March / April 2026 Reading Wrap Up

01 May 2026 2 Comments

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Somehow April got away from me and I didn’t have a chance to do my monthly summary post for March sooner. That means that I’m going to lump the two months together for one giant post. In total I did fairly well in my reading, with four books read in March and five for April. While I’m not meeting my goal of six books per month, I am making steady progress through my pile of books.

Also – if you’d like to pick up any of these books and support my blog at the same time you can click on any of the book links in this post.

Book cover of 'Grievar's Blood' by Alexander Darwin, featuring a futuristic design with a silhouetted figure in combat, set against a blue background.
Cover of the book 'The Everlasting' by Alix E. Harrow featuring a floral design, a sword, and a face in the background.
Cover of the book 'The Faraway Inn' by Sarah Beth Durst, featuring a whimsical illustration of an inn surrounded by colorful flowers and magical elements.
Book cover of 'The Children of Húrin' by J.R.R. Tolkien featuring a figure in armor holding a sword, overlooking a landscape.

Read in March (1,375 pages):

  • Grievar’s Blood by Alexander Darwin is the second book in The Combat Codes series and I listened to this as an audiobook – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow is a stand-alone fantasy novel I had been looking forward to – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst is a YA cozy fantasy novel that I received courtesy of Net Galley for review – ⭐⭐⭐
  • The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien is a short novel that I started for Tolkien Reading Day this year – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cover of 'An Echo in the Bone' by Diana Gabaldon, featuring a dark blue background with a leaf design and text about the book and its author.
Book cover for 'The Tainted Cup' by Robert Jackson Bennett, featuring decorative gold illustrations of flowers and a cup, surrounded by a dark blue background and green vine accents.
Book cover for 'Dreadful' by Caitlin Rozakis featuring a gothic-style house, swirling tentacles, and stacks of books on display.
Cover image for 'The Time Traveler's Passport', featuring the title in bold colors and the tagline 'Six short stories. Infinite possibilities.' Listed authors include John Scalzi, R. F. Kuang, Peng Shepherd, Kaliane Bradley, Olivie Blake, and P. Djèlí Clark. 'Only from Audible' is highlighted in yellow.
Book cover of 'The Windup Girl' by Paolo Bacigalupi, featuring a dystopian cityscape with a blend of futuristic skyscrapers and a crowded marketplace. An elephant is depicted in the foreground, emphasizing a contrast between technology and nature.

Read in April (1,957+ pages):

  • An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon is the sixth book in the Outlander series and was a solid installment – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is a book I didn’t get to in time for a book club discussion but still wanted to read – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis was a fun stand-alone fantasy tale that I read for a book club discussion – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • The Time Traveler’s Passport Collection by John Scalzi and others is an audiobook-only collection of time travel themed stories – ⭐⭐⭐
  • The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi – I just finished this one last night for an upcoming book club discussion. This book had been on my list for quite a while. It is a book that required careful reading, but I enjoyed it a lot – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book cover of 'Seveneves' by Neal Stephenson featuring a close-up of an eye with a blue light reflection, and text indicating the author and title.
Book cover of 'Written in My Own Heart's Blood' by Diana Gabaldon featuring the title and author's name, with a wax seal design.

Reading now:

  • Seveneves by Neal Stephenson – I’m having a hard time getting through this one with a lot of technological descriptions that don’t add a lot for me. I’m undecided if I’ll finish it. I’m almost halfway through a massive 872 pages.
  • Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon – This is book #8 in the series and I just started it within the past few days.

Another reading event that happened in the last two months was that I got a new Kindle! My old one went missing for a couple of weeks, and while it did eventually turn up, I was convinced that I had lost it. My husband picked the new one out for me because he saw that the Kindle Paperwhite was available in my favorite color – red! While I can’t find a link to that color to show you right now, there are some other pretty colors available (paid link).

