Provo City Library Staff Reviews

Glint

2026-08-03T16:24:09.270-06:00

Glint (Plated Prisoner #2)

By Raven Kennedy

Independently published, 2021. 462 pages. Fantasy

Auren has lived in King Midas’s golden castle for ten years (GILD), but now she’s being held prisoner by Fourth Kingdom’s army. As Midas’s favored, Auren is the main bargaining chip, but Commander Rip, known for his brutality on the battlefield and viciousness, wants her to realize that Midas isn’t as good and kind as she’s been led to believe in her gilded cage. In the game of kings and armies, Auren is the gilded pawn. The question is, an she out maneuver them?

For fans of slow-burn romantasies, mythology retellings, and court intrigue, the Plated Prisoner series is one to try out. I was really frustrated with Auren in Gild because of her naïveté with Midas, but in Glint she’s starting to question the life she’s lived (essentially that of a manipulated and abused pet) and realize that she’s not a toy to be played with, or a tool to be used. She’s actually a powerful woman, with a voice, and she deserves far better than what Midas is giving her. Enter Commander Rip who is pushing her to question everything and train her abilities, and I’m so ready for the “villain gets the girl” trope.

If you liked Glint, you might also like:

The Book of Azrael

By Amber V. Nicole

Kensington Publishing Corp, 2022. 598 pages. Fantasy

A thousand years ago, Dianna gave up her life to save her sister, unknowingly binding herself to Kaden, a monster worse than any nightmare. Now she must retrieve a relic from the creatures hunting her. Once Samkiel, now Liam, the World Ender returns to a realm he swore off after the Gods War. As old enemies resurface, Dianna and Liam must unite to save their world—and every realm in between.

The Serpent and the Wolf

By Rebecca Robinson

Saga Press, 2024. 346 pages. Fantasy

As a dark magic awakens within her, Vaasa Kozar struggles against the political machinations of her ruthless brother and finds her arranged marriage to the equally ruthless Reid of Mireh growing into something greater, threatening to play havoc with the competing agendas that swirl around it.

ACS

The Compound

2026-07-21T18:03:42.996-06:00

The Compound

by Aisling Rawle

Random House, 2025. 292 pages. Fiction

Lily, a disillusioned young woman, competes in a high-stakes reality show on a desert compound where personal bonds, hidden desperation, and escalating challenges blur the lines between game strategy and survival amidst a crumbling outside world.

For all of my fellow reality TV lovers and haters, this one is for you! Particularly the Love Island variety. The book starts out innocuously enough, but once it picks up, it is hard to put down. Recommended for readers who enjoy suspenseful, character-driven fiction and reality TV social commentary.

If you like The Compound you might also like:

The Book of Luke
by Lovell Holder
Grand Central Publishing, 2025. 394 pages. Fiction

Following the car accident that ended his football career and left his body scarred, 22-year-old Luke Griffin joins the cast of Endeavor, a new competition-based reality show that pits the tabloids' darlings against one another in tasks of endurance and problem solving. Soon a series of betrayals leads to irreversible tragedy, changing the course of his and his felllow contestants' lives forever. Ten years later, Luke is now a father of two and the stay-at-home husband to America's only openly gay senator. When his husband's serial cheating is exposed, Luke impulsively joins the cast of Endeavor's latest season in a desperate bid to earn some fast cash.

Patricia Wants to Cuddle
by Yumei Kitasei
Flatiron Books, 2025. 376 pages. Fiction

On this season of The Catch, a Bachelor-style show, contestants must compete for love...and their lives.

RBL

All Systems Red

2026-07-20T11:33:39.534-06:00

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1)

by Martha Wells

Tom Doherty Associates, 2017. 152 pages. Sci-Fi.

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid -- a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

I looooove a fun robot story. Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot and The Positronic Man are on my personal “best books” list, I always sympathized more with C-3P0 than Luke Skywalker, a Lego model of Johnny 5 sits on my desk at this very moment, and Star Trek’s Mr. Data is my all-time favorite fictional character, hands down. That said, I don’t know how I completely overlooked Martha Wells’ hit series The Murderbot Diaries before now! But I finally took notice and am working to rectify my error. Book 1 is already a winner in my eyes. Murderbot, as the narrator, is a snarky delight. It has named itself for its potential to be an unstoppable killing machine now that it is free to make its own choices. It’s plain from the start, though, that Murderbot has much more in common with Data and Andrew Martin than with The Terminator, possessing an innate sense of right and wrong and a real “heart” buried beneath the circuits. (Its favorite pastime is binge-watching terrible TV shows, it's practically human already!) All Systems Red is a fast-paced origin story, introducing us to the Company-controlled future of humanity and setting Murderbot up for further adventures. I’m looking forward to seeing where my grumpy new robot friend goes next!

If you like All Systems Red, you might also like:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

by Becky Chambers

Harper Voyager, 2016. 443 pages. Sci-Fi.

Rosemary Harper doesn't expect much when she joins the diverse crew of the aging starship Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers a bed, a chance to explore the galaxy, and some distance from her past. The crew is offered a job tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet. It's a lucrative job, but a host of unexpected mishaps force the crew to depend on each other.

Automatic Noodle

by Annalee Newitz

Tor Publishing Group, 2025. 163 pages. Sci-Fi.

You don't have to eat food to know the way to a city's heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food--the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around--for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.

Moss’d in Space

by Rebecca Thorne

Bramble/Tor Publishing Group, 2026. 360 pages. Sci-Fi.

Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia's assessment, it was not "a meteoric sign of stupidity." Sure, the alien starship may have been abandoned for a century, and it may be covered in moss now ... but it's Torian's ticket to freedom, regardless of what her ex ... ah, captain ... said. Except Torian's first flight reveals a surprise passenger: the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. The target of its loathing? The immortal alien who built it (and then parked the starship, with Moss inside, and forgot about it). The same alien who just found Torian and accused her of "stealing" the ship. It's entirely possible that Amelia was right about this meteoric stupidity.

-LAH

We Burned So Bright

2026-07-18T17:43:34.721-06:00

We Burned So Bright

By T.J. Klune

Tor, 2026. 169 pages. Sci-Fi.

Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they've experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world. Now, the world is ending for real. A rogue black hole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they've ever known will be gone. Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They're in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington state to take care of some unfinished business before it's all over. On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how--impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, and new friends. And as the black hole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough. Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes?

I want to preface this review by saying I am a very emotional person who cries very easily, so, perhaps, you will not have as strong of a reaction to this book as I did. With that said, I have to be honest with you: this book made me cry a concerning amount. For entirety of the last forty or so pages, I was absolutely weeping. I know that doesn't necessarily sound fun. I know that might not sound appealing. I know you're wondering to yourself: "Why would I want to read a book that makes me cry so hard I nearly pass out?" I know! Trust me, I get it! But, yet, here I am recommending this book to you, anyway, despite my near brush with unconsciousness from crying too hard, because I can promise you that this book is so worth it. Klune handles the heavy topics -death, fear, mental health, the end of the world, grief- so tenderly and with compassion. While the story never shies away from heartbreak, Klune also balances the heaviness with humor, hope, and love in all its forms. He highlights both the bad in humanity (war, greed, violence) and the good in humanity (kindness, art, music, laughter, empathy) and shows how life in general contains both great terribleness and great beauty. This book is short at only 169 pages, and I flew through it, but it wasn't necessarily an easy read. It was, however, an incredibly rewarding one. If you're looking for a book that will make you feel deeply and leave you reflecting on life -and on how you choose to spend your brief and precious time on Earth- We Burned So Bright is the book for you.

If you like We Burned So Bright, you might also like:

The Spear Cuts Through Water

by Simon Jimenez
Del Rey, 2022. 522 pages. Sci-Fi.

The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace. But that god cannot be contained forever. With the aid of Jun, a guard broken by his guilt-stricken past, and Keema, an outcast fighting for his future, the god escapes from her royal captivity and flees from her own children, the triplet Terrors who would drag her back to her unholy prison. And so it is that she embarks with her young companions on a five-day pilgrimage in search of freedom and a way to end the Moon Throne forever. The journey ahead will be more dangerous than any of them could have imagined. Both a sweeping adventure story and an intimate exploration of identity, legacy, and belonging, The Spear Cuts Through Water is an ambitious and profound saga that will transport and transform you.

This Is How You Lose the Time War

by Amal El-Mohtar
Simon & Schuster, 2019. 198 pages. Sci-Fi.

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them.

The Measure

by Nikki Erlick
HarperCollins, 2022. 352 pages. Fiction.

