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.

“Water Moon,” by Samantha Sotto Yambao (Del Rey, 2025)

“Endings and beginnings are the same point in time.” People wait in line outside the door to this simple Tokyo ramen shop, but upon entering some find, instead, a pawnshop like no other. Here, clients pawn the choices they are weary of carrying. This genre-blending book was a comfort read for me. The fantasy elements were incorporated matter-of-factly and the main characters intrigued. The twists, and the evocative imagery, kept me reading with pleasure. — 2 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker

“Flight,” by Lynn Steger Strong (Mariner Books, 2022)

Three siblings and their families gather to mark the first Christmas following their mother’s death. Underlying the festivities are unresolved family issues, including how or whether to dispose of the family home. Nearly every character is fully drawn and, for many, flight is a motif of longing, for its soaring beauty, its solitude, its freedom. While the final scene is a bit heavy-handed, it does bring everyone together in admiration of flight. —— 2 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver

“The Naked Sun,” by Isaac Asimov (Spectra Books by Bantam Books; reissue, 1991)

Part of the classic Robot series by one of sci-fi’s masters, this novel substantiates that the concept of AI (artificial intelligence) has been a bedrock of speculative fiction for eons. In this tale, human detective Elijah Baley is drafted to solve the murder of a human on Solaria, an Outer Planet where humans are scarce and never mix with their peers. So who committed the crime and how? Could the criminal be a robot? Elijah calls in his robot/AI partner, R. Daneel Olivaw. As innovative as Asimov’s Laws of Robotics were in the 1950s (“No robot will cause harm or allow harm to come to a human”), Asimov probably would be surprised had he lived to contemporary times and seen the competition between intellectual abilities. Which is smarter, able to do more, and affect civilization: human or robot? Asimov probably would have come up with a more clever dilemma than the traditional one — or even one created by AI. — 3 stars (out of 4; Bonnie McCune, Denver (bonniemccune.com)

“Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania,” by Erik Larson (Crown Publishers, 2016)

Another signature Larson work, with exhaustive research that illuminates the perspectives of all affected by a big historic moment. In this case, Larson takes us inside the lives and thinking of several of the Lusitania’s passengers and crew, the men on the German U-boat that sunk the Lusitania, plus government officials in the U.S., England and Germany. All the evidence points to various blunders, assumptions, policies, choices and unlucky circumstances that led to the tragedy. Larson masterfully builds the tension and sense of foreboding, even though we already know the outcome. — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver

“Fresh Water for Flowers,” by Valerie Perrin (Europa, 2020)

Death and I are too well acquainted for me to want to read about it, so this book was a surprise: The tale of a lonely woman, the keeper of a small cemetery in Burgundy, France, should not have appealed to me. Perrin’s perceptiveness and intelligence make this book much more than appealing — it is charming, poignant, shocking, infuriating and amusing. Perrin even slips in an unexpected mystery storyline. A less skilled writer would have ended up with a garish mishmash; Perrin presents an understated bouquet, tender and elegant. — 4 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker