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Summer 2025~~Hooked on Books

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Major Memory Triggers

Ever lost someone in a plane crash? I hope not, because if you have, you know first hand that your whole life changed in a single moment. If you are like Stacy Waldman Bass, you may cling to their memories, record them, and share them with family. She did this when she wrote Lightkeeper: A Memoir Through The Lens of Loss and Love. You would write to keep the light of their life and influence alive. What makes this memoir unique is the author’s eye as a photographer, along with the photos of family and place that stir her memory and shape her perceptions.

In 1995, a seaplane crashed on Block Island in Rhode Island. It claimed her father’s life, altering Bass’s vision of the world forever. In addition it claimed the lives of two of her cousins. She wrote his story and hers to process her disbelief and grief. She wrote to relive important moments, and maybe she wrote with a wish that she could go back in time.

When her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer twenty-five years later, Bass had time to react to her mother’s impending death and process her emotions. This was new. During her mother’s last year, she created a tribute of images and words that built a community of support around her mother during the last year of her flie.

Photos trigger memories. Whether it’s facial expressions, clothing, shoes, hair styles, or backgrounds they capture exactly the way the world once was. Her photos trigger words in this vivid record of her experiences, feelings, and reflections. Bass takes you outside the photos she uses and into the stories behind them, serving as the lightkeeper of her family’s legacy for siblings, children, and grandchildren and a wise counselor for the rest of us.

The author was an artist and photographer before she became a writer. Her photography has been featured extensively in books and magazines including Garden Design, House Beautiful, Elle DĂ©cor, Veranda, AD, Horticulture, Living Etc., British Homes & Gardens, The Wall Street Journal and many more. She is the author of two bestselling and critically acclaimed monographs celebrating the American landscape: In the Garden (Melcher Media/Perseus Books, 2012) and Gardens at First Light (Moffly Media, 2015). This is her first memoir.

If you have lost someone you love deeply, Bass’s book, Lightkeeper will touch you, inspire you, and remind you that the light of those who are gone lives on.

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 What’s Ethical About Murder?

If you take the life of a bad person to save a good one, is that an ethical murder? What if the good person is saving lives? What if the bad one is a criminal? What if you can see the good that your choice is doing? These are some of the questions that Jenny Morris raises in An Ethical Guide to Murder. The title alone should sell books as people line up to find out what makes murder ethical.

One day Thea discovers a talent she never imagined: she can tell how long someone has left to live by touching them. She feels their life draining into her and then learns she has the power to move the years she’s snatched or absorbed into a deserving person. If you had that power, how would you use it?

First, Thea uses it to save her best friend, Ruth, a skilled doctor who nearly dies from a head injury on a night out. How? Thea accidentally flips around and kills the man responsible for her friend’s injury. She lets his life flow directly into Ruth.

She has no idea where this godlike power comes and begins wondering if it is wrong to take a few years from a bad person—like her annoying boss, Zara—and gift it to someone who’s truly good. Perhaps power creates twists in logic and common sense? How does she know who deserves to live and die?

To harness her skills, Thea creates an Ethical Guide to Murder, a list of do’s and don’ts. She keeps distorting right and wrong to accommodate the needs of those who need help and discovers everyone is both good and bad. That includes her. Ethical murder becomes an addiction, but can she quit cold turkey?

British author Jenny Morris lives in Crowborough, where Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin lived. She loves a moral dilemma and writes high-concept crime novels that explore philosophical questions. She has a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and earns her living as a behavioral scientist.

Morris makes hard questions accessible to all of us and entertains us while making us think. My conclusion right now? Perhaps ethics is a balance. You can decide for yourself when you read An Ethical Guide to Murder.

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Absolutes are Shaken

If someone asked you to define feminism, what would you say? Is it an absolute? Your answers may shift if you read Marianne Marlowe’s collection of essays titled Portrait of a Feminist.

The world is not always fair, and Marianne Marlowe sees that more clearly than many because she lives in 2 cultures: Her mother is from Peru and her father is American. Her mother is Catholic, and her father is an atheist. How do they make it work? Love gives them a way. It also gives Ms. Marlowe a fascinating look at both cultures and the way they treat women.

Each essay makes a point about fairness or equality that you might not be familiar with, though some have been in the news more than others. In “Breasts” we learn about privacy, Catholic school in Peru, and a baptism where the author made discoveries about “dignity and privacy and self-possession.” It was enlightening, 3-dimensional, and easy to relate to. “Faith” mixes religion, feminism, the role of women in the church, and challenging ideas that don’t match up with yours. Not bad for a page and a half. “F is for
” will surprise you, I suspect. It’s a well-rounded view that might make you ask, why didn’t I think of that?

