Book Reviews

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…

Superfan by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
Minnie is a college freshman, feeling adrift and isolated after…

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…

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…

