2026 book 45

 A.G. Slatter’s A Forest, Darkly

An author’s note describes this as her “grumpy menopausal witch in the woods” book and that is a vibe I am here for!! There’s a lot going on here—a young woman on the run who becomes the witch’s apprentice, a mysterious force in the woods, missing village children, an old lover, etc—and Slatter weaves it all together really well. I did love all these characters and hope we’ll get to revisit them! This is set in Slatter’s Sourdough universe and I caught a couple of references to the other books, but I might reread them all and see how they all connect. A/A-.

2026 book 44

 Kaye Bellot's Green Year Dragonfly

Rereading this because I remember liking it a lot and that it was pretty chill*--it's an epistolary novel set in a world where some houses are alive! Our protagonists are a mapmaker whose house has walked off, and the woman he hires to track it down and bring it back. But complications ensue! I was especially into the meddling mama and aunt. I do love a good epistolary story.

* Aside from the occasional zombie or murderous unicorn.

2026 book 43

 Martha Wells’ Platform Decay

NEW MURDERBOT, Y’ALL!!! And it’s REALLY GOOD!!! Murderbot is on a mission! It’s tense and exciting!! Events of the last couple of books are coming into play!!! Murderbot is trying to deal with its emotions!!!! I sincerely loved every second of this. Murderbot is firing on all cylinders (not literally). Chef’s kiss. A.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on May 5th.

2026 book 42

 Martha Wells’ System Collapse

I do still think this one is really slow to start, even though it picks up where Network Effect leaves off, but the second half is so good that I enjoyed this reread. Lots of action, lots of cleverness, lots of creativity, plus all those annoying emotions. Love it. 

2026 book 41

 Martha Wells’ Network Effect

Rereading this because there’s a new Murderbot book coming out, and I wanted to refresh my memories (and enjoy some rereading), and this is good jumping on point for me. Plus it’s so good and so much fun to revisit! ART remains a fave, I love its bickering friendship with Murderbot, but a lot of the new human characters are great too, and the plot is fast moving and action packed. Very satisfying all around.

2026 book 40

 Katie Siegel’s Out of the Loop

Ok, I am HERE FOR this recent trend of murder mysteries involving time loops! This one is by Katie Siegel, who also writes my beloved Charlotte Illes mystery series, and involves a woman who has just come out of a time loop only to discover a neighbor was murdered the night before—a night our protagonist has experienced over 700 times. Now she’s on the case with the help of (and to impress) her ex girlfriend, as well as a crotchety neighbor who builds Rube Goldberg devices. It’s all very fun and entertaining. I also appreciated that it dealt with the emotions of coming out of a time loop—she’s super anxious because of all the new events and things she can’t predict. Can’t wait to see what Siegel does next. A-.

2026 book 39

 Connie Willis’ Doomsday Book

I was like, what if I reread all the Oxford Time Travel books? I read this one for the first time in 2021, which didn’t go that well—too real. But I like it more every time I read it since I know what to expect now, and it’s so beautiful and sad and hopeful somehow. But I might take a break before I read the next one. A.

2026 book 38

 Cameron Reed’s What We Are Seeking

Interesting sci-fi novel about a doctor who gets sent to a planet whose settlers have a very different culture than his own (he’s from a queer-normative matriarchal poly society, and they’re largely homophobic Christians, bc hod forbid we imagine a future without homophobic Christians). There’s a whole thing with a Jain translator who’s going to learn to speak with the planet’s locals, and lots of interesting characters and relationships and genders come into play, and there’s someone from Earth who’s part of some sort of hive mind (shades of Pluribus). Like I said, it was very /interesting/, but I didn’t find it particularly /satisfying/. Like it kind of forgot about one of the main plot lines for like big stretches so the end was kind of anti-climactic? But I loved everything with Iren and maybe would have preferred a book with just that stuff? Jo Walton loved it so it’s probably just me. A-/B+.

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

2026 book 37

 Patricia McKillip’s The Bell at Sealey Head

I had forgotten pretty much everything about this book, but it was just as satisfying the second time! Here’s my original review bc I’m too tired to think of anything to say. 

2026 book 36

 Cat Sebastian’s Star Shipped

I don’t even know where to START with this, like I know I’m the target audience for a queer romance novel about the leads of a sci fi tv show (with interstitial sections from fan discords lollll) but this exceeded all expectations??? Chef’s kiss, truly. Cat Sebastian is one of my favorite romance authors and she just keeps knocking it out of the park. Adorable romance and adorably cranky protagonist with great taste in books (also anxiety and OCD). I loved every moment of this. A.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on March 3. 

2026 book 35

 Susan Walter’s Murder at 30,000 Feet

Linda Holmes recommended this on Bluesky, and a murder mystery set on an airplane sounded perfect for where my brain is at right now. (I could have personally done without the rape plotline though.) There’s a great assortment of characters on the plane—a high school baseball team, various coaches and moms and ex-wives, a wedding party, the flight attendants and other crew, and the air marshal who let the murder happen on his watch and has to solve it to save his job. And solving this murder may also solve a hit and run case from a few years earlier. And that’s not even getting into the bad storm! I actually think this would make an awesome tv miniseries but the pacing of the book didn’t totally work for me. B+.

2026 book 34

 Olivia Atwater’s Small Miracles

Sometimes you just need to reread a perfectly sweet and satisfying story with gender-swapping fallen angels who just want to tempt you to eat some chocolate (and maybe also improve some lives and fall in love). Very funny and so sweet and helps fill that Good Omens shaped hole in my heart (Pratchett 4-Eva, Gaiman never). I want more books like this!!!!

2026 book 33

 Bex Benjamin’s The Last Place on Earth

I don’t know how Bex Benjamin seamlessly meshes a sexy lesbian romance between a cold-blooded mercenary leader and a journalist with a zombie apocalypse, but the second book in this series is just as good as the first. I’m very invested in the characters, there’s some fun action moments and a couple of good twists. VERY entertaining. I will be eagerly awaiting book three. A/A-.

