Upstate by Kim van Alkemade

Publisher: William Morrow

On Sale Date: October 27 2026

Pages: 416

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Audrey Beacon lived with her long term boyfriend David in Manhattan for years. But David got Covid and sadly passed away. Grieving Audrey tries to survive the lockdown without him, when on social media, she stumbles upon a post about a bookshop that is for sale in the remote area of Schuywich in upstate New York. It is actually a massive barn which was used as a bookstore by the former owner, Evelyn Cabot, who opened the bookbarn in 1956. Audrey decides to buy the bookbarn and to move out of Manhattan, to make a new start after the loss of David. And she makes a brand new start and opening  for the bookstore as well..

Back in 1956; Evelyn Cabot works as a magazine writer in Manhattan. She attends a summer camp in Maine for ''professional women'' and there she meets Hazel, who works as a librarian in Schuywich. The two soon fall in love and after the summer, Evelyn leaves her home in Greenwich Village and moves into the farmhouse she bought in the remote village of Schuywich, where Hazel lives. The two present themselves to their friends and family as 'roommates'' while they actually live together as lovers. Evelyn writes a column named ' A Woman's Place'' Evelyn writes about her life at the bookbarn, which she renovated, and where she tends the sheep, and managing the bookshop together with her ''roommate'' Hazel. We get to know Hazel in the chapters that are shaped by the letters she wrote to Evelyn, in which we learn more about Hazel's past. The past where her brother was sent to fight in Vietnam, and came back with a Vietnamese wife, which was not accepted by Hazel's parent's, and who cut him out of the family. The letters stopped when Hazel and Evelyn had to abandon the bookstore in 2015, due to Evelyn's declining health.When the bookstore reopens, a wide cast of villagers visit the shop and becomes friends and even coworkers with Audrey, and when she finds an old stack of magazines containing Evelyn's columns and also finds Hazels love letters to Evelyn, the present connects with the past..

Upstate by Kim van Alkemade is a beatifully written new novel. The storyline is absolutely great and I also loved all the characters, and how in the end the puzzle pieces of the past and present connected in a beautiful way. Audrey, Evelyn and Hazel are all three very strong women who are very entertaining to read about. The book changes in chapters between Audrey's present, Evelyn's column, and Hazel's letters to Evelyn. For this book this totally worked out great. I loved how Audrey set up her new life in Schuywich, and how the cast of village residents came up in the story out of nowhere and made her new life very rich in the community sense which worked wonders for her healing of the grief of David.

Overall, this is a beautiful and moving new novel by bestselling author Kim van Alkemade that you don't want to miss!

The Paris Files by Eva Jurczyk

 

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books

On Sale Date: October 6 2026

Pages: 336

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Canadian Genevieve 'Genie St. Onge meets her American lover Jacob Ford when they both are in the Philippines. They agree to meet in Paris again. They have a nice time eating pastries from the boulangerie across the street in the apartment they rent from landlord Fatma Mbaye in the 11th arrondissement, and they plan their future together. But then one morning, Jacob doesn't return from his trip to the boulangerie. Genie waits for him the whole day, but he doesn't return anymore, while his backpack is still in the apartment. And then she realizes it; Jacob is missing. And he needs her help.

The book is set up as police witness report files. The police talks with everyone who could be involved in the missing of Jacob; Genie, Genie's best friend Partridge Middlecoffe, landlord Fatma Mbaye, the neighbors Henri and Noor, the caretaker of the apartment building Rolande LeGoff, fruit and vegetable shopkeeper Yousef Al-Shami and Jacobs former classmate and friend Aris Tsoulias and Jacob's wife Camilla Ford.  Soon we know that never was sure that Jacob even existed, as no one except Genie saw him and you get the suggestion that Genie has gone a little mad and she made up Jacob, especially when she gets quite aggressive against Yousef in his fruit and vegetable shop after she is not allowed to watch his CCTV camera recordings to proof she was there with Jacob. You get to read everything that happens in the apartment building, and soon find out that there is something quite sinister going on, and the author does a true great job to keep you on the wrong foot over and over again, and it keeps you guessing untill the last page. You read the story from different angles, and every person picks it up where the other in the previous chapter left. The slow unwrapping of who or what is behind the dissappearance of Jacob, it totally keeps you guessing, and when it is revealed, it is very different then expected, in a good way (except for Jacob sadly..) I found the storyline very original and thrilling, and the characters where all very realistic, and sometimes a little weird and eccentric and scary. It was just like a good stage play. I truly enjoyed reading this very original new novel and I recommend reading it!

Never Say Die by Ke Huy Quan

 

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

On Sale Date: September 15 2026

Pages: 256

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Ke Huy Quan, now an Oscar winning actor, was just seven years old in 1978 when he tried to escape North Vietnam by boat with his father. The two times they try to escape fail, and they find themselve locked in a strict jail for two times. When they get back home, Ke's mother and three of his siblings are not home anymore. They also tried to escape by boat, and succeed and land in a refugee camp in Malaysia, and later settle in the United States. Later, Ke and his father, and five of his siblings also succeed in escaping. They land in a refugee camp in Hong Kong for a long year while waiting to be granted political asylum.  In 1979, the separated family members reunited and were admitted to the United States through the Refugee Admissions Program, and later moved to California. At the school where Ke had to follow ESL classes, there was an open casting for a movie taking place in another classroom. The movie company was looking for a young asian boy for one of the lead roles in the new Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg. He just auditioned spontaneaously for the fun of it, and to his and his family surprise, he got the part! This is life changing for him, as after the shooting of this movie, he lands other roles too.  But when he gets older, he finds out that the getting roles isn't that easy anymore, and has to figure out where to go from there. He describes what he did when he didn't get any roles for years, the ups and downs in his family life, his father had multiple strokes and how he slowly made his comeback that led him eventually to winning an Oscar.