Book cover of 'A Court of Frost and Starlight' by Sarah J. Maas, featuring a woman with long red hair, wearing a shimmering dress and intricate jewelry, with stylized decorative elements in the background.
Cover of the book 'The Path of Daggers' by Robert Jordan, featuring a king on horseback surrounded by soldiers carrying banners.

Other books I had hoped to get to in April:

  • A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas – I expect this to be a fast read, but I just couldn’t get to it this month.
  • The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan – This is book 8 in The Wheel of Time series, and at 685 pages, I couldn’t make myself start this until I finish Seveneves.
Book cover for 'Cocktails at Seven, Apocalypse at Eight' by Don Bassingthwaite featuring a dramatic shadow and a stylized illustration of a man with an expressive face.
Book cover of 'The Martian Chronicles' by Ray Bradbury featuring two humanoid figures sitting near a body of water on a red Martian landscape with tall structures in the background.
Book cover of 'The Enchanted Greenhouse' by Sarah Beth Durst, featuring a whimsical, colorful greenhouse in a snowy landscape, with a black cat and magical elements.
Book cover for 'The Mimicking of Known Successes' by Malka Older, featuring two silhouettes walking against a gradient orange background with abstract shapes and stars.
Book cover of 'Steelborn' by Taylor J. Larue featuring a woman with long red hair and a sword against a floral patterned background.
Book cover for 'Quicksilver' by Callie Hart featuring a young man in a dark fantasy setting, wearing armor, with a solemn expression and a tear, surrounded by mystical butterflies and a moonlit backdrop.

Books I’m planning to read in May:

  • Cocktails at Seven, Apocalypse at Eight by Don Bassingthwaite – This book came to me as a gift from a friend and looks like fun!
  • The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury – Somehow I’ve never read this classic science fiction work, and it is an upcoming book club read.
  • The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst – This is the next book in the Spellshop series. I reviewed the first one here.
  • The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older – This book is another upcoming book club selection. I’ve never read anything by this author.
  • Steelborn by Taylor J. LaRue – I picked this ARC e-book up as part of a giveaway. The premise sounds great!
  • Quicksilver by Callie Hart – Since I didn’t get to this book earlier in the year, I’m bringing it back into the queue for May.
Book cover of 'Weavingshaw' by Heba Al-Wasity, featuring a dark castle silhouette with a figure in the foreground and an ominous background.
Book cover for 'The Last Starborn Seer' by Venetia Constantine featuring a mystical female character with long hair, wearing a blue gown, holding a crystal staff, set against a starry blue background with planets.
Book cover of 'Steelborn' by Taylor J. Larue, featuring a woman with red hair holding a sword against a decorative floral background.
Cover art for 'Unidentified Funny Objects 10', featuring a whimsical scene of a girl in a hat being lifted by a spaceship, with aliens and a futuristic landscape in the background.
Book cover for 'Cocktails at Seven, Apocalypse at Eight' by Don Bassingthwaite, featuring a vintage illustration of a man in a suit with a concerned expression, and a colorful shadowy figure in the background.
Book cover of 'Starside' by Alex Aster featuring a sword with a glowing background and the tagline 'Claim Your Sword, Claim Your Fate'.

New books acquired in March and April:

Uh oh – I ended up with six new books when my new rule for the year said that I can only acquire four! I suppose that the first one on here shouldn’t count because it was the delayed February order from Fairy Loot which I didn’t make up for with another book at that ime. I had forgotten that I backed UFO 10 on Kickstarter, and then when I clicked on Steelborn for the giveaway, I had thought that only gave me a chance to win the book rather than gifting me the book immediately. At least two of these are e-books and won’t take up room on my shelves.

Overall I think that my reading for the year is going well. I made some changes to my cell phone that limit how much time I can spend on social media and gaming apps, and I think that has really helped me to focus on more important things. Do you have tips or strategies that help you to read more? Let me know in the comments.