2026 book 32

 AM Kvita’s An Unlikely Coven

This was a very fun urban fantasy novel using the usual trope of the witch who can’t use magic correctly but comes from a powerful witch family so she’s sort of the black sheep—her best friend being a vampire doesn’t help. Anyway, she’s just finished grad school and returned to new York when she’s sucked into a mysterious magical adventure! Really loved the characters and all the friendships here, fun awkward lesbians, interesting world building and an end that makes me very intrigued about the next volume. Totally enjoyable. A-. 

2026 book 31

 KJ Charles’ How to Fake It in Society

So I do love a KJ Charles book, but this wasn’t my favorite. It is a very cute historical romance with great characters, but the plot didn’t totally work for me. The one guy is a shopkeeper who makes paints who suddenly becomes VERY wealthy when he marries one of his clients on her deathbed (she wants to disinherit her nephew). And the other is a French guy who was hoping to marry her himself and get the money, which he desperately needs. And the thing is that he’s kind of lying about everything and it’s just the kind of thing that annoys me. Fine, he sort of has reasons for his lies but also I know it’s going to have a happy ending so just work it out already. I hate plots that rely on ppl being unwilling to have a conversation. And we could spend more time on the girl cousin pretending to be a dude valet and courting the butler’s daughter. I loved the butler and his family! Anyway, obviously it was still a nice romance, just didn’t totally work for me. B/B+.

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

2026 book 30

 CE Hulse’s Vivian Dies Again

Ok, this was SO FUN. If there are three things I love, they’re a) time loops; b) mysteries; and c) messy British ladies—and this features all of the above! The main character is at a family party and apparently keeps getting murdered, and the only one who is aware of the loop is one of the waiters, so he’s trying to help her figure out who’s killing her, and why. Plenty of her relatives have reasons to dislike her, but murder?? It’s all very funny and fast-paced and I loved it. I will definitely be checking out more by this author. A/A-.

2026 book 29

 Nevil Shute’s A Town Like Alice

I’m making my book club read this this month, and our meeting is still a couple weeks away but I’m rereading it now anyway bc it’s one of my faves and because nothing else I start is striking my fancy. Jean Paget is truly one of the great heroines of literature (at least as told by her aging lawyer). I think I once said she was “plucky” but that doesn’t really do her justice as she leads a group of women and children through WWII in Malaysia and later builds a fricken city. Amazing story. Side note that this was written in 1950 and uses some racist language.

2026 book 28

 Seanan McGuire’s Butterfly Effects

The latest Incryptid novel deals with cuckoo Sarah (one of my favorite characters in this series) getting kidnapped by people from her home dimension and put on trial for her supposed crimes. Of course a motley assortment of her relatives mount a rescue mission! (The other POV character is Antimony, who I verbally like, but for some reason do not like how she and her fiance are written as a couple.) Anyway, this was really fun and had a solid ending, I am psyched to see where things go next. There’s a novella at the end featuring cousin Elsie, a cool lesbian who should get to be in more of these books. A-.

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

2026 book 27

 Martha Wells’ The Gate of Gods

I never really remember the plot of this one (it’s mildly confusing) but there are so many great character moments that I don’t even care. I really love this series. 

2026 book 26

 Martha Wells’ The Ships of Air

This is SUCH a good second volume of a trilogy, not one where it just feels like pieces are being moved to play the final act. Some great reveals, new conflicts, lots of action, and a little bit of sweet romance. This series is so underrated. 

2026 book 25

 Martha Wells' The Wizard Hunters

A lot of times when I read books, I immediately forget almost everything about them (not sure if it's my memory or just the sheer volume of books I go through--but on multiple occasions I have read a book, gone to rate it on StoryGraph, and discovered I've read it before), but some of the images of this story really stick with me. Especially the bits in the cave--ages after I read this the first time, I found myself thinking about that and being like, was that that Martha Wells book? (It happened later with the boat, too.) That is to say--this is very atmospheric and compelling and more memorable than most things I read! Anyway, it's the story of a suicidal playwright (daughter of the characters from Death of the Necromancer) and how she's drawn into a wartime magic experiment that takes her to another world, where she befriends the locals and tries to figure out how to fight a war against forces they don't understand. Amazing characters—I love this series and this world.

2026 book 24

Martha Wells’ The Death of the Necromancer

Sometimes you see people discussing Wells’ Ile-Rien series and you’re like, I gotta reread those right now! This one isn’t part of the trilogy proper, but a lot of the characters come into play so it’s important backstory—and a fun story too, involving thieves and secret identities and prison escapes and revenge and also defeating a necromancer. Such good characters! I do think it would be stronger if it was a little tighter—some parts are slow—but I love this book anyway.

2026 book 23

 Tal Bauer's You and Me

I needed a palate cleanser after the previous book, and what's better than a queer romance about SPORTS DADS???? (As recommended by Captain Awkward and Claire Willet on Bluesky!) Their sons play on the high school football team together! This was so freaking adorable, just dads hanging out and drinking wine and cooking for each other and volunteering at football games and doting on their sons and LONGING FOR EACH OTHER in the cutest possible way. (I don’t mean to make it sound purely fluffy—the main character’s wife died, their marriage wasn’t great, and he doesn’t have a great relationship with their son when the story starts.) It was maybe a little too horny and had too much football for my own personal tastes, but I enjoyed this a LOT. A-.

2026 book 22

 T. Kingfisher’s Wolf Worm

I’m notoriously a wuss, but I was all, I can totally handle a creepy T. Kingfisher book about bugs!!! Y’all. I was wrong. This was a little slow to start so I was falsely confident, as the main character, a scientific illustrator in late 1800s North Carolina, takes a job with a scientist who studies insects, hears the local scary stories, wonders about her predecessor, etc. And then halfway through came a scene that creeped me out SO BAD. SOOOOOO BAAAAAD. And there was worse to come! My heart was literally pounding fast!!! It sucked!!!! I mean, top notch writing but also I do regret reading this because it will keep me up nights. What grade does that get? A-?

