BOOKS I FINISHED - OCTOBER 2026

 

Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor, written by Christine Kuehn and narrated by Erin Bennett

The American author was in her thirties when a letter she assumed was mistakenly sent to her led to the discovery that her dad's family had been deeply entrenched with the Nazis in Germany and spied for the Japanese in Hawaii. This book, which I learned about from a friend, was written after the author spent three decades researching her family's past and their direct involvement with the attack on Pearl Harbor.

8:35:28, Secrets eat love like acid. But love regenerates. 

The Keeper, written by Charles Martin

The fourth book in a series, this one continues the focus on the appalling world of human trafficking, sacrificial dedication of those who rescue the trafficked, and life-changing power of love, all with a mix of high tech tools, dangerous encounters, and powerful people. While there were parts of this story that were great, it also seemed to have repetition of things from previous books and an element I felt was over the top. I liked it, but it's probably my least favorite of the four books. 

Rooftoppers, written by Katherine Rundell and narrated by Nicola Barber

I recently read a different book by Rundell, so I checked to see if any of her other books were available immediately and ended up with this one. I enjoyed this middle grade novel about a girl in London who's believed to be an orphan, the kind man who's raised her after she was found floating in a cello case as a baby, and the kids who live on the roofs Paris that she meets when she and her guardian flee there in search of her mom.

41:38, "Books crowbar the world open for you."

The Story She Left Behind, written by Patti Callahan Henry and narrated by Julia Whelan and Theo Solomon

Having enjoyed another novel by the same author earlier in the year, I decided to give this one a try. It's about a woman in the 1950s who'd been abandoned by her mom, a famous author who disappeared without a trace 25 years earlier. Now a mom herself, and living with her dad after her own marriage fell apart, she hears from a man across the ocean who's discovered something belonging to her mom that's to be hand-delivered to her. Desperate to know more about her mom and hoping to uncover the code to a secret language her mom invented, she and her daughter head to London. I thought the story, which was inspired by real people and events, was fine. I loved the premise, enjoyed some aspects of it, could have done without others, liked having two narrators, and think it could have accomplished the same thing in a shorter book. 

Tidings of Comfort & Joy, written by Davis Bunn

This sweet novel alternates between the present and the past. The present finds a miserable teenage girl staying with her grandma because she's sick and missing out on the Christmas trip the rest of her family's on. The past is a story the grandma's sharing with her granddaughter about a Christmas she missed out on when she was much younger, right after WWII ended. Hers is a story of love in various forms, the richness that comes from serving others, and how our hardest circumstances sometimes lead to our greatest and most unexpected blessings. 

p. 72, "I will not give in to the temptations of bitterness and hatred. I will not indulge myself in useless anger. I will not."

p. 127, "But you must not mistake your heart's whimper as a call from either God or a possible future. That door is closed."

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1-8, written by Beth Brower and narrated by Genevieve Gaunt

I'm not a re-reader, but everything on my audiobook holds list had a long wait and nothing interested me in the "skip the line" options for a while, so I did a 2x speed binge of the whole Emma series. I enjoyed the series the second time as much as the first and look forward to the next 16 books. 

Work in Progress, written by Devon Rodriguez and narrated by Devon Rodriguez and Maria Elana Estrada

After years of following his art, I was excited to learn Rodriguez was publishing a memoir. Then I found out his abuela was doing a little of the narration with him and knew I had to listen to the audio. I'll also look at a print version to see the pictures he included, but I prefer listening to memoirs instead of reading them when they're narrated by the author. 

I already knew he came from a childhood of poverty, abuse, neglect, and drug use, but hearing details of his home life was heartbreaking. As a balance to the hard stuff, it was cool to learn about how much he's worked at improving his craft over the years, hear about the development and growth of his social media presence, and witness his deep appreciation for the people who've helped him along the way. I've always loved his art, humility, and kindness equally, and this book only increased that feeling. He's a talented artist and hard worker who really values people and is intentional about making sure they're truly seen. Heads up that there's a lot of profanity in this book, with the majority of it in the first part that deals with his upbringing.

UPDATE - I ended up seeing him in person at Powell's for an author talk, buying an autographed book that he personalized, and getting a picture with him. 

2:59:58, Abuela's house taught me that love doesn't need to be expensive to be powerful. Sometimes love looked like a bunch of stacked milk crates holding clean clothing and socks. 

7:00:44, Where I came from, survival was the goal. Success? That felt like a fairy tale.

7:25:28, The subway had chosen me. In New York everyone rides it. Bankers, artists, construction workers, immigrants, tourists, performers, kids from the Bronx like me. It's one of the only places where the globe fits into a train car. The subway isn't just transportation. It's theatre, anthropology, documentary, poetry; it's everything. Or at least it was everything to me.