This first Quick Lit post of 2026 is recapping one of my lowest-ever reading months. I have just five book reviews to share with you today, but we still have some variety, including nonfiction books on spirituality and parenting and two novels that offered glimpses at worlds vastly different from my own. Let’s get to the reviews!
FICTION
The Academy, by Elin Hildebrand and Shelby Cunningham: Last school year at Tiffin Academy ended with the tragic death of one of the school’s most beloved students, but the Tiffin family is eager for a fresh start this September, and spirits are especially high thanks to the news that the school has jumped seventeen places in America Today’s boarding school rankings, naming Tiffin the number two boarding school in America. But questions surround the new ranking: yes, Tiffin students love their school that boasts a lovely campus, gourmet meals prepared by a professional chef, and an unusually attractive student body; but the school has never been known for stellar academics, and its sports teams are far from noteworthy. Could Jesse Easton—president of Tiffin’s board of directors and father to school bad-boy East and—be behind the mysterious launch to notoriety?
Despite hopes for a great year, the campus is immediately hit with scandal, and it seems everyone has something to hide—whether it’s young new teacher Simone Bergeron and her penchant for alcohol and younger men; straight-laced transfer student Charley Hicks, who has caught the eye of the one boy nobody else can touch; influencer and resident queen bee Davi Banerjee, whose disastrous home life has left her a shell of her former self; football star Dub Austin who, though still grieving the recent death of his girlfriend, finds himself caught in a love triangle; or Director of Admissions Cordelia Spooner, whose illicit affair is nowhere near as embarrassing as her unconventional student-screening tactics. Soon, all of Tiffin is getting alerted to each campus scandal via the disruptive gossip app, ZipZap. As the year unfolds, new alliances are formed while former relationships shatter; one thing is certain: this is one year that the faculty and students of Tiffin will never forget.
This book has a lot working against it: the teen protagonists and gossipy tone read YA, though the scandalous content (including some very icky student/teacher liaisons) is decidedly not safe for younger readers. The characters are almost all abhorrent and make one poor decision after another. And the depictions of some of the students’ challenges (including suicide and bulimia) are too whitewashed to be believable. The book also suffers from the fact that it is NOT a Nantucket novel, despite the author’s reputation as Queen of Beach Reads.
In spite of these many demerits, I have to admit that I enjoyed much of my experience reading this: in a season when reading was not a priority, I needed something that would hold my attention, and this did the trick. The format—with vignettes from each month of the school year, all told from the perspectives of different students, faculty, staff, and even parents—kept me engaged, and I found myself invested in the plight of the characters, even though I didn’t like them. I enjoyed the window into boarding school life (though I sincerely hope that REAL boarding schools are not plagued by such scandal and drama!), and I was intrigued by the small mysteries woven into all the drama. The lucious food descriptions and many name-dropped book titles were additional bonuses.
I haven’t read much from Elin Hildebrand in the past, so the fact that this was not a beach read didn’t bother me, and I was interested to know that Hildebrand wrote this with her daughter (whose boarding school experiences inspired the novel). The book ends with several unanswered questions, and while I wish that this had a self-contained story, I’m interested enough to continue with Book Two when it releases next year.
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (Rounded down to 3 Stars on Goodreads) // Book Format: Kindle
That’s Not How It Happened, by Craig Thomas: Paige and Rob had a great love story—so great that it inspired one of the most beloved rom-coms of all time. But life took an abrupt turn when Paige gave birth to a son with Down’s Syndrome. Then Rob’s screenwriting career took off, so Paige said goodbye to her own career as a journalist in order to stay home with Emmett (and later Emmett’s younger sister, Darcy). Now, with her children nearly grown, Paige has written a memoir documenting the challenges of raising a child with disabilities. Nobody is more surprised than Paige when a superstar actress promotes her little memoir and wants to make the story into a movie.
Meanwhile, Rob is floundering in his career and wonders if writing the screenplay for his wife’s memoir might offer the comeback opportunity he needs. And then there’s Emmett, who adores his parents, his job at a cafe, the group home that he shares with his room mates, and—more than anything—his girlfriend, Amy. Emmett is mostly ambivalent about the prospect of his life being made into a movie, but his sister Darcy is decidedly NOT happy about the situation. A high school senior, Darcy just wants to fly under the radar until she can escape to college with the love of her life.