It seems like any other day. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out. But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live. From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise? As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they'll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge? The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn't have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything.

Japanese Gothic

2026-07-15T18:53:26.465-06:00

Japanese Gothic

By Kylie Lee Baker

Hanover Square Press, 2026. 344 pages. Fiction

Lee Turner doesn't remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge--his father's new home in Japan. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn't always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.

October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father's face, but Sen would do anything to please him. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window. One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie. Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it.

‘Tis the season for spooky, summer reads and Japanese Gothic rings it in with aplomb. This deeply atmospheric novel had me looking over my shoulder and hearing whispers in the wind. The parallel stories are driven by compelling characters that had me invested, but absolutely did not trust. This book was mysterious, gothic, and a little out there and I just couldn’t get enough.

If you like Japanese Gothic, you might also like:

Nothing but Blackened Teeth

By Cassandra Khaw

Nightfire, 2021. 125 pages. Fiction

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company. It's the perfect venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends, brought back together to celebrate a wedding. A night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare as secrets get dragged out and relationships are tested. But the house has secrets too. Lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart. And she gets lonely down there in the dirt. Effortlessly taking the classic haunted house story and turning it on its head, Nothing but Blackened Teeth is a sharp and devastating exploration of grief, the parasitic nature of relationships, and the consequences of our actions.

The Hacienda

By Isabel Cañas

Berkley, 2022. 345 pages. Fiction

In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz's father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife's sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost. But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined. When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz's sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo's sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz's fears--but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano? Beatriz only knows two things for certain. Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her. Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, it will take Andrés's skills as a witch to battle the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda.

The Children

By Melissa Albert William

Morrow, 2026. 398 pages. Fiction

Guinevere Sharpe has two childhoods. In one, she lives in the wooded shadow of her family's isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of her mother's world-famous Ninth City books, where her magical adventures have made her a household name. In reality, Guinevere's childhood isn't the enchanted idyll her mother's readers imagine: she and her older brother are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the lichen-clotted woods they've made their playland. As Edith Sharpe's books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame--until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith's series unfinished and her children the sole survivors. Now an adult coasting on her mother's name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family's legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere's childhood begin to surface

Homebound

2026-07-14T15:41:22.363-06:00

Homebound
by Portia Elan
Scribner, 2026. 304 pages. Science Fiction

Lives are entangled across time by one unfinished story, saved to a floppy disk in the 1980s and destined to ripple across the centuries.

1983: Becks is nineteen, blasting her Walkman, and hiding from the fact that her beloved uncle, and the only person who understood her, is dead. Luckily, he left her a half-finished video game to complete—one last collaboration to find her way out of loneliness.

2078: Dr. Portman works at the intersection of artificial intelligence and robotics, wrestling with her responsibility to Earth's precarious future. But increasingly, it seems an exceptional project may transcend everything she believed to be possible.

2586: After decades of life on the sea, Yesiko knows a scavenger's work is rife with moral compromise. Yet when a long-lost piece of technology walks aboard her ship, she is set on a path toward a sacrifice even she may be unwilling to make.

Linking these women across the centuries is a chain reaction of love, longing, and creativity that reveals our deep interconnectedness.

I admittedly enjoy books that are a little melancholy but also a bit hopeful, with beautiful writing and thought-provoking questions. For me, Homebound definitely fits the bill. This book contains four storylines connected across time, intricately woven together. Each storyline has fully realized characters that I wanted to root for, so I wasn't more connected to one story over another. Since most of the storylines occur in the future, the main thread and feel of the story reminded me of lyrical dystopian travel stories (like some of the ones listed below). The addition of the past storyline and a somewhat mysterious fourth narrative is what ties the plots together into a cohesive whole. This story touches on themes of friendship, identity, found family, grief, climate change, artificial intelligence, and more. The result is a moving, unique story that will stay with me for a while.

If you like Homebound you might also like:

Station Eleven
by Emily St John Mandel
Alfred A. Knopf, 2014. 333 pages. Science Fiction

One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve as the story moves back and forth in time—from the actor's early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains.

Saltcrop
by Yumei Kitasei
Flatiron Books, 2025. 376 pages. Science Fiction

In Earth's not too distant future, seas consume coastal cities, highways disintegrate underwater, and mutant fish lurk in pirate-controlled depths. Skipper, a skilled sailor and the youngest of three sisters, earns money skimming and reselling plastic from the ocean to care for her ailing grandmother. But then her eldest sister, Nora, goes missing. Nora left home a decade ago in pursuit of a cure for failing crops all over the world. When Skipper and her other sister, Carmen, receive a cryptic plea for help, they must put aside their differences and set out across the sea to find her.

Cloud Cuckoo Land
by Anthony Doerr
Scribner, 2021. 626 pages. Fiction

Follows four young dreamers and outcasts through time and space, from 1453 Constantinople to the future, as they discover resourcefulness and hope amidst peril.

Land

2026-07-14T09:33:46.469-06:00

Land

By Maggie O’Farrell

Alfred A. Knopf, 2026. 383 pages. Fiction

On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster. The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is unexpectedly sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and the lives of those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás, and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping and get them both home?

This summary is only the beginning of this epic family saga that takes place after the potato famine in Ireland. This work of literary fiction has a very strong sense of place. The land is one of the main characters of the story. O’Farrell’s writing is very vivid and I could easily imagine the landscape in Ireland and the copse that sets the story on its path. That being said, this isn’t a quick read nor is it light hearted. But if you’re looking for a book that takes you on a journey of a family and their relationship to the land and each other, you’re in for a treat. I think this book is going to be on many best books of 2026 lists.

If you like Land, you might also like:

Bog Queen

By Anna North

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025. 264 pages. Fiction

When a body is found in a bog in northwest England, Agnes, an American forensic anthropologist, is called to investigate. Agnes has always been more comfortable with the dead than the living, but this body is not like any she's ever seen. Though its bones prove it was buried more than two thousand years ago, it is almost completely preserved. The mystery of the Iron Age body draws the attention of numerous groups with competing interests : the archaeologists who want to study the surrounding bog, the peat-cutters who want to profit from the land's resources, and a group of environmental activists and neo-pagans who demand the body be returned to its resting place and that the moss-layered bog -- a marvel of carbon capture on a warming planet -- be left undisturbed. Then there's the moss itself ; a complex repository of artifacts and remains, with its own dark stories to tell. As Agnes is drawn into the controversy stirred by the body and its habitat, she must face not only the deep history of what she has unearthed, but also the relationships she has forsworn in her bid for independence.

Librarian Review

This is Where the Serpent Lives

By Daniyal Mueenuddin

Alfred A. Knopf, 2026. 343 pages. Fiction

Set in urban and rural Pakistan, this novel follows the interconnected lives of multiple characters whose experiences reflect the country's feudal, political, and social structures. The narrative traces the rise and struggles of individuals shaped by poverty, power, loyalty, and ambition, including servants, landowners, and political elites. Through their personal relationships and moral choices, the novel examines issues of class, authority, corruption, and survival within contemporary Pakistani society, combining intimate.

Lore Olympus

2026-07-03T14:31:07.654-06:00

Lore Olympus, Vol. 1

by Rachel Smythe

Del Ray, 2021. Unpaged

Graphic Novel

Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love--witness what the gods do after dark in this stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology.

Persephone, young goddess of spring, is new to Olympus. Her mother, Demeter, has raised her in the mortal realm, but after Persephone promises to train as a sacred virgin, she's allowed to live in the fast-moving, glamorous world of the gods. When her roommate, Artemis, takes her to a party, her entire life changes: she ends up meeting Hades and feels an immediate spark with the charming yet misunderstood ruler of the Underworld. Now Persephone must navigate the confusing politics and relationships that rule Olympus, while also figuring out her own place--and her own power.

I love Greek mythology and this modern retelling is so interesting! Persephone is fresh and new to the outside world (Olympus) and is eager and excited to take advantage of all it has to offer. Hades is handsome and brooding, just like Mr. Rochester or Mr. Darcy, so of course you fall in love with him right away. The artwork is gorgeous and I find I'm just gazing at the images until I get anxious and move on with the story. It's definitely dramatic and gritty (*language) but I'm invested enough to continue the series.

