2025 book 151

 Regina Black’s August Lane

When Olivia Waite said this was her favorite romance of the year, I picked it up immediately! It’s a second chance romance involving the daughter of a famous Black country singer, and the now washed-up Black country dude who got famous from a song they cowrote, but she’s never gotten the credit. Now he and her mom are coming back to their small hometown for a big music festival, and she’s threatening to tell the truth about the song unless he writes a new one with her and gives her a chance at a songwriting career of her own. And there are flashbacks to the two in high school, and how they came to write the hit song in the first place. GREAT characters, and I loved the focus on creativity. I also loved a lot of the side characters, just a really well-built world. Content warning for child abuse. A/A-.

2025 book 150

 Premee Mohammed’s The Siege of Burning Grass

I like the stuff I’ve read by Mohammed and have been meaning to get to this one for a while, but it just won the Aurora so I bumped it up the list. It’s about a guy in a fantasy world who’s in jail for basically being a conscientious objector during a war, but now his people want him to be part of some plot against the enemy that will finally end the war. This book is kind of slow (or maybe it’s just that I’m having an exhausting week at work and didn’t have the energy) but still a compelling story about wartime and resistance. Great ending too. A/A-.

2025 book 149

 Natania Barron's Netherford Hall

I am always wishing for more queer Jane-Austen-but-with-magic type books, so this was pretty much up my alley. Our heroines are: a witch whose family has basically been wiped out in a fire, so she and her two remaining relatives have returned to their long-abandoned country house, and now she's the magical head of the family/town despite being very unprepared; and a tenant on said country property, an irrepressible young woman with a mysterious past and a secret love of the big country house. The romance here was occasionally annoying (contrived complications), and I think sometimes there were pacing issues with the romance vs the rest of the plot (there's a lot of other plot! Vampires, relatives with their own subplots, other relatives trying to steal the property, magical monsters and magical experiments, nefarious plots, etc). It all takes a little too long to come together. I liked this enough at the beginning to go ahead and buy the sequel, but I don’t think I’ll read it. B.

2025 book 148

 Mona Awad's We Love You, Bunny

Bunny is back! This is sort of a prequel, sort of a sequel, sort of its own thing--I barely remember the first one and that didn't matter at all. Anyway, the main character of Bunny has published a novel, and now her former cohort has kidnapped her to tell their side of the story. Also, there is an ax. It’s weird and hilarious and full of pretentious art people. Some sections are more compelling than others and some drag a bit, but the ending is amazing. A/A-.

__

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

2024 book 147

 Jo Walton’s Half a Crown

I really did nothing this evening except read the second two books in this trilogy! This third one finds Carmichael the reluctant head of the British version of the Gestapo, using his position to rescue Jews and get them out of the country. And the other POV character is his ward, now an 18 year old debutante planning to go to Oxford, who gets embroiled in political shenanigans. Very tense but a solid ending. Fuck fascism!

2025 book 146

 Jo Walton’s Ha’Penny

The second book in the Small Change trilogy raises the stakes a little as an actress (from a family definitely inspired by the Mitfords) gets involved in a plot to kill Hitler, while the detective from the first book is investigating the bombing death of one of her actress colleagues. Lots of shady political plots and heartbreaking moments. I don’t actually remember how this series wraps up but I hope it invokes defeating fascism bc I could use some of that right now.

2025 book 145

 Jo Walton’s Farthing

We were chatting about Jo Walton in one of my discords and I was seized with the urge to reread this series—maybe my recent reimmersion into the Mitfords? (I feel like the Mitfords, or characters based on them, pop up in this series.) Anyway, this is an alternate history/murder mystery set in a world where England declared peace with Hitler, and there’s been a murder at a fancy country house, and everyone is blaming the main character’s Jewish husband bc they’re all antisemitic jerks. (The other POV character is the detective investigating the death.) I think the antisemitism is mildly less jarring on a reread, though still upsetting. And I forgot how stressful the ending of this one is! But still riveting somehow.

2025 book 144

 Seanan McGuire's Silver and Lead

Nothing I was reading was holding my attention, which meant I had to bring out the big guns--the 19th Toby Daye book! Things are still all weird after the events of the last two books, and it turns out a bunch of powerful magical artifacts are missing, and Toby has to track them down--even though she is VERY pregnant. Of course there's lots of action and danger and feelings involved! (Also, this really leans in on the blood stuff/body horror--not pregnancy related!) I love this series and am totally along for the ride. The novella at the end is a sweet one involving Simon and his Underseas throuple. A/A-.

__ 

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

2025 book 143

 Barbara Truelove’s Of Monsters and Mainframes

I’m not sure I’ve ever described a book as a “romp” before, but this book is SUCH a sci-fi romp! It involves a sentient spaceship (my fave!!!!) who starts having issues after Dracula kills all her passengers. And then other classic monsters start coming into the story. I think the pacing in the first part was a little off, or else it just stressed me out, but once we started getting more POV characters (particularly the medical AI on board), I was way more into it. Very fun. A-/B+.

2025 book 142

 Naomi Novik’s The Summer War

I was home sick and feeling puny today, and this was the perfect book to read—a really sweet novella with major fairy tale vibes and a very satisfying ending. I especially loved all the sibling relationships. I do wish this had been a full-length novel—I think there could have been a lot more going on—but this is a delightful story. A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 141

 Kate Ross’ Whom the Gods Love

The third Julian Kestrel mystery involves Julian being asked to investigate the death of a popular young gentleman who died during a party he was hosting—meaning there are loads of suspects. (One of the suspects is a Jewish businessman and some of the characters do express period-appropriate antisemitism, but the author treads fairly lightly.) Some great reveals here, and I admire how Ross maintains a light tone even while dealing with absolutely disgusting people. This series is very good. A-. 

2025 book 140

 Kate Ross’ A Broken Vessel 

The second Julian Kestrel mystery is a complicated one, involving a mysterious letter, an organization that reforms prostitutes, and Dipper’s sister (also a prostitute). Not to mention three suspects! Really fun and lively, despite some dark spots (check content warnings). I am really enjoying this series. A-.

2025 book 139

 Kate Ross’ Cut to the Quick

Rereading this first book in the Julian Kestrel series (about a Regency dandy!), because I finally got hold of copies of the other three and wanted to refresh my memory. This one involves Julian being asked to be the best man of a guy he’s only met once, which is intriguing, so he goes. And then he finds a dead body in his bed! I remembered bits and pieces of this and so it was still fun trying to puzzle it out. The grumpy doctor was a fave and I hope we’ll see him again.

2025 book 138

 Leigh Stein's If You're Seeing This, It's Meant for You

When I saw the title, I had to read this--I've seen soooo many TikTok videos that started this way! (My favorite is the person who uses Pokemon cards.) Anyway, this is the story of some wannabe TikTok stars living in a wannabe hype house/crumbling old mansion in LA. There are two POV characters--Dayna, a former entertainment journalist who has a history with the house's owner, and is brought in to help promote the TikTokers; and Olivia, who is secretly there to investigate what happened to one of the former residents, a tarot card reader who's mysteriously vanished. It’s a gothic novel fused onto a novel about social media, and it rules. Stellar characters, a rabbit named Owen Wilson (the rabbit on the cover is NOT right), a little humor and a dose of weirdness—I think this will be a hit. A.

__

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

2025 book 137

 Andrea K. Host’s Gratuitous Epilogue 

Does what it says on the tin! Everyone adopts kids, has babies, gets married, goes on vacation, has one big battle, and has happy reunions. Satisfying and gratuitous wrap up.

2025 book 136

 Andrea K. Host’s Caszandra 

Solid ending to an engrossing trilogy—lots going on with alien attacks, saving the world, and adopting (or being adopted by) a bunch of orphans. Maybe the climax is a little anti-climactic but I’m more interested in the characters than in the action scenes anyway. I love this series.

