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
“Vulture,” by Phoebe Greenwood (Europa Editions, 2025)
By Phoebe Greenwood
Europa. 282 pp. $27
Greenwood draws on her experience as a freelance correspondent based in Jerusalem to depict the fraught nature of wartime reporting. The narrator, Sara, is frankly a hot mess. She is journalistically inexperienced, politically naïve, historically ignorant, yet desperate to prove her mettle. She embarks on a foolhardy attempt to uncover an exclusive story, with lethal consequences. The vultures prove to be the hardened reporters who profit from the misfortune and misery of others. Much in this story, set in 2012, feels ripped from today’s headlines. The more things change … . — 3 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“Buckeye,” by Patrick Ryan (Random House, 2025)
A Midwestern family saga spanning World War II to the late 1990s, “Buckeye” is most notable for beautifully written characters I liked so much that I had difficulty criticizing their actions. Ryan writes from multiple perspectives, which gives us an inside view of their emotions. Along with the small-town cliche of secrets abounding, there are fresh touches that add whimsy to this story of two families entwined through times of peace and war. A very appealing book that presents much to discuss. — 3 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker
“McNamara at War: A New History,” by Philip Taubman and William Taubman (W.W. Norton & Company, 2025)
The brothers Taubman plumb McNamara’s early family life, as well as his meteoric career through academia and the Ford Motor Company to illuminate and humanize the man before settling into an examination of his work and failings as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. They point to “his obsessive and misplaced reliance on statistical data in making decisions,” a methodology that had served him well earlier but was, so tragically, a non-transferrable skill. Valuing loyalty to the presidency over his own assessments, McNamara led the DoD in the escalation of the Vietnam War, despite his own misgivings. And, despite his later attempts to take public responsibility for the failures of the Vietnam War, McNamara remains a toxic figure to this day. An important contribution to our understanding of the Vietnam War era. — 3 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe (Penguin Books, 1994)
Widely known as the first “modern” African novel because its plot and delivery resemble fiction published in the West. “Things Fall Apart” is also widely heralded as a great literary achievement for the author, whose first novel (published initially in 1958) has only grown in popularity over the decades. It depicts tribal life in the mid-’50s as an isolated people, the Ibo, are led by Okonkwo, who has spent his life establishing his leadership and building his tribe, sometimes through violence, after his father failed, only to bump smack dab into English missionaries and government thugs. The author lets the reader explore a virtually unknown local culture as well as the violent and appalling impacts that a larger, Westernized culture can have on a more isolated one. This even-handed view of Nigeria at a critical stage in its history enables us to trace the very human development of all peoples. — 4 stars (out of 4); Bonnie McCune, Denver (bonniemccune.com)
“Mad Honey,” by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan (Ballantine, 2022)
A typical Picoult page-turner with the added wisdom and skill of Boylan, a hint that this plot would involve a trans protagonist. After 19-year-old Lily is murdered, focus turns to her boyfriend, Asher, whose mother was abused by his volatile father. Did Asher inherit that tendency toward anger and violence? Chapters jump from “before” to “after” and back as the story unfolds and a trial occurs. Folded in is a narrative about bees and beekeeping, transitioning and gender roles. The ending is a little weak, but the story had to be tied up somehow. The plot is so gripping that you’ll want to read the entire book in a day. Great discussion material. Brava to these authors. (A “Good Morning America” book club selection.) — 4 stars (out of 4); Jo Calhoun, Denver