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Favorite Books Read in 2025 — #’s 3 & 2

Now we’re really cooking… honing in on my favorite books read in 2025. And #’s 3 and 2 were no slouches either! One I was expecting to be good, was worried that I wasn’t going to like, then ended up loving! The other was a total surprise! The former was a by an author whose work I am very familiar with and is among my favorites. The latter brings me back to my memoir by rock & roll women. Read on…

#3 – Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success by Miki Berenyi (2022)

I’ve been waiting for, but not really expecting to find, a rock ‘n roll memoir from another woman in the field that would match Tracey Thorn’s body of work. Imagine my surprise to find it in the form of Miki Berenyi, lead vocalist/songwriter/guitarist of the 90’s British band, Lush. Perhaps not as accomplished a writer as Thorn — Berenyi doesn’t weave in larger topics quite as elegantly — the memoir, Fingers Crossed deftly tells the story of being brought up in the 70’s by a pair of unconventional, divorced parents, a Hungarian father, and a Japanese mother, suffering emotional and physical abuse, and eventually becoming one of the driving forces of an unlikely band.

Fingers Crossed is packed with personal history, musings, the raw, hard facts about the music industry, and plenty about how tough it is for women, yet it moves along very quickly. Berenyi’s self-depracating, yet brash, delivery suits both the time and the atmosphere well, especially when put in the context of the hindsight of an adult. It was compelling reading about a performer, both personally and artistically, who I only knew from albums and videos from the 90’s, a period of time I lost a lot of interest in music. It made me go back to Lush’s music, and remembering how much I enjoyed it. Berenyi’s background makes for fascinating reading, and paints a very vivid picture ofd the British rock ‘n roll scene in the 90’s.

#2 – Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh (2025)

As I was reading Jennifer Haigh’s latest novel (took me just three days!), Rabbit Moon, I was worried that it would one of her first books that I didn’t like. There was something somewhat off-putting that it took me a while to identify. When I did, I began to absorb this fascinating and powerful novel in a very different way. Haigh has the amazing ability to create characters without any judgement. She presents all of her characters fully, with no apology for their flaws or their shortcomings. They, like their beauty, or their kindness, make up who they are. It’s an astounding ability, and makes my appreciation of this novel all the more for it.

Rabbit Moon is a tragic story, about a young woman whose life is irrevocably altered through a random action, but more broadly, it’s about how her life affected a handful of people profoundly. What Haigh does so beautifully is show this in ways that are evident and ways that are only hinted at. Utterly engrossing, and beautifully rewarding, Rabbit Moon may have just become my favorite of her expertly written novels.

Jennifer is local to Boston and we’re so privileged to have her here as a local. Her body of work is astounding, the storytelling so rich, her character so compelling. I look forward to every new work she creates, and I hope she’s a got a lot more stories to tell in that head of hers!

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Favorite Books Read in 2025 — #’s 15 – 17

I try to read several plays a year. I’ve been directing shows in community theater for the last 8 years or so, and I find reading plays is a skill you have to learn. The more I read, the better at it I get. Along with the play in this batch from my Top 20 comes a gorgeously written debut novel from a Vietnamese-American author, and a new book from a Finnish author whose work I enjoy.

#17 – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (2019)

Little Dog was brought to the States from Vietnam by his mother and grandmother when he was a child. Now, as a young adult, he writes a letter about his growing up to his mother, who never really learned English. Vuong uses language beautifully to tell his story and to paint a picture of life as a young gay immigrant who’s different from those around him in suburban Connecticut, but as the novel progresses into his teen years it gets more and more impressionistic which lessened its impact for me.

As the only member of his family to speak English, Little Dog often chooses what to translate to his mother. The multi-generational relationship is complicated and sometimes fraught, but makes for powerful storytelling. I wish that had continued on into Little Dog’s teen years.

