Book Reviews

4.8

AP Psychology Premium, 2026 is a structured test-preparation guide from Barron's Educational Services, written by credentialed AP experts Allyson J. Weseley Ed.D. And Robert McEntarffer Ph.D., designed to equip high school students with comprehensive content review, exam strategies, and three full practice tests — including online practice — aligned to the current AP Psychology exam.

GAME OF THRONES_20TH ANNIVE_HB by George R.R. Martin

4.7

George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones — the first volume of the A Song of Ice and Fire series — returns in this 2016 HarperCollins hardcover celebrating twenty years of one of high fantasy's most culturally transformative novels, now featuring full-page illustrations by John Picacio in every chapter.

Apr 25, 2026

Belonging to the World: A Journey from Grief to Connection in Every by Barry Hoffner

4.7

Belonging to the World: A Journey from Grief to Connection in Every Country on Earth is a travel memoir by Barry Hoffner that chronicles his globe-spanning journey through grief, resilience, and human connection after the sudden death of his wife Jackie in 2017. A Readers' Choice Book Awards Bronze Winner in Adult Nonfiction, it is published by GFB and draws comparisons to the introspective travel writing of Paul Theroux and Cheryl Strayed's Wild. The memoir is candid, emotionally grounded, and rooted in a genuine quest to feel the pulse of the world again.

Apr 22, 2026

The Philosophy Book (DK Big Ideas) by DK

4.6

The Philosophy Book (DK Big Ideas), now in a fully revised and updated second edition published by DK in September 2024, is a comprehensive reference guide that walks readers through more than 2,000 years of philosophical thought — from ancient Greece and China to contemporary thinkers — using clear explanations, bold visuals, biography boxes, and pull-out quotes to make the discipline's most demanding ideas accessible to a general audience.

History Matters by David McCullough

4.6

History Matters is a posthumous collection of 20 speeches, essays, and interviews by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough, edited by his daughter Dorie McCullough Lawson and longtime researcher Michael Hill, with a foreword by historian Jon Meacham, published by Simon & Schuster in September 2025. The collection gathers pieces written across McCullough's long career, many appearing in print for the first time, all centered on his conviction that history is indispensable to understanding the present and the future. Publishers Weekly calls it "a resonant collection" and "a warmhearted valedictory hymn to the American spirit."

Apr 19, 2026

Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff by Myquillyn Smith

4.5

Myquillyn Smith's Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff is a home-design guide written for the hands-on woman who wants a beautiful, comfortable space without accumulating more than she needs — a practical, spiritually inflected answer to "clutter anxiety" that works room by room, one purposeful decision at a time.

Apr 23, 2026

River Hippies & Mountain Men (Real-Life Adventures of the Texas Yeti) by Patrick Taylor

4.4

River Hippies & Mountain Men is the third installment in Patrick Taylor's non-fiction "Real-Life Adventures of the Texas Yeti" series, chronicling his two-year apprenticeship as a stockman and backcountry packer in Idaho's vast Frank Church Wilderness — a portrait of a life genuinely, not vicariously, lived outdoors.

After Intelligence: The Hidden Sequence by Nicole Marie

4.3

After Intelligence: The Hidden Sequence launches Nicole Marie's YA science fiction trilogy with a whodunit set inside Cognation Academy, where 15-year-old Charlotte Blythe and her friends must navigate android ethics, institutional deception, and a student-attack mystery — a high-energy debut that earned a positive notice from Publishers Weekly for its credibly constructed tech-school world, even as it leans on familiar genre tropes.

If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin

4.2

Originally published in 2013 and reissued by Sourcebooks Fire in 2019, Laura Nowlin's If He Had Been with Me is a #1 New York Times bestselling YA contemporary romance that has now surpassed one million copies sold, driven in large part by a passionate BookTok audience. The novel follows Autumn and her childhood neighbor Phineas — known as Finny — from their inseparable early years through the emotional turbulence of high school, tracing how a single awkward moment in eighth grade quietly reshapes a lifelong bond. It is a coming-of-age story that takes on depression, identity, friendship, loss, and the paralyzing weight of unexpressed feeling, and it has clearly struck a nerve with teen and young adult readers. Common Sense Media flags significant mature content — including sexual scenes, teen pregnancy, and discussions of suicide — making it best suited to readers 15 and up. The book's greatest strength is its emotional authenticity; its most consistent criticism is that its prose is simple and some of its plotting stretches credibility.

Apr 23, 2026

The Summer of Broken Rules: A Young Adult Heartfelt Summer Romance by K. L. Walther

4.1

K. L. Walther's The Summer of Broken Rules is a young adult contemporary romance published by Sourcebooks Fire that layers a sun-drenched Martha's Vineyard wedding, a family-wide game of Assassin, and a tender enemies-to-obsessed romance over a quietly devastating grief storyline — making it a standout in the genre for readers who want their summer reads to carry real emotional weight.

Apr 23, 2026

Essentialism: Essentialism Made Simple. Pursuit a Simpler by Anthony Wright

Anthony Wright's Essentialism Made Simple: Pursuit a Simpler and Happier Life is a short self-help Kindle title aimed at readers who want a concise introduction to essentialism — the discipline of focusing only on what is truly important and cutting away the rest. At 68 pages, it is a quick-read distillation of the core ideas around selective living, stress reduction, and reclaiming control over time and energy. It suits readers looking for an accessible entry point to the topic rather than an exhaustive treatment.

Apr 22, 2026

Stoicism: A Beginner's Guide to the Core Ideas by The Philosophy School

Published in August 2025 as a Kindle edition, Stoicism: A Beginner's Guide to the Core Ideas by The Philosophy School is a compact introduction to Stoic philosophy — tracing its origins with Zeno of Citium through the Roman figures of Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius — and designed to make the school's core principles, including the Dichotomy of Control and the four cardinal virtues, accessible to readers coming to the subject for the first time.

Apr 22, 2026