I never heard of Ke Huy Quan before, or seen one of the movies he was in, but this book made sure I never forget who he is. I truly liked the book from the first page on, Ke has beside his talent for acting, also an incredible talent for writing. His tone is very lighthearted and entertaining, even when the circumstances in the book where very sad, like the escape from Vietnam, he truly knows how to hold your interest and the story never got annoyingly heavy. I truly liked how this memoir was build up. You truly follow Ke's life from seven years old to now, like he is telling it to you personally as a good friend and his optimism, even when he doesn't get any casting callbacks, and fun sense of humor shines through the memoir. This memoir of fleeing your country, finding the American  and the Hollywood dream with all the ups and downs that go with it is one I truly recommend reading!

Foreigners by E.L. Shen

 

Publisher: Quill Tree Books

On Sale Date: September 22 2026

Pages: 448

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

It is 1966 and Zheng Yi is a graduated high school senior who just arrived in New York City from Taiwan. Her parents have high expectations of her, and the goal is for Zheng Yo to go to college in the US. She will stay at the house of her aunt, and she will also be a nanny of her two little nephews there in return for her stay. She has to learn English, in which she truly struggles, and also with the social norms of her new life that are so different then back in Taiwan and her parents expect her to date Calvin Chin, a wealthy student with a good name who soon enough shows his true colors and intentions to Zheng Yi..

Dawn Chin is a college student who lives on campus in New England in the present time. For a school project she has to research her own family history. During her research, she finds an old picture of her grandmother, a picture that is taken back in the 1960's in New York City, while her grandmother always told her she spent that time in New Hampshire. Dawn discovers that her grandmother hides a lot of secrets, but it afraid to ask her, her project brings her closer to her grandmother tough, and so close that her grandmother trusts her enough to tell her a dark secret she has hidden for long..

Foreigners E.L. Shen is a novel that is just as great as her previous novel The Queens of New York. The storyline that alternates between Zheng Yi in the past and Dawn in the present is just beautiful and unlike any other novel in originality.

Zheng Yi's story (who is called Audrey further on in the story) was truly moving and truly shows the difficulties and challenges you stumble upon as a newcomer in New York City. She truly has to adjust to her new life and has to take in mind constantly the pressure of the high expectations her parents back home have of her, which includes dating Calvin Chin, a guy who seems wealthy and nice from the outside but soon crosses Audrey's boundaries. She also is seeing another guy, against Calvin's warning that he is dangerous and she shouldn't see him. But she soon figures out Calvin is the dangerous one..

The storyline of Dawn, Audrey's grandchild at college in New England, was less moving, it was more a coming of age story and Dawn finding out she was queer. The story I found most interesting about this part was her discovering her grandmother's long hidden secret from her past in New York, and the revealing of the this secret in the ending with a flashback. This truly was a great plot twist that I didn't expect, and how the story was wrapped up was also really good.

Overall, I truly like and enjoyed this brand new novel by E.L. Shen, and I recommend reading it!

How To Use 3,000 Yen by Hika Harada

 

Publisher: Scribner UK

On Sale Date: September 10 2026

Pages: 320

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

In How To Use 3000 Yen, we meet 3 generations of women of the Mikuyira family and how money has an influence on their lives.

The first woman we meet is Miho, who is saving small amounts of money to save for the things she truly wants and needs; a dog and a home of her own. She was inspired to be wise with money by her grandmother Kotoko, who said to her; How you spend a sum of 3000 yen, or about 20 euros, says a lot about your own personality. We meet Miho's sister Maho, who worked as an investment advisor, but now has to stay home for her newborn daughter, for which she already sets money aside for her future education. We meet their mother Tomoko, who is thinking of divorcing her husband, after she was very dissapointed by his lack of caring for her after she had to stay in the hospital. But can she afford a divorce, and be able to support herself financially? Their grandmother Kotoko is figuring out how to stay financially well in her old age, and as she doesn't want to stay home and worry about it, she takes on a job in a small restaurant. We see their day to day lives, their choices in life and how their financial choices and situations affect the future and the past and in different ages and the role of women in Japanese culture and society and in different roles as wife, mother and daughter and as a pensioner. The focus is mostly on how the women where saving money and their motivation behind it.  But also the message that money is not the most important thing in life, and that family comes first.

I found the storyline and the characters both very enjoyable. The storyline was very different then anu other Japanese novel I've read so far, this time it was not set up around cats and magic realism, but around something more realistic; money and how it affects our day to day lives. The story is very lighthearted, but I loved how the three characters where created and their seperate storylines. Overall a very enjoyable Japanese novel with a strong storyline and characters that is not to miss if you are a fan of Japanese fiction.

