Month: November 2025

The Six by Loren Grush (Non-fiction)

This is the story of the first six women admitted to NASA’s astronaut corps. Drawn from extensive research, interviews, personal papers, etc, it is a blended story that follows each woman from an initial interest (often as children) through to the 1986 Challenger disaster. The narrative focus moved between what it meant for women to (finally) be allowed into the profession, and what it meant to be an astronaut regardless of gender or race. I much preferred the second theme as the level of detail — the (long) training regimen, the detailed prep for each mission, the nightmarish (for some) experience of requisite PR duty, and the actual experience of being in space and on a mission was completely engaging and well documented without a lot of extraneous agenda or overwrought emotion.


The focus on the barriers the women faced and how they were treated as women was actually well done. NASA made a decision to encourage women and minorities to apply to their historic recruitment of Mission Specialists for the new space shuttle program. The focus was completely on the competency of the women under consideration, who were put to the same tests and held to the same expectations as the men. They passed with flying colors — without the need to make changes to the requirements in any way in order to accommodate women. There were a few stories about pranks, teasing, and a Playboy centerfold or two, but nobody got “offended”and everybody simply focussed on doing a great job. The media was irritatingly focussed on asking about “romance in space,” whether the women “weeped” during training, or attacking the morality of a mother for considering such a career, but the women took these questions in stride, answering calmly and rationally and letting the ridiculous questioners look like the fools (IMHO). I was annoyed by the commentary in the prolog and epilog about the need for achieving representation of women and minorities in the astronaut corps — something I disagree with completely. I’m all for equal opportunity, equal pay, and equal recognition — I see no reason for any profession to have its practitioners exactly mirror the gender and racial makeup of the population at large. Get the best! And certainly none of “the six” were turned away from their space dreams by the lack of women role models. So there!


I particularly enjoyed all the details about the space flights — the (multi-year) training routines, the detailed prep for each mission, and the individual experiences on board — both the awe and the practical details on how difficult every day tasks such as movement, eating, and yes, toileting, becomes when one is weightless. I was also intrigued by the medical experiments designed to understand the impact of weightlessness on our internal fluid systems (think blood and a pumping heart). Not something I had considered before. Overall, a clear, engaging description of what it is like to be an astronaut, with personal focus on the journeys of the first six women to take the plunge.

When the Wolves are Silent by C. S. Harris (Historical Mystery)

Number 21 in the Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series. Regency period — 1816 — London and environs. This was the “year without a summer” due to the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815.

Sebastian — son and heir to an Earl — has a habit of involving himself in bringing justice to murder victims, regardless of their class. In this episode, first one and then another of a group of high born friends is murdered — one found in the river and the other burned to death. One of the group is Sebastian’s nephew Bayard. The entire group — Bayard definitely included — is what are known as “bad ton” where “ton” refers to the state of being fashionable and high society. The men in this group feel they are above any law or sense of human decency.

In solving the evolving mystery (more bodies turn up) there is reference to the American wars, the slave trade, ancient Celtic practices including human sacrifice, and potential Druid revivals. I always thought of Celts as ancient Britons but learned recently that in fact Celtic tribes were roaming around Central Europe as early as 1200 BCE. and as for Druids, I found this note in the book interesting: “Actually as far as we can tell, the Druids were more like what we might call the intellectual class of the ancient celts. The poets, historians, musicians, physicians, and astronomers of their day and advisors to Kings.”

The writing is decent, the characters (from the high to the medium and low) have evolved over time and have depth, and the mystery was quite convoluted, but completely consistent and engaging. The historical setting is excellent.

As an aside, the author’s note at the end of these books is always illuminating as she clearly delineates the fact from the fiction. I was particularly interested in a “real” character — German chemist Friedrich Accum who, among his other many accomplishments, was one of the first to draw attention to the danger of food additives and was involved in gaining acceptance for beet sugar, which was notable for not being derived from slave-driven sugar production from cane.

Thank you to Berkley House and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 14th, 2026.

Life: a Love Story by Elizabeth Berg (Literary Fiction)

A beautiful and sweet tale of an elderly woman’s life memories of love in all of its forms. At 94, Flo is still finding new opportunities to connect with people and helping others to spot their own connection opportunities. The story alternates between her “now,” and the (very long) letter she is writing to her heir, the now grown up Ruthie who had befriended her while a child. In this letter is the eponymous love story of Flo’s life, as told through vignettes describing some of the “odd” things Ruthie will find in her house once she is gone. And that will not be too far in the future as Flo has received a terminal diagnosis.

This book was never depressing. It was full of the joys, wonder and sorrows of life. It was full of (sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, sometimes both) origin stories about small, but important, objects (a toothpick dispenser, a handful of rocks). And it was full of the (endless) intricacies of knowing and loving another person. Flo feels compelled to giving advice to those who need it: Ruthie, who is contemplating divorce; her new friend Teresa, who has given up on love completely. And this advice is practical, real, sensical, and insistent in the most positive sense — based on the wisdom that comes from real experience. I loved the mechanism used to depict these experiential bits of wisdom — no bullet points, no logical expositions, just elaborating vignettes sprinkled about with purpose.

I laughed and cried, but the reading of it left me feeling warm, reflective, a bit nostalgic, and more alert to paying attention to the life that I have.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on March 17th, 2026.

