May 2025 Book Reviews!
- Christine
- Jun 1
- 13 min read
By the time you are reading this, it's the beginning of June and summer has unofficially started. A lot of people do summer reading lists or summer book clubs, so now is a perfect time to discover some new books and I hope this month's reviews will help you do that.
As I mentioned last month, we're doing a project to expand our lanai into a bigger living space. The lanai is where I usually spend my evenings reading, so I've really missed having it available. The good news is that the project is almost finished and I'll have a beautiful new outdoor space (with screens to keep the bugs out) to relax in and watch the sunset in the evenings with a good book and a glass of wine.
I'm sure I'll be spending lots of time in my new lanai reading, so be sure to follow me on Goodreads or The Story Graph to get real time reviews of the books I'm reading.
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The Color Of Courage: Codename Odile (Timeless Agents Book 1) by Hannah Byron
This is the story of Lise, who served as a British secret agent in France during WWII. The story starts in present day when Sil, who is an art student, rents an apartment in France. After an ex-boyfriend comes to visit and kicks a hole in the wall, the hole reveals a briefcase full of letters Lise wrote to Henri that told the story of the time she served during the war.
As Sil reads the letters and learns more about Lise, she also discovers more about herself.
A good story and I always enjoy WWII historical fiction, but it was a bit difficult to keep all the characters straight and the story felt choppy at times. This book is the first in a series. It was good, but not sure it inspired me to keep reading the series.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
The Incredible Kindness Of Paper by Evelyn Skye
Chloe and Oliver start out as pen pals in elementary school. From the beginning, it's clear that they have a deep connection and they become best friends. As they get older, they realize their feelings might go deeper than friendship. When they finally both get the courage to tell each other how they feel, Oliver's family has to leave town when his mother gets in trouble with the law. Oliver doesn't get a chance to tell Chloe why he has to leave and just disappears from her life.
Fast forward to present day. Chloe is living in NYC and is laid off from her job as a guidance counselor. Looking for a way to give herself purpose, Chloe starts making origami flowers with inspirational messages inside and leaving them around the city.
As Chloe's paper flowers become a phenomenon, there appear to be coincidences of who gets the messages and how they are connected to her. It also turns out they are connected to Oliver - who is now also living in NYC.
Is this book cheesy and unbelievable at times? Absolutely. But if you want a feel good story that leaves you cheering for Chloe and Oliver, this is it. A great summer beach read. I read it in one day and couldn't put it down.
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 August 12, 2025. To preorder your copy on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook or hardcover.
A Place More Dark (Jock Mitchell Adventures Book 2) by Nathaniel M. Wrey
This is a short book written in a "day in the life" style about a group of Scottish and British POWs at the end of WWII. The group is being moved from the prison camp they were being held in somewhere in Poland, to another prison camp in Germany. While it is nearing the end of the war and the Germans have clearly lost, there still has not been an official surrender and the allied troops still have not arrived to free the prisoners.
The main character in the story is Jock, who helps guide his fellow prisoners through their couple month journey - mostly on foot - through Poland and Germany.
While the premise of the story was good, I don't feel that it really grabbed me as much as it could have. The dialogue was a bit tough to read as it was written to convey both a Scottish (for Jock) and a German accent. Obviously, the suffering that all the POWs went through was immense and the book did a good job of conveying that. It also did a good job of conveying how the prisoners had to rely on humor to get them through as well.
Solid book, but not gripping or a page turner 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.
Rediscover Your Wisdom: Drawing On Answers From Your Past To Achieve Self-Improvement, Growth and Success by Rabbi Joel Stein
As with all self-help books I read, I base my review on whether or not there are good takeaways within the book that I can implement in my daily life. While this book had some good advice, I didn't walk away from it feeling that I learned anything new. It was all things that I think most of us innately know - always look for the positives, be kind to others, have empathy, etc.- and nothing revolutionary about how to change your mindset.
In addition, I found a lot of the stories and anecdotes to be unrealistic. Nobody has a 5 minute conversation with someone, diagnosis their problem, and presents a solution that they implement. Life just doesn't work that way and problems are much more complex than that. In fact, I worry that it almost makes light of certain problems people face, when the author makes it sound like he just runs around solving major life issues for everyone with one conversation and suggestion.
