Popular Fiction | Book Chatter

Seek Immediate Shelter
By Vincent Yu
Flatiron Books, May 2026, 304 pp.

The Short of It:

In a life or death situation, a lot comes to light.

The Rest of It:

Imagine going about your day and receiving a ballistic missile threat notification that sends you into a panic to seek immediate shelter.

BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

The people in this small town have only a few moments to make a decision. What will they do? One father pushes his family into a bathtub to ride it out. Another runs around his house with his wife and baby, only to leave her standing in the garage with a baby in her arms. A woman sends an unforgivable text to her daughter.

Chaos. Panic. Hurt feelings and disappointment. Emergencies can bring out the best or worst in a relationship. When you have a critical need and it’s not being met, plus the possibility of losing your life, you make rash decisions.

Then, they receive another message. It was all a mistake. A. FALSE. ALARM.

Your wife is standing in the garage holding a baby you forgot as you sped off. How do you recover from that? Innocent mistake or a shift in priorities? How do you take back a horrific text you sent to your daughter? You can’t.

These inadequacies and insecurities existed long before the emergency notification, but none of these people were at a point in their lives where they wanted to admit it. I gotta tell ya, these characters are not likable. Still, there’s something about their desperation and the way the story is told that holds you there, rapt, unable to let go.

Flawed. Imperfect. Recommend.

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

All the Little Ways
By Laura Lekkos
Gallery, June 9, 2026, 320pp.

The Short of It:

A wholesome exploration of female friendship.

The Rest of It:

Liz and Victoria couldn’t be more different.

Liz is a wayward soul with a good heart, but she can’t quite stick the landing on any one thing. Raised by her hippie, eccentric mother and with no real relationship with her father, she drifts through life somewhat happily, but always with an underlying sense of restlessness.

Victoria is older, driven, and successful. She knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it. She’s effortlessly put together, polished, and shrewd when she needs to be. What could these two possibly have in common?

They’re both expecting their first child and end up in the same parenting class.

Liz quietly observes Victoria, admiring the way she carries herself. After they exchange a few kind words, Liz starts to wonder if Victoria might be the friend she’s been missing.

As they navigate pregnancy and their relationships, it becomes clear that neither woman’s life is as perfect as it appears. Victoria and her husband are forced to confront a serious breach of trust, while Liz realizes that she and her boyfriend, Preston, simply don’t fit the way she always imagined they would. Sure, he’s the baby’s father, but do people really have to stay together just because they share a child?

Both women face challenges throughout their pregnancies. Some are professional, but most are deeply personal. They lean on each other through it all until they don’t. Can two women with such different outlooks truly support each other when their values and choices begin to clash?

This was a very readable novel, but the real magic comes together in the final third of the book. For a debut, I was impressed. I would definitely read Lekkos again.

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

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