Book Review – The Faraway Inn

13 Apr 2026 3 Comments

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I reviewed The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst in my previous post and I wanted to follow that up with a review of the new YA cozy fantasy novel by the same author, The Faraway Inn (paid links). Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Faraway Inn was just published on March 31, 2026.

Book cover for 'The Faraway Inn' by Sarah Beth Durst, featuring a whimsical, illuminated inn surrounded by flowers and greenery, with elegant text at the top.
I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

After a devastating heartbreak, a teen girl decides to spend her summer helping her eccentric great aunt manage her quaint Vermont inn–but this fixer-upper is hiding a magical secret–in this cozy and irresistable new fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop.

Sixteen-year-old Calisa is desperate for a change of scenery after her lying ex ruins her perfect Brooklyn summer. When her parents suggest she head to rural Vermont to help her great-aunt run her cozy bed and breakfast for a few months, she jumps at the chance.

But when Calisa arrives at the B&B, she’s shocked to find a rundown inn with only a handful of guests. And to make matters worse, upon meeting with her great-aunt it quickly becomes clear that Calisa was not invited. Auntie Zee is determined to keep anyone from messing with her beloved inn…even if it is clear she needs the help.

To earn her keep, Calisa sets to work fixing up the inn, enlisting extra help from the groundskeeper’s (handsome) son. But the longer she stays, the more it becomes evident that there is something strange about the B&B—and its residents. Something almost…otherworldly.

The inn is keeping a magical secret—but to protect the place she’s come to love, Calisa must unravel the truth of it, and her aunt, before it’s too late.

I believe that this book is being presented as a YA novel, and I think it does fit that description. Calisa, the protagonist, is a sixteen-year-old who is having some common problems for a teenager. Following the author’s recent trend in her writing, this is also a cozy fantasy story, or one in which the stakes are generally low. That doesn’t mean that nothing important happens to the characters in such a story, but rather that the world isn’t going to end (or similar catastrophe) if the protagonist fails to meet their goal.

This book was easy to read as long as I didn’t stop to think about the details of the story very much. Calisa finds herself at a magical inn that is run by her reclusive aunt, with the help of a teenage handyman, Jack. Jack’s dad is missing, only a few guests are booking rooms, and the inn is in a state of serious disrepair. In an attempt to ingratiate herself with her aunt and because she genuinely wants to help, Calisa starts to clean and cook for the guests.

As Calisa takes a more active role at the inn, I had to wonder how the place functioned at all before her arrival. Auntie Zee was too much of an enigma and was not present enough for me to believe that she had even managed to provide for the minimal guests who were present. She was the one character that I didn’t find believable in this book. However I did enjoy the secondary characters, particularly one guest who had an odd affinity for trees and shrubs.

This book is also a light romance, and while it follows a predictable pattern for that genre, it wasn’t the main plot of the book. The level of spiciness was low, for those who rank that kind of thing (fitting with this being a YA book). I found the small magical items around the inn to be creative and engaging. My favorites were the firebird who lit the fireplaces and helped with communication, and the tea set that always seemed to know when it was needed.

The Faraway Inn is a stand-alone novel and can be read quickly. I’m planning to read a couple more of this author’s books throughout this year.

Have you read other cozy fantasy novels? Which were your favorites? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my reviews here.

Book Review – The Spellshop

26 Mar 2026 1 Comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , ,

I listened to the audiobook edition of The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst last summer without knowing much about it going in (paid link). This book that is considered part of the new trend of “cozy fantasy” novels. I’ve enjoyed a few books like this already so read on below to see what I thought of this one.

A whimsical and colorful illustration of a magical cottage surrounded by lush greenery and flowers, with sunlight filtering through the trees, featuring the title 'the Spellshop' by Sarah Beth Durst.
I listened to the audiobook edition.

Here is the blurb:

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.

