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Best of 2025

As readers we love these posts because we can look at what other readers loved, compare notes, and possibly add on to our large TBR piles (to-be-read) which could be actual stacks in your house or lists upon lists. Reading is still a very good escape from what’s happening around us. And yet we cannot dig our head in the sand, we have to stay aware of the atrocities happening now. Many of these titles help to understand the human experience which is one of the many reasons I read.

I want to emphasize a variety of unique authors that I discovered this year.

Books:

⭐️Moon of the Turning Leaves (#2) by Waubgishig Rice: This dystopian sequel was just as good as the first. Evan Whitesky and a scouting party hike out onto the territory to find out what is happening in the world. This takes place ten years after a blackout that left them without resources. 

⭐️The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhorn: I read this for book club and Martha Ballard has stayed with me. She was a midwife and healer in 1789 and her diary notes become integral to solving a murder after a woman is raped in the community. I started a daily journal after I read this. Mine is much more mundane than hers but I like the practice. 

⭐️When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash: I don’t know where I heard about this book but I really enjoyed the mystery. Sheriff Winston Barnes investigates a death at their small airfield in North Carolina and finds more than he can handle. I really connected with this story and the characters. 

⭐️There, There by Tommy Orange: he’s been on my list to read for years and I finally picked it up and was moved by this story of the Big Oakland Powwow. Old friends are connecting and trouble is brewing underneath it all. 

⭐️Caucasia by Danzy Senna: in this debut novel Senna tells the story of Birdie and Cole, raised  by their white mother and black father in 1970’s Boston. Birdie can pass as white while Cole is Black like her father who ends up separating the sisters, taking Cole to Brazil with his new Black wife.  This was such an interesting well-written story! She’s the wife of Percival Everett, another author I admire.

⭐️Kindred by Octavia E. Butler: this is another book I’ve meant to read for years and I finally did. I was swept away with Dana as she finds herself transported to the antebellum South where she interacts with the plantation owners son, Rufus. Butler is a master storyteller. 

⭐️Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller: small town Troy, Georgia is home to two very different women, Beverly Underwood and Lula Dean. Lula embarks on a journey to rid the local library of “unfit” books and she starts a lending library with more “appropriate” books. One teenager takes on the challenge to help in a very unique way. I loved all the quirky community members in this story. Perfect for what we are experiencing now with the banning of ideas and morals. 

⭐️The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner: this is a YA novel that has a message for everyone. Dill’s dad, a Pentecostal minister, is in prisoner and his friends Lydia and Travis are his sole support system. The three of them are bonded together because of family troubles and their outcast school status. I cried at the end because I fell in love with their friendship and their struggles. 

⭐️Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds: written years ago and left in a drawer by this rock star author, he eventually published as only an audiobook. I listened to it on @Libby after hearing him speak about it at the AASL library conference this fall. It’s a riveting tale of Stuy, his mom, and an unruly cast of friends and family. It’s like listening to a play with music and sound effects throughout. 

⭐️I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys: this is historical fiction at its best! This story takes place during the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989 Romania. The story is told by 17 yo Cristian Florescu who dreams of being a writer. I remember when this was taking place but the details in this book made the era come alive. I’ve read three of her books and have her on my top list for middle grade fiction books as well. 

My top book of the year was :

⭐️A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza, a novel focused on an Indian-American Muslim family with three unique siblings, Hadia, Huda, and Amar. The story takes place throughout their childhood as they grow up, make mistakes, and lose faith in each other. I loved Mirza’s writing. 

I also read some more well-known and current reads like The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein, James by Percival Everett, The Wedding People by Alison Espach, The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller, We Solve Murders by Richard Osman, Evie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes, Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Kline, The Women by Kristin Hannah, and Broken Country by Leslie Clare Hall; all of which I highly recommend.

I also read eight Elin Hilderbrand and two Annabel Monaghan, which are great palate cleansers for heavier reading and emotions.

Stay safe out there. Make daily phone calls (5 Calls) to your representatives. I have a list of middle grade and nonfiction to follow.

