Heartwood by Amity Gaige
Heartwood (2025) by Amity Gaige is yet another book that I originally saw on NPR’s Favorite Books List. It is about a woman who goes missing on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and the search to find her. Heartwood sounded like something I would like, so I got it from my library back in December. But I was about to do some solo backpacking and camping, and I wisely decided I didn’t want to read a book about a missing hiker while I was sitting alone […]
Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison
Are you in the mood for a Western with a lady protagonist? Are you a horse girl at heart? Do you love the sweeping vistas of Old Hollywood Westerns but wish there was a little more exploration of patriarchy? Do you love a fully realized girl character using her grit to get things done? Did you enjoy the movie Slow West? Whiskey When We’re Dry is the book for you. The story is told by Jessilyn Harney, who starts out with her brother and dad, […]
Real Americans by Rachel Khong
Well it’s mid-May so I guess I better start writing reviews. I read this back in January and liked it ok, and now that I’m recalling it to write this review, I also think I like it ok! It’s not one that I think about frequently, but I enjoyed reading it and discussing it with friends. The book is split into three sections. The first is about Lily Chen, a somewhat aimless Chinese-American young lady who has a pretty ok internship in NYC in 1999. […]
Severance by Ling Ma
I wonder what it was like to read this book pre-COVID. Because I can tell you that reading it now, six years after COVID hit, it’s not as satirical as perhaps the author intended. In Severance, the deadly virus definitively originates in China and makes sort-of zombies (not the brain-eating kind) from the infected. Other than that difference, this book is spookily prescient. So much so that I had to keep re-checking the original publication date, but, yeah, Severance was first published in August of […]
The Tricky Business of Faerie Bargains by Reena McCarty
In one of my online groups, folks started talking about Reena McCarty’s The Tricky Business of Faerie Bargains. Being currently poor, I put it on hold at my library. I had some expectations based on the title, but I quickly learned that Faerie Bargains is more than faerie adventures but with lawyers and insurance companies. For one thing, the writing is gorgeously descriptive making the reading experience feel lush. I could see the world around Poppy. The tree’s roots arched up over the water, an […]
Otherworldly by Dwain Worrell
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
I’m being lazy and combining these three VERY DIFFERENT BOOKS because Space! I read Otherworldly and Project Hail Mary as ebooks, and Atmosphere as an audiobook. Otherworldly first! So, one of my favorite book genres is space horror. My list of fears (to read or watch a movie / TV show about) is not very long. Deep down in the ocean scares me to bits, and so does outer space. I think they’re similar in that once you’re there, you’re at the mercy of however […]
