February 2026 Book Reviews!

Is it Spring yet? It is here in South Carolina! If it's not where you live, I hope you start to thaw out soon. I know it's been a long and tough winter for a lot of us. Great for reading, but not so great for anything else.

As we start to approach the warmer weather, for me personally, our travel plans start to ramp up. Many of you might know that I'm planning to retire later this year. I've decided as I make my way towards my retirement date, I'm going to use up all of the vacation in my vacation bank. In addition to a couple of bigger trips, what that means is taking a long weekend at least once per month. The first couple of trips we have planned involve live music and a couple of extra days at the beach. That, of course, means beach reading! I can't wait!

Even if you can't read by a beach right now, I hope you get some good reading time in. As always, if you want to know what I'm reading but don't want to wait for my monthly blog, follow me on Goodreads or The Story Graph. Happy reading!

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The Ten Perfections: Spiritual Lessons From A Life With Dogs by Ellen Finnie

When I read the title of this book, I was excited about reading it, although also a little apprehensive. I'm one of those people that can watch a movie and it's not big deal to me if the human dies, but if the dog dies, I'm a complete mess.

The premise of this book is that the author shares stories of ten dogs that she's had in her life over the years, and how each of those dogs taught her one of the pillars of Buddhism. I was expecting the book to be more emotional, but it just never got there for me. In some of the stories, the author is just a complete failure with the dog. It's not that she doesn't love each of the dogs, but in some cases she really just doesn't seem to know how to handle the dog. That in and of itself is not horrible. I've personally been there once. But it's a little frustrating that she keeps getting another dog and another dog and not learning from her mistakes.

Overall the book is fine, but I just didn't have the emotional connection I expected to have.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle or paperback.

No Great Tragedy: An Academic Novel by Bernard Schopen

Professor Harry Hoyle teaches Classics and is the head of the department at the university. When the administration decides to do cutbacks in the humanities, in general, they decide to completely eliminate the classics department. Professor Hoyle finds himself trying to navigate through helping his colleagues as they all try to determine where their careers will go from here, as well as his students. He also has to navigate the path his own life will take, including what losing his job might mean to his marriage.

This book started out very slow for me. I just didn't see how it was going to make an interesting story. The second half of the book definitely picked up and I found myself much more invested and interested in the story. Well written but a bit dry and not the most exciting plot line.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, paperback or hardcover.

How To Live A Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking To Unlock Purpose, Joy, And Flow Every Day by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

In this book, the authors try to address the question of how to make your life seem more meaningful. If you are one of those people that seem to have everything they want - career, money, family, etc. - yet feel like you are stuck and/or that your life is still missing something, this book is for you. The authors explore ways to help you bring more purpose, joy and flow into your every day life.

I did find this book to be very informative. There are real exercises that they give you at the end of each chapter, although all of the exercises seem to definitely take some time and you need to be committed to doing them. I did feel like the bottom line piece of advice was that you should really just stop and smell the roses in everything you do.

I think some people will find this book very useful. It wasn't completely for me, but it was well done.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook, paperback or hardcover.

Emilio Pucci: The Astonishing Odyssey Of A Fashion Icon by Terence Ward and Idanna Pucci

Emilio Pucci is best known for being an Italian fashion designer that created everything from capri pants to wrinkle-free fabrics. However, before he began designing clothes, he was a fighter pilot during WWII and was involved in bringing to light diaries from Mussolini's son-in-law that documented conversations between Mussolini and Hitler at the start of the war.

The subtitle of the book is "The Astonishing Odyssey of a Fashion Icon" and the cover shows the iconic photo of Pucci outfitting his then girlfriend in ski cloths on the slopes in Switzerland. That would imply that the book focuses on how he became a fashion designer. However, at least 75% of the book actually focuses on WWII and his role in it.

I am always interested in WWII history and this was definitely an interesting story. You don't often read books from the Italian perspective of the war. I did find the book a bit difficult to follow. Some of the writing was off. And it was very slow and detailed. If you are interested in Pucci or WWII history, you would be interested in this, but it's not for the casual reader.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle or hardcover.