I enjoyed this book a lot and finished it quickly. The protagonist instantly inspires sympathy as she flees from an empire under attack and steals saves several spellbooks to keep them safe. Who wouldn’t try to save the library books they’ve been caring for under such dire circumstances?

It is clear early on that this book is also a light romance, with a single and handsome merhorse wrangler appearing frequently to offer help to the new inhabitant of the island. Besides the romance aspect, this story also features found family, and a small community that stands up for its own people. The writing style was easy to read, although I did listen to the audiobook, and that format often makes for an easier experience for many books for me.

I also loved the sidekicks and humor in this story. Caz the sentient spider plant provides a way for Kiela to have someone else to speak with as she fights to stay isolated in her new home. This allows the author to minimize inner monologues but many still slip through and Kiela’s voice is a bit annoying at times.

Kiela’s baking and spellcraft overlapped and made for a fun combination that made me wish that I had some of her creations to snack on. Of course magic never quite works the way the user anticipates and this provides some intriguing effects that moved the plot forward.

This is the type of fantasy story that perhaps would not stand up to close inspection. The way that magic works is more arbitrary than in other genre series, and the politics that are crucial in driving Kiela to flee with her books initially don’t have a huge impact on her new home. Yet this novel fills a niche for someone looking for an escapist tale that is easy to follow and finds a happy ending. I also loved the cover — yes, there are winged cats.

The Spellshop is a stand-alone novel, although there are more books set in the same world that I have yet to read.

Have you read any cozy fantasy books? Which would you recommend? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

February 2026 Reading Wrap Up

19 Mar 2026 2 Comments

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I haven’t been doing as well on my reading recently. I’d like to think my struggle in February had something to do with it being a short month, but actually the month simply slipped by and I wasn’t able to focus as much on my reading as I may have liked. As I sit here in mid-March I’m still struggling to get through books, but that will be an update for a future post.

Book cover for 'The Will of the Many' by James Islington, featuring ancient Greek-style pillars and a dark blue background.
Cover of the book 'Pilgrimage' by Zenna Henderson, featuring a man in a straw hat standing near a farm house with a UFO in the sky.

These are the two books that I read in February. Both were for book club discussions, but I hadn’t finished The Will of the Many in time to make that talk. I actually didn’t finish Pilgrimage: The Book of the People, but gave up on it about halfway through (paid links). I’ll work on getting reviews of these up soon, but here are my star ratings for them:

  • The Will of the Many by James Islington – ★★★★★
  • Pilgrimage: The Book of the People by Zenna Henderson – ★★
Book cover of 'The Everlasting' by Alix E. Harrow featuring intricate floral designs and a central sword element.
Book cover for 'Grievar's Blood' by Alexander Darwin, featuring a central depiction of a humanoid figure and a blue background.
Book cover of 'An Echo in the Bone' by Diana Gabaldon featuring a dark blue background with a leaf design and text indicating it is an international bestseller.

I did make more progress on the books I had wanted to read for February, but just didn’t finish them. I’m more than halfway through The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow. I decided to take a break from the Outlander saga audiobooks and listened to Grievar’s Blood by Alexander Darwin. This is book 2 in The Combat Codes series and I have finished it now, just not in February. I have already returned to book 7 of the Outlander series – I’m sitting at roughly the halfway point in An Echo in the Bone, with a little over 18 hours left to go (paid links).

Cover of the science fiction novel 'A Fire Upon The Deep' by Vernor Vinge, featuring bold text and a futuristic spaceship design.
Book cover of 'The Tainted Cup' by Robert Jackson Bennett, featuring a dark blue background with intricate gold designs, flowers, and a cup illustration.
Cover of 'The Faraway Inn' by Sarah Beth Durst, featuring a whimsical illustration of a cozy inn surrounded by flowers and mystical elements.

Looking back at the books I had planned to read for February, the only ones I didn’t get to were A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett, and The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst. I’ve moved two of these onto my to-be-read list for March, but if I don’t get to them then, they’ll have to be pushed further down in my never-ending pile.

