Review: America Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the Hidden Wonders of the United States

America Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the Hidden Wonders of the United States by Atlas Obscura
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of America Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the Hidden Wonders of the United States by Atlas Obscura from Ten Speed Press via NetGalley.  This book will be published around October 20, 2026

I am a huge fan of the Atlas Obscura website, so when I saw this book, I knew I would have to read it.  If you like to travel off the beaten path in the United States, this book is for you.  When I travel, I don't want to go to the regular tourist destinations.  I want some place quirky, some place fun, or some place where I won't run into a million other people and wait in super long lines.  I want a place that is going to give me a good story to tell.  An example: I once did a road trip to visit holy sites for alternative, non-mainstream religions.  I had the best time!  America Obscura gave me a bunch of ideas for future road trips.  It is organized by part of the country and state.  Interesting sites are grouped sort of in categories.  The published book will also include maps. It is bright, colorful, and fun!  Even if you don't plan to travel a lot, this is a great coffee table type book to get people talking.  Plus, you can learn about some of the crazy things that inspire people!

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Review: Follow Me

Follow Me by Elizabeth Rose Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure how I would feel about Follow Me by Elizabeth Rose Quinn.  I am not a mom (to humans) or into influencers of any type.  Surprise!  I was sucked in from the very beginning and could barely put this book down.  The mom influencer retreat was giving culty vibes.  The main characters are twin sisters, Chiara and Adrienne.  Chiara is a mom of twins.  Adrienne is a single, party girl.  Drugs aside, my life is probably closer to Adrienne's, and I would also approach any coMOMunity with a heavy dose of skepticism.  When Chiara goes missing at the retreat, Adrienne tries to infiltrate the group to find out what happened.  By this point, I was fully invested.  Was this really a cult or just terrible stereotyping???  I admit that some parts felt a little campy, but I absolutely enjoyed them!

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Review: The God of the Woods

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have somewhat complicated feelings about The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.  I thought the writing was great.  I liked that there are two mystery separated by time told from various perspectives.  Siblings go missing years apart.  Several suspects but no good answers.  They come from a rich family who seem to be covering something up with their money and trying to focus blame on working class people.  It did feel a little too long and convoluted.  I started to confuse people at a certain point.  Some unnecessary plot points added to make figuring everything out more complex.  Still overall a good read.

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Review: Compulsory

Compulsory by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Compulsory is a prequel short story to the Murderbot Diaries by Marth Wells.  This is very short, like 8 pages.  Just a taste of what Murderbot is like.  You can read it first or go back and read it if you read need a hit of Murderbot while waiting for the next story to come out.  I enjoyed it because it is all the things I love about Murderbot, humor and soap operas.  

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Review: The Secret of Secrets

The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was very excited to read The Secret of Secrets, the sixth book in the Robert Langdon series, by Dan Brown.  Has it been six books?  Apparently it has and apparently I have read them all.  I like iconology and symbology.  I find it really fascinating.  Set it in Prague?  Even better!  I love Prague.  It is a great city.  I would even say you can read this book as a standalone if you aren't ready to invest in a whole series.  It's a really long book that covers a lot of ground on consciousness.  I was all in on that.  The research, experiments, and theories of noetic science make this worth the read alone.  I wanted to know the secret of secrets!  

However, and this is a personal issue, I am a retired diplomat. I could not suspend enough disbelief about the U.S. Embassy Prague or the people working there.  I have been there.  I know people who have worked there. There were too many inconsistencies that it put a damper on my overall enjoyment of the story.  If you know nothing about the inner workings of an Embassy or the diplomatic community, you should have no problems!  

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Review: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: The Many

The Many by Sylvain Neuvel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of The Many by Sylvain Neuvel from Rebellion via NetGalley. This book was just published.

Let's face it. If Sylvain Neuvel writes it, I will read it. I was excited to see he had a new book coming. Look at that gorgeous cover! I had to read it and thankfully, I got my hands on a copy early. Whew! This is a standalone novel unlike his other books. The Test is technically a novella I suppose so it doesn't count? The point is, you can read this without worrying that you might be investing in a whole series if your reading time is limited. I love that this book is told through multiple perspectives with each chapter alternating viewpoints. There are also not many books that tell the story from a tick's perspective. As someone with an allergy that may have been tick-induced, I related hard to Carole even though I didn't particularly like her. I also haven't read anything with such a diverse cast of characters in a long time. I'm not sure you could get more diverse than The Many.

I liked the idea that if people could just understand how others think and feel, we might be able to change society for better. There are a host of ethical issues that come up with that. Also, who gets to define what better means. And also, would you want to know what other people really think? While that could of taken us to some deep dark places, Neuvel keeps it fairly light and positive.

Bonus points for the giraffe. I will not say more than to say it was trippy but so fun.



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