Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

 

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan, 112 pages  

Is there anything so delightful as revising a book you loved as a child?! The surprising details that have stayed in the back of your memory somewhere, the charming little things you didn’t notice at a different point in your life, the surprise when you find yourself identifying with the adults in the story...what’s not to love? I had read this one several times, and certainly long after it was an academic challenge, just because it was so darn good.

This is the story of a father and two children in a setting that I took to be 1880’s Kansas, but was surprised on this read to find it is actually a little more vague. A widower places a personal ad in the newspaper, and his two children eagerly await an answer. A response comes from the titular Sarah from the exotic land of Maine. Sarah arrives to spend a month the family before deciding if she’ll marry the widower and stay forever. Behaving as no actual children ever have, the kiddos strive to impress Sarah both because they want so much to have a stepmother and because they come to love her as an individual. They enjoy a sampling of prairie-life experiences, and hear how different things are in Maine. It’s difficult to call this a spoiler because the book is 45 years old, and because it’s a predictable book: Sarah decides to join the family!  

Of course this is one of many White People on the Great Plains type of books, that don’t offer a variety of experiences, but did lack the more overt insensitivity of the Little House books (which you’d expect from 1980s and 1930s books, respectively). It did get a little monotonous that Sarah responds to everything with “in Maine, we do xyz instead!” Girl, we get it, you’re from Maine! Otherwise, a fun little one-sitting read. 

We Came, We Saw, We Left: A Family Gap Year by Charles Wheelan

 

We Came, We Saw, We Left: A Family Gap Year by Charles Wheelan, 269 pages

 

This is a memoir of two parents and their three teenagers that take a gap year and travel together around South America, New Zealand and Australia, Asia and Africa. This was among the best lighthearted travel writing that I’ve encountered!   I have my own theories on why most travel writing is mediocre at best, and why there is so much of it, which I will spare you here.  WCWSWL is the exception! This book is a fun escape not only in that you get to go along on the travel adventure but also feel a part of a fun- but not too perfect- family. I laughed out loud many times (especially at the antics of the teens) and actively looked forward to my bedtime reading throughout the day.   While I got the impressions that the Wheelan’s are thoughtful people that sought to understand the social issues that the inhabitants of their destinations were facing, it wasn’t a particularly informative book that sought to be life-changing at its heart. There’s plenty of profound travel writing out there, but this one was delightful just telling a fun story that took me on the cheapest kind of vacation.

Americus

 Americus by M.K. Reed with art by Jonathan Hill (2011) 216 pages

Americus is small town America. Published by First Second back in 2011. That year the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded 326 book ban challenges. In 2025 there were over 4,000 titles challenged. I found this book on BookRiot's recent list "Fighting Oppression: 5 Graphic Novels About Book Banning." The main character, Neil, is starting high school in Americus. Following a somewhat sheltered youth with his divorced mom, he is a budding punk music fan who thinks a lot of his small town and high school is stupid. He is a big fan of a popular fantasy book series and becomes a page at the local public library. His best friend's mom launches a Christian crusade against these fantasy books. The book ban is the main crisis of the plot, but I really enjoyed this book because of the people surrounding Neil. His mom as compared to the other moms, their neighbor, his friendship with the teen librarian, his best friend (sent to a military school), and other outcast kids at school, build a recognizable world.

Margo's Got Money Problems

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (2024), 294 pgs. 

Margo was a student, living in an apartment with three roommates and working as a server to make ends meet. She was nowhere near rich, but she was comfortable. Then, Margo got pregnant, and her whole life flipped upside down. Now, Margo's got money troubles. Diapers, doctors appointments, baby food, rent--all these costs certainly add up quickly, and after losing her job and her roommates, they are getting harder and harder to keep up with. Perhaps Margo didn't fully comprehend what she was getting herself into, starting this whole motherhood thing. After trying a few different plans and realizing that the system is not set up to support young single parents, Margo starts an experimental account on OnlyFans. Seeing how her father has made money by building a fanbase as his wrestling persona, she wonders if she can create an online character for herself to make enough money to support her son. 

This is a complicated, interesting book. It leaves you with a lot to think about in terms of the broken system of childcare in this country; sex work vs. other jobs in entertainment and the sticky morality of it all; and what it means to be a "good" mother. Margo is as real of a character as one can write. She is deeply flawed, naive at times, and lonely as well. She fights with her mom and seeks approval from her dad and wonders if she is doing enough for her son. Rufi Thorpe did a wonderful job writing this story and keeping me hooked, then leaving me with so much to consider. Highly recommend with a slight warning for motifs of sex work and addiction

A Chance to Harmonize

A Chance to Harmonize: How FDR's Hidden Music Unit South to Save America from the Great Depression--One Song at a Time, by Sheryl Kaskowitz, 272 pgs. © 2024

This was an fascinating read. As part of FDR's New Deal, a special agency is created to help bring the arts to resettlement towns, which are towns and encampments meant to transition destitute farmers and migrants during the great depression into planned communities. This was a huge agency that's main goal was to boost morale of Americans through the arts, specifically music--the music unit within the Resettlement Agency was even led by Charles Seeger, father of banjo folk-hero Pete Seeger. The book focuses on two women who were a boon to the success of the program, doing the most work and receiving the least amount of credit. The women learn to use the latest in recording technology and travel to the different resettlement towns, recording the folk songs and music of the community, bringing joy and optimism during a very bleak period in American history--the 1930s music program  is credited with the renewed interest in folk music that took place in the 1950s.