If you like Lore Olympus, you might also like:

Hera

by Jennifer Saint

Flatiron Books, 2024. 388 pages

Fantasy

Even the gods must have their queen. When the immortal goddess Hera and her brother Zeus overthrow their tyrannical father, she dreams of ruling at his side. But as they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera begins to see that Zeus is just as ruthless and cruel as the father they betrayed. While Zeus ascends, Hera is relegated to the role of wife and mother, a role she never wanted. She was always born to rule, but must she lose herself in perpetuating this cycle of violence and cruelty? Or can she find a way to forge a better world? In this enthralling retelling, Greek mythology's most famous and maligned goddess finally tells her own story, as power, passion, and divine strength collide in the heart of Olympus.

Aphrodite

by Phoenicia Rogerson

Hanover Square Press, 2025. 470 pages

Fantasy

Aphrodite saw the gods on Mount Olympus and decided she wanted a piece of what they had. Only problem is, she's not a goddess, just a lowly being who's supposed to remain in a distant cave, keeping the threads of Fate woven neatly. But Aphrodite's never let anyone tell her what to do ... Weaving herself a web of lies and careful deceptions, she convinces everyone she's the goddess of love and that her rightful place is among the Olympians, who lord it over everyone else at the top of the world, but under the stifling rule of Zeus. For the first time, she has the best of everything, as well as friends, peers, even loved ones. Only, being a goddess isn't quite like she thought. Those who oppose Zeus tend to disappear, or worse. And one day, Aphrodite decides she's had enough.

I, Medusa

by Ayana Gray

Random House, 2025. 320 pages

Fantasy

Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else's story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents--both gods, albeit minor ones--she dreams of leaving her family's island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home. In Athens' colorful market streets and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athena's favored acolyte, getting her first tastes of purpose and power. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, a drunken night between girl and god ends in violence, and the course of Meddy's promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered. Her locs transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity--not as a victim, but as a vigilante--and with it, the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr, and myth. Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the cross currents between her heart's deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.

Charlotte Brontë's Life Through Clothes

2026-07-02T12:47:36.211-06:00

Charlotte Brontë's Life Through Clothes

By: Eleanor Houghton

Bloomsbury Visual Arts 2026. 355 pages. Nonfiction

Meet the real, thinking, feeling woman that was Charlotte Brontë, as told in this biography by the surviving witnesses to her life - the clothes that she once wore. These garments were present as she penned Jane Eyre , as she walked the cobbled streets of Haworth, and as she stood with her fiancé at the altar in the summer of 1854. Yet, until now, their testimonies had remained unheard. Renowned Brontë scholar and dress historian Eleanor Houghton's innovative, richly illustrated biography, Charlotte Brontë's Life Through Clothes, finally gives voice to the gowns, bonnets, shawls, corsets, parasols and boots that make up the novelist's wardrobe. Secrets are revealed in their very fibres. Brontë's steel busked corset tells the story of corporate espionage and forbidden love, whilst her striped, silk dress shows how she coped with the new-found pressures of fame. When exposed to 21st century technology, a tiny sample of fabric from her 'Thackeray Dress' reveals important innovations of the Industrial Revolution going on around her and a black lace veil, worn after the deaths of her siblings, expresses how she dealt with repeated familial loss. These clothes, some of which still bear the imprint of her foot or the sweat from her pores, prove themselves to be far more than mere celebrity curios. When 'read' alongside letters, portraits, her novels and the recollections of those who knew her well, Charlotte emerges as a woman altogether braver, more vulnerable, less isolated, less provincial, more fashion conscious than anyone ever expected.

This is a fascinating, tangible history of the famed and mysterious Charlotte Brontë, throwing light on her brief and fascinating life. An added element to this account is Houghton's meticulously hand-drawn depictions of the dresses and clothing accessories - there are no photographs. This makes this book a unique biography, and the beautiful art compliments the era, and Charlotte Brontë and her sister's lives. As the author points out, photographs of the items are available, and if you're able to visit the Brontë Parsonage Museum, you can see them in person. Houghton's drawings bring beauty and a sense of intimacy in this unique and highly recommended biography, emphasizing that the domestic details - what we wear day to day - is part of our story too.

If you like Charlotte Brontë's Life Through Clothes, you might also like:

The Brontë Cabinet

By Deborah Lutz

Norton & Company, 2015. 310 pages. Nonfiction.

Victorian literature scholar Deborah Lutz illuminates the complex and fascinating lives of the Brontës through the things they wore, stitched, wrote on, and inscribed. By unfolding the histories of the meaningful objects in their family home in Haworth, Lutz immerses readers in a nuanced re-creation of the sisters' daily lives while moving us chronologically forward through the major biographical events: the death of their mother and two sisters, the imaginary kingdoms of their childhood writing, their time as governesses, and their determined efforts to make a mark on the literary world. From the miniature books they made as children to the blackthorn walking sticks they carried on solitary hikes on the moors, each personal possession opens a window onto the sisters' world, their beloved fiction, and the Victorian era. A description of the brass collar worn by Emily's bull mastiff, Keeper, leads to a series of entertaining anecdotes about the influence of the family's dogs on their writing and about the relationship of Victorians to their pets in general. The sisters' portable writing desks prove to have played a crucial role in their writing lives: it was Charlotte's snooping in Emily's desk that led to the sisters' first publication in print, followed later by the publication of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Charlotte's letters provide insight into her relationships, both innocent and illicit, including her relationship with the older professor to whom she wrote passionately. And the bracelet Charlotte had made of Anne and Emily's intertwined hair bears witness to her profound grief after their deaths. Lutz captivatingly shows the Brontës anew by bringing us deep inside the physical world in which they lived and from which their writings took inspiration.

The Dress Diary

By Kate Strasdin

First Pegasus Books, 2023. 303 pages. Nonfiction

In 1838, a young woman was given a diary on her wedding day. Collecting snippets of fabric from a range of garments - some her own, others donated by family and friends - she carefully annotated each one, creating a unique record of their lives. Her name was Mrs Anne Sykes. Nearly two hundred years later, the diary fell into the hands of Kate Strasdin, a fashion historian and museum curator. Using her expertise, Strasdin spent the next six years unravelling the secrets contained within the album's pages, and the lives of the people within. Her findings are remarkable. Piece by piece, she charts Anne's journey from the mills of Lancashire to the port of Singapore before tracing her return to England in later years. Fragments of cloth become windows into Victorian life: pirates in Borneo, the complicated etiquette of mourning, poisonous dyes, the British Empire in full swing, rioting over working conditions and the terrible human cost of Britain's cotton industry. This is life writing that celebrates ordinary people: not the grandees of traditional written histories, but the hidden figures, the participants in everyday life. Through the evidence of waistcoats, ball gowns and mourning outfits, Strasdin lays bare the whole of human experience in the most intimate of mediums: the clothes we choose to wear.

The Age of Homespun: objects and stories in the creation of an American myth

By Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. 501 pages. Nonfiction

They began their existence as everyday objects, but in the hands of award-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, fourteen domestic items from preindustrial America-ranging from a linen tablecloth to an unfinished sock-relinquish their stories and offer profound insights into our history. In an age when even meals are rarely made from scratch, homespun easily acquires the glow of nostalgia. The objects Ulrich investigates unravel those simplified illusions, revealing important clues to the culture and people who made them. Ulrich uses an Indian basket to explore the uneasy coexistence of native and colonial Americans. A piece of silk embroidery reveals racial and class distinctions, and two old spinning wheels illuminate the connections between colonial cloth-making and war. Pulling these divergent threads together, Ulrich demonstrates how early Americans made, used, sold, and saved textiles in order to assert their identities, shape relationships, and create history.

MGB

Dungeon Crawler Carl

2026-07-01T16:20:26.628-06:00

Dungeon Crawler Carl

by Matt Dinniman

Dandy House, 2020. 433 pages. Science Fiction & Fantasy.

The apocalypse will be televised! A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground. The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe. Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style. You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big. You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game--with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy. They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

Yes, this book is as good as everyone says it is. It’s the kind of book that once you read it, you need everyone around you to read it because it’s so fun and you need to talk to someone about it. While it takes a heavy dose of suspension of disbelief to get into this book, the author makes it easy. It’s a fun, fast-paced read with detailed worldbuilding, distinctive characters who you fall in love with, a large amount of tabletop RPG and other game mechanics, pop culture references galore, and a writing style that keeps you hooked. This book is recommended for anyone looking for a good time.

