Review: "Once We Are Safe" by Alessandra Carati

Once We Are Safe by Alessandra Carati
Translated from the Italian by Linda Worell and Laura Masini
Published October 2025 via Amazon Crossing
★★★

At home, I asked my mother if it was true that the war was coming. "No," she said, "it will never come to this village." I believed her. (loc. 92)

Aida is six when her family flees the Bosnian War and takes refuge in Milan—their village is no longer safe. It's temporary, her parents assure her, assure each other, over and over again. They'll be back to the village before they know it. But the war drags on, and they get settled in Italy, and by the time it's safe to go back most of what they knew is gone.

We didn't even hug goodbye. Everyone kept saying that it wouldn't be for long—two weeks at most, and then we'd go home. (loc. 159)

I was eager to read this because I've read precious little about this time and place. I was too young when the Bosnian War was happening to know that it existed, and it was only ever an afterthought in my history classes. And beyond that, even Italy in the early 90s is not something I've read much about. Literature in translation...yes please.

I found that the structure of the book impeded my interest somewhat, though. The book is short, and the chapters shorter; I sped right through. But each chapter feels more like a snapshot than anything: Despite the brief nature of the chapters, there's often a gap of time between one chapter and the next—sometimes only a day, sometimes much longer. Sometimes the breaks are longer; Aida jumps from seven years old to choosing what to study in high school, and later she jumps from studying classics in high school to a professional degree that she's previously shown no interest in. Her parents, meanwhile, change little; her mother never gets beyond the grief of leaving her homeland behind, or of losing so many of her loved ones.

There's one line that reminded me of something in The Unbreakable Heart of Oliva Denaro: I couldn't understand why Abraham didn't just defy God and try to keep his son anyway. Babo would never have given up a male child, not for all the world, not even if he'd been asked by Allah. (loc. 572) It's striking for the understanding Aida has as a young child—she's still about six when she says this—how much more boys matter in her world, in the world generally. Her statement is neutral, matter of fact; it doesn't occur to her that her father might think the same way about a daughter. This is followed up on somewhat throughout the book, but I think I wish it had been covered a bit further. Aida's younger brother, who is born after this point in the book, eventually becomes the focus of the family's energies, though for different reasons than Aida expresses here, and so too does the book lose focus on what it is to have a homeland torn apart by war. I wish there had been a bit more of a sense of place; I didn't pick up all that much of a sense of being either in Bosnia or in Italy, and if the story had been picked up and put in the context of a different conflict, I don't think all that much would have to be changed.

So...glad to have read this, but I'm not sure how well it will stay with me. A quick read, though, and always nice to pick up something about a situation I don't know enough about.

Review: "Strangers" by Belle Burden

Strangers by Belle Burden
Published January 2026 via The Dial Press
★★★★

Burden had a picture-perfect life—a New York apartment and a summer house; an excellent education and legal work she enjoyed, but also the financial flexibility to be a stay-at-home parent; three kids; a happy marriage that had lasted almost twenty years. And then her husband walked away from it all.

Strangers traces their marriage, and the dissolution of it—the man she thought she knew, and the red flags that it just didn't occur to her to see, not in the context of a happy marriage. There are...a lot of labels that could be applied to her now-ex-husband; I'm reminded of A Beautiful, Terrible Thing, in which that author and her therapist decide that the ex-husband in question must have a personality disorder. But Burden applies none of those labels: She simply tells the story of what happened, and acknowledges again and again that she'll probably never know why.

It's a painful story to read. I had to put the book down briefly at around the 1/3 mark, because it was so clear that some financial decisions throughout their marriage were going to come back to haunt Burden. I say there were red flags, and there were, but: it's also so clear that she couldn't see the red flags for the green, and so clear that so many others also would have seen just the green. Also painful: Burden's discussion of people's reactions, both after her husband left and after she started publishing material about the split. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but it's still staggering to think how many people will tell women to hush, be quiet, take on his shame as your own. Talking about her life being torpedoed treated as something equally bad as, or worse than, her ex-husband torpedoing her life in the first place.

Burden is not vindictive here. I think it's fair to say that she's writing from a place of pain but also a place of healing, one where she can express how it felt but also see a way forward. And...I'll be honest. Burden is careful in how she writes her story, careful to strip out any remaining vestiges of anger, but I have no such compunctions; I am going to cheerfully hope that the publication of this book simultaneously sets Burden up financially and make's her ex's life a social misery. (Surely that's the barest of bare minimums due to a man who would intentionally, and for no apparent reason, abandon his wife and kids and then do his best to ruin them financially—something he seems to have been preparing for for years?)