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

2026 book 21

 Meihan Boey's The Mystical Mr. Kay

Solid end to this trilogy--lots of funny moments and I love all the different goddesses popping up! I will say there's a late-ish reveal that ties this to book two that I thought was really unnecessary and kind of confusing. But still an enjoyable read. B/B+.

2026 book 20

 Meihan Boey’s The Enigmatic Madam Ingram

The second Miss Cassidy book involves unraveling a complicated supernatural mystery, but I didn't like it as much as the first. The story is pretty circular and I think takes too long to get where it’s going. I do still enjoy the characters (and am rooting for Mr Kay!) and love the use of mythology so will try the third, but this one was a B.

2026 book 19

 Meihan Boey’s The Formidable Miss Cassidy

This was a very cute and entertaining book about a woman who goes to be a governess in Singapore—luckily, she is more than equipped to deal with the various supernatural problems she runs into! I really enjoyed watching this story unfold and am psyched there are three to read, perfect escapism. A-.

2026 book 18

 Tayari Jones’ Kin

Hooray for a new Tayari Jones novel! This one centers on two Black girls who grow up as best friends in the 1950s and 50s, but head down different paths when one runs away to Memphis to find the mother who abandoned her, and the other heads to Spelman for college. I was super into this when I was reading, but the world is such a dumpster fire that it was sometimes hard for me to pick this up when I wanted to be reading something for escapism. But this was really a beautiful book and broke my heart in ways I wasn’t expecting. A.

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

2026 book 17

 Lily King's Heart the Lover

Rereading this for book club! It was one of my favorites of last year and absolutely holds up. (I think I cried more knowing what was coming.) Christina and I saw Lily King speak about this book a couple months ago and I’m looking forward to discussing the book and her comments with everyone!

2026 book 16

 Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Teacup Magic: The Second Collection 

Back on my adorable historical fantasy bullshit! And this one has LESBIANS!!! Yes!!!! Anyway, it’s another few novellas, the first focused on one of the secondary characters from the first collection, featuring jewel heists, stepmothers, and artists galore. The second focuses on the new Duchess of Storm dealing with ghosts—including her mother in law and her unpleasant first husband. The third has a bunch of queer pirates! And mermaids and kidnappings and bringing all sorts of characters from the other stories together and it’s absolutely delightful. I really enjoyed this series, just what I needed right now. A/A-.

2026 book 15

 Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Word for World is Forest

I’m still periodically getting to all the LeGuin books I’ve never read! I think I did start this one once and then went “ugh, this guy SUCKS” and put it down, bc we’re in the POV of a guy who LOVES being a colonizer (he likes to think of himself as a conquistador) and he super sucks! But we soon shift to the perspective of the indigenous people he wants to destroy and it’s much more interesting (they have a very cool society!), and we also get the POV of the earth anthropologist. Really lovely writing, of course, and a true bittersweet ending. A.

2026 book 14

 Ross Montgomery’s The Murder at World’s End

I do enjoy a locked room mystery, and this one has locked rooms galore, as the murder victim believes Halley’s Comet (in 1910) is going to poison the world and insists on all his guests and staff being totally shut in. The main character here is a brand new footman with a slightly seedy past, but of course he’s a good guy REALLY (🙄), who gets enlisted to help solve the murder by a mildly eccentric great-aunt. There are some funny parts and the mystery had an interesting solution, but the book didn’t quite work for me—it kept shifting from first to third person and the pacing was a little off. It looks like this might be the start of a series and I would maybe read another one? B/B+.

2026 book 13

 Allegra Goodman’s This Is Not About Us

Goodman’s latest is a series of stories about a messy and complicated Jewish family whose matriarchs are in a feud precipitated by an apple cake. There’s babies and divorces and bat mitzvahs and dog walkers and vegans and hilarious Seders. Some of the stories/characters are more compelling than others, and some that I liked sort of disappear, but on the whole I liked this a lot and read it in one sitting. RIYL Long Story Short on Netflix. A-.

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

2026 book 12

 Tansy Rayner Roberts' Teacup Magic: The First Collection

Jo Walton recommended this in her latest "Jo Walton Reads" column, and since I liked that Jane Austen with dragons book by this author, and was looking for something on the lighter/fluffier side to read, here we go! This is a collection of three novellas set in your typical Regency-with-magic world, but they're all very sweet and very funny (also seems to be a queer-normative world!). The first involves the main character's cousin, a Duke, being pursued by many women who want to be his Duchess--and then he's kidnapped! The second features politics, a secret society of powerful women, a murder, and of course some romance! And the third finds our protagonist on her honeymoon, caught up in a murder mystery, sort of, and all sorts of magical shenanigans (there is also a bunch of fun correspondence). Really delightful and funny, definitely will be reading volume two. A/A-.

2026 book 11

 Tana French's The Keeper

I've really been enjoying French's series about a Chicago cop who retires to a tiny town in Ireland--they're super atmospheric and I really enjoy the characters, especially now that Cal is more integrated into local society. This third one involves the death of a young woman in an apparent suicide, and soon the whole town is drawing battle lines, with our characters on one side and a very powerful man making their lives hell on the other. Y'all, this book was STRESSFUL. But it wrapped up nicely and the ending was honestly lovely. Gorgeous writing. A/A-.

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

2026 book 10

 Olivia Waite’s Nobody’s Baby 

The second Dorothy Gentleman mystery (about a detective on a spaceship!) involves a baby being left on her nephew’s doorstep, which is wild bc no one on the ship should be able to have babies! Where did this baby come from??? Perfect cozy mystery IN SPACE and I love it! More please!!! A.

