CurlyGeek

Review: Hula by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes In a lot of ways, this is the novel about Hawaii I’ve been looking for. It’s steeped in the history and culture of Native Hawaiians, but also a compelling generational family saga. The Naupaka family lives in Hilo, which is on the island of Hawai’i (also known as “The Big Island”). Laka, once Hilo's celebrated Miss Aloha Hula, has just returned from several years in Maui with a baby that doesn’t look Hawaiian.

Review: Hula by Jasmin 'Iolani Hakes #bookreviews #reading #Hawaii

My February Reading Wrap-Up In February I had surgery on my nose to fix a deviated septum, which required quite a bit of time at home to recover. So between surgeries and lots of snow days, I read more than usual this month. Here's what I read in February: The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown Kin by Tayari Jones Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon…

My February Reading Wrap-Up #reading #bookreviews

ARC Review: Kin by Tayari Jones I'm a big fan of Tayari Jones, so I was thrilled to get an advanced copy of her newest book, Kin. It's the story of a friendship between two women that begins almost at birth. Vernice and Annie are "cradle sisters" in the small town of Honeysuckle, Mississippi. Neicy's father killed her mother when Neicy was a baby, and she's been raised by her aunt.

ARC Review: Kin by Tayari Jones #bookreviews #reading #NetGalley #Knopf

Review: People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn This was a perfect book to build upon the issues discussed in As a Jew by Sarah Hurwitz. Horn explores antisemitism in various forms, most notably the idea that people are comfortable with the idea of Jews as victims, as long as they aren’t challenged to look beyond that. For example, people love the idea of Anne Frank, a girl who hid away and was then murdered – but they don’t look closer at her as a writer and an individual.

Review: People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn #readnonficchal #beatthebacklist #bookreviews #readjewishly

Review: Playground by Richard Powers #beatthebacklist #speccyficchal

Top Ten Books For Armchair Travelers This week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is books for armchair travelers, or books that help you explore the world from home. I love to travel and to read about other places, so I had trouble whittling this one down. Long Walks: I love books about long walks, maybe because I've always wanted to do one myself.

Top Ten Books for Armchair Travelers #TopTenTuesday #bookreviews #travelreads

Review: Our Numbered Bones by Katya Balen If you're looking for a short but powerful read about love, family and grief, I recommend this one. I also liked the way it combined history, science, and writing, but that's secondary to the raw emotion of the book. It's almost like reading poetry. Balen is an author of children's books and this is her adult debut. The story captured my attention immediately.

ARC Review: Our Numbered Bones by Katya Balen #NetGalley #the52bookclub #bookreviews #reading

Review: Solito by Javier Zamora I first learned about this book when I was working with a grant to the state of Rhode Island to support a statewide read along of this book ( The woman I spoke with at Rhode Island Center for the Book raved about Solito so much I went out and picked it up. That was in 2024, but with the recent events in Minneapolis and elsewhere, this book is even more relevant today.

Review: Solito by Javier Zamora #readnonficchal #beatthebacklist #bookreviews #reading

My January Reading Wrap-Up In January we got hammered with snow, freezing rain and ice, so much that I got four days off of work and I'm still digging my car out. It was a great reading month, at least Here's what I read in January: James by Percival Everett Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer The Shark House by Sara Ackerman Missed Translations: Meeting the Immigrant Parents Who Raised Me…

My January Reading Wrap-Up #reading #bookreviews

Review: The Shark House by Sara Ackerman I love books about Hawaii, especially when they focus on Native Hawaiian culture. I also love books about nature and animals. So this book, about a marine biologist who goes to Hawaii to determine the cause of three shark attacks, checks a lot of boxes for me. Even better, it also features a woman in science. I just wish I'd liked it more.