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr

Here we are approaching the federal holiday celebrating the birthday of this great American hero who gave his life for the fight against segregation and we are right back into that 1960’s space. The pictures out of Minneapolis, New York, and California remind me of the protests over a segregated United States.

How is it possible that DT and his Klan have brought this era back and how is it possible that so many americans are right there with them? It’s like the great-grandchildren of the actual Klan are now having their moment in time, acting as both ICE and DT’s cheerleaders.’ Reading social media posts about Renee Good’s murder and other ICE takedowns I find it scary to see how many do not understand the racial profiling that is happening. I see comments about getting the “criminals” out and wonder how they can be so delusional. I heard a story about ICE agents eating at a Mexican restaurant only to return later and arrest the staff that served them. These aren’t criminals, Renee Good was causing good trouble, and the man who shot her should be in jail awaiting trial. Anyone who thinks different than that is a racist and shouldn’t have a voice here. We ended segregation in 1964 when the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. We cannot dial back from that.

I’m with the protestors because I believe that everyone matters and we all belong here. And I just do not understand how anyone can disagree with that statement. We are not removing criminals, the criminals are in the (now trashed) White House, and the Senate. We have too many people complicit in all the things that are happening including stealing oil and bombing Venezuelan boats, hosting meetings about taking over Greenland, minting coins for himself, ruining the East Wing of the White House, firing so many necessary government workers, asking military personal to take part in treasonous acts of war. the list goes on and it is only the first year. I’m scared.

I believe if some of our strong democratic members could get together and take out the whole administration out we could save the U.S., and it needs to happen quickly before we get in a fight with our NATO allies, before millions of our black and brown neighbors are arrested and taken away. We can’t wait. We are waffling between Nazi Germany and Jim Crow laws. Here’s my list of players: Barack, Corey Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie, and Stacy Abrams. I need this group to become our Dr King. If I could, I’d issue a citizens arrest for DT, Vance, Noem, and Karoline Leavitt, who make me angry on the daily. This is a terrible time in our country.

What would you do to make this go away?

Sunny San Diego.

Japhy and I recently had the good fortune to spend Fall Break (Thanksgiving) in this beautiful city. The weather there was perfect and we came back to major winter weather here.

A little Cava on the coast

We are true foodies so had our trip planned around several eateries like Sunny Boy Biscuits and The Cottage. Other places like Mitch’s Seafood Market we just stumbled upon. Japhy is a great planner and she had a well-mapped out itinerary for us. We accomplished almost everything we set out to do. Cordoba Island was a highlight. Seeing the sea lions in La Jolla was delightful. We ate at several good places in Encinitas and loved our boutique hotel Cardiff-By-the-Sea Lodge (fantastic rooftop patio) which was across the street from a 7-11 ( great hot chocolate one night) and Little Fox ice cream shop we visited twice.

I love to travel and am well aware that is a privilege. Japhy and I are great about cutting costs by sharing food and finding fun things that are free. We walked a lot, took the coaster train, and even a few city buses to get to our destinations. We skipped the zoo but did walk all around Balboa Park. Our lodge had a gorgeous rooftop patio with swing chairs and a gorgeous view.

We spent time on the beach walking barefoot. We enjoyed relaxing in the very peaceful Coronado Island Public Library for about an hour. We explored a teeny tiny packed bookstore in the Hillcrest neighborhood.

Traveling provides us with such great experiences and a chance to spend one-on-one time with my kids. This year I’ve been also able to travel to Detroit to see Tristan and he and I spent our spring break in Panama City. Now I have to get out to visit Kaylee in Brooklyn to complete this circle.

Fall Books

I love when you finish a book and you hug it and want to start over again. When this happens I go through the rolodex in my brain and imagine who would also love this story. Recently this happened when I finished read Jeff Zentner’s The Serpent King, a story about three teenagers struggling to survive in their small Tennessee town. Zentner created such interesting characters in Dill, Lydia, and Travis with their own idiosyncrasies and some very unfortunate family situations. It was an amazing read.