If you like Dungeon Crawler Carl, you might also like:

Solo Leveling

by Ch'ugong

Yen Press, 2021. 311 pages. Graphic Novel

Known as the the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind, E-rank hunter Jinwoo Sung's contribution to raids amounts to trying not to get killed. Unfortunately, between his mother's hospital bills, his sister's tuition, and his own lack of job prospects, he has no choice but to continue to put his life on the line. So when an opportunity arises for a bigger payout, he takes it... only to come face-to-face with a being whose power outranks anything he's ever seen! With the party leader missing an arm and the only healer a quivering mess, can Jinwoo somehow find them a way out?

Space Opera

by Catherynne M. Valente

Saga Press, 2018. 294 pages. Science Fiction

Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny. They must sing. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented by the remnants of civilization. Something to cheer up everyone who was left. Something to celebrate having escaped total annihilation by the skin of one's teeth, if indeed one has skin. Or teeth. Something to bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, understanding, and the most powerful of all social bonds: excluding others. Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for Galactivision--part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part, a very large, but very subtle part, continuation of the wars of the past. Thus, a fragile peace has held. This year, a bizarre and unsightly species has looked up from its muddy planet-bound cradle and noticed the enormous universe blaring on around it: humanity. Where they expected to one day reach out into space and discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of grave aliens, they have found glitter. And lipstick. And pyrotechnics. And electric guitars. A band of human musicians, dancers, and roadies have been chosen to represent their planet on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of Earth lies in their ability to rock.

Delicious in Dungeon

by Ryoko Kui

Yen Press, 2017. 191 pages. Graphic Novel

When young adventurer Laios and his company are attacked and soundly thrashed by a dragon deep in a dungeon, the party loses all its money and provisions ... and a member! They're eager to go back and save her, but there is just one problem: If they set out with no food or coin to speak of, they're sure to starve on the way! But Laios comes up with a brilliant idea: "Let's eat the monsters!" Slimes, basilisks, and even dragons ... none are safe from the appetites of these dungeon-crawling gourmands!

Pigeons!

2026-05-30T17:18:33.133-06:00

Pigeons!: A fable for our times
by Marc Chalvin
Street Noise Books, 2025. 191 pages. Graphic Novels

A contemporary political allegory of power, to remind us of the dangers of following a dictator and surrendering your freedom. Life is simple for the pigeons. They have no desire to contemplate their future or take control of it. Free from responsibility, they are all too willing to submit to a strong authority. This is precisely what a cruel and power-hungry crow was waiting for--a perfect opportunity to wield his natural talents as a tyrant. The crow enforces law and order, but also terror and arbitrary rules. Everyone seems to accept this situation--or maybe, they are too scared to resist. Until an idealistic seagull steps in determined to challenge the system through debate and free elections.

The allegory is blunt, and the pigeons and their story are equal parts frustrating and comical. However, the illustrations and ruminations are still on point, and you might be feeling some kinship with a certain seagull by the very end.

If you like Pigeons! : a fable for our times you might also like:

Birds of Maine
by Michael Deforge
Drawn & Quarterly, 2022. 459 pages. Graphic Novels

Long after the demise of humankind, birds roam freely around a new earth complete with fruitful trees, sophisticated fungal networks, and an enviable socialist order. The universal worm feeds all, there are no weekends, and economics is as fantastical a stud as unicorn psychology. No concept of money or wealth plagues the thoughts of these free-minded birds. Instead, there are angsty teens who form bands to show off their best bird song and other youngsters who yearn to become clothing designers even though clothes are only necessary during war. (The truly honorable professions for most birds are historian or librarian). These birds are free to crush on hot pelicans and live their best lives until a crash-laded human from the moon threatens to change everything.

Maus: A Survivor's Tale
by Art Spiegelman
Pantheon Books, 1997. 295 pages. Graphic Novels

Using animal figures to suggest the nature of the characters -- Nazis are cats, Jews are mice, Americans are dogs -- Spiegelman movingly portrays his parents' experiences and, my extension, the widespread horrors of the Nazi campaign to exterminate the Jews in Europe.

RBL

Lost Lambs

2026-05-26T19:49:51.251-06:00

Lost Lambs

By Madeline Cash

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2026. 323 pages. Fiction

Lost Lambs follows a suburban family of five unspooling at the seams, navigating a disastrous open marriage and teenage rebellion. Catherine and Bud's marriage has reached its breaking point as their daughters spiral in their own chaos: Abigail, the eldest, is dating a man in his twenties nicknamed War Crime Wes; Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist; the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone—or something—is monitoring the town’s citizens.

This book was such a delight to read! Bouncing between multiple perspectives of the family, each one with a unique voice and offbeat narrative. The family is hilarious as they make less than perfect choices and grow as a family. If the dysfunctional family doesn't pull you in, the plot of the small-town conspiracy will! It drives the story forward and adds an air of suspense and absurdity. The writing is witty, well-paced, and tender. You will laugh and feel a newfound appreciation of the weird and imperfect people in your life!

If you like Lost Lambs, you might also like:

The Family Fang

By Kevin Wilson

Ecco Press, 2011. 256 pages. Fiction

Buster and Annie grew up in the spotlight -- their parents, performance artists utilized them in their tableaus. As adults, they have recently hit career setbacks, and have returned home to deal with the fallout. When their parents disappear from an interstate rest stop, they are skeptical that it's anything other than yet another publicity stunt. Told from Annie's and Buster's points of view, with flashbacks that capture the pieces they were forced to participate in.

The Bright Years

By Sarah Damoff

Simon & Schuster, 2025. 273 pages. Fiction

One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they're unable to shake the pull back toward each other in this big-hearted family saga

Gate to Kagoshima

2026-05-20T17:32:19.085-06:00

Gate to Kagoshima

by Poppy Kuroki

Harper Perennial, 2025. 304 pages. Fantasy.

While in Japan researching her family's history, a vicious typhoon sends Isla Mackenzie 128 years back in time, to the dawn of the Satsuma Rebellion. There she meets her ancestors, and a charismatic samurai, Kei, with whom she unexpectedly finds romance. But, unlike her Beloved, Isla knows about the looming Samurai rebellion-and Kai's fate. Should she attempt to change history or somehow make her way back to the life she'd had before?

This is an interesting time travel story with a sweet romance. While the pacing can seem slow at times, the writing helps you feel as though you are there with Isla, and things definitely heat up in the second half. Beautiful descriptions, likeable characters, and an insight to history that might not be familiar to a lot of people. The ending really makes the story. This book is recommended for fans of isekai or timeslip stories and atmospheric writing.

If you like Gate to Kagoshima, you might also like:

Fallen City

by Adrienne Young

Saturday Books, 2025. 397 pages. Fiction

In the ancient walled city of Isara, rebellion brews as politics, faith, and forbidden love collide. Luca Matius, a young legionnaire destined for power, and Maris Casperia, the daughter of a Magistrate and apprentice to a Priestess of stolen magic, are drawn together by fate. When a deadly secret ignites a holy war, their bond turns them into symbols on opposing sides of a divine struggle. Swept into a web of prophecy and rebellion, Luca and Maris must decide whether love or destiny will shape the future of their world.

The Tides of Time

by Sarah M. Eden

Shadow Mountain, 2025. 356 pages. Romance.

Fleeing Robespierre's Tribunal in revolutionary France, Lili Minet escapes to England only to have a mystical storm catapult her eighty years into the future. Rescued by lighthouse keeper Armitage Pierce, she slowly builds trust with him and his grandfather. As danger from her past resurfaces, their fragile bond is tested, challenging them to rewrite history and save their love.

The North Wind

by Alexandria Warwick

Saga Press, 2024. 441 pages. Fantasy.

When the North Wind, a dangerous immortal whose heart is as frigid as the land he rules, chooses her sister as his bride, Wren of Edgewood will do anything to save her even if it means sacrificing herself in the process.

A Good Person

2026-05-19T13:10:49.055-06:00

A Good Person

by Kirsten King

G.P Putnam's Sons, 2026. 291 pages. Fiction.

Lillian and Henry have been enjoying each other’s company, especially in bed. Even though Lillian’s best friend calls it “situationship,” Lillian is determined to lock Henry down—and she has a plan. She’ll be the best, most accommodating version of herself until he falls in love with her. But when Henry blindsides Lillian with a breakup, Lillian exacts revenge by performing a drunken hex on him.

Lillian expects Henry to come crawling back to her. What she doesn’t quite anticipate is becoming a prime suspect in his murder case when he’s found dead. As Lillian grapples with the loss of her sort-of-boyfriend, she’s hit with another reckoning: That Henry had a long-term girlfriend he also left behind. Desperate to control the narrative, clear her name, and assume her rightful place as Henry’s mourning girlfriend, Lillian’s pursuit of the truth will throw her into a dangerous tailspin. A deliciously addictive novel that explores our darkest, most human impulses, A Good Person heralds Kirsten King as a striking new voice in the canon of celebrated fiction.

