Keep Your Friends Close

 
“Keep Your Friends Close” by Lucinda Berry
Published by Thomas & Mercer
 
Well, this was quite a ride.  It’s starts with a dead body in a pool at a party of women who are all members of a glitzy mom’s club in LA.  As the police investigation goes on, you find more potential suspects but no real motive. There is plenty of drama and scandals among this group, but it becomes a little slow in the middle.  It ends with a lot happening all at once though.  You might be able to predict some of the ending, but probably not all of it.  This is my first book by Lucinda Berry, but I don’t imagine it will be my last. 
 
Finished 8/3/25 – 3/5 stars
 
#keepyourfriendsclose #lucindaberry #thomasandmercer #2025reads #genxreads

Perfect Match

 
“Perfect Match” by Jodi Picoult
Published by Washington Square Press
 
I greatly enjoy Jodi Picoult’s books, however, this is not one of my favorites.  As is the case with most of her books, the author takes on moral and emotional conflicts that make you think and self-reflect with questions like “What if that happened to me?”, “What would I do in that position?”, or “How would I handle that situation?”  For this novel, I would hope to never be in the main characters shoes, but if I were, I don’t think I’d handle the situation the same way.  Regardless, I truly didn’t like the way this one ended.  I enjoyed the storyline up until probably the final 50 pages.  It would have been a 4-star read up until that point.  I can’t tell you why without spoiling it though.
 
Finished 7/30/25 – 3.5/5 stars
 
#perfectmatch #jodipicoult #washingtonsquarepress #2025reads #genxreads

The Nightingale

 
“The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah
Published by St. Martin’s Press
 
The first half of the book wasn’t grabbing me and if it weren’t such a highly rated book, I might have put it aside.  The second half of the book was much better and fully kept my interest.  It is a story of female heroism and bravery during WWII.  It is a story of standing up for humankind, protecting those in danger, and what one will do for those they love.  Overall, I’m glad I stuck with it and do recommend it.
 
Finished 7/27/25 – 3.5/5 stars
 
#thenightingale #kristinhannah #stmartinspress #2025reads #genxreads

The Nickel Boys

 
“The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead
Published by Vintage Books (Penguin Random House)
 
This book was hard to read but definitely worth the read.  It’s painful, depressing, heartbreaking, and yet important too.  It takes place in a boys reform school in the 60s, where a teenage black boy is sent for being at the wrong place and the wrong time.  The abuse these boys had to endure was horrific.  And what makes it worse, is knowing that although this story is fictional, it is based off actual events that happened at an actual school.  So, although a difficult read, I feel it’s an important read to shed light on the past, to try to prevent it ever happening again in our future.
 
Finished 7/13/25 – 4/5 stars
 
#thenickelboys #colsonwhitehead #vintagebooks #penguinrandomhouse #2025reads #genxreads

The Little Liar

 
“The Little Liar” by Mitch Albom
Published by Harper (HarperCollins)
 
“The Book Thief” has Death as a narrator.  “The Little Liar” is narrated by Truth, and it is so well done.  I absolutely loved every part of this book and in reading it, learned more about the Holocaust that I was unaware of.  This story begins and ends in the Greek town of Salonika, the town with the highest percentage of Jewish population of all the cities the Nazis destroyed.  It started with about 50,000 Jewish citizens prior to WWII and was left with a mere 2,000 afterward.  I’m glad the author decided to share this story, for people like me, to learn about how this part of Greece was so strongly affected.  And he did so in such an interesting way.  I highly recommend you pick it up to read.  And if you are an English teacher, I think it would make for great assigned reading.  Not just for the story, but for the writing and the discussions it could provoke. 
 
Finished 7/11/25 – 5/5 stars
 
#thelittleliar #mitchalbom #harper #harpercollins #5starreads #2025reads #genxreads

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

 
“All the Ugly and Wonderful Things” by Bryn Greenwood
Published by Thomas Dunne Books (St Martin’s Press)
 
The 1^st half of this book introduces you to a sweet and innocent relationship between a young girl in need of an adult in her life to love and take care of her and a man is his mid-20s who does just that.  The 2^nd half of this book takes an uncomfortable turn.  At one point, I truly didn’t want to keep reading but I did because I needed to know how this troubled young girl’s life turned out.  She had such a horrible childhood, you just wanted her to find true happiness and safety.  It’s well written and I gave it 3 stars, but I have such mixed feelings about it that I don’t know that I can recommend it.
 
Finished 7/9/25 – 3/5 stars
 
#alltheuglyandwonderfulthings #bryngreenwood #thomasdunnebooks #stmartinspress #botm #2025reads #genxreads

The Unraveling of Julia

“The Unraveling of Julia” by Lisa Scottoline
Published by Grand Central Publishing
 
I had to suspend some of my beliefs in reality to enjoy this book, but enjoy it I did.  There is romance, mystery, and a touch of the spirit world.  She is an auto-read author for me, but this is not my favorite of hers.  I loved the setting and some of the characters, but there were times I just felt it unrealistic and frustrating in that an area was not investigated that to me, would have been one of the 1^st places I would have gone at the time (can’t say more to avoid spoilers).  Overall, it was a good read and kept me very entertained, just not as believable as some of her other stories.
 
Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the complimentary copy of this book.  As always, the opinions expressed within this review are completely my own.
 
Finished 7/8/25 – 3.5/5 stars
 
#theunravelingofjulia #lisascottoline #grandcentralpublishing #netgalley #2025reads #genxreads