Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. So we asked them, and all Denver Post readers, to share their mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email bellis@denverpost.com.
“Freedom,” by Angela Merkel with Beate Baumann (St. Martin’s Press, 2024)
Germany’s first female chancellor gives us a portrait of growing up in the former East German state, the headiness of life in Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and her shift from an academic career into politics. But the heart of the book is her tour de force march through 21st-century German and European politics and history. This is not a tell-all memoir, nor does Merkel waste any time on introspection, beyond admitting to a few small, personal embarrassments. These are the facts, as she sees them. And, in her view, she always got things right. A door-stopper at nearly 700 pages, but most informative. — 3 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“The Dictionary of Lost Words,” by Pip Williams (Ballantine Books, 2022)
A group of male lexicographers, led by editor James Murray, created the first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, printed in 1901. Esme was the motherless daughter of one of the lexicographers, and spent her youth sitting under the table in the Scriptorium while words were sorted and accepted or discarded. Volunteer contributors submitted words on small pieces of paper and one word, bondmaid, floated under the table and was saved by Esme. She begins to question why “bondmaid” and other words used by women and commoners were discarded by the men. Esme’s life unfolds during the suffrage movement and World War I. She has challenges during her lifetime, including giving up her baby and the death of her husband in the war. Her relationships with her father, godmother and confidante, Lizzie, who is a housekeeper for the Murray family, are wonderfully well-written. — 4 stars (out of 4); Diana Doner, Lafayette
“The Author’s Guide to Murder,” by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White (William Morrow, 2024)
Imagine if you and your book-loving BFFs sat down with a box of wine, binge-watched the entire BBC series “Monarch of the Glen,” and then spontaneously decided to write a bodice-ripper romance/murder mystery set in the Scottish Highlands. These three authors, with four previously co-written novels under their tartan wraps, clearly had a good time writing this tongue-in-cheek satire. And you, dear reader, can have a good time reading it, too. — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“Is She Really Going Out With Him?,” by Sophie Cousens (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2024)
Imagine your youngest kid proclaiming, “Mom wants to ask you out.” Then, as backup, your older child says, “Mom‘s dating men we choose for her. People from real life, not online. It’s for her magazine.” What a fantastic concept, the online vs. offline debate. I’m not usually impressed with the contemporary romance genre, but “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” is a heck of a clever concept, situationally funny and with zippy dialogue. A light delight of a book that is much deeper than I expected. – 3 ½ stars (out of 4); Joanna Johnson, Denver
“It Ends with Us,” by Colleen Hoover (Atria Books, 2016)
Hoover is an author upon whom any wanna-be writer would gladly model a career. The No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of 24 romance/women’s novels and novellas, her work is distinguished by realistic characters, authentic and volatile emotion, and edge-of-your seat plot developments. This one — made into a 2024 movie starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who are now embroiled in lawsuits — features a young woman, Lily, who is trying to start a flower business while also falling in love with a gorgeous neurosurgeon. A former paramour of hers, Atlas, reappears just as Lily has to deal with Ryle’s violence on top of her unexpected pregnancy. Many genuine, thoughtful questions surface in a story that readers will relate to. While touching all the right tropes, she breaks new ground that keeps you reading. — 4 stars (out of 4); Bonnie McCune (bonniemccune.com)