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I stumbled upon the novel Shy Creatures (2024), by Clare Chambers, while browsing Libby for my next audiobook listen. I am so glad I added it to my library--the writing was lovely and insightful, and the plot, setting, and characterization, which are loosely based on a true story, interested and moved me.

Pachinko (2017), by Min Jin Lee, follows multiple generations of a Korean family from living in Korea to Japan.

Sometimes the Girl (2025) had me hooked with how densely packed the pages are with the main character’s thoughts. After Holiday’s brother’s attempted suicide, and her girlfriend becoming her best friend, and planning on moving to New Zealand with said friend, her days are packed. She gets a job organizing the attic of an aging famous writer.

In 1938, Ellie is stunned when her husband, Lionel, tells her he is in love with someone else and wants a divorce. With their two sons grown, Lionel expects that Ellie will move out of their home and into a small cottage in the village or move to London. Ellie instead decides to travel to France with Mavis, her former housekeeper, and Dora, an older woman that she's known for many years. With the South of France as their destination, the trio end up in Saint-Benet, a small fishing village near Marseille.

I discovered Fredrik Backman this year. I read Anxious People (2020), A Man Called Ove (2014), and My Friends (2025).

I absolutely adored this heartwarming and funny Christmas romance, perfect for anyone who loves quirky characters (both human and animal) and holiday movies.

Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon (2025), by Annie Mare, is a fun, cozy, modern-day romance with science fiction elements. When Tressa Fay receives a text message meant for someone else, she lets the sender—an engineer named Meryl—know she has the wrong number.

At Vassar in 1946, Anne Bishop hides that she is Jewish because she doesn't want to be socially ostracized. She develops a friendship with another Jewish girl, Delia, in secret. Delia is unabashedly herself and doesn't care that she has no friends at the university. At times, Anne, is in awe of how self-confident Delia is. One day Anne betrays Delia and their bond is fractured.

Inesa lives in a post-apocalyptic world in which a major corporation, Caerus, is in control of society. When Inesa's mother accumulates too much debt, Inesa is chosen for the Lamb's Gauntlet, a live-steamed event that will showcase Inesa running for her life from one of Caerus' brutally trained assassins, Melinoe. But Melinoe isn't just a cold-blooded killer, and as the two embark on this cat-and-mouse hunt to the death, they might even be falling in love.

In 1898, Harriet Morrow has just been hired as an investigator at the Prescott Detective Agency in downtown Chicago. She is given a week to find Agnes Wozniak, a maid who has disappeared from the home of her employer, Pearl Bartlett. Harriet starts by delving into the life of Agnes and whose paths would have crossed Agnes', since Agnes worked six days a week and only had Wednesdays off. In addition, many of Harriet's fellow detectives and the secretaries at the Prescott Agency resent Harriet's presence there, making her job even tougher.

In Winging It With You (2025) by Chip Pons, Asher Bennett and his boyfriend are on their way to compete on the fictional, Amazing Race-inspired reality show The Epic Trek when Asher’s boyfriend abruptly dumps him in the middle of the airport.

The Midnight Library is a novel about 30-year-old Nora Seed whose life did not end up how she imagined it would be twenty years ago. Nora's life is full of regret, plagued by what-ifs and missed opportunities. Unexpectedly, Nora comes across a rare and mystical opportunity that allows her to live through all those what-ifs and find her perfect fit.