A Year in Review
Where two book recommenders recommend to each other
A book you made me read this year (complimentary)
Courtney: My favorite recommendation of yours this year was most definitely The Change by Kirsten Miller, which you recommended in one of your earliest posts for The Cairn. I read it immediately after devouring Miller’s 2025 release Women of Wild Hill and was so surprised to find myself wanting to read two books by the same author back-to-back, let alone loving them both so much. The Change tells the story of three women entering midlife discovering that in addition to hot flashes and mood swings, menopause also brings them unique and exceptional powers that enable them to fight and conquer the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town. An absolute delight to read in the era of the Epstein files and the labels we love to give “difficult” women (quiet, piggy).
Meghan: I can’t say that “plane porn” is a genre I would’ve been naturally drawn to but after many cups of tea and much urging, I picked up Sky Daddy by Kate Folk and l couldn’t be happier that I did. I loved it on so many levels, not least of which being the setting (San Francisco! The Outer Sunset!). The main character, though a bit odd, was strangely relatable to anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong. I’d like to thank my family for allowing me to ignore them while I finished it in one sitting and Courtney for never giving up on me, no matter how many times I brushed off this particular recommendation.
A book I read this year that I think you might like
Courtney: This is a bit of a gamble, but Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive comes to mind. Set in 2067, it’s the story of Hannah, a resident of a colorful queer retirement community in a climate-ravaged Florida, who wants to throw a huge party for herself with all her friends present before succumbing to her recent terminal cancer diagnosis. On the invite list is Sophie, the love of Hannah’s life. They haven’t spoken in over 40 years but Hannah is hoping for one more opportunity to see her greatest love before she dies. This is a book with a lot of heart and humor that explores mortality, love, friendship, and includes, perhaps best of all, septuagenarians up to no good.
Meghan: A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal tackles the complexity of colonialism, childhood trauma and vampires, all with a side of tea. It’s set in a fictional London where vampires are known and feared while also living in fear as there is a vampire serial killer on the loose. The protagonist is a tough-as-nails orphan who has built a safe space for her band of misfits at a tea house that moonlights as a blood den for vampires at night. Chaos ensues as the teahouse lands on the radar of some very powerful people. I’ve seen it labeled as YA in some places but didn’t notice that until after I’d read it and it didn’t feel particularly YA. It could be considered a lovely little palette cleanser, should you be in need of one.
A book I read that made me think of you
Courtney: After a lifetime of never reading or watching them, 2025 was the year I leaned heavily into romantic comedies for recovery reading—books to take the edge off of an intense run of books or to help me through a reading slump. When you casually mentioned recently that you uncharacteristically stayed up until an ungodly hour to uncharacteristically read a romcom, I had to check it out immediately. The book, Snowed In by Catherine Walsh, is about two old schoolmates who agree to pretend to be a couple to [hopefully] take the edge off of returning to their small Irish hometown for the holidays. Yes I know you recommended it to me and yes the female main character is named Megan (so of course it would remind me of you) but the book is filled with so much Irish humor and banter and I laughed out loud many times. A truly delightful and fun read that is just so very Meghan.
Meghan: It’s no secret that Courtney is extremely generous with loaning her extensive book collection out. I say that as I am currently looking at her copy of Intermezzo by Sally Rooney which I’ve had for nearly a year at this point and slowly, ever so slowly making my way through. Around the same time, she also loaned me Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors which sat on my TBR for far too long before I devoured it. The story of 3 estranged sisters who reunite over the sale of their childhood home. It’s a lovely story of complicated family, grief and addiction that still has a lightness to it that makes it devourable. When not talking about books, Courtney and I often talk about complicated family so between the loan and the topic, it inevitably made me think of Courtney throughout the (quick) read, if only to apologize for not reading it sooner.
A book I haven’t read (yet) but think you should
Courtney: In Ordinary Time: Fragments of a Family History by Carmel Mc Mahon is a memoir by an Irish woman who moved to New York at 20. It is said to examine the ways in which trauma reverberates and follows us, from the political to the personal. There’s so much here that makes me think of you: your ties to both New York and Ireland, and the discussions we’ve had about Irish culture and the impacts of colonialism throughout generations—always at the forefront of our minds most especially as we raise the next generation.
Meghan: Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children by Mac Barnett is the first book this author has written that is for adults, though it is about children’s literature. I know both our kids love Mac Barnett for his First Cat in Space and Mac B. Kid Spy series (I am pretty sure you recommended the latter) so I am curious to see what he has to say about how we think and interact with children’s literature. As moms who are deeply invested in children reading (both our own and others), this feels like one that you will enjoy.
A book I think we should read together in 2026
Courtney: There are two 2026 releases that I am thinking of since you and I love both authors: Xochitl Gonzalez has a new book coming out in April called Last Night in Brooklyn and our queen Emily St. John Mandel has a new book coming out in September called Exit Party. I know nothing about either release except that they’re always-read authors for me and if you don’t read them with me SOHELPMEGOD.
Meghan: I’m excited for Kirsten King’s A Good Person. Described as Gone Girl meets Big Swiss, I think we’d both enjoy the millennial antihero trope. Plus there’s some witchcraft and a little murder - it seems like a bit of a romp. I’d also suggest that we should do a re-read of The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel in anticipation of the release of Exit Party. I’d be willing to bet there’s lots of little Easter eggs that refer to her past titles and it’s been a while since I’ve read either. A refresher course is in order and what’s better than re-reading two favorites with a friend?!
A book on my TBR that I think should be on yours
Courtney: I have two again! Caro Claire Burke has a book coming out in 2026 called Yesteryear which is about a Trad Wife influencer who sells her pioneer woman lifestyle on social media. Then one day she wakes up in the brutal reality of 1805. Early reviews are positive but I’m mostly in love with the premise given the recent trend of glamorizing “traditional” values and homesteading.
Another book on my radar is Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris about a lone survivor of a prison bus crash who finds refuge and a chance to heal at a remote Alabama flower farm, only for her past secrets to eventually catch up to her.
Meghan: I have recommended the Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride to most of my closest book-buddies, Courtney being one of them. I’m cheating a bit here since this title came out in 2025 but I cannot wait to read the sequel, The City Changes Its Face. Based in London in the 90s, there’s a simplicity to a time without texting that adds an air of nostalgia to this unusual love story (I’m not sure it’s accurate to call it that but other descriptors also seem off). McBride’s off-beat writing style is not for everyone. I personally like to take a teeny little edible before I read this author, it helps my AuDHD brain not implode at the fragment sentences and odd syntax that I ultimately see it as part of the novel’s charm. I find the style to be so inherently Irish that it’s hard to stay away and I am interested in reading the sequel from the other main character’s point of view.
In keeping things in London, I am super excited for London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe. I love Patrick’s journalism and writing style so even though I know nothing about this specific case, I am excited to see what it is about and I find his work so delightfully readable, it hardly ever feels like non-fiction.