Witch King, by Martha Wells
When demon in human form, Kai, wakes from a year-long imprisonment, he and his companions go in search of whomever had plotted against him. Treachery is everywhere and they don’t know who to trust. Their search begins to echo the first battle won against the all-powerful Heirarchs—colonizing mages defeated sixty years before. Told in both the past and present, Kai is a compelling figure at once both unsure of himself and wildly talented. This was a little more high-fantasy than I’ve been into lately, but Martha Wells worldbuilding is on-point here. Full of rich history and descriptions, it’s very immersive.
 
System Collapse, by Martha Wells
I really didn’t mean to read to by the same author in a row. Witch King came out at the end of May and then I got access to an early digital reading copy of the next installment of Murderbot Diaries. … And I read it twice. It was a balm for my stressed-out soul at the beginning of June. It is terrific. Can’t wait for more.
 
Wake the Bones, by Elizabeth Kilcoyne
A young adult book and a listen. I thought this book was going to be more horror than it was. I liked it enough, but the really interesting part only lasted about two pages. Laurel recently dropped out of college returning to her rural Kentucky farm. The land calls to her and she discovers she might have some magic related to it. When her long-dead mother begins to return to her, she realizes the demon her mother neutralized with her death is coming back to take Laurel instead. Sounds scary, right? Not so much, it really concentrated on the dead-end, rural town that Laurel and her three friends want to leave but see no options anywhere else.
 
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
I first read this when I was 9-ish and cried my eyes out. I remember loving it, but it being so so sad. Someone left a copy in my Little Free Library, so I thought I would see how 30-years had changed things. Not so much. Cried.My.Eyes.Out. Cried sooooo hard. And still, it is an absolutely wonderful story. Spare and simple, but fully realizing the joy of a best friend.
 
The World of Pondside, by Mary Helen Stefaniak
Pondside is a nursing home mostly populated by the elderly. Once exception is Robert Kallman, a younger man with advanced ALS. A software engineer, he creates an immersive video game that many of the residents use to reconnect with their younger, more mobile, selves. When Robert is found drowned in the namesake Pond, his close friend and collaborator is devastated. Foster is a young man with no family or friends who works as a kitchen aid at the nursing home. After Robert’s death, the game goes dark and Foster has to navigate the police, his demanding boss, his coworkers, and the Pondside residents to keep Robert’s dying wish. This is an odd book, but overall really good—different in the best way. It took awhile to get into as there are multiple narrators whose stories don’t coalesce until more than two-thirds of the way through. From there the story really takes off.
 
Game On: Shrinkle, by Emily Snape
This is the first in a new middle grade series published by the company I work for. It’s about two brothers who fight all the time who get sucked into a phone app game that shrinks them to 3 inches tall. They have to answer riddles the game gives them within an hour in order to return to normal all while navigating an apartment that is way too big and a baby sister who is now a giant. This is a really fun book. A ton of body humor, like gross, gross body humor—so perfect for the 8 to 11 year-old readers. Interesting concept and well-executed.
 
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
So, another book I read when I was 10-ish. I know remember why it has stood the test of time. Evocative and exciting, Jim Hawkins is the plucky hero that I think everyone wishes they were. Long John Silver is an especially great character—a sympathetic villain who always squeaks out of trouble. This is a fantastic read for kids and adults.
 
Witches of Lychford, by Paul Cornell
A supermarket is trying to take over a small village—a subject which has split the town in two. Elderly witch, and local crank, Judith knows that the supermarket is trying to destroy the border between two worlds. She is aided in her fight by two young women who have their own reasons for fighting back. This is a quick novella and delightful as much as it is menacing. And I love Judith. I want to be a cranky old witch one day.
 
Supper Club, by Jackie Morrow
Nora, Lili, and Iris are seniors prepping for college. When they find out they don’t have classes together and their individual hobbies will not give them any time together, they start a Friday night Supper Club. Supper Club becomes their one solid thing to hold on to as the shifting carpet of their lives threatens to separate them. This is a graphic novel with so much heart. Great artwork, wonderful characters, and even a few of the recipes that the girls share.
 
Against Technoableism, by Ashley Shew
My one nonfiction of the month and it was a doozy. In recent years, I have been learning more and more about disability justice and this book brought so much great information together. Shew is a professor of disability studies and technology ethics—and is also a cancer survivor amputee. She knows what she’s talking about. Ostensibly, this book is about how ableds think that technology will solve all disability “problems.” However, it goes farther than that, taking on a broader discussion of disability rights and activism. Shew is an engaging writer, which makes this short book an incredible introduction to these topics. This is one that every able-bodied person should read and a book that will help disabled people fell seen. 