Mother Daughter Sister Stranger by Hank Philippi Ryan

Publisher: Minotaur Books

On Sale Date: September 1 2026

Pages: 352

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Eliza and Bea Ramsey are the only two survivors of a plane crash that happened eleven years ago. Their parents died in the crash. Eliza and Bea always had an unbreakable bond. But suddenly, on the eleventh anniversary of the plane crash, Bea asks Eliza to take care for her adopted daughter Piper for a day with a sleepover, she doesn't come back to pick her up and doesn't answer her phone anymore, Eliza is worried something bad has happened to her. Bea would never leave Piper all of a sudden. Eliza and Piper go to Bea and her husband Kyle's (who is apparently in Japan) house to make sure she is not inside the house unresponsive. She isn't there, but later on Eliza finds a note in Bea's mailbox that wasn't there before. It says; '''stop searching for me''.  Did Eliza create her own dissappearance, or is something else going on? When they arrive at Eliza's house, she and Piper spot someone in Eliza's house from outside. She calls the police but no one is found. Scared to go back home, Eliza takes Piper to the family's cottage in the woods where their family always spent the summers. There they are safe, or so they think.. Eliza finds out that her publisher boss Whitney hides some dark secrets she never knew about; she knew Eliza's father, and what she finds out is shocking..and this is the start of a dramatic and dangerous unfolding of events..

Mother Daughter Sister Stranger is a breathtaking thriller that has many brilliant plot twist and turns, and because of that, keeps you guessing untill the last page what was behind Bea's dissappearance and is she ever would come back alive. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The storyline is truly magnificent and I could not predict what would happen, which I really liked. The ending, it was completely different then I expected, but it was really good!  The characters are also very well created, I found them all very believable in such an unbelievable story where the strangest things happen. Don't miss out on this great new novel that I recommend reading!

Where The Girls Were by Kate Schatz

 

Publisher: The Dial Press

On Sale Date: March 3 2026

Pages: 368

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Elizabeth ''Baker'' Philips is a fifteen year old girl who just graduated from high school, where she was a succesful student and valedictorian, and she is accepted at Stanford where she will start after the summer. But that summer, the free spirit of San Francisco lures Baker into a parties with her cousin May and a one night stand with a guy named Wiley. And that one night changes her life forever as she is pregnant. Something that was a scandal in the 1968 as an unmarried woman. She tries to arrange an appointment at an underground abortion clinic, but that goes wrong too, and soon her strict socialite mother knows it. Her mother makes up the story to the family, who are attending Bakers's big graduation party, that Baker will be attending a special acceptance program at the Sorbonne university in Paris this summer. In reality, her mother sends her to a home for unwed mothers somewhere to avoid the ''scandal''. The home is an old Victorian building, where there are housed a lot of girls in the same situation as she. She makes a lot of new friends with the girls, but isn't allowed outside because her mother's fear of being found out. The babies of the girls will be adopted to 'lovely families''. Baker is struggling to find meaning at the home, as she feels trapped, and has to accept her changing body and uncertain future. Her roommate is Michelle, a girl who has been in her second pregnancy and is a bit rebellious. But her rebelliousness is good hearted, and when they find out the management of the house is writing in the permanent records of the girls, they come up with a plan..

I truly enjoyed reading this novel. The story is so moving and gripping and with an ending I couldn't predict, and it is also full of unexpected plot twists, which I really liked. The storyline of Baker, who finds herself in a lifechanging problem situation, was very moving. You could question the stupidity of that one night stand, but for Baker, it is just the way it is. Her mother was quite a character, she reminded me a bit of some characters in The Help, I could totally picture her as a woman in true sixties attire who wants to keep up appearances no matter what, and who loves her fundraisers and social events to make good face.

How the home for unwed mothers was potrayed was very different then I expected. I expected another home run by nuns, who where harsh and let the girls work in the laundry. But this was not the case in this novel, as this was a more modern house (except for the house itself which was quite rundown) where the girls didn't have to work but where doing activities like crafts. I really liked how she bonded with the girls there and that they where all so friendly to each other. How the book ended was truly a surprise. I didn't expect that Baker choose this, but I understood it very well, as it still happens that lies are written in medical records these days, which is also still not recognized to this day.

Overall, I truly enjoyed reading this great novel, and I recommend it!

Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig

 

Publisher: Delacorte Press

On Sale Date: September 1, 2026

Pages: 400

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Our Strange Duet is the story of the famous musical The Phantom of the Opera, but in this novel, it is told from Christine Daaé's point of view. The story follows exactly the plot and script as we know it from the musical. Only in this book, we delve deeper into the live of Christine. How she became a ballerina at the Opera Populaire, living under the wings of Madame Giry and her daughter and Christine's best friend, ballerina Meg Giry. The history of her father Gustave Daaé who was a musician, and how she met Raoul when she was a little girl, and how they always have been in love with eachother. After her interest in singing starts and she starts singing in her dressing room, which is next to the one of opera star Carlotta Guidicelli, who is not happy that Christine is apparently ''stealing her spot as a star''. To avoird further conflict with Carlotta, which becomes worse after the phantom causes an incident on stage, where Christine is blamed after trying to save Carlotta from an onriding set truck, she has to move to a different dressing room which is known at the opera to be somewhat haunted. She moves into her new dressing room though where she starts practicing to sing, and where a mysterious voice all of a sudden starts to coach her to become the best singer she can be. She believes this is her late father, who promised her to send her the Angel of Music when he would pass. She is deeply intrigued by this strange and mysterious voice which seem to come from behind the large dressing mirror in her dressing room. She later learns his name is Erik. When the two new directors, monsieur Firmin and monsieur André of the Opera Populaire arrive to replace the director, and Carlotta starts to sing  Think of Me for the new directors during a rehearsel of the opera Hannibal, The Phantom sabotages this rehearsel by throwing a decor backdrop on almost on top of Carlotta. She refuses to sing the next weeks, and Christina has to replace her, as she is ready to sing on stage because Erik's coaching. And this is the start of a dangerous work relationship with the Phantom, while she is also seeing her sweetheart Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny and important patron of the Opera Populaire. In this book, their relationship is shown more deeply, and we see more of both outside of the opera, which adds a new layer to the story and explains more. And meanwhile, Christine learns that Erik is just a man, and clearly not an 'Angel of Music'' as he starts sabotaging the Opera more and more to get his way, and deadly incidents happen with stagehand Joseph Boquet, and the falling chandelier, and Christine finds herself in the middle of all of this and has to choose between Raoul and the Phantom, and to keep or to stop singing and to choose for the life she wants.

