2025 book 37

 Ann Cleeves' Telling Tales

I was in the mood for a mystery and this was on my kindle—I don’t remember what made me buy it! It’s the second in the Vera Stanhope series but I never felt like I was missing anything—there are a variety of POV characters before she comes onto the scene to deal with a reopened murder case. I was really into this at first, but by the second half it was dragging and I didn’t find the ending particularly satisfying. (Vera Stanhope is also over it by then so maybe the pacing is deliberate.) It left me feeling kind of bummed. B+.

2026 book 36

 Nevil Shute's On the Beach

For some reason I was in the mood to reread this. It was written in the late 50s and is set in the early 60s, and deals with a nuclear war having wiped out the northern hemisphere, and the people in the southern hemisphere are just trying to live their lives, knowing radiation and doom are heading their way. The main characters are an American submarine captain, an Australian naval officer assigned to his ship (and his wife), and a young woman of their acquaintance. Obviously very sad but also lovely somehow?

2025 book 35

 T. Kingfisher’s A Sorceress Comes to Call

Sometimes you just want to reread a funny and creepy fairy tale/Regency house party kind of story featuring evil sorceresses and cool women who breed geese. Just as satisfying the second time. 

2025 book 34

 John Scalzi's When The Moon Hits Your Eye

I wanted to read something fun and diverting, so sure, let’s try the new Scalzi novel about the moon turning into cheese. The story follows a wide cast of characters, and some are more interesting/effective than others. I also was kind of over it by the end—maybe this could have been a novella? Not my favorite by Scalzi but definitely a diversion! B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.

2025 book 33

 Amal El-Mohtar's The River Has Roots

Lovely fairy tale about two sisters who live near the borders of the fairy lands—a lot of times when I read a novella, I always wish there was more, but this was the perfect length. Definitely one for the T. Kingfisher fans, really satisfying, mildly dark. A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.

2025 book 32

 John Wyndham's The Chrysalids

This was originally published in 1955, but honestly feels troublingly current. It’s set in the far future Labrador, after some great Tribulation destroyed large swathes of the planet, and the survivors there are a weird group of fundamentalists who destroy everything and everyone that isn’t correct. The main character is one of a group of telepathic children, who as they grow up realize the danger they’re in. Interesting twists and turns; I wasn’t as interested in the lengthy speeches about the future of humanity, but I did enjoy the narrative voice a lot. B+.

2025 book 31

 Celia Lake's The Fossil Door

This Celia Lake book involves the son of the couple from the previous book being assigned to a mission with a woman of Indian descent to figure out why one of their magic portals isn’t working. Things I liked: the characters, the secondary Jewish characters (I want more info on this community), the slow build romance. Things I didn’t like: this book was way too long and slow, it could have been half the length and told the same story. I might check back in with these books but I definitely need a break. B.

2025 book 30

 Celia Lake's Pastiche

Celia Lake has a million books set in her historical fantasy version of England, and I like the ones I’ve read, though they do nag at my completionist tendencies (there are a bunch of recurring characters, but the series are organized by theme and maybe by era, and I just want to read them all chronologically!!). Anyway, this is one of the earlier ones, timewise, set in 1906, and involves a couple from an arranged marriage gradually falling in love and becoming partners. It’s nice! It’s low stakes, there’s a vague thing where they’re investigating some art, but mostly just living their lives, him being emotionally constipated, her dealing with a chronic illness. I did think the end dragged but this was a nice light read. A-/B+.

2025 book 29

 Emily St. James' Woodworking

This is a funny/bittersweet/touching novel about a teacher in South Dakota coming to terms with being trans, but the only trans person she knows in real life is one of her students (who is also a POV character). I loved both women and their relationship, really stellar writing for both of them. I had some mixed feelings about the plot in the second half, but ended up really liking how it wrapped up. A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.

2025 book 28

 Katherine Addison’s The Tomb of Dragons

Hooray for a new book about Thara Celehar and his investigations, large and small! And more importantly, his friendships. Not to mention the titular dragons. I was also very pleased to see some characters from The Goblin Emperor appear. Everything about this was great and I really hope Addison revisits this world/these characters. A.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.

2025 book 27

 Katherine Addison's The Grief of Stones

I forgot that the plot of this one has some fairly grim stuff going on, as our investigator tackles a murdered marquise and a fishy school for girls. I do really like the focus on his mental health/spirituality, and the friendships he's building. So not the most fun read, but still a good one.

2025 book 26

 Katherine Addison's The Witness for the Dead

Back on my Katherine Addison bullshit, since the third book in this trilogy comes out soon! This series focuses on a secondary character from The Goblin Emperor, whose calling is to basically solve mysteries and crimes involving the dead, since he can speak to them. Addison plots this first one really well—there’s an overarching mystery involving the death of an opera singer, but lots of other interesting things pop up along the way. Also just really humane characters, which I for one really need right now. 

2025 book 25

 J. Winifred Butterworth's A Bloomy Head

Thank you to Olivia Waite for reviewing this in the NYT, bc I’m not sure I’d have ever found out about it otherwise, and it’s exactly the sort of book I love. It’s a historical romance between a young widow/cheese maker and the (trans) army doctor her brother brings home from war, as she nurses him back to health. But also, it’s a mystery—what’s with all these beheaded bodies? And also, the widow has a million siblings, who each have their own drama going on (and I sincerely hope for a book about each of them). Really great characters and a satisfying story. I loved the narrative voice here, I own another book by this author under a different pen name (it also involves cheese) and I will be bumping that up my list. A.

2025 book 24

 Katherine Addison's The Orb of Cairado

New novella set in the world of The Goblin Emperor! This one involves a scholar who was ousted from the university for a theft he did not commit. When his best friend—the pilot of the airship from TGE—dies, he ends up on an unexpected adventure, and may help solve a murder. Solid story and cool characters, I also enjoyed the academic politics at play. A-.

2025 book 23

 Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor

A new novella set in this world just came out, which was a perfect excuse to reread a book I always find satisfying. It’s the story of a half-elf/half-goblin prince, raised in isolation, who suddenly becomes emperor when his father and older brothers die in an airship crash. Lots of learning to lead, finding allies and friends and family, lots of hope. 

2025 book 22

 Nisi Shawl's Making Amends

This was an interesting sci-fi story set in the far future involving the establishment of a prison planet, but it didn’t totally work for me. It’s really a set of stories, so it’s a bit disjointed, and it’s weirdly horny, which just isn’t my thing. I thought the last few stories were the strongest, and the communities and identities and discoveries were really cool. I actually wish there were a few more stories centered on those characters/societies, I would have loved more exploration of that. B/B+.

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Content warning for rape.

2025 book 21

 Deanna Raybourn's Kills Well With Others

I don't know that Killers of a Certain Age needed a sequel, but I liked the characters and was happy to see them again. The plot here isn’t as a strong, though, and the flashbacks felt like a retread of the first book (I also would prefer not have to read about Nazis in my fun lady spy books). It just kind of dragged for me. I did enjoy the relationships between the characters, though, and the end was very fun. B/B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.