I first learned to crochet when I was five or six. I was taught by my grandma who almost only made doilies, so that's what I learned to make. Now I have come full-circle and have done a few. I will be making more!

I had some left wool yarn and decided to make a scarf out of Granny squares then felted the wool squares. I'm super happy with how this turned out. Though, as it's June, I won't have an opportunity to wear it for awhile. 

Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris
David Sedaris is always hilarious, even when I’m tearing up. Listening to him read his essays is a true pleasure. A lot of this one is about David’s father during his last years, and what his legacy is. Of course, there are the wonderful stories of living abroad, his relationship with Hugh and his sisters. One of my favorites was about how many of his book tours have “themes.” The “theme” that had me hysterically laughing was when he found out that women hate wearing bras at home.
 
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, by Satoshi Yagasawa
Takako is 25 and facing a crisis. To save money and get back on her feet, she moves into the loft above her uncle’s bookstore. Not really a reader before, she comes to love the Japanese literature that he specializes in. As she becomes involved with the regulars and other neighborhood stores, she begins to open up in ways she could only imagine before. And when her uncle faces a crisis of his own, she can be a support for him too. Lovely, quick read about the healing power of connection and of reading.
 
Translation State, by Ann Leckie
I loved Leckie’s award-winning Imperial Radch trilogy and was excited for this one too. And it was great, just not as great as I thought it would be. I think a lot of it was me as the reader. When Ancillary Justice came out, there was nothing like it. Now there are a lot of options in a similar vein, so it wasn’t so groundbreaking. But…the story is really good. It takes a while for the three disparate story threads to come together, and, wow, is it thrilling when they do. Another good thing about this book is that you can read it as a stand alone.
 
Concerning My Daughter, by Kim Hye-Jin, translated by Jamie Chang
An odd story, told without any quotation marks for dialogue—almost free form first person narrative—about an old woman who doesn’t want to understand why her daughter chooses to struggle when she could live a normal life. Her daughter, Green, has moved back home with her long-time girlfriend, Lane, and is protesting the university she works at for firing homosexual professors. Which, of course, puts her about as far outside “normal” as she can get. This is not a fast read, even for being so short. There is a lot to think about and the main character is not very likable. It is good, though without a lot of resolution.
 
Hungry Ghost, by Victoria Ying
A well-illustrated, semi-autobiographical graphic novel. Valerie is the perfect child and hides a devastating secret—she has a pervasive eating disorder. Constantly scolded by her mother to “not get fat,” she has learned to hide a large part of herself away. When her father dies suddenly, her life is thrown into a maelstrom of self-hate and self-doubt. Only through the potential loss of a friend, does she come to understand what she is doing to herself. Beautiful, heartbreaking story, but not without hope.
 
Lavender House, by Lev AC Rosen
A closed house murder mystery featuring a former police detective making his debut as a detective-for-hire in 1950s San Francisco. Andy Mills, drinking himself to death after being fired from the police force for being gay, is whisked away North of the city to the estate of a wealthy woman, Irene, who has recently died. Her wife believes there was foul play even though the death was thought to be accidental. What Andy finds there is an oasis of safety for a gay family, even though he is sure that one of them murdered Irene. Really well-done mystery, great setting, great characters. Definitely a mystery series that I’ll follow.
 
A House With Good Bones, by T. Kingfisher
Another creepy af book from one of my favorite writers. When Sam goes to stay with her mother for an extended visit, things aren’t quite right in her childhood home. Her mom has changed—dramatic weight loss, lots of anxiety. Even as odd things happen to Sam—infestation of ladybugs, roses that grow beautifully without any effort, large numbers of vultures hanging out—being a scientist she tries to talk herself out of it…until it’s almost too late. Loved this one. Sam is a delight and the creep factor is just right.
 
Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice, by Sonali Kolhatkar
Full disclosure: this was written by my neighbor, a radio host and journalist. (Also, second nonfiction book of the month. Yay me!) This book is a great starter for those interested in how narrative is used to leave out or put down people of color, gays, immigrants, and women. It also shows how narrative can be reclaimed—especially on the leveling field of social media—to create a new, more inclusive narrative to replace traditional stories (eg narratives by powerful, primarily white, people). Written in a clear, understandable style, this is a good one for libraries (especially high school) and for the general reader.
 