Our Strange Duet is a magnificent and just brilliant novel of The Phantom of the Opera. It does nothing but honour the story as we already know it, but looking from Christine's point of view, it adds just more layers to the story, as we see her life inside and outside the opera (never knew she had her own little apartment in Paris) and we see her choices, thoughts and actions more clearly. Her relationship with Raoul seems so much more deeper in this novel, and I loved that the author chose to also show parts of their life outside of the opera, it added just so much to the story! I loved that the script of the musical version of the Phantom is used as we know it in this book.  It truly does compliment eachother in this book. I absolutely enjoyed reading this book, it is just in one word phantastic and I recommend reading it!

The Nine Lives of a Bookshop Cat by Kentaro Utsugi

Publisher: Quercus Publishing UK

On Sale Date: August 27 2026

Pages: 256

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

The saying goes that a cat has nine lives. Nobody knows for sure, but in this novel, the main character and narrator, a black stray cat named Kinnosuke, has them and as the story starts, he is already in his ninth live. Due to things that happened connected to humans in his previous eights lives, he now has his figurative belly full of humans, completely distrusts them and wishes nothing with them to do anymore, and he avoids them now at all costs. But he doesn't have his  real belly full al all, so he goes out in the city on his own, looking for food and a place to stay and stumbles upon the Hokuto-do Bookshop. It seems a lot of cats hang around the run-down bookstore wich makes him curious. The store is run by a woman who also takes care of the four cats who have make the store their home. The cats seem very happy to Kinnosuke, and slowly on, the woman of the bookshop and the other cats win his trust and he slowly moves in. He still distrusts them though and also wonders what kind of mysterious thing is going on in this bookshop where hardly any customer buys something, and the mysterious woman who runs it but never orders new books, but the shelves seem to fill themselves with new books constantly. Another mysterious thing is the four cats, who where all seperately living at the house of an author in one of their previous lives, just as Kinnosuke in his third live. He also makes friends with a human, Madako, who loves reading and writing stories, they truly become close friends and Kinnosuke finally trusts a human again. We see Kinnosuke grow as a cat through his nine lives and follow all his adventures with a little hint of magic realism trough the bookshops and its self-filling shelves.

The Nine Lives of a Bookshop Cat is one of the many translated Japanese novels that is set up around a cat character. It was very enjoyable and entertaining to read about Kinnosuke and all his adventures in his nine lives and all the cats and people he met along the way, with a red line of Japanese mythology and culture and magical realism. It was sometimes a bit confusing though and not explained clearly in which live of Kinnosuke the story took place in every specific part of the book, as it sometimes switched back and forth in between one his nine lives. Some of the things he experienced where nice, other where just cruel, and it explained why he distrusted people so much and why his narrating voice was a bit sour and cynical through the book. It was very sweet when he bonded with Madako, who gained his trust again as a human.

Overall, I found this another Japansese cosy ''cat'' novel, the story and characters where very fine, and it all stayed very sweet and kawaii that I recommend reading!

Butterflies by Sylvia Yu and Matthew S. Friedman

 

Publisher: Penguin Random House SEA

On Sale Date: September 1 2026

Pages: 288

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Zoe Kim is a Canadian journalist with Korean roots, who is in Seoul, Korea for her work. She is investigating a local sex-trafficking ring that lures innocent young women with promises of good jobs into brothels. She finds out that this human trafficking ring is operating also in Los Angeles, Korea and other Asian countries and is operating from Japan and is led by a criminal and dangerous and powerful gang, but whose actions apparently seem to be tolerated by the authorities.

Meanwhile, she gets the news that her aunt Meera is passing away. After her death, she gets an old diary of Meera. Meera wrote in this diary during the occupation of large parts of Asia by Japan. The Japanese government started 'comfort stations' in these countries,  and young women from all over Asia were brutally taken from their homes and families to work at these comfort stations as sex slaves. In her diary, Meera writes the horrific atrocities she and thousands of other girls had to endure during the war and the trauma she had to live with the rest of her life because of this, and the fact that Japan never acknowledged these horrors or officially apologized for it and for many decades acted like it never happened. And this is for Zoe just one more reason to try to investigate the Japanese trafficking ring, and to try to bring it into the news, this all against the orders of her boss.