Not surprisingly, the reality of this mostly-happy family undergoes more than a few alterations on the journey from reality to page to screen, and none of the family will escape unscathed. As the story unfolds, we hear from each family member—Rob, Paige, Emmett, and Darcy—and realize that they all have VERY different ideas about their family’s past, present, and future. Old resentments are unearthed as the betrayals pile up, and they must decide what they are willing to endure in order to share their inspiring story with the world.
This was very much a “window” book—first into Hollywood and the process of bringing a book to the screen, which is so much more complicated than I’d realized. This is a world that Craig Thomas knows well, as a television writer and co-creator of How I Met Your Mother. (The fast-paced, multilayered storytelling in this novel very much reflects the style of that show!) I enjoyed getting the inside scoop on the MANY iterations a story undergoes before reaching the screen, and the many casualties and heartbreaks that can occur along the journey.
More significantly, That’s Not How It Happened provides a window into the experience of parenting an adult child with disabilities. The book was inspired by Thomas’s experience raising an adult son with Jacobsen Syndrome, and he leans into his first-hand knowledge to create a story that honors the complexities of a road few of us could imagine. I LOVED the character of Emmet, whose disability is not glossed over but is also not the entirety of who he is. The novel is not at all patronizing towards the Down’s Syndrome community, but it fully acknowledges the challenges of both having DS and parenting a child with DS—especially once that child is no longer a child, but cannot live fully independently. We watch as Rob and Paige grapple with this in different ways and with different levels of success, and we are offered a redemptive story that refuses to sugar-coat the hard stuff. I love a happy ending that isn’t too tidy and that is exactly what we get here.
The set-up of this book does not sound humorous, but the vastly different perspectives and witty narration land it squarely in Comedy territory—possibly even in Rom-Com territory, which is fitting given the male protagonist’s career (the meta aspects of this novel are fantastic). As much as I enjoyed the book’s humorous narration, creative structure, and heartwarming story, there were things about it that I did NOT love, most notably the profanity and also the moralizing and dispersions cast on past generations that were less “enlightened” in their thinking on everything from the patriarchy to homosexuality to race. I could appreciate the evolved thinking in some of these areas (especially the healthier modern understandings and treatment of individuals with disabilities), but the preaching in other “woke” areas was a little much for me.
I initially picked up this title because I’m a fan of How I Met Your Mother; I couldn’t wait to read Craig Thomas’s fiction debut, and I was excited to see that the audiobook was narrated by “Ted” and “Robin.” Since I don’t usually go for fiction on audio, I did this as a tandem read (listening to the audiobook while following along on Kindle) and I have to say that the audiobook is fantastic. The part of Emmett is narrated by a reader with Down’s Syndrome, and his contributions absolutely bring the character to life.
This is a big-hearted story that somehow manages to weave a Hollywood satire and family drama into a lovable comedy with poignant themes and unforgettable characters. I hope there is more to come from this TV writer-turned novelist!
My Rating: 4 Stars // Book Format: Kindle (followed along on audio, highly recommend!)
NONFICTION
Raising Mentally Strong Kids: How to Combine the Power of Neuroscience with Love and Logic to Grow Confident, Kind, Responsible, and Resilient Children and Young Adults, by Daniel G. Amen and Charles Fay: No parent sets out to raise children who are unkind, irresponsible, or easily-overwhelmed, but in an age that demands little of us, it is easy to grow soft and to impart that softness to our children. In Raising Mentally Strong Kids, neuropsychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen teams up with child psychologist Charles Fay (whose father is the behind the Parenting with Love and Logic movement) to offer science-backed tools for parenting kids who are responsible, confident, kind, and resilient. This book goes beyond the usual parenting tips and tricks to address what’s going on in kids’ (and parents’) brains. The authors talk about how to enhance brain health, incorporating brain science into their discussion of parenting styles, relationships, appropriate discipline tactics, and various parenting challenges.