A well-crafted story, and a reminder to be a decent person—in your own relationships, and when talking to people about theirs.

Thanks to the author and publisher for inviting me to read a review copy through NetGalley.

Review: "Archie, Vol. 4" by Mark Waid and Pete Woods

Archie, Vol. 4 by Mark Waid and Pete Woods
Published 2017 via Archie Comics
★★★

And into volume 4 we go! This picks off right about where volume 3 left off, with the crush of the third volume actually going somewhere (I wasn't sure it would). I'm sure there were similar subplots in the original comics, but if there were they never went very far. We also get a bit more from the Blossoms, though theirs seems to be a long-haul sub-plot (info drabbled out across volumes).

But if the Blossoms were the big bads (well, Cheryl, anyway) of the previous volume, it's Reggie this time. He hasn't had much role in the series so far, but...here he is, leering at girls and pushing Archie's buttons until Archie snaps. And that snapping leads to one of the stupidest decisions of the series...and then some other equally stupid decisions. (Spoiler: If you're trying to stop an illegal car race, the thing to do is not to drive headfirst into it.) Archie gets off scot-free, of course, because the cops know Reggie as a troublemaker, and...honestly, that's sort of a problem, no? Oh, very consistent with the Archie comics of old, but it's very much a "reputation is all that counts" thing. And of course the volume ends on a cliffhanger...which I suspect will not last more than midway through volume 5, but hey! Not quite there yet.

Review: Short story: "Famous Once" by Jane Green

Famous Once by Jane Green
Published February 2026 via Amazon Original Stories

In another life, Astrid Lane was a model married to a rock star. Then things came crashing down—his affairs, mostly, but also a mysterious death with numerous open questions. Decades later, Astrid is living a much quieter life, working as a caterer and struggling to pay the bills...but when even her daughter starts asking questions, Astrid can't help but get involved.

This short story made for a very quick read, though in a way that also felt a bit rushed. We learn a bit about Astrid's earlier life (meeting her rock star husband, flashing forward to the relationship not working out as she hoped) plus of course the present day. A lot less about the mysterious death; the woman who died is little more than a name. There's a brief threat against Astrid, a briefer worry about what uncovering the past might lead to; and then basically a jump to the conclusion. Ultimately I think the brief length of this story is working against it; there's enough time to get interested in the various threads of the story but not enough time to explore any of them in depth.

I'm also, if I'm honest, uncomfortable with the way Astrid's (ex) husband, Callum, is portrayed so positively. When Astrid first has a conversation with him (in the backstory part of things), his manager has just sexually assaulted Astrid. Callum's reaction boils down to "yeah, he's an asshole but good with money, so I keep him around", and...I guess Callum's non-apology is supposed to be enough to make it okay that he willingly associates with this abusive sleazeball. (As I write this, the news is full of revalations from the Epstein files. Callum isn't responsible for somebody else's actions, no, but who one willingly associates with—and what one knows about one's associates' actions—is telling.) And yet Callum is portrayed throughout as someone who is still dynamic, whose fatal flaw is that he's not faithful; he's portrayed of someone deserving of sympathy for eventually being held ever so slightly accountable for his ongoing relationship/friendship with the manager.

So...has its moments but did not have the substance or space to be really satisfying.

(One thing I did find funny: When Astrid's daughter discusses where an article could be published, she mentions <i>The New York Times</i>, <i>The Sunday Times</i>, and <i>The Daily Mail</i>...how the NYT has fallen, to be mentioned in the same breath as a rag like <i>The Daily Fail</i>!)

<i>Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.</i>

Review: "Lipstick" by Eileen G'Sell

Lipstick by Eileen G'Sell
Published February 2025 via Bloomsbury Academic
★★★★

The latest in one of my favorite thought-provoking nonfiction series! Lipstick delves into (surprise!) some of the sociocultural implications of lipstick. G'Sell is herself an enthusiastic (passionate, even) wearer of lipstick, and has been since her youth, but what lipstick means for a White woman of a certain generation is not what lipstick means for everyone.