When Zoe gets more involved in the investigation, more danger for her starts to rise. The Japanese gang is not happy at all by what she is doing, and she is followed and threatened by them, and it even get's so far she is caught by them and they try to let her work as a prostitute and lock her up in a small room with only a mattress, the same kind of room her aunt Meera found herself in decades ago. She manages to escape, and is then accused falsely of having killed a Korean girl who was killed by them. They bring it into the national news, and Zoe and her partner are being searched for by the police. After trying to hide, even disguised as a nun  and a priest in a local hotel, Zoe and her boyfriend who traveled to Asia to save her, are caught by the police and after the first court hearing, have to stay in jail for eight months, but then, after the public is very offended by their ordeal, and who are nationally pleading for justice for them and for the wider fact of human trafficking and for the comfort women, an old friend and an old lover of Meera, Masuki, who she lost contact with during the war, come into their life to help them escape, and a very dangerous escape route by sea starts, will they reach the shore of Korea safe and will Zoe manage to speak out against human trafficking and for justice for the comfort women without treats from the Japanese gang?

I was truly blown away by Butterflies. Authors Sylvia Yu and Matthew Friedman did a tremendous job by writing this book, and by researching this, sadly still actual, topic, which is shown at the end of the book where we see pictures of Sylvia interviewing women around the world, who were comfort women during the Japanese occupation, for example, with activist Ellen van der Ploeg in The Hague. (As a matter of fact,  this year was the first time ever a Japanese ambassador visited an paid respect to the fallen victims who where forced to work on the Burma railway during the war in 1940-1945, during a remembrance in Arnhem, The Netherlands, this past August, which shows how long Japan refused to acknowledge the horrors of the past and stayed silent.) The story of the comfort women during the Japanese occupation of Asia still needs to be told today, but unfortunately, human trafficking still happens.

The storyline of the book is absolutely brilliant. I loved how the authors connected the past and present in Zoe's storyline, and how the story of Meera was told through her diary entries. What she had to endure during the war was truly heartbreaking and horrific. But it is very important that  real life stories like this keep being told. There is also a small love story in this part between Meera and good-hearted Masuki, whose father is an important man in the army and who is clashing with Masuki over seeing Meera). The Japanese trafficking ring which Zoe investigates..it truly gave me the cold chills at many parts, they where so threatening and evil, especially in the end when Zoe tries to escape and after that there where some very horrifying scenes where Zoe had confrontations with them where they made threats at her when she wanted to  escape on the boat and later on speak out publicly about human trafficking. How the local authorities turned a blind eye and where on the side of them was even more scary. But these scenes also made this a thrilling novel, as this keeps you at the edge of your seat as a reader. The story is set in different countries who had a past with the war: Korea, a village in China, and Japan, which just shows how wide and far the atrocities of the Japanese army was during the war.  The investigation what strong minded Zoe did was absolutely great, and she didn't stop because her aunt's diary really gave her the inspiration and drive to pull through no matter what, for justice for the victims of human trafficking, which is the red line of this fantastic book.

Butterflies by Sylvia Yu and Matthew Friedman is truly one of the very best books of 2026, and I highly recommend reading it!

The Bookshop Woman by Nanako Hanada

 

Publisher: Tiny Reparations Books

On Sale Date: September 15 2026

Pages: 224

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

In The Bookshop Woman Nanako Hanada manages the Village Vanguard, a well known and one of a kind bookstore in Tokyo. Her marriage has just broken, and she is in the middle of splitting her former life with her ex-husband. As she has no new apartment for herself, she spends the nights in the capsule  hotels and internet cafes of Tokyo. She feels very alone, until she stumbles on the Perfect Strangers website. It is a website where people meet for thirty minutes for different purposes; networking,  to share ideas, to make friends, or to find romance. Nanako makes a profile on Perfect Strangers  and writes in her profile that she wants to connect with people to, as she is a bookseller, to recommend them the book that changes their life. During the year that follows, she meets hundreds of people through Perfect Strangers in real life, all recommending them a specific book that will change their life. She truly loves connecting to the variety of people she meets, who sometimes become her friends, and that she can connect with just anyone in the city of Tokyo, which because of this doesn't feel so anonymous to her anymore and she feels less alone in the bustling city, and finds out that because of her transforming lives of other, she also transformed the life of herself.

The Bookshop Woman is a fun, lighthearted real-life novel set in the busy city of Tokyo, which the author truly did a great job to portray in the novel. It is a beautiful story of connecting with other through the love of books and the self-discovery of the main character. It is a very entertaining to read all the different people she met on the website, it mostly went well and some became friends, and there where ofcourse some creeps there too who wanted to hookup with her. Nanako is a very likeable character, altough the characters in this book where sometimes all a bit one-dimansional. The people she met where all very shortly described, which felt bit volatile  and short-lived at some points. But besides that, I enjoyed reading this entertaning autobiographic novel!

The Fish and Chip Shop Detectives and the Campervan Murder by Jenny Kane

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

On Sale Date:  June 11, 2026

Pages: 368

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

In the first and previous book in this new series, we met Maggie Tyson, who started working at the fish and chip shop in the small village of Mousehole in Cornwall, owned by Mr. Robbins. Together with her coworker Ryan Stepney, she investigated the murder of a woman who Ryan saw as the last person when he was in the pub, which led to their private investigation agency which they do beside their work in the fish and chip shop. 

