Book Reviews

4.8

America's Test Kitchen's The New Cooking School Cookbook: Fundamentals is a comprehensive culinary reference designed to teach foundational cooking skills through 80 themed courses, 400 recipes, and more than 200 kitchen tips and techniques — structured explicitly as an in-home cooking school for cooks at any level.

Ferrets For Dummies 2e (For Dummies Series) by Kim Schilling

4.7

Ferrets For Dummies, 2nd Edition by Kim Schilling is a comprehensive reference guide covering every major aspect of ferret ownership — from selecting and housing a ferret to nutrition, health maintenance, behavior, and medical care — written in the accessible, plain-English style the For Dummies series is known for, with veterinary contributor Susan A. Brown lending expert credibility to the health-focused sections.

The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness by Morgan Housel

4.7

Morgan Housel's The Psychology of Money makes a compelling case that financial success is driven less by technical knowledge than by behaviour, temperament, and the stories people tell themselves about wealth — and its global reach of over 10 million copies sold suggests that argument has resonated widely.

Before We Were Yours: A Novel by Lisa Wingate

4.6

Before We Were Yours is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling novel by Lisa Wingate that dramatizes one of America's most notorious real-life adoption scandals — the systematic kidnapping and sale of poor children by Georgia Tann's Tennessee Children's Home Society — through two alternating timelines set in 1939 Memphis and the present-day American South. It won the Southern Book Prize and has sold over three million copies.

The Downstairs Girl: Reese's YA Book Club by Stacey Lee

4.4

A New York Times Bestseller and Reese's Book Club YA Pick, Stacey Lee's The Downstairs Girl is a historical YA novel set in the New South that follows seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan — by day a lady's maid, by night the anonymous voice behind the "Dear Miss Sweetie" newspaper advice column — as she wields the power of the press to challenge racial and gender injustice while searching for the truth about her own origins. Praised by critical coverage, critical coverage, and NPR, and recognized on year-end lists from People Magazine to School Library Journal, it stands as one of Lee's most decorated works.

Lights Out (Into Darkness Book 1) by Navessa Allen

4.4

Navessa Allen's Lights Out is the debut entry in the Into Darkness series — a #1 New York Times bestselling dark romance that blends stalker-fantasy tropes, high heat, and gallows humor into a fast-paced story about trauma nurse Aly Cappellucci and cybersecurity expert Josh Hammond, complicated by a third party whose intentions are far more sinister than either of theirs.

My Husband's Wife: A Novel by Alice Feeney

4.3

Alice Feeney's My Husband's Wife is a 2026 psychological thriller built on identity theft, conspiracy, and revenge, set against the cliffside drama of a Cornish village — and it landed on multiple major bestseller lists, including the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly, on the strength of its escalating plot and a premise that readers found nearly impossible to put down.

Your Cat: The Owner's Manual: Hundreds of Secrets, Surprises, by Dr. Marty Becker

4.3

Published by Grand Central Publishing in 2012, Your Cat: The Owner's Manual is a practical pet-care reference by Dr. Marty Becker — widely known as "America's Veterinarian" — co-written with Gina Spadafori and featuring a foreword by Dr. Jane Brunt. Designed to go well beyond basic cat care, the book covers everything from selecting the right cat to preventing health problems and addressing behavioral issues, positioning itself as a go-to resource for cat owners at any stage of their relationship with a feline companion. This review is based on the book's content as described by its publisher and available bibliographic sources, not hands-on use.

Sold on a Monday: A True Story of Heartbreak and Resilience by Kristina McMorris

4.3

Kristina McMorris's Sold on a Monday is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling historical novel set against the hardscrabble backdrop of the Great Depression, drawing its central premise from an actual newspaper photograph that stunned the nation. Built around dual protagonists — reporter Ellis Reed and secretary Lily Miller — and a devastating decision involving two children, the novel weaves together themes of love, redemption, sacrifice, and the moral courage required to right an unimaginable wrong. Published by Sourcebooks Landmark in 2018, it stands as one of McMorris's most acclaimed works and has found a strong readership among fans of character-driven historical fiction.

The Love of My Life: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel by Rosie Walsh

4.2

Rosie Walsh's The Love of My Life is a New York Times bestselling novel and Good Morning America Book Club pick that entwines a deeply felt love story with a steadily tightening domestic mystery, following a woman whose hidden past threatens to undo everything she's built with her husband and young daughter.

Half His Age: A Novel by Jennette McCurdy

3.8

Half His Age, Jennette McCurdy's debut novel published by Ballantine Books on January 20, 2026, is a New York Times bestseller that follows Waldo, a seventeen-year-old high school senior in Anchorage, Alaska, who pursues a relationship with her creative writing teacher, Mr. Korgy. McCurdy frames the novel as an exploration of female rage, power, and desire, and the result is a character study that major outlets received as provocative and deliberately discomfiting — earning both strong praise and pointed criticism for its execution.

The Fog and the Clearing: HooMan / Ai — An Orange Paper by Marc Cianciolo

Marc Cianciolo's independently published paperback The Fog and the Clearing: HooMan / Ai — An Orange Paper is a concise, essay-style work that engages with the relationship between human identity and artificial intelligence, framed through the dual lens suggested by its subtitle.