Margaret, a visual artist and professor, submitted "a passionate thesis" for her undergraduate honors degree in 1975, "on makeup as a masking, negative abomination. Fifty years later, she joked to me, "I was wearing lipstick when I wrote it, a natural-looking gloss. And the strange thing is, I adore lipstick now." For many Boomer women in their youth, lipstick seemed a sexist throwback in a time that demanded radical change. (loc. 630*)

I love the nuance of this book—G'Sell talks about people to whom lipstick represents oppression and people to whom lipstick represents freedom; people to whom lipstick represents conformity and people to whom lipstick represents uniqueness...and sometimes people to whom lipstick has represented all of those things, depending on time and circumstance. Think sex and gender and race and nationality and economics and capitalism and much more.

Makeup has never really been my thing (I said when I read Snack that my partner despairs of my approach to dinner...well, my mother-in-law despairs of my approach to makeup). I'd put that down to my parents (quasi-hippies both), but my sister did get whatever recessive makeup gene I didn't, so... In any case, G'Sell hits it on the nose when she observes that lipstick can feel like an easy just-one-thing (and again when she observes that, for many, it can also feel like too much). This doesn't make me want to start wearing lipstick on the regular—and that's not the point of the book anyway. But it does make me think hmm, maybe a bolder color next time we go see the in-laws.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Review: "A Fabulous Thru-Hike" by Derick Lugo

A Fabulous Thru-Hike by Derick Lugo
Published February 2026 via Mountaineers Books
★★★★

When Lugo set out on the Appalachian Trail, it changed his life—and a decade or so later, it was time for a new adventure.

A tiny fraction of the number of people who hike the Appalachian Trail hike the Continental Divide Trail. It's almost 50% longer than the AT; it's more rugged; trail signs are limited; and on it goes. Consequently, there are a lot fewer books about the CDT than books about the AT, so I was pretty pleased to pick this one up.

The Continental Divide Trail Coalition (CDTC) estimates that only 150 to 400 people attempt the trail each year, compared with about 3,000 for the AT. However, the CDT has a completion rate of around 80 percent, while on the AT it's closer to 25 percent. (loc. 111*)

What I loved: This felt like a lighthearted, good-natured romp. Lugo had strugglebus days on the CDT, but he knew what he was doing (see: why a higher proportion of starters on the CDT complete their hike than starters on the AT), and he seems like a pretty social guy who was just happy to meet new people, be out in nature, and hike hike hike. It also helps that Lugo's introductions of people are pretty positive-neutral—this is a low bar, but I've read far too many hiking memoirs by men that comment extensively (and subjectively, and sometimes lecherously) on women's appearances, and that is (yay) not the case here.

What surprised me: Lugo's journey on the CDT was way more social than I expected. I've read only two other CDT memoirs, and both of them took place well before Lugo's hike (and also, it's been a while since I read either of them!), so in retrospect I shouldn't have been surprised; there was of course also a time when a tiny number of people walked the AT, or the Camino, and so on. But I didn't expect Lugo's journey to so quickly turn to his trail family. That's neither a good thing nor a bad one, but I suppose it reflects the changing shape of thru-hiking.

What I wanted more of: Most of this book is about the external journey. As Lugo says, he had nothing to prove; he was doing the CDT for the joy of hiking (and also perhaps to write another book!). That's okay—not every hiking book needs a deep backstory—but I wouldn't have minded a bit more of the internal. Lugo also touches very briefly on some of what it's like to be hiking this sort of trail as a Black and Hispanic man; I imagine it's not what he wanted to focus on, and that's of course entirely his call, but it's an experience I haven't read much about, and it seems like an untapped opportunity. (Underrepresented hikers...I want to read your memoirs!)

I'd put this at 3.5 stars; it would have been higher with more internal journey, but I'm rounding up for the sake of more CDT-focused books.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Review: "The Cut Line" by Carolina Pihelgas

The Cut Line by Carolina Pihelgas, translated by Darcy Hurford
English translation published February 2026 via World Editions
★★★★

Rural Estonia: Liine has fled to her rural family cottage in the wake of a much-needed breakup. It's peaceful, and it's not: war hovers just around the corner, climate change is making its mark, and more than anything Liine doesn't really know what's next.

When everything is quiet, when the guns aren't firing, this is the most beautiful place in the world. (loc. 119*)

I'm fond of novels in translation for a couple of reasons—first, I often get to read about places that aren't so commonly written about in English; second, the rhythm and style of books written in different languages is often different. (Think, e.g., about the recent uptick in interest in translations of Japanese novels—could be wrong, but I assume one of the reasons for this is just that the style of writing is different than what most English-medium authors are doing.) As far as I can remember this is the first novel out of Estonia that I've read(!), so far be it from me to paint all Estonian novels with the same brush, but...nice to see contemporary things from places about which I know little.