#16 – Perfect Arrangement by Topher Payne (2015)

I found it interesting that in 2025 I decided the next play I would direct, After the Revolution by Amy Herzog, without any advance knowledge, two of the plays i read this year took place in the time period in which Herzog’s play explores. Topher Payne’s Perfect Arrangement, like Matt Charman’s Regrets, takes place during the 1950’s and explores the era of communist witch hunts that center Herzog’s play. However, Payne’s play takes a slightly different angle.

Perfect Arrangement is a nicely written play that takes place during the McCarthy era of the 1950’s . Two gay couples (two men; two women) pretend to be heteronormative living in adjoining apartments. Trouble is two of them work for the State Department which is expanding its witch hunt from communists to all sorts of perverts. Funny, until it isn’t, powerful — and all too recognizable in today’s world.

#15 – The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta (2022)

Finnish novelist, Emmi Itäranta, released her third novel, The Moonday Letters in 2022. This complex, intriguing tale is told mostly in correspondence to weave a tale of the ecological downfall of Earth that leads to the colonization of the Moon and Mars, as well as cylinder cities, wrapped up in a deep love story. Like her two previous novels (Memory of Water; The Weaver Itäranta explores dystopian societies blending science fiction and the metaphysical. In this case, Lumi is a healer, whose spirit guide traverses unseen spaces to help her reunite afflicted patients with lost parts of their soul. When her lover, Sol, seemingly disappears under mysterious circumstances, Lumi must find them, and unravel a deeply concerning secret from the clues that are left for her.

Itäranta is an author of deep imagination and lush language. The framing of this novel in correspondence and journal entries worked surprisingly well, extending the longing for the two characters to reunite to the breaking point. All of the author’s works are intriguing and satisfying.

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Best Books Read in 2015 – #’s 8 & 7

Contemporary fiction with female leads — some might call it women’s fiction. For me, I’m just more interested in stories about women, and these next two novels were definitely very interesting! Lydia Millet and Jojo Noyes come in at #’s 8 & 7 respectively.

 Mermaids in Paradise#8 – Mermaids in Paradise by Lydia Millet

Lydia Millet has constructed a complex novel that still serves as a light-hearted, entertaining read while exploring deeper issues along with protagonist, Deb.

While honeymooning in the British Virgin Islands, Deb & Chip find themselves among a small group of tourists who inadvertently discover the existence of real mermaids. Despite their best attempts to share their discovery in a responsible way, various factions such as the tourism industry and religious zealots threaten to turn this spectacular scientific discovery into something frightening or even murderous.

Millet weaves a narrative that includes ironic humor, modern romance, and speculative fiction that works on every level. The slyly subversive ending puts a unique spin on the novel as a whole.

One Plus One#7 – One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Jojo Moyes writes romantic comedies that have a bit of a bite and earn any sentimentality that they display. In ONE PLUS ONE, Jess is a hard-working single mom who cleans houses to try to make ends meet. Her daughter Tanzie is at that awkward pre-teen stage, but she is a math wiz beyond compare. She also cares for her ex-husband’s son, Nicky, who is awkward and sensitive, and often the victim of local bullies.

When an opportunity arises that could lead to Tanzie attending an exclusive private school, Jess finds herself with no alternative than to depend on Ed, a wealthy man whose house she cleaned. Ed has hit a rough patch himself, but he finds himself drawn into Jess’s family drama and the two reluctantly find themselves drawn to each other. But life is rarely smooth, despite Jess’ eternal optimism, and the roadblocks these two face are large.

The emotions shared by these characters, both positive and negative, don’t come cheaply and are beautifully played out. This is a fun book to read that will make you laugh and make you cry. It’s got real chops and I highly recommend it.

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2014, the Year in Books, #1

My top book of 2014 snuck up on me. I read it early in the year, and while I loved it, I wasn’t really expecting it to be at the very top of my list this year. But as I reflected back, I realized that it totally deserved that top spot, for it’s imaginative creation of a society that is based on science and nature, for the intricate plotting, for the gorgeous characterization… and all of that done with a hive of bees.

