The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (2016). This book felt like devouring the entrée after nibbling at the appetizer offered by Ryan Murphy’s TV show Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. My heart really broke for Truman and Babe’s lost friendship, and the book vividly captured its bygone era.
Pretty Guilty Women by Gina La Manna (2019). This was a fluffy book for the dreary end of winter/beginning of spring. The plot is pretty light. I liked the family and friendship dynamics and wished for a whole book about grande-dame Lulu.
The Fury by Alex Michaelides (2024). It vaguely, and not as well, recalls something like And Then There Were None. The bitchy first-person narration kept me in it, but I felt the ending was flat.
Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI, and a Devil’s Deal by Dick Lehr and Gerald O’Neill (2012; audio). My favorite book I’ve read in 2025, and a timely one about corruption, crimes, and cover-ups. You could tell the story was written by experienced newspaper people as they laid out Bulger and FBI agent John Connolly’s sins so thoroughly and structured the narrative so carefully. Just damning all around.
Worst-Case Scenario by T.J. Newman (2024). Realistic look at hopefully an unrealistic disaster scenario: an airplane crashes into a nuclear reactor. The countdown and minute-by-minute response felt like you were in the rooms with the decision makers, and I was sad some characters didn’t make it out of the story.
The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden (2024). This one disappointed me. I felt the writing was repetitive in places and I did not care for the ending. I did like the creeping dread and the commitment to an actual supernatural cause instead of something all too normal.
Addictive Mints 