Book Reviews

4.7

First published in 1960 and rooted in a series of 1958 radio talks, The Four Loves is C. S. Lewis's philosophical and theological examination of human love, structured around four Greek categories — Affection (storge), Friendship (philia), Eros, and Charity (agape) — and the ways each both reflects and falls short of divine love.

The First to Die at the End Prequel By Adam Silvera

Adam Silvera's The First to Die at the End is a speculative YA fiction prequel to his celebrated They Both Die at the End, set against the chaotic nationwide launch of Death-Cast — a company that notifies subscribers they have 24 hours left to live. A New York Times bestseller, it centers on the fateful collision of Orion Pagan and Valentino Prince in Times Square, weaving grief, romance, and social upheaval into what Kirkus Reviews calls "a rush of emotion and suspense."

Thinking in Systems: International Bestseller by Donella H. Meadows

Donella H. Meadows' Thinking in Systems is a landmark nontechnical primer on systems thinking — originally drafted in 1993, published posthumously in 2008, and now widely regarded as the definitive introduction to a discipline that cuts across ecology, management, computer science, and global policy.

The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful by Myquillyn Smith

Myquillyn Smith's The Nesting Place is a four-color home-decorating book built on a single liberating premise: a home doesn't need to be perfect to be beautiful, and real life — kids, pets, mess, and all — is not an obstacle to a welcoming space but the very thing worth designing around.

The Color Purple: A Novel by Alice Walker

Alice Walker's epistolary novel The Color Purple — winner of both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction in 1983 — follows Celie, a young Black woman in rural Georgia whose letters chart a harrowing and ultimately triumphant journey from abuse and silence toward selfhood and independence. It remains one of American literature's most decorated and contested works of the twentieth century.

AN Optimist's Tour of the Future: One Curious Man Sets Out to Answer "What's Next?" by Mark Stevenson

4.4

Mark Stevenson's An Optimist's Tour of the Future is a non-fiction travelogue in which the British author, comedian, and businessman travels the world to meet scientists, engineers, and innovators working at the cutting edge of medicine, computing, robotics, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and environmental technology — making a compelling, broadly praised case that the future belongs to those willing to look at it clearly and with hope.

Station Eleven: A Novel (National Book Award Finalist) by Emily St. John Mandel

4.3

Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic literary novel that traces interconnected lives before and after a devastating influenza pandemic, anchored by a quiet insistence that art and human culture are worth preserving at any cost. Originally published in 2014, it won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Toronto Book Award, was a National Book Award finalist, and had sold 1.5 million copies as of 2020 — a testament to its broad and enduring appeal across literary and genre readerships alike.

Highs and Lows on the John Muir Trail by Inga Aksamit

4.3

Inga Aksamit's trail journal chronicles her trek along the John Muir Trail with her husband, capturing the raw joy, physical strain, and camaraderie of more than three weeks in California's High Sierra — a candid, practical read designed for aspiring JMT hikers, Sierra veterans, and armchair adventurers alike.

Last Girl Ghosted: A Riveting Mystery Thriller of Ghosting by Lisa Unger

4.2

Lisa Unger's psychological thriller Last Girl Ghosted transforms the modern anxiety of online dating and ghosting into a high-stakes mystery of hidden identities, buried pasts, and escalating danger — anchored by a protagonist whose own secrets unfold alongside the plot.

Mar 29, 2026

The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel by Claire Lombardo

4.1

Claire Lombardo's debut novel is a multigenerational family saga centered on the Sorenson family — parents David and Marilyn, still passionately in love after four decades, and their four adult daughters whose rivalries and secrets threaten to unravel everything — earning a New York Times Bestseller designation, a Women's Prize for Fiction nomination, and selection as a Reese's Book Club Pick.

How to Trick Yourself Into Doing Things You Hate: Use Psychology, Self-Discipline, by Peter Hollins

4.0

Peter Hollins's self-help guide targets the gap between knowing what needs to be done and actually doing it, drawing on psychology, self-discipline frameworks, and neuroscience to help readers push through aversion and build consistent action — a focused, topic-specific addition to his extensive Live a Disciplined Life series.

The Growth Multiplier: Multiply Results With the Same Effort, or Less by Jay Abraham, Villy Abraham

The Growth Multiplier, co-authored by veteran business growth strategist Jay Abraham and marketing professor Dr. Villy Abraham, presents a framework for multiplying business results without proportionally increasing effort or resources — built around what the authors call the "perpetual growth flywheel."