An excellent title. In this work of auto-fiction, the narrator is “Claire,” a moderately successful writer and deeply ambivalent mother who returns home to Nevada for a book event and can‘t bring herself to return to her patient husband and comfortable professor job in the Midwest. This book is mostly an ode to weirdos and the desert, and I was into that.

A great sequel to Six of Crows. I love the gang and was happy to be back with them for another heist. Most characters got a good ending, but there are enough dangling threads that I could see there being a third book!

A very cute start to this graphic novel rom-com series, in which two high school friends start to think they might be something more. Already on hold for volume 2!

The writing is nice and I agree with the environmental message, but honestly mad about the ending so I had to deduct some (metaphorical) points.0

A beautifully written, but also devastating novel, about a two young enslaved men in love on a Mississippi plantation. The points of view also cover the perspectives from other enslaved people as well as some of the others on the plantation.

Absolutely loved this YA fantasy, set in the Grishaverse, but with new characters and after the events of Shadow and Bone. I loved the whole crew and the heist. Fast-paced and fun! Already have the sequel on hold at the library.

This new YA novel from VE Schwab features a non-verbal protagonist and a haunted house. And maybe some light inspiration from The Secret Garden. The artwork, which is an integral part of the story and not just decoration, was lovely.

The short stories were fine, but the titular novella was excellent.

A charming romance novel about witches. Vivi realizes she may have accidentally cursed her ex when he returns to town 9 years later and they have to work together to save the small Georgia town that is her home and his family namesake.

A short story collection, mostly set in New England. The opening story, “Creature,” was excellent, but my favorite was probably “When in the Dordogne.” King is a brilliant writer and these stories don‘t disappoint.

A fun cozy mystery! Louisa, a young governess for the Mitford family, teams up with a local detective to solve the murder of a young woman on a train. Love the Mitfords, love murder mysteries, honestly wins all around.

The second book in the Expanse series, and we finally get both Bobbie and Avasarala. I liked this one even more than the first, and am excited to keep reading. Each book also makes me want to rewatch the show.

After a gay couple are murdered, their fathers, both ex-cons who never fully accepted them while alive, set out to avenge them. A fast-paced thriller with some unexpected heart.

A psychic travel agent joins forces with a Seattle police detective to work on a series of unsolved murders. Quippy and fun!

I love expat novels, in which people wander around foreign cities feeling wistful. Here, Henrik is a Danish man - and Japanese adoptee - who is studying in Paris when his girlfriend commits suicide. The novel has three sections that bounce around in time, before and after the incident.

Brilliantly researched and written history of the Sackler family and the rise of Purdue Pharma. Highly recommended, especially to anyone trying to get a bigger picture understanding about the causes of the opioid crisis.

Short stories about the Cambodian diaspora community in central California, and how the next generation can be shaped by trauma.

A cute gay Regency romance with a grumpy (and probably demisexual) duke who is engaged to marry a woman he has known since childhood…until she runs away and he goes after her with her twin brother, leading him to realize he has been pursuing the wrong twin. Also everyone in this book is queer.

A lengthy but satisfying ode to the magic of books, in a story that spans many perspectives from the 1453 fall of Constantinople to a futuristic young girl on a space ship.

A nice and twisted mystery/thriller. Dara and Marie are sisters who run a ballet school with Dara‘s husband Charlie, and they also all live together in the ramshackle house they inherited. But then Marie moves out and there is a mysterious fire and a shady contractor and a lot of parents arguing about the upcoming performance of the Nutcracker. As in all Megan Abbott books, the kids are not alright - and neither are the parents.

A very cute romance novel, in which two coworkers with a friendly rivalry pretend to be exes for a radio show and podcast in order to help save their struggling radio station.

Did not love this one as much as I thought I would. In theory, the novel is about a writer who goes to LA to work on the set of the movie based on his novel, when he gets assigned to babysit the temperamental young star. But really it‘s an allegory for climate change and the destructive power of humanity.

An excellent second book in this series, in which El and her friends contemplate their upcoming graduation from the Scholomance, when they will have to fight their way out of the school through a hall of monsters. Or will they?

Another twisty novel from Awad. If you like weird, this one is for you. A former actress with a crippling chronic illness is trying to stage All‘s Well That Ends Well at the university where she works, but the mutinous students are dead-set on doing Macbeth instead. She makes a deal with a trio of strange men she meets in a local pub and it looks like things might be going her way for a change - or are they?

I actually really loved this entry in the series (#5). I liked all the pack dynamics and the fae bargains.

A gorgeous collection of poetry, starting with the Black power movement in the 60s and going onwards from there.

A British writer in the 60s has a nervous breakdown and goes to stay at her friend‘s family home in Venice. While there she meets an eager young fan, and begins to question her state of mind and her own memories. I love an expat novel, so this was great for me, very moody and atmospheric.