The book is well written. Some people may feel some inspiration from its positive messages. But I don't feel it is worth it if you are looking for solid techniques to make improvements in your life.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
November Hunt (Murder By Month Mystery, Book 7) by Jess Lourey
Mira is living in a small town in Minnesota. While she is working as the town's librarian and part-time newspaper columnist, she has aspirations of being a private investigator. While I didn't read previous books in the series, I got the impression from this one that the premise for the series is Mira falling into having to solve mysteries in the town.
In this book, Mira is hired by Hallie, whose father was killed by his best friend during a hunting accident. Hallie doesn't believe it was an accident and hires Mira to investigate.
This is a pretty typical mystery. Nothing exceptional about it, but nothing bad either. Mira is quite a quirky character, which adds some nice humor to the book.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
I read this book so many times as a little girl growing up in - ironically - Toledo (IYKYK where Margaret's mother grew up). After getting a chance to meet Judy Blume at her bookstore in Key West and buying an autograph copy from her store, it felt like the right time to read this again. And, as someone who now lives in South Carolina where we, unfortunately, have just topped the list for the state with the most banned books, reading this book again feels that much better.
This book is timeless. It was one of the most important books to me in my childhood. It is real life and what so many 12 year old girls go through - even today. For a lot of kids, books are a way to find characters that are like you - feeling the same emotions, having the same thoughts, and going through the same things in life. Every young girl should read this book. Such a classic!!! Five out of five stars!
Honest Harvest by E P Keller
Eastgate is a farming town located in Canada, but is typical of farming towns anywhere. Everyone works hard and is barely making a living, but they take pride in their land and what they have.
When Jake's father unexpectedly dies, Jake is left to take care of the family farm, his mother and his new girlfriend and her son. He's relieved when he discovers that his father had been paying the local accountant - Arnold - to take care of all the books for the farm.
When Arnold attends a party and meets the beautiful and smart Juliet Grey, she convinces him to go down a path that threatens not only Arnold and Jake, but the entire town.
It's not hard to figure out where this story is going fairly early into the book. However, even though it's predictable, I still thought it was well written and I found myself wanting to turn the pages to find out what happens to all of the characters.
It's a sad story that you can predict is not going to have a happy ending, but I found it to be a good read.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Sadie and Sam meet when they are kids. Sam is in the hospital recovering from an injury he got in a car crash. Sadie is at the hospital while her older sister is receiving treatment for cancer. The pair quickly form a bond over gaming and become friends.
The book follows Sam and Sadie's journey through their friendship. When the two reconnect as college students and decide to create their own game together, the relationship moves from friendship to business partners and co-creators. Throughout, their relationship ebbs and flows.
I definitely got emotionally involved with the characters in this book. And even though I found both Sam and Sadie hard to like, I still felt invested in them and wanting to know how their story ends.
This is a beautifully written book about a range of complex topics and emotions. Definitely worth a read! Four out of five stars!
Perfect Opportunity (Posadas County, Book 26) by Steven F. Havill
This mystery involves two men who are found dead on the side of the road. And while initial appearances make it seem like the men - who had a history - killed each other, it quickly becomes clear that there is more to their deaths.
I struggled a bit with this one. I found the characters difficult to keep track of and not interesting. The mystery never grabbed me. To me, the sign of a good mystery is when I can't wait to finish the book and find out who did it. That wasn't the case with this one. Well written, but boring.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
Bless Our Sleep by Neil S. Plakcy
This mystery takes place in the late 1960s in Miami Beach. George has just left the Navy and is trying to establish himself as a private investigator. He's moonlighting as a bouncer at a local bar to make ends meet. When he is approached by one of the patrons to help him find his family ring that was lost in a situation that could be compromising, George finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation and more.
Decent mystery. Definitely insightful into the gay subculture of Miami Beach in the 1960s. There were some subplots to the main mystery that seemed out of place and not needed. Eliminating those could have tightened up the book a bit.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
Feather Falls: Golden State Stories by Shawn Hartje
This is a collection of four short stories that all take place in California. Each of the stories are different and all quite eclectic. I always struggle a bit with short stories because I miss the plot and character development of a full novel, but the author does a good job of getting across the story he wants to tell in a few pages.
