What I read & recommend: April 2025

The first half is all the books I read & recommend.

The second half are books I started reading / read but do not think highly enough of to recommend (although some I had to finish simply because I got too invested in what was happening and needed to know the ending).

No book links because I thoroughly encourage you to use a library or a local, independent bookseller and absolutely by all means possible, avoid Indigo/Chapters, and Amazon.

If you need one that delivers in Canada, I very much like McNally Robinson. They can order any book you like.

WHAT I RECOMMEND

On a quiet street: Seraphina Nova Glass

New author for me, and man did Glass deliver. The stories of the women, Paige who lost her son in a hit-and-run, and Cora who thinks her husband is cheating on her… woven into each other in this very small rural town, is so believable and deep. Her characters have context, back story, they aren’t fluffy cotton-candy like people that float into your mind and disappear. They imprint, and the way the mystery is solved is sort of brilliant. I like a bit of mystery mixed in with a mental thriller + drama.

One Night On the Island: Josie Silver

Totally unrealistic? Yes. Extremely readable? Also yes. I mean, it was a little dry at the start because my brain kept thinking – this plotline.. WTF? – but the characters were so well done, rich and deep that I had to ignore the plotline red flag and just keep reading. It is a girl who goes to marry herself (yes) for a magazine article she is writing, and ends up double booking at the same time of a photographer who is in the middle of a midlife crisis & family blowup of sorts. I am glad I did, it worked out in the end, although I am salty there is no satisfying epilogue, but it mimicked reality far better than I expected, considering my misgivings.

Ask Again, Yes: Mary Beth Keane

I am not sure I could read it again, but I don’t regret reading it, if that makes sense. The tragedy between two neighbouring families and how incredibly tricky and complicated human relationships (especially marriages and children are), is what made this Romeo + Juliet storyline so compelling. It is an incredible read, from the perspective of so many characters, and I love the way she deftly dealt with mental illness as well.

Say you’ll remember me: Abby Jimenez

Jimenez tends to never let down, and while this is not one of her best books in my opinion, I enjoyed it immensely. It is a classic boy meets girl, and then girl has to move away and they work through a complicated long distance relationship, where in the end they have to choose between what really matters in life to them. It is super realistic in terms of financial woes, but unrealistic in many instances (I don’t want to give it away, but no one works for free…)

Empresses of Seventh Avenue: Nancy MacDonnell

A non-fictional memoir of how American fashion was born, on the ashes of the grip that French fashion had on the world when WWII hit and they couldn’t dictate what was in season across the pond.

One by One: Frieda McFadden

A quick easy read. Another good mental thriller, I STILL DID NOT GET WHO DID IT again. I can never seem to nail it, and the twists and turns are always a page turner with McFadden. The plotline is a bunch of friends and their husbands/wives get together to go hiking in the woods in the middle of nowhere, only to realize someone is killing them off, one by one…

Such a good wife: Seraphina Nova Glass

Glass is like the deeper more complex writer in the same page turning vein (though less dramatic) as McFadden. I love them both equally. Glass also tends to deal more with domestic violence, so TW (trigger warnings) for all of you out there. I really find those parts hard to read, if I am frank, and it is a testament to her writing that I continue anyway. The plotline is an overworked mother who has an affair with someone only to regret it… like DEEPLY regret it.

A winter in New York: Josie Silver

A new author discovery for me, Silver delivered in this one. The plotline is a girl moving to New York City to rediscover her mother’s roots after her mother passed. She ends up in a charming 100+ year old gelateria (so stinkin’ cute), and is embroiled in a mystery that connects her past to theirs… A very good read. Full of realism. TW: Domestic abuse trauma, so be forewarned..

One day in December: Josie Silver

Girl sees boy. From a bus. Boy sees girl. And then in a weird twist of fate, their lives collide but not their love because they both meet someone else. I don’t want to give it away, but man, you think to yourself – YOU ARE SO CLOSE. YOU ARE ALMOST THERE.. OMG! – but the ending is always going to be sweet (you know what you sign up for when you start on these kinds of books)…

The Ten Thousand Doors of January: Alix E. Harrow

Think: Lion, Witch & The Wardrobe meets Harry Potter meets a tragic love story and a family torn apart. That is the best way to describe it, and every page was incredible. I could not stop reading it, I really couldn’t get off the couch until I was done. I readwalked!! It also dealt very nicely with racism in there, stereotypes and I applaud the author.

