“Lions roam the world…majesty and misery…there is no hiding. How good it is, then to find someone with whom you can become the lion.” Val is ready to give up on love. It’s led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she’s pretty sure she’s cursed—no one in her family, for generations, has ever had…
Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald
“It’s different for women. We talk to other women. Men find it hard to talk. So they fish.” Raine can see–and more importantly, speak–to the dead. It’s a wretched gift with a death sentence that has her doing many dubious things to save her skin. Seeking refuge with a deluded cult is her latest bad,…
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
“I have known many human beings with a full soul to their name who do not have half so much compassion or practicality as you.” Ever since she was cursed by a faerie, Theodora Ettings has had no sense of fear or embarrassment – a condition which makes her prone to accidental scandal. Dora hopes…
Desert Creatures by Kay Chronister
In a world that has become treacherous and desiccated, Magdala has always had to fight to survive. At nine years old, she and her father, Xavier, are exiled from their home, fleeing through the Sonoran Desert, searching for refuge. As violence pursues them, they join a handful of survivors on a pilgrimage to the holy…
Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood
“I haven’t thought about anything but you since the first time I saw you.” Viola Bowen has the chance of a lifetime: to design a video game based on her all-time favorite book series. The only problem? Her co-lead is Jesse F-ing Andrews, a.k.a. her arch-nemesis. Jesse has made it abundantly clear over the years…
Indigenous Continent by Pekka Hämäläinen
“North American Indians had experimented with ranked societies and all-powerful spiritual leaders and had found them deficient and dangerous. They had opted for more horizontal, participatory, and egalitarian ways of being in the world…” There is an old, deeply rooted story about America that goes like this: Columbus “discovers” a strange continent and brings back…
The Boy From Clearwater by Yu Pei-Yun and Zhou Jian-Xin
An incredible true story in graphic novel form that lays bare the tortured and triumphant history of Taiwan, an island claimed and fought over by many countries, through the life story of a man who lived through its most turbulent times. I already knew a little about Taiwan because I’ve read things like Hunter School…
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
“It is always interesting to see how often women are described as ravenous when it is the men who, without exception, take without thought of compensation.” You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And…
The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi
“The surest way to eradicate a people’s right to their land is to deny their historical connection to it.” In 1899, Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, mayor of Jerusalem, alarmed by the Zionist call to create a Jewish national home in Palestine, wrote a letter aimed at Theodore Herzl: the country had an indigenous people who would…
2024 Book Superlatives
It’s that time of the year again where I talk about how my overall reading year went and decide if it was a success. On paper it was a success, but as I looked at a lot of these categories it was really hard for me to pick out some of the books to highlight….
The Great Book Wyrm 