“Fiction was so much tidier than real life. Justice always prevailed, and the heroes were always victorious.” The night Lyssa Cadogan’s brother was murdered by a faerie-made monster known as the Beast, she made him a promise: she would find a way to destroy the immortal creature and avenge his death. For thirteen years, she…
2025 End of the Year Wrap-Up
Finally, 2025 is coming to an end. This year has been rough in a few ways, but one of the ways that impacted me the most, but not others, is that I’ve had a pretty shit reading year. I have a few really big highs, some absolutely depths of hell level lows, and a lot…
Quicksilver by Callie Hart
“Nobody will ever fuck you the way I’m about to fuck you, Saeris Fane. I’m about to introduce you to all seven gods. When you meet them, don’t forget to tell them I’m the one you worship on your knees.” Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers…
Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen
“Everyone grieves differently. There’s no way to do it. It shows up some days, and it passes on other days.” After burning out last year, Angelica is ready to get her life back together. Thankfully she has amazing friends to support her…including Peri the Bear, the mascot of her town’s local theater. At her lowest…
Pilu of the Woods by Mai K. Nguyen
Willow loves the woods near her house. They’re calm and quiet, so different from her own turbulent emotions, which she keeps locked away. When her emotions get the better of her one day, she decides to run away into the woods. There, she meets Pilu, a lost tree spirit who can’t find her way back…
Bakandamiya: An Elegy by Saddiq Dzukogi
In this book-length epic poem set in Northern Nigeria, Saddiq Dzukogi blends the personal with the mythical, part prayer and part praise song, expanding the griot tradition of Bakandamiya, a poetic form from Northern Nigeria popularized by Mamman Shata. I’ll openly admit that I had to do some research in preparation for reading this. I…
Best Wishes From the Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki
In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a Christmas-time Kyoto moon. Satomi is devoted to her…
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
“Somebody,” said Jacques, “your father or mine, should have told us that not many people have ever died of love. But multitudes have perished, and are perishing every hour–and in the oddest places!–for the lack of it.” Set in the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between…
Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell
“My trust issues mean I sometimes struggle with being vulnerable, but you’re starting to weasel your way into my heart. Truly. I’m going to do my best to let you in.” Those who can, teach. Marvin Block is one of the best kindergarten teachers out there. And despite his anxiety, Marvin’s life is sweet. He…
Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History by Moudhy Al-Rashid
“You can learn a lot about a culture from the things its people throw away, and the layers left behind are precisely why we have to dig.” Mesopotamia saw the first cities, devised the original writing system, sowed the early seeds of agriculture, and developed myths, medicine, and astronomy that all went on to influence…
The Great Book Wyrm 