This year produced some wonderful reads, and it can be hard to keep up with them all. These four are all compelling and engaging books that you may have missed. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding by Lian Dolan (contemporary fiction) – This delightful and charming novel tackles the popular wedding storyline from a completely fresh perspective. The stars of this tale are the two mothers – the mother of the bride (MOB) Greek-born Alexa Diamandis, a single mother and travel planner, and the mother of the groom (MOG), Abigail Blakeman, an old-money member of the Daughters of the Revolution who resides in Connecticut. When Penelope and Chase announce their engagement, neither mother is excited for the pending nuptials. What ensues is an often funny and touching romp about two women who overcome their differences and some of their own personal issues while planning an amazing wedding with their adult children. Interspersed throughout the novel is an advice column by Aunt B to “Dearly Beloved and Betrotheds” which hilariously pokes fun at how weddings bring out the crazy in people. Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding will appeal to fans of light-hearted stories and standout characters; it is a true joy from beginning to end.
The Eights by Joanna Miller (historical fiction) – Oxford, 1920. Oxford has admitted female students for the first time in its 1000-year history. Exuberant about attending this historic university, four young and very different women move into rooms on the same hall and slowly develop an unlikely friendship. This compelling debut chronicles what it was like for these women to make history at Oxford while enduring hardship and pushback from men and women alike. Miller brings Oxford and the 1920s vividly to life as well as the suffrage movement. The women embrace the rapidly changing fashions of the time period, bob their hair, wait for Agatha Christie’s latest novel and more. The Eights is an engrossing snapshot in time that highlights an important moment in women’s history set against the backdrop of World War I’s aftermath. This book will be a great fit for those who love interesting time periods in history and for fans of a strong sense of place. It will also make an engaging selection for book clubs.
The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner (fiction) – The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits follows two sisters, Cassie and Zoe, whose 2003 meteoric rise to musical fame occurs when they are just out of high school. Overweight and socially awkward, Cassie is a child prodigy, a gifted singer, songwriter, and pianist, who wants to embrace her love of music but not in the spotlight. Friendly and outgoing, Zoe is decently talented as a singer and on the guitar, but desperately wants to become a star. When fate intervenes, the two sisters are thrust into sudden stardom as the Griffin Sisters. But not even a year later, the duo mysteriously splits, and the two women fade back into their everyday lives. Two decades later, Zoe’s daughter is desperately trying to understand what happened and why. This family saga explores the high cost of fame, what happens when secrets are kept, and the deep bonds of both sisterhood and motherhood. Weiner addresses the music industry’s obsession with appearance, and in part
The Whyte Python World Tour by Travis Kennedy (fiction/thriller) – This hilarious and irreverent novel stars Rikki Thunder, a member of Whyte Python, a heavy metal band who in the late 1980s is recruited by the CIA to go behind the Iron Curtain and help spark a revolution through the power of rock. While this might sound like a strange premise, it is loosely inspired by allegedly true events. The Whyte Python World Tour is one of the most entertaining books that read last year; Rikki Thunder is a gem: naïve, unintentionally humorous, and a fabulous narrator. Kennedy weaves humor, heart, history, music, travel, and so much fun into this page turner. It is one of my top reads of 2025. This one will appeal to fans of creative stories, 1980s nostalgia, genre mashups, and laugh-out-loud stories.
For more book recommendations and bookish thoughts, see Cindy’s monthly Buzz Reads column, her award-winning Thoughts from a Page Podcast or follow @ThoughtsFromaPage on Instagram.