Unlawful Combatant (David Shaw, Book 4) by Harrison Kone

David Shaw and his new wife, Natalie, have just formed a new company that can be hired to hunt after the most dangerous people in the world. Their experience in both intelligence and combat with the government have given them the tools they need to track down people that others cannot. When they are called in to assist with a huge operation that has been put together based on intelligence from the British, they join the team to take down several of the biggest terrorists in the world. And when the operation goes terribly wrong, the Shaw's realize that the mastermind behind the plan to take the operation down might have a personal vendetta against them as well.

If you like action packed thrillers, this one is for you. In addition to all the action, the author does a good job of bringing a human aspect to the story, which made me more invested in the characters.

This is book 4 in a series, but I have not read any of the other David Shaw books and was not confused at all. Definitely not necessary to read the other books.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook or paperback.

Tenth Of December by George Saunders

This is a collection of short stories that deal with all sorts of things in life from mortality to doing the right thing. Each of the stories has a pretty heavy theme - these are not light and happy stories.

I did find a few of the stories really challenging to figure out, but once I really understood what was going on, the stories were all very memorable. Very well done and well developed for short stories.

This book is #54 on the New York Times list of "The Best 100 Books of the 21st Century". Four out of five stars!

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook, paperback or hardcover.

Murder Through The Snow (Silver Pines Mysteries, Book 5) by Lyla Blue

Clare and the other business owners in Silver Pines are building a Christmas Village for the town square that replicates their own businesses. But when Clare goes to check on the village after a snowy night, she discovers one of her fellow business owners dead in the snow near the display. When other people in the community becomes suspects with the town sheriff, Clare does her own sleuthing to discover what really happened.

If I had to give a general description of this book, it's what I imagine a Hallmark Christmas movie would be that included a murder mystery. My main issue with this book, is that it's part of a mystery series, but it's really light on the actual mystery part. In fact, I feel like the author spends more time talking about things happening in the town and the love triangle between Clare and her two ex-boyfriends (one from high school and one from college), then she spends on the actual mystery.

Cute and sweet and a very short read, but I did not find myself invested at all in the mystery part. It seemed like a total afterthought.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle or audiobook.

Sara's Secrets: A Mystery by Bernard Grisoni

This is a fictional biblical story about Sara. As a young girl, she has a vision that she can't understand, but knows it's important. When she and her family come across a group of people that have been run from their land - Mary, Mary Magdalene and James among them - Sara knows it's her destiny to be with them and help them spread the word in her part of the world. As the story progresses, Sara eventually returns with Mary and James to Jerusalem where the other apostles are.

I had a difficult time reviewing this book, as the genre just isn't for me. However, I thought the writing was very good and the story itself was solid. Someone who is interested in biblical stories would likely really like this one, so I'm ranking it as a solid book, just not a book for me personally.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle or paperback.

I'm A Little Worried About Artificial Intelligence: On Jobs, Education And Humanity's Purpose by Rich Bowers

Highly recommend!

In this book, the author focuses more on the impact of AI in our world - both currently and in the future - rather than the technology itself. He takes a look at how AI will not only impact the workplace (and possibly our own jobs), but how it will impact our day to day lives. And while the thought of AI and its powers may be scary, the author does a great job of outlining things that we all can do to make sure that we are prepared.

I found this book very informative and helpful. As someone who knows a decent amount about AI (but is definitely no expert) and does use it from time to time, this was the perfect amount of information for me. It's not super technical, so you don't need to understand the technicalities of AI and how it works. This book is simply aiming to get you to understand the impact it has now and will likely have going forward.

I work for a company that is very heavily invested in AI going forward. While my own job is not overly directly impacted, I definitely see the writing on the wall as companies move more and more towards AI. It can definitely be scary and I have to say that personally, I'm glad I'm at the end of my career rather than the beginning. I appreciate the way the author puts forward the hard truth with a bit of humor to try and make a scary topic for a lot of people more easily digested.