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

2026 book 9

 Alexis Hall’s Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot

Alexis Hall can be hit or miss for me, but this one was pure hit!! I didn’t love the first in this series, and never read the second, but Christina said I’d love this one and I DID! The series is set on basically GBBO and the romance here involves a couple of lesbians—a cute, chubby journalist who’s a contestant on the show, and the show’s foul-mouthed, curt producer (grumpy/sunshine is my fave!). There is also a b-plot involving a 96 year old contestant on the show who worked in the house decades ago and had a secret lesbian affair with the daughter of the manor. Great balance between the stories, great characters, the romance had so many funny moments….just really a good time! A.

2026 book 8

 CM Waggoner’s The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale

I’ve enjoyed all of Waggoner’s books, but this one was *chef’s kiss*—a sweet and funny book about a witch who finds an abandoned baby on her doorstep, and when he turns 18 all the forest animals prophecy that he’s the long lost prince, and so he goes off to be king… good thing he has a very practical mother to advise him! This was just a perfect cozy fantasy book, highly recommended!! A.

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

2026 book 7

 Alice Bell’s The Grapples of Wrath

HOORAY for a new book in Bell’s Grave Expectations series, about a woman who can see ghosts (and whose teenage dead best friend is attached to her) and keeps getting involved in murders! The murder victim here is the owner of a professional wrestling ring and it’s a fascinating setting for a mystery. As always, I love the characters here, the book is really funny, and there mystery is solid. I really enjoy this series and hope there will be many more! A.

2026 book 6

 Premee Mohammed’s We Speak Through the Mountain 

Very cool sequel to Annual Migration of Clouds—lots of near-future post-apocalyptic action! And philosophical discussions! And seeing how the other half lives! I did have my frequent complaint with novellas— I think this would have been stronger if there was more to it—but I liked it a lot and hope for more books in this series! A-.

2026 book 5

 Premee Mohamed’s The Annual Migration of Clouds

This novella is set in a semi-near-future sort of post-apocalypse—a few generations from now, after we inevitably destroyed the climate. Totally compelling narrative voice—the protagonist is a teen who’s gotten an acceptance letter to a college in a mysterious high tech dome, but her mother doesn’t want her to go. Plus she’s infected with a maybe-intelligent fungal parasite? Really fascinating world—looking forward to the follow-up! A/A-.

2026 book 4

 Mackenzi Lee’s Lady Like

Hooray for more queer historical romances! This one involves two women trying to marry the same Duke*—one, a pants-wearing actress, has to make a respectable marriage to get her inheritance, and the other, who was once caught in a scandal, wants to find anyone better than the horrible old man she’s engaged to—and of course they fall for each other! It’s all very cute even if the ending is a little hand-wavey. A-.

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* Everyone CALLS him a Duke but he’s actually the son of a Duke and this annoyed me—like all these people care about is shit like that so why aren’t they being accurate?

2026 book 3

 Moniquill Blackgoose’s To Ride a Rising Storm

Hooray for the second book in Blackgoose’s series about an alternate version of the US with dragons! (And founded by Vikings? Once again I found the different names for everything distracting.) I love all the characters here, humans and dragons alike, and there are some great new ones—I of course was partial to a girl who’s this world’s version of Jewish!!! But there are also some fun philosophical discussions and some progressions on the romance. Of course there is still all the COLONIALISM and racism going on, so there are some tense moments for sure, but I was totally along for the ride and the ending made me very eager for book three! A!

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on January 27th.

2026 book 2

 Jo Firestone’s Murder on Sex Island

I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while, but after three mentions of Firestone in the last week, it felt like time! This is a mildly goofy mystery involving a women who has an alter ego who’s a private eye (unclear if she is licensed lol), who is hired to go undercover on a hit reality tv show (the titular “Sex Island”) to find a missing contestant. It was fine! It would be a really funny movie. B/B+.

2026 book 1

 Rainbow Rowell’s Cherry Baby

For my first book of the year, I had to read the ARC of the latest novel from one of my favorite authors! The only downside of an ARC is that I can’t discuss it with my fellow Rowell-heads for a few months! I don’t want to even hint at spoilers so I’m not gonna do any kind of summary, I will just say I love Rowell’s writing, and even though I was hesitant about some of the plot, she had me all in by the end. I especially loved all the sister relationships (Cherry is one of five girls!) and text threads between them. This also really goes in on the Ozempic discourse (I felt a little weird about this as someone who is on it for medical reasons and I also feel weird that I feel like I have to say that?). I am gonna have to reread this one soon. A.

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

2024 book 231

 Yannick Murphy’s Things That are Funny on a Submarine But Not Really

Great book to end the year on! It haven’t read Murphy since The Call and clearly I should be checking in on what I’ve missed! This novel involves a young man nearing the end of his enlistment on a Navy submarine, totally compelling voice and story, and a really solid ending. Very satisfying read to wrap up my year. A/A-.

2025 book 230

 Rebecca Stead’s The Experiment

Catching up on the latest from Stead, author of one of my all time favorite books (When You Reach Me) and it was a delight! The main character is a boy who is secretly an alien! His family’s job is to blend in with humans, which gets much more complicated when he starts growing a tail. Stead’s writing and characters are engaging as always, just a really NICE read (and also some great cats appear). A.

2025 book 229

 Emma Lathen’s Come to Dust

So this mystery involves a missing man and a LOT of business about Dartmouth’s fundraising and admissions. It has a lot of funny parts but was definitely dragging toward the end (I did correctly guess part of the mystery though, which was satisfying). Unrelated to the story: the cover claims this is revised and re-edited, but it’s got a ton of typos and missing commas, which grated. B/B+.

2025 book 228

 Emma Lathen’s A Stitch in Time

The seventh book in this series centers on the murder of a doctor involved in a lawsuit—but of course there’s more to the story and John Putnam Thatcher is on the case! I do love this series— it’s very dryly funny even when the mystery’s solution isn’t particularly interesting (still satisfying though!). A-.

