May Totals

 

Annie: 4 books, 1059 pages

Byron: 10 books, 2486 pages

Jan: 3 books, 1030 pages

Kara: 8 books, 2494 pages

Kevin: 5 books, 1360 pages

Regan: 9 books, 3003 pages

Tracey: 8 books, 2804 pages 

Totals:  47 books and 14,236 pages

Lucky Day

Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle (2025) 228 pages

Vera just received her advanced degree in statistics and probability, and has gathered with her mother and her friends to celebrate at a restaurant when a low-probability event occurs. This may sound innocuous, but what occurred in Chicago, where they were, was a horrible series of disasters, which ended up killing and horribly injuring scads of people. Vera's mother and a good friend died. World-wide, almost 8 million people died on this one day.

Vera flees to her mother's home in Wisconsin and does very little besides lie on the couch for four years. One day a man knocks at her door, whom she ignores, but he walks in anyway, trying to get her, with her statistical knowledge, to help solve the problem with these low-probablity events, which are apparently ongoing, although not at the scale as that one day. The man, Special Agent Layne, indicates that a casino in Nevada, might be involved somehow. Vera is well aware of the casino's reputation and knew their stats.

What follows is their trip to Nevada to the casino and their quest to put an end to what is making these low-probability events continue. The story reminds me a bit of Grady Henderson's works, quick and action packed, with a bit of mental chess going on.

Boys in the Trees

 

Boys in the Trees by Carly Simon (2015) 376 pages

A deep dive into the life of Carly Simon reveals a non-idyllic life for a girl who felt that something was wrong with her because her father didn't like her, a girl who constantly compared herself to her beautiful older sisters. She indicates that she was sexually abused by a neighbor during the summers when her family would stay at their second home in Connecticut. She began to stutter, and felt ridiculed at school, but her mother suggested that she try to sing rather than say what she wanted to convey.

The Simon family also spent a few weeks per year on Martha's Vinyard, which is where Simon first met James Taylor when they were still young

The Simon family dynamics became quite strange when their mother moved a young man into their home, a college football player half her age who was intended to be a role model for Simon's younger brother Peter, but who apparently became their mother's lover. Simon wonders why her father didn't send the guy packing, comparing this issue to her own, when she and James Taylor were married and their relationship was stalled (or worse).

This memoir is filled with names; so many famous people get to know each other when recording with each other or opening shows for each other. It's a compelling read, and shows that in spite of Simon's early advantages regarding her family's resources, that doesn't mean that she was always in a place where she could enjoy storybook outcomes.

Our Cut of Salt

Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm, 288 pages.

When Nuhad was a girl, she was forced out of her ancestral home by massacre. She named her daughter Haifa, to never forget the home she would never see again. But her home remembers her too, and it's grief and rage has twisted it into something dangerous, the kind of house that people cross the street to avoid and the unwary disappear from. After her grandmother's death, Marina visits Palestine to try to connect with the family history that has been kept from, but Haifa has enough secrets and tragedies to drown in. 

This was a powerful book that wasn't at all what I expected it to be. Although marketed as a haunted house book, the murderous house is realistically one of the less disturbing things in this book. This book is not remotely subtle. Colonialism is frequently the true horror, but that is usually more subtext than laid out directly on the page. That being said, I don't know that this book needs to be subtle. Helm lays out the horrors of living under occupation unflinchingly, and while the unrelenting tragedy is sometimes hard to read, it is also emotionally effective. I would have liked to see the house used a little more effectively, and it wouldn't have hurt her to let at least a few metaphors go unexplained, but this is still definitely a very strong debut from an under-represented population. 

This book will be published September 22, 2026 

The Sirens' Call

 

The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource by Chris Hayes, 336 pages.

Hayes makes the argument that we live not in the Information Age, as many people claim, but rather in the Attention Age; as information is theoretically infinite, but attention is an increasingly scarce (and therefore valuable) resource. In the last couple of decades there has been a breakneck shift in the amount of attention extracted from pretty much everyone, a trend that is having a profound effect on human psyches, in a trajectory that is not remotely sustainable. 

