughter is increasingly curious about the country, her ancestors and the customs of the people.  Together they explore the country, the dockyards and markets and spend time with classical literature, primarily Greek mythology.  It transitions into a road novel and meanders both the mother’s mind and recollections and the country.

   

The novel is quiet, with beautiful language and big ideas. It weaves in history, art and philosophy with special attention to migration, particularly their ancestors who left Europe for Latin America and returned.  It is not a story for plot driven readers, who may find it too slow. In trying to unfold this story in terms of the way one reads a novel, Luiselli creates a story that applies across the ages-- the story of starting over.  It will be released by Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor on July 28, 2026.

 

The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff

This is a well-paced novel that deals with the joys and heartbreaks of life. April and Leo meet at school, where they both care deeply about their students, especially the ones with challenges that mirror the ones each of them dealt with as students. April struggled with dyslexia and Leo was an immigrant boy abandoned by his own parents. Their love is the first conflagration of the novel, and the basis for so many others.

 

Notwithstanding, parenthood, especially of their second child, overwhelms them. April feels lost and unseen by her husband, and Leo feels abandoned, again. Especially when he walks in on his wife and her boss in unmistakable compromise.

Then their house burns to the ground.

The conflict between them ground this multi-point-of-view novel, rotating between the two of them and Aprils almost-too-good-to-be-true mother. April’s family has given Leo the family he never had, and their mutual love and respect makes the conflict between April and Leo even harder. Add a recent diagnosis of April’s father’s quickly advancing Alzheimer’s, and a reappearance of Leo’s family and the novel becomes a can’t put down read.

The Burning Side was released on May 19, 2026, by Simon and Shuster. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams

Lucy Cooper has returned to Winthrop Island after a twelve year absence and a changed life. She has lived with her mother, who loves having children and marries serially (four times!) in Paris, where she has been educated, married and had a child. Then she loses both her husband in Paris and her estranged father on Winthrop Island. As his only child, she returns to settle the estate and possibly collect an inheritance.

What she finds is a mess: her father’s obsession with rumored pirate treasure on their land has left the grand home in shambles, covered with documents, research materials and maps. And a fair amount of dust, and a large amount of debt.

At the same time, Ben Ressler’s glorious career as an NFL player ends after an unfortunate fatal accident on the field, and he’s come to reside in the neighbor’s carriage house and lay low. The neighbor, Laura Peabody, was Lucy’s best friend, twelve years ago. Lucy’s involvement with Ben, and Laura’s Biggest Crush. So, they’ve lost touch, too.

Lucy’s dad has died under mysterious circumstances, and the pirate obsession is inherited by the precocious and utterly charming Elise, her 9-year-old daughter. The story unfolds from the point of view of Laura, Ben and an 18^th century diary of one of Laura’s ancestors. Yes, there is a pirate. Yes, there was treasure. And there are still people who would do anything to find it.

 

When You Loved Me is both a mystery and a lovely romance. Each character is sculpted by a master of the art, and I hated when the book ended. It is published by Ballantine Books and will be released on June 23, 2026. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

More Than Enough by Anna Quindlan

   

More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen

Polly’s book club adores her and had her best interests in mind when they gave her a DNA test kit. Polly and her wonderful veterinarian husband, Mark, have been trying everything they can to get pregnant, including expensive IVF treatments, and have failed.

Polly always knew she was adopted but was shocked to learn that she actually had close relatives. The results lead Polly to discoveries she could never have predicted and bring her closer to her friends and family than ever.

Anna Quindlen writes warm, wonderful characters that are so much like the ones we know, or want to know, that we want to call them up and talk about the book. More Than Enough was published by Random House February 24, 2026. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

 

 

Chasing the Clouds Away by Debbie Macomber

Maisy is a cheerful girl from Seattle who has seen very little of the world and lives with her precious grandmother. She’s just completed a long-anticipated visit to her best friend Laura in Chicago. She’s treated to a business class seat for her flight home.

Chase Furst, grumpy, heir to a Chicago banking empire whose father is ready for him to settle down with the “right kind of girl” is on the same flight to Seattle where he has to make arrangements to bury his estranged mother.

 

Their meet-cute finds Maisy comforting her friend who works concessions in the airport, while an annoyed Chase waits to buy a newspaper before the flight. He threatens poor Laura with a report to her supervisor. Laura is a single mother who needs the job.

Of course, they meet again in Seattle and Chase has no choice but to recognize another world view when Maisy attends his own mother’s funeral, (he did not) learning things about which he has no clue. Sparks fly and the relationship will satisfy the devoted readers of romance that Macomber has been pleasing for years. Chasing the Clouds Away was published by Random House/Ballantine and on sale April 28, 2026. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

Rainy March isn’t like every other book-o-phile in the world. She’s and actual book witch, whose purpose in life is to preserve books attacked by “burners” …people or organizations who would toss literature into a fire so that the effect is has on the world is lost. Burners are the bad guys, and Book witches are the calvary, saving works from evil.

But along with the magic they are granted, Book witches must play by the rules. They are “real” and the people…characters…they save are fictional, and ne’er the twain shall comingle.

Which is a problem when Rainy finally meets her own book Crush, The Duke of Chicago, and he responds to her with fervor!

The Book Witch is a delightful fantasy, simple in structure with a message about the values of books and fiction for everyone who ever opened a cover and fell into another world. Meg Shaffer has just the right voice to lend authenticity and depth to the story, and it was an easy, quick read. The book is published by Random House/Ballantine and was released April 7, 2026. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

 

Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves

Travis has an unusual job.  Outwardly, he’s an unassuming, attractive young man. He’s quiet and keeps to himself. He moves around often, and travels light, carrying with him only the photographs he spends his spare time restoring.  But he is Death, or the human incarnation of the process of Death. He is the one with the dying in their last moments, and he makes the crossing over, whatever that is, easier.

            Sometimes, it is a good job, for the people who are ready, who’ve been left alone or in pain. For others, it’s tragedy, leaving life too young, too unfinished, or too heartbreaking.  These are the ones who stay with Travis, and usually he’s able to separate his emotion from what he knows is vital work.

            Then he meets Dalia, and her young daughters and gets a taste of what “life” is about.

            This is a beautiful book.  It is told from Travis’s point of view, but we meet all sorts of people in their final moments, and even some whose time isn’t yet, but who wish it was. Sometimes, it gets a little slow, but I’d encourage the reader to linger there. Don’t try to zip through this book in one setting. We get to see the world not as an idealized fairy tale, but in all its messy human glory, from the grease of takeaway to the cold scent of dew from unseen grass.  Any book written “by” Death is bound to cause reflection in the reader, but this one goes further…it asks us to imagine our own final moments, and if we were allowed to go back, how would we wish to spend a few minutes reliving one thing. It broke my heart, made me cry and made me see the world around me in a new light. That’s an awful lot to get from one book.   

            This author goes on my must-read list, especially when I want more than simple entertainment. Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt will be released July 7, 2026, by Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.