2025 book 227

 LM Montgomery’s The Blue Castle

Sometimes you’re just in the mood to reread one of your all-time favorite books! 

2025 book 226

 Ursula K. LeGuin’s Very Far Away From Anywhere Else

Did you know Ursula K. LeGuin wrote a non-fantasy YA book?? About an angsty and nerdy teen boy and the musician girl who is the first person he ever really connects with? Really a lovely little novella. Obviously I wanted more but this was just a great slice of life. A/A-.

2025 book 225

 ECR Lorac’s Death of an Author

Checking out more classic British mysteries! This was originally published in 1935 and deals with the disappearance and possible murder of a reclusive author. It is very of its time but the mystery was pretty interesting (the solving of the mystery tended to drag). I would try another by Lorac. B+.

2025 book 224

 Laura Sebastian’s Poison in their Hearts

This was a perfectly adequate conclusion to this trilogy. I wasn’t really into the ending but enjoyed it up till then (why was a new character introduced in like the last quarter?). Eh. B/B+.

2025 book 223

 Laura Sebastian’s Stardust in Their Veins

Ok, I am really enjoying this series! Lots of politics and magic and rebellions and double-crossing. There is a little bit of romance but it’s not a focus. And I love all the friendships and the relationship between the sisters. Really fun stuff. A/A-.

2025 book 222

 Laura Sebastian’s Castles in Their Bones

I came across this series while searching for more fantasy with political intrigues—this one involves three sisters raised by their Empress mother to foment dissent in the countries they marry into, so their mother can take over all of them. It’s YA so I was a little bit leery, but I really enjoyed the characters and was caught up in the writing. Some cool twists and I even liked the various romances. Looking forward to book two! A-.

2025 book 221

 Angela Tomaski’s The Infamous Gilberts

The description of this book makes it seem like it’s going to be wildly dramatic and fun, but actually it’s a huge bummer. It’s about five siblings in England and four of them end up having really sad lives (and the fifth isn’t in it much), but not even in a particularly interesting way? It’s narrated at a remove—told by a neighbor going through their house—so we don’t really go deep on anything and I was kind of frustrated. I did love the very end, but wished this book was less vague. B/B+.

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

2025 book 220

 Naomi Kuttner’s The Retired Assassin’s Guide to Orchid Hunting

Yay, it’s the second book in the series where a retired assassin, his gardener friend who sees ghosts, and a sixty something con woman/art thief solve mysteries in New Zealand! This one involves a bunch of orchid enthusiasts, as per the title. The mystery is whatever, but this was another super fun time with great characters. But authors!! Stop having your characters use gloves to examine old books!! That is not a thing!!! A-.

2025 book 219

 Seanan McGuire’s Through Gates of Garnet and Gold

I enjoy the Wayward Children series but didn’t really vibe with this one—it’s like fifty percent exposition. The other parts are good though! The plot involves angry ghosts attacking Nancy’s world, so she goes to find some old friends to help save the day. There are a couple of cool moments and the end is intriguing. B+.

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

2025 book 218

 Daniel Abraham’s The Spider’s War

Solid ending to this series! It didn’t hit the highs of the previous book for me, but was satisfying nonetheless. A/A-.

2025 book 217

 Daniel Abraham's The Widow's House

It's hard to know what to say about the fourth book in an epic fantasy series--for one thing, I don't remember exactly which particular things happened in this volume or the earlier ones, because I'm SO caught up in the story and the characters, and for another, I don't want to even hint at any spoilers. Suffice it to say that I am ALL IN and can't wait to see how things conclude in volume five. A.

2025 book 216

 Daniel Abraham’s The Tyrant’s Law

Wow, I am majorly invested in these books. High stakes, intrigue, spider goddesses, fascinating characters… just really engrossing. I’m really not sure how the next two books will go down but I can’t wait to find out. A/A-.

2025 book 215

 Daniel Abraham’s The King’s Blood

Really enjoying this series, it’s just the sort of political intrigue I like and the stakes feel appropriately high. I’m most interested in the two women POV characters (the young banking girl and the savvy wife of a nobleman) but am also pretty invested in Kit and Marcus. Ok, I’m invested in all of it. A/A-.

Favorite books of 2025!

 It's December, I'm partway through the second of five books of a long-ass epic fantasy series, and I'm already looking ahead to the MANY cool books due in 2026. So it's time to admit that I'm not going to read any more of the books on the best-of lists and just present my own personal favorites! It was a good year in books! 

Here they are, alphabetically by author--links go to my lil reviews.

K.J. Charles’ All of Us Murderers 

Grace Curtis' Idolfire

Virginia Evans’ The Correspondent

Kate Fagan's The Three Lives of Cate Kay

Sara Gran’s Little Mysteries

Alix E. Harrow’s The Everlasting

Rachel Hartman’s Among Ghosts

Louise Hegarty’s Fair Play

Antonia Hodgson's The Raven Scholar

Lily King’s Heart the Lover

Cat Sebastian’s After Hours at Dooryard Books

2025 book 214

 Daniel Abraham’s The Dragon’s Path

I do like to read a big ol’ epic fantasy series when the chilly times come, and I’ve heard lots of good things about this one. Abraham, of course, is one of the writers of the Expanse series, and this is even more up my alley—tons of POVs, political machinations up the wazoo, a teen girl raised by a banker, a nerd who commits war crimes, a theater troupe…plus really engaging writing. Just the sort of story I like to sink into. A/A-.

2025 book 213

 Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume (Book III)

I’m not sure if it was the new translators or just the story itself, but at first I wasn’t vibing with this one as much as I was with Book II. There are a lot of philosophical debates! But there are also some really engaging moments and I am very curious about where this series is going. B+.

2025 book 212

 Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume (Book II)

I enjoyed this more than the first one—it has more momentum and the narrator has a slightly more positive attitude, so it was less stressful to read. Lots of lovely descriptions. I will say I read something about the third book that spoiled the end of this one, so I was a little impatient waiting for things to go down, but that’s not the book’s fault. It’s a really great entry in a series on its own. A/A-.