In this book, Mr. Robbins, who was always to be found in his small office above the chip shop, is nowhere to be found, and is later found dead in his ransacked campervan. The campervan he moved to when his family started getting threats from one of a former bussiness contact of him, and where he tried to keep his family safe from. Later on, Mrs. Pritchard, the mother of Mr. Robbins driver Darren is also found dead in her house. Somehow Maggie knows this is no coincidence and together with Ryan, they go on a search to find out what his behind the two murders. And they stumble upon little pieces of the background of Mr. Robbins, and it is upon them to put them all together and also make sure the shop keeps going on without the boss Mr. Robbins.

I really liked the first book in this series, and this new book in it just truly lived up my expectations! Again this is a thrilling and page turning detective novel, with a great and lighthearted storyline and an even fantastic cast of characters. The detective part was made up just perfect. As a reader, you totally can't predict who was behind the murders and it just keeps you guessing and wanting to find out who it was. The reveal of it was just as it should be, and I truly didn't expect the outcome, but it was quite a good plot twist. The characters where all very realistic, down to earth and believable. You can just imagine them in the small village in the fish and chip shop in a small town like there are so many of in the UK. I liked the connections between the characters, and how they bonded to save the shop and how it all worked out in the end for them. 
This new book in this already great series is one you don't want to miss!

Kitten by Stacey Yu

 

Publisher: Random House

On Sale Date:  August 4 2026

Pages: 304

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Katie is a young woman  who just finished college and lives with her boyfriend James in New York. Katie is not on speaking terms anymore with her mother. Before she moved into James' apartment, she was roommates with Lou, who still lives in the shared apartment and is messaging Katie many times that she is moving out and that Katie ows her lots of money.

James, who is from an affluent background, takes Katie with him on a vacation to the seaside house that is owned by his family. James also takes his beloved cat Silver with him, and Katie truly starts to love the cat. Silver doesn't know or care of all the problems in Katie's live; that she is struggling to get a job, has no apartment anymore soon, has issues with her mother, doesn't know how to behave at dinner parties or with the wealthy family of James. Silver doesn't have all the difficult grown up responsibilities Katie has, and she wishes she had the easy cat life of Silver. During the vacations, she meets James' family and friends and she bonds more and more with Silver, who loves swimming in the sea. But Katie seems to have serious issues with taking responsibility in her life, also with taking care of Silver. And one day when James is away, this takes a serious and tragic turn..

Kitten is a book about a young woman who has trouble with taking responsibilities and who also doesn't make a growth process in this story. I truly found her actions and life choices a bit strange, and I sometimes could not get any grip on who she was. Her boyfriend James really had to put up with her many times, and it was because of his patience with her the relationship stayed good. But in the end, really..what happens to Silver was truly heartbreaking. I wondered why Katie started swimming in the sea with him earlier in the book, which is truly odd to do with a little cat. That it went so wrong in the end with this swimming wasn't that big of surprise to me, but it was truly sad for James and the kitten itself. 

Overall, Kitten is a somewhat strange story about a young woman who doesn't want to be and never acts like a grown up, and doesn't change much in the book and her weird obsession for the cat of her boyfriend. It is an okay in-between read but nothing more then that.

Chinatown Vancouver, An Illustrated History by Donna Seto

 

Publisher: Ambrosia

On Sale Date:  May 1 2025

Pages: 292

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Vancouver's Chinatown is lesser known than for example, the Chinatowns in New York and San Francisco. But it has a long and interesting history that is finally written down with the most beautiful illustrations in the book Chinatown Vancouver, and Illustrated History by Donna Seto. The book describes how the Chinese people landed in Canada and the many contributions they made to the Canadian community and society and the many hardships the Chinese had to endure. The book is buildup of seventy of the most beautiful illustration by Donna Seto of many significant buildings in Vancouver's Chinatown, and she describes the history of every particular building from the past till now. Stores, social organisations, restaurants, and also writes about the hardships Chinatowns are facing now, especially after the pandemic, which saw many iconic stores that where there for decades, suddenly close, like Ming Wo Cookware.

It is just a fabulous book, a book that is just one of a kind and very original. The illiustrations are just perfect and the setup of the whole book is magnificent! I also learned a lot about a Chinatown I didn't know much about. I truly recommend reading it!

Your Fellow Americans by Peter Santenello

 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

On Sale Date:  August 4 2026

Pages: 336

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Peter Santenello is well known for his youtube channel, where he shows his travel crisscross through the whole USA. Some parts of these travels are now bundled in a book. In this book, he writes about his time spend among the Amish in Florida, he is in the streets of East LA where he learns more about the Chicano community, he is in former mine towns in the Appalachia, and is a guest on a houseboat in the Louisiana Bayou to name a few parts of the book.

What we see in his video's, we also found here in this book; he is invited in local homes by total strangers, shares dinners with new friends. He shows the many many different faces and cultures of America from north to south and from east to west and everything in between.

This book is the perfect addition to his channel, and it is just as entertaining as his youtube video's. Peter has a very entertaining and interesting way of telling what he experiences in places all over the USA. All of the chapters are even interesting and amazing to read. All of the stories have depth, and Peter doesn't shy back to show the good sides, but also the not so shiny sides of America, sides of poverty, decline of towns and cities, for examples in the former mine towns of the Appalachia, which makes his stories very real, which is what I love about his video's and also in this book.

If you love Peter's video's, you will love this book, but even if you never watch his video's this book is even as fantastic! Recommended!