I did not love this as much as the first book/story collection, but it was still pretty good. I might like the show best of all though?? I‘m sure it has nothing to do with Henry Cavill being all growly and mysterious 😆

A lovely memoir about art and love and life. Gilot‘s version of Picasso, nearly 40 years older than her when they met, is a genius visionary and also sounds impossible as a romantic partner and eventual co-parent. But the writer is an artist in her own right, and I enjoyed seeing her work displayed alongside his.

Finally got around to Dune! I think it made me appreciate the movie even more. The metaphor is even more obvious for Iraq, and they are speaking Arabic (instead of a similar-sounding made-up language). But the world building was great!

So glad to be back with the Dublin murder squad, though I am not sure this one was my favorite. It all unfolds over the course of one day, which I liked, and brings back Detective Stephen Moran and Holly Mackey (Frank‘s daughter), now all grown up and in high school. A mysterious note shows up that might be related to a murder, and Holly brings it to Moran who sees his chance to jump to the Murder squad.

In this thriller, two best friends backpacking together accidentally kill another traveler after one of them is assaulted. But what if it was not really an accident?

A fun Florida crime story. A group of climate justice vigilantes are menacing Miami-area tourists, and private eye Brian Keyes is on the case.

I had been on hold for this one forever, ever since binging The Expanse earlier in the year. Part detective story, part raggedy-crew-of-misfits-in-space, part interplanetary war. A great start to the series, and I will definitely keep reading.

Loved this one! Set in early 1960s Harlem, Ray has a family and owns a furniture store and is trying to live a life mostly on the straight and narrow, if not for the legacy of his criminal father and the antics of his up-to-no-good cousin. Whitehead is a brilliant writer.

Not my favorite of Sally Rooney‘s books, but still good. The epistolary sections did not really work for me, but overall the prose is as brilliant as always.

Historical fiction about Hemingway and his third wife Martha Gellhorn, a famous war correspondent and writer in her own right. My favorite of his wives, actually, and delighted to have her story presented here on its own terms.

Part comedic farce, part campus novel, this novel also somehow includes several essays about the Jewish diaspora and 20th century Zionism. A weird mix that might not have worked, but I enjoyed the whole thing.

A memoir about growing up Korean-American and her relationship with her mother. Lovely writing and descriptions of food that left me hungry nearly the entire time I was reading.

Noir set in 1970s Mexico City. Maite is a bored secretary and Elvis is a hired thug, and both of them are looking for the same missing girl after a series of protests turn violent. Loved the musical cues and the atmospheric writing.

Fittingly enough, I finished this one during Hanukkah! Very cute romance novel, in which a Jewish writer (and daughter of a famous rabbi) is secretly a world-famous writer of Christmas romance novels, using a pseudonym. She also has a chronic illness she has to deal with (a little preachy about that tbh) and also her former camp boyfriend has shown up again but he‘s hot now.

A cute romance novel. Many of the major plot points were alluded to in the first book in the series, but it was still nice to give Alex his own book and his own love story.

Continuing on the Mercy Thompson kick! The vampire drama in this book was fine, but I was more interested in the werewolf pack dynamics. Also Adam continues to be great! Also-also, Baba Yaga was at the fae bar!

In 1980s pre-tech boom San Francisco, teenage Eulabee has a falling out with her best friends when they disagree over whether they saw something shocking. And then the lies seep into other parts of their lives when one girl goes missing. A quick read but I especially liked the flash forward at the end.

Right after the 2016 election, a woman discovers her boyfriend is secretly an online conspiracy theorist. But she misleads also - so whose fakeness is the worse offense? I liked the novel and what it had to say about online performativity. I do get very annoyed when New York writers shit on DC for being boring - begging people to please experience this city beyond Capitol Hill and stop being ignorant. (Rant over!)

A memoir about growing up in a big family but with an abusive mother and a father in prison. Loved Ashley‘s writing, and really respect her ability to reflect clearly on an upbringing that had troubles, yes, but also moments of joy.

What a weird fever dream of a novel. I don‘t think I really had a handle on what was happening until about halfway through. Xavier and Otto and their pet mongoose, Arpád, have been given a honeymoon gift by an aunt, a journey on a mysterious train, which appears to have no other passengers and then ultimately some very remarkable ones.

Did not quite realize this was going to end up being a mystery/thriller, in a good way. Jake is a somewhat failed novelist teaching at a third-rate MFA program when a student shares his idea for a novel. Several years later, Jake finds out the former student has died without ever publishing that novel, so he steals the idea. A seemingly victimless crime…or is it?

Continuing on in the Mercy Thompson books! I did not love this one as much, mostly because I wish authors would stop using sexual assault to show that a female character is strong. But I did like the insight into the fae world, and am excited to see what comes next in the series.

A sweet romance novel. A single mom signs up for a dating website that matches people based on their DNA, and find she has matched with one of the founders. But she already knows him and doesn‘t care for him, so she doesn‘t trust the results.