How To Read A Book by Monica Wood had been on my radar for a while, and I got it on audio and decided to pick it up this month. It’s a found-family book about three lonely people living in Portland, Maine – Frank, a 60-something widower whose wife was killed by a drunk driver; Violet, the 22 year-old who was driving the car; and Harriet, a 60-something widow who runs a book club at the prison where Violet lives. When Violet is released from prison after 22 months, she finds herself living alone in Portland. She runs into Harriet at a bookstore, where Frank is also coincidentally working, which sets into motion the knitting together of this threesome. Wood does a nice job of exploring the characters’ backstories (Frank’s marriage, how Violet ended up behind the wheel of the car) and how forgiveness leads to redemption and peace. I also liked the descriptions of life in the women’s prison and how the inmates learned to support each other. But there were some plot points that bothered me and others that were left unresolved, and in the end I felt that Wood could have done more with the story beyond just bringing these three characters into an unexpected family. I wanted to like it more than I did. I do know that many others have ranked this book high on their 2025 lists, so maybe it’s just curmudgeonly me who is allergic to anything heartwarming.