A modern Appalachian retelling of David Copperfield, Demon Copperhead centers on Damon, born to a drug addicted mother and left to the foster care system as a young boy. His epic and adventurous tale takes us though child labor, underfunded schools, homelessness, an incapable foster system, athletic successes, and addiction. The story depicts the opioid crisis moving into the land rich but money poor south, and the love and loss Damon endures throughout his adolescence.

When I was in high school, our AP English summer read for senior year was The Poisonwood Bible and I HATED that book, so I have avoided Kingsolver ever since. Demon Copperhead however was an epic and moving tale, and I loved it. Incredibly well written, this story did such a wonderful job of humanizing those dealing with addiction while showing that overcoming it is possible even though so much loss has occurred. The book is definitely heavy, but has sprinkles of humor. Every character was so complex and well written. Now I want to read David Copperfield!

George’s debut novel is a beautiful coming of age story about love and loss, grief and gratitude, and the pressures of being the perfect daughter to less than perfect parents. Maddie, the daughter of Ghanan immigrants, is the main caretaker for her father, who has Parkinson’s. When her mom returns from a year long trip to Ghana, Maddie jumps at the opportunity to move out and find out who she is. Tragedy strikes, and Maddie is forced to face her complex family and the consequences of always putting others before herself.

This poignant novel was both heartbreaking and laugh out loud funny. Maddie’s character is so relatable and I loved her. The story was heavy but balanced with some lighthearted humor and the writing was beautiful. 4.5 stars!

The final book of the Dreamland Billionaires series focuses on Cal Kane, a high-functioning alcoholic who has to sell his family’s summer home on Lake Wisteria before he can receive his portion of his grandfather’s inheritance and help his two brothers receive their share of their grandfather’s company. The only problem is Lana, Cal’s childhood best friend and ex-girlfriend, who currently lives in the house and claims that she owns it. The two are forced to navigate their past relationship and why it ended as they work together to sell the house.

This book was so good! I’ve loved this series. All of the characters are so well written and I love a dual point of view romance. I also really appreciate that Lauren Asher includes people with disabilities in her books and that she has diverse characters in general. I also think the book did a great job of addressing addiction and the impact it has on those who love the person struggling with addiction. A great end to a great series!

Freshly out of prison and homeless due to losing her first bartending job, Millie needs to find work fast. When she interviews to work as a housemaid for the Winchester family, the job almost seems too good to be true—a place to live, a great salary, and she’ll look good to her parole officer. But the Winchesters are anything but the picture perfect family they portray themselves to be. Millie finds herself tangled in a mess of the family’s secrets that she needs to unravel herself from—or end up back in prison.

The first third of this book had me wanting to throw my Kindle at the wall…like come on Millie, there are a million red flags about this family that you are being way too cavalier about. But the twist! It was very unexpected and so so good. The book had short chapters and was really engrossing. I wanted to know what happened and read this in less than a day! This was a great domestic thriller.

Cooper, a college hockey star bound for the NHL, is in a romantic rut. Once he meets Penelope, he feels that she’s the only one that can pull him out of it. The only problem? She’s the coach’s daughter. Penelope, who is still reeling from a bad relationship, depends on Cooper to help her get over her past trauma. But the longer the two spend time together, the stronger their connection grows.

This book was just okay to me. I like romance novels to also have a good plot, and this basically has none so it was hard to stay engaged and interested. It was too long for having no story. The characters’ relationship was cute but overall this one fell flat. 2.5 starts rounded up.

Satire writer Borowitz brilliantly examines the dumbing down of American politicians in Profiles in Ignorance. Starting with Reagan and Dan Quayle and culminating with Trump and some of his most fervent followers, Borowitz investigates the role social media and the 24 hour news cycle have played in America increasingly electing officials who know less and less.

While it was shocking to learn just how stupid some politicians in recent history actually are (spoiler alert, it’s bad), I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about previous presidents that I didn’t already know. And Borowitz’s writing is hilarious! The book had an uplifting conclusion, which was definitely necessary after reading about so many ignorant individuals.

A quote I loved: “I want the president of the United States to be intellectually curious for a simple reason: I think the person running the country should be smarter than I am. We’ve just lived through the alternative, and it was only good for the liquor industry.”

Oleg Gordievsky was a Russian KGB agent who, for over ten years during the Cold War, spied for the British government on behalf of MI6. The author retells the tales of Gordievsky’s engagement, espionage, and eventual extraction from the Soviet Union based on interviews with Gordievksy himself, as well as other MI6 and KGB agents.

While this book is nonfiction, it was such a gripping story that I felt like I was reading a spy thriller. The pace of this book was excellent and held my interest throughout while still proving a plethora of information and details. A great read or listen for anyone interested in history!

Feyre, Rhys, and their close-knit band of friends seek to rebuild the Night Court after the end of the brutal war with Hybern. As the Winter Soltice approaches, the group tries to return to some sort of normalcy while still dealing with the internal impacts the war has caused them.

I read this book as a buddy read with my friend Amanda, and I was telling her after we finished this that Goodreads has this book listed as book 3.1 in the series, and it definitely felt like .1 of a book in comparison to the rest of the series thus far. The book was fine, it just felt sort of unnecessary. Nothing major happened plot-wise and I feel like the only purpose of this was to serve as a bridge between the first three books and where the rest of the series will head. I’m not mad that I read it, but I think it can be skipped unless readers need a reminder before moving on to A Court of Silver Flames. Looking forward to the next book in the series!