Rich Milford is dead. And honestly? Nobody seems particularly heartbroken about it. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, just outside Tulsa and in the aftermath of the 1921 massacre, this short, genre-bending novel follows the death of Rich Milford, an infamous moonshiner, womanizer, and wealthy businessman with four wives: Lally, Sophronia, Georgette, and Vivianne. Each woman has…
Category: 5 Star Reads
2026 Top Ten…So Far
I’ve read 57 books so far in 2026. Some of them were fine. Some of them were good. And then there were the ones that made me cancel plans, skip sleep, miss my exit, and text everyone I know saying “you need to read this immediately.” Picking a top 10 halfway through the year felt…
Marion
Marion has stolen money from the Manhattan ad agency where she works to help her sister escape an abusive marriage, but when the bus breaks down late at night, the only place with vacancies is an old set of cabins run by a charming young innkeeper named Norm. When Norm pulls back the shower curtain…
Remarkably Bright Creatures
After her husband’s death, Tova Sullivan takes up the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and keeping busy the way she always has, especially in the thirty-plus years since her eighteen-year-old son Erik vanished on a boat in Puget Sound. But when she forms an unlikely friendship with Marcellus, a curmudgeonly giant…
The Burning Side
Sarah Damoff’s The Burning Side is a beautifully layered family drama about marriage, memory, and what survives after disaster. After a house fire forces April and Leo and their young children to move in with April’s family, old wounds and buried secrets rise to the surface, testing not only their marriage but their understanding of…
15 Books That Made Me Who I Am
Happy World Book Day. These are the books that shaped me as a reader, a person, and apparently a lifelong bookfluencer. I’ve been thinking about this post for a while. Not “what are the best books I’ve ever read” that list changes every month and depends on my mood (#moodreaderforever). But the books that actually…
Too Close to Home
Nothing in Cloverhill Lakes is as perfect as it seems. When Regan Hoffman’s car explodes at a Labor Day party, killing the wrong person, the carefully curated lives of this elite lakefront community begin to unravel. As secrets surface and a neighbor goes missing, Regan is thrust into a dangerous web of lies, made even…
She Fell Away
She Fell Away is a gripping international thriller set against the stunning backdrop of New Zealand. State Department diplomat Lake Harlowe is used to moving from country to country, both for her job and to stay ahead of the ghosts of her past. Hoping for a quieter assignment after a difficult posting in Cambodia, she…
Mad Mabel
Eighty-one-year-old Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick has lived on her quiet street for sixty years and knows absolutely everything about her neighbors. Known as a meddling curmudgeon, she’s also hiding a past she’s worked very hard to burybecause throughout her life, people around Elsie have had a strange habit of turning up dead. After all, no one…
This Story Might Save Your Life
This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum, podcast hosts Benny Abbott and Joy Moore have built a massive following by sharing incredible “against all odds” survival stories with humor and heart. When Benny shows up to record their next episode and finds Joy and her husband Xander missing and their home in disarray, the situation…