Next up are my reading plans for March where I get to pick six books!

Book cover for 'The Faraway Inn' by Sarah Beth Durst, featuring a whimsical inn surrounded by flowers and a mystical atmosphere.
Book cover of 'Seveneves' by Neal Stephenson, featuring a detailed illustration of an eye with a blue glowing element in the center.
Cover of the book 'Dreadful' by Caitlin Rozakis featuring a black castle with swirling tendrils and an open book on a stack of books in front of it, set against a red background.
Cover of the book 'The Tainted Cup' by Robert Jackson Bennett, featuring a dark background with gold illustrations of flowers and a cup, symbolizing themes of mystery and intrigue.
Book cover of 'Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil' by V.E. Schwab, featuring stylized yellow text and a dark background with floral elements.
Book cover of 'Written in My Own Heart's Blood' by Diana Gabaldon, featuring a wax seal and bold red title on a light background.

By the time I get this post published I expect that I will have started The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst. This is an ARC from Net Galley, so I need to read and review this one soon. Probably next up will be Seveneves by Neal Stephenson because it is long (872 pages), and it is for a book club discussion mid-April. If I am making good progress on that one, then I’ll probably start either Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis (another book club choice) or The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. If my reading goes spectacularly well then maybe I’ll get to the last two on this list: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab and Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon (paid links).

I’m doing well with sticking to my new book acquisition rule. Since I read five books in January, that meant that I could pick up four new ones in February. My Fairy Loot subscription book went missing (but still may turn up). I had left a spot open for it on my list and then the other three books that I acquired were:

Cover of the book 'The Tainted Cup' by Robert Jackson Bennett, featuring floral and vine illustrations with a dark blue background and gold accents.
Book cover of 'Seveneves' by Neal Stephenson featuring an eye with a blue light and the text 'SEVENEVES' and 'A Novel'.
Book cover of 'Sea of Charms' by Sarah Beth Durst, featuring a colorful garden pathway leading to the ocean with a sailboat in the background.
  • The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
  • Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
  • Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst

The publisher (Bramble) was kind enough to approve an ARC of Sea of Charms for me. I enjoyed the first book in this series – The Spellshop – by Sarah Beth Durst, but haven’t reviewed it here yet so that will be one of the next reviews that I write (paid links).

Unfortunately my new book acquisition rule means that I can only pick up one new book in March. I’ll have to choose carefully!

Book Review – Katabasis

20 Feb 2026 3 Comments

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I loved the two other books by R.F. Kuang that I read, so when I heard that she had a dark academia book coming out, I pre-ordered it. Then I received a prettier copy of Katabasis through the monthly subscription service Fairy Loot (paid link). Did the book live up to the hype I’d built in my head for it? Read on below to find out.

Here are my reviews of the other two books by R.F. Kuang that I’ve read:

  • Babel – review here / purchase here
  • Yellowface – review here / purchase here
I read the Fairy Loot special edition.

Here is the blurb:

Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

The beginning of Katabasis delves immediately into Alice Law’s attempt to transport herself into Hell in the pursuit of her advisor whom she believes she accidentally killed. The magic in this world is build upon the concepts of logic and mathematical paradoxes, with each use requiring the drawing of mystical figures with special chalk. Like in Babel, the story takes place in our world but with a minor change. The magic in Katabasis is used for mostly scholarly purposes and an occasional show and has neither influenced great events nor been a fixture in mainstream society.

Unfortunately this novel didn’t draw me in as much as the author’s other works. The structure reminded me heavily of Dante’s Inferno, and there are certainly references to that classic work. However there are also tons of other scholarly literary references that I didn’t understand that presumably added to the depth of this story. For myself, I could follow the main thrust of the plot and Alice’s interactions with fellow student Peter, but any deeper themes that the novel was trying to convey were lost on me. I suspect that much of this book was influenced by the author’s own graduate school studies, so perhaps someone more knowledgeable in that arena may get more from this book.