2025 book 211

 Cat Sebastian’s After Hours at Dooryard Books

THANK YOU to Cat Sebastian for another sweet and funny and hopeful book in these troubled times. I think I like everything I’ve read by her, but I am very partial to her New York romances, set in time periods not many people are writing about (this is set in 1968 and is very relevant to our current times!!!!). Anyway, this involves a gay guy who runs a bookstore, the mysterious and anxious stranger who comes to work there, and the first guy’s folk singer sister in law and her newborn baby. There is also a great sense of community—I do love Sebastian’s characters and the way she writes both romance and other relationships. Just a lot of love and good feelings and babies and dogs. And political protests. A.

2025 book 210

 Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume (Book I)

I’m finally reading the literary time loop novel! It’s projected to be in seven parts, three are out in English with a fourth coming out next year, not sure what the sitch is in the original Danish. Anyway, yeah, this is the story of a woman, an antiquarian bookseller in France, who is trapped in November 18th and it’s maybe driving her crazy a little as she compiles notes and tries to figure out how to escape. Compelling, especially considering how insular it is. Really not sure how future volumes will go. A-.

2025 book 209

 Angela Flourney’s The Wilderness

I ended this book feeling like “wooof.” I just wasn’t expecting it to get so heavy/relevant to our current times. It’s the story of four Black women and their friendship, bouncing back and forth in time from their twenties to the forties and from POV to POV, up through to the near future. I thought it was great, just wasn’t expecting it to be a gut punch toward the end. A/A-.

2025 book 208

 Tansy Rayner Roberts’ The Season of Dragons

This was cute—it’s basically Pride and Prejudice with dragons (with humans in a world with dragons, to clarify), from the POV of the Caroline Bingley character (they all have different names, which I appreciated). I can think of at least two other Pride and Prejudice with dragons books—what a funny subgenre! I dislike most Austen retellings/reworkings because they don’t understand that Austen is funny—this book at least has a sweet sense of humor. Perfect light reading. A-.

2025 book 207

 Tanya Huff’s Direct Descendant

Huff’s books are hit or miss for me, but this was definitely a hit! It’s a super cute lesbian romance set in a small Canadian town full of eldritch horrors! (It’s not at all dark or scary though, there is some tension but this is fairly cozy and funny as these things go.) I’m not even gonna try and explain the plot/backstory, just will say I really enjoyed these characters a ton, and even the predictable bits felt fitting. A/A-.

2025 book 206

 Kate Wilhelm’s Death Qualified

I bought a novel by Wilhelm a while ago that won both the Hugo and the Locus awards, but then I saw she also has a mystery series and I was in the mystery mood! This felt unusual to me—it’s long and slow and really dives deep on all the characters. It’s also a courtroom drama! Anyway, the story here involves a woman accused of murdering the husband who abandoned her seven years ago—but the reader knows he was the victim of some kind of weird psychological experiment. And it’s also the story of the woman who agrees to take the case, despite having sworn off the law. I definitely thought the end dragged on too long, and was completely over the top, and was also pretty upsetting. Not sure I’ll read any more in this series. B.

2025 book 205

 Florence Knapp’s The Names

Ah, I do love a Sliding Doors scenario. The story here features a woman and her young daughter who are headed to register their new baby boy’s name—she’s supposed to name him for her abusive husband—and the choice she makes there leads to three very different paths for their family. I read this in one sitting and really enjoyed it (and even cried a couple times). I had mixed feelings on the epilogue but otherwise liked this a lot, great concept and execution. A/A-.

2025 book 204

 Emma Lathen’s Murder Against the Grain

This was an especially entertaining John Putnam Thatcher mystery, involving a government wheat deal with the Soviet Union (this came out in 1967) tied to a million dollar robbery from the Sloan. Very funny political shenanigans and a solid mystery. A/A-.

2025 book 203

 Jane Fletcher’s The Walls of Westernfort

Great plot here, involving a young Temple Guard who’s part of an undercover team sent to infiltrate the band of heretics from the previous book—and kill their leaders. But things get complicated as she makes friends and falls for the local potter. As usual, I found the romance a little under-developed, but it doesn’t really get going till later in the book so I had plenty of time to enjoy everything else (and look, I think the characters are cute together, I just don’t like the way this author writes the actual romance). A-.

2025 book 202

 Jane Fletcher’s The Temple at Landfall

This picks up not long after the previous one, and it’s like one of those romance series where the main character is a secondary character from the other book (though I don’t like how Fletcher writes romance, they’re all just like poof! We’re in love! And I prefer a little buildup!). Anyway, interesting stuff here as the main character is an Imprinter (one of the few people who can magically help ppl have babies in this all-women world), who’s basically a prisoner of the Temple, who make a lot of money off of her services. I liked all the political wrangling in the guise of religious observance, very dryly funny. Her romantic interest is Chip’s friend from the first book, and both have their own engaging plotlines going on that go to some unexpected places. I’m really interested in what will happen next! A-.

2025 book 201

 Jane Fletcher’s Rangers at Roadsend

Hooray for fantasy with lesbian romances and mysteries! This is set in a world where there are only women. but it’s not all HEY LOOK AT OUR WORLD WITH ONLY WOMEN!!! Though I am curious about the history of the world since it’s pretty clear there were men at some point and this is probably actually science fiction.* Anyway, our main character is a Ranger, and a new member of her squadron is super pretty and also has some past issues that need to be worked out—namely, proving she’s innocent of a murder! I really liked the characters and plot; the romance was slightly saccharine/under-developed, but I really enjoyed reading this. Looking forward to more in this world. A-.

* This is actually all addressed in an appendix, which kind of takes the fun out of guessing! 

