I read 34 books in 2025 and rated 3 of them at 5 stars. This is by far the best book of the year. While it is nothing like Lonesome Dove – my favorite novel of all time – this book grabbed me from the first page like that Pulitzer prize winner did. I knew immediately I was in for a compelling story.
Violet, Harriet and Frank are linked together through the event that landed Violet (age 22) in prison.
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a beautiful, beautiful novel. This is the story of a family of three, then four women in semi-rural Ireland.

This novel tells the story of the McLaughlin family: grandmother Catherine, mother Kelly, her husband Louis, and 2 daughters Gracie and Lila. Each of the characters is going through a personal crisis but none have the tools to work through them.

My younger self gave his future self a present when he added this book to the library last year.
Identical twins Marion and Shiva – ShivaMarion – have a momentous birth and grow up in an Ethiopian hospital. A rift opens between the brothers sending them on different paths. This long novel brings in themes of history and humanity.
This is a fantastic read.

Tell Me Everything This is the 5th in Elizabeth Strout’s Amgash series which is mostly about Lucy Barton. This novel revolves around the relationship between Lucy and Bob Burgess who are good friends that see each other in much deeper ways than their significant others. After they parted, Bob though again of how eh had… Continue reading Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout