When I started this back in 2023, the goal was to dive into my seemingly endless TBR list and pick one book from there to read each month. That first year, I read all but two of the books that made the list, and four of the ten that I read made my 2023 best books list.
In 2024, I read all 12 of my monthly picks, though not all of them were within their designated month. In fact, my September pick that year took me a long time to read because it was so heavy, and I didn't read the October or November picks until December. Once again, four of the books from my book club made my end-of-the-year best books list.
Which brings us to the 2025 book club. I'm happy to report that I read all 12 picks and all but one of them within their assigned month, although that one was only one week into the next month so it barely counts (all my library holds became available at the same time, so I got behind!). For the first time this past year, I wrote full-length reviews for each book (yes, there are spoilers, but you can easily skip them). Y'all seemed to enjoy them -- seven of them were among my most popular posts for the year! I'll definitely be continuing that with this year's book club. I also, for the first time this year, did a recap post of the year's picks.
Now for the 2026 book club picks. As with previous years, all of the books included are fiction. There's significantly less magic this year and a lot more realistic and historical fiction with some mystery thrown into the mix as well. I hope you'll join me in reading our way through 2026!
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Julia has been hired to restore the historic gardens at Havenworth Manor. The restoration is fulfilling a promise made by 92-year-old Margaret a lifetime ago. In 1940, Margaret's half-sister Irene followed an RAF officer to London, where she disappeared from Margaret's life forever. Now, Julia is determined to uncover the truth of the mystery.
Y'all know I love Barbara O'Neal, so it should come as no surprise that one of her titles made the list. Recently-divorced Veronica Barrington takes a position as travel companion to Mariah Ellsworth, a former Olympian hoping to trace the steps of her mother Rachel's final unfinished project. Together, the two women, along with a former war photographer, follow Rachel's letters through London, Paris, Morocco, and India.
Lindsay Jayne Ashford is one of my favorite historical fiction authors. It's the middle of World War II, and Alice has just washed ashore in Cornwall after surviving a ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat. The Viscount Jack Trewella, who found her, suspects Alice is either a prisoner of war or a spy, but her secret is one he never would have guessed. Alice seizes the opportunity to reinvent herself. As she begins falling for Jack, she realizes he, too, has secrets.
This was one of my Amazon First Reads from last summer. This novel by Catherine Mann has some similar parallels to The Last of the Moon Girls, which I loved, so it was really a no brainer of a choice. When Bailey Rae's adoptive aunt dies, she plans to settle the estate and move to Myrtle Beach where she plans to open a food truck using recipes from her aunt's cookbook. However, those plans are put on hold when a young mother arrives on her doorstep with a copy of the same cookbook. Embedded inside is a code promising safe harbor for desperate women on the run. Now, Bailey Rae has new plan to learn who her beloved Aunt Winnie really was.
Many of these books are available via Kindle Unlimited and/or have an Audible version.
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12 Months of Reading with Mommy the Journalist
January
Author: Sara Blaydes
February
Author: Barbara O'Neal
March
Author: Trent Dalton
This novel has been in my TBR for awhile, so I figure it's high time I got around to reading it. Eli Bell only has one steadfast adult in his life. Slim, a notorious felon and national record-holder for successful prison escapes, watches over Eli and his older brother, August. Meanwhile, his father is lost, his mother is in jail, and his stepdad deals heroin. Life's obstacles are just beginning for Eli, though, as he falls in love, faces off against some truly bad guys, and fights to save his mother -- all before starting high school.
April
Author: Lindsay Jayne Ashford
Twenty-eight years after her twin sister, Georgia, went missing, Savannah convinces her two older sisters, Rayanne and Sue Ellen, to return home to Louisiana to retrieve the time capsule they buried. Inside the capsule they find a photo that was taken on the day Georgia disappeared. In the background of the picture is a familiar woman. Rayanne and Sue Ellen just want to move on with their lives, but Savannah is determined to find the woman and maybe a clue to the past.
June
Author: Erin Hildebrand
The Levin siblings have spent every summer at their grandmother's historic Nantucket home, but in 1969, nothing is as expected. The oldest sister, Blaire, is stuck in Boston; middle sister, Kirby, is working at Martha's Vineyard while also participating in Civil Rights protests; only-son, Tiger, is deployed to Vietnam; and the youngest, 13-year-old Jessie, feels like an only child. Just like the Levin family, the nation is going through major changes.
July
Author: Julianne MacLean
This book has been on so many of my reading lists, so it only made sense for me to officially include it here. I am bound and determined to get this one crossed off my TBR list this summer! Olivia and Melanie are two women connected by the Bermuda Triangle. Olivia's husband, Dean, is a private pilot who's been missing ever since his plan disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle. Melanie is a particle physicist who had been studying the phenomenon up until her mother's death. A shocking discovery links the two women together and sheds new light on Olivia's husband's disappearance.
August
Author: Kristin Offiler
September
Author: Catherine Mann
This was one of my Amazon First Reads from last summer. This novel by Catherine Mann has some similar parallels to The Last of the Moon Girls, which I loved, so it was really a no brainer of a choice. When Bailey Rae's adoptive aunt dies, she plans to settle the estate and move to Myrtle Beach where she plans to open a food truck using recipes from her aunt's cookbook. However, those plans are put on hold when a young mother arrives on her doorstep with a copy of the same cookbook. Embedded inside is a code promising safe harbor for desperate women on the run. Now, Bailey Rae has new plan to learn who her beloved Aunt Winnie really was.
October
Author: Hester Fox
November
Author: Charlie N. Holmberg
December
Author: Barbara Davis
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