Anyway, back to more specifics: The Cut Line is told in a not-quite-stream-of-consciousness style, as Liine works and ruminates and tries to avoid falling back into the angry orbit of her ex; as her family asks if he was so bad, really; as gunfire echos nearby; as nothing happens and everything changes anyway.

The description highlights climate change and the threat of war; the mention of climate change made me a little hesitant to read this (I already read too much real-life news), but I found nearby military action to make more of a impact when reading. (Also stressful, and also a little too close to real life! But worth noting that this is not a war story.) I don't know any Estonian, so I can't speak to the translation accuracy, but this made for a smooth read, and I never found myself wondering about the original—a good sign.

One for readers of lit fic and those looking for something slow, quiet, deeper currents moving under deceptively calm waters.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Review: "Archie, Vol. 3" by Mark Waid and Joe Eisma

Archie, Vol. 3 by Mark Waid and Joe Eisma
Published 2017 by Archie Comics
★★★

Volume 3! In which Mr. Lodge has had a hissy fit and moved the family away from Riverdale, Veronica has been shipped off to a Swiss boarding school (she's miserable, but honestly, that was my dream as a teenager), and we meet Cheryl Blossom. Cheryl's basically there to be the new Big Bad so that Veronica can be a bit softer—the Veronica of the first couple of volumes wouldn't have thought twice about participating in a mean-girl trick or two, but the Veronica of this volume has developed Morals, and perhaps a Conscience. There's very little of Betty here, except for a moment when Cheryl uses her to learn more about what makes Veronica tick, and we get a minor subplot involving a secondary character who has a crush on Betty...though it remains to be seen whether that plotline goes anywhere.

It's interesting—some things about these comics have been updated. At the end of this one there's a sneak peek into one about Reggie, and in that he raids his father's liquor cabinet, which he'd never have been allowed to do in the squeaky-clean originals; of course the shape of the Betty-Veronica rivalry is a bit different; Kevin (who was introduced to the Archie universe specifically to be The Gay One, because heaven forbid that any of the original characters might come out) is no longer the only queer character. Other things are just the same. They're as over the top as they ever were, with characters who are at times caricatures of the originals...who were themselves already caricatures. That's the point, I suppose! It's the whole genre. But I do wonder what this would look like in a different graphic novel form, with a less slapstick take.

Review: "The Hunter" by Tana French

The Hunter by Tana French
Published March 2024 via Viking
★★★★

Cal Hooper is back for book two, and things are about to get messy...or perhaps just messier. A few years have passed since Cal moved to Ardnakelty. He's more entrenched in the town's daily life, Trey—the local kid for whom he serves as mentor and, often, family—is growing up, and of course things are never quiet long enough.

The Hunter brings back in most of the usual suspects, this time on a less usual quest: to find gold on their land...or rather, to plant gold on their land to con a con man. And so Cal finds himself needing to decide just how involved he wants to get in some local crime, and how best to protect the people he cares about, and just how dangerous the new faces in town are.

[She] may be doing Ardnakelty's bidding, but her aims and her reasons are all hers. She's not the townland's creature in this, or Lena's, or Cal's: she's rising up as no one's creature but her own. (410)

I'll be honest: Some of the plot points in this one stressed me right out. When Cal is deciding how involved to get, he's also aware that he can't necessarily decide what it will cost him or when to get out...especially as the stakes get higher and higher. Eventually there is a catalyst, and that catalyst provides instant relief...but it also raises other stakes.

It's a slow burn of a summer in The Hunter, and a slow burn of a book. I'm enjoying how much this series is about community, and the ties that bind, and the things that tear people apart—there's a mystery and a murder, sure, but what moves me forward and keeps me reading is wanting to know what happens to Trey, to Lena, to Cal.

Review: "My Life on Standby" by Heather Smith

My Life on Standby by Heather Smith
Published 2023
★★

A quick collection of the author's experiences growing up as a third-culture kid. There's a lot of interesting material here, but the stories trend towards anecdotes rather than fully fleshed-out...well, stories. My rating is actually pretty neutral, as far as these things go—it's just that this feels like a great book to pass down to children or grandchildren, and as a random reader who likes books about far-off places and experiences that are not my own, I wanted a great more detail and plot and character development. (And...I chose this partly on the basis of "Lesotho Flying Doctors" on the cover, but of course Smith doesn't really have stories about that because she was only a wee child when her father was part of the flying doctors!)

Smith wrote another short memoir about teaching in Uganda, and I might yet pick that up; sometimes more recent memories make for more detailed stories.