2025 book 135

 Andrea K. Host's Lab Rat One

The second book in the Touchstone trilogy has more romance/angst (very realistic since it's a teen's diary), but also lots of fighting alien monsters, exploring planets, discovering new abilities, and even a subplot where there's a tv show based on the main character. Very action-packed and fun.

2025 book 134

 Andrea K. Host’s Stray

Sometimes you just want to reread a book about a teenager who walks into another world—I mean, doesn’t that sound nice right now? Anyway, this novel is told as the diary of a teen girl who walks onto another world, and is soon subsumed in a world full of sci-fi/military adventures surrounded by psychic space ninjas. Very fun and perfect escapism.

2025 book 133

 Katie Yee’s Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar

From the description, this isn’t necessarily a book I would rush to read—it’s about a woman, a mother of two, whose husband leaves her (for another woman), and then she finds out she has breast cancer. But people have been SO enthusiastic about it! And it is really good—funny and a little weird and very thoughtful. I loved how much storytelling there was and how much the character thought about the stories she told her kids. Really engaging narrative voice. I did wish the best friend was a little more developed but this was a very good book. A/A-.

2025 book 132

 Lev AC Rosen’s Mirage City

The latest Evander Mills mystery finds Andy heading down to his hometown of Los Angeles to track down some missing people—but will he wrap up the case in time to get back for the big birthday party his friends are planning?? I liked the case a lot in this one and it has a VERY satisfying ending—in general this felt a little bit lighter/more fun than some of the previous ones—I loved it! A.

__

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

2025 book 131

 Lev AC Rosen’s Rough Pages

The third Evander Mills book finds Andy investigating a missing bookstore owner who runs a secret gay book mail program, and several of Andy’s friends are on his list. I like the mystery in this one, and the story is even funny at times (it’s got a noir vibe so humor is a nice break). Lots going on and definitely entertaining.

2025 book 130

 Lev AC Rosen’s The Bell in the Fog

Rereading the first book in this series of course made me want to reread the rest, especially with a new one on the way! This second one finds Andy trying to get his business as a PI going, when his former flame from their Navy days comes to get help because he’s being blackmailed. Pretty solid mystery but I’m honestly here for all the characters! Performer Lee is the best! 

2025 book 129

 C.B. Lee's Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe

As the title indicates, this is a queer YA fantasy romance involving two girls from two different worlds who meet in a coffee shop! Brenda is from our world and is busy with school and a million extracurriculars and is determined to become a climate scientist and save the world! Kat lives in a world full of MAGIC and has a prophecy/destiny that she is NOT into. But how can they date when they are literally in different worlds? And how are their worlds connected? The second half bogs down a little as various mysteries come into play, but the ending was solid and this was super cute and fun. A-.

2025 book 128

 Lev AC Rosen’s Lavender House

Rereading this for book club—I think it’s an interesting companion to the Cat Sebastian book we read last month—and it totally holds up on a reread, even remembering whodunnit. Anyway, this is a mystery involving a gay man who’s just been kicked out of the San Francisco PD after being busted at a gay bar,  because it’s the 1950s and that was illegal then. And then he’s approached to investigate the death of a wealthy and secretly gay woman. It’s definitely the main character who makes this book so compelling— the mystery is solid and the other characters are great too, but Andy is really interesting. The fourth book in this series is out in October and I can’t wait.

2025 book 127

 Cat Sebastian's You Should Be So Lucky

Obviously when you read something upsetting, your next read should be a cute queer romance! The second book in Sebastian's Midcentury series involves the culture writer at the paper being assigned a piece on a local baseball player. Mark, the writer, is grieving his long-term partner; Eddie, the athlete, is struggling with his game and being in a new city. They have a real grumpy/sunshine thing going on and I was here for it. Sebastian writes such great characters and I was even invested in the baseball team and how they were doing despite not caring about baseball. Just a charming read. A/A-.

2025 book 126

 Stephanie Reerts' We Loved to Run

This novel is about the six best runners on a women's college cross country team in the early 90s--the perspective switches from the "we" of the team to sections focusing on each of the runners (an interesting group for sure). It reminded me a little of Quan Barry's We Ride Upon Sticks (except without the witchcraft). I did struggle with the second half, which involves a lot of conversations about sexual assault. And it’s all very realistic to the college experience, but if I’d known, I wouldn’t have read this. The parts involving friendship/group dynamics and team camaraderie were great, but I just found the second half upsetting. Not sure how to grade that. It’s very well-written, just not for me.

__

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

2025 book 125

Mizuki Tsujimura’s Lonely Castle in the Mirror

I was once again in a spot where nothing I started to read was grabbing me, which means I have to reread something I know is good. This fit my mood perfectly—seven young Japanese people who’ve all stopped attending school find themselves in a mysterious castle. Really lovely, sad but hopeful too.

2025 book 124

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Adventures of the Demonic Ox

The latest Penric and Desdemona novella features, as the title indicates, a demonic ox. I really liked that this one also had POVs from Penric’s daughters, who were growing up and trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives. Just another really pleasant and enjoyable story. A/A-.

2025 book 123

 Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love

I've been watching Outrageous (the Britbox show about the Mitfords) which just made me want to reread this! What a satisfying novel—funny and sad and bittersweet. I think even without knowing which things were inspired by the author’s life, this is such a classic novel about the pre-WWII/WWII years in England. 

2025 book 122

 Annalee Newitz’s Automatic Noodle

I’m pretty much the target audience for a book about robots starting a noodle restaurant in near-future post-apocalyptic San Francisco, and this was a pleasant, light read. It does touch on more serious subjects, but it never really goes into depth on anything. I wasn’t super invested in it but it’s nice if you want to read about robots who care deeply about noodle texture and flavor (I do!). B+.

__

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

2025 book 121

 Rachel Neumeier's Hedesa

Neumeier's latest is the start of a planned trilogy from the POV of Tano, and I love seeing his growing confidence in this (and how everyone is helping him get more confident! These characters are the opposite of toxic masculinity!!!!). I was all in for the first half—the second dragged occasionally. I think the Tarashana characters are prone to long speeches that I am not super into. Still, I am intrigued at some stuff that happened and looking forward to more of the story! A-.

2025 book 120

 Rachel Neumeier's Tasmakat

This one was really fun to reread! Everything moves along at an excellent pace, and even though there's a lot of traveling, there's not much time spent on the slog of the journey, which I REALLY appreciate. SO much happens that it feels like several books in one--satisfyingly epic. Neumeier also nails her conclusions and leaves me feeling so delighted. 

2025 book 119

 Rachel Neumeier’s Tano

This one was a little bit stressful to reread as it deals a lot with Tano’s abusive father and his cohort, plus there is a lot of JOURNEYING which I have little patience for. But the end third makes up for it! Really great friendships and learning and growing.

2025 book 118

 Rachel Neumeier’s Tarashana

This is the book that introduces Tano, who I think is the main character in the new book, so I definitely wanted to reread it, but parts of this are really slow. I mean all the characters are AMAZING and I love all the relationships (family and otherwise), and all the magic stuff is interesting, so it’s not a big deal. I’m just more interested in the inter-tribal relations in the second half than in the mystical journey part. 

2025 book 117

 Rachel Neumeier’s Tuyo

There’s a new book in this series coming out, which is a perfect excuse for a reread! I just love books where people unite to solve problems and fix things and make friends and improve the world. I mean, also there’s a lot of magic, and good and evil sorcerers, and culture clashes, but it’s all so interesting and warm-hearted.

2025 book 116

Mia McKenzie's These Heathens

This book is about a small-town Black teenager in 1960 who asks her favorite teacher to help her get an abortion--and her teacher takes her up to Atlanta to stay with a rich Black childhood friend, where they hobnob with all sorts of atheists, Black celebrities, civil rights leaders, student activists, and (gasp) gay people, totally expanding the girl's worldview. It’s a little bit facile but I think would be a hit with book clubs. B/B+.