Author Marianna Marlowe describes herself as “a Latina writer who writes creative nonfiction that explores issues of gender identity, feminism, cultural hybridity, intersectionality, and more. Her short memoir has been published in Narrative, Hippocampus, The Woven Tale Press, Eclectica, Sukoon, and The Acentos Review among others. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

These essays look at the author’s life and observations and should give readers a strong sense of how we might view humans if we look at the whole picture. Recommended for those who are not drawn to flighty books written in tropes.

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  • Midnight in Soap Lake
  • Written by Matthew Sullivan
  • ISBN #:  978-1335041791
  • Hanover Square Press; Original edition (April 15, 2025)

Soap Lake, Flight, and an Urban Legend Named Tree Top

If you moved to a town filled with signs reading Tree Top Kills/ Kill Tree Top, and Tree Top turned out to be a larger-than-life monster in a bio-hazard suit and a gas mask, would you stay or would you go? If you were a young woman whose husband flew to Poland for six months of research, leaving you in a town haunted by Tree Top, would that alter your decision? In Matthew Sullivan’s Midnight in Soap Lake, the town is real as are the healing properties of the minerals in the white foam along the top, but the rest of the story comes from Sullivan’s creative imagination.

Abigail is alone when she runs into a four-year-old boy alone in the desert. He needs help for his mother, Esme, who’s lying in the car with a screwdriver in her body. Esme has returned to her hometown in search of answers about the death of her first boyfriend, Kevin. What really happened to Kevin? For that matter, why did Dr. Clara, the researcher studying the lake’s minerals before Abigail’s husband, Eli, run to Seattle? And is Tree Top killing people or is he an urban legend?

The plot is like a Gordian knot, wrapping around itself with the help of a cast of spooky, kooky, characters. They’re stuck in Soap Lake even though it would be advisable to move away before they are harmed or even killed. Exactly what is Tree Top trying to protect when he goes on the attack?

Although the lake has healing properties, the town cannot live down its violent history, nor can scientists or other community members figure out what magic secret is at the bottom of the lake. The closer Abigail gets to the truth, the more she fears for her own safety. As a reader you’ll be right there with her, trying to solve the mystery and hoping she stays safe.

Author Matthew Sullivan is a master of his craft. He is the author of the novel Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, which has been translated into seven languages and was an IndieNext pick, a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, a GoodReads Choice Award finalist, and winner of the Colorado Book Award. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, The Spokesman-Review, Sou’wester and elsewhere, and his stories have been awarded the Florida Review Editor’s Prize and the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize.

He mixes heart, quirkiness, small-mindedness, genuine curiosity, and a series of tragic circumstances to create a truly unique novel. Midnight in Soap Lake will draw you into a world you’ve never imagined and leave you with images you’ll never forget.

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An Equal Chance

Historian Heather Cox Richardson studies history to analyze the complexities of American history so her students and the people who read her newsletter and books can understand the choices Americans make. She does a particularly effective job of reaching her audience in Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.She records facts and actions and leaves interpretations up to the reader.

Her wise and insightful writing takes us from the original organization of our government, done entirely by white males who were to be the governing body through the changes that arose as women and people of color sought equal recognition. Writing that sentence I think of Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I A Woman.” Or a line from a 1980s movie with a name I can’t remember. “I’m not equal?” actress Jean Stapleton with earnest disbelief, and the banker she’s speaking to brushes her off.

This is a book about the fact that American government was created by entitled men who claimed all men were created equal, while believing that some white men were more equal than men of color and all women. She shows us this with the actions of these men and shows us how their beliefs still influence today’s leaders. Whether they come by their beliefs honestly or ignorantly or both, many people, including contemporary white men, fight back. As she writes she gives all readers plenty to think about. She tells us how things are and encourages us to consider how we’d like things to be.

Her extensive research brought up the names of a number of people I’d never heard of. It isn’t just famous people who’ve contributed to American history. All of us do, and some do it with more empathy and a stronger sense of justice than others. This is excellent, thought-provoking reading by a wise woman who’s done extensive research into the beliefs that made us the way we are. Although it’s been out 18 months, it’s quite contemporary and highly recommended.

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Rock and Roll and the Costs of Love

Do you have a sister? How’s your relationship with her? If you’re a woman or girl with a sister, has jealousy ever colored the relationship? Do you think it’s worked both ways? All of these questions come out of Jennifer Weiner’s The Griffin Sisters Greatest Hits.