Jason Reynolds was at the library conference in St Louis last month and he was a great speaker. He mentioned two things about his life that stuck with me. 1. He takes a bath everyday to relax and soak away all his anxiety/troubles. He holds a lot of heartfelt energy from writing and the kids that he meets in school visits. 2. He wrote something years ago that later was produced into Soundtrack, an only-audio book that is scripted. I put it on hold while I was sitting in the conference and was it arrived I was amazed at the brilliant writing; it was a great listening experience. Listen to this NPR interview with Jason. He is so open and honest. Love his books.

High Tide in Tucson : Essays from Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver was such an interesting read. It was written in 1996 and talks a lot about George Bush and the Iraqi war. Her essays are vibrant and I was happy to learn more about her life. So much of what she talks about is still very relevant today.

The Anxious Generation : How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt took me a long time to read because I’m not a strong nonfiction reader BUT I powered through. One of my big complaints about nonfiction or books with studies/graphs, etc is that they are too long and that is true of this one. I did learn a great deal and was already in the “computers are not helping us as much as we think” camp especially where social media is concerned. We spend far much time buried into technology. Last night my husband and I went out to dinner and we sat near a table of 6 college aged females and until their food arrived their faces were glued to their phones; no chatting or sharing going on.

I’m headed off on a fun vacation to San Diego with my daughter over the next week and I’m very much looking forward to the sun. I had two books packed and two books ready on my kindle and I realized that might be overkill so I unpacked The Seven Year Slip and will read that later.

Halloween

It’s the end of the month and I’ve only read four books but I’ve been around a lot of fun authors! I traveled to St Louis with four other librarians from our district and had such a blast meeting other like-minded librarians and authors. We ate delicious food in the downtown area and had cocktails at The Moniker! I’d go back to St. Louis just to have one of their delicious drinks.

Me and Mychal Threets

On the first night we went early to a James Ponti Spy party and ended up helping him and Stuart Gibbs set up for the party which gave us the opportunity to have one on one conversations with them as well as Erin Soderberg Downing. For librarians who love reading this was magical. We came back with so much swag and free books we barely fit back into the van.

I also found out that one of my author idols, Laurie Halse Anderson, is not only a very gifted writer but is a cheerleader for authors. More than one author mentioned how encouraging she was to them. Jason Reynolds (rock star author!) was in conversation on Saturday morning and he was absolutely amazing. Like a groupie I rushed to get one of his signed books and was crushed that I didn’t make it in time. The conference was amazing and I’m so happy I was able to participate.

I just finished reading The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and had a connection with almost every story. If you’ve ever wanted to be a bookseller or a librarian the stories told in the book will have your full attention.

I’m almost finished with The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. I wish it was a little more condensed but I agree with his philosophy. Our kids have changed by tech, specifically having free access to the internet 24/7. I think schools should be phone free and that we should really think about how much tech we use at school plus home. For kids it becomes an addiction. If I could design my own elementary school it would have more playtime, recess before lunch so students come in hungry, better quality lunches, and more hands-on activities.

I hope this Halloween every one is safe and had fun, that Israel stops bombing Palestine, and that hope for the world remains in my heart.

Today

I’m having a golden year at school! Students seem happy and ready to be here which in turn makes for pleasant classes and conversations.

My son moved to Detroit and I am very excited to visit this fall. There are a lot of interesting things happening in Detroit. I’ve read some lists and articles about places to eat and visit. I have a teacher account of the New York Times and it helps keep me updated on interesting Detroit places but also all that’s happening in the United States & the world. It’s good to stay updated.

Recently I read through all the Epstein birthday book sentiments and was absolutely horrified. Please can some handwriting expert confirm that it is his signature bc I’m sure that he wrote the poem conversation and drew the female figure with it; mystified how the Christian Right can stand arm in arm with this man.

School shootings, ICE raids, the Fed and FCC, canceling people and media outlets for speaking out. Teachers under threat. It’s hard to take it all in. How can we save Palestine and still support our Jewish neighbors? How will Ukraine survive Putin’s will?