2025 book 200

 Melina Marchetta’s Jellicoe Road

Somewhat recently, the NYT books section did a list of dark academia books and this was on it, which a) pleased me because more people should know about this book, and b) confused me, because dark academia brings to mind magic and murder, and this book isn’t dark in that way at all—it’s just very sad! But also hopeful. It’s the story of a (depressed) girl at a boarding school in Australia, dealing with the “wars” the school has with the locals and a troop of cadets, and also piecing together the story of her past and a group of kids who were at the school almost twenty years earlier. But also it has my favorite thing in stories, which Marchetta does so well: being vulnerable and opening yourself up and making friends and people caring about each other. One of my faves.

2025 book 199

 T. Kingfisher’s Snake-Eater

I was worried that Kingfisher’s latest would be too scary, but it’s really more on the darkish-fantasy side than straight up horror. It involves a woman and her dog (the dog is fine!) heading to her aunt’s in a tiny desert town to escape her emotionally abusive boyfriend, where she befriends various quirky townspeople! And occasionally there are weird spirits hanging around. But it’s all too chill to really be more than occasionally creepy. Not a complaint! A-.

2025 book 198

 Natasha Pulley’s The Hymn to Dionysus

I didn’t read this when it first came out, bc like, there are SO MANY retellings of Greek mythology, and I was like, enough already! But I like Pulley and some people on Discord were chatting about this one, so I decided to try it. I liked it! It’s funny and sad and sweet and tense! And I feel like it’s not trodding the same ground as everyone else. It was a little slow for my taste but still a good read. A-/B+.

2025 book 197

 Naomi Kuttner’s The Retired Assassin’s Guide to Country Gardening

Very entertaining story that does what it says in the tin: it’s about an MI6 assassin who retires to a small New Zealand town where he’s soon caught up in a murder investigation. And the prime suspect is the sweet young guy who does his gardening! And also sees ghosts! Luckily an older woman with a mysterious past is there to take everything in hand. Plus there’s a cat. I do think this could have been a bit tighter, but it was very fun and I have already pre-ordered the sequel. A/A-.

2025 book 196

 Magda Szabo’s Abigail

Sometimes you just want to reread a beautiful and classic book about resistance to the Nazis. Actually this  is the story of a girl in 1944 Hungary whose army general father suddenly puts her in a very strict religious boarding school. Even knowing the ending, this is a satisfying read and a very moving coming of age story. Totally makes me cry, but with like hope. 

2025 book 195

 Annie Mare’s Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon

Very cute queer romance involving two women in a Lake House situation, where they’re texting each other from five months apart. Except it turns out the woman in the earlier timeline has gone missing in the interim, and the other woman and all their friends have to figure out if they can mess with the timeline enough to save her. Great characters, interesting philosophical conversations, spicier than I usually prefer but I was totally rooting for them, all their friends, and their cats. Really sweet. A-.

2025 book 194

 Virginia Evans’ The Correspondent 

I do love an epistolary novel, and this one involves the correspondence of a 73 year old woman in Maryland, a retired lawyer and avid reader (I think this book is tailor-made for book clubs, and particularly for my book club). There are a lot of funny moments, some surprising moments, and, as expected, I cried buckets. Really beautiful story about loss, grief, and human connections. A.

2025 book 193

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s Testimony of Mute Things

The latest Penric and Desdemona novella is set much earlier in their chronology, which is a nice change. I do enjoy daddy Penric and the adventures of his children, but it’s nice to have a story focused on politics and solving a murder. We also find out more about the spy who held Desdemona before Penric, which is fun. I love these characters so these are always gonna be highly rated. A.

2025 book 192

 EK Johnston’s The Sky on Fire 

This did turn out to be a sequel to Aetherbound, so I’m glad I reread that one! There is a different main character here, a young woman in academia who’s just been approved for her first fieldwork! But of course she encounters some characters from the first book along the way, and gets caught up in adventures and intrigue. It weirdly felt like the action-y plots and the character plots were both underdeveloped? I had a lot of questions about the science stuff too. But it was entertaining enough. B+.

2025 book 191

 EK Johnston’s Aetherbound

Johnston put out a new book in this world recently, so I figured I’d reread the first one, since all I remembered about it was that I liked it. (That’s not shade on this book—I read a LOT of books and have read a few hundred since this one! That’s why I started this blog in the first place, to help remember what I’ve read. Though of course I have, on more than one occasion, reread a book I had no recollection of reading before.) Anyway, this YA sci-fi book involves a girl with the power to manipulate genetics, which is somehow not a power that’s useful on her family’s spaceship, so she runs away before they can sell her off, and ends up on a space station run by rebels… and in a marriage of convenience, lol. A fun read for sure. A-.

2025 book 190

 Richard Osman's The Impossible Fortune

I was having one of those things where I would get like 20 percent into a book and completely lose interest, but this one grabbed me right away and held on! It's not even that the mystery, which involves the best man from Joyce's daughter's wedding in fear for his life, is what kept me interested (though it is action-packed), or even the side plots, it's just that this book has a really fun narrative tone and great characters and lots of hilarious little moments. This felt more light and optimistic than the previous ones (aside from some mentions of domestic violence). Just a joy to read. A/A-.

2025 book 189

 Rachel Neumeier’s Sekaran

The latest book in the Tuyo-verse is basically a series of events in the life of the summer king’s son Sekaran, who pops up in a couple of the other books. A lot of these events involve Aras (his cousin) and as it goes on, there are a ton of references to the other books—this one is definitely not a standalone (I have read all the books, some more than once, and still was occasionally like, wait what’s going on?). I actually liked the ones best that weren’t references; I especially liked seeing Sekaran and his family (his sister is awesome), as well as hints at future storylines. A-.