The story takes place at the beginning of the 2000s when fat shaming was something that only a few women dared fight. Fat shaming, especially from a beautiful sister, can destroy the large woman’s self-esteem. That’s what happened to Cassie, who became convinced that she was unlovable despite her remarkable musical talents and the sisters being catapulted to fame when they were barely out of high school. Cassie was jealous of her sister, Zoe, who had limited musical skills but was cute and sexy with her tambourine. Cassie never realized her face lit up once she struck the first chords of a song, nor did she know that she felt safe because the piano masked her body. Through a hunky songwriter named Russell into the mix, and Cassie will have feelings she shouldn’t, even though Zoe announced their engagement without warning, and never knew that Russell had feelings for Cassie.

When the unthinkable happens and Cassie runs, will the split be permanent or will a cause greater than grief pull the two of them back together?

Jennifer Weiner is a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author and that shows up in the layers of complexity she invests in this threesome. It’s there in the issues the characters face, in the places she describes, and the behaviors she attributes to each of them. The story spoke to me because I have a sister, but even if I didn’t I would have been drawn to the way people handle relationships, jealousies, the things they want and need, and the talents life gives them.

This is a great story for women, for book clubs, and for anyone who’s ever doubted that she can reach her potential. If you like music or are drawn to complex relationships, grab a copy and start reading.

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 Why Is He Doing This?

Ever been trapped in a walk-in refrigerator? Or felt like someone was stalking you? If so, you’ll understand the plight of Shelby Dawson in Seraphina Nova Glass’s latest thriller, Nothing Ever Happens Here. Titles can be deceiving. This one certainly is.

Shelby Dawson wants to move past the experience of being locked in a refrigerator in the back of a closed restaurant. She knows it should have left her dead, and she knows the person who shoved her in there was masked.

Fifteen months later, she continues protecting her husband and young daughters from her trauma with the support of her best friend, Mackenzie. Then an anonymous note is left on her windshield. It restates the attacker’s threats. What’s a wife and mother to do?

Mack (Mackenzie) has problems of her own. Her husband, Leo, vanished the same night Shelby was left to die in the refrigerator. No one knows where he is or whether he’s alive until a deep dive into his finances reveals a history of debts, mismanaged funds, and hidden accounts—one of which is still active. So is there a connection?

The seniors she works with talk about the mystery on a podcast, which suddenly has a huge following. Is this good publicity or bad? Will it trigger her attacker, whoever he is or help the police locate him?

Shelby and Mack are middle-aged women who refuse to give in to the bad things happening to them. Both are survivors you will root for. Nothing Ever Happens Here is fully of surprises, twists and turns, but tt’s the three-dimensional characters, including the still-thriving seniors, and the seemingly unrelated two plots that turn this story into a page turner.

Author Seraphina Nova Glass is a two-time EDGAR AWARD nominated author. She’s also an award-winning playwright and holds an MFA degree in Dramatic Writing from Smith College, and a second MFA in Directing from the University of Idaho in Directing (theatre.)

Nothing Ever Happens Here is well-crafted, and the adventures of these small-town Minnesotans will sweep you along. Read it during the day to avoid nightmares.

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  • Dying to Meet You
  • By Sarina Bowen
  • ISBN #: 978-0063280649
  • Harper Perennial (May 13, 2025)

Exes, Murder, and Evil Redeemed

Who can you trust? Who has an ulterior motive? And when does curiosity end and stalking begin? Ever wondered about any of this? Sarina Bowen addresses these questions through the eyes of a recently jilted architect hired by a wealthy family to restore their historic mansion in her latest thriller, Dying to Meet You.

Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother as well as a talented architect excited by her latest assignment working for the most powerful family in Maine. That’s how people see her, including a man who recently broke off their relationship. Why? Unable to understand or let go, she’s cyber-stalking her ex.

Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. When she realizes he’s parked in their favorite spot, she leashes the dog and sets off to see if he’s missing her or already with another woman.

When Rowan finds him alone and deceased in the parking lot of  the mansion she’s updating, she’s in shock. She reports it and becomes the primary suspect.

As Rowan digs for the truth, she discovers the dead man was stalking her too, gathering intimate details about her job and the secrets of the mansion where she’s working.

This is well-plotted, and the suspense builds beautifully. You’ll feel for Rowen, her daughter, and her daughter’s father, who was recently released from prison and is a changed and mellowed man. This is a good, fast read for people who care about others, feel compassion for those entwined in the complexities of the world, and like watching others cope with problems.

Author Sarina Bowen is a 24-time USA Today bestseller, and a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary novels. Formerly a derivatives trader on Wall Street, Sarina graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a BA in economics. Given how much she’s written, it’s no surprise that the twists and complexities seem to flow effortlessly.

If you’re a fan of thrillers, women’s fiction, or a gothic atmosphere, you’re going to love this book.  

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