I love reading about weird, deeply flawed women, and that's exactly the kind of character Lillian is. She's narcissistic, delusional, and is not "A Good Person". Yet, despite her general awfulness, she's also somehow entirely likeable as a protagonist- with her dark sense of humor and her relatable desire to feel loved and seen, which is something I think most of us can empathize with. Would I want to know her in real life? Absolutely not. Is she delightful and hilarious to read about? Absolutely. I flew through this book; its pacing is perfect and makes it so easy to read quickly. It's a well-written literary novel with a dash of mystery/thriller elements and, of course, a very dark, very clever humor to it that had me laughing out loud several times while reading. If you, too, like reading about weird, unstable girls who perpetually make the worst decisions possible, you will love this debut novel from Kirsten King.

If you like A Good Person, you might also like:

Big Swiss

by Jen Beagin

Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, 2023. 325 pages.

Greta lives with her friend Sabine in an ancient Dutch farmhouse in Hudson, New York. The house, built in 1737, is unrenovated, uninsulated, and full of bees. Greta spends her days transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach who calls himself Om. She becomes infatuated with his newest client, a repressed married woman she affectionately refers to as Big Swiss, since she's tall, stoic, and originally from Switzerland. Greta is fascinated by Big Swiss's refreshing attitude toward trauma. They both have dark histories, but Big Swiss chooses to remain unattached to her suffering while Greta continues to be tortured by her past. One day, Greta recognizes Big Swiss's voice at the dog park. In a panic, she introduces herself with a fake name and they quickly become enmeshed. Although Big Swiss is unaware of Greta's true identity, Greta has never been more herself with anyone. Her attraction to Big Swiss overrides her guilt, and she'll do anything to sustain the relationship

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

by Emily Austin

Atria Books, 2021. 243 pages.

Gilda, a twenty-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church, and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she's there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist Grace. In between trying to memorize the lines to Catholic mass, hiding the fact that she has a new girlfriend, and erecting a dirty dish tower in her crumbling apartment, Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Grace's old friend. She can't bear to ignore the kindly old woman, who has been trying to reach her friend through the church inbox, but she also can't bring herself to break the bad news. Desperate, she begins impersonating Grace via email. But when the police discover suspicious circumstances surrounding Grace's death, Gilda may have to finally reveal the truth of her mortifying existence.

Bunny

by Mona Awad

Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2019. 305 pages.

Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny," and are often found entangled in a group hug so tight they become one. But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled "Smut Salon," and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, a caustic art school dropout, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the sinister yet saccharine world of the Bunny cult and starts to take part in their ritualistic off-campus "Workshop" where they magically conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur, and her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies are brought into deadly collision.

The Land and Its People

2026-05-15T16:28:35.989-06:00

The Land and Its People

By David Sedaris

Little Brown & Company, 2026 272 pages. Nonfiction.

David Sedaris reflects on what it means to be a foreigner, a brother, a lifelong friend. He tries on the role of caretaker after his boyfriend Hugh's hip-replacement surgery, and both succeeds and fails. He buys his sister a cape and discusses his brother with a jaded Duolingo bot. He walks dozens of miles with his friend Dawn and challenges her to eat a truck tire. Ever adding to his list of "Countries I Have Been To," he rides a horse named Tequila in Guatemala, buys a bespoke priest's cassock in Vatican City, and goes on safari in Kenya without taking a single photo. There is sadness here -- scrolling through his address book, he realizes how many dear friends are now deceased -- but also delight: he revels in authors' biographies, the malapropism that becomes a decades-long inside joke, and pair of well-made cotton underpants. He is bitten by a dog. A train passenger vomits in his face. A woman on the street late at night either sexually harasses him or doesn't. Look how hard it is to be alive! Throughout these essays, Sedaris shows how much there is to marvel at when you keep your head up and your eyes open, observing with warmth and curiosity this fascinating human species and the lands we inhabit.

David Sedaris is a master of his craft, and it’s evident in this latest collection. With his signature self-deprecating humor and sharp observations on everyday life, he turns the commonplace into something genuinely delightful. This set of essays feels lighter and more playful than his previous two collections, making it feel like a return to his earlier style of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and Me Talk Pretty One Day. While this time around I read the book, I’d strongly recommend the audiobook. Sedaris narrates it himself, and his delivery adds an extra layer of humor, timing, and subtle thoughtfulness.

If you like The Land and Its People you might also like:

Ali’s Well That Ends Well

By Ali Wentworth

Harper, an imprint HarperCollins, 2022. 188 pages. Nonfiction

Like many, Ali Wentworth spent the pandemic seesawing between highs, lows, and baking an unnecessary amount of chocolate cake. Between binging every tv show in existence to conquering TikTok to becoming a (semi) empty-nester, Ali experienced her share of turmoil (including an early case of Covid), but she also grew a little, learned a lot, and found comfort in some unexpected people and places. In Ali's Well That Ends Well, Wentworth turns her gimlet eye to the year no one saw coming. With her signature irreverent style, she shares the most hysterical, absurd, and sometimes trying episodes that her family endured during the terrible global pandemic. Thoroughly relatable, absolutely charming, and filled with moments both hilarious and poignant, this terrific collection once again showcases the comedic genius of a beloved star.

Pure Innocent Fun: Essays

By Ira Madison

Random House, 2025. 226 pages. Nonfiction

In this inviting and joyfully raucous collection of sixteen original essays, written with a rare combination of humor and sharpness, Ira Madison III combines memoir and cultural criticism to offer an updated pop-culture manifesto. As a teenager in the early 2000s, Madison's life changed when he read Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. Inspired by the revelation that discussions of pop culture could be rigorous, not only reserved for the likes of At the Movies or Buffy the Vampire Slayer message boards, Madison went on to make a career of dissecting pop culture from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to Britney Spears. Here, he reveals his journey to becoming a prominent cultural critic and screenwriter, sharing stories about growing up as a Black, gay man in Milwaukee and unearthing the pop phenomena that shaped his youth and the lives of so many. In this enlightening, unforgettable trip through the '90s and the 2000s, Madison reflects on learning about gay sex from his mom's Lil' Kim CDs; the most devastating election of his adolescence (not George W. Bush winning re-election in 2004, but Jennifer Hudson losing American Idol); and never getting his driver's license in high school, making him just like Cher Horowitz in Clueless: "A virgin who can't drive." Revel in his examination of Black fatherhood through The Cosby Show and Family Matters, and discover how Jerry Springer impacted queer representation on-screen. In each essay, Madison unearths how pop culture shapes us, both for the better and for the worse. Alternately irreverent and emotionally resonant, Pure Innocent Fun will leave you laughing and inspired.

Outsider Animals

2026-05-11T17:21:38.111-06:00

Outsider Animals

by Marlene Zuk

Princeton University Press, 2026. 305 pages. Nonfiction

Outsider Animals challenges everything you thought you knew about the overlooked animals that live in proximity to humans, sharing the stories that each has to tell about adaptation and cohabitation on our planet. Marlene Zuk gives us a new appreciation for the animals we often shun, explaining why these unpopular creatures have something special to teach us not only about the ways we deal with other species but about our own place in nature and what it means for an animal to belong somewhere.

This delightful book is a perfect blend of informative and entertaining. Each chapter follows a different “outsider animal” as the author explains the merits of raccoons, coyotes, cockroaches, and more. Despite her wealth of knowledge as evolutionary biologist and behavioral ecologist, the author keeps the writing accessible and her humor and wit may endear you to even the most unlikely creatures. As a birder, I particularly enjoyed the chapters on gulls, cowbirds, and especially mynas, where the author includes a nuanced discussion on invasive species. I’d recommend Outsider Animals to animal and science lovers alike.

If you like Outsider Animals, you might also like:

Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains

by Bethany Brookshire

Ecco, 2022. 348 pages. Nonfiction

At the intersection of science, history and narrative journalism, this eye-opening study reveals why we deem certain animals "pests" and others not, and what this tells us about our own perceptions, beliefs and actions, as well as our place in the natural world.

