Vanessa Lillie: Blood Sisters, Penguin Random House US/ Berkeley,  hardback 

 A Cherokee lesbian archelogist who works for the bureau of Indian affairs is the protagonist in " Blood sisters" setting the tone for this unusual mystery. Syd Walker is called back home to her Oklahoma reservation to assist in solving a mysterious find of a human skull and the disappearance of two women. Old nightmares about the disapperance of her sister Emma and a brutal attack followed by unresolved family issues resurface when she returns.  

The novel addresses the rising number of violence against native American women,  the disappearance of many and the lack of investigagion by the police but the  constant anger flares of Syd were a little over the top undermining the seriousness of the issues in my view.  An unusual mystery for sure with many twist and turns.

Joanna Miller: The Eights, Figtree, hardback

 Enjoyed " The Eights"  by Joanna Miller immensly. A novel about a group of four women, pioneers,  to be allowed to study at Oxford University in 1920. About the bond between them, the tough conditions and courage they needed to persevere with their studies, the ghost of WWI casting a shadow over their own biographies. Dora, Beatrice, Otto and Marianne felt like very good friends when I finished the book. Perfect mix of historical fiction and women fighting for their right to lead self determined lives.  

 Irvin Yalom: Becoming myself, paperback, Piatkus,

I have read several of Irvin Yalom's books, nonfiction and fiction, and admire his ground breaking work in existential and group psychotherapy. "Becoming myself" is his memoir which I greatly enjoyed, what an example of a life well lived.  

He is the first US born child of poor, uneducated Russian Jews growing up in a rough neighbourhood in Washington DC. Being somewhat of a nerd, he exceĺs in school and sets his sights on becoming a doctor. Gaining entry into Stanford medical school is the beginning of an astonishing career, always dedicated to serving his patients,  the guiding light in his research and experiments.  I found the book occasionally  a little too longwinded for non medical readers,  nevertheless this does not diminish this outstanding memoir.  I marvel at the amount of work he still does even at an advanced age, dedicated to his patients but never forgetting to make time for recreation and fun. Add his family life with 4 children and his long marriage to his wife Marilyn, a professor herself, and  their dedication to one another,  and one has to fight feeling inferior.  An astonishing life journey..

 Eliana Ramage: To the Moon and back, 9781529939583 , Transworld UK,  publishing September 2025, c format paperback

Eliana Ramage's debut novel (which is hard to believe) "To the Moon and back" is an astonishingly accomplished novel reminding me a lot of Louise Erdrich. 

I loved her writing, she had me in tears towards the end,  causing a flood of emotions as the family story over three decades and the misery caused by the Indian Child Welfare act unfolds.  

At the heart of this book is Steph Harper, of Cherokee descent, whose passion is science, dreaming of becoming an astronaut. Coming of age and raised with her younger sister Kayla on her mother's reservation, she is also discovering that she is gay. Told from Steph's, Della's - Stephs first love - and Kayla's perspective, this 448 page long story is a story about ambition, sacrifice and love in all its variations, between mothers and daughters and grandmothers, sexual love, friendships and the deep set human need to belong...one of the best books I read this year! The author has an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and uses many historical facts of Native American history in hef novel