2025 book 115

 Louise Hegarty’s Fair Play

Ok, so I think this book is targeted at people who a) LOOOOOOVE golden age mysteries and will catch a bunch of lil references to Christie and Sayers (me), and b) people who like when their fiction gets a little meta (also me). The story is this: a young woman gets an AirBnB for the annual NYE/murder mystery/birthday party for her brother and all their close friends are there and it’s great. But the next morning, her brother is dead. And from there, every other chapter is a golden age style mystery where a renowned detective has come to solve the case, of course following all the rules of the genre. And the other half of the story is a young woman dealing with her grief. Really excellently done. Like clearly I am the target audience for this but I’m also just like slow clapping about it. A.

2025 book 114

 Martha Wells’ System Collapse

The second Murderbot novel picks up right where Network Effect leaves off, though it is a little slower to get started. But there is so much good stuff in here and I can’t wait to read the next one whenever it comes out!

2025 book 113

 Martha Wells’ Network Effect

The first Murderbot novel is SO GOOD!!! Wells balances kidnappings and rescue missions and the return of an old friend and various POVs with creepy alien stuff, it’s all just really well structured and satisfying. 

2025 book 112

 Martha Wells’ Fugitive Telemetry 

I love how Wells plays with genre in this series! This one finds Murderbot helping with a murder investigation on a station not used to murder. Solid mystery and great characters as always!

2025 book 111

 Martha Wells’ Exit Strategy

This one is fun because it feels like a kind of spy thriller at times, tense and dramatic with all sorts of action, interspersed with Murderbot reluctantly having feelings as it reunites with old friends and goes on a rescue mission. Super satisfying.

2025 book 110

 Martha Wells’ Rogue Protocol

The third Murderbot is more stressful and sadder than the first two, but I do enjoy seeing Murderbot use its skills and it gets to do plenty of that here! These really do work well as one big story. 

2025 book 109

 Martha Wells’ Artificial Condition

In the second Murderbot book, Murderbot takes a job, does some research, and most importantly, makes a FRIEND. ILU, Art!!!

2025 book 108

 Martha Wells’ All Systems Red

I had planned to wait till the first season of the Murderbot tv show had wrapped up to reread the series but FUCK IT, the world is even more of a dumpster fire than usual and I need this. Super satisfying novella with one of the great narrative voices. Excellent escapism.

2025 book 107

 Cat Sebastian’s We Could Be So Good

For book club this month, we wanted to read a queer romance with a happy ending, since it’s pride month! Cat Sebastian always delivers. I also like that a lot of her books are set in time periods we don’t see that often—this one involves two dudes working at a New York newspaper in the late 1950s (when, of course, it was illegal to be gay). The characters are great (and the secondary characters too!), the romance is a nice believable slow burn, I liked all the newspaper stuff, AND there is occasionally a hilarious bit involving a cat. Just what I needed right now. A.

2025 book 106

Kashana Cauley’s The Payback

Linda Holmes gave this one a rave and it sounded interesting—the main character is a former Hollywood costume designer who now works at a mall clothing store, drowning in debt. I loved the narrative voice and was super into this for the first half! I did not have QUITE enough suspension of disbelief for the second half to work, but it was still very entertaining and the end was fun. A-.

__

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

2025 book 105

 Vivian Shaw’s Strange New World

I really enjoy Shaw’s Greta Helsing series and this was no exception, as Greta finds herself in America with new angel and young demon in tow. The plot here is kind of inconsequential, except metaphysically, but I did like it a lot and love all the characters. I think this is the last book in this series but it doesn’t feel like a finale, so I hope Shaw revisits it at some point, and I will definitely read whatever she writes next! A-.

2025 book 104

 Juliet Marillier’s The Amber Owl

I can’t believe I missed that a new Juliet Marillier book came out back in February! (It hasn’t gotten a US release yet, but still.) Anyway, this is the story of a young woman living a simple life in a small village, and oh yeah SHE CAN COMMUNICATE WITH ANIMALS, the best power!!! But obviously she keeps it secret so she’s not burned as a witch, just chilling with her small dog companion, who is a shapeshifter! And that’s when the Ruler sends a team in to try and cut a path through the mystical forest to find its treasure, and the woman is sucked into a bunch of political shenanigans and adventures. Really great characters here, lots to do with storytelling, which I loved. This is the first of a duology and I can’t wait for part two! A/A-.

2025 book 103

 Uzma Jalaluddin’s Detective Aunty

Ok, this was a GREAT mystery. It centers on a fifty-something Muslim widow in a small town in Canada, who rushes to Toronto when her daughter is accused of murder! But she hasn’t returned to Toronto since her youngest son died and she fell into a deep depression. But soon enough she is using her skills to suss out what really happened to prove her daughter’s innocence, and figure out all the secrets her family has been keeping. I loved her relationships with her family and friends and the community in general (especially her granddaughters), and the mystery itself was pretty solid. Really satisfying read, I hope there will be more! A.

2025 book 102

 Edward Eager's Half-Magic

My friend Sarah was talking about Ivanhoe on Bluesky the other day, and it reminded me of Edward Eager (the second book in this series has quite a bit about Ivanhoe, which is how I learned about it!), so then of course I wanted to reread some Edward Eager. Classic mid-century children's low fantasy with hilarious characters and goings-on. Pure nostalgia for me--I read these over and over as a kid. Obviously there is some dated stuff but it’s still a nice brain reset. I’m gonna save the others for a rainy day, I think.

2025 book 101

 Tashan Mehta’s Mad Sisters of Esi

This book is VERY cool and a little weird! It’s fantasy and sci-fi??? There’s a pair of sisters raised inside a whale swimming through the universe, full of infinite worlds. There’s another pair of sisters, one who created the whale, and one who created a museum of collective memory—and also an island where her descendants are fated to await her long-lost sister. There’s stories and folklore and academic papers. It’s slow and dreamlike, a little bit more than I prefer, if I’m honest—I was impatient by the end—but really INTERESTING. A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 100

 John Wyndham’s Foul Play Suspected

Before Wyndham was a classic speculative writer, he apparently tried his hand at mysteries! This one was written in 1935 and involves a woman returning from India to find her scientist father’s house abandoned and no one has seen him in months! Can she and her cousin and his friend and the family lawyer figure out what’s going on with the help of the lawyer’s detective friend??? This book was not /great/, per se, but it was a fun read, almost a thriller at times. Some interesting political discussions too. Not nearly as interesting as the author’s other stuff though. B/B+.

2025 book 99

 Charlotte Runcie’s Bring Down The House

I’ve read a lot of books lately that were just FINE, so I was psyched that this one grabbed me right away. It’s about a theater critic who writes an absolutely savage review of a show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, then ends up picking up the show’s creator at a bar and having a one night stand, knowing full well who she is. And the next morning, she sees the review and realizes what he’s done, and reworks her whole show to be about him and what an asshole he is. And the whole thing is narrated by one of his colleagues who’s been on hand for the whole thing, and has her own stuff going on with her marriage and new motherhood and grieving her own mother. I really liked this—the end was maybe a little too meditative for me? But I read it all on one go and might add it to my book club list. A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 98

 Agatha Christie’s After the Funeral

This is really short compared to the other Christie novels I’ve read, so there’s not a lot of character buildup or anything. The central plot involves a woman who thinks her brother was murdered, and then she herself is murdered. It was a quick read and entertaining enough. No racism but there is some weird mental health stuff. B/B+.

__

When I went to log this book on StoryGraph, it said it had 258 pages, but the version I bought on Amazon was listed as 120 pages???? Public domain shenanigans?