Wild Chorus

by Brenda Peterson

Mountaineers Books, 2024. 238 pages. Nonfiction

Award-winning author Brenda Peterson draws on her lifelong relationship with animals to explore the wisdom we humans can glean from them. Looking beyond the companionship we enjoy with domesticated animals, Peterson explores how wild animals can become our guides and fellow travelers, helping us navigate the stresses of daily life and a rapidly changing planet. From beluga whales to wolves, raccoons to bears, elk to herons, the stories in this collection offer insights into the intricacies of animals’ intuitive communication, compassionate attention, and peaceful adaptation.

The Return of the Oystercatcher

by Scott Weidensaul

W. W. Norton & Company, 2026. 356 pages. Nonfiction

As populations fall and once-great migration multitudes wither away, the future of birds may seem grim. But surprisingly, from gnatcatchers and waterfowl to select groups of forest songbirds, some bird populations are soaring. Habitats and species that once neared extinction are now multiplying around the world because bird conservation is making things better. The Return of the Oystercatcher is the story of what's working in bird conservation--and what can work for the rest of the planet.

Theo of Golden

2026-05-08T14:08:00.000-06:00

Theo of Golden
by Allen Levi
Atria, 2025. 387 pages. Fiction

One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden, Alabama. No one knows where he has come from, or why. His name is Theo. And he asks a lot more questions than he answers. Theo visits the local coffeehouse, where ninety-two pencil portraits hang on the walls, portraits of the people of Golden done by a local artist. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and putting them back in the hands of their "rightful owners." With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born, and a life altered.

Theo of Golden has caused quite a sensation lately. The book was self-published by the author in 2023, but it created enough interest that it was published by a large publisher in 2025. Of course, I had to see what the buzz was about!

Curious readers might want to know that this is considered general Christian fiction. This can be mostly seen in the use of symbolism in the character of Theo. For me, the quiet pace and beautiful writing made the reading experience a soothing one. I also loved that Theo slowly built a strong foundation of lifelong and sometimes unexpected friends through his acts of service. If you're looking for a well-written book about the power of kindness, art, generosity, and friendship, this is a great one to pick up!

If you like Theo of Golden you might also like:

The Correspondent
by Virginia Evans
Crown, 2025. 285 pages. Fiction

Throughout her life Sybil Van Antwerp has used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. In her 70s, Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has. A mother, a grandmother, a wife, a divorcee, and a distinguished lawyer, she has lived a full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes one letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

The Peculiar Gift of July
by Ashley Ream
Dutton, 2025. 403 pages. Fiction

When fourteen-year-old July arrives in the isolated island town of Ebey's End, her uncanny ability to sense what people need begins quietly transforming the community, forcing its residents—and herself—to confront unexpected truths about their lives.

The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
Harper San Francisco, c1993. 177 pages. Fiction

A man tells an unnamed being the story of his life, which serves as a fable about undauntingly following one's dreams, listening to one's heart, and reading life's omens.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

2026-05-07T13:33:00.002-06:00

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

By Dorothy Gilman

Doubleday, 1966. 216 pages

Mystery

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax a lighthearted spy adventure that follows Emily Pollifax, a widowed grandmother from New Jersey who feels restless and overlooked after her children are grown. Tired of ordinary routines and wanting to do something meaningful and exciting, she impulsively walks into the offices of the CIA and volunteers to become a spy.

To everyone’s surprise — including her own — Mrs. Pollifax is accidentally recruited for a simple courier mission to Mexico City. The agency assumes that no one would suspect a cheerful older woman carrying secret information. What begins as a harmless assignment quickly spirals into genuine danger when the mission goes wrong and Mrs. Pollifax finds herself caught in an international conspiracy involving smugglers, political prisoners, and foreign agents.

Despite having no formal training, Mrs. Pollifax proves resourceful, observant, and unexpectedly brave. Her kindness and grandmotherly appearance allow her to move through situations unnoticed, but beneath her polite exterior is a woman with sharp instincts and quiet courage. Along the way she forms unlikely friendships, survives kidnapping attempts, and discovers that adventure — and personal purpose — can arrive at any stage of life.

The novel blends cozy mystery charm with Cold War espionage, offering suspense without becoming overly dark. Much of the appeal comes from Mrs. Pollifax herself: she is practical, witty, compassionate, and delightfully underestimated. The story balances humor, danger, and heart, making it both an entertaining spy caper and an uplifting story about reinvention and confidence later in life.

Fans of classic mysteries, gentle humor, and character-driven adventures often enjoy the Mrs. Pollifax series for its clean content, fast pacing, and charming protagonist.

I love Mrs. Pollifax! She decides she wants to be a spy and by golly she becomes a top-secret spy for the CIA. She's a quirky "old lady" who knows her own mind and just sees what needs to be done. Definitely channeling Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher. A fun, fast-paced read that I would recommend to anyone!

If you like The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, you might also like:

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind

By Ann B. Ross

W. Morrow, 1999. 273 pages

Fiction

Miss Julia, a recently bereaved and newly wealthy widow, is only slightly bemused when one Hazel Marie Puckett appears at her door with a youngster in tow and unceremoniously announces that the child is the illegitimate son of Miss Julia's late husband. Suddenly, this longtime church member and pillar of her small Southern community finds herself in the center of an unseemly scandal--and the guardian of a nine-year-old whose mere presence turns her life upside down.

With razor-sharp wit and perfect "Steel Magnolia" poise, Miss Julia speaks her mind indeed--about a robbery, a kidnapping, and the other disgraceful events precipitated by her husband's death. Fast-paced and charming, with a sure sense of comic drama, a cast of crazy characters, and a strong Southern cadence, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind will delight listeners from start to end.

Murder on a Girls' Night Out: a Southern Sisters Mystery

By Anne George

Avon Books, 1996. 244 pages

Mystery

Patricia Anne -- "Mouse" -- is respectful, respectable, and demure, a perfect example of genteel Southern womanhood. Mary Alice -- "Sister" -- is big, brassy, flamboyant, and bold. Together they have a knack for finding themselves in the center of some of Birmingham's most unfortunate unpleasantness.

Country Western is red hot these days, so over impulsive Mary Alice thinks it makes perfect sense to buy the Skoot 'n' Boot bar -- since that's where the many-times-divorced "Sister" and her boyfriend du jour like to hang out anyway. Sensible retired schoolteacher Patricia Anne is inclined to disagree -- especially when they find a strangled and stabbed dead body dangling in the pub's wishing well. The sheriff has some questions for Mouse and her sister Sister, who were the last people, besides the murderer, of course, to see the ill-fated victim alive. And they had better come up with some answers soon -- because a killer with unfinished business has begun sending them some mighty threatening messages...

- EJW

Mindworks: An Uncanny Compendium of Short Fiction

2026-05-06T14:26:00.001-06:00

Mindworks: An Uncanny Compendium of Short Fiction
by Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025. Short Stories.

Explore a world where bats block out the sun, where soup is a trap for your soul, or where the life-force of a glacier can bring back the dead. Journey to a place where the wind can be captured, time can be crafted into infinite attic space, or a hot tub can house an ancient monster. And revisit the Arc of the Scythe universe for two all-new tales of gleaning.

A short story collection by one of my favorite "evil genius" authors? Yes, please!

In the introduction, Shusterman discusses how he grew up enjoying the short stories of Isaac Asimov (I, Robot, the Foundation series, etc.). This collection (featuring some new stories and many previously published in other anthologies) would fit in perfectly among the likes of Asimov, Richard Matheson, Orson Scott Card, and The Twilight Zone. He moves through different genres with ease, spinning clever tales of a pizza delivery to the underworld, an unconventional presidential campaign, an elite boarding school for severely phobic youth, time-traveling lightning storms, a colony ship voyaging to a distant world, circus zombies, a self-aware (and surprisingly compassionate) firearm, lost luggage, and one of the ~~best~~ worst(?)(best???) puns you’ll ever read. This is a great place to begin if you have never tried Neal Shusterman’s books before, as his witty and thoughtful writing style is on full display. If you’re already a fan, it’s a pleasure to see how much fun he can have on a smaller scale (not to mention the always appreciated Arc of a Scythe bonus stories, plus an extra treat to tide you over until the prequel novels arrive).

To sum it up: Butterball. Trust me, it's worth it, ha ha ha.

If you like Mindworks, you might also like:

They Bloom at Night
by Trang Thanh Tran
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2025. 262 pages. Fantasy.