Review: The Shark House by Sara Ackerman #NetGalley #the52bookclub

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Discovered in 2025 This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is about bookish discoveries we made in 2025. I discovered a lot of great new authors, so I'm sharing those. I only included fiction, since nearly all the nonfiction I read were new authors. You can read about some of those in my Nonfiction Wrap-Up and my favorite books of 2025…

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Discovered in 2025 #bookreviews #reading

Fantasy Reviews: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil I don't usually like to lump together reviews, but these are my first two fantasy reads of 2026 so I wanted to share my thoughts. These books meet the Speccy Fiction Challenge hosted by Book'd Out. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen I really liked this book, and I loved all the strong emotions in this story. But there were also some things I didn’t like.

Fantasy Reviews: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil #bookrevies #speccyficchal #the52bookclub

My Reading Goals and Challenges for 2026 This week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is our reading goals and challenges for 2026. Last year I said I wanted to be more flexible, to read for enjoyment, and also leave myself time to pick up challenges throughout the year. I didn't accomplish those goals, as I read more ARCs and focused more on challenges.

Goals and Reading Challenges for 2026 #TopTenTuesday #readinggoals #readnonficchal #speccyficchal #the52bookclub #beatthebacklist #readjewishly

Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz I’m continuing to explore young adult fiction now that I work with teens every day, and this book was fantastic. It’s written in what felt like a very real teenage voice, and I sometimes felt I could be reading about my own fears and uncertainties as a teenager. Aristotle (Ari) is a lonely, reserved teen when a boy he’s never seen before offers to teach him to swim.

Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz #beatthebacklist #the52bookclub

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’m Anticipating in 2026 This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is our most anticipated books coming out in the first half of 2026. I'm tweaking this a bit to show the books I've received as advanced review copies (ARCs) through July. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing these! Some of these are by favorite authors, and some just looked interesting.

Ten Books I'll Be Reviewing in 2026 #TopTenTuesday #NetGalley #newreleases

Top Ten Tuesday: The Best Books I Read in 2025 I hope you had a happy holiday season and are looking forward to the new year. This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is the best books I read in 2025. I had a lot of trouble narrowing down this list. Some years, there are a few books that rise far above the others, but that wasn't really true this year.

The Best Books I Read in 2025 #TopTenTuesday #bestof 2025 #bookreviews #reading

My Life in Book Titles, 2025 This is my first time doing this meme where you have to fill in these prompts using only books read this year (and without repeating any). You can also find examples at BookerTalk and 746 Books. In high school I was Wandering Stars People might be surprised by (my) Shout I will never be The Charm Offensive My fantasy job is 

My Life in Book Titles, 2025 #bookreviews #reading

My December Reading Wrap-Up 2025 is a wrap, and I can't say I'm sorry to leave it behind. It was a difficult year, one of changes and uncertainty and loss. I had surgery, I grieved for my father, I lost my career, I spent four months unemployed, and I started over again in a new job. There were highs as well as lows, but I'm a planner at heart (as I'm guessing many of you are) and this was a year where I had to adjust to the changes and just hang on.

My December Reading Wrap-Up #bookreviews #reading

Reading Jewishly in 2025: What I Learned From This Challenge I completed this year's "Reading Jewishly" challenge to read 10 different types of books with Jewish main characters, and I'm so glad I did, because I learned a lot and discovered some wonderful new authors.  This was the first year I've focused on Jewish books, which I mainly did to honor my dad, but it also turned out to be a real exploration of my own history, culture, and religion.

What I Learned From Reading Jewishly in 2025: A Challenge Wrap-Up #readjewishly #readingchallenges #bookreviews

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books of 2025 I Still Want to Read Happy holidays, readers! I hope you'll have a nice holiday with family and friends, whatever you're celebrating. This week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is "bookish wishes." So even though I may not get these in my stocking, here are some of the many books I wanted to read this year, but didn't get to.

Books from 2025 I Still Want to Read #TopTenTuesday #reading #bestof2025

ARC Review: Lit by Tim Sandlin I loved Sandlin’s GroVont trilogy back in the 90s, which begins with Skipped Parts, so I was happy to get an advanced copy of his latest book. My feelings about it are mixed. It’s snarky and clever while also being a relatively light read that includes murder, book banning, and religious extremism. The only downside to the book, really, is that I never got too invested in it.

