Selfish by Kerry Docherty

 

Publisher: Harmony

On Sale Date: April 21 2026

Pages: 336

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Kerry Docherty is one of the co-founders, together with her husband Alex and his twin brother Mike of the Faherty fashion brand Alex was her college sweetheart and together with Mike they lived in New York City. The brand was always number one in Alex's and Mike and Kerry. Everything was done with the brand in mind, and the work was going on almost 24/7. Slowly on, she realized she was always putting herself at last in her life, and this become more a burden, also when she became a mother and almost didn't have time for herself. This memoir is about her journey to find the parts of herself that where buried under the high expectations of others, especially from Alex, who really acted horribly to her and expected her to serve him more and more. She learned to say no more often to the things in her life that where not serving her longer, and more yes to the things and aspirations she cared about. She also had an on and off side affair with a guy named Beau and the artistic and conciousness related activities she started to get active in.

Selfish is a very personal memoir with sometimes a bit too personal details. She reflects on what it really means for her personally to put yourself first in the different parts of your life, be it in marriage, in being a mother or in your career. 

A huge part in this book is about the struggles between her and her husband Alex, as she feels more like one of his staff members than his wife. Alex is someone who puts the business first and this clashes with Kerry's aspirations in life. I found Alex's behaviour really questionable at many points and I wondered why his behaviour didn't rais more red relationship flags for Kerry. Her relationship with this excentric Beau guy...I truly found it odd sometimes. I truly hoped with all the struggles Kerry went through, there was some kind of progress coming in this memoir, as she wanted to choose more for herself, that she stayed in two relationships that where not serving her, and there was no progress as it seemed. she kept talking about the changes she would liked in her life, and repeated this pattern during the book, without real changes. I truly hoped there was some kind of conclusion or that she truly chose for herself instead of the toxic relationships she found herself in. The ending also felt rushed and I trult wondered what the point of telling all of her struggles in this book as nothing changed in the end.

I think this is a type of book you will like or not, it has to be you cup of tea, I liked parts of it, but also a lot that I truly wondered why the author was not standing up for herself more, so my feelings about this memoir are mixed.

The Fish and Chip Shop Detectives by Jenny Kane

 

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

On Sale Date: April 2 2026

Pages: 368

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

When his relationship with his girlfriend Bea goes out, Ryan Stepney finds himself without a home and also without a job, when he escapes to the small Cornish town of Mousehole. Walking trough town, he gets a fish and chips dinner at the shop where Maggie has been working for years. They start talking when Maggie finds him sitting lonely across the shop, wondering if he is ok. He explains what happened to him and Maggie offers him a job at the fish and chips shop and also offers him to live at the bedsit above the store as it has been empty for years. Ryan accepts the offer. Later on, Maggie advises him to visit the local pub to meet some new people. He meets a couple named Toby and Tania there. They have a chat and he finds out that Toby and Tania have relationship issues. He goes home later. The next day a body is found in the harbour and the police finds out it is the body of Tania. Ryan is the last one who has seen her at the pub, and is seen as a suspect immediately in the investigation. Ryan truly is devastated that he is seen as a suspect as he had nothing to do with her tragic dead, and Maggie truly knows this too. Being a detective lover, besides working frying fish and chips, she starts investigating what happened to Tania together with Ryan, they have to prove Ryan is innocent, but their investigation is not without danger for them..and it seems that in the life of Tania and Toby, there where some fishy things going on..

The Fish and Chips Shop Detectives by Jenny Kane is truly an amazing and fantastic new cozy mystery novel. The storyline and characters are both wonderfull. The story is full of fun and suspence  set against a charming background of the small town of Mousehole in Cornwall where everybody knows everybody. The characters of Maggie and Ryan are unbelievably good and portrayed very well. The characters both had heart and depth, and they both felt very realistic. This also counts for the cast of side characters. I loved that the storyline kept many secrets untill the end and that there where no real hints about who commited the murder of Tania, I really had no clue untill the end. The author truly created a good unraveling of who did it and a nice and good wrap up of the story. Just like a good serving of yummy fish and chips, this book makes you crave for more books by this author! 

I truly enjoyed this fun and fast paced cozy mystery and I recommend reading it!

