Florenzer is a book that asks for your full attention—and, in many ways, earns it. Set against the rich backdrop of Renaissance Florence, Phil Melanson’s debut novel is beautifully written, deeply researched, and intricate in its storytelling.

His Perfect Crime by Alex Sigmore is a quick, engaging read that does exactly what it sets out to do—pull you into a twisted murder mystery and keep you guessing until the end. It’s the first book in the Emily Slate FBI series, and while it didn’t completely blow me away, it definitely kept me entertained from start to finish.

Sigmore wastes no time pulling us into the case, and a consistent thread of suspense carries through the whole book. It doesn’t get bogged down in excessive backstory or procedural jargon, which makes it easy to fly through.

I wanted to love Wicked. After falling in love with the movie adaptation starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande when it premiered in November 2024, I was all in. The visuals, the performances, the vibe—it hooked me completely. I bought the movie the second it dropped in December, already knowing I had tickets to see the Broadway tour when it hit San Diego in February 2025. With a few months in between, I figured, “Why not dive into the book that started it all?”

And that… was my mistake.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is one of those books I went into with low expectations and came out of slightly stunned—and honestly, impressed. It’s a psychological thriller that’s made the rounds enough to earn the “hype train” label, which usually means I end up feeling underwhelmed. And for the first few chapters, I kind of was. The writing felt just fine, the setup was intriguing but not mind-blowing, and I kept waiting for something to really grab me.

And then it did.

A Promised Land covers everything — with some potential excess information sometimes.

We see Barack before being President was even a blip on his mind. We see the struggle he had with his family coming to terms with his decision. Every detail is covered all the way until the conclusion of the upcoming re-election in 2012.

Obama took us into his daily life and peppered us with the details of it.