Funny Friday

 

My favorite literary fiction of 2025

 The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Cooper (William Morrow, 2025).

Lightning in a Mason Jar by Catherine Mann (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

It's a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025).

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O'Neal (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

The Page Turner by Viola Shipman (Graydon House, 2025).

The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner (William Morrow, 2025).

Mystery Monday - My 2025 favorites

For Duck's Sake (Meg Lanslow #37) by Donna Andrews ((St. Martin's Press, 2025).

Just Another Dead Author (Berit Gardner #2) by Katrina Bivald (Poisoned Pen Press, 2025).

From Cradle to Grave (Her Royal Spyness #19) by Rhys Bowen (Penguin Group, 2025).

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Alison Brennan (MIRA Books, 2025).

Death of a Forest Fairy (Hungarian Tea House #4) by Julia Buckley (Julia Buckley, 2025).

The Wexford Carole (Imogen Durant #2) by Janice MacDonald (Ravenstone Press, 2025).

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (St. Martin's Press, 2025).

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson (Penguin Group, 2025).

Funny Friday

 

Wrong Hands by John Atkinson

- originally published on Wrong Hands, 6 January 2026

Just finished reading...

 The Reckoning by Kelli Stanley (Severn House, 6 January 2026).

I read this book without knowing much about it, except that it takes place in 1985 in Humboldt County, California.  And that was written by Kelli Stanley.

The story is written in the first person (something that Kelli excels at) from Renata's point of view.  Thus, we know how she's feeling about events as they occur, and how they connect to her motivations and her background.  

We learn in the first chapter that the date is September 20, and that Renata Drake is running from something.  We also learn that she took a Greyhound bus from somewhere to Garberville, California simply because she remembered it from a photo she'd seen as a child.

At first, she's just trying to hide, but it's hard. The situation in Humboldt County at the time was akin to Prohibition earlier in the century, (except the substance was cannabis instead of alcohol) so there was a large law enforcement presence.

Yes, this book is fiction, but Garberville and its environs are real. Searching for information and photos of the area, I found that while much has changed in almost 41 years, some places look eerily similar to they way Renata describes them.  

Open-hearted and independent, Renata is at the same time vulnerable.  As a librarian, one of the things I liked most about her was her love of books and bookish people. 

Not a traditional thriller, but more of a historical mystery, this is one of those books that I wanted to read as fast as possible to find out what happened, but also slowly to savor the prose.  I think hope I managed both.

The Reckoning is the first 2026 [book] publication that I've read.  Even so, I'm certain that it will be on my "favorites" list at the end of the year.

If you read it and enjoy it, do yourself a favor and read Ms. Stanley's backlist as well.

Kelli and me at Bouchercon 2024

Kelli Stanley is the award-winning author of historical crime fiction, both novels and short stories.  

She also founded the Anthony award-winning non-profit publisher, Nasty Woman Press. Kelli earned a Master's Degree in Classics (and a double BA in Classics and Art History), loves jazz, old movies, battered fedoras, Art Deco and speakeasies. Like Renata, Ms. Stanley is also a fan of books and bookish people.

She credits Raymond Chandler, Ernest Hemingway, Cornell Woolrich, Dashiell Hammett and Thomas Hardy as some of her major influences.

Cross-posted to my Substack.

My favorite historical fiction of 2025

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (St. Martin's, 2025).

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick (Harper Muse, 2025).

Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union, 2025).

Kate & Frida by Kim Fay (Penguin, 2025).

The Dressmakers of London by Julia Kelly  (Gallery Books, 2025).

The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly (Random House, 2025).

Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight (Sourcebooks, 2025).

The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes (William Morrow, 2025).

The Eights by Joanna Miller (Penguin, 2025).

A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan (Penguin, 2025).

Kaye's favorites

My online friend Kaye Barley, asked if I would share her list of book favorites from 2025, and I happily agreed.

We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1) by Karin Slaughter (William Morrow, 2025).

Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2025).

Apostle’s Cove (A Cork O'Connor Mystery) by William Kent Krueger (Atria Books, 2025).

My Beloved (A Mitford Novel) by Jan Karon (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025).

All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur Books, 2025).

Hunter’s Heart Ridge (A Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows Mystery) by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Minotaur Books, 2025).

Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

These Heathens by Mia McKenzie (Random House, 2025).

Through An Open Window by Pamela Terry (Ballantine Books, 2025).

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (Park Row, 2025).

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Crown, 2025).

The Look by Michelle Obama (Crown, 2025).

Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe (William Morrow, 2025).

Kaye Wilkinson Barley is a retiree, wife, fur-mama, reader, occasional writer and blogger at Meanderings and Muses, and full-time outspoken liberal.