Well hello there. About midway through February I caught THE worst cold I’ve ever had. I ended up going to the doctor because I was pretty sure it had to have turned into bronchitis or pneumonia, but, nope. Just a cold. If that’s what colds are like now, I shudder to think what the more serious winter illnesses are like. So, I spent about a week in bed drinking tea, watching Bridgerton, and coughing, which was all I had the energy to do. Then my […]
Big Damn Robot Heroes, Sir
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
I don’t compare things to Firefly lightly, especially when they’re not set in space. But darned if this book didn’t give Firefly vibes the whole time “Rusty Robot Face” by Anonymous Account is licensed under CC BY 2.0 . Exhibit A: The War, by which I mean the war between robots and humanity that so many folks worry about. The robots win, but robot utopia doesn’t last very long. Our heroine, Brittle, was in The War, and flashes back on it often; even though she was on the […]
OK Colonizer
Attacking Earth and Sun by Mathieu Belezi
In 1827 the French consul got into an argument with the ruler of the Regency of Algiers. Three years later the French government invaded what we now know as Algeria; it took until 1847 for the country to officially become part of France, and there were isolated pockets of fighting and conflict that lasted until 1903. In other words, it was a nasty, bloody business. Somewhere in the middle of all this France decided it would be a great idea to send French folks to […]
Pride and Prejudice and Poetry
Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
There’s nothing I love better than a good Pride and Prejudice remake. That’s probably how this book ended up on my TBR. Thankfully, I was finally able to make time to get around to it. Then I caught a ridiculous not-COVID-but-miserable ick and lolled around drinking tea and catching up on Bridgerton for a while. Fortunately, that’s actually pretty good preparation to review a P&P remake. “Indian Muslim Marriage Rituals -South Asian Islamic wedding – 6688416795” by wedstories.studio is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 . Set in […]
A Heist with Heart (and a Few Souls)
The Frame-up by Gwenda Bond
This chocolate-and-peanut butter book is either a romance with a heist in it, or a heist with a romance wrapped around it. I’m leaning towards the latter, for pedantic reasons, but regardless of your perspective, if you like romance and/or heists, you’ll find this very charming, literally AND figuratively, because this is a magical heist. “Stealing Francesco’s Tears [Gorgeous Clown Take]” by Marc-Anthony Macon is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 . Dani grew up as part of a magical family of thieves, run by her mother, […]
January 2026: Intro & Reading Recap
As with most things I do, I dived into CR18 headfirst without introductions or explanations. I can always do those later, right? Better to just get started, right? Right. But here we are, at the start of a new month, which seems like a good time to pause and say hello. “Han Solo Salutes the Conductor” by Sam Howzit is licensed under CC BY 2.0 . Over the past few years I have lost a number of friends to cancer. Cancer feels super extra unfair […]