2025 book 97

 Vivian Valentine’s Beneath Strange Lights

This is set in 1954 and centers on a girl who’s been raised in a government facility due to her mysterious abilities, but now that she’s almost 18, she’s being allowed more freedom, and befriends a couple of girls in town (sidebar: this book is super queer, the protagonist is trans and one of the girls is her love interest). But they know a dude who’s working on a mysterious device and it’s bad or whatever, and they have to figure out what’s going on! I liked the friendships between the characters, though the romance was REALLY rushed, and the plot didn’t totally work for me. Too much fictional math/science/alien babbling. I might check out the next in this series and see how it is. B.

2025 book 96

 Kate Elliott's The Nameless Land

This isn't out till November, but I got the ARC and wanted to read it while the first in this duology was still fresh in my mind! This one is a little more action-packed--secrets are revealed, there's lots of politics, etc. I loved the characters and their evolving relationships. I still was not super into the romance, but there's a lot of humor here, and I did love how things wrapped up. Satisfying for sure. A/A-.

__

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

2015 book 95

 Caitlin Rozakis’ The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association 

I wanted to read something on the lighter side, and this fit the bill. It’s about a woman adjusting to her child’s new school and their life in a new town, because it’s a magical school and the town is full of magical people (their daughter was bitten by a rogue werewolf). Lots of drama involving mean moms and a magical prophecy and marital problems. Fairly predictable but pleasant and entertaining. B+.

2025 book 94

 KJ Charles’ Copper Script

This was fine. It involves a policeman in the 1920s who’s trying to figure out if a handwriting analyst is a fraud, and falls for him, but his conflict is that gay sex is illegal. The plot is all over the place (mafia, murderers, evil cops [acab], weaselly cousins) but I enjoyed the characters’ chemistry. B.

2025 book 93

 Kate Elliott’s The Witch Roads

This is the sort of long epic fantasy that I enjoy reading but don’t particularly have anything to say about. Very interesting world and characters, I did not care about the little bit of romance and wished there was less of it. This is the first in a duology and the second is out in November (and seems like it will involve court politics!), which is cool. A-.

__

A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 10th.

2025 book 92

 Emily Tesh’s Some Desperate Glory

Rereading this for book club and it’s totally the sort of book that is even better on a reread (and this was one of my favorite books of whatever year it came out, so that’s saying a lot). Here’s my initial review.

2024 book 91

 Malka Older’s The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses 

HOORAY for a new Mossa and Pleiti book! This one starts a bit odd, something is up with Mossa, but soon we’re involved in a mystery where an academic friend is anonymously accused of plagiarism. I loved everything about the pettiness of academia here, though the mystery itself is kind of whatever. Still, I mainly read these for the characters and loved their relationship in this one (and seeing Pleiti with her friends), and the story moves at a quick pace. Another very entertaining outing and I can’t wait for more! A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 90

 John Wiswell’s Wearing the Lion

There are soooo many Greek myth retellings now that normally I wouldn’t bother, but Wiswell’s first novel was interesting and cool, and this grabbed me from the first line, which finds Hera calling Zeus her “dipshit husband” lol. Anyway, this is a very smart take on Heracles and his Twelve Labors, and of course Olympus and its gods, told in the alternating POVs of Hera and Heracles. I was totally a child way too into Greek mythology and really enjoyed this. It’s funny and tragic and has an amazing found family. I did think it was kind of slow, but nothing wrong with that! A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 89

 Stephen Spotswood’s Murder Under Her Skin

Not sure if it was the book or my brain, but I wasn’t as into this second one. It involves the murder of the tattooed lady from the circus Parker used to work at, and her old mentor the knife-thrower has been arrested, so of course they have to go set things straight! But the mystery felt like it was just spinning its wheels until near the end, when I correctly guessed almost all of it. I mean, it was fine, and I do plan on reading the rest of the series, but first I’m going to get back to my ARCs. B+.

2025 book 88

 Stephen Spotswood’s Fortune Favors the Dead

Oh hooray, it’s a new mystery series (to me) to get into!  This one involves a young woman who is the assistant detective to a famous lady detective in 1945 New York. (The narrator is the assistant, she has a circus background, she is very queer, and I love her.) Solid mystery involving the death of a wealthy woman in a locked room after a seance, and really great characters. I really liked this and can’t wait read the next one. A/A-.

2025 book 87

 Janelle Brown’s What Kind of Paradise 

I feel like I’ve read several books with this basic premise—a girl raised in isolation with her paranoid father who is obviously keeping secrets from her—but this is a pretty solid entry in the genre. It’s set during the 90s dot-com boom, which was a fun nostalgia trip. I liked this enough to read in one sitting, but did find parts of it overwrought. I think this author usually does mystery/thrillers, but this feels like more of a coming of age story with some weird/bad stuff happening offscreen, and also thoughts on technology. Shrug emoji? A-/B+.

__

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

2025 book 86

 Rachel Hartman’s Among Ghosts

I’m a huge fan of Hartman’s, and this was another great one from her! It involves a boy who can see ghosts, and dragons and spies and assassins, and a bunch of extremely cool girl ghosts, and nuns, and stories, and it’s funny and sweet and sad and wonderful! (I started trying to explain the plot but got lost in the weeds a little, but the story itself is straightforward.) I think this is a standalone but I do hope these characters pop up again sometime. A.

__

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

2025 book 85

 Karen Dukess' Welcome to Murder Week

This was fun! It’s about a thirty something woman who discovers that her recently deceased (and mostly estranged) mother had purchased a murder-mystery-themed vacation for the two of them in a small town in England. Since she’s unable to get a full refund, she decides what the hell, and is off to solve a mystery with her teammates, a cool gay man (trying to figure out his life) and a romance novelist (and new divorcee). (There’s also a couple of Jewish middle-aged sisters from Pittsburgh, one of whom is a lesbian, and obviously now I want to take a vacation like this, lol.) But of course there are ACTUAL mysteries afoot—why did her mom book this trip?? Is the hot distillery owner into her or is he playing a part? Will they solve the fake murder and win the competition???? Very sweet and satisfying story, I think this will be a great summer read! A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 84

 Sherwood Smith’s Treason’s Shore

The conclusion to the Inda series was fine? Again, lots of great character moments, but I still don’t care about sea battles and the ending dragged a lot. I did like this series but will be glad to move onto something else. B/B+.

2025 book 83

 Sherwood Smith’s King’s Shield

I was a little less into the third book in the Inda series, because it’s a lot of journeying to war and then fighting in war. It’s also more straightforward than the first two books. Still, I am very invested in the characters and there are some really great moments in here between all the trudging around on horses. Looking forward to the next one. A-/B+.

2025 book 82

 Sherwood Smith’s The Fox

This book was like 800 pages long and soooo much happened but also some parts were soooo slow? There is a lot of business with fighting pirates and I did get tired of it after a while. But I remain invested in all these characters and can’t wait for book three (I’m hoping for more court politics and diplomacy in that one). A-.

2025 book 81

 Sherwood Smith’s Inda

I’ve really enjoyed the other books by Smith I’ve read, so decided to try one of her earlier series. It’s interesting to see which sorts of plots/settings she’s interested in that have recurred across series (ie nilitary academies), as well as the way she always turns the story in its head! The story here involves the eponymous Inda, the younger son of a prince, being sent to military academy in the midst of all sorts of political intrigue. But there are lots of other POV characters and I loved the women in this world (I also love Inda!). I do love stories with this level of political plotting and I hope the good guys triumph soon (but it’s a four book series so who knows lol). A/A-.

2025 book 80

 Sydney Graves’ The Arizona Triangle

This was WAY too dark and fucked up for me. I was more or less enjoying it for a while, it’s about a PI who’s hired to find her missing childhood best friend, but the reveal was so upsetting and gross that I deeply regret reading this. 

