What I’ve been reading lately: the new and the notable

As an elder Millennial/Baby Xer, I well remember the 1986 Challenger disaster. I stayed home sick from school that day and watched it on tv with my mom, and didn't know anything was wrong until she hushed my questions and turned up the volume on the tv. And then ... I forgot all about it. Like many of my classmates, we watched the launch on live tv but not the news investigating the tragic aftermath; our parents and teachers didn't want to talk about it. It took me decades to realize what actually went wrong—and how it was initially covered up—after the space shuttle exploded on live television, killing the seven astronauts on board and leading at long last to a painful internal reckoning. This is Higginbotham's weighty history of the event: he covers the origins of the shuttle program, the selection process and the seven chosen astronauts that emerged for the mission, the engineers (and eventual whistleblowers) who pioneered the shuttle technology, the tense circumstances leading to the launch, and everything that happened after. I found this to be very good and also at times incredibly difficult to listen to how this tragedy unfolded. I opted for the audio, narrated by Jacques Roy. More info →

I love a good musician memoir! I plucked this one from the blog comments on our recent post 12 compelling musician memoirs to read or listen to: thanks so much to the many readers who nudged me there! This 564-page memoir has room to cover a lot of ground, from his Dublin childhood to his current musical and activist endeavors. Each of the 40 chapters is dedicated to a specific U2 song, which provided a loose and comfortable structure to talk about the band and its music but also his parents, friends, colleagues, faith, inspirations, struggles, missteps, and more. I love the kind of life-changing read that doesn't deliver a bolt from the blue about my worldview but instead offers a super-specific and practical nugget, and this book has done that by bringing a whole lot of U2 back into heavy rotation on my playlists. As I prefer to do in this genre, I listened to the audio narrated by the author (and wouldn't have wanted to read it any other way). More info →

I read this debut novel in preparation to interview the author for an event at my local indie last month, and enjoyed it so much! It feels particularly timely for right now: married partners Ethan and Gabe have never seen eye-to-eye politically, but it's never been a problem—at least, not until Ethan decides he wants to run for Congress as a Republican, and the rigors and realities of campaigning in today's divisive political landscape push the pair to their limits. Meanwhile, Nicole is surprised to find herself as a stay-at-home mom in the New Jersey suburbs: it's a role she never thought would suit her, in a marriage that has become complacent—but she is fiercely devoted to her kids and is content enough with the choices she's made. At least, until a romantic interest from her past—Ethan's sister Kate!—shows up and prompts her to consider what might have been. This was a thoughtful page-turner that I especially enjoyed for its portrayal of marriage and politics, midlife reckoning, fierce parental love, and queer parenting. More info →

This exemplifies the kind of slow, reflective reading that I turn to in the morning reading that worked so well for me in 2024, and continues to do so in 2025. It came to me via recommendation from our team member Shannan, with whom I share a love for "therapy books." I read this slowly because I had to think about it, argue with it, and sit with it: such a worthwhile experience on all counts! From the opening section where she proclaims "chaos should be regarded as extremely good news" (gulp) to the close where she discusses practical ways to embrace uncertainty, I found her thoughts challenging, worthwhile, and elegantly delivered. I can definitely see myself revisiting this book in the future. More info →

Since I read my first Sarah Adams book two years ago, her work has become a sweet escape when I need it. It doesn't hurt that the When in Rome series offers a positive portrayal of my home state of Kentucky: we don't get that a lot, y'all. This enemies to lovers romance is the third in a series, but it stands alone just fine. In this one eldest daughter Emily Walker takes the lead, and WOW do we see how the early deaths of her parents prompted her to pick up a heavy emotional burden and intense practical responsibilities where her two youngest sisters are concerned. In spite or likely because of her background, she's a first-class second grade teacher—but she nurses secret dreams of becoming a romance novelist. Meanwhile, her fellow second-grade teacher and workplace rival Jack is keeping a secret of his own: only his agent knows that he is the writer behind a wildly successful (and pseudonymously written) mysteries series. I so enjoyed watching these two come into each others' orbits and find well-deserved love and happiness, and I REALLY enjoyed all the banter and hijinks along the way. I primarily listened to the great audio narrated by Nelson Hobbs and Brittany Pressley, but found myself dipping into the e-version because I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. (Open door.) More info →