This book is short and an easy read, and I definitely recommend it if you are concerned - or just curious - about what the future holds for AI.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook, paperback or hardcover.

Stillness And Survival: A Life Between Trauma, Glitter, And The Echo Of My Own Voice by Jacob Anthony Rose

In this memoir, Jacob Anthony Rose shares his story about surviving trauma and coming out the other side. The beginning of the book documents his childhood and growing up in a situation where he was abused physically, mentally and sexually. As he starts to discover who he is and become his own person, he moves to San Francisco and finds escape - and a family he never had before - in the drag queen scene. His drag queen performances and the people he meets along the way make him feel safe, and give him an outlet for his creativity.

However, his unresolved trauma eventually catches up with him and he finds himself at a breaking point mentally. While the journey is difficult, with the love and support of his partner, his therapists and others around him, he finally comes out on the other side.

While the writing in this book may not always be perfect, you feel the raw emotions from the author. This almost feels like his own version of a therapy session - getting things down on paper in this book to help him heal. As a mental health advocate, I appreciate his willingness to share how difficult the journey through mental health and healing can be.

If you've experienced trauma or have someone in your life who has, I know you'll find this book inspiring. And if you haven't, it's worth the read to go along on the author's journey.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle or paperback.

(In)famous by Daniel Amory

Holly is a vlogger who is in Chicago for the weekend to interview for grad school. After she's stood up by a blind date, she goes out to a club to meet a friend. While there, she meets med student, Robert. After spending the entire evening together, they realize they want the relationship to continue and try a long distance relationship.

Fast forward a few months and Robert comes to Boston to see Holly. They plan to meet up with her brother (Bradley) and his sister (Emma) for the day, but keep delaying the meet up. That leads to Bradley and Emma unexpectedly spending the day together and getting to know each other.

I won't give away the details of the story, but the book ultimately covers three couples and their romances. This is the second book I've read by this author. I didn't really care for the first one, but thought I would give him another shot, since other people really seem to like him. While I liked this book more, this author's style just really isn't for me.

I find his characters to be shallow and I don't feel like I'm rooting for a happy ending for them. His dialogue is very repetitive and makes the characters sound immature. The romance part of the book is just not written in a way that I feel the attraction between the characters. And I think in this instance, covering three stories instead of just focusing on one, makes all of the stories seem rushed and unfinished. Better than his previous book in my opinion, but just not my thing.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle or paperback.

Shaolin Spirit: The Way To Self-Mastery by Shi Heng Yi

In this book, the author shares his knowledge of Shaolin, which is a form of martial arts and mindfulness. The author is a teacher of Shaolin and the founder of the Shaolin Temple Europe in Germany.

I have been working on meditating for a little over a year now, so I thought this would be interesting to get a different perspective on a practice that combines the physical with mindfulness. And while I did pick up a few things, I feel like Shaolin is something that can't be taught in a book. So while you may read this and decide you are interested enough to pursue it further, I'm not sure it's something that you can pick up any techniques or exercises by reading it.

I also felt like towards the end, it read like a commercial for the author's programs he offers through the temple. It even included a bunch of testimonials, which seemed very commercial-like and totally unnecessary.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.

This book will be published March 3, 2026. To pre-order your copy on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook or hardcover.

Holiday Spies: License To Bake by Henry Galio

James and Derek are two suburban dad's living in McLean, Virginia, who have found themselves in a Christmas cookie competition. Derek has won the neighborhood competition the past 7 years and after feeling like he was being challenged, James has decided to try and dethrone him. But these two dad's can't just keep this as a simple baking competition. After escalating and getting others involved, the competition turns into an international incident, resulting in over 19 different government agencies being involved.

This is a really hard review for me write, because I genuinely love the concept of this book. And, I think the author's writing is creative and witty. Having said that, if the author ever reads this review, I hope he takes my rating and criticism constructively, as I think he has a lot of potential. The issue with this book can be summarized in one word - editing.