ARC review: Lit by Tim Sandlin #NetGalley #bookreviews #reading #humor

Where Do I Come From? Novels About Complicated Families Sometimes my reading seems to come, unintentionally, in themes. For example, over the summer I read a lot of books about “difficult women” – women who strayed from the emotional confines of marriage and motherhood. Lately I seem to be reading about complicated families - biologically as well as emotionally. In these books, there's the family you know, and the ones you discover.

Where Do I Come From? Novels About Complicated Families #bookreviews #reading

Review: To the End of the Land by David Grossman (translated by Jessica Cohen) I’m full of feelings about this book. It’s long, unwieldy, going back and forth across time and place with little transition – but it’s also powerful, dramatic, and at times beautiful. I set out to read a book that took place in Israel, and I can’t imagine a novel that could tell me more about Israel than this one. Set over the course of about forty years, Grossman follows the story of three friends who meet as teenagers in a hospital in 1967.

Review: To the End of the Land by David Grossman #bookreviews #readjewishly #beatthebacklist

ARC Review: The Marriage Method by Mimi Matthews #NetGalley #bookreviews

My November Reading Wrap-Up Happy holidays, readers! November was a month I focused on finishing books for challenges. I read a lot of nonfiction, which was helpful in completing the Nonfiction Reader Challenge and I enjoyed participating in Nonfiction November. I have a few books left for my challenges, but I hope December can be more about reading for fun. I look forward to tallying up my reading for the year and figuring out which books were my favorites.

My November Reading Wrap-Up

Nonfiction November: Added to My TBR List This is the final week of Nonfiction November, and the topic is which books we've added to our TBR list. It's hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz. Here are some of the books I've added to my TBR, with links so you can find out more. The "Best of 2025" book lists are starting to come out, so I'm sure I'll be adding even more to my TBR list.

Nonfiction I've Added to My TBR List #NonfictionNovember #bookreviews #reading

Nonfiction November: Diverse Perspectives This week's topic for Nonfiction November, hosted by Rebekah at She Seeks Nonfiction, is diverse perspectives in nonfiction. Specifically: Nonfiction books are one of the best tools for seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. They allow us to get an idea of the experiences of people of all different ages, races, genders, abilities, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, or even just different opinions than ours.

Nonfiction November: Diverse Perspectives #NonfictionNovember #bookreviews #reading

ARC Review: The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy I noticed this book because of its gorgeous cover, but I also love a good historical mystery/thriller, and I was intrigued by the setting of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. This book met my expectations and I enjoyed it. It combines a murder mystery with a detailed look at the World's Fair, with interesting characters and a look at other historical issues of the time, such as drug addiction and women's medicine.

ARC Review: The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy #NetGalley #bookreviews #historicalfiction

Nonfiction November: Fiction/Nonfiction Book Pairings This week's topic for Nonfiction November, hosted by Liz at Adventures in reading, running, and working from home, is to pair a nonfiction book with a fiction title. I just finished Natalie Haynes’ Pandora’s Jar and I loved it. It’s a deep dive into the central female characters in Greek mythology.  Haynes focuses on two premises: first, that there are many more versions of the Greek myths than most people realize, and second, that the female characters are much more complex and dynamic in some of those versions than in the versions we most commonly hear.

Fiction and Nonfiction Book Pairings #NonfictionNovember #bookreviews #reading

ARC Review: Resonant Blue and Other Stories by Mary Vensel White I reviewed Mary Vensel White's first book, The Qualities of Wood, back in 2012, in my early days of blogging. I loved it, so I was happy when she reached out to me about reviewing her latest release, a book of short stories. Resonant Blue is about families and relationships of all shapes and sizes. These short stories are a look at people struggling with aging, relationships, and the acceptance (or forgiveness) of family.

ARC Review: Resonant Blue and Other Stories by Mary Vensel White #bookreviews #shortstories