The Fallen

 The Fallen: The Lost Girls of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries and a Legacy of Silence by Louise Brangan, 368 pages.

The Magdalene Laundries were the last stop for so-called "fallen" women in 20th century Ireland. Any number of things could get a woman committed to a Magdalene Laundry; the most common in the public imagination was becoming pregnant out of wedlock, but in practice many women were committed for cutting school too much, wearing skirts that were too short, aging out of state institutions, or just generally being too "high-spirited." Once a woman entered the laundry they were forced to do hard industrial labor for no wages under conditions that were intensely emotionally abusive, and was not allowed to leave until someone came to claim her or the nuns felt she was reformed. For many of these women, forgotten and hidden away, that time never came. And the Laundries were only one part of Ireland's carcel system, which even as it boasted about its low prison population held around 1% of its population institutionalized. 

After independence, Ireland started on the endeavor of nation building, and hung much of its modern national identity on the purity of its people, and especially its women and girls. This fear that girls could cause the corruption of the nation led to a culture of shame and silence, and droves of young women immigrating or being institutionalized. Brangan does and excellent job tracing not only the full history of the laundries, but also their context in both the past and present. She delves into a history of injustice  that had been intentionally repressed, and attempts to create a more complete record of the truth.

This is, overall, a very approachable work of nonfiction. It highlights several girls who spent time in the laundries through the decades, and uses this human element for both primary source material and a narrative that is easy to digest. Her dedication to context also means that the reader does not need much knowledge of Irish history at all to understand the information being presented. My only major complaint is that Brangan is often not very clear about when events are happening. She will transpose the stories of girls who were in the laundries decades apart on the same page, sometimes making it difficult to trace the evolution of the institution. That being said, I do consider this a very solid history of the Magdalene Laundries, and would recommend it for people interested in Irish history, or women's history.

This book will be published 5/5/2026. 

Stay for a Spell

 Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe, 384 pages.

Princess Tanadelle is a working princess, spending most of her year on the road cutting ribbons, kissing babies, attending formal dinners, and so forth. The only upside to this unsettled lifestyle is that is gives her plenty of time to read, but when shopping for books to feed this habit in an unbelievably picturesque little town, she instead get cursed to be unable to leave the bookshop until she has unlocked her heart's desire. She is eager to make the most of it as Tandy, humble shopkeep, while her parents are determined to break her curse the traditional way, by sending every available prince to kiss her. But Tandy feels more content in her bookshop, with the people she's coming to know, then she ever has in her royal duties, and she can't help but wonder if her heart's desire is closer than she thinks.

In a purely complimentary way, I don't know if I've ever read a book that was more purely wish fulfillment. What if instead of doing your boring duties you literally can't leave a bookstore? One complete with beautiful old books, comfy but pretty clothes, a magical cat, a lovely garden, and an extremely handsome pirate who won't stop bothering you? In addition to the general coziness of this premise, I thought this book was more generally very well done. Tandy's arc felt emotionally compelling, and I really liked how the princes gave a sense of external progression, in addition to allowing characters to be added slowly and in an easy to process way. Coombe also consistently chose narrative options that I found the most satisfying, which is perhaps praise specific to me, but did help push this book over to 5 stars for me. I highly recommend this as the new ultimate in cozy fantasy.

This book will be published 04/14/2026. 

Her Last Breath

 

Her Last Breath by Taylor Adams (2026), 323 pages

There have been some mixed reviews of this book, but I enjoyed it. I was looking for a suspenseful, twisty thriller and this is it. Yes, there are some predictable parts. But, honestly, if you read enough thrillers, there are always some predictable parts.  I am not sure that last time I read a completely out of the blue surprise ending. So I am going to give this one some grace.

The book follows two friends as they embark on a caving adventure. A stranger follows them down and things get intense and dangerous. Secrets come out. I listened to the audiobook (the narrator does a fantastic job) and spent most of the time trying not to hyperventilate from claustrophobia. Obviously, I wasn't there, but the author does such a great job describing the cave, you can feel the walls closing in. I 100% do not want to go caving after reading this book. 

History Lessons

 History Lessons by Zoe B. Wallbrook (2025), 373 pages.

After reading Annie's review, I thought I would check this out. Overall, I really enjoyed the cozy mystery and insight into higher academia. My only (very slight) gripe is that Daphne is almost too worldly with too much of an interesting family background to be relatable. Although - it does serve her well in detecting. 

Everything Is Probably Fine

 

Everything Is Probably Fine by Julia London (2025) 352 pages

Lorna is in her early forties, practically alone in the world since her mother and grandmother died and her father and her sister live in Florida. Her sister Kristen has been an addict since a very young age, and her addiction has cost the family in many ways: their parents' marriage, their home, their finances, their friends, their peace. 