In other book reviews I've done, I've talked about how I think some editing could improve the book. In this instance, it's not just minor editing that's needed. It's major editing. First and foremost, the book is way too long. A book in this genre should take the average person 3-4 hours to read and be about 300 pages. This book (according to my Kindle) was a 9 hour read and over 900 pages. The first 30% of the book covers Christmas Eve day when the feds show up and start investigating what happened. Then you turn to Chapter 21, and the story starts all over again on "Day 1" of the competition. The rest of the book through Chapter 74 covers only Days 1 -5. And then it just stops. Abruptly. It was like the author either a) realized he had a book that was three times as long as it should be and finally stopped, or b) he gave up.

This book needs major editing. Entire chapters could be eliminated as there is so much repetition. It needs to be totally restructured. Additionally, there are inconsistencies throughout. One example is that James' family dog (Ringo) in one chapter inexplicably gets talked about as the dog of Derek's family. And then the next chapter goes back to being James' dog.

This book had so much potential. The concept is hilarious - what happens if a Christmas cookie competition gets out of control. There are also really great messages in the characters. James, who feels inadequate as a person and just wants a win. Derek, who seems to lead the picture perfect life but has really been cheating to make everyone believe he is perfect. The CIA analyst who thought he was joining the CIA for adventure, but ended up with a desk job and is so bored that helping his friend with a baking competition is the most exciting thing in his life. The wives who love their husbands despite their flaws.

As much as I love the concept, I can't recommend anyone dedicate the time to read this whole book. Maybe read up to Chapter 21 and then move on.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Two out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle.

Strangers: A Memoir Of Marriage by Belle Burden

It's the start of the Covid pandemic and the author and her family - husband and two daughters - have left New York City and gone to their home in Martha's Vineyard thinking they will ride the pandemic out there. Everything appears normal, until the author gets a phone call from an unknown number. When she listens to the voicemail, it's a man informing her that her husband is having an affair with his wife. The author immediately confronts her husband and he admits to the affair. By the next day, the author's husband informs her that he wants a divorce and is leaving.

This memoir details what the author went through as she navigates through understanding her marriage and her divorce. Did her husband really love her? Was he unhappy because she stayed at home with the kids? Why did he leave her and for all intents and purposes, leave their kids?

Some people have left more negative reviews because the author and her husband come from privileged families and are very well off, so they feel like it's hard to feel sorry for the author. I get that, and at times it does read that way. But, I also feel like the author comes from a very honest place. Was I frustrated when the author - who is a well-educated lawyer - admits that she had no idea about their finances or how the bills were paid? Yes. Was it hard to feel sorry for her when she faced having to possibly sell their house on Martha's Vineyard and apartment in Manhattan because she didn't protect her assets that were left to her in a trust fund? Yes.

But at the end of the day, whether you are rich or poor, realizing a marriage you've poured everything into is just abruptly over has to be an incredibly difficult thing to go through. I give the author credit for putting her story and vulnerabilities out there.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook, paperback or hardcover.

The Frame: A Legal Thriller by William Sauro

Marcus Chen is a successful advertising executive with a family made up of his wife, Jennifer, and their adopted son, Billy. When the CEO of his biggest client, Sam, ends up strangled to death in a parking garage right after meeting with Marcus, Marcus soon finds himself the prime suspect of the murder. And when Marcus realizes the only way to save himself from jail is to expose the lie he's been hiding from everyone - including his wife - he needs to make a decision that could change everything he's worked for.

Let me start by saying that I love a good legal thriller. This one has the foundation to be a really good one. I thought the plot itself and all of the twists and turns were good. So was the actual legal aspect of it, including all of the courtroom scenes.

