She Didn't See It Coming by Shari Lapena

August 2025

Bookreporter readers are well aware of how much I love Shari Lapena’s books. She knows how to keep me turning the pages. In fact, I had just a few chapters of SHE DIDN’T SEE IT COMING left to read one morning, so I downloaded the audiobook and finished with a listen on the way to the health club. She is that good; I just did not want to wait to see how the book wrapped up.

Let’s look at the setup. Bryden is working at home in her luxury apartment. She fails to pick up her daughter at daycare, which is most unlike her. Her husband, Sam, arrives home to find her laptop on, her car keys still there, her vehicle still in the underground garage, and her cell phone still in the apartment. It’s as if she vanished.

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This Happened to Me: A Reckoning by Kate Price

August 2025

At the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to spotlight some titles that I would call “issue books” --- nonfiction that looked at topics that I think are worth exploring. THIS HAPPENED TO ME by Kate Price is one of those books.

At a young age, Kate, who grew up in Appalachia, spent lots of time reading books and finding refuge in the children’s department of her local library. There she could “visit” various places and find adventure and warm family stories, which were very different from what she saw at home. Her father was violent, her mother lived in fear of him, and she frequently was pitted against her older sister in abusive ways.

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When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén

August 2025

I am always skeptical when books arrive with tissues and a note that I am going to need them. I wonder when I will have to use them --- the beginning, the middle or the end. Or not at all.

I grabbed WHEN THE CRANES FLY SOUTH by Lisa Ridzén last Sunday and took my usual spot to stand at the side of the pool and read. I know, it’s not your typical way to read a book, but it’s how I’ve been reading these past couple of summers.

Bo is a man who has seen a lot of good years. He’s now living at home with caregivers stopping in around the clock to see to his needs. They write notes about what he has been eating, his mood, and what else they observe as they visit. Bo’s world has become pretty small. His wife is suffering from dementia and is living in a care home. His best friend (being realistic here, the last friend his age who’s alive) lives too far to visit often, though they commiserate on the phone. Bo conjures up memories of their very different worlds, but also the closeness of their lives. When you read it, you will see what I mean.

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Juliette Fay, author of The Harvey Girls

Charlotte Crowninshield was born into one of the finest Boston society families. Now she’s on the run from a brutal husband. Billie MacTavish is the oldest of nine children born to Scottish immigrants in Nebraska. She quit school in the sixth grade to help with her mother’s washing and mending business, but even that isn’t enough to keep the family afloat. Desperate, both women join the ranks of the Harvey Girls, waitresses who serve in America’s first hospitality chain on the Santa Fe railroad. Hired on the same day, they share three things: a room, a heartfelt dislike of each other…and each has a secret that certainly will get them fired. But when they’re sent to work at the luxurious El Tovar hotel at the Grand Canyon, Billie struggles to hide her young age from would-be suitors, and Charlotte discovers the little-known dark side of the national park’s history.

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Jason Mott, author of People Like Us

Two Black writers are trying to find peace and belonging in a world that is riven with gun violence. One is on a global book tour after a big prize win; the other is set to give a speech at a school that has suffered a shooting. As their two storylines merge, truths and antics abound in equal measure: characters drink booze out of an award trophy; menaces lurk in the shadows; tiny French cars putter around the countryside; handguns seem to hover in the air; and dreams endure against all odds.

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