Books Val read in 2025 (favorites in bold)

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Daniel James Brown

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store: A Novel; James McBride

Absolution; Alice McDermott

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession; Michael Finkel

After Annie: A Novel; Anna Quindlen

The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees; Matthieu Atkins

Ordinary Grace; William Kent Krueger

There are Rivers in the Sky; Elif Shafak

The Great Divide; Cristina Henriquez

The Salt Path: A Memoir, Raynor WinnWhat Kind of Paradise, Janelle Brown

The Reading List, Sara Nisha Adams

When No One is Watching, Alyssa Cole

The Violin Conspiracy, Brendan Slocumb

Memoir

Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams—FB story from an insider

The House of My Mother, Shari Franke

Taste, Stanley Tucci

What I Ate in One Year, Stanley Tucci

A Well-Trained Wife, Tia Levings

Junk Food reading

The Guest, Emma Cline—horrible people, depressing.

Happy Place, Emily Henry (not my favorite)

Funny Story, Emily Henry

Book Lovers, Emily Henry

None of This is True, Lisa Jewell

All Good People Here, Ashley Flowers

Nonfiction

Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World, Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Upworthy: Good People: Stories from the Best of Humanity, Gabriel Reilich

Gentle. Rest more, streets Less, and Live the Life you Actually Want; Courtney Carver