 

Harmless by Miranda Shulman

 

Publisher: Dutton

On Sale Date: April 14 2026

Pages: 288

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Bea is a woman that is grieving los of her twin sister Audrey two years ago. At her memorial, which was delayed because of the pandemic, she runs into Audrey's childhood friends Tatum and Layla. They start talking again after many years, and somewhere in this Bea talks about the dream Bea and Audrey always had, to open a dog kennel or rescue. The three of them come up with the idea to do this together in their Park Slope neighborhood in Brooklyn. A lot of discussion about this kennel follows, and even more looking backs by Bea how things could run so out of hand with Audrey's heroin addiction that it led to her death. In alternating chapters the reader gets to know the three characters of Bea, Tatum and Layla better and a look into their lives, there is a lot of making plans for the kennel and a lot of talking about it, but this plan never comes to an actual kennel in this book, which was quite dissapoointing, the book was more a throwback look by Bea on Audrey's live and how she coped with it after, and also about the characters of Layla and Tatum who never became interesting characters at all. There was a lot of unneccesary talking and drama that really was much ado about nothing. I really was wondering what the point of this somewhat chaotic story was as they never opened the dog kennel/rescue at all, if they actually opened it it would have been a more interesting story and characters, but unfortunately for this book, it was missing  both an interesting storyline and characters.

Extra Sauce: The Good, the Bad, and the Onions Zahra Tangorra

 

Publisher: The Dial Press

On Sale Date: April 14 2026

Pages: 320

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

For author Zahra Tangorra Extra sauce is for sopping, dunking, and licking off your plate. Licking off your fingers. It is a tiny demand for freedom and hedonism. Life has told you this is the amount of joy you get, and you That is simply not enough.

The book starts with Zahra telling about her near-death experience; the tour bus she and her friends where traveling in fell of a cliff, and luckily everyone came out alive, but Zahra was severely injured and this also was a turnaround point in her life and she started to ask herself the questions; Who am I? What do I love? She writes about her childhood on Long Island. She goes back to the flavors of food of her youth, sttuffed shells and giant meatballs at J&J’s, the Italian red sauce joint on Long Island, her mother’s chocolate mousse pie and her father’s sweet and savory pea soup. Her father who passed away, and where she also writes a lot about in this memoir. How she opened her restaurant Brucie in New York City at 26 years old, but had to close it on the heights of it's popularity.

The topics Zahra writes about in this memoir are a large variety, sometimes so much that it becomes a bit chaotic and makes the memoir jumps from one point to another all of a sudden. She writes about her childhood and her sometimes dysfunctional family. The memoir is written like she is telling it you personally, and also includes a variety of recipes. I found some parts more interesting then other parts, as she sometimes seems to want to tell so much in this book that she only pinpoints a certain subject and then already is going to the next. 

Overall I found this an okay novel, not the very best or my favorite out there, but a nice in-between read.

Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han

 

Publisher: Simon  & Schuster

On Sale Date: April 7 2026

Pages: 384

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Honey In The Wound by Jiyoung Han is a story that spans multiple generations, all set in different time periods in Korea and Japan.  The story starts in 1902 with the  the family of Geum-Jin that lives a quiet and peaceful life in the deep forest. One day, his young daugther dissappears. Her clothes are found alongside tiger footprints. When Japanese soldiers invade the forest, the family is brutally attacked and the parents killed. Their other daughter, Young Ja flees the village. She is found by a family in a further village who takes her in their home. But when the husband of the family rapes Young-Ja is send away. She is brought by a man to a teahouse where she has to work hard in the kitchen with other women in the same fate, under the watchfull eye of the abusive misstress of the house. Everything changes when the Japanese soldiers burn down the teahouse, and Young-Ja is send to work with other women as a comfort woman for Japanese soldiers. A horrific time starts for her, and she barely survives the horrific abuse of the Japanese soldiers.

Later on in life, now an elderly lady, Young-Ja lives alone in Seoul. Her son lives in Japan with her granddaugher Rinako. Rinako never knew of her Korean grandmother, let alone being Korean as her father, who adopted a new Japanese name, that she is Korean, When she is alone at home and receives a call from Korea telling her that Young-Ja made a bad fall and is in hospital, Rinako wants to meet her. Together with her father, they travel to Korea, and there they learn about Young-Ja's tragic past..

