Bumblebee Season by Eileen Garvin

BUMBLEBEE SEASON by Eileen Garvin (Crow Talk) is the sequel to her debut novel The Music of Bees. She provides an update on the progress that wheelchair-bound Jake Stevenson is accomplishing with his bee hives and Queen of G Honey business located near the Hood River in Oregon. But there is much more to the story as Garvin introduces us to other characters. One is Abigail Elizabeth Plue, a young teaching assistant at the local university; she is interested in insects and nature, but she has difficulty with self-regulation and cooperating with others, resulting in a transfer to study bees. Flaco (“skinny”) is the nickname of Sebastian Santiago Luna Lopez; he’s only fourteen and has been sent North (entering the US without papers) by his mother to keep him away from the cartel in his hometown. Along with Jake, each is struggling with personal issues and rejection by a loved one, but Garvin unites them through a shared desire to protect the environment and a growing respect and care for each other. Belonging and community are key ideas in this book which she has dedicated to “anyone who’s ever longed for home.” BUMBLEBEE SEASON received a starred review from Booklist (“Undoubtedly inspired by her own experiences as an Oregon beekeeper, Garvin is a master at creating hive-like communities vibrating with characters readers will enthusiastically embrace.”).

Confident by Choice by Juan Bendaña

CONFIDENT BY CHOICE by Juan Bendaña is a very energizing text. Bendaña writes with verve and enthusiasm. His main message centers around the idea that confidence can be built. He starts out by noting four confidence myths regarding being an extrovert; absence of insecurity; having the “right” genetics; and needing competence first. I particularly liked his point that “1. You're going to fail. 2. But that's OK because failure is the path to success.” At the end of each chapter, Bendaña suggests an action item, a micro-step, often designed to help his readers further clarify their goals. Many of his ideas (“change your posture, skip around, do a little dance”) are small actions which can really have a big impact as they help improve attitude and overcome fears.  CONFIDENT BY CHOICE, published in August 2025, made me think of earlier titles like Be Fearless by Jean Case or Resilient by Rick Hanson.

The Last Letters of Sally and Walter

THE LAST LETTERS OF SALLY AND WALTER by Cammie McGovern is a charming but very sad novel about two older people who find a connection through Scrabble (offering much wordplay and many new vocabulary words along the way). Walter and Sally live in an independent living facility named Golden Grove where everyone “is superficially friendly and no one is really friends.” They, however, gradually form a deep friendship where each can be vulnerable enough to share their personal stories and concerns. McGovern’s previous works for middle grade students and young adults all featured characters with disabilities. In her latest, Sally has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and learns to cope with its limitations while Walter also has a health setback. Despite these circumstances, there is hope woven throughout this book, as when Walter notes,  “These are the facts of our lives now. We both have our younger selves sitting inside of us, horrified by these developments, but I'm hoping we also have the wisdom of age. We are not defined by the limitations our bodies have imposed on us.” Both Walter and Sally experience emotional distance from and somewhat difficult relationships with their adult children who, in turn, are dealing with their own stressors related to work and family life. THE LAST LETTERS OF SALLY AND WALTER provides a unique window into a crucial time of life as when Sally gently points out, “the hardest part of aging … wasn’t the battle to retain your abilities, it was the absence of a chance to develop new ones.” This poignant novel will have readers reflecting about their own relatives and life choices. Scheduled to be Published April 7, 2026.

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man)

VERA WONG'S GUIDE TO SNOOPING (ON A DEAD MAN) by Edgar Award winning author Jesse Q. Sutanto is the second in the series about this feisty, take-charge Chinese grandma. As such, it blends appearances by previous characters with a whole new set of people who need Vera’s help. One is Millie, a young girl who is clearly distraught about the disappearance of her friend, Thomas. Turns out he was also known as Xander Lin and appeared online as boyfriend to Aimes, a young internet influencer, trying to find herself. Xander was represented by the same firm, run by TJ (who has a charming teenage daughter, Robin). Readers learn that Xander had asked the people in his life, including his honorary grandfather, Qiang Wen, to help him set the record straight and reveal something big. Afraid of disrupting their own lives, they refused his request and are filled with despair when Xander’s body is found. Vera, generally unafraid of anything, steps in and pushes the group to solve the mystery of Xander’s life and death. I found the mystery to be quite puzzling and I really enjoyed the way a sense of community was developed with each other and with Oliver, Julia, and Sana who appeared in the first Vera Wong book. Although tackling some serious subjects, this is a fun, entertaining read – particularly the dialogue between Vera and her son, Tilly and his girlfriend, a cop named Selena Gray. Looks like there are more Vera Wong stories (including bickering with her neighbor, Winifred) in our future – likely away from her teahouse and its San Francisco setting. I am looking forward to them. VERA WONG'S GUIDE TO SNOOPING (ON A DEAD MAN) is a LibraryReads Hall of Fame selection for April.

Medgar and Myrlie by Joy-Ann Reid

I first heard about MEDGAR AND MYRLIE by Joy-Ann Reid when I saw an interview with her on pbs NewsHour:

 

Reid, an MSNBC host, subtitles her text “Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” and delves into his life and civil rights work as well as deeply into that of his wife, Myrlie, after Medgar’s assassination in June 1963. Medgar Evers was a soldier stationed in Europe during WWII. He came home to Mississippi where he later worked for the NAACP in an era when headline news dealt with the murder of Emmett Till, the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, lunch counter sit-ins and retail boycotts, and integration of state college campuses. Reid argues that Evers’ activism “was the foundation on which later efforts by SNCC, CORE, and other organizations were built.” She conducted more than a half dozen interviews with Myrlie (who was NAACP National Chair in 1995) and also provides significant research – more than a fifth of the book is devoted to notes, bibliography, and an index. MEDGAR AND MYRLIE received a starred review from Booklist (“Reid’s spotlight shines brightest on the commitment the Everses made to the movement and to each other”). A love story involving Mississippi, America, and each other. Reid writes, “he pressed her to understand that he did his work because he loves her and their children.”

The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin

THE MUSIC OF BEES by debut author Eileen Garvin deserves to be on your “to be read” list, especially if you are looking for a “feel good” story. Forgive me, but this novel has received plenty of “buzz,” including a LibraryReads selection for April and a starred review from Booklist which compared this quest for “belonging and stability” to writing by Anne Tyler or Sue Miller.  Eileen Garvin, a beekeeper herself, definitely increased my interest in learning more about bees, including picking up our library copy of Paige Embry’s Our native bees: America's endangered pollinators and the fight to save them. The characters in THE MUSIC OF BEES each face different challenges, but manage to form an unlikely bond. Alice is in her mid-forties, a widow redefining her priorities who essentially adopts two young men: Jake, now confined to a wheel chair after a foolish high school accident and Harry, a former felon with a serious self-confidence problem. Together, they work to expand an apiary for bees and fight a large pesticide company. A bit simplistic? Yes, but readers will enjoy growing with and rooting for these three and their friends and family.