The Library, by Bella Osborne
Lovely story of how a shared love of books brings together a lonely old woman and a neglected teenaged boy. When their tiny, local library is threatened with closure they find other friends who help them save it. Pretty basic plot, but it’s the lovely characters that bring this story alive.
 
The Wishing Game, by Meg Shaffer
Lucy was rejected by her family as a child and had a terrible upbringing. Even though she is only a teacher’s aide, she wants to adopt orphan Christopher and give him the life he deserves. Her one chance to make that happen is by playing children’s author Jack Masterson’s game. Recluse Jack lives on an island off the coast of Maine that he has fashioned into a real-life version of his books—Clock Island. A lover of riddles and puzzles, he puts four superfans, including Lucy, to the test just like he does to his child characters. This was like an adult version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Visitors to Clock Island have to face their biggest fears in order to make their wish come true. This was a great palate cleanser. 

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, by Garth Nix
This was a really fun follow-up to The Left-Handed Booksellers of London—Nix’s alternative 1980s London and the magical booksellers who monitor magic in the UK. We get a return of the fashion-forward Merlin and recently magical Susan as they try to stop a powerful, ancient spirit who wants Susan’s powers. I almost liked this book better than the first because I was already familiar with the setting and could fall right into it.

Two Tribes, by Emily Bowen Cohen
This is a lovely middle grade graphic novel about a 13-year-old girl being raised by her white Jewish mother with questions about her indigenous father and heritage. Mia’s father hasn’t been in the picture since her parent’s acrimonious divorce. Knowing her mom won’t let her visit her father, she sneaks away taking a bus from Los Angeles to Oklahoma where she gets to know her other family and learns about her tribe. Of course, she gets in big trouble for it, and it all works out well in the end. It’s great for biracial kids who wonder who they really are. And people who like well-told stories, of course.

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute, by Talia Hibbert
A YA debut by one of my favorite romance authors. Celine and Bradley used to be best friends, now they are enemies competing for a prestigious scholarship in their last year of school. It turns out that their big fight four years earlier was more of a misunderstanding and that they both care a lot about the other. Main characters with real lives, secondary characters you want to hang out with too—Hibbert always tells a great story.

The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women's Roles in Society, by Eleanor Janega
A fantastic read about women during the medieval period (which covers 1200 years!). I really enjoyed this book and Janega’s delivery of the information, as well as the way she made sure the reader understood that nearly all information has been filtered through the lens of men. Who, by the way, believed women to be sexually insatiable and far more interested in sex than men. Janega also offers a lot of insight into our modern era by contrasting it with the medieval period. Highly recommend!

The Fox & the Little Tanuki, by Tagawa Mi
A cute looking manga. It is cute looking, but I couldn’t get into it. I felt the story was choppy and the dogs and main fox character looked too much alike.

The Quiet Gentleman, by Georgette Heyer
A reread. This is the one that started it all for me. Still fantastic.

Camp Sylvania, by Julie Murphy
I’ve read nearly all of Murphy’s books and they have all been great. This is her first foray into a story with a fantasy element and it really worked. Maggie is sent to a summer “fat” camp, against her wishes, that has been rebranded as a “wellness” camp by the new owner and famous influencer, Sylvia Sylvania. Things are immediately weird there—they can only eat red-colored food, they can’t leave their bunks after dark, and they are encouraged to donate blood daily. Maggie quickly makes friends with her bunkmates as they try to find out why camp is so strange. Yes, vampires are involved. Murphy does a great job creating a full, reality-based story with or without the fantasy element. The story is really a take down of wellness culture.
 
Network, Effect, by Martha Wells
This was a relisten. (I don’t always add in my rereads of The Murderbot Diaries, but I haven’t reread this in awhile.) Always worth it.

Spector Inspectors, by Bowen McCurdy and Kaitlyn Musto
A really fun graphic novel about a group of young ghost hunters with a popular YouTube channel who visit a haunted town and become mired in a hundred-year-old mystery. The spookiness was well done, the art is great, and all four main characters are a delight. Recommend.
 
Siren Queen, by Nghi Vo
Old Hollywood steeped in magic? I’m in…duh. This Hollywood is an extension of the fae realm complete with soul bargaining, magic spells cast by cameras, Friday night Wild Hunts, and stars who really become part of the firmament. Luli Wei is a Los Angeles native who falls in love with movies, making it her life’s mission to become a start while avoiding the pitfalls of losing her soul, her body, or worse. So much of what makes this book great is that Vo doesn’t actually change any of the language used to talk about the magic of Hollywood, but the way she uses it changes the implications from hyperbole to real magic. Very good book. Highly recommend.