I keep writing to save our public lands, our national parks. Beautiful lands that, once destroyed, will never come all the way back to us. and I wonder how will we really recover from all the damage that’s done to families, natural spaces, our communities, and our democracy? What will it take to reverse this mindset?

📚Favorite books: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, A Place for Us by Fatima Farzeen Mirza, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kristen Miller, Kindred by Octavia Butler and Tree. Table. Book. by the amazing Lois Lowry for elementary readers of all ages.

🎬 Streaming: Butterfly (Prime), Sirens (Netflix), and Overcompensating (Prime)

And I’m looking forward to going back to the big screen to see “One Battle After Another” and “Blue Moon”.

I’ve worked on this post all month trying to revise, keep my writing in check, questioning myself. I love to write and my goal is never to offend anyone but to make people think either about books, food, connections, and politics. Peace to all my readers and thank you for reading.

Summer Books

Summer, for an educator, is the time we decompress between last year’s classes, mistakes we’ve made that give us inspiration for the next year, and to breathe deep and relax. I love the extra time to read and this year has been no exception. I’ve read a ton. Over the summer I read a lot of middle grade fiction and some where great and some I didn’t finish. This are my top eight titles from the summer not in any particular order because they were all five stars.

And Then, Boom! by Lisa Fipps: This novel-in-verse story is heart-wrenching as an adult because it shows the reality of poverty and absent parenting. Joe’s grandmother takes care of him after his mom disappears and even thought times are tough money-wise there is a lots of love but when she dies and his mom comes back temporarily life drastically changes for him. This is a quick read and it mirrors the honesty in her previous verse novel, Starfish. Should be an excellent conversation starter for you and your kids.

El Niño““` by Pamela Muñoz Ryan: This is a thrilling magical realism beach adventure that swept me away. Kai’s sister Cali disappeared in the ocean two years previous and his family of swimmers is trying to carry on. Kai lets himself get pulled in to a mythical story Cali left behind that has him believing she is still alive. Through this vision though he finally finds the strength to compete at the top.

Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar: This epic novel spans four generations of Jewish young women from the Spanish Inquisition to Cuba and on to America. This book shows the struggle of Jewish families through the years. Each young woman was unique in her story but shared a love of music and family from each generation.

Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu: Ursu leads us through a very subtle creepy story featuring Violet as she navigates a new, somewhat spooky attic room in an old home her mom and stepdad buy for the family. Violet falls ill in this new and realizes she may not be alone in the room. I listened to this on Libby and the narrator, Eva Kaminsky, did an amazing job of pulling me.

The Sherlock Society by James Ponti: Four kids and one hilarious grandfather undertake a decades old cold case involving Al Capone and his mysterious hideway near Miami. One mystery leads to another real-life problem and the kids, Alex, Zoe, Lina, and Yadi find out what it means to be a true detective. More to come and I’m looking forward to the series.

Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park: I love Park’s A Long Walk to Water and this new story lends itself to teachable moments as well. Gracie loves to snorkel and plans a vacation with her parents approval to Roatán, Honduras where she meets reef experts and finds that her passion leads her to friends and a desire to know more. Really well done and perfect for 3rd-5th grade.

The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys: Bletchley Park, the home of WWII codebreakers is featured in this 1940 mystery with Jakob and Lizzie trying to figure out more about their missing mother. This one holds many surprises and I learned a lot about how the codebreakers struggled to break through before the Nazis invade.

Tree. Table. Book. by Lois Lowry: Eleven year old Sophie is best friends with her neighbor, 88 year old Sophie. They drink tea together and have deep conversations. When the younger Sophie learns that her friend is having memory issues she starts to give her tests. As she asks her to remember a pattern of words she unleashes three very different memories of the elder Sophie’s stories taking her back to Polish childhood.

I’m excited to share these stories with students in the first few weeks of school as they rush through the library doors, eager to find new books to read.

Right now I’m reading A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza, listening to K vs J by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft (narrated by these two authors as well) and still wading through The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.