2025 book 79

 Sharon Shinn's Summers at Castle Auburn

I needed a comfort reread and this one is always satisfying--a great coming of age story as a girl who spends summers at the titular castle with her (legitimate) older sister slowly learns about court intrigue, how the world works, and about justice. Also there is a lot of friendship and a little bit of romance. And herbcraft and healing! Good stuff!

2025 book 78

 Shelly Jay Shore’s Rules for Ghosting

Reread for book club. I actually liked this a little more the first time I read it—there is SO MUCH going on here (see my previous review) and yet somehow it feels really slow at times (too much of Ezra’s ruminations). Still, a sweet story with a lot to discuss. Interested to see book club reactions! 

2025 book 77

 Kevin Wilson’s Run for the Hills

I generally like Wilson’s work, and while this wasn’t my /favorite/ of his, it was definitely an enjoyable way to spend some time! The plot here is basically a woman is running her farm when a guy comes and is like, the dad who left when you were a kid? He did the same thing to me, and I’m your older brother! Also, he did the same thing a few more times! Let’s take a road trip cross country and meet our siblings! And they do. It’s funny and sweet and sad, really great characters. I wished for a little more from the end but in all this was a really nice read. A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 76

 Sherwood Smith’s The Sage Empress II

Solid second half of the story of the Sage Empress’ rise to power—great characters for sure, though I did think this was a little slower. Still, all I want these days is to be in some other world and this was an enjoyable one to spend time in. A-.

2025 book 75

 Sherwood Smith’s Sage Empress

I’m guessing the girl in this book is going to grow up to be the Sage Empress mentioned so often in the Phoenix Feather books, but there’s a sequel still to go! Anyway, this has lots of what I like—court politics, action, friendship, learning—as a little girl from a noble family grows up watching the court around her, at least until things take a turn and she’s suddenly on a different path (this did feel a little repetitive of the Phoenix Feather books but I still enjoyed it). Looking forward to the second half of the story. A/A-.

2025 book 74

 Sherwood Smith’s Tribute

This is set in the same world as the Phoenix Feather series, which I liked a lot, but hundreds of years earlier. The primary characters are a little girl who leaves home to be trained as a musician, and her elderly music master teacher (love a book with old ladies as main characters!) though various princes and princesses become POV characters eventually. I was loving this even before lots of unexpected action happened in the second half, but it all leads to a really nice ending. Just what I needed to read right now. A.

2025 book 73

Roisin Dunnet’s A Line You Have Traced

This was tough going at first—NOT saying it’s a bad book, but it does feature a dystopia and the specter of the Holocaust, so like… oy. Anyway, this is the story of three women—one, in the 1930s, who keeps seeing an angel appear (she and her family are clearly Jewish but the word “Jewish” does not appear and I found it VERY weird); the second, her descendant, hanging out with friends in contemporary times and imaging time travelers are observing her; the third, in a far future dystopia where humanity is maybe doomed, unless she can save them? It was interesting to see how these stories came together, and the writing is stellar. This is kind of an atmospheric/vibes sort of book, cool but also mildly confusing and maybe a bummer? I definitely get the David Mitchell comparisons. B+.

2025 book 72

 Jan Jones’ In The Kitchen With The Lead Piping 

I wasn’t as interested in the mystery in this third book in this series, but there were lots of amusing shenanigans along the way. This one involves all the characters helping out in various ways at a new wedding venue run by another cousin, when a caterer (with a sleazy past) is found dead the next day. And several characters are suspects! Again, not a particularly interesting mystery, and I wasn’t interested in one of the romances (it felt rushed and shoehorned in), but I enjoyed the characters and the vibes a lot. B+.

2025 book 72

 Jan Jones’ The Unpleasantness at the Belladonna Club

And this title is a Dorothy Sayers reference—I like the cut of this author’s jib! The second book in this series focuses more on the cop from book one (though his cousin and the librarian are definitely still on the scene) and his artist landlady looking at the murder of the village’s most unpleasant woman. I thought the mystery in this one was excellent, and was pleasantly surprised that there actually wasn’t a romance (though the possibility is there for the future). I also love all the villager side characters, really an enjoyable series. A/A-.

2025 book 71

 Jan Jones’ A Body in the Library

I saw someone online recommending this the other day, and I thought the Agatha Christie title tribute was a good sign. This was a super solid cozy mystery set in a small British town, complete with a young widowed librarian heroine (yes, a body does turn up in her library) solving the crime with the help of her handsome neighbor (who is cousins with the officer investigating the case so it makes some sense for a change). I did guess the solution and did think that (and the romance) wrapped up a little too quickly, but I totally enjoyed this and will be reading the next one. Fingers crossed the cool local lesbians will be featured more prominently! A-.

2025 book 70

 Melina Marchetta’s The Place on Dalhousie

UGH I love these books and characters SO MUCH. This one involves the other boy from the high school crew (though all the characters are 25 now), the young woman he gets pregnant, and her stepmother, and the house the latter two are sort of feuding over. But also it’s about friendship and family and love and trying to be a good person. Just what I needed. 

2025 book 69

Melina Marchetta's The Piper's Son 

Obviously once I reread Saving Francesca,I have to reread the two follow-ups as well. This one is set a few years later and focuses on one of the boys in their friend group and his family, broken by grief (his pregnant 42-year-old aunt is also a POV character and I love her). I just love how funny and bittersweet and heartening these books are. 

2025 book 68

 Melina Marchetta’s Saving Francesca

I got into one of those moods where I started like five different books and none were grabbing me, and the only cure is to reread something I love. So here we’re revisiting a story about a teenage girl whose mother has severe depression, and meanwhile the girl is dealing with a new school and her own mental health issues. But also there is so much love in this book, I love stories where people come together and form friendships and communities. Really gets me in the gut.

2025 book 67

 Alexandra Rowland’s Yield Under Great Persuasion 

I really enjoy Rowland’s Seven Gods books—I think I didn’t read this one immediately because it starts with the protagonist waxing rapturously about a dude’s cock and I was like…hm. But I was in the mood for something fun and so here we are! This one involves a cranky asshole who’s been sleeping with this dude he’s resented since they were kids (who’s in love with him!) and how he learns to be LESS of a cranky asshole thanks to divine intervention, lol. I really loved the gods in this one, more books with funny gods improving lives, please. Anyway this was cute and funny and I cried a couple times but it all works out. Seriously, please recommend me some more books like this. A/A-.

2025 book 66

Sulari Gentill’s A Decline in Prophets

I am still enjoying the characters in this series a lot, but the pacing is kind of weird? This one involves a bunch of murders on a ship as our crew takes a journey, and a sect of spiritualists and/or a catholic bishop may be involved. I just feel like things could be tighter. I mean I enjoy all the bits with Rowly hanging out with his friends and family, so it’s the other parts of the plot I’m having issues with, haha. The mysteries are all over the place and things sort of drag. B/B+.

2025 book 65

Sulari Gentill's A Few Right Thinking Men

Hello, it's a new-to-me historical mystery series! This one is set in 1931 Australia, and centers on the younger son of a very rich and prominent family, except he's a painter and his house in Sydney is full of other artists. When his uncle (the one relative who approves of him) is murdered, he has to figure out what's up (with the help of his friends, of course)! There's also a whole thing with tensions between the local Communists (including some of his friends) and various conservative/fascist groups, which does take over a lot of the plot. I really liked the writing and characters here, even if the mystery was more of a historical political thriller. Looking forward to checking out more of this series. A-.

2025 book 64

 T. Kingfisher's Hemlock & Silver

This won't be released till August, but it was my BIRTHDAY this past weekend which means I get to read an ARC I'm excited about, and Kingfisher riffing on Snow White was the one! The protagonist here is a thirty-something woman who studies poisons and antidotes, and then the king callsnon her to see if she can figure out what's up with his daughter Snow, who is mysteriously ill. There is a lot of the trademark Kingfisher humor and also creepiness, but there is also a talking cat, so two thumbs up for sure. I will say that the narrative voice/protagonist/love interest will feel familiar to readers of Kingfisher's other works—that’s fine with me, I like all that, but I have seen people talk about some of her books hitting similar beats and this is definitely one of them. The plot/mystery is solid, though, and I enjoyed this a lot. A-.

