2026 book 77

 Tamora Pierce’s First Test

Sometimes you just want to reread a series about a little girl who wants to train to be a knight and will try super hard and fight against bullies and befriend birds. Fight the power, Kel! 

2026 book 76

 Meg Elison’s Foundling Fathers

Elison’s satirical novella is the perfect read for the year 2026. It involves a group of wealthy right-wingers who have cloned four of the founding fathers (Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams) and raised them in isolation, pretending it’s the 1700s. And then Teen Franklin finds an iPhone in the privy. Very quick and entertaining read. I really liked how it wrapped up, too. A/A-.

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

2026 book 75

 Ursula LeGuin’s Gifts

I remembered really liking this the first time I read it, but found it a little stressful this time! I was planning on rereading the whole trilogy but think I’m not actually in the mood for YA right now. Click the link to read my original review! 

2026 book 74

 Francis Spufford’s Nonesuch

I do like books involving WWII, magic, time travel, and a solid romance (Connie Willis 4-eva) so this was definitely up my alley, involving a secretary in the finance sector in London (she’s super smart and wants to be a stockbroker but SEXISM) getting entangled in a mystical mystery after seducing a BBC nerd. But like, literary and serious (there are some funny parts though). I was into this! Like I love this heroine!!! And then it broke my heart and said TO BE CONTINUED, like are you KIDDING me?! I guess my desperation for a sequel makes it an A?

2026 book 73

 Naomi Kritzer’s Obstetrix

Y’all, I just read this all in one sitting and it was so tense and good and TENSE. It involves an obstetrician, infamous after being put on trial for performing an abortion in North Dakota (this is apparently a “near future” sci-fi novel, but it feels just like real life tbh), who is kidnapped by an evangelical Christian cult to take care of all their pregnant women. I mean this was basically a horror novel for me, except that Kritzer tends toward the optimistic, so I tried not to get too freaked out. The end is a bit anticlimactic, but I liked it anyway. I’ll read everything Kritzer writes. A/A-.

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

2026 book 72

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s Darksight Dare

Yay for a new Penric and Desdemona novella! Though really the main characters are a blind young army officer hoping for Penric’s help, and a dying hedge witch with a demon. Just another really enjoyable and kind outing in this series, and I especially enjoyed the demon’s POV. A/A-. 

2026 book 71

 KJ Charles’ An Unsuitable Heir

Pretty solid wrap up to this trilogy—once again I have a slightly hard time suspending my disbelief on the romance bc although I love the characters and love them together, I just can’t deal with people professing their love after literally two weeks. One of the characters is nonbinary (not expressed in those terms, of course) which was cool. I can’t decide how I feel about the resolution of the mystery, but I liked all the other bits of the wrap-up. Fun series! A-.

2026 book 70

 KJ Charles’ An Unnatural Vice

The second book in the Sins of the Cities books involves one of the friends from the first book, a journalist, and the spiritualist who he basically thinks is a hot fraud with legs for days (actually he’s more interested in his eyes but I do like to throw in the occasional pop culture reference). Anyway, they have to team up to deal with stuff from the first book (I do appreciate that this seems to be a legit trilogy) and angrily hook up. I was a little less into the romance in this one, but the overarching mystery is pretty intriguing. A-.

2026 book 69

 KJ Charles' An Unseen Attraction

KJ Charles has a huge backlist I haven't read yet, and I was in the mood for a queer romance and/or a mystery, so here we are! One of the dudes is a taxidermist and I could have done with WAY FEWER in-depth descriptions of his art (I've been a vegetarian for 35 years lol, these images felt like a horror movie). The other dude runs a boarding house where the taxidermist lives and is adorable and awkward. Then another boarder is murdered, someone sets fire to the taxidermist's shop, like WHAT is going on, can we figure it out and also make out a bunch, adorably. I loved everything about this that didn’t involve dead animals! A/A-.