]The Bees#1 – The Bees by Laline Paull

Accept. Obey. Serve.

Laline Paull takes us into the life of a beehive in her extraordinary novel, The Bees where we learn what it means to live that mantra. Flora is a singular hero, born to Laline Paullthe lowest caste in the hive hierarchy, there is something special about her. It’s something that’s valued by some of her sisters, and feared by others.

As Flora moves about the hive, transcending her class, we learn all about how the colony operates, all the while thrilling to the search for food by foragers, the defense of the hive from predators like wasps and other fearsome threats, and navigating the internal politics set in motion to insure the hive’s survival. Suspense, intrigue, romance, heroism, mystery, drama, humor… this one has it all.

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2014, the Year in Books: #’s 2 & 3

Whoops! Sorry about that. I got sidetracked by a vacation in Costa Rica and never finished my list of the top books read in 2014.  I’m back with #’s 2 & 3, which come from an international, best-selling author, and a debut, indie novelist respectively. These books couldn’t be more different, really, and I’ve jockeyed back and forth on their positioning, yet while Houck’s novel is more consistently great, Mitchell’s novel has more stumbles, but reaches higher, so it manages to eke out the #2 spot.

Yield#3 – Yield by Lee Houck

Yield really took me by surprise. When I read the jacket copy and found out that the novel revolved around a young hustler in Manhattan, I inwardly groaned. It felt slightly cliched, and oh-so 80’s gay fiction, but I gave it a try. I quickly noticed the quality of the writing, and the care and (yes, I’ll say it) authenticity that permeated this novel. Not a tale of disaffected youth cutting off the world around him, but a coming-of-age story, in the best meaning of that phrase, where a young man slowly opens himself to life and all the joys and pain that comes with it.

Simon does indeed work as a part-time hustler in Manhattan, but he also files medical reports at St. Vincent’s hospital, which is the job that actually leaves physical scars, the endless series of paper cuts along his fingers. The hustling leaves scars as well, although not the type you can see. More like scar tissue, increasingly dulling Simon’s ability to feel and even experience living. When one of his close circle of friends is beaten in a violent gay bashing, Simon is shaken, and when he starts to fall for the hot guy who lives across the street from him, a door deep inside of him that was securely locked, starts to open.

Lee Houck has created a beautiful voice with Simon. He’s emotionally reserved, and frankly, terrified of his own capacity to feel, but there is nothing cliche about Yield, in fact the journey Simon takes is universal and ageless. It’s nice to read a book like this every once in a while, to remind you how rewarding fiction can truly be.

The Bone Clocks#2 – The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

David Mitchell hit the big time with his book, Cloud Atlas, and his latest tome, The Bone Clocks is the follow-up. It’s a big sprawling novel that begins in the early 80’s and unspools all the way to the mid-21st Century and the collapse of modern technology to a dystopian future. The Bone Clocks chronicles the war between two factions of immortals, benevolent psychics who are continually reincarnated, and spiritual vampires who casually take the souls of innocents to extend their lives in perpetuity. Central to this story is Holly Sykes, who starts the tale as a teenage runaway, and ends as hardened matriarch who helps to save humanity… just to see the technological infrastructure collapse. It’s a new age, science fiction epic that’s great fun to read, most notably for the moments in between the crazy stuff. And this is where Mitchell excels. The novel cycles through a handful of narrators, each telling their part of the story, while our central character, Holly Sykes, treads through all of them. I loved the small, individual details of the lives of each of these narrators that Mitchell carefully and lovingly reveals as time marches inexorably on. It’s also fun to start the novel in the past, albeit the recent past of the 1980’s, and jump a decade or so ahead with each narrator, ending up in the middle of the 21st century. For such a sprawling epic, Mitchell does a masterful job keeping things personal. Some of the more fantastical elements come across a little hokey, but all in all it works well. And despite its heft, it moves right along providing hours of entertainment.