__

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

2025 book 63

 Leonie Swann's Big Bad Wool

The sequel to Three Bags Full is more of the same, as the flock of sheep starts investigating some mysterious happenings in the first near their chateau. I love the vibes of this, the sheep are great and there are some funny bits! Plus a bunch of goats! But also there is a serial killer on the loose and it’s mildly grim, and it’s not necessarily a satisfying mystery. But again, it’s mainly the vibes at work here making this an entertaining read. B+.

__

A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on May 6th.

2025 book 62

 John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids

Still enjoying some classic sci-fi by Wyndham thanks to Rainbow Rowell's recommendation! This one involves a dude who is one of the few people left with sight after a mysterious meteor shower, and also there are killer plants. But really it’s the narrative voice and the characters that kept me interested! My only disappointment is that I really did want to read a book about the new society being built, and not necessarily just the more immediate days after the collapse of civilization. Which somehow felt relevant/current even as it was all science fiction-y. Sigh. A-.

2025 book 61

 Stephen Graham Jones' The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

I'm not usually one for horror, but I do like a revenge story, and I'm here for a Blackfeet vampire killing a bunch of white buffalo hunters. This has an interesting framing device--an academic is reading the recently discovered diary of her great-something-grandfather, a Lutheran pastor who was being told this story by the mysterious Good Stab. I think that helps it not be so creepy, though it is very tense and definitely gory. Things are pretty slow at the start

2025 book 60

 Connie Willis' Inside Job

Cute and mildly silly novella involving a guy who runs a magazine that debunks psychics and mediums and stuff, with the help of his beautiful rich actress employee, and what happens when they investigate a woman who may actually be channeling a spirit without meaning to. I like Willis' lighter stuff and this was a fun read. B+.

2025 book 59

 Patricia McKillip’s Od Magic

Sometimes you just want to read a beautifully written and satisfying story with a variety of interesting and likable characters dealing with power and magic and politics. 

2025 book 58

 Antonia Hodgson's The Raven Scholar

Normally I’d be like, a book with a bunch of trials to determine the future ruler is sooo 2010, but that's really just the backdrop to everything ELSE going on in this book. There’s plotting and politics! There’s a murder mystery! There’s interpersonal dynamics! There’s revenge missions! There's mystical spirits! There's factions all named after animals! There's twists I did NOT see coming. Not to make this sound silly or overly dramatic—it’s actually really good, great writing and an engrossing story. The protagonist is the eponymous Raven Scholar, a commoner raised up by the current emperor due to her extreme nerdiness, but on the eve of his retirement/the start of the trials to find his successor, things are falling apart for her. Soon she’s in the middle of all sorts of intrigue and I was here for it. (I should note all the major characters are adults—the protagonist is in her thirties.) This is the first in a trilogy and I cannot wait for book two, I hope this is a huge hit. A.

__

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

2025 book 57

 TJ Alexander's A Gentleman's Gentleman

Aaaahhhh this was so sweet and good!!!! It's about a young Earl who needs to hire a valet so he can go to London for the season to find a wife or he loses his Earl-dom/inheritance, but he's super not interested in a wife, because he's gay, and is equally uninterested in having a valet, because he's trans. But soon the handsome and capable valet is on board and it's a really nice slow-burn romance. There are occasionally silly scenes (the trellis scene in particular really challenged my suspension of disbelief as to how humans act) but on the whole this was a delight with really great characters. Fingers crossed for a sequel featuring Miss Montrose. A/A-.

2025 book 56

 Alison Lurie's Real People

I'm not sure why I wanted to read this book/bought it, but it was sitting on my kindle so I figured I'd see what the deal was. It's a novel written as the diary of a woman, a short story writer, at at artist's retreat. It was published in 1969 so it's an interesting view of the times for sure, and I do love an epistolary/diary story. I did enjoy this, though I was never super invested in the plot or characters. The look at the creative process and the compromises an author may or may not make was pretty compelling. Pretty lightweight though. B+.

2025 book 55

 Anna-Marie McLemore's The Influencers

I was so into this book! I was mad when I had to put it down to go to bed last night! It’s that perfect blend of fun soapy story and mystery and cultural commentary—a smart beach read maybe? And timely, as it’s about a family whose mother is a famous influencer, and the five daughters whose lives she used for content, now adults, and they’re all suspects when the mother's new husband is killed. But it’s not a thriller type book—it bounces between the POVs of the mother, the sisters, the collective we of their audience (I loved this device), and others, including a mysterious dude dubbed “Luke Sweatshirt” by the internet. It also gets into issues like racism (the girls are biracial with a white mom). Really solid and entertaining read, I know McLemore is mainly a YA author but I hope they write more for adults because this hit the spot. Definitely making my book club read this. A.

__

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

2025 book 54

 Bob The Drag Queen's Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert

I love Bob the Drag Queen and would have been interested in any novel he wrote, but this is unexpected: it’s set in a world where historical figures have come back to life (this is never really discussed or explained in any way, which I liked), and the narrator is a washed-up record producer who’s called up to make an album with Harriet Tubman and her band of freed slaves to tell her story to a new generation. Apparently the audiobook has some actual songs and a stage show is in the works, and it’s an awesome concept and I bet it will be really cool to see. As a novel, maybe less so—the writing is a little clunky for sure, though there were parts I laughed out loud at—it’s unsurprisingly funny, considering the author. A-/B+.

2025 book 53

 Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones

So here’s the thing, I chose this for book club this month without knowing much about it, besides that it won a million awards. But here’s the other thing, I have read way less in the literary type genre since 2020 bc I’m already depressed about the world, and I don’t want to read depressing books. I was kind of dreading actually starting this once fellow book clubbers said it was “stressful” and “like homework” and “has a lot of dog fighting, like the whole book is dog fighting.” That’s not entirely true, but this book was definitely rough on my delicate vegetarian sensibilities. There’s also a whole thing where the protagonist (a pregnant 15 year old) is doing mythology for her summer reading and she talks about Medea a LOT, and I think this could have been used a little more sparingly. Not to bitch too much about this book, which deserves all the awards it won! The descriptions of Hurricane Katrina are especially visceral and the last section kind of made me love the story. But I will be looking for something fluffy to read next. A-.

2025 book 52

 Grace Curtis' Idolfire

OK, this is the third book by Curtis I've read, and WHY do I not hear more people talking about her? She is GREAT! This was great!!! It's about two young women, each on a quest to a legendary city--one to reclaim a stolen god and save her dying town, the other to claim her place as an heir to her throne--who end up journeying together. And normally I HATE books where people are journeying the whole time, but this unfolds so well that I was into it. This is all interspersed with sections addressed to the leader of the legendary city, gradually explaining what happened in the past. Just a really cool book with awesome characters, I really enjoyed this and am giving it an A.

2025 book 51

 KJ Charles' Death in the Spires

Excellent mystery involving a group of Oxford students in the late 1800s—ten years after the leader of their gang was murdered, one receives a blackmail letter at his office, and is determined to finally solve the mystery and confront his old friends (and lover). Really great characters and pacing, solid conclusion, I did want a little more from the end but was generally very satisfied. A/A-.

2025 book 50

 C.S.E. Cooney's Saint Death's Herald

The sequel to Saint Death's Daughter is more of the delightful same, if your definition of delight involves a sweet lil necromancer. (Mine does!) I will say this bogged down in the middle a bit for me (it’s frustrating to be like, ugh, just KILL that guy already) but by the second half I was all in. Really great and interesting characters, particularly the undead tiger rug. And very cool magic and gods. Two thumbs up. Can’t wait for more. A/A-.