2026 book 68

Mary Soon Lee's The Sign of the Dragon

I've heard so many good things about this book, and it lived up to the hype! I'd put off reading it because it's a fantasy novel told in poetry, which isn't a form I read much, but it works really well here (I also think it took me a little longer to read because I wasn't as able to race through it--I had to pay closer attention than I normally might). Anyway, it's the story of a young king in an Asian-inspired land, a kind young man determined to be a good king. Lots of POV sections from the people around him as well, particularly his guards. Really moving, the final confrontation didn’t totally work for me but I really loved how this all came together. A/A-.

2026 book 67

 Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear

Y’all, I do NOT know how to feel about this book! It’s very well-written! Banger of an ending! But I felt like the reveal, when it came, was kind of cheap? If you don’t know, this novel is about a smug Christian tradwife influencer, who suddenly finds herself trapped in an actual pioneer version of her life. Even though she’s rigid and unlikable, it’s compelling! But I have some real mixed feelings! I dunno, A-?

2026 book 66

 Lois McMaster Bujold's The Paladin of Souls

In the sequel to The Curse of Chalion, the focus is on forty-year-old Ista, who decides to take a pilgrimage basically just to get out of the house where she spent years confined. But soon the gods are using her to unravel a couple of magical mysteries, with lots of adventure and a little romance along the way. Another very satisfying story, and I love Ista as a heroine. Some great humor in this one too. So good.

2026 book 65

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Curse of Chalion

I think I love this book more every time I read it! It’s just the perfect blend of political intrigue and gods and people doing their best to make the world better. Just perfectly plotted with beautiful characters. I don’t even mind the age gap romance (which isn’t a /huge/ part of the plot). What a satisfying story. 

2026 book 64

 Clare Ashton’s The Goodmans

So the premise of this romance novel is that lesbian doctor Abby has been in love with her best friend Jude (also a doctor) since college, and also has basically been adopted by Jude’s family, which is great except that Jude’s mom is all “I wish Abby would find a nice man to settle down with bc it’s dangerous to be a lesbian, ps I’m not homophobic bc my pansexual son is fine and he can take care of himself” and maybe there’s some backstory there??? Anyway, Jude figures out that Abby has feelings for her and begins to reciprocate, and it turns out this is a relationship plot I’m not super into personally. I was more interested in the mom’s plotline (but probably missed some of the nuances, since this takes place in England and I don’t know their politics really). I did lose interest a bit when you see how everything is going to end up, like wrap it up already. B/B+.

2026 book 63

 Emma Straub’s American Fantasy

Straub’s latest involves a BOY BAND CRUISE and is very fun! There are three POV characters—a woman who runs the events/manages the talent, whose girlfriend has just left her; one of the boy band-ers, who doesn’t want to be there but his older brother is also in the band and it’s complicated; and a recently divorced woman who was supposed to do the cruise with her superfan sister, but her sister broke her leg, and she’s just like ok well, let’s see what happens! I actually thought the boy bad dude was the best-developed character but all had their moments! Very entertaining book but I still would not go on a cruise no matter how much I liked a band, lol. Honestly, this wasn’t my favorite of Straub’s, but it’s still an Emma Straub book and worth your time. Perfect spring/summer book. A/A-.

2026 book 62

 Melissa Albert’s The Children

So this book is about a woman who wrote a bestselling series of fantasy books based on her children, then tragically died before the series was finished. Now adult, her daughter is basically the spokesperson for the books and hasn’t seen her reclusive artist brother in years, and is about to publish a pretty whitewashed memoir about her childhood. But at the same time, it’s a creepy gothic fairy tale of a book! At first I had mixed feelings about how the story went, but actually I think it all fit together very well in the end. I do feel vaguely haunted by it though. A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 2nd.

2026 book 61

 T. Kingfisher’s Daggerbound

Do I… have a new favorite T. Kingfisher book??? Y’allllllllllll. The sequel to Swordheart involves the second magical sword, which has trapped The Dervish, a restless and handsome gay guy, inside it, and he has been THROUGH some shit. And that’s when Learned Edmund (from the Clocktaur Wars books!!!!!) becomes his wielder! And love interest!! There is also a new gnole pal, an amazing and adorable new friend who is a DELIGHT, some old friends, and all sorts of adventures along the way. Just hilarious and sweet but action-packed too. Fingers crossed book three is on the way. A.

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