The last story about the words was a bit too "out there" for me personally, but I enjoyed the first three.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
I'm a bit torn on this one. I thought it started out great and had great potential, but the second half really fell off for me.
Saeed and Nadia are two young professionals living somewhere in the Middle East where war is breaking out. The beginning of the book focuses on them as they start their relationship and begin falling in love, at the same time that they see their country falling apart around them and begin looking for a way to escape.
And then comes the magic doors.
These magic doors appear and when you go through them, you end up somewhere else. The first time the couple goes through, they are in Mykonos. The second, they are in London. The third, they are outside California. Are the doors supposed to be metaphorical? The couple is clearly fleeing to the west and part of the story is how all of these migrants that go through these doors from all over the world overwhelm the city they end up in. So, I guess it's a metaphorical way to talk about real immigration and refugees not being accepted in places. It could have been a very gripping novel about that, but this weird door thing just ruins it for me.
The writing is good. I love the development of the relationship between Saeed and Nadia and how it changes as they both change. But I just think this could have been so much more.
This book is number 75 on the New York Times list of the "Best 100 Books of the 21st Century". Three out of five stars.
Long Time Gone by Gregory Stout
When Private Investigator Jackson Gamble is approached by Sarah Bergman to help her find her missing husband, Gamble has to wonder why she is just looking for him now, four years after his disappearance. As Gamble looks into the case of missing Professor Bergman, he uncovers more questions than answers and more dead bodies.
This is a solid mystery and the author does a good job of piecing it all together. The story does go a little off course from time to time, but a good mystery with enjoyable characters.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
Them Bones (McKenzie Novels, Book 22) by David Housewright
McKenzie is an ex-cop turned private investigator. When Angela, who previously rescued him, asks him to help solve the mystery of who stole a dinosaur skull she dug up in Montana, McKenzie agrees.
The story itself was fairly interesting, but the writing was a bit lacking. The first several chapters are Angela telling McKenzie about the dig and how the skull was stolen. The writing very confusedly went between present tense and past tense, and being told with Angela as the first person narrator and McKenzie doing the same. It introduced a lot of characters that were hard to keep track of as well.
As it got into the present time story, there would be lines and lines of dialogue with nothing attributing it to who was saying it. It really made it hard to follow the story and who everyone was.
Story was probably a 4, but the writing is bringing my rating down.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
Lost Angel Unleashed: Stories From The Heart (Lost Angel Travel Series, Book 3) by Linda Ballou
This is a collection of travel stories from the author's personal experiences. The author is a big fan of nature and experiencing some of the more natural and less visited spots in the world. She lived in Alaska as a child for a time and now lives in California, so her travels in the U.S. are mostly in those areas.
Well written and a quick read, with most of the stories being the length of a magazine article, so easy to get through quickly.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, Book 1) by Elizabeth Strout
This book is a series of short stories that are all either about Olive Kitteridge, or center around her. Olive is a retired math teacher who isn't the most pleasant or well liked person in town. The stories focus on her and various other characters in the town and some of the struggles they face.
I can't say that I really enjoyed this book. While the writing was good, the stories were all quite depressing and all of the characters seemed to be pretty miserable people. Because this was written as a collection of short stories and not one cohesive novel, everything jumped around a bit and it was hard to follow at times.
Good writing, but kind of a drag for me personally. This book is number 74 on the New York Times list of the "Best 100 Books of the 21st Century." Three out of five stars.
Sierra Six (Gray Man, Book 11) by Mark Greaney
Court Gentry is a former CIA operative who is hired to carry out a mission. When the mission goes wrong and Gentry realizes someone he thought was dead 12 years ago is still alive and planning to cause destruction in India, Gentry goes on a mission to take him down.
The story goes back and forth between what happened 12 years ago and present day. This book is part of a series, so you do have to fill in some gaps in the history of the characters, but it can be read alone.
Action packed. A little too much with the military terms and technical stuff which was a bit hard to follow, but exciting story that was fast paced.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
That's it for May's reviews. Fingers crossed the lanai is finished in the next couple of weeks and I'll have my reading spot back! Keep reading!
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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