Evelyn in Transit by David Guterson (Literary Fiction)

Writing: 5/5 Characters: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5

A beautifully written story that slowly winds its way through the process of transitioning new incarnations of a Tibetan Tulku — the “emanation of a realized being.” Two parallel narratives come together mid way through the book to cover the identification of the seventh incarnation of the Tibetan abbot Norbu Rinpoche. The first narrative follows Evelyn, a midwest misfit who travels the country doing odd jobs and questioning life, purpose, time, belief and perceptions. The other follows Tsering, a rural Tibetan who accepts his position as the sixth incarnation of the Rinpoche, while continuing to question the whole concept. These stories come together when Evelyn’s five-year old son is identified as seventh Rinpoche after Tsering passes away.

I enjoyed the philosophical nature of this book. The “action” in each story line is minimal, but it is accompanied by a deep and ongoing questioning on the nature of the world and one’s place in it. Unlike a lot of the literary fiction that I read, very little of this questioning thought is devoted to understanding one’s own internal machinations. Both characters appear detached to me, showing little emotion, worry, or planning for the future. Instead, each seemed to embody the “Be Here Now” tenet of Buddhism. This made the book (for me) more of an intellectual exercise, rather than an engaging story. The language was stellar, the characters interesting, but not engaging at an emotional level, and the story a little slow paced for my taste. However, it was certainly thought provoking which counts for a lot in my world. As an aside, the author’s note at the end made it clear that he had met Evelyn and her son, and that parts of this story were based on their experiences.

Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on January 20th, 2026.

Constituent Service by John  Scalzi (Science Fiction)

A short (152 pages) offering from master humorist and speculator John Scalzi about what it would be like to be the Community Liaison in an alien majority district. Fresh graduate Ashley Perrin is human, unlike most of the constituents she serves in the role. The variety of aliens with their shapes (one looks like a potted plant), sounds, behaviors, and preferences are legion and … somehow actually believable? I don’t know how Scalzi does that, but I’m happy he does. Our protagonist is calm, cool, collected and chock full of witty ripostes. I loved that I got to laugh out loud often — a lovely palate cleanser in a lot of bleak reading I seem to be doing these days. The action takes place over a few days. All of the various complaints Ashley handles in her first week at the office pipeline into one extra-terrestrial powder keg with some brilliant just-in-time intervention. The whole thing was (literally) a blast, with quite a charming ending.

Thank you to Subterranean Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on November 30th, 2025.

The Greatest Sentence Ever Written by Walter Isaacson (Non fiction — History / Politics)

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This is the sentence — the first in paragraph two of the Declaration of Independence — to which the title refers. Isaacson breaks the sentence down, elaborating on what each word or phrase meant in the context of the times. He follows this up with concluding chapters that remind us that the principles underlying the declaration were based on the need to balance personal opportunityt with the maintenance of “the common good.” He goes on to emphasize one of the main casualties of today’s lack of balance — the American Dream. He blames this near demise on the elite meritocracy that offers opportunity only to those who acquire educational credentials, leaving the other 62% resentful and foundering.

I found the book well written, full of some interesting tidbits, and thought-provoking, but I would have preferred more depth on exactly how we define “the common good,” as that seems to be a point of some contention in our current polarized democracy. I also feel that while the “elite meritocracy” may be a contributor to our economic and cultural woes, it is overly simplistic to assume it is the whole problem — there are so many contributing factors (not to mention the fact that I know quite a few successful people without college degrees and quite a few very well-educated people who find themselves unemployed with few prospects).

I love Isaacson’s biographies — I’ve read his books on Franklin, Doudna, Musk, Jobs, and Da Vinci. Those are full of the kind of intricate details on both the subject’s accomplishments, and the inspiration and drive that powered the journey. I would have been happier had the (very complex) topics in this book had a similar amount of completeness and clarity to them.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on November 18th, 2026.

The Bookstore Diaries by Susan Mallery (Women’s Fiction)

Susan Mallery is my go-to author when I want some upbeat women’s fiction that models good adult behavior in relationships. Instead of inane bits of girl power where much discussion is devoted to how awful and possibly unnecessary men are, we have grown ups coming to an understanding of what is important to them in life, how they might be contributing to their own problems, and how to continually work on (all of) their relationships to keep them working.

Jax runs the Painted Lady Bookstore (great name!). She and her ex-husband alternate weeks in the family home, leaving the children in a stable environment. The bookstore — which features a unique set of lockboxes housing individual secret diaries — is unfortunately falling apart, necessitating extensive repair led by a very popular (and unsurprisingly sexy) contractor. Her sister Ryleigh, meanwhile, is thinking of moving out of town to find The One, since the local pickings are slim at best. In the meantime, she is best buds with her late best friend’s husband and child.

So yes — there are no real surprises — we know from the start how things are going to work out. This is an uplifting and happy book, remember? But what makes it worth it to me is the way Mallery models the interactions between characters (including an almost human African Gray parrot named Ramon), and the evolving self-knowledge on the part of both women. While the love interests are perfect (the eyes of the beholder after all!), I like the way even the ex-husband is presented as a full person with skills, flaws, good intentions, and clueless actions, rather than as the “bad guy.”

I completely enjoyed residing in the town and hanging with the bookshop denizens for the duration of the read. This is one of my favorite Mallery offerings.

Thank you to MIRA and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on March 3rd, 2026.