Ten Clear Days by Eric Beck Rubin is a novel I was asked to review for Washington Independent Review of Books. Based on the author’s family history, the book is about an elderly Holocaust survivor who has a stroke and expresses a wish to die. The hospital where she is brought implements their end-of-life protocol under the Canadian “Medical Aid in Dying” law, which is carried out over ten days. The author is a character in what is basically his grandmother’s story, and the book incorporates some of his own dissertation on the portrayal of the Holocaust in literature. I found the novel to be innovative and moving.
Archipelago by Natalie Bakopoulus was the April selection for a local bookstore’s International Book Club. I can’t say I loved it—there isn’t much of a plot—but I did enjoy the reading experience of being immersed into the life of an American translator living in Greece. The book begins with her arrival at a residency for translators in Croatia, which I found interesting, and the whole idea of translation becomes an important theme in the book. Supposedly there is borrowing from the Odyssey here as she makes her way back to Greece, but I don’t think it tracks perfectly. (The author does mention gorgons and sirens, so I suppose one could look for more Odyssey parallels.)
Stable by Cam Torrens. This book reminded me of Tana French’s series about a retired Chicago cop living in Ireland who becomes embroiled in all manner of problems that crop up in his village. Here, Tyler Zahn is retired Air Force and like French’s main character he is divorced and estranged from his daughter. Zahn, who has many useful skills, gets involved in the search for a missing girl, but it soon becomes clear that there is a much bigger problem in the community. Definitely a page turner.
The Pebble in the Pond by Suzanne Groves is a book I was asked to blurb: Class conflicts are at the heart of Suzanne Groves’s touching debut novel, The Pebble in the Pond. When an outsider moves to a small southern town, she stumbles into a viper’s nest of jealousy and deceit. In language that recalls the best of southern fiction, Groves weaves a gripping story about vibrant women that will tug at your heartstrings. Money can’t buy happiness, but honesty and compassion just might.
Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy by Joyce Vance was my book club’s selection for April. It’s a good summary of many of the critical legal and constitutional protections that the Trump administration threatens and why it is important to defend them.
The Gatepost by Tim Weed(May 2026) has some echoes of the author’s last novel, The Afterlife Project, which I loved. Here, a man has been missing and presumed dead for many years. His daughter reignites the search after she moves to the remote Vermont property where he was last seen. The story comes alive with academic and corporate intrigue, plus a love story. We also see a hallucinogenic world through the eyes of the missing man that is beautifully written.
Last Seen by J.T. Ellison is a psychological thriller I received free from Amazon. I’m curious about mysteries and thrillers—books that I almost never read. A lot of people do, though. In this one, the plot is contrived, the characters wooden, the setting barely present. So it must be the plot—even a far-fetched one—that attracts readers.
