Mini Book Reviews: August 2025

Disclaimer: I received ARCs of Greenwich, Beautiful Nights, In Berlin, L.A. Women, and Joy Moody is Out of Time in exchange for my honest reviews. This post contains affiliate links.

What a prolific month of reading! With our relentless heatwave that plagued us most of August, I spent most of my time off inside, in the air conditioning. Similar to winter, in a sense. With all that downtime, I hunkered down, finished all my NetGalley reads for July and August (yay!), and read some library holds. The two Oprah book club selections were completely by chance--the books sounded good and they were available, so I read them. 

I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite book for the month. They were all 5 and 4 star reads. I leaned heavily on literary fiction this month--I do love a good story. There's one memoir. I hope you find something that interests you!

Mini Book Reviews: July 2025

Disclaimer: I received ARCs of Spectacular Things, The Homemade God, and Finding Grace from the publishers and Netgalley in exchange for my honest reviews. This post contains affiliate links.

July was a busy month for me, and I struggled to find time to read. When I did try to read at bedtime, I kept falling asleep, only to have my iPad wake me up by hitting me in the face. One of the hazards of reading on a tablet in bed, I guess!

Anyhoo, I read 6 books this month.  I didn't read all 5 NetGalley books in my July prerelease library because all of my library holds came in at the same time. I had to let a few of them go. One more to read to kick off August, and then I'm going to get back to those NetGalley books. I promise!!

It's a good problem to have! I enjoyed all the books I read this month and there's something for everyone here.

Mini Book Reviews: July 2024

Disclaimer: I received ARCs of Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder, The Summer Pact, Long Island Compromise, The Heart in Winter, Guilty Creatures, Catalina, and They Dream in Gold from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my reviews. This post contains affiliate links.

For the month of July I had 7 pre-releases on my NetGalley dashboard that were set for publication. I made up my mind to get them read by the end of the month. Fortunately, all of the books were worth reading! My favorite? I loved Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder. I also loved The Heart in Winter. There is definitely something for everyone on this list!

Book Review: Running with Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero

Disclaimer: I received a prerelease copy of Running with Sherman from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my unbiased review. The book is due to be released on October 15. This post contains affiliate links.

Why on earth would I want to read a book about a guy who adopts a mangy, depressed donkey and decides he wants to run the World Burro Championships with him? Because it's Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run. Born to Run is one of my all-time favorite books about running and it is credited with starting the whole barefoot running craze.

McDougall has been sharing stories about Sherman in his New York Times column, Running with Sherman. The book grew from these anecdotes and is written in the same style as Born to Run. There's McDougall's personal story interspersed with sidebar plots, lots of history about trail running, ultramarathoning, and burro racing. As with Born to Run, Running with Sherman makes for a very compelling read.

Book Review: Good to Go by Christie Ashwanden

Disclaimer: I received an advance reader's copy of Good to Go from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. This review contains affiliate links.

"The explosion of recovery products and services can seem ridiculous because in its most basic form--a return to readiness following an intense workout or competition--everyone intuitively knows what recovery is and how to achieve it." ~Christie Aschwanden, Good to Go

Runners and other athletes are always looking for that magic bullet to help us bounce back faster from a hard workout or a long run. We agonize over fueling and diet. We take supplements. We foam roll. We roast in a sauna or freeze in a cryo tank. We wear compression. It's not just amateur athletes--the pros are all about recovery and will go to any extreme to recover from DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), even soaking in a vat of red wine, so-called "vinotherapy".

In her newly released book, Good to Go, author Christie Aschwanden explores the science of recovery. Not only does she share funny anecdotes and the science behind some of the recovery methods, but Aschwanden herself also tries some of the methods purported to help with recovery. Taking one for the team, so to speak.