The Best of The Best

I'm not a big proponent of star ratings for books, or ratings at all really.  Books and reading are too subjective.  What you might enjoy and feel is a superstar, no pun intended, of a book, I might think is a complete loser. Ok, now that I've admitted that, I'll also tell you that I use Goodreads to track my reading and it requires you rate books using their star system, one to five.  One being the least liked and five the tip-top.   

"Here's a more detailed breakdown of the star rating system, often used on platforms like Goodreads and Amazon:

• 1 Star: "Didn't like it" or "Absolutely not, I didn't waste my time finishing it". 
• 2 Stars: "It was OK" or "Not an enjoyable read". 
• 3 Stars: "Liked it" or "I liked this book". 
• 4 Stars: "Really liked it" or "Enjoyed it a lot but one or two things were not perfect". 
• 5 Stars: "It was amazing" or "Absolutely loved it, it made me feel things".  

With some exceptions, this is about as close as I get to feeling about, and rating books.  One of the key exceptions, is that I almost never "DNF" a book.  For me to not finish something I start, it has to be the worst of the worst.  My up-bringing just will not let me skip out on a job before it is finished and that is the way I feel about reading.  Now, mind you, that occasionally makes reading a bit of a chore, but it satisfies my work ethic.  

On the other end of the spectrum, I don't rate many books 5 Stars.  For something to be "amazing" it has to grab and hold my interest with an iron fist. And, yes, it needs to make me "feel things".  Whether good, bad, or ugly to borrow a movie title, it makes me feel things.  Many times I've written a review and mentioned characters that evoked strong feelings of love or hate which made a successful read for me. 

In my last blog I mentioned three books, pulled from my TBR, that were disappointments.  On the flip side of the coin🪙, here are three of the best I've read since the beginning of 2025.  

The Jackal's Mistress by Chris Bohjalian, releasing May 25, 2025.

"In this Civil War love story, inspired by a real-life friendship across enemy lines, the wife of a missing Confederate soldier discovers a wounded Yankee officer and must decide what she’s willing to risk for the life of a stranger, from the New York Times bestselling author of such acclaimed historical fiction as Hour of the Witch and The Sandcastle Girls."

In my opinion this was an excellent work of historical fiction. Five stars from me!  I’ve never read anything by Mr. Bohjalian before, although I notice that he has written a lot of books on various topics.   

I love well-researched historical fiction and this is clearly of that ilk.   I also enjoy Civil War history. For some reason it speaks to me. Bohjalian has definitely hit the mark with this book. I’ll be checking out his other work.

Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts, releasing May 27, 2025 

 

"Natural Resources police officer, Sloan Cooper, and her partner had just taken down three men preying on hikers in the Western Maryland mountains. Driving back, she pulled in at a convenience store—and walked right into a robbery in progress. One gunshot from a jittery thief was about to change her world.

After being shocked back to life on the operating table, she has a long recovery ahead, so she moves back to her parents’ peaceful house in Heron’s Rest. As for the boyfriend who dumped her via text while she was in the hospital, good riddance.

She may be down, but she’s not out. So when a woman vanishes, leaving her car behind in a supermarket parking lot, Sloan searches online for similar cases. She finds them, spread across three states. Men and women, old and young—the missing seem to have nothing in common. And the abductions keep happening."

A big thank you to St. Martins Press for reigniting my love of Nora Roberts books. 

Hidden Nature should not be a hidden secret. It is an excellent romance/thriller/family drama of a book. With excellent character profiles; including Sloan, her partner in NRP, and the Fix It brothers. Nora Roberts has written a great book that has inspired me to pick up more of her work.

The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen, released August 6, 2024.

"An investigation into a girl’s disappearance uncovers a mystery dating back to World War II in a haunting novel of suspense by the bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Paris Assignment.

1968. Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl’s disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it’s her way into the newsroom. She already has a her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case.

Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.

As Liz digs deeper, she finds herself drawn to the village of Tydeham, which was requisitioned by the military during the war and left in ruins. After all these years, what could possibly link the missing girls to this abandoned village? And why does a place Liz has never seen before seem so strangely familiar?"

I've read many of Ms. Bowen's historical fiction books with great reading success.  As in this work, Bowen has created realistic characters who delve into old mysteries and bring them to life in the present.  As I recall, the dual timelines are present in all her stand alone books, if that interests you.  I know I enjoy them!    In addition to her stand alone novels, she writes the Molly Murphy series, which I haven't gotten into as yet.  I may have to give them a try to tide me over until the next of Bowen's historical fiction is released.  

Although I'm not a fan of the star rating system, I know what I like and these three books are definitely in that column.  "A good book has no ending" and none of these do.  They linger in my mind and I'm sure they will yours too.