The Bodyguard

 

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center (2022) 302 pages

When you think of a bodyguard, you may not visualize a five foot five inch woman, but that's what Hannah is. Her company has been hired to protect an especially popular and good-looking actor, Jack Stapleton, who has a stalker. When Jack needs to temporarily relocate to Texas to be near his mother, who has been diagnosed with cancer, Hannah is the primary bodyguard for Jack. Because Jack doesn't want his family to worry about his stalker, he insists that Hannah pose as his girlfriend, rather than as a more traditional type of bodyguard.

A few complications are that Hannah had been dating another bodyguard in her company, who has broken up with her (and right after her mother has died), but she still needs to work with him. Jack's complication is that one of his brothers - Drew - died in a car accident two years ago, and Jack's older brother Hank still blames Jack, because Jack was in the car with Drew. Jack survived, but Drew did not.

Hanging out with Jack and his family - not the standard operation for a bodyguard - is making Hannah appreciate the relationships within Jack's family (with the exception of Hank) even as she works to convince herself that Jack is acting, not really interested in her. I really enjoyed this page turner.

The Yahoo Boys: Love, Deception, and the Real Lives of Nigeria's Romance Scammers

The Yahoo Boys by Carlos Barragan (2026), 304 pages 

After his mom falls for a Nigerian romance scammer, Barragan (a Spanish journalist) goes to Lagos to better understand the lives of Yahoo Boys and what drives them to commit these frauds. This was a fascinating look into a world most westerner's do not fully understand. Barragan does a fantastic job of humanizing the scammer's and delving into the economic realities of life in Nigeria. He discusses Nigeria's long culture of deception and, particularly, it's involvement in internet schemes. We all remember the Nigerian Prince emails, but those morphed into celebrity dupes (his own mother believing she was corresponding with Brad Pitt) to outright romances and blackmail. Personally, I had no idea that bitcoin and gift cards played so heavily into these scenarios. Barragan also touches upon the loneliness epidemic that helps fuel the success of romance scammers and the affect it has on their targets. Finally, he discusses the Nigerian diaspora and how those living abroad are frustrated by the Yahoo Boys and the reputation they give all Nigerians. There is a lot to unpack in this book and I highly recommend you give it a read. It will have you thinking about for a long time. 

It Takes a Thief to Catch a Sunrise

 

It Takes a Thief to Catch a Sunrise by Rob J Hayes, 345 pages.

Jacques Revou and Isabel de Rosier have just pulled off a daring heist that should be enough to retire on in comfort. Until the king's Shadow Councilor shows up in their house and tells them that all of their accounts have been frozen and they'll work for him if they know what's good for them. So the nation's greatest con artists are soon embedded as nobility in a scheme they don't understand, completely surrounded by people they can't trust.

This was a bit mediocre for me, which is surprising with how much I enjoy a fantasy heist. Unfortunately, it felt like none of these characters were as clever as the book tried to convince me they were, and it didn't come together in a way that was particularly compelling, hindered by clunky writing. I will grant that the steampunk setting was interesting, and I liked how the alchemy played in. I still think I would recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora instead for someone looking for a fantasy heist. 

After Hours at Dooryard Books

After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian, 351 pages.

Taking in the stray his landlady brings him isn't anything new for Patrick, she did the same for him years ago and he's been trying to replay the kindness to the world ever since. Nathaniel is skittish, clearly a man running from something, but Patrick gives him a job in his new bookshop, and hopes a chance to rest will help him get past whatever he's running from. Soon the two men, along with Patrick's recently widowed best friend and her fresh baby, are forming their own community in a radical corner of 1968 New York, even as their pasts crowd in.

Unfortunately, I seem to be less impressed by each Cat Sebastian book I read. I really loved We Could Be So Good, but this book feels like it could use some structural edits. It is extremely slow, and it feels like we know virtually nothing about Nathaniel until his first perspective chapter well into the book. Overall, it feels like this book never really went anywhere, and it was slow getting there. I really liked the characters, but I think it would benefit a lot from some added plot. 

 

Love By the Book

Love By the Book by Jessica George (2026) 326 pages

Remy has written her first book, a best-seller based on a decade-long friendship with three other friends. Her agent is after her to get her next book underway, but Remy is suffering from writer's block, partly because her friends have gone different directions - one is expecting her first child and has moved outside London, one is making a move across the ocean to New York City, and the third has gone back to the boyfriend that the rest of them feel is not a good match for her. As Remy's finances tank, she makes a move back into her mother's home. But worse than the financial part, she is feeling a drought of friendship.

This book explores her attempts to nurture a relationship with Simone, who had gone to Remy's high school. Simone is smart, but prickly with regard to whom she gets close to. Simone's family, who had provided her with all the nurturing she needed, has walled her off because of a side job of Simone's that they learn about and disapprove of.

The friendship with the original group of four young women feels genuine, as does Remy's attempts to reach out to Simone. The novel has a few other storylines that add conflicts to make it even more real. Recommend.