Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. So we asked them, and all Denver Post readers, to share their mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email bellis@denverpost.com. — Barbara Ellis

“American Oasis: Finding the Future in the Cities of the Southwest,” by Kyle Paoletta (Pantheon, 2025)

Paoletta lays out a detailed range of issues — including racial inequality, employment, housing, water management, sustainability and population growth — that the desert cities of the American Southwest have faced over time. The examples he cites from Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, El Paso and Las Vegas offer not only paths forward but also cautionary tales. Paoletta further believes that this region is the proverbial canary in the coal mine, foretelling future challenges for other regions when it comes to the impacts of climate change. He argues that the best path forward to a sustainable future must focus on respecting the limits of our environment, not imposing man’s will over the environment. Warning: The subtext of foregoing economic growth at all costs might be a harder pill for some to swallow. — 2 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver

“The Arsonist,” by Sue Miller (Knopf, 2014)

After 15 years in Africa, Frankie Rowley returns to Pomeroy, N.H., and the summer home of her childhood. Exhausted, she struggles to find a vantage point from which to view her past and scribe her future. But the quiet town she remembers alters dramatically as fires are being set in the houses of summer residents. That brings Frankie into the sphere of Bud Jacobs, a newcomer who publishes the local weekly. The community tension combusts in passion between Frankie and Bud, and creates distrust between those who live in the town and those who use it.

Miller’s literary novel explores how even people in their 40s may come of age as events flare around them. Her writing is sensitive and understated. Miller focuses on relationships: The waning connection between Sylvia and Alfie, Frankie’s parents, contrasts effectively with the igniting bond between Frankie and Bud. The book’s ending was realistic and effective. — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker

“Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland.” by Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday, 2019)

A detailed recounting of the lives of selected perpetrators and victims of The Troubles of the 1970s in Northern Ireland, and how these individuals’ lives evolved during the peace that followed. But the subtext is an examination of radicalization, “uncompromising devotion to a cause,” and how both society and individuals processed their memories of a violent time and violent acts. (It was No. 19 on The New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list, as well as a 2024 FX TV series.) — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver

“The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry,” by Gabrielle Zevin (Algonquin Books, 2014)

Life has many surprises, discovers Fikry, a widower in a small East Coast town. He already knows they can be sad, even tragic. He’s lost his wife. With sales in his bookstore plummeting, he’s nearly ready to lose his business, and his treasured collection of Poe poetry has disappeared. What else can happen? An abandoned 2-year-old girl, Maya, shows up at his bookstore, along with the joys and surprises such an occasion warrants. He ends up adopting the child, which radically changes his life. Over the next decades, his existence centers around his books and the people touched by the tales they convey. The many sections contained in the novel are revealed as notes to Maya from Fikry, shortly before his death, life lessons from some of his favorite books, and his legacy to the adult child. The volume is a paean to life itself, full of pleasure and sorrow. — 3½ stars (out of 4); Bonnie McCune, Denver (bonniemccune.com)