My issue with the book is that I felt like there were just a lot of gaps as the book went along that didn't make sense. Pieces that were just inconsistent. Things that would pop up and not be right. I found that very distracting. The other thing that was distracting was Emma's character. Emma is fresh out of law school and has just passed the bar exam. Her character first comes up as a junior associate working for the lawyer that is representing Marcus. At some point as the story moves on, Emma takes over the case and represents Marcus in the trial. Of course, it's not really believable that a lawyer fresh out of law school could be ready to handle a major murder trial, but that's something I think I could have gotten over - even if unrealistic. But as the trial went on, the author slowly started to write things that made it sound as if Emma's character was an experienced trial lawyer. Again, it's those sorts of inconsistencies in the writing that had me struggling with this one.

Overall, a decent legal thriller, but way too repetitive and too many inconsistencies in the writing for me to get over.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Two out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, paperback or hardcover.

Runaway: Stories by Alice Munro

This is a collection of short stories that mostly center around women and various choices they have to make in their lives. Included is a series of three stories that follows the same main character - Juliet - through her life, so is more like a short novel than individual short stories. The topics of the stories range from a young married woman who tries to runaway from her marriage to a young woman who finds herself engaged to a man, but is really more in love with his family than she is with him.

As those of you that follow my book reviews know, short stories aren't my favorite because I don't feel there is time to develop the characters enough to get involved in the stories. However, I think Munro does a better job than most in developing characters that stick with you and stories that are compelling. Definitely found this better than most collections of short stories I've read. This book is number 53 on the New York Times list of the "Best 100 Books of the 21st Century". Three out of five stars.

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook, paperback or hardcover.

The Second Son (Chase Burke, Book 1) by Simon Gervais and Ryan Steck

Highly recommend!

Chase Burke is an ex-soldier turned sommelier who is working at a Michelin rated restaurant in NYC. He recently got news that his brother - Michael - was killed in a military operation. Just as Chase is starting to open a nice bottle of wine and make a dinner to honor his brother, he gets a call from the owner of the restaurant he works at that a local congresswoman - who Chase has a bit of a crush on - has a reservation at the restaurant tonight. Chase agrees to go in to work in the hopes of having a chance to talk to the congresswoman and ask her out. However, before he can do that, gunmen enter the restaurant and open fire - aiming for the congresswoman. Chase jumps into action, using his military training to try and take out the gunmen.

When all is said and done and the police arrive on the scene, instead of hailing Chase as a hero, he becomes a suspect. As Chase works to clear his name and figure out who was after the congresswoman, he finds himself in the middle of something much larger. And also starts to suspect that he may be a target as well.

I thought this was a great thriller. Action packed the whole way through. The story was well thought out with lots of twists and turns throughout. Great writing and great characters. Definitely a page turner!

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!

To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook or paperback.

How To Disagree Better by Julia Minson

Highly recommend!

In this book, the author - who is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and a behavioral scientist - discusses something that we all run into (and probably now more than ever) - disagreement and how to handle it. Some people thrive on disagreement. Other people (me) try to avoid it whenever possible. But most of us can benefit from learning some tools to help us manage disagreement better.

What I like about this book is the author frames the idea of disagreement in a very practical way - whether at home, work or school. She also acknowledges that handling disagreement better doesn't necessarily mean ultimately agreeing with the person or persuading them to agree with your position. In fact, she admits that is typically not the result. The idea behind the book is how do we get to a place where we can disagree with someone and not end up in a bad place/relationship with that person. Using techniques such as listening better, asking questions to help you better understand why someone has taken the position they have, etc. can all be used to help diffuse situations.

In today's world where disagreement seems to be the norm, I think everyone could benefit from reading this book. While I think it does get a bit too detailed and might be easier for people to comprehend if it was a little more "to the point", I definitely got some good pieces of information out of it and some strategies that I plan to utilize.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!

This book will be published March 24, 2006. To pre-order your copy on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook or hardcover.

Happy Spring everyone! You'll find me on the beach reading a good book!

What books do you recommend I read next? Let me know! Did you check out any of these books? I'd love to hear what you think! Comment below or e-mail me at tips2livebywriter@gmail.com.

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