Book Chatter

More Than Enough

More Than Enough
By Anna Quindlen
Random House, February 24, 2026, 256pp.

The Short of It:

Wholesome and sweet but with depth.

The Rest of It:

High school English teacher Polly Goodman tells her book club everything. The women are her closest friends, the ones who know about her students, her strained relationship with her mother, and her painful struggle with IVF.

When they give her an ancestry test kit as a joke, Polly expects nothing from it. Instead, the results link her to a stranger. Certain it must be a mistake, she tries to move on, but curiosity pulls her into her family’s past and toward a truth she never expected.

A well meaning gift, but what it uncovers for Polly is a yearning to know her true origins. Surprising and slightly alarming since she never questioned this before. Honestly, had no reason to. With her struggles to start a family though, her thoughts are centered on family and what it means so naturally when the results come back with a big question mark, she’s forced to look into it.

Polly is surrounded by a very supportive group of ladies. But they are also cautiously guarded over these test results. Are they accurate? Do they need to be repeated? Polly doesn’t know but in her heart she feels there is some truth so what the results say and isn’t it important to know when trying to start a family of her own?

There are some tender moments as Polly navigates this new landscape. In addition to infertility she is dealing with her father’s descent into dementia; a very dark place where loving memories surface one day, only to be forgotten that she exists the next. Painful.

I found this novel to be sweet in the telling but it lacks plot. If you are a plot driven reader, you might find it a little too safe but still enjoyable nonetheless.

Recommend.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep book cover. A blurred image of a face set against a metal honeycomb backdrop.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
By Philip K. Dick
Del Rey, May 1996, 240pp.

The Short of It:

This gave me all the feels and not in a great way.

The Rest of It:

By 2021, the World War has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remain covet any living creature, and for people who can’t afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacra: horses, birds, cats, sheep. They’ve even built humans. ~ from the publisher

What a book. It was the inspiration for the film Blade Runner in case you didn’t know but it’s quite different from the film. Living creatures are highly valued and will cost you. A simple house cat? You wouldn’t be able to afford one. Sometimes folks are lucky and can save enough for a goat or a chicken but mostly, all they can afford are simulations of said animal.

People are desperate for interaction but the Androids are so advanced that you can’t tell who is real? Bounty hunters are sent to “destroy”retire” the remaining Androids which are discovered by failing a scientific round of testing in the form of empathy measuring. But still, some of them pass because they’ve nearly become human and want to live.

This is where it gets interesting. When you are so lonely and desperate for human interaction and a droid can provide that AND show empathy in a way you haven’t seen in a really long time? How does that bode well when you are the one hired to destroy them?

I get it. I am the person who will run out of a car when I see the little DoorDash robot floundering in a busy intersection. But Ti, it’s not real. But it FEELS real and it even makes sounds like a tiny child when it’s confused. EEEEEEK. What have we become? It’s terrifying really.

First published in 1968 but so ahead of his time. The story is set in 2021 but look at us now. Talking to Siri, asking Alexa to do stuff for us and people all over conversing with ChatGPT like it’s a friend. Smart refrigerators, vacuums, and cars. I mean, you can’t even buy a car without all the stuff now.

These machines are always watching and listening. Think about that. Does the convenience outweigh the risk? Sometimes. Are we starting to cross a line? Absolutely.

During my most recent hospital stay, I could hear the AI physician talking to patients during their tele-appointments, I also had an AI Nurse that kept asking me how I was feeling. I got up out of that bed and unplugged it. NO. Just No.

Discuss. We all say, “There’s a line I won’t cross” but look at how you live today and really think about it. GPS? Useful for sure but also tracking your every move.

Discuss.

My book club will be discussing this next month. Recommend.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Chatting with friends about books and life…