2025 book 188

 Skip Hollandsworth's She Kills: The Murderous Socialite, the Cross-Dressing Bank Robber, and Other True Crime Tales

Back when Longform and Longreads were websites on the ol' internet, I read a lot of Hollandsworth's essays in Texas Monthly, so even though I rarely read non-fiction books, I wanted to check out his collection. It's good! I read a couple a day so it wouldn't get overwhelming (both in terms of reading a bunch of essays in a row and the theme of the thing, mostly desperate women). I had read a couple of these before, but each essay has a little postscript update, which is nice. I don't really have anything in particular to say about this--I guess I recommend it to ppl who like thoughtful writing about true crime. A-.

2025 book 187

 Lily King's Writers and Lovers

This is another one that is SO good and engrossing even though the plot description sounds like whatever!! And it was so interesting to read after Heart the Lover, knowing how Casey's life will be in the future. Here, she's in her early thirties, struggling to write her first novel, drowning in student loan debt, grieving her mother, waitressing for a living, and dealing with various romantic situations. Again, doesn't necessarily sound like anything unique based on that, but it IS. (Also, I am already invested in Casey as a character--but I think I'd have loved this anyway. Ps she did go to Duke!) Another beautiful book and I can’t believe I waited so long to read it. I am now a Lily King stan. A.

2025 book 186

 Lily King’s Heart the Lover

Ah y’all this was so good. The description makes it sound like an average literary novel—a college student in involved in a love triangle, then the story flashes forward to her as a married mother of two—but reviewers I trust raved about it and I totally get why. (Sidebar to NC locals—I think the college parts are set here, as the author did her undergrad at UNC and Raleigh is briefly mentioned.) Just beautiful writing and characters, I was so moved by this, and I am pleased to have discovered the narrator here is also the protagonist of King’s novel Writers & Lovers, which I will be starting immediately. A.

2025 book 185

 Emma Lathen’s Death Shall Overcome

The plot here involves a Black man being appointed to an important finance guy role (this was written in the mid-60s), and some of the other finance guys are openly racist, some are quietly racist, and others are like “well he’s a millionaire and rowed crew at Yale so I’m actually fine with this”—and of course there ends up being a murder that Thatcher has to unravel. Another very funny mystery, though the explanation did drag a bit. A-.

225 book 184

 Sofia Samatar’s The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain

I do enjoy a literary sci fi novella, and this one involves major class distinctions, unity, philosophy, ancademic politics, and a fair amount of humor. It’s beautifully written and I loved the character arcs. I did not necessarily/understand/ it fully (lol) but it was a great vibe for the political moment. A/A-.

225 book 183

 Alix E. Harrow’s The Everlasting

Omg yall this was EXCELLENT and will one hundred percent be on my favorite books of the year list. It involves a historian in a fantasy empire who’s obsessed with their legendary hero, a lady knight, and what happens when he receives a mysterious book in the mail… I loved these characters so much and I feel like this is the perfect book for Our Troubled Times, as they are striving to build a better world, and there’s so much hope, even when it’s hard. No spoilers but I think there are some interesting comparisons with other favorite fantasy books of mine. Hit me up when you’ve read this so I can discuss! A.

__

A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on October 28th.

2025 book 182

 K.J. Charles’ All of Us Murderers 

Hooray for a new KJ Charles book! This one if a gothic thriller type of book involving a gay man who goes to see a cousin her barely knows, only to discover a bunch of his horrible relatives there, AND his ex is his cousin’s secretary! And then his cousin is all “whoever marries my ward will inherit the family fortune” and all hell breaks loose! But when he tries to leave, he discovers they’re trapped there… I really enjoyed this, this had great pacing, a sweet romance, was a little creepy but not TOO much for me, and it was fun to watch it all come together. Perfect October book. A.

2025 book 181

 Laura Amy Schultz’s The Winter of the Dollhouse

I don’t read a ton of middle-grade fiction these days, but I remembered liking books by this author, and lost—I LOOOOVE dollhouses. I’m not gonna get into it at length here but I had a beloved childhood dollhouse with electricity and I miss it! Anyway, this story involves a girl who loves a doll in the window of the dollhouse store, the doll who longs to be adopted by the girl (this is a Toy Story-esque world where the dolls have adventures and chat with animals when no one is looking and I love it), and the older woman recovering from surgery who hires the girl to walk her dog. Lots of lovely little moments and I teared up more than once. Just a really NICE and satisfying story. A.

2025 book 180

 Jessica Ellicot’s Murder in an English Village

This is the first book in the Beryl and Edwina series—Beryl being a famous American adventurer who comes to stay with her old school friend Edwina in her small English village. When she starts a rumor that they’re investigating something for the king, suddenly they’re under attack and there’s a murder! Is it related to a girl who went missing during the war? (This is set in 1920, but I actually thought it was set in the 1940s for a while lol.) Anyway, pretty good mystery, the pacing was a bit slow but I enjoyed the characters a lot. Will probably check back in on this series. B+.

2025 book 179

 Elizabeth Hand’s Wylding Hall

Everyone’s talking about the spooky books they’re going to read in October, but I’m a giant wuss! I decided to reread this, which I remember being creepy but not outright a horror novel (will I regret reading this right before bed though? PROBABLY!!!). Anyway, this novel is an oral history about a folk band in the 70s working on a new album in a weird old manor house in the middle of nowhere in England. Lots of sex and drugs and mysterious rooms and mysterious girls. Ok yeah I should not have read this right before bed.

2025 book 178

 Bex Benjamin’s The Last Woman on Earth

Hey, it’s a weirdly fun post-apocalyptic romance novel! (Aside from the scary vampire-zombie hybrid guys.) Anyway, our protagonist is living in a post-apocalyptic farming community, doing chores and running the closest thing they have to a newspaper, when a ruthless woman military contractor type takes over a nearby community…and has an eye on on our (supposedly straight) protagonist. And also wants her to investigate exactly how this vampire/zombie apocalypse went down. Really engaging writing, and I enjoyed the characters a ton, plus lots of action and plot. Looks like this is the start of a trilogy and I’m here for it. A/A-.