—

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

2025 book 49

 CSE Cooney's Saint Death's Daughter

This was one of my favorite books of 2022, so I'm happy to reread it, especially since a sequel is out soon! I honestly didn't remember anything about it besides loving it, so it was a joy to revisit the story of a girl from a family of necromancers/assassins who work for the royal family. Very cool characters and concepts, I like books that have well-thought-out religion stuff going on. Also here for an undead puppy, haha!

2025 book 48

 Jeanne Thornton's A/S/L

I really liked Thornton's Summer Fun, so was psyched for this, which is described as being about three teens in the 90s who are trying to create a video game together, but it falls apart, and now it’s eighteen years later… I kept waiting for something to HAPPEN? Not that messy, mentally ill queer ladies living their lives is NOTHING, but this book drags. I did really like Sash's sections, but Abraxa stressed me out. I actually put this down at like 35 percent bc I was so frustrated with it. ALSO the adult sections are set in 2016 and reading about the 2016 election ALSO stressed me out (if I had a nickel for every 2025 novel I’d read by a trans woman set in 2016, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice). Thornton does nail the ethos of chat rooms and internet friendships, though, lol. I loved all of that. This was interesting for sure, but didn’t totally work for me. B+.

__

A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on April 1.

2025 book 47

 Emma Knight's The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

Christina recommended this to me and I was in the mood for something pleasant and engaging, which this was. It mostly centers on a young Canadian woman who's at college in Edinburgh, trying to figure out why her parents' marriage fell apart, befriending the family of his former best friend, etc. Her actress best friend is also prominent and various other characters have little POV sections as well. I enjoyed the characters and their relationships, this was an enjoyable read but somewhat inconsequential. A-/B+.

2025 book 46

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Paladin of Souls

After rereading Curse of Chalion, of course I had to reread this one, which takes place a few years later, and finds the dowager decided to go on a pilgrimage basically to get out of the house. But soon she’s tapped by the gods to unravel a complicated supernatural situation—and maybe find a little romance. Really satisfying and I always love Bujold's World of the Five Gods—I’ll probably reread the Penric books soon too. 

2025 book 45

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Curse of Chalion

I saw two mentions of this in one day which of course made me want to reread it! It’s everything I love in one book, magic and gods and court politics and great characters trying to fix the world. Plus it’s beautifully written. One of my faves.

2024 book 44

 Sharon Shinn's Alibi

This felt like a departure for Shinn—it has romance and a little mystery, but it’s set in a future world with teleportation (and there are some other mentions of differences/shit that has gone down). I loved the chatty narrative voice—the narrator is an English professor who takes a side gig tutoring the ill son of a wealthy and prominent man, and the scenes of her with her students were some of my faves. Not everything worked for me—the villain is absolutely ridiculously villainous, and some of the descriptions the narrator uses are weird (one friend is described more than once as “exotic” looking with his “rum and coffee” skin, and I thought everyone had agreed SEVERAL years ago that we didn’t compare skin tones to food). I did really enjoy the main character and all her friendships though, just really grabbed me. A-/B+.

2024 book 43

 Rachel Aaron's Hell of a Witch

I wasn’t really vibing with the second book in this series. The plot was kind of inconsequential and the one main character was doing that thing where she’s like “I can’t be with him, he’s a DISTRACTION” for the whole book, even though it’s obvious they’ll get together. I do find the worldbuilding interesting, though, especially since we get some POV sections from the bad guys. I’ll give the third book a try. B.

2024 book 42

 Rachel Aaron's Hell for Hire

I’ve read and enjoyed Aaron's previous series, but somehow missed that she had a new one! Good timing here because the third was released on Friday. Anyway, this is an urban fantasy sort of deal, involving a (dude) witch with a talking cat familiar who hires a team of bodyguards who turn out to be all demons (there’s a whole thing here where ancient king Gilgamesh killed the gods and rules up in heavens and most demons are enslaved), and the head (lady) demon in charge has a Mysterious Past. I look forward to their slow building romance, lol. Anyway, great characters here, a fun read, cool magic, a talking cat, I’m ready for book two. A-.

2025 book 41

 Sara Gran’s Little Mysteries

Normally I’m not into books of short stories, but I really enjoy Sara Gran and think her Claire DeWitt is one of the most interesting fictional detectives around. And this was SO GOOD, every story is satisfying in a different way, and beautifully written, and so smart. Just an absolute stunner of a book. A.

2025 book 40

 Seanan McGuire's Installment Immortality

Now that I’m all caught up on McGuire's main three fantasy series, I’m trying to stay that way—this is the latest volume of her Incryptid series. There is a handy recap at the beginning, which is great, because there are a lot of characters who are all related and it hard to remember who’s who. Anyway, the protagonist here is their ghost babysitter, on a mission to stop the usual bad guys from trapping and torturing ghosts. It’s fine. Sometimes the dialogue is too exposition-heavy (like I don’t need to know all these details about ghosts, ok), but I do enjoy the characters and am invested in what’s going on with Arthur especially. There’s a novella at the end featuring pregnant Verity dealing with a houseguest and a blob monster that I enjoyed a lot. B+?

__

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

2025 book 39

 Holly Gramazio's The Husbands

Rereading this for book club and I liked it just as much the second time! I really wasn’t sure how the concept would hold up, but I just find the narrative voice really readable (am interested to see what book club thinks—one person didn’t finish because she thought the protagonist was too passive—should be an interesting discussion).

2025 book 38

 Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

I don’t know why I decided to reread this—I do like to reread books when my brain needs a reset or some comfort, but I hadn’t read this since it first came out and all I remembered were the footnotes, haha. I loved it less this time, I mean it’s just really slow and there’s a lot of business with the Napoleonic Wars and it takes way too long to resolve things with Lady Pole and Arabella (who were more interesting than some of the other characters, to me). It was one of those books that was cool while I was reading but I was never rushing to pick it back up (which is why it took me all week). Not to sound down on it, obviously it’s a great book, I’m just way more tired than I was in 2004.

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+.

__

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-.

__

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-.

__

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.

__

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+.

__

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+.

__

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

2025 book 20

 Allegra Goodman's Isola

Goodman's latest is totally engrossing, the story of a wealthy orphan girl growing up in 1500s France, with occasional visits from her clearly sketchy guardian. Eventually he plans to lead a journey to New France (Canada lol) and drags her with him. But when she falls in love with his secretary, he punishes them by leaving them stranded on a deserted island. (That all is in the description but doesn’t happen till halfway through—everything before that is just as interesting though.) I love reading survival stories from the comfort of my couch and this was a compelling one, and it turns out to be based on a true story!!!! Parts of it reminded me of The Vaster Wilds but it’s less grim (comparatively). Gonna give this an A.

__

A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on February 4th.

2025 book 19

 Gayle Forman's After Life

I was intrigued by the premise of this—it’s about a teenage girl who comes home from school, only to discover she’s been dead for seven years, and how her death has affected everyone she cared about (and other interesting characters). It reminded me of that tv show Les Revenants. I did like this but I kind of wished it had gone deeper? I was here for the cool lesbian sister and the teacher characters though. A-.

2025 book 18

 Emily Tesh's The Incandescent

Usually I try and wait a little closer to release date to read an ARC, but a) Tesh's Some Desperate Glory was one of my favorites of 2023, and b) lots of people are talking about this/reading it, and I didn't want to wait! Also, like, times are tough, let me read a book about queer ladies who work at a magic school. And I enjoyed this a lot! The main character is the Head of Magic at a British boarding school, and she has a sort of enemies-to-lovers thing with the woman who is basically the head of magical security. They fight demons together!! I did think the middle sagged a little—like, please stop being STUPID—but I loved how things wrapped up and adored these characters. Very satisfying read. A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 17

 Jane Austen's Persuasion

Another good site action for today as Austen requires a little more focus than some other books (for me, anyway). This is a great example of why I hate modern Austen retellings—they always miss how FUNNY she is. The narrative voice in this is hilarious and judgy. It’s awesome. 