The Edge of Falling: Rebecca Serle

I finished this book and needed a break. Trigger warning: Loss of a sibling – this one really hit me hard because I can just empathize and picture the deep immense hole of grief that will never grow over for the rest of their lives (fictional or not, it FEELS real!), and trying to cope with such loss.. I don’t think I can read this one ever again, but I am glad I did.

Someone’s Listening: Seraphina Nova Glass

A psychologist is being stalked, and her husband disappears.. who did it? A great mystery, mental thriller.. I sort of had a 75% feeling that I knew who was the culprit, but I could not figure out WHO it was even though she did breadcrumb the answer throughout the chapters. A very good read. TW: Domestic violence. As always, her books deal with a lot of domestic violence and this one is no exception even if it isn’t the focus of the main book itself.

The Price of Inheritance: Karin Tanabe

Another new author for me, Tanabe managed to bring me into her privileged art world where a young and poor (but formerly rich and her family is well-known in the blueblood circles) Christie’s authenticator is swept up in a mystery, then a scandal and has to flee back to Newport to figure out what to do next. A great mystery. I do have a bone to pick with the book’s accuracy however because Israhell wasn’t invented until 1948. Just saying.

Nothing ever happens here: Seraphina Nova Glass

This book from Glass was a little more lighthearted because it had senior citizens helping figure out a mystery, which I LOVED. MORE OF THIS PLEASE. Their characters were so lovable and quirky, and trying to figure out what happened to a missing husband and who is trying to ruin a woman’s life…? I had no idea who did it until the end, but it was truly excellent.

Big Mall: Kate Black

If you like reading about malls, the history of malls and particularly the West Edmonton Mall (it is like a mini city), then this book is for you. I found the writing a bit dry, but it was interesting nonetheless.

In Five Years: Rebecca Serle

Another sort of time-traveling book. It is about a high-powered lawyer who has the literal perfect life that she had planned from birth. Then she wakes up and it is with some other guy completely…. I rather liked it. It was interesting to see where it all went and how it ended up exactly where she did not think she would have ended up, based on her 5-year plans..

The Vanishing Hour: Seraphina Nova Glass

This is a mystery book about an old man and four young women who go missing in a small town, and somehow a few of the key townspeople are involved either directly or indirectly. A brilliant mystery, much more deep and complex than other mental thriller books, and with a satisfying ending to boot. I loved reading each chapter and unveiling the next piece of truth.

The Gift: Frieda McFadden

A very short story, a quick read about a woman who makes an exchange for a Christmas gift to her husband… I can’t say any more as it will spoil the book, but it was a good read and very predictable because by the first chapter I knew what the game was. Still an enjoyable, fast read.

Ward D: Frieda McFadden

Being locked in a psych ward at night, playing a deranged game where one of them could be a serial killer. It was an excellent mental thriller right until the end, but it made me uneasy obviously, because I would most definitely not be the one who would want to be locked in a psych ward all night. It screwed with my head for sure. I also sort of guessed what happened….. it was a bit obvious from the start because I am getting used to the way McFadden writes. Still a good read.

Brain Damage: Frieda McFadden

This one was particularly interesting because it was in a sort of different vein than her other books, a patient who suffers brain damage and is slowly recovering her memories of how she ended up with her husband and what went wrong in her life. A good read for sure, but it was clear who was the villain from the start.

Want more book recommendations?

All of my previous book recommendations are here.

DO NOT READ

This TikTok viral sensation *insert eyeroll*.

The book itself wasn’t that bad, it was a mediocre read, but it was more that the protaganist was just so damn wishy-washy and (to me), and did not feel like a strong character at all. I clearly gravitate towards strong female characters, so this one just put me off.

It was okay. Mediocre at best. Read it if you want fluff with no substance and to be annoyed at the main character.