Elizabeth Shick's 3 favorite reads in 2025

This unusual but delightful little novel is a joy to read. When Helen Cartwright returns home to the English countryside after a life abroad, she keeps to herself, avoiding human contact as much as possible as she awaits the end of her life. A chance encounter with a mouse forces her out into the world, upending her solitary routine and setting in motion a chain of events and interactions that are as surprising as they are entertaining. SIPSWORTH explores complex themes of memory and loss in a way that is uplifting without being at all sentimental.

What I loved best about this novel is the oddball cast of characters, each with their own set of endearing flaws and hang-ups. Helen herself is hilariously stubborn, doing the right thing almost against her own will, which makes for many laugh out loud moments. As she sets out on her mission, the people she meets along the way become equally invested, changing each other and themselves along the way. This is a novel about human connection, reminding us that we are never too old to learn, grow, and enjoy what life has to offer.

I read SIPWORTH as part of a book club, and everyone in the group loved it so much that they couldn't wait to read the author's previous novels. This is a beautiful novel, both entertaining and uplifting. At 240 pages, it's also nice and short, allowing you to experience the full arc of the story in just a few hours or days. Highly recommended!

A truly unforgettable novel, clever and moving at the same time. Confused, lonely, and frustratingly stubborn, Cyrus Shams is his own worst enemy--the best kind of character in my opinion! Newly sober and too smart for his own good, he pours his heart into his writing but neglects the relationships that sustain him. There were times I wanted to shake him, but I never stopped routing for him to find his way, and find peace.

Scattered with Cyrus' poetry, dreams, and imagined conversations, the novel has a gorgeous literariness to it that pulled me right in as a reader. At times, I felt as if the author were on another intellectual plane, but instead of feeling lost, I felt as though my eyes were being opened to a new understanding of the world.

Cyrus immigrated to the US from Iran as a child after his mother's plane was bombed by the US, so in addition to addiction, the novel also explores themes of survivor's guilt and immigration. MARTYR! is an excellent book to read as part of a book club as there are so many different themes , nuances and little clues to dissect and discuss. In my book club, we spent at least 15 minutes debating the ending alone. Highly recommended.

I loved how WHALE SONG by Elizabeth O'Connor immersed me in a completely unknown world. Set on a remote Welsh island in the year 1938, the novel pulled me in with its windswept imagery and pulsing island rhythms. Ever present throughout the novel is the slow and steady decomposition of a massive baleen whale on the shore of the island, lending an ominous tone to every interaction.

Curious and intelligent by nature, 18-year-old Manod longs to see and experience life beyond the three square miles and 50 or so people who occupy her tiny island home. Yet she's deeply rooted in her island home and fiercely protective of its traditional ways.

When two ethnographers come to study its culture, she is initially dazzled by them, seeing and judging herself and the people around her from the perspective of these outsiders. As their true motives become apparent, she is forced to reconcile her own views of the island with what she knows to be true. I found myself alternately cringing and want to protect her from harm, but cheering for her throughout.

The novel also lends itself well to a good book club discussions. With so many characters behaving badly or making questionable decisions, Readers will be eager to discuss why characters have taken certain actions and who is the most exploitative? WHALE FALL is a haunting coming-of-age story about exploitation, appropriation, and self discovery that is at once unique and universal. Beautifully written.