2025 book 16

 Naomi Kritzer's Liberty's Daughter

Today is for rereading favorite books about people trying to make the world a better place. This one involves a teenager in a near-future world, living in a weird libertarian community that’s hundreds of miles out to sea. She ends up getting caught up in politics/class struggles and having some adventures along the way. Perfect distraction. 

2025 book 15

 Anne Tyler's Three Days in June

I always enjoy an Anne Tyler book but this one was so sweet! It’s about a cranky-ish 60-something woman and starts in the day before her daughter's wedding, when she’s having job issues, and then her ex-husband shows up to crash at her place with a cat he’s fostering. Like, lol. It’s not all madcap zaniness though, as she reflects on her relationships and what she wants out of life. I was here for the cat though. A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 14

 Sarah Beth Durst's The Spellshop

This was cute. It’s about a librarian in an imperial city that’s currently under revolt, and the library is on fire, so she and her assistant (a sentient plant) flee—with five crates of spellbooks, to keep the, from burning. They end up in the cottage where she was born and eventually start doing magic to help the dying island, even though it’s illegal. There’s also a hot and helpful neighbor with a herd of merhorses and a lot of friendly townspeople. The plot was kind of eh for me—trying to manufacture conflict in a cozy fantasy romance is hard—and though I agreed with the political sentiments, they felt shoehorned in, but I liked all the parts with magic and friendship. B+.

2025 book 13

 Agatha Christie's Lord Edgeware Dies

I just wanted to read a classic mystery but Agatha Christie did me dirty again. First of all, every character in this book is horribly and casually antisemitic, including Poirot. Second of all, one of the characters uses two racial slurs (including the n-word) for absolutely no reason. The mystery is fine but like YIKES. B.

2025 book 12

 Molly O’Neill’s Greenteeth

Cool story about a lake creature/fairy who is chilling when the villagers throw a witch into her home! Rude! Soon the two are on a quest, accompanied by a goblin merchant, to defeat a great evil. This was blurbed by T.Kingfisher and it does have some of those fairytale vibes, though the tone is a little different. This was slow at points—I kept waiting for Chekhov’s sword to come into play—but was overall entertaining and I really enjoyed the protagonist. A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 11

 Olivia Waite's Murder by Memory

I am the target audience for this book, which is a cozy sci-fi murder mystery featuring a lesbian aunt/detective who knits, on board a sentient spaceship! I have enjoyed the romances I’ve read by Waite, so was psyched to see her writing something in a genre I like even more (there is no romance in this one, though a hint that one might develop in later books in the series). Anyway, things start with our detective waking up in someone else's body, and that body may have been involved in a MURDER! This perfectly maps a classic Golden Age mystery onto science fiction and I loved it. My only complaint is that it's a novella and I did wish there was more to it! But so fun, I can’t wait for more. A/A-.

__

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

2025 book 10

 Naomi Novik's The Golden Enclaves

I haven’t read this since it was first released, and though I remembered all the major plot points, there were still so many good bits to rediscover. Plus the first time I read it, I was kind of rushing to see what would happen, and I wasn’t confused by the ending this time, haha. Really satisfying and very engrossing series, I need more books like this. 

2025 book 9

 Naomi Novik's The Last Graduate

Ugh, I do love this book, everything that’s great about the first one (friendships and alliances, grumpy heroine, etc) is amped up here, and I’m crying from NICENESS at parts! And it still has one of the best cliffhanger endings ever. 

2025 book 8

 Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education

I have a zillion news books and arcs that I’m excited to read, but also I’m depressed so I’m rereading a favorite series instead. Shrug emoji. I love books where people build community and makes friends and alliances, and also I love a grumpy but soft-hearted heroine. This book actually made me feel better!! 

2025 book 7

 Kaveh Akbar's Martyr!

So Christina started this and told me she was enjoying it, and since I wanted to read something more literary after a slightly silly vampire book, I thought I’d try it—the description made it seem so cool and it was so so many best-of lists. But it’s about a depressed literary guy and it’s kind of slow. I’m not particularly interested in books about sad literary guys contemplating mortality. But occasionally the POV switches to more interesting characters, particularly his mother, and then things start getting good. I did end up liking this, but it definitely made me more depressed than I already was. A-/B+.

2025 book 6

 Katherine Villyard's Immortal Gifts

Mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, a cool Jewish vampire dude who loves cats (and has a Wiccan veterinarian wife). On the other, it kind of implies that much of the world's antisemitism, including the Holocaust and our current neo-Nazi nightmare, is due to one ancient and crazed antisemitic vampire. I also wish this has been edited a little bit more—a couple times things are repeated, and I think some of the Judaism 101 could have been cut back (do we need to be defining latkes or chuppahs?). And the protagonist makes some truly bizarre choices. Yet I kept reading because I liked the characters' relationships, and I liked the sort of philosophical discussions of being Jewish and being a vampire. The end was melodramatic, but also hilarious and sweet? Y’all, I don’t even know. B+?

__

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

2025 book 5

 Sharon Lynn Fisher's Grimm Curiosities

I saw people talking about this on Bluesky and it sounded cute, but there is a LOT going on. It's set in Victorian England, and the romance is between a young woman who is trying to run her family's antique shop after the death of her father, and the young man whose father is the local baron. They're brought together because her mother and his sister both are suffering the same probably-magical ailment. Also, there are some mysterious books that another wealthy young man is trying to buy. ALSO, there are ghosts AND other mysterious things revealed along the way. Also, there are legit fears for her reputation since it is the 1850s. I will say whenever I was reading about the characters and their feelings, I was rooting for them, but then some other character would be like "you're in LOVE with her!" and I'd remember this whole book takes place over like a week, and then would feel weird about the romance. The second half dragged a lot for me, and the end was extremely silly. Not really my jam, but if the author writes a book about the secret lesbian side characters, I might read it. Lol. B.

2025 book 4

 Linda Holmes' Back After This

Hooray for a new Linda Holmes book! This one involves a podcast producer (obviously something Holmes knows a lot about) who /finally/ gets a chance to host her own show, except the show is gonna be about her taking advice from a dating coach and going in twenty blind dates. Complicating matters is a meet-cute with a cute guy chasing after a dog, and then she keeps running into the guy. (I loved this dog!!) The protagonist is occasionally frustrating and I think Holmes did a better job fleshing out the secondary characters in her previous books, but this was still a very fun read. A-.

__

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

2025 book 3

 Rachel Neumeier’s Silver Circle: Shattered Skies

Solid conclusion to this series. This wasn’t my favorite series by Neumeier—I think it was just a little too dark/gross at times—but I always enjoy her characters and worldbuilding and emphasis on diplomacy and good leadership. A-.

2025 book 2

 Rachel Neumeier’s Silver Circle: Rising Winds

This suffers a little from being the second book in a trilogy—there are some cool moments and reveals, but there is also a lot of setting things up for the big finale. There’s also a lot going on and a lot of POV characters, so by the time it gets back around to say, Ethan, it’s easy to forget what’s been happening. But I have faith that book three will be satisfying! A-/B+.

2025 book 1

 Rachel Neumeier’s Silver Circle: Scattered Sparks

Apparently when Neumeier went to write the conclusion to the Black Dog series, there was so much going on that it turned into three books. And this one is a solid first volume—lots of attacks are being directed toward our black dogs, and they have to figure out how to survive—and take down the witch who’s gunning for them. Good pacing here and I am invested in these characters at this point. I’m also glad I read all the novellas, I think a reader would be very confused if they didn’t. A-.