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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.

When Luna's twin sister, Solina, dies suddenly, Luna knows it wasn't an accident like the police are trying to make it out to be. Luna suspects Solina's death has everything to do with Kingswood Academy, the prestigious and reputable boarding school that Solina attended-- the school she wanted to drop out of with only one semester left. Kingswood Academy doesn't know that Solina is dead, so Luna takes the opportunity to pretend to be Solina and investigate her death.

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.

In her moving memoir, Suleika Jaouad shares the story around her leukemia diagnosis at 23 and what comes next. Filling journals regularly helped Suleika compose her memoir with details of her brief time in Paris after college, her worsening illness, her diagnosis and treatment, and her life thereafter.

When Jordyn first arrives at Frasier, a prestigious Black university, she instantly finds belonging among her new roommates and classmates. She used to live in a predominately white town, and being at Frasier means she doesn't feel like the outsider anymore. Things are going well-- up until Devonte, Jordyn's roommate's older brother, arrives. Recently out of prison for credit card fraud he claims he was framed for, he asks to stay at the girls' dorm to get back on his feet. At first, Devonte seems charming and alluring, amazing the girls with his seemingly all-knowing-wisdom.

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

How to Do Nothing (2019) by multitalented educator Jenny Odell was my December pick for the 20s & 30s book discussion. Not only is our author in our age group, I thought it would be a good palate cleanser between works of fiction. While it took a little while to grab my attention (did I resist it?

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

In this historical WWII fantasy, a British witch joins the war effort to help track down a dangerous magical relic before a coven of Nazi witches find it and bring it to Hitler. After a Nazi witch infiltrates the Royal Academy of Witches with devastating consequences, Lydia Polk wants to join the fight, but meets resistance from the elder members of her coven, who do not want to sacrifice any more lives in the service of a government that has forced them into hiding for generations.

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.