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. – Barbara Ellis
“107 Days,” by Kamala Harris (Simon & Schuster, 2025)
Harris uses a diary-like format, counting down the days to the 2024 election, from inside the shortest U.S. presidential campaign in modern history, to defend her decisions, actions and statements, with a scant salting of a few regrets that one can imagine rattling around in her 3 a.m. thoughts. Her loyalty to Joe Biden is unswerving; her appreciation for her staff, bottomless; her assessment of fellow Democrats, sometimes adoring, sometimes scathing. She relies on the words of others to deliver the negative assessments, however, with the exception of her obvious contempt for her opponents in the race. Although Harris does share a few emotional responses, this feels more like a checklist of selected events to relate, misperceptions to clarify. She even explains her paucity of emotion: “I couldn’t let down my guard, couldn’t take off my armor. If I unclenched, if I remembered what it was like to be normal, I might not be in shape to handle the next blow.” I only hope that she can, by now, remember what it is like to be “normal.” — 3 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“How to Read a Book,” by Monica Wood (Mariner, 2024)
A book club at a women’s prison is led by Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher. The group includes a wonderful set of characters/members who embrace Yeats, Morrison and Harriet herself. One inmate, Violet Powell, is released after serving time for vehicular homicide (while driving drunk). Imagine the complications when she enters a bookstore and encounters both Harriet and Frank Daigle, the husband of the woman killed in the accident. As Harriet and Frank’s relationship develops, Violet gets hired at a university lab where the PI is researching the intellect of parrots, a wonderful side plot. Beautiful descriptions. Well written, a joy ride. — 4 stars (out of 4); Jo Calhoun, Denver
“Tracy Flick Can‘t Win,” by Tom Perrotta (Scribner, 2022)
More than 20 years have passed since Tracy Flick ran for office, and her ambitions are still being thwarted. She’s achieved motherhood, although of the unwed mother variety. She’s assistant principal at her public high school, but knows she can accomplish much more if she only has a chance. Then the principal announces his retirement, and Tracy is hopeful. But, just like in the past, fate interferes. Most of us aren’t fated to walk in the spotlight of world stages, but the spot where we can use our greatest talents for the greater good is a goal we all can reach for. This second act in a fascinating character’s life journey convinces us finally it’s Tracy’s time, and she deserves it. — 3 stars (out of 4); Bonnie McCune, Denver (bonniemccune.com)
“Bring the House Down,” by Charlotte Runcie (Doubleday, 2025)
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a three-week maelstrom of performances and exhibits that draws artists, visitors and critics into its vortex. Runcie sets her novel there as two journalists share a corporate flat. Alex becomes a notorious sensation; Sophie, our narrator, records the events that impel her to examine her life even as they inform her actions. Which is the protagonist? You decide. (Footnote: I considered not finishing this book. That would have been an error. Literary fiction is not always easy to read, nor should it be. In this case, it’s worthwhile to read past the ugliness to find not answers, but the questions we should be discussing.) — 3 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker
“The Impossible Fortune,” by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman Books, 2025)
Osman’s latest is less about the caper and more about the characters, their quirks and failings, and the grace of their friends to accommodate them. The families of Joyce and Ron come to the foreground in this fifth installment in the Thursday Murder Club Mystery series, yet the caper drives the plot forward nonetheless. Osman doesn’t disappoint. — 3 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver