Book Reviews

Image of a THE NAMES book cover. The image shows a flower stem containing three different color flowers, one purple, one orange and one white.

THE NAMES BY FLORENCE KNAPP

In the United States, we usually name our babies before they…

Nonfiction Reads

I am excited to share that I, Sarah Turner-Hill, have read TWO…

ASHIMPA by Catarina Sobral and SUNDUST by Zeke Peña

Happy Spring! I haven’t done a picture book round-up in a while,…

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

It’s not unusual for revered writers to lose some of their…

The Accidental Rewrite by Milly Johnson

Polly Potter is unhappy. Her partner, Christopher, takes her…
cover of the book Superfan

Superfan by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

Minnie is a college freshman, feeling adrift and isolated after…
Cover image of The Heir Apparent. Features two hands holding a crown. Sea green background.

The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage

New Year’s Day in the Australian outback is not turning out…

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Dear Reader, This April marks the fourth year for Joplin Reads…

ALL THE BLUES IN THE SKY by Renee Watson

January is a big month for youth literature. Librarians, authors,…

A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst

Imagine being stuck in a life raft on the Pacific Ocean for 118…

Cold Weather Reads

The snow and cold we had a few weeks ago was a perfect excuse…
Cover of the book You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

In the final few hours before the space station where she lives…

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

I Who Have Never Known Men was my last read of 2025 and one of…

Favorite Reads of 2025

As with previous years, I like to kick off the new year by reflecting…

The Unexpected Lives of Ordinary Girls by J. Anderson Coats

At the turn of the twentieth century, as European immigration…