Chris Hayes crafts a well-constructed argument, and he lays it out in a way that is easy to follow an entertaining. He pulls in quite a lot of sources, and does a good job examining problems from all angles. I listened to the audiobook, which was read by the author and was very well done. This felt a little surface level, but it is a bold claim well-supported, and it gave me a lot to think about.  

Nash Falls

Nash Falls (Walter Nash #1) by David Baldacci (2025), 438 pages

I am hit and miss with Baldacci books. I sporadically read them, so I don't consider myself to be a die-hard fan, but I do enjoy them on occasion. I am going to point out some big plot issues (to me), but weirdly, I still liked the book and will definitely read the next one in this two-part series. 

First issue is the age of Nash and that of his father. He continually notes that his father served in Vietnam, but Nash is only 40-41. Was his dad a super old dad? It felt like the timeline wasn't quite jiving with their ages. Maybe if Baldacci used the first Gulf War as the reference, it wouldn't have felt off. 

Second issue is Nash's wife. It feels like Baldacci isn't 100% sure what to do with her. She needs to be in the story, but feels secondary. Also - I don't know of any mother who is cool with her child disappearing and just accepting it. 

Third issue is that Nash spends a YEAR bulking up and preparing for his revenge. What dad waits a year before he looks for his kidnapped daughter?! This is crazy and such a distraction that it is hard to continue.  

I did continue, though, and am reluctantly invested into seeing how this all plays out. 

The Rolling Stones

 The Rolling Stones: The Biography, by Bob Spitz, 704 pgs. © 2026

It's an old question--Beatles or Stones? Not that anyone probably cares anymore, both groups have certainly aged out of creating anything new with any cultural significance. But Spitz's book makes a compelling case for the Stones as the greatest rock band in the world. At first, the band gave themselves that title but soon it started to stick and followed them wherever they went. This is a mighty tome filled with basically everything that happened to the group from their auspicious start to playing a sold-out in St. Louis in 2021 (I was there!), just after they lost drummer Charlie Watts to cancer. If nothing else, the Stones might just be the greatest band in the world because--unlike their contemporaries and sometimes nemeses, the Beatles--the Stones stuck together through it all--drugs, infidelity, bad shows, lost band members, more drugs, new band members, bad reviews, even more drugs, etc. It's insane the number of times Keith and Mick stood in front of a judge and faced the prospect of doing serious hard time for drug possession--and somehow got lucky each time and managed to sidestep prison in order to keep rockin'. While I appreciated Spitz's researched approach, he's clearly a superfan and there's little deep reflection here about many of the Stones' must challenging days. Sometimes it almost reads like a laundry list, with lots of events happening in quick succession--there's only one chapter devoted to the mysterious death of Brian Jones, for example. And only one covering the disaster at Altamont. And there's no mention of Chuck Berry decking Keith Richards during the filming of concert documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll. Still, this is a fantastic read for anyone interested in the overall life and times of one of the most iconic rock bands in human history. Recommended for adults. 

Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For

 

Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For by Leonie Swann (2026) 340 pages

Agnes Sharp, a retired policewoman, owns a house which she shares with other octogenarians. When one of them, Agnes's good friend Bernadette, decides to marry a former hitman, Agnes is upset that the household's composition will change when they move out. Later, when a note comes to Bernadette that indicates bad things will occur if the marriage happens, Agnes and the other household members keep it from Bernadette. They continue to plan the wedding. They spend an inordinate amount of time trying to add to the guest list to get to twenty, as required by the venue, including going online to find dates and paying some people to attend as well.