Since the hurricane, the town of Mercy, Louisiana has been overtaken by a strange red algae bloom. Noon and her mother have carved out a life in the wreckage, trawling for the mutated wildlife that lurks in the water and trading it to the corrupt harbormaster. When she's focused on survival, Noon doesn't have to cope with what happened to her at the Cove or the monster itching at her skin. Mercy has never been a safe place, but it's getting worse. People are disappearing, and the only clues as to why are whispers of underwater shadows and warnings to never answer the knocks at night. When the harbormaster demands she capture the creature that's been drowning residents, Noon finds a reluctant ally in his daughter Covey. And as the next storm approaches, the two set off to find what's haunting Mercy. After all, Noon is no stranger to monsters . . .

Pretty Monsters
by Kelly Link
Viking, 2008. 389 pages. Short Stories.

Nine short stories ranging from fantasy to horror to sci-fi, in which nothing is what it seems, and everything deserves a second look. From the multiple award-winning "The Faery Handbag," in which a teenager's grandmother carries an entire village (or is it a man-eating dog?) in her handbag, to the near-future of "The Surfer," whose narrator (a soccer-playing skeptic) waits with a planeload of refugees for the aliens to arrive, Link's stories are funny and full of unexpected insights and skewed perspectives on the world.

Feed
by M.T. Anderson
Candlewick Press, 2002. 237 pages. Science Fiction.

For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and play around with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who knows something about what it's like to live without the feed--and about resisting its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires.

-LAH

Legends and Lattes

2026-05-04T11:54:00.005-06:00

Legends and Lattes

By Travis Baldree

Tor, 2022. 294 pages. Fantasy

Come take a load off at Viv's cafe, the first & only coffee shop in Thune. Grand opening! Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv, the orc barbarian, cashes out of the warrior's life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen. However, her dreams of a fresh start filling mugs instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune's shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners, and a different kind of resolve.

I really loved the premise of this book: an experienced orc barbarian, weary of dungeon crawling and fighting, decides to open a café and start a quiet life. And it was done so well! I was absolutely charmed by the characters. This is truly a cozy fantasy full of excellent but not overwhelming world-building, a few side-quests, and the challenges of starting a small business in an area that has no idea what your product is. The plot felt very well paced, and it was hard to put down because the characters were that lovely. I can easily recommend this to someone looking for a light fantasy, perhaps a D&D fan, or someone looking for a gentle entrance to the fantasy genre.

If you liked Legends and Lattes, you might also like:

The Keeper of Magical Things

By Julie Leong

Ace Books, 2025. 358 pages. Fantasy

Certainty Bulrush longs to be useful—to her mage Guild, her younger brother, and anyone in need—but her weak magic hasn’t helped much. When she gets a chance to earn full mage status through a simple assignment, she jumps at it, despite having to partner with Aurelia, a brilliant but off-putting overachiever. Their task: transport minor magical artifacts to Shpelling, a quiet, unremarkable village, and keep things running smoothly. As they sort enchanted odds and ends and settle into village life, Certainty and Aurelia begin to connect with the townspeople—and each other. They soon question the Guild’s tight control over magic, wondering if sharing it might do more good. But with magic and growing attraction in play, complications may be unavoidable.

Automatic Noodle

By Annalee Newitz

Tor, 2025. 163 pages. Science Fiction

You don't have to eat food to know the way to a city's heart is through its stomach. So, when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food--the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around--for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war. But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they'll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other--and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn't built for them.

ACS

Well Lived

2026-05-02T14:27:12.320-06:00

Well Lived
By Sally Clarkson
Harvest House Publishers, 2024. 213 pages. Nonfiction

In this inspiring blend of personal reflections and stunning photography, bestselling author Sally Clarkson shares how God's grace can lead to a joyful, purposeful life. Drawing from her experiences in Oxford and ministry, she offers wisdom on discipleship, family, hospitality, and cultivating joy--encouraging readers to deepen their faith and embrace a life of meaning and encouragement.

I recently read (and reviewed) a book by Sarah Clarkson. I didn't realize at the time that she has a sister (Joy Marie Clarkson) and mother (Sally) who also write books! I am delighted with them all. On account of Sarah living in Oxford with her husband (a Church of England minister) and children, Sally has been able to live in, and get to know the ancient and beautiful city of Oxford. There is nothing boastful about her book, and she shares a lot of Christian wisdom with the reader, giving you the feeling of being an old friend. The book is not only filled with Clarkson's wisdom, but with beautiful photographs of gardens, old buildings, and delightful cafes. I am really impressed by the Clarkson family: their sincerity, their love of beauty and the people around them, and their love of God is really moving and inspiring to me. I recommend this to any who would appreciate the atmosphere of C.S. Lewis, likes a cozy cup of tea, or would like to live a life of daily beauty and devotion.

If you liked Well Lived, you might also like:

A House to Call Home

By Christie Purifoy

Harvest House Publishers, 2026. 205 pages. Nonfiction

What makes a house a home? It's a question with countless answers, wholly unique to each of us. Yet a common thread runs through the stories we tell about the places that bring us meaning and peace. No matter how we define it, home must evoke a strong sense of comfort. Join acclaimed writer Christie Purifoy as she reflects on what makes a home truly special. Through practical tips on decor inspiration, thrifting, and personal homemaking traditions, Christie shows you how to craft a space that feels wholly yours. With insights drawn from her own experiences, you'll discover how to build sacred spaces that promote rest, welcome, and healing. With creativity and care, you can cultivate comfort in the house where you live.

A Circle of Quiet

By Madeleine L' Engle

Harper One, 1972. 245 pages. Nonfiction

A Circle of Quiet is a 1972 memoir by Madeleine L'Engle, the first in her Crosswicks Journals series, that reflects on her life as a writer, wife, and mother, exploring themes of creativity, faith, and finding balance, all set at her family's Connecticut farmhouse, Crosswicks. It's a personal, journal-like book that delves into her creative process, the rejections and success of A Wrinkle in Time, and her search for meaning, offering an intimate look at the author behind the famous children's books.

Surprised by Joy

By C.S. Lewis

Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1955. 238 pages. Nonfiction

A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere . . . God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous." This book is not an autobiography. It is not a confession. It is, however, certainly one of the most beautiful and insightful accounts of a person coming to faith. Here, C.S. Lewis takes us from his childhood in Belfast through the loss of his mother, to boarding school and a youthful atheism in England, to the trenches of World War I, and then to Oxford, where he studied, read, and, ultimately, reasoned his way back to God. It is perhaps this aspect of Surprised by Joy that we--believers and nonbelievers--find most compelling and meaningful; Lewis was searching for joy, for an elusive and momentary sensation of glorious yearning, but he found it, and spiritual life, through the use of reason. In this highly personal, thoughtful, intelligent memoir, Lewis guides us toward joy and toward the surprise that awaits anyone who seeks a life beyond the expected.

Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves

2026-04-30T17:14:00.005-06:00

Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves

by Alison Wood Brooks

Crown, 2025. 305 pages. Nonfiction

Though we do it all the time, Harvard business professor Alison Wood Brooks argues that conversation is one of the most complex, demanding, and delicate of all human tasks, rife with possibilities for misinterpretation and misunderstanding. And yet conversations can also be a source of great joy, each one offering an opportunity to express who we are and learn who others are—to feel connected, loved, and alive. In Talk, Brooks shows why conversing a little more effectively can make a big difference in the quality of our close personal relationships as well as our professional success. Drawing on the new science of conversation, Brooks distills lessons that show how we can better understand, learn from, and delight each other.

Alison Wood Brooks teaches classes on conversation at Harvard, and her points in Talk draw directly from the latest research on conversation. A few interesting takeaways included research showing that small talk is good for us physically and mentally, that having pre-planned topics heading into social settings helps you be more interesting and doesn’t sound rehearsed, and that people like those who laugh a lot and those who ask a lot of questions. Brooks frequently reiterates two facts that might be particularly helpful for the socially anxious: first, that being a good conversationalist is a skill that can be learned rather than an in-born trait, and, second, that people consistently underestimate how much strangers enjoy talking with them. While some of the details will sound familiar if you’ve read other books on charisma and conversation, this is a great introduction to those who are new to the topic or are ready for a refresher.

If you liked Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves, you might also like:

How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen

By David Brooks

Random House, 2023. 306 pages. Nonfiction

Drawing from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and from the worlds of theater, philosophy, history and education, one of the nation's leading writers and commentators helps us become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen.

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

by Charles Duhigg

Random House, 2024. 299 pages. Nonfiction

Supercommunicators know the importance of recognizing, and then matching, each kind of conversation, and how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations, and deeply held beliefs that color so much of what we say and how we listen. In this book, you will learn why some people are able to make themselves heard, and to hear others, so clearly. Charles Duhigg teaches the tips and skills we need to navigate conversations more successfully.