Lorna is an excellent saleperson in a software company, but the team she leads does not like her because she drives them too hard and is unkind. Her only advocate in the company is Deb, who says that Lorna must take an immediate leave of absence to attend a wellness program over the course of the next thirty days, in order to deal with her anger and her life in general. Lorna resists, but it's the only way to keep her job.

The novel follows Lorna's path, including lookbacks on her life and her sister's addiction. The issues are presented realistically, along with the fits and starts by which Lorna works on her life, including an apology tour, as well as her attempt to add people to her life.

Giovanni's Room

 Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (1956) 192 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Libby narrated by Matt Bomer. It included an Introduction by poet Kevin Young that provided a lot of context. In a not-quite chronological narrative we meet David, a white American, having a "gap year" in Paris. There are conventional expectations back home and he is engaged to a young woman, but she is spending time away from him in Spain. David has a passionate affair with Giovanni, an Italian working in a bar in Paris. The two young men become roommates, but through self-denial and homophobia, David cannot admit that he is gay. When his fiancé joins him some sexist views come to light and a murder adds tension to the situation. The mysteries of the human heart are brilliantly explored by Baldwin.  

March Totals

 Wow! A fabulous reading month for UCPL, as we blow last years best month out of the water by a whole 10 books! Without further ado: the March totals.

Annie: 4 books, 1011 pages

Byron: 4 books, 1332 pages

Chani: 3 books, 967 pages

Jan: 5 books, 1731 pages

John: 2 books, 740 pages

Kara: 29 books, 10207 pages

Kevin: 2 books, 656 pages

Regan: 10 books, 3343 pages

Tracey: 10 pages, 3174 pages

Totals: 69 books and 23,161 pages

The Correspondent

The Correspondent (2025) by Virginia Evans, 285 pgs.

Sybil is retired, but her days are far from empty. She spends some time each day exchanging correspondence with people who have impacted her life. She writes to authors whose books she has enjoyed. She composes emails to customer service representatives and college deans. She writes to her brother, to her best friend, to her children, to people she has mentored and people she has hurt. She does not write to her ex-husband, but she hears about how he is doing--how he is coping with his cancer diagnosis. Sybil learns about the lives of others and tells about her own life, but there is often something missing, something left unsent. Piecing together the life of Sybil Van Antwerp through her correspondence, seeing her growth from letter to letter and rooting for her from afar, one gets the sense of the fullness of her experience. Her connections to others not only define her existence but also enhance it. In the end, it is clear that Sybil has impacted many lives herself. 

My mom recommended this to me as her favorite read of 2025, and I have to echo her endorsement. This book deals with a lot of heavy topics--aging, death, loneliness, grief--but it is also full of hope and love. Sybil is such a fun character to follow because she is deeply flawed from the start, but there is something endearing about the way she reaches out for connection and (for the most part) thoughtfully communicates with others. I also found myself becoming invested in the storylines of folks that Sybil wrote to. Virginia Evans did a great job writing this book full of love and empathy, especially for folks coping with the grief of aging. Please read this book :)

Bookhunter

Bookhunter by Jason Shiga (2007), 144 pgs.

Oakland Public Library, 1973. The crime: impossible. A refence book, "for in-library use only", has been stolen and replaced with a near-perfect fake. Who had the know-how to make this switch? How was the thief able to get the reference copy out past the alarmed sensors? The library police are the only ones with the literary vernacular and the guts to solve this tricky case before it's too late. The stakes are high; the books are bound; and the criminal is going down.

Any library nerd will love this graphic novel. There is an overdramatized police procedural plot regarding a missing library book, a car chase complete with someone hanging off the back of the car, 1970s technology...what's not to love?! The art style is very different, colored in shades of brown and gray (library theme I assume), and looks a little silly, but it is clearly meant to emphasize the absurdity of it all. It is a fun and quick read for anyone nerdy enough to wade through the old technology references. 

Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls by Gin Phillips, 336 pages

In 1928, a man got lost in the caves outside Chattanooga and found a gorgeous underground waterfall he named Ruby Falls after his wife. Within months, the falls had become a tourist attraction, though Ruby's friend Ada Smith found herself sneaking into the caves to explore beyond the official tour route. Soon, Ada got to know the caves better than almost anyone, which is why she was one of two people chosen to serve as a safety net for a psychic whose latest stunt is finding a hatpin in the caves by only reading the minds of the men chosen to hide it. While the stunt begins innocuously, it slowly unravels, as they pass the deadline to emerge from the caves and still haven't found the pin. Soon everyone is on each other's nerves, which reaches an apex when, after a brief rest, one of the men escorting the psychic is found dead. What was fun now becomes a race to escape the caves before the food, water, and light run out, and with a murderer in their midst.

I enjoyed reading this very claustrophobic book, as I love caves and all the spookiness that they bring. It was hard to tell if this was historical fiction, a mystery, or a thriller, as it certainly had bits and pieces of all three. But in the end, it doesn't really matter, as it was a fun read.