NEW BOOK REVIEWS

Book Review: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

We All Live Here

Review: We All Live Here reminds me of how connected we are and also the importance of family. Jojo Moyes perfectly captures the day-to-day life and the interactions between family members, giving us a cast of ordinary, yet flawed, people striving to stay strong. What I appreciated ... More

Book Summary: The #1 New York Times bestselling author, whose books so many love, brings us a fresh, contemporary story of a woman and her unruly blended family

"Nobody writes women the way Jojo Moyes does." -Jodi Picoult

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in ... More

Beautiful Ugly

Review: I love this author - she always does a great job of keeping you guessing, and her final reveals are usually unique and hard to guess. This book is just that. Two unreliable narrators tell the story. To build suspense, Feeney withholds or changes information as you go along - keeping you engrossed and forcing you to rethink your first impressions of the characters .... More

Book Summmary: Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life. Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared. A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby... More

PBR's Book Club Pick

The Bright Years
By Sarah Damoff

Book Summary: Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn't told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn't told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall. .... More

Review: "The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff is a novel about second chances, reinventing yourself, and the happiness that comes from unexpected life changes. It's about women dealing with changes in their careers, relationships, and identities. Damoff's writing is warm and inviting, portraying the struggles and emotions of these characters honestly, making it easy to connect with them. I loved that they were flawed .... More

Praise: "The Bright Years is a dazzling, true-to-life depiction of adoration and damage, and the lovely ache of living as the pendulum swings between them."-Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"Tender and heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful...will make the reader feel like they are actually living through it alongside the characters."-Booklist (starred review)

"THE BRIGHT YEARS is a moving portrait of inheritance and loss. A heart-breaker and heart-mender at once, this is a story that forces us to confront our vulnerabilities and secrets in order to find our strength and truth. A stunning debut!"-TAYARI JONES, author of An American MarriageMore

Book Club Questions - The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff

Spot Light Books

YA Fantasy (ages 14-18)

The House Saphir
By Marissa Meyer

Book Summary: The "Queen of Fairytale Retellings" is back! #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer weaves the tale of Bluebeard as it's never been told before. This is a thrilling romantasy and murder mystery, perfect for fans Meyer's Cinder and Heartless. Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the familyMore

Memoir

I've always admired Diane Keaton for her honesty and originality. She made us laugh, think, and feel for decades-never afraid to be herself, even when everyone else played it safe. With her recent passing, Then Again feels even more special-a chance to hear her voice, her humor, and her reflections in her own words. It's heartfelt, funny, and full of the warmth that made her unforgettable.

Then Again
By Diane Keaton

Book Summary: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Legendary actress Diane Keaton's memoir about her mother and herself, "as warm, funny, and self-deprecating as Keaton's onscreen persona" (Vogue)-featuring an afterword by Anna Quindlen... Mom loved adages, quotes, slogans. There were always little reminders pasted on the kitchen wall. For example, the word THINK. I found THINK thumbtacked on a bulletin board in her darkroom. I saw it Scotch-taped on a pencil box she'd collaged. I even found a pamphlet titled THINK on her bedside table ...More

Praise: "This book feels like Diane Keaton. Which means it's lovable."-Entertainment Weekly

"Then Again reads like the diary of an ordinary woman who suddenly became a movie star, who doesn't quite believe any of it happened, but it did."-Los Angeles Times

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Janet Maslin, The New York Times; People; Vogue...More

Backlist Book

Backlist books are valuable because they help readers discover timeless classics and lesser-known gems. They provide insight into an author's earlier work, highlighting their growth and creativity. Plus, their established readership often indicates quality and lasting appeal.

Atonement
By Ian McEwan

Book Summary: Brilliant and utterly enthralling in its depiction of childhood, love and war, England and class, this beautiful hardcover edition of the bestselling "tour de force" (The New York Times) from the Booker Prize-winning author is a profound-and profoundly moving-exploration of shame and forgiveness and the difficulty of absolution. One of the New York Times's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century ... More

Celebrity Book Club Picks

Reese Witherspoon's Book Club Pick

Wild Dark Shore
By Charlotte McConaghy

Book Summary: An ENTHRALLING new novel from the NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of Migrations and Once There Were Wolves...A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon. Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica ...More

More Reese Witherspoon Book Club Picks

Reese Witherspoon's Summer YA Pick

Stuck Up And Stupid
By Angourie Rice and Kate Rice

Book Summary: This sharp, hilarious, and heartfelt novel is giving major Austen vibes with a fresh twist - and we're obsessed."-Reese's Book Club (Reese's Book Club Summer '25 YA Pick). An ordinary girl. A Hollywood star. A love story that could change everything. Pride and Prejudice gets a modern twist in this summer romance from ....More

GMA's Book Club Pick

Wreck
By Catherine Newman

Book Summary: The acclaimed bestselling author of Sandwich is back with a wonderful novel, full of laughter and heart, about marriage, family, and what happens when life doesn't go as planned. If you loved Rocky and her family on vacation on Cape Cod, wait until you join them at home ...More

More Good Morning America Book Club Picks

GMA's YA Pick

Coldwire
By Chloe Gong

Book Summary: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chloe Gong comes the start of a daring new dystopian series where humanity has moved to virtual reality to flee their deteriorating world, following two young soldiers who must depend on unlikely allies in their fight for survival. The future is loading...To escape rising seas and rampant epidemics...More

Read With Jenna Book Club Pick

Cursed Daughters
By Oyinkan Braithwaite

Book Summary: A young woman must shake off a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin in this wickedly funny, brilliantly perceptive novel about love, female rivalry, and superstition from the author of the smash hit My Sister, the Serial Killer ("A bombshell of a book ...More

Oprah's Book Club Pick (#119)

A Guardian and a Thief
By Megha Majumdar

Book Summary: Megha Majumdar's electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times bestseller A Burning is set in a near-future Kolkata, India in which two families seeking to protect their children must battle each other. A piercing and propulsive tour de force. In a near-future Kolkata, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father ...More

More Oprah Club Picks