SoapZone Community Message Board

The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu (A). An older substitute teacher is found dead in the teacher’s lounge, and the teachers reflect on their relationship with him (he was a retired teacher from the district) as they deal with the many issues of education. Mathieu, being a teacher herself, nailed what it’s like to be a teacher in 2025. Every chapter was a different character, which worked.

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett A-. A lottery winner suddenly finds himself the guardian of two tweens just as he’s about to embark on a road trip (in his ex-wife’s car, while she’s in Alaska with her new boyfriend, unknown to her) to declare his love for a woman he had a magical night with back in high school decades ago. It’s surprisingly poignant.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab A-. This felt like it would fit in Anne Rice’s vampire universe. A Spanish woman in the 16th century, a British woman in the 19th century, and an American woman in 2019 become vampires. A GOOD vampire book.

Smithsonian Birdwatching Guide A- I enjoyed this bird watching guide and learned more about our feathered friends.

The B-List

Providence by Craig Willse B+. A gay college professor in Ohio becomes interested in one of students who is also interested in him—but for what else?

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler B+ This was good, but Pulitzer good? I kind of feel it was for her entire career, not this specific book. A couple travels to the funeral of a friend and the novel unfolds over that single day as they deal with the loss of their friend and their own relationship issues.

Boys and Oil by Taylor Brorby B+. A memoir about Brorby’s experiences growing up gay in small town North Dakota and how he left there for college but still is tied to his roots.

Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry B+ The sequel to Lonesome Dove was good, but not as good as the first one. I look forward to reading the next two (which take place before the events in Lonesome Dove).

The View from Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani B+ I always say Trigiani is hit or miss, and I was lucky to read two of her hits this month (only have one left in her oeuvre). Lake Como is her latest, published this month, about an Italian American from Lake Como, New Jersey, whose (I think uncle?) dies, leaving her with his business and all the tax fraud that she was unaware of. She is still able to relocate to Italy and finds herself.

The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani B+ And the second one of her’s I read is from 2012, about the experience of Italian immigrants (based on her ancestors) to the US in the early part of the 20th century. A teen guy and gal meet by coincidence in their small Italian village, and soon leave for the US (separately). They both end up in New York and run into each other over the years before they finally get together.

Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks (re-read) B+. I remember this one from high school being more Stephen King or Dean Koontz (he wasn’t so horrible in the 1990s) than the one Shannara I had read then, and I still agree with this. A battle of good and evil starts in a small Illinois town on a Fourth of July weekend, and 14-year-old Nest Freemark is faced with demons (literal and figurative) as she has has to help the Knight of the Word John Ross.

The C-List

Include Me Out by Farley Granger with Robert Calhoun C

Farley Granger has always been an actor of interest for me, but his memoir was just boring.

Smile for the Cameras by Miranda Smith C

A supposed thriller about the cast of a slasher movie reuniting for a documentary that was a snooze fest that didn’t get going until near the end.

Night Shift by Stephen King (re-read) C. Not my fave collection of stories from King.