This book didn’t feel particularly ground-breaking to me, probably because I’ve already read the Love and Logic books as well as books by Dr. Amen. However, it was nice to see how the brain principles and parenting strategies come together. And I always appreciate a refresher on parenting tactics that actually work and are healthier ways of handing behavior issues that come up in our home. As with all parenting books, this one can make the suggested strategies seem easier and more fool-proof than they actually are, but the principles here are generally sound. I especially liked the chapter on ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) and how to address them for ourselves and our kids using tactics like reframing, mindfulness, and positive self-talk.
Final verdict: if you read a lot of parenting books, you can probably skip this one, but if you’re in need of a little help in the parenting department, you will certainly find some useful tips, tricks, and encouragement here. The writing is easy to follow, with lots of helpful lists and memorable acronyms, and the stories make it decently engaging (if a little cheesy).
My Rating: 4 Stars // Book Format: Audiobook
The Bible Recap, by Tara-Leigh Cobble: Seven years ago, my spiritual life was forever changed when I decided to read through the Bible in one year in conjunction with Tara-Leigh Cobble’s Bible Recap podcast. It was such a transformative experience that I have reread the Bible numerous times since, a few of those times along with the Bible Recap once again. And in 2025, Luke, Charleston, and I decided to bring the book into our reading experience too!
For those who might not be familiar with the podcast, the Bible Recap (podcast) is a one-year guide to reading and understanding the Bible chronologically. And this book is a condensed version of that podcast in written form. Each day offers a 2-page recap of the day’s Scripture reading, along with some Biblical insights and a God Shot that highlights one area where God’s presence is evident within the daily Scripture.
This is an invaluable resource for every Bible reader, whether it’s your first read through the Bible or if you’ve read Genesis-to-Revelation dozens of times. The daily summaries are concise yet thorough, and the commentary is spot-on and always points back to God and His character. The Bible Recap isn’t just a great support for reading the Bible, it teaches you how to read Scripture in an entirely new way that keeps the focus all on God. If you are looking to read through the Bible and would like some extra support, I cannot recommend this book more highly.
My Rating: 5 Stars // Book Format: Kindle
They Turned the World Upside Down: A Storyteller’s Journey with Those Who Dared to Follow Jesus, by Charles Martin: In What If It’s True, bestselling storyteller Charles Martin brought the words and ministry of Jesus to life, offering a novelistic take on the Gospel and leading readers to ask: if every single word of Scripture is true, how should I respond? In this follow-up book, Martin explores the early church in the aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection. In the first century, being a believer meant more than attesting to the words of Christ; it meant living out those beliefs. And the testimonies of those who followed Jesus were so bold and so profound that they turned the world upside down. Can this be said of believers today?
Here, Martin blends gorgeous storytelling with hard-hitting teaching to explore the lives and beliefs of the early disciples. He then turns the eye towards himself and, eventually, towards the reader as he challenges us to walk in the disciples’ footsteps in leading bold lives for Christ. In chapters focused on different tenets of our faith (such as parts of the trinity, an understanding of the kingdom of Heaven, our sin nature, and spiritual warfare), Martin asks and attempts to answer some of the most challenging questions in Christianity, and he leads us in trading lukewarm faith for wholehearted faithfulness.
This is discipleship and apologetics for lovers of fiction. Think The Chosen, but in book form and with more personal application. I love Martin’s beautiful prose and transparent reflections on his own Christian walk. Parts of the book made me a little uncomfortable, as he tends to read into the Biblical accounts more than my conservative theology is accustomed to, but Martin is always careful to show his receipts (the book is jam-packed with Scriptural references and footnotes), and I appreciated the constant urges to lean outside of my comfort zone and into a bigger, bolder faith that permeates my whole life and isn’t just a small part of it. In particular, the chapters on the Holy Spirit are POWERFUL and have me rethinking my entire relationship to this part of the trinity. And the chapter on Jesus’ substitutionary atonement totally undid me. A lot of the book is repetitive, but this repetition serves to drive home Martin’s key points.
Highly recommend this for believers who are ready to say goodbye to stagnate faith and embrace God’s full plan for their life. I read this while I was in a read-through of Acts for my annual read through Scripture; the timing was unintentional but perfect.
My Rating: 4 Stars // Book Format: Audiobook
Have you read any of these titles? What did you think? What’s on your nightstand these days? I’d love to hear about it!