Meanwhile, when bad things DO start to happen, Agnes and her friends tamper with the evidence because they don't want Bernadette to worry. It feels like a Keystone Kops kind of scenario. One resident likes to pretend she's dead. She also has a snake and a turtle. (By the way, the reader is privvy to the animals' thoughts.) Another resident has a video channel. Agnes finds herself engaged to marry another resident, but is not sharing that information. These eighty-year-olds sometimes seem like children. The blurb on the book's cover indicates that readers of the Thursday Murder Club series (by Richard Osman) will find something to like: Not really. If I enjoyed slapstick, maybe. And the ending? Not at all what I foresaw. But maybe you'll like it?

Canto Volumes 1-5

Canto: If I Only Had a Heart by David M. Booher with art by Drew Zucker (2020) 152 pages 

This series is clearly inspired by The Wizard of Oz, which is why I picked it up. The artist is also bringing the style of Jim Henson's Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal to the visuals, which I honestly find a bit ugly. But hey, it's dark fantasy with a bit of steampunk. The writer has also borrowed some ingredients from Dante's levels in The Divine Comedy. There is a Tin Man, a lion-like creature, and an elfish Dorothy with a small pet dragon. There is an alternative Wizard conjuring fantastic, frightening, but false, sights. There is a quest on a yellow brick road to an emerald tower. There is the story of a traditional hero's journey that ironically leads to the villainous overlord in the tower. There is tons of action centered around our tiny hero Canto. The action and close-up detail frames are not as crisp and clear as I would like. Overall, I'm liking the writing, but not entirely loving the art.

Canto: The Hollow Men by Booher with art by Zucker (2021) 168 pages

I liked the introduction of a half mechanical witch that reminded me slightly of Mombi from Oz. I liked a little more character development for three of Canto's tin knight friends. Scarecrows appear and bat things stand in for winged monkeys, but they feel extraneous. The fight with the furies is exciting. Again the dark fantasy story and themes are enjoyable, while the art is of mixed quality.

Canto: Tales of the Unnamed World by Booher with art by various artists (2024) 128 pages

I liked this volume more overall. The giants are not my favorite characters from the first two volumes, but the first three issues of this book spin a fun quest in the giants' city of Brob. I like that the new artist brings more light to his panels. The second half of this book involves a storytelling challenge. I like the other artists who get to contribute their different styles. The Bard character who is blocking the bridge is a wonderful mix of the Patchwork Girl from Oz, the Cheshire Cat from Wonderland, and Anansi from West African folklore.

Canto: Lionhearted by Booher with art by Zucker (2024) 152 pages

This leads up to many double page battle scenes. I still think the art isn't as clear as it could be with so many tangled bodies and limbs making the action confusing. This book leans more into Dante's Divine Comedy and that is not as exciting for me. We do get a little backstory on a couple supporting characters.

Canto: A Place Like Home by Booher with art by Zucker (2025) 160 pages 

Nice wrap up of Canto's themes, loss and hope. Here's an inspirational quote from one page, "For our days that have passed! For our friends who are gone! For the hearts we possess! Our life is our own." The Shrouded Man is a threat right out of Dante's Inferno. Aulaura the elf's home life brings good emotional beats to the story, but was introduced a bit too late. Several battle scenes still have the same art issues that I explained in previous volumes.

The Bright Sword

 

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman, 688 pages.

Collum arrives at Camelot desperate to prove himself and earn a place on the round table. Unfortunately, when he arrives he finds only the D-listers of the round table, the last surviving knights after King Arthur and most of the truly great knight died two weeks before at the Battle of Camlann. But, worthy or not, they are pretty much the last traces of the old government, and so must desperately scramble for any sort of quest or sign to find a new king of Britain, and determine the future of the land. 

This book is great for fans of Arthurian legend. It is told in alternating snippets of plot and legends, which all come together to make it really feel like Arthuriana. It also makes for a nearly 700 page book with almost zero momentum, which isn't everyone's thing. I found myself really enjoying this book every time I picked it up, but I also didn't find myself reaching for it with any urgency. The prose is very good, and the characters are interesting, so if plot isn't a major concern I can definitely recommend this novel. Also a must read for die-hard fans of Arthurian legend.