SGR

Beauty Reborn

2026-04-27T20:24:00.003-06:00

Beauty Reborn

by Elizabeth Lowham

Shadow Mountain, 2023. 208 pages. Young Adult Fantasy

Beauty’s life is the stuff of fairy tales. The youngest in her family, Beauty isn’t trying to catch Stephan’s eye. He is the lord baron’s heir, well above her family’s modest station, but when he kisses her hand at a party, Beauty is swept away by his charm, his wit, and his passionate declarations of love. Hearts can be untamable creatures, especially when touched by the fires of first love, and Beauty doesn’t see the truth of Stephan’s intentions until it is too late. Until he stops asking for Beauty’s love―and simply takes it from her one night despite her refusal. Beauty locks away the secret of what happened to her, and when her father emerges from the enchanted forest with a stolen rose in his hand and the tale of a vicious beast on his breath, Beauty seizes the chance to run as far from Stephan as possible. She has some experience with beasts, after all. Certainly the one in the forest couldn’t be any worse than the one she’s already encountered. Breaking the Beast’s curse might be the key to discovering her own path to healing―and finding the courage to allow herself to feel reborn.

I’m a sucker for fairytale retellings, especially Beauty and the Beast, but Beauty Reborn was a bit different. Obviously, the original fairy tale is interwoven in this story, but the added aspect of what happened to Beauty gave her some depth and added motives. Even though I know this story by heart, I didn’t know how it would all come together. Their friendship is sweet and healing. Beauty’s annoying sister, Astra, is another story…literally! (Make sure to read the sequel Astra Remade next!)

If you like Beauty Reborn, you might also like:

Cruel Beauty

by Rosamund Hodge

Balzer + Bray, 2014. 346 pages. Young Adult Fantasy

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom—all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him. With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people. But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her. As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

The Merchant’s Daughter

by Melanie Dickerson

Zondervan, 2011. 284 pages. Young Adult Fantasy

An unthinkable danger. An unexpected choice. Annabel, once the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is trapped in indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf, a recluse who is rumored to be both terrifying and beastly. Her circumstances are made even worse by the proximity of Lord Ranulf 's bailiff a revolting man who has made unwelcome advances on Annabel in the past. Believing that life in a nunnery is the best way to escape the escalation of the bailiff's vile behavior and to preserve the faith that sustains her, Annabel is surprised to discover a sense of security and joy in her encounters with Lord Ranulf. As Annabel struggles to confront her feelings, she is involved in a situation that could place Ranulf in grave danger. Ranulf's future, and possibly his heart, may rest in her hands, and Annabel must decide whether to follow the plans she has cherished or the calling God has placed on her heart.

Beastly Beauty

by Jennifer Donnelly

Scholastic Press, 2024. 321 pages. Young Adult Fantasy

What makes a girl "beastly?" Is it having too much ambition? Being too proud? Taking up too much space? Or is it just wanting something, anything, too badly? That's the problem Arabella faces when she makes her debut in society. Her parents want her to be sweet and compliant so she can marry well, but try as she might, Arabella can't extinguish the fire burning inside her -- the source of her deepest wishes, her wildest dreams. When an attempt to suppress her emotions tragically backfires, a mysterious figure punishes Arabella with a curse, dooming her and everyone she cares about, trapping them in the castle. As the years pass, Arabella abandons hope. The curse is her fault -- after all, there's nothing more "beastly" than a girl who expresses her anger -- and the only way to break it is to find a boy who loves her for her true self: a cruel task for a girl who's been told she's impossible to love. When a handsome thief named Beau makes his way into the castle, the captive servants are thrilled, convinced he is the one to break the curse. But Beau -- spooked by the castle's strange and forbidding ladies-in-waiting, and by the malevolent presence that stalks its corridors at night -- only wants to escape. He learned long ago that love is only an illusion. If Beau and Arabella have any hope of breaking the curse, they must learn to trust their wounded hearts, and realize that the cruelest prisons of all are the ones we build for ourselves.

EJW

The Ha-Ha

2026-04-15T14:42:00.004-06:00

The Ha-Ha
By Jennifer Dawson
Scribner, 2026/ 1961.177 pages. Fiction

At a tea party at Oxford University in the 1950s, earnest undergraduates in floral dresses clink cups, discussing their studies, sports, and summer balls. But to one student, Josephine, they are grotesquely transformed: she is sitting among ominous armadillos. Then, the laughter comes. As she is engulfed in mirthless hysterics, her college has no choice but to send her away. Since her mother's death, Josephine's reality seems a badly painted canvas, viewed through the wrong end of a telescope. It is a relief to find a sense of belonging, for once, within the mental institution where she is confined. But, eventually, she must reintegrate with society. Through a transformative encounter with a fellow patient, a return to real life seems possible.

If you too love a book about a woman unraveling, this book is well-worth your time! Often compared to The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Dawson’s book predates it but never reached the same level of recognition. The Ha-Ha follows a young woman, Josephine, who is committed to a mental institution while in college. Influenced by the author's experience of also being committed in the 50's and working as a mental health professional later in life, this provides incredible insight into that era's attitudes of mental health.

The writing is intimate, surreal, philosophical, and dynamic as it shifts through her emotional states and thoughts. What I found to be so profound and relatable was the main character's experience in reckoning with the meaning of life and pressure to conform in society. She moves beyond what her late mother, the doctors, and classmates expects of her and discovers an expansive truth in the absurdity of existence. Moving through this discovery with the main character is bleak at times but ends with hope and possibility. In her newfound freedom she says “I was born for something more than mere sanity" and “I was born for so much joy.”

If you like The Ha-Ha you might also like:

Convenience Store Woman

by Saka Murata

Grove Press, 2019. 163 pages. Fiction

Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction―many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual―and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation

by Ottessa Moshfegh

Penguin Books, 2018. 288 pages. Fiction

It's early 2000 on New York City's Upper East Side, and the alienation of Moshfegh's unnamed young protagonist from others is nearly complete when she initiates her yearlong siesta, during which time she experiences limited personal interactions. Her parents have died; her relationships with her bulimic best friend Reva, an ex-boyfriend, and her drug-pushing psychiatrist are unwholesome. As her pill-popping intensifies, so does her isolation and determination to leave behind the world's travails.

Beautyland

2026-03-30T15:47:00.005-06:00

Beautyland

By Marie-Helene Bertino

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024. 326 pages. Science Fiction

At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different; she also possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of earthlings. For years, as she moves through the world and makes a life for herself among humans, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and surprising joys of their existence. But at a precarious moment, a beloved friend urges Adina to share her messages with the world. Is there a chance she is not alone?

This is such a lovely story that had me looking at life and my experiences in the world a little differently. If extraterrestrials were to look at humanity, how strange we must seem, or more specifically, the United States, since this character lives in the USA. Adina both is, and is not, human. Seeing her try to relay her meaningful experiences to her home planet has a unique charm, especially when she’s a child. Additionally, Adina’s story spans a lifetime, and certain pivotal moments (like 9/11) reminded me of how I perceived and processed those big events personally. This was a fast-paced, lyrical, witty, and thought-provoking story. I would easily recommend this for adults who enjoy character-driven literary fiction, especially those with memories of the 80s, 90s, and 00s.

If you liked Beautyland, you might also like:

Annie Bot

By Sierra Greer

Mariner Books, 2024. 231 pages. Science Fiction

Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs. True, she's not the greatest at keeping Doug's place spotless, but she's trying to please him. Doug says he loves that Annie's AI makes her seem more like a real woman, so Annie explores human traits such as curiosity, secrecy, and longing. But becoming more human also means becoming less perfect, and as Annie's relationship with Doug grows more intricate and difficult, she starts to wonder: Does Doug really desire what he says he wants? And in such an impossible paradox, what does Annie owe herself?

Toward Eternity

By Anton Hur

Harper Via, 2024. 244 pages. Science Fiction

In a near-future world, a new technological therapy is quickly eradicating cancer: The body's cells are entirely replaced with nanites--robot or android cells that not only cure those afflicted but leave them virtually immortal. At the same time, literary researcher Yonghun teaches an AI how to understand poetry and creates a living, thinking machine he names Panit, meaning "Beloved," in honor of his husband. When Dr. Beeko, who holds the patent to the nano-therapy technology, learns of Panit, he transfers its consciousness into an android body, giving it freedom and life. As Yonghun, Panit, and other nano humans thrive--and begin to replicate--their development will lead them to a crossroads and a choice with existential consequences.

ACS