You'll Love It Here by Natalie Sue

Publisher: William Morrow

On Sale Date:  August 11 2026

Pages: 320

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Mona Bucket is working at a marketing firm, and she was hoping to finally be promoted after years of working there. But instead she finds herself jobless. And to make matters worse, there is a fire in the building of her tiny apartment. The elderly landlady Irene, who Mona is on good terms with, has to stay in the hospital for a while after that, and asks Mona a life changing question; can Mona take her place as the superintendent of the building and take care of her dog too? Mona has to make sure the building receives the urgent care and maintenance it needs; Irene is planning to sell the building, and the building needs to be in shape for that. But ofcourse, that is easier said then done, especially because Mona is not experienced and the residents of the building don't know her yet. We meet the colorfull cast of residents of the building; Norm, the guy with the smelly apartment who is behind his game console all day, the shouting couple, the uniformed family, the woman who is suffering from an underwear thief in the laundry room in the basement, and there is her new best friend named Sami, the man who is running the diner in the street, who helps her with everything, gives her advice, has endless cups of coffee and good food, and becomes even more then a friend to her.. Over time, when Mona runs into unexpected things in the building and becomes closer to the people living in it with ups and downs,, she finds the real meaning of community, and she finds the idea of the building being sold and the residents, each with their own story, displaced, more and more hard to process..

I truly think this is one of the most fun books coming out this year! The storyline of You'll Love It Here is just absolutely brilliant. The story has a lighthearted funny undertone, and it is a story in which you truly can't predict what is happening next, because this story is just so original. The characters of Mona Bucket and the colorfull cast of residents in the building and her new friend Sami; they where all just very believable, realistic, funny and I loved how they slowly started to form a community who hoped to stay in the soon to be sold building. I also loved how the story was wrapped up, I won't get into much spoilers here, but it was just the perfect ending for a just brilliant story!

This is one of the very best books coming out this year, and I highly recommend it!

The Half Life by Rachel Beanland

 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

On Sale Date: July 14 2026

Pages: 480

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Eileen O' Malley is working in a department store in Charleston, where one day Paul Archer, a naval officer walks in and needs her help. Sparks fly over and they start dating. Later on, they marry and Paul is send over for his work to the small Italian island of La Maddalena in the Mediterranean sea, where Paul will work at a submarine tender, in the radiological controls department of the US naval base over there.

There she builds op her life with Paul, and also lands in the community of fellow Navy wives, who together try to make the island feel more like home and who do activities together and are a support network. Eileen has to learn the in and outs of the navy live though, as it comes with it's own set of specificic hierarchic rules, and she also has to start learning Italian. Being an American abroad comes also with difficulties, as not every Italian on the island is happy with the American navy being there. There are many protests from the right, and they want the navy gone, as there is worry that the nuclear activity from the navy is causing health dangers in the area and for the water. There are several children being born with deformities, and the community on the island is pointing to the navy as a cause.

And soon, when Paul is away for work often, and when he is home too, things are not going well for their marriage. Especially when she gets more knowing of what the US navy is doing on the island and when she meets Teo, a local journalist who is critically writing about this and where she gets an affair with. She has to choose to stay in her unhappy marriage with Paul, or a new life with Teo, and between going back to the USA or follow her heart and stay in Italy..

The Half Life is a book that takes you back to the 1970's. Eileen finds herself in a completely different world in Italy and in the Navy wife live. The storyline is nice and entertaining, but at some point the story dragged on too long, and at many points there where too explicit bed-and bathroom scenes that grew a bit annoying. Eileen is a character that tries to figure out live in Italy, but doesn't scare back to cheat on her husband wich was a bit strange sometimes, but Paul was also a strange character that didn't became interesting during the story. It was interesting though to also read about how the Italians thought about the presence of the US navy in their territory, and the effects it had on their lives and the environment, and Eileen is not getting the whole honest picture from Paul. I liked how the Italian characters where portrayed in the novel, and the contrast between them and the US navy wives she gets involved with was also interesting to read.

Overall I found this an okay novel, at some points it was too long, but further on it has an interesting storyline.

Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim

Publisher: Del Rey,

On Sale Date: July 28 2026

Pages: 448

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

The book starts and we meet Helen and Marigold a mother and daughter, who are on a plane traveling from San Francisco to Hong Kong for a wedding.

Tunglam, Guangdong, China, during World War II:   Ha Yut Ying is just a little girl when Japanese soldiers invade her town, and her house. Her family has escaped to the mountains, and she was sent back to their home in a little village to get some medications for her sick brother. She hides in a closet for the soldiers, afraid they will shoot her, but when they open the closet as they hear a sound from it, they don't see Helen, as she has turned invisible for the first time in her life. She luckily can escape back to her family. After the war, she is send to the lavish home of her wealthy father and his second wife in Hong Kong. She is promised to go to a good school, but her stepmother slowly starts using her as a maid, and Yut Ying also has to work in the shoe factory of her aunt. Her father also has another daughter, Lily, and they become friends. She also meets a kind guy named Tommy, who is the grandson of the wealthy soymilk factory owner, who makes a picture of Yut Ying that becomes a poster for their brand.  But her stepmother turns more harsh and gruel, and Lily is sent away to marry a rich husband. And then her beloved Tommy marries someone else.. When Lily returns years later and turns ill and passes away, Yut Ying is devastated, as they planned to run away together, making herself invisible and leaving her shadow behind, Yut Ying runs away to start a new life for herself. First as a singer in a club, and when she marries Philip, they move to the United States and open a Chinese restaurant, and where they get three daughters, and open a bakery named ' Three Flowers''. But Yut Ying still is suffering from becoming invisble in difficult situations, which is more and more a curse, and it becomes more difficult when her daughter Marigold is more and more interested in her past, and that leads to a thrilling ending of the story of Fishbone Cinderella, when Yut Ying, now named Helen, is in Hong Kong for the wedding of her other daugher, and travels to her childhood home to find back her shadow which she left behind in Lily's room..

