| This week in First Impressions, readers comment on Stephanie Booth's Libby Lost and Found, an imaginative, captivating tale about an author dealing with dementia and the help she gets from a young fan.
Our Editor's Choice pick is Charles Baxter's Blood Test, the entertainingly absurd story of a friendly Midwestern insurance agent who's told by a genetic test that he'll probably commit a murder. Plus, browse 200+ more books in our Midwest, USA category.
Daniel Lavery's historical novel Women's Hotel and its fictional Biedermeier hearken back to the days of women's residential hotels in New York City — read our "beyond the book" article to learn all about this era.
We also bring you a big list of the best books for book clubs in 2025, and a new Wordplay! | | With best wishes,
The BookBrowse Team
| | Each month, we share books with BookBrowse members to read and review. Here are their opinions on one recently released title. | | | Libby Lost and Found by Stephanie Booth
"Libby, who is an author struggling with dementia, establishes a relationship with an eleven-year-old fan, Peanut, who helps her navigate and come to terms with her inability to write. Together they create a path forward that is full of twists and turns and keeps the reader entertained until the end." —Christine P. (Essex Junction, VT)
"This is Stephanie Booth's first book, and I can't wait to see what other books she has up her sleeve. Libby Lost and Found is full of imagination, problem solving, adventure and the tiniest bit of romance." —Kathleen M. (Mesa, AZ)
"At times, Libby Lost and Found breaks boundaries between reality and imagination. The book is genre-bending, crossing into fantasy, mystery, family saga, and coming of age...in the end, this endearing novel reveals the life-giving force of stories and the healing power of imagination." —Laurie S. (Minneapolis, MN) | | | Blood Test by Charles Baxter
Brock Hobson is a loving single father, a Sunday School teacher, and an upstanding and honest insurance agent. He's patient with his teenage son and daughter, of whom he has primary custody, and even more patient with his ex-wife and the boorish man she left him for. He enjoys a relationship of comfortable stability with his girlfriend, a staunch environmentalist and fellow do-gooder. Brock's the sort of all-around good guy who's always happy to help people in need, even people he dislikes. That's why it's such a surprise to him when an experimental genetic testing technique reveals that he has a propensity for criminality. Not only that, but the test predicts with near-certainty that he will commit a murder.
His sense of identity shaken, Brock dabbles in minor acts of recklessness, like shoplifting from the local discount store. As he juggles the everyday hassles of parenthood, squabbling with his overly demanding ex and making time to see his girlfriend, a question lingers in the background: Will he actually kill someone? And if so, who? ... continued
Review by Jillian Bell | | | Women's Hotels in 20th Century New York City
In Women's Hotel, Daniel Lavery introduces readers to the fictional Biedermeier, which is based on the real-life phenomenon of residential hotels for women only that existed in New York City throughout the 20th century. As women began working outside the home on a mass scale, they traveled in droves to the city to make lives for themselves, but there was still a social stigma surrounding the prospect of a woman living alone, and/or in the vicinity of men. The women's hotel, something like a dormitory, was viewed as a more respectable option, without being as didactic as the religious-run "moral homes," which required women to follow a list of behavioral rules and attend regular worship services. Typically, residents of these hotels were permitted to have male guests in the communal spaces, but men were prohibited from the individual private rooms (as in Lavery's novel, this is a rule that was most certainly broken with regularity).
One of the first of these hotels to open was the Martha Washington, in 1903. The hotel offered a total of 650 rooms, with 500 available for permanent residents. ... continued
Article by Lisa Butts | | | Charles Baxter's novel Blood Test, featured above, is one of over 200 books in our Midwest, USA category. Click below to discover more recommended titles set in America's Heartland.
This is one of 100+ themed categories you can explore on BookBrowse to find the perfect read for your book club or yourself. Members can access all categories and filters to narrow their browsing, while non-members have limited access. | | Best Book Club Books for 2025 | | | How are your book club picks looking for 2025? To help book clubs pick their reads for next year, we've compiled a big list of favorites that we think would make great discussion selections. All these books are paired with reading guides and have been featured (or will be featured) on BookBrowse, and all are either recent or upcoming hardcover or paperback releases. Some are even tried-and-tested titles from our own online book club, and we've included the discussion links for inspiration. Happy reading! ... continued | | | Solve our Wordplay puzzle to reveal a well-known expression, and be entered to win a one-year membership to BookBrowse!
"H I O the G" | | The answer to the last Wordplay: J O the B
"Jump On The Bandwagon"
Meaning: To jump on the bandwagon is to join a movement or activity after it's becoming increasingly popular. For example, rooting for a sports team one wouldn’t normally back as it starts to win more games.
This origin story comes in two parts. The first is the history of the word "bandwagon."
Showman and entrepreneur Phineas T. Barnum (better known as the circus owner P.T. Barnum) is credited with many famous quotes and phrases that are popular even today. At the time Barnum's circuses were popular, it was common to announce them and drum up business by holding parades throughout the town (this was obviously before permits were needed for such things). One vital part of this procession was the bandwagon — literally the wagon on which the band members rode through the city while playing their instruments. ... continued | | With so many new books published every month, it's difficult to find the standouts, the ones that are really worth your time. This is why hundreds of thousands of readers rely on BookBrowse to do the hard work of sifting through the multitude of titles to find the most promising new books, with a focus on books that entertain, engage, and enlighten. | | BookBrowse Highlights is just one of our free newsletters. We also offer Publishing This Week every Sunday, and Book Club News and Librarian News monthly. We send out Genre Specific Emails occasionally. | | | | |
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