Honey In The Wound by Jiyoung Han is a beautiful but also moving and heartbreaking story. This is a book that truly is impressive too. The story is spanned over many decades in different time periods that are woven together perfectly by the author. The storyline is written just so beautiful, but the story of Young-Ja and her family and what she has to endure in life is truly heartbreaking. Even more heartbreaking knowing that in real life, many women had to endure what Young-Ya had to endure, the gruel and horrific fate of many comfort women during World War II and in other wars as well who never received compensation or apologies, and had to live with trauma for the rest of their lives.  All the characters in this book where very realistic and interesting. It truly kept me interested as a reader till the last page.

There is also a small part of magical realism in this book. When one of the young daugthers of Geum-Jin dissappears in the first book, she returns as a tiger to protect the family for the Japanese soldiers. Young-Ja has a talent for putting emotions in her teas and food and Rinako can see truths about people around her in her dreams. The magical realism was doses perfectly in this book and never was too much, it just added something very special and original to the story.

Overall, as I already said, this is a beautiful and impressive, but also heartbreaking and tragic story, with a fantastic strong storyline and characters that I highly recommend reading.

Ship of Dreams by Donna Jones Alward

 

Publisher: Harper360

On Sale Date: March 31 2026

Pages: 384

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

1912; Hannah and Louisa are two young women and best friends who just boarded the biggest ship of that time period; the Titanic. Hannah is hoping her troubled marriage with her husband Charles, which got in trouble after her Charles was untrue to her, and after she got a miscarriage, will heal again. She hopefully can tell him she is expecting a baby again.

Louisa is a free spirited single women who is all into women's (voting) rights and is escaping her arranged marriage in England. On the Titanic, she meets the rich and handsome bachelor Reid and a romance starts between them. She meets the richest first class passengers like Margareth Brown. Things take a darker turn though when rumour spreads that expensive jewels from the first class passengers are missing. It seems someone opens the clasps of expensive necklaces and bracelets. Later on we learn this was the work of Louisa, who has no plan of what she will do when they arrive in New York, as she now escaped her marriage back in England that her father planned for her.

But all of a sudden everything falls apart when the Titanic hits the iceberg. On the deck of the ship, Hannah has to say farewell to Charles and Louisa to Reid, and both women do not know if the other survived until later on when they are reunited on the Carpathia. And they make plans for what to do after they arrive in New York..

I really liked the storyline of Ship of Dreams. During the progress of the story I started to like it more and more. The storyline is just fabulous, entertaining, and the end was without any loose ends. The characters are just as good as the storyline. You can totally picture Hanna and Louisa and the other characters on the Titanic in that specific time period. The part before the Titanic hits the iceberg is very movie like romantic and dramatic. I really liked all the first class things that where mentioned, the famous first class passengers that they've met and the storyline of the stolen jewels that popped up in the story all of a sudden. The part after that was, which was to be expected, very dramatic. As an expecting mother Hannah had to say farewell to her husband and Louisa to her love interest. Their time on the Carpathia was very moving, and the part after that too.

Overall, a very entertaining and captivating novel with interesting main and side characters that is a joy to read, recommended!

American Han by Lisa Lee

 

Publisher: Algonquin Books

On Sale Date: March 31 2026

Pages: 288

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Jane Kim and her brother Kevin grew up in the 80's in the San Francisco area. They where two children who worked hard to make their demanding Korean parents proud. They where both gifted and excelled in tennis and other activities. Later on, Jane went to law school and Kevin almost became a professional tennis player, but then became a policeman. Jane was supposed to become successful after law school, which in her mom's expectations also includes owning a home, have a succesfull husband and children. But Jane has stopped going to law school and it is not very clear what she is doing in life in the story. Her mom is still a demanding woman, and her absent father, who had many businesses in the past, is going from one business to another and has become a truck driver. Ther family is unraveled and the futures of Jane and Kevin too, especially when Kevin is involved in a violent incident in his function as a policeman and goes missing.

American Han is a beatifully written novel about a Korean family in between cultures. Jane is a strong main character, and the characters of her mother and brother and father too. The parents had certain high expectations for Jane and Kevin, but find out that real life goes different then expected sometimes. Jane's mother is still pushing her daughter to the perfect life she has in mind for her. It is a bit unclear though what Jane does for a living now she stopped going to law school, that is something that I missed in this story or was just so small in the storyline that you look it over quickly as a reader. The story is switching in time periods, from the past when Jane and Kevin where little and the author connects it to the present time. Overall I found this a nice and entertaining read.

Light and Thread by Han Kang

 

Publisher: Random House

On Sale Date: March 24, 2026

Pages: 176

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

This short book by author Han Kang is a mix of poems, essays, reflections. garden observations and diaries of the author.

