Fiction | 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.

Such Sheltered Lives
By Alyssa Sheinmel
Atria, January 20, 2026, 288pp.

The Short of It:

Such Sheltered Lives had its moments, but ultimately too many characters affected its flow.

The Rest of It:

Tucked among the pristine beaches and lavish manors of the Hamptons sits Rush’s Recovery, a rehabilitation center where ultra-high net worth clients can seek treatment away from prying eyes and paparazzi. ~ the publisher

The center’s patients masquerading as guests:

Lord Edward of Essex, a British aristocrat fighting his black-sheep status and a painful addiction.
Amelia Blue Harris, the daughter of a 90s rock legend struggling with an eating disorder.
Florence Bloom, a pop star trying to lay low after her latest tabloid scandal.

All of these guests are promised high-end care in a luxury setting; the BEST that money can buy. Each have their own therapist assigned to them, 24/7 but as good as this sounds, things are not what they seem.

For one, it’s easy for these guests to imbibe on their addictions. Lord Edward exists on his pocketed pain pills, Amelia starves herself or binges and then forces herself to get rid of all of it and Florence is just a mess, sleeping around and making bad choices. All this, while under 24/7 supervision. What gives?

Each of these characters have compelling reasons for being there but the author lost me with the alternating chapters and revealing a backstory that just didn’t strike me as being realistic. The creeping around and fraternizing with staff seemed inserted for drama, more than story flow. I didn’t care for any of these characters. I love a good flawed character but these characters don’t learn much and just seem to stumble along.

Sadly, I can’t recommend this one. Even the title doesn’t fit the story. They really aren’t sheltered at all. Had the author chosen to focus on one or two of the patients and not woven in that unrealistic backstory about the center itself, the story would have been better for it.

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

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