A truly fun read-aloud book. You'll have a blast reading about poor Hoot Owl, who is hungry and not quite the master of disguise as advertised.
This book follows a young orphan named Sage as he is enveloped in a possibly deadly scheme. A nobleman named Connor Bevin has combed orphanages to find possible imposters to play the King’s long-lost youngest son. As orphans compete for the role, Sage's defiance may mean his death. Sage quickly finds out that Connor may not be telling the whole truth. But is Connor the only one lying? 
Cassandra Cain knows how to kill. But she doesn't know anything else. She doesn't speak, doesn't read, doesn't even know what her latest victim's dying cries of "daughter" mean. But those cries awaken Cassandra, and she is done being an assassin. Now the question is: what (who?) will she be?
Beautiful World, Where Are You follows the lives of two best friends: Alice, a famous novelist, and Eileen, a literary magazine editor. Alice has run away to the Irish countryside to get away from the tumults of city life, where she meets factory worker Felix on a dating app. Eileen is content, if a little unhappy, with her simple life in Dublin, and at least she always has her childhood friend and companion, Simon, to keep her company. Interspersed between alternating chapters detailing Alice and Eileen's lives are longwinded emails that the two send each other, which give us further insight into their inner minds that we might not see on the page. This is yet again another masterpiece from Sally Rooney, author of Conversations with Friends and Normal People. Rooney is a master at capturing millennial ennui. She has a unique writing style, devoid of quotation marks and full of minute details, that leaves readers hooked and enthralled in her little worlds that she creates. It is hard to describe the feeling one gets when reading a Sally Rooney novel. The characters aren't particularly likable, but that's part of the Sally Rooney charm--her characters are unlikable, but they're human. I would recommend this novel to fans of slow burn fiction that captures the sometimes bleak, sometimes lovely essence of what it means to be a human in today's society, fans of Stephanie Danler, Melissa Broder, Dolly Alderton, and Carmen Maria Machado.
Hayden's graphic memoir follows her throughout her life as a young woman, through the birth of her children, and finding peace after her breast cancer diagnosis. Told in witty and honest verses, Hayden explores the ups and downs of life, living with cancer, death, family, and so much more.When Jennifer Hayden was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 43, she realized that her tits told a story. Across a lifetime, they'd held so many meanings: hope and fear, pride and embarrassment, life and death. And then they were gone. Now, their story has become a way of understanding her story. Growing up flat-chested and highly aware of her inadequacies… heading off to college, where she "bloomed" in more ways than one… navigating adulthood between her mother's mastectomy, her father's mistress, and her musician boyfriend's problems of his own-not to mention his sprawling family. Then the kids come along… As cancer strikes three different lives, some relationships crumble while others emerge even stronger, and this sarcastic child of the '70s finally finds a goddess she can believe in. For everyone who's faced cancer personally, or watched a loved one fight that battle, Hayden's story is a much-needed breath of fresh air, an irresistible blend of sweetness and skepticism. Rich with both symbolism & humor, The Story of My Tits will leave you laughing, weeping, and feeling grateful for every day.
A portrait of New York City, but also a portrait of humanity and all the different walks of life woven together. At times uplifting, but more often sobering. And life goes on...
Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn, is not only a novel about the mysterious murders in Camille Preaker's hometown, but also about the individual relationships with her family and the townsfolk. Camille Preaker, a journalist from The Daily Post in Chicago, goes to Wind Gap, Missouri to write an article on the murders of little girls Ann and Natalie. Camille relives her childhood memories there and reconnects with her 13-year-old half-sister Amma, who hides her differences behind her popularity at school. After meeting Richard, a detective from Kansas City, Camille discovers the most unsettling truth of the murders of the little girls, but also about the murder of her sister Marian decades ago. 
This is the second book in A Thursday Murder Club Mystery series and provides even more background about our four senior citizen main characters: Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim. What's not to like about diamonds, later in life romance, and several unexpected twists and turns. The last sentence is NOT to be missed!
I'll just be honest here and say that for the majority of my adult life, I really didn't enjoy cooking. Too many ingredients, too time-consuming, and too many dishes to clean. After a trip to Greece, I decided Greek food will forever be my favorite, and a sudden urge to try to cook similar dishes hit me. The internet provided some good recipes, and others were failures. I stumbled upon Mina Stone's Lemon, Love & Olive Oil cookbook on social media and the rest is history...
Writing in with a clear, often tender tone, Sarah Smarsh takes us through five generations of her family's impoverished middle American existence. She explicates the endless issues her family faced, like unsafe work conditions and lack of insurance, and the impossibility of achieving the American Dream due to lack of resources and information. This book challenges the myths about people who earn less, but should not be thought of as lesser.