Summer Joy

A few nights ago on the tail end of our 10 hour drive from Winnipeg I spotted swarms of fireflies in the fields of Iowa. I was entranced by their sparkly lights. After a quick internet search it seems like populations are still declining yet I saw many swooping around and it was thrilling. I hope we never see these beautiful little creatures disappear. They look like little fairies fluttering over the fields and ditches. I feel terrible that I captured them in jars when I was a child. Luckily we did always release them but we probably caused irreparable damage to the MN firefly population.

Another summer love is rhubarb. My grandmother had a big patch of it that we would pull from every summer. She’d make pies, jam, cobblers, and a variety of other rhubarb desserts throughout the summer and she’d freeze more to have in the winter. I recently made a rhubarb/strawberry galette and vegan rhubarb bread and both were so amazing. I bought a box of peaches this week so I’m making a cobbler tomorrow.

The beach, boating and being at the lake are also high on my list in the summer. Last weekend I ventured to my brother’s house for that exact reason. I knew he and his wife had a busy weekend but they reserved Sunday for boating on Lake Minnetonka. I love crashing over the waves, feeling the sun on my face, listening for loons, and diving into the cool waters. We boated as kids and those are definitely some of my happiest memories.

Each time a make a post with JOY in it I can’t help but reflect on all that is terrible in the world as well. I can’t help it. I feel all the pain from Gaza and the Palestinian people, the Ukrainian population still fighting this war against the behemoth Russia. I’m an empath so I think about this everyday but I also am appreciating my summer, time with my kids, reading, writing, and enjoying the sun. Terrible things are part of life but what we are experiencing with children starving and bombs crashing down as people reach for food is a new kind of horror and we can find ways to help. I donate as much as I can to a variety of causes and make phone calls to our blind/deaf representatives. So while we go about our daily life, remember how many people are experiencing horrific acts and force yourself to make phone calls, donate, and talk about your fears and thoughts with others.

What I’m reading: The Anxious Generation, Kindred by Octavia Butler, El Niño by Pamela Munoz Ryan. All excellent.

Hot, Hot, Hot

We are in the middle of a June heatwave from Colorado throughout the Midwest and probably across the US. So it’s hot outside and the Trump administration (if you can even call it that) is trying to make us hotter. The “Big Beautiful Bill” H.R. 1 is ridiculous and frightening. First of all who names a bill that?

And then if you look at what’s in the bill it seems like even many Republicans would take issue with raising the debt ceiling. And cutting Medicaid and Medicare, adding more money for ICE thugs, more money to the Pentagon, canceling green energy initiatives, and renewing fossil fuel subsidies. All this is bad enough but adding in the sale of public lands as Trump’s idea of solving the housing crisis is absolutely absurd. Horrible, despicable, and completely unhinged. When will Congressional Republicans begin to care about their constituents and saying NO to Trump. 71% of Americans disagree with the sale of public lands.

I had a relaxing morning reading at home before heading off to my local farmers market and yoga class. All lovely, peaceful and privileged. When I came home I started making phone calls though using the 5 Calls app. If you’ve not used this yet please consider downloading and using it every day. I’ll be calling all week long to complain about this bill.

Now I want to focus attention to the book I finished this morning. Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer is an excellent coming-of-age Native tale of Ezra Cloud of the Wolf Clan. Ezra has a run-in with a neighborhood bully at school and chooses to punch a locker instead of the bully which sets in motion a chain of events that opens up Ezra’s life in a new way. Treuer’s writing is poetic and I loved the characters so much. I wanted to be at the community feast to celebrate Ezra’s first kill. I wanted to sit at the kitchen table and eat Grandma Emma’s wild rice dish.

A friend purchased this book at Birchbark Books in Minneapolis and shared it with me. The book brought out a lot of emotions for me, thinking of my own ancestors who I hold dear. I highly recommend this charming yet real tale of Ezra and his family. Treuer has a long list of nonfiction books but I hope this story is the start of more fiction from him.

Make some calls, stand up and complain, all while staying cool.