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
‘The Things We Never Say,’ by Elizabeth Strout (Random House, 2026)
Artie Dam, beloved husband, father and former Teacher of the Year, is thinking of ending it all. At 57, he has had enough of meaningless cocktail parties where no one discusses anything of importance; students who mostly think he’s an out-of-touch relic; and a wife and son from whom he feels isolated. A boating mishap nearly does him in, and all thoughts of sleeping with the fishes quickly disappear. He becomes friends with his rescuer, and finally is able to confide in someone whom he feels won’t judge him. But one day, he discovers a lifelong secret that has been kept from him, and must decide whether to confront the truth or keep withholding who he is in order to keep the peace in his family. The answers are complicated, as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Strout explores whether our fear of changing the dynamics of our closest relationships is stronger than our desire to live an authentic life, one where our free will allows us to be better people. — 3 stars (out of 4); Karen Goldie Hartman, Westminster
‘The Complex,’ by Karan Mahajan (Viking, 2025)
Mahajan depicts a sprawling extended family, most of whom live literally on top of one another in a cramped “complex” of apartments in Delhi, India. Scheming, rumors, insults, secrets, love, lust and violence swirl within the family, a microcosm of the chaotic politics in India during the 1980s and ‘90s. Richly drawn characters at the center propel the narrative forward, with all their strengths and fatal flaws on full display. (This was a National Book Award finalist.) — 3 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
‘The God of Small Things,’ by Arundhati Roy (Random House, 1997)
Kerala, India, is the setting of Roy’s debut and Booker Prize-winning novel. Events move between 1969, when 7-year-old twins Estha and Rahel move with their mother, Ammu, back to her family home, and 1993, when the adult twins reunite. In between is a novel about “Small Things” (and big things) that change lives: the moon landing is slipped in next to colorful cultural details, and every incidental thing matters. The siblings are heartachingly real, and minor characters are finely drawn. Roy writes beautifully, with assurance. I was enchanted with how she incorporates the perspectives and language of children into very adult themes of love and religion, disruption, forbidden romance, abuse. We know something big is going to happen; Roy keeps us reading in suspense. This isn’t an easy read, but itap beautiful and fulfilling and richly layered, a literary masterpiece. — 4 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker
‘Regeneration,’ by Pat Barker (Plume, 1991/2013)
“I am making this statement as an act of willful defiance of military authority, because I believe war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.” Thus begins Siegfried Sassoon’s “declaration” that will land him in the Craiglockhart War Hospital, where soldiers who have been mentally wounded in the World War I end up (if they are lucky). Most of the characters in this powerful first book of Barker’s Regeneration Trilogy, awarded the Booker Prize in 1995, are based on real people: psychiatrist Dr. William Rivers and two poet soldiers in residence at Craiglockhart, Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. All the characters, real and fictional, are sensitively rendered, and their stories are unforgettable. Rivers’ goal is to regenerate the psychic nerves of these shattered servicemen. Way ahead of the times, he understands that to overcome unspeakable memories, one needs to bring these memories to the surface and talk about them. But unfortunately, Rivers was also a man of his times in the belief that sending the men back to the front when cured was the optimal result. The novel contains riveting dialogue, words that dance around what cannot be said. — 4 stars (out of 4); Michelle Nelson, Littleton
‘When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World,’ by Suzanne Simard (Alfred A. Knopf, 2026)
A follow to Simard’s popular “Finding the Mother Tree,” this book tracks her multiyear research project in British Columbia, comparing logging methods with the goal of identifying more sustainable and regenerative forestry practices. As she demonstrates, trees are resilient and adaptable, up to a point. Some of the statistics from her research are stunning, such as her findings that clear-cut logging methods immediately reduce the amount of carbon in the soil by more than half. Simard’s discussions with First Native people led her to include centuries-old Indigenous, natural-world wisdom into her studies and conclusions. She brings her research to life by describing the ups and downs of her field work with colleagues, friends and family. — 3 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
