The Irish Goodbye

Three sisters Cait, Alice and Maggie Ryan haven’t seen each other in a while, they haven’t been home in Port Haven at the same time in years. While the martyr, Alice, lives nearby and is the main caregiver for their aging parents - she quietly dreams of the day her children are grown so she can pursue her own interests. Perfect Cait lives in London, practicing law, enduring a bad marriage and watching her nanny raise their twins. The youngest, Maggie, teaches English at a fancy boarding school struggling with one foot still in the closet, doubtful her Irish Catholic mother who was raised by nuns will ever truly accept her life choices. As they converge for Thanksgiving the many years of buried secrets and past tragedies rise to the surface adding layer upon layer of chaos to the already high strung holiday. The lingering sadness of losing their brother, decline of their parents and an old love affair weigh heavily as an uncertain future forces each sister to bravely face the truth. Navigating complicated sibling bonds and obligations, the women find that expectations are best understood after a moment in another’s shoes. A fabulous, fast paced, heartfelt debut. Looking forward to reading more from this author. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

When Breath Becomes Air

A valedictorian who loved both brain and book, Dr. Paul Kalanithi studied literature and biology at Stanford, philosophy at Cambridge, and attended medical school at Yale before returning to Stanford for a neurosurgery residency. When stage IV lung cancer interrupted his career, he wrote with rare clarity about purpose, love, and the fine line between doctor and patient. Paul Kalanithi describes what it feels like to watch everything you’ve dreamed of and worked for crumble overnight—and to rearrange the unthinkable when, at only 36, you receive a terminal diagnosis. He faces time head-on: “if only I knew how many months or years I had left.” With three months, he’d choose family; with a year, he’d write; with ten, he’d return to work. He ultimately chose to write and have a child knowing he would not see his book on the shelf or his daughter grow up. That’s the ache at the heart of this memoir: choosing meaning when the clock comes into view. And this must be said: the man is talented. This isn’t simply a collection of sad, poetic thoughts—it’s truly well written. Published after his death, this heartbreaking, thoughtful account of illness and life is one I will be thinking about for a long time. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Awake

Jen Hatmaker is a bestselling author, speaker, and podcaster known for her honest, funny, big-sister voice on faith, family, and social justice. A mom of five and longtime church leader, she drew a wide audience with practical, humorous books about everyday small town life and Christianity, then (and not to everyone’s liking) evolved into an outspoken advocate for empathy and inclusion. In 2020, after twenty-six years of marriage, her husband, Brandon, confessed to an ongoing affair. With a house full of kids and responsibility, she was understandably overwhelmed at the idea of him leaving, but there was no scenario in which he could remain. Jen understood in that moment things would never be the same again. Married since age 19, Jen didn’t know how to be alone; many of the daily household duties they’d shared would now fall on her shoulders. As if that were not enough — along with the humiliation and shame of a failed marriage—Jen wrongly assumed she could rely on her church community. When her personal life turned into nasty online commentary, Jen felt adrift—leaning on nearby family and a few incredible friends. After this very public divorce, she writes openly about rebuilding and reimagining her home, identity, and belief system—with warmth, wit, and straight talk that keep readers and listeners coming back for more. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Witch's Orchard

Annie Gore was Special Forces. Now retired from the Air Force, she is barely making ends meet as a private detective. Recently, she was contacted by a young man named Max, who has been searching for his sister for the past ten years. The cold case takes her to the beautiful Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where three girls went missing a decade ago. One girl mysteriously returned, but two were never seen again. Max, a talented artist about to start college, knows deep down that he cannot begin his new life until he tries one more time to solve the mystery. Having grown up in very similar surroundings, Annie feels at home in this misty holler, where locals are not usually welcoming to outsiders. The inclusion of folklore, witches, crows, and apple head dolls adds layers upon layers to this creepy case, where the girls seem to have vanished into thin air. As Annie uncovers long-buried clues, she leaves no stone—or person—unturned. Because so few come and go from this town, everyone is a suspect. A whodunit with a witchy twist, I could not put down this fantastic debut. Lucky for us, the author is already working on another mystery starring my new favorite detective! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The First Witch of Boston

Thomas and Margaret Jones arrived from England in 1646. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a strict Puritan settlement, governed by a small group of leaders. After nearly losing hope, the deeply in-love couple was finally blessed with a successful pregnancy and a little girl. Margaret, a midwife, also practiced medicine—common among women of the time who learned to use herbs and natural remedies to heal the sick. Yet her feisty, outspoken personality soon wore on her neighbors, who prized quiet obedience. Her husband Thomas, a skilled craftsman, was easygoing and well-liked, while Margaret’s helpfulness was met with gratitude—or condemnation if anything went wrong. In a community quick to find a scapegoat, unguarded words and suspicion led to her being accused of witchcraft. Word spread like wildfire, and before long others joined in. When local hysteria demanded action, Margaret was imprisoned, and after a one-sided trial, publicly executed. As the first person killed for witchcraft in Massachusetts, Margaret Jones went down in history as a woman who knew too much, spoke too freely, and paid the ultimate price—a grim prelude to the witch hunts that would follow. An incredible work of historical fiction that I could not put down—perfectly chilling and captivating, making it a spellbinding read for Halloween. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Christmas Wishes and Irish Kisses

When Ellie left Cornwall twenty years ago, she never looked back. She built a new life in America while her mother remarried, now living in a tiny Brooklyn apartment, subsisting in a mediocre job and dating Tyler—a reliably nice guy. Who needs sparks when you have stability? But when her father faces a medical emergency, Ellie feels a deep calling to return to St. Tilda’s, hoping to help him—and perhaps mend their fractured relationship. What she finds, however, is a past she had long buried and her best friend Liam, the character she cherished most in every childhood memory. As Christmas approaches, Ellie helps run the pub and reconnects with the person she once was. Even as a dispirited, angry teen, she had loved deeply, and she struggles to understand why she pushed this lovely village out of her life. Grown-up Liam still sparks mischief—but also a chemistry Ellie can no longer ignore. In her search for truth, Ellie explores the past to find her way forward. Moving swiftly and brimming with friends, family, Guinness, and cakes, this small-town holiday tale is utterly delightful from start to finish. ⭐⭐⭐⭐