Book Review: Easy Discipline

Title: Easy Discipline

Author: Jia Jiang

Publisher: Simon Element

Publication Date: July 14, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Having loved Jia Jiang's debut, Rejection Proof, I came to Easy Discipline with enthusiasm and excitement — and while this sophomore effort doesn't quite reach those heights, it delivers enough fresh thinking to make it well worth your time.

The book is built around the EASY acronym — Enjoyment, Artistic Mindset, Systems Approach, and Yourself — with each section opening with an overview chapter followed by two chapters introducing what Jiang calls "tools." He illustrates his principles with stories drawn from an engaging cast of historical and pop culture figures, including Kobe Bryant, Florence Nightingale, Steve Jobs, Alexander Fleming, and Jim Collins. This storytelling approach makes for easy reading and gives the framework a human dimension that pure productivity manuals often lack.

Not all of the tools land equally. The Game Changer concept in the Enjoyment section is good — the idea that reframing a dreaded task as a different kind of challenge can transform your relationship to it is both practical and psychologically sound. The Momentum Loop felt less developed to me, more concept than actionable method. The Artistic Mindset section offers a memorable reframe: the idea of pursuing a "maximally lovable product" rather than a minimum viable one is the kind of perspective shift that sticks with you. The emphasis on relationships as a core asset is one of the book's warmer and more grounded moments.

The Systems section is where Jiang arguably hits his peak. The One Action Goal is the standout tool of the entire book — a deceptively simple framework for cutting through paralysis and establishing momentum. Paired with the Inspiration Index, which links an input number (purpose) to an output number (power), it gives readers a surprisingly concrete mechanism for tracking effort and sustaining motivation. Repetition with Variation rounds out the section with a useful reminder that consistency doesn't have to mean monotony. The final section, on being yourself, is the lightest of the four — more motivational than methodological.

My one reservation is that Jiang's "tools" are often more like ideas or concepts — thoughtful ones, certainly, but not always immediately applicable without further development on the reader's part. That said, Easy Discipline is a genuinely enjoyable read with several ideas worth returning to, and the One Action Goal alone may justify the price of admission for anyone wrestling with focus and follow-through.

A big thank you to Simon Element and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#EasyDiscipline #NetGalley

Book Review: Promise Me Never

Title: Promise Me Never

Author: Liv Constantine

Publisher: Bantam/Ballantine

Publication Date: August 18, 2026

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I've read a number of Liv Constantine books, including the Mrs. Parrish trilogy, and I came to Promise Me Never hoping for more of that same compulsive storytelling. What I got, unfortunately, was something that felt like a step down — a gothic domestic thriller with an intriguing setup that takes far too long to deliver on its promise and is ultimately disappointing.

The premise is genuinely compelling. Aspiring writer Savannah meets and marries her literary idol, the celebrated horror novelist Bennett Bryson, and moves into his remote upstate home — only to find herself increasingly isolated, controlled, and haunted by the memory of his first wife, Poppy, who died under mysterious circumstances. The ingredients for sustained dread are all there: the brooding, secretive husband, the shadow of the dead first wife, the whispered warnings. 

The problem is pacing. For roughly the first half of the book, very little of consequence happens. The tension that should be quietly ratcheting up instead feels stalled, and I'll be honest — had I not been committed to writing this review, I'm not sure I would have pushed past the midpoint. When the novel finally begins to accelerate, it does so in two sharp lurches: a significant twist at around the 80% mark, and a larger one near the end. Both were difficult to swallow. Promise Me Never is a middling thriller that feels underpowered.

A big thank you to Bantam/Ballantine and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#PromiseMeNever #NetGalley

Book Review: That Night

Title: That Night

Author: Gillian McAllister

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication Date: August 18, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Gillian McAllister has built a reputation for placing her characters in moral quagmires so vivid and uncomfortable that you feel them in your bones, and That Night is no exception. From the very first words — "Help me, please help me" — she drops us into a world of dire need and death, and never quite lets us breathe again.

The setup is deceptively simple: three siblings on a family vacation in Verona, one terrible accident, and a promise that will slowly unravel everything. Frannie hits a man with her car, and in a moment of panic, her brother and sister help her bury the body. What follows is an escalating study in the disintegration of family bonds — that particular horror of watching people you love make one bad decision after another, like a horror movie where you're screaming at the screen, knowing exactly where this is headed and helpless to stop it.

McAllister structures the novel across multiple perspectives, bouncing between the three siblings and the victim's wife, while alternating between "then" — those fateful days in Verona and the aftermath back in England — and "now," the proceedings of a trial whose details are deliberately withheld until the final pages. It's a smart architecture that keeps the tension taut and the doubt alive. Who knew what? Who will crack first? The central premise is perfectly distilled in one of the book's most chilling lines: "This began as a hit-and-run. And now it's — it's this — this grotesque, awful..." That sense of a first crime metastasizing into something monstrous is McAllister at her most compelling.

The novel also captures something true and unsettling about family — the way love can become a vehicle for moral compromise, the way we forgive and cover for one another "no questions asked." Nothing can remain the same after that first cover-up, and McAllister depicts the slow, spiralling erosion of trust between siblings with real psychological precision.

My one reservation is the ending. I wanted justice — the kind of resolution that feels earned after so much dread — and instead I felt a little cheated. It's a subjective reaction, and some readers may disagree, but for me it left a gap where catharsis should have been.

A big thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Book Review: Ironwood

Title: Ironwood

Author: Michael Connelly

Publisher: Little Brown and Company

Publication Date: May 19, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I've been a devoted fan of Michael Connelly for years, and with Ironwood, the second installment in his Catalina series, he has delivered another masterclass in American crime fiction. Detective Sergeant Stilwell returns as our guide through the sun-drenched yet surprisingly dangerous world of Catalina Island, and from the very first pages, I was completely hooked.

Connelly's signature ability to weave multiple subplots without ever losing momentum is on full display here. A drug drop surveillance operation goes catastrophically wrong, leaving one deputy dead and another fighting for his life in the ICU. Meanwhile, a mysterious backpack recovered from lost and found opens a cold-case rabbit hole involving a woman who vanished on a hiking trail four years ago. Smaller threads — vineyard vandalism, graffiti crimes — add texture and a genuine sense of island life under quiet siege. None of it feels padded; every storyline earns its place.

What truly elevates Ironwood is Connelly's gift for character. Stilwell is a nuanced, morally grounded protagonist, and the welcome appearance of Renée Ballard — working the case from the mainland — gives the story an electric charge. Cameos from Harry Bosch and his daughter Maddie will delight longtime fans of the extended Connelly universe, feeling organic rather than forced.

The novel builds toward a moral-choice ending that is deeply satisfying and it left me hoping this isn't the last we'll see of Sgt. Stilwell on Catalina.

I cannot recommend Ironwood highly enough. Connelly remains, in my view, the finest American crime writer working today, and this book is proof of exactly why. Five stars, without hesitation.

A big thank you to Little Brown and Company and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.