A large part of the book, more than half of it, is all about her observations of her garden. There are several mirrors she moves througout the day to cultivate her garden at full potential. She observes and writes about the plants and trees and the insects and other things she sees in her garden.

There are several other topics that she writes about in the short first half, but it is all so short and only pinpoints on everything so fragmentary that it all becomes somewhat of a mish mash of different topics that don't have a connection with each other, I personally could not find the connection between the first half and the other half that feels mostly like her own personal garden diary. The writing style of the author is nice and easy to follow, but if it had been a little longer, and less of a personal garden diary that is most of the book, this could have been a far more interesting read. This is probably a good read if you are a fan or at least more familiar with Han Kan's eclectic type of books, but it also might be not everyone's cup of tea. I personally expected more of it.

The Plans I Have For You by Lai Sanders

 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

On Sale Date: March 17, 2026

Pages: 352

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Shelley Hu's life is over; after an incident on the subway,  a meltdown that went viral, she lost her job at a Manhattan law firm and her place at Columbia Law. Now she is working behind the front desk of a motel in Kissimmee, Florida, the same job she had in high school.

Her life changes when one night shift, Sophia  Moon walks into the hotel to check in with her husband and young son. Sophia knows what happened to Shelley, and shows her understanding, as she has her own similar public shaming incident. She was pretending ti be a student at Cornell University, untill she  found out that she wasn't and just sneaked in. Sophia, whose real name is Soyoung, had build a new life with her husband and son, under a new name, and encourages Shelley to do the same. Shelley soon moves in with her , takes on the new name of Erin, and together they set up a plan to take revenge on the people who wronged them. But Sophia has a dark side that Shelley don't know about..

The Plans I Have For You is a dark novel. The storyline is one it takes sometime to get into, and the same counts for the somewhat shady characters of Shelley and Sophia. It was a bit strange that Shelley just took off so soon with someone she didn't know, that was a bit unrealistic. The incident Shelley was involved in on the subway was one you look over quickly in this novel and it was a bit unclear to me what really happened there. Her character doesn't progress really in this novel, she only wants to take revenge of this coworker of her, and she gets in a love relationship with the married Sophia, and we read about her troubled relationship with her Chinese mother. Sophia is a character you truly never really get to know in this novel. We read her time in college, where she tries to sneak in with other to pretend she is studying there. We met her roommates who slowly uncover her and how she met her husband, and a dark secret of something that happened with a guy named Nathaniel.  The storyline is well written, but the characters don't make a real progress and the reason why they want to take revenge on others for their own mistakes is a bit unclear. But if you like a dark novel with dark characters, this is the book for you.

How To Hold Someone In Your Heart by Mizuki Tsujimura

 

Publisher: Scribner

On Sale Date: March 17, 2026

Pages: 224

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Ayumi is a man who has two jobs in his life, a real daily life one, and a supernatural one besides that. He is a toy designer for a big company in Tokyo by day, and besides that he is a go-between who arranges reunions between living people who want to see and talk to their deceased loved one ones last time. In this book, he arranges reunions between five living people and the lost who they want to meet again; a mourning mother who wants to meet her drowned child again, a movie star who wants to meet the father who abandoned him, an amateur historian who wants to meet a historic warlord from a different century, an elderly mother who wants to meet her daughter who died of cancer, and a few more with their own motives to find some kind of closure with a deceased person. But altough he has a good job and likes being a 'broker'' between the living and the dead, he is looking for some kind of peace in his own life.

This book is a sequel to Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon, but this sequel can easily be read as a standalone novel, as it makes no specific clues to the previous novel. The book reminded me a bit of the storylne of the books of the Chibineko Kitchen seriies by Yuta Takahashi, as that is also about a certain something connecting the living and the dead for one last special moment to find some closure. I liked the storyline and the main and side characters of Ayumi and the people he connects with. They where all little short stories on their own that overall connected to each other. Some stories where a bit more clear then others, some I found a bit messy. It was overall really moving though to read the narratives of the people who sought closure with their lost loved one, as some stories had quite some sad background, like the young mother who was always afraid of losing her little daughter of a drowning accident, which happened to her in real life then, and to had the change to see her daughter one last time. This book is magical realism, but not too much, and as every Japanese book in this genre it is also always very cute and lovely.

Overall this a cute and moving Japanese novel with a good storyline and characters.