I think Fishbone Cinderella is by far one of the very best books coming out this year. I totally didn't know what to expect, but it truly blew me away. This book is just in one word, fantastic! The story travels back and forth in time, from Helen and Marigold on the plane from San Francisco to Hong Kong in the more present time, to Yut Ying's past in the 1940's, and to the 1950's, 60's and 70's when the family of Helen has moved to the USA, where we follow their life with ups and downs there. The storyline is just terrific, everything is worked out so well by the author, and the main and side characters where all fabulous as well. I also loved the small part of magical realism in it with Helen being able to make herself invisible in dangerous situations. It is a Cinderella story in some way, but set in a totally different setting and with other twists and turns. The stepmother is truly a ''Tai-Tai'' in this novel and men, she turned from nice to true evil, especially in the end, which was an ending I truly didn't expect, but it was an ending with truly fits this book. 

Overall, this is truly a great new novel, set in both the past and present in China  Hong Kong and the United States, a Cinderella story with a twist that I highly recommend reading!

With Friends Like You by Amy Chozick

Publisher: Dutton

On Sale Date: July 21 2026

Pages: 336

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Writer Emily lives with her partner Roman and her young son Holden in New York. She hasn't worked since her son was born, and during this time, she becomes obsessed with finding out whatever happened to her college roommate Daisy. Daisy quit college when her stepfather stopped paying for her tuiton, and the only thing Emily knows about her is that she became a dancer in a shady strip club and her life spiralled out of control after that with drugs. Emily searches for her in the dark corners of internet, and then all of a sudden, Daisy is there again when she is in the park with Holden. Then a bizarre new life starts for the two of them. They start a new mother's community group in the empty scyscraper apartment of Emily's rich friend Penelope, who has now clue what is going on there..yoga sessions, a childcare  and playgroup with the best of educational Montesorri toys and au pairs, vitamin IV sessions and matcha on tap, it all is there for the JuJu Bean community for new moms. 

But there is something shady about Daisy, who is hiding in the closed off apartment upstairs, and things take a turn for the worse when Emily opens the door of the apartment someday and there is Roman and Daisy together in bed.. Emily flees to her mother's home upstate. Where her mom tells her that back in college, Emily lived on her own. And then we found out who Daisy really is; She is Emily..

At first, I really didn't know what to think of this story. It was all sounding a bit bizarre, especially when Daisy reappeared all of a sudden. We follow Emily and Daisy in their closed off luxury world in the scyscraper they secretly, without Penelope's knowing, use. I really liked the storyline though and the somewhat strange characters of Emily and Daisy. We read about Emily's life with Roman and Holden in their New York apartment (and Roman's pet turtle) and follow the bizarre things going on in the new mom community, where some moms strangely dissappear or land in the hospital and shady things are going on in the apartment. But...then there was that huge plot twist  right at the last part of the book I truly did not see coming. It totally felt the author set you on the wrong foot and fooled you all the story long as Daisy didn't truly exist in person. But I mean this in good way, as this was truly a good surprise effect that I really like in a book.  

Overall, I truly enjoyed this very original, somewhat bizarre, but surprisingly good new novel!

 

The Devoted by Catherine Cho

 

Publisher: Washington Square Press

On Sale Date: July 14 2026

Pages: 256

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

The Devoted by Catherine Cho tells the story of a Korean family who has been living in Hong Kong for decades. Eunha and her brother Solomon where raised by their grandmother, and their father is a Dragon Head, in a notorious criminal Triad. At their grandmother's house, they lived a sheltered live in a small Hong Kong village, out of reach of the danger of the triads, together with a guy named Kai, who plays a red line in the story.

When she is an adult, Eunha is married to her husband Philip which she almost never sees. living the live of a wealthy ''tai tai''. Things take a dramatic turn in her life when her young song is kidnapped, supposedly by the triads, and she has to deal with the undeground world of Hong Kong again, and with Kai, who is now a Dragon Head.

She lives in the apartment with her husband and Winnie, his mother, but when they divorce, he and Winnie get the custody of their son. She starts working at a shady salon where the man that visit get company of the working there, or more. Her brother Solomon is murdered, and later her friend Jing, and its soon clear that Kai is involved in this, and also in the dissapearrance of her son. But she finds out too late, as she has married him..

The Devoted is a dark and mysterious novel set in the world of the rich people's world, and also the underworld of Hong Kong. The Korean heritage of the family plays an invisible part of the story, the family could just as well be Hong Kong Chinese. The story is told from Eunha's perspective, and sometimes changes in time periods, which is just jumping from one time period back and forth, which was sometimes a bit unclear for the reader. I liked the storyline, altough sometimes it was not told very well who was who in the story, this counts especially for the side characters in the story. I found the triad story, that is interwoven in her family structure, and the family loyalty that plays a part in this, entertaining to read. The story is full of plot twist and tension, crime solving and just Eunha navigating her life in between of this all.

I truly enjoyed reading this novel, if you love books set in Hong Kong with a gripping story too, this is the book for you!