I started reading YA when my daughter was old enough to start reading YA books. That was over 20 years ago, and we both continue to enjoy reading lots of YA. Many people think YA books are somehow less worthy than other genres of books. Yes, there are YA books that are poorly written, predictable, … [Read more]
The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross
Still making my way through the re-read of the Laundry files novels and I’ve hit on one of my favorites. The Apocalypse Codex is set nearly a year ofter the events of The Fuller Memorandum, and poor Bob is still sort of in recovery. It’s not just the whole business of receiving a bit of a … [Read more]
I learned today (June 4 2026) that Marjane Satrapi passed away at 56 years old. It sounds as though she died of a broken heart as it was a little more than a year after her husband's death. I cannot say how this saddens me. I really have no words. I mean, I can say how she was an amazing author who … [Read more]
Letters from the Last Apothecary by Bita Behzadi
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House | Hay House LLC for the Audio ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review. This is a promising debut by Bita Behzadi, and I will be reading further books from her, but this one had some issues that mean I can't give it a full four stars. Mostly, … [Read more]
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
I really wanted to love this one, but it ended up not working out for me. That does not mean I won't be reading this author again in the future. This book showed a lot of promise, it just kept hampered I think by Mandanna not breaking this up into two novels. I really wanted to know more about … [Read more]
Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence
More fantasy with older protagonists please! With Daughter of Crows, Mark Lawrence is giving us a new trilogy—one that is not meant to be tied back to his previous works. Despite this, I thought we might end up covering some old ground when I first read the synopsis: a magical academy that exists … [Read more]
Strange Houses by Uketsu
Strange Houses was the first book I read this year, back in January, and it has taken me entirely too long to just sit down and jot down my thoughts about it. Part of it is because I was very disappointed with how promising the premise was and how it fully deflated by the time I got to the end, so … [Read more]