The structure of the novel uses flashbacks heavily to explain Alice and Peter’s reasons for traveling to Hell, as well as their past relationship and their interactions with Professor Grimes. This worked well and gave me a nice reprieve from the depressing monotony of journey in the underworld.

This is a stand-alone novel and I’m glad that I read it, but it will sit on my list as my least favorite of R.F. Kuang’s books so far. I also thought it odd that the title is never explained within the text. I had to look it up – katabasis is a term for a descent into the underworld in classic mythology and literature, so that’s appropriate.

Have you read any of R.F. Kuang’s other books? Which one was your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Book Review – Slow Gods

17 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , ,

I had never read anything by author Claire North, but I saw Slow Gods offered on Net Galley and thought that the premise of this new science fiction book sounded terrific (paid link). The cover was great too. Fortunately, I received a copy, so you can read on below to see what I thought.

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I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

From one of the most original and dazzling voices in speculative fiction comes an intergalactic tale of conspiracy, war and the fall of empires.

My name is Mawukana na-Vdnaze, and I am a very poor copy of myself.

In telling my story, there are certain things I should perhaps lie about. I should make myself a hero. Pretend I was not used by strangers and gods, did not leave people behind.

Here is one out there in deep-space, in the pilot’s chair, I died. And then, I was reborn. I became something not quite human, something that could speak to the infinite dark. And I vowed to become the scourge of the world that wronged me.

This is the story of the supernova event that burned planets and felled civilizations. This is also the story of the many lives I’ve lived since I died for the first time.

Are you listening?

Rating: ★★★☆☆

When I read this book, I found that the most interesting aspect of the premise was something that was not included in the blurb above. An enigmatic alien god-like race called the Slow are known for making accurate predictions about events in the galaxy. When they send out an alarm that a specific star will go supernova and destroy dozens of inhabited worlds, you would think that all the planets would take them seriously. However, the disaster is over a hundred years away, and the repressive government of the Shine doesn’t even want their people to know about the prediction and tries to erase the message from the Slow. Other worlds make plans for evacuation, but it’s tough to relocate the entire population of a world and some will inevitably be left behind. This entire situation and the dilemmas involved created the best parts of this book.

The main character, Mawukana na-Vdnaze (Maw), has undergone a strange transformation after being forced to pilot a ship as a form of punishment by the Shine. He is killed yet somehow reformed into someone who is not quite human and can harness the power of a sort of darkness that exists in arc space. He can no longer die and does not age, and he also never suffers from the inevitable psychosis that affects arc space pilots.

Despite these interesting ideas, the story in Slow Gods dragged and it was tough to figure out what the main thrust of the plot was supposed to be. Maw becomes involved in the evacuation of the planet of Adjumir where he tries to rescue someone he met briefly on an earlier excursion. He unconvincingly fell in love with this antiquarian after a brief tryst decades earlier. The Adjumiri also use a variety of odd pronouns which I stumbled over every time one came up. I never understood the differences between them and I thought that the author could have gotten their point across in a more concise way in this respect.

Maw does provide an interesting character study. He is someone who is happy to have escaped one of the worlds of the Shine and a person who becomes inexplicably violent when the Dark takes him. He has some fascinating interactions with one antagonist in the story near the end of the book. However, I felt like this novel suffered from focusing too much on his character and not enough on the events around him. I think that some readers will love this book, but overall it wasn’t for me.

I also felt like this book was only the beginning of a larger series and didn’t wrap up anything like a stand alone novel should. However, it is noted to be a single volume with no sequels planned that I can find.

Thanks again to Net Galley and the publisher, Orbit, for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

Have you read anything by Claire North? I’d try something else by this author. Which other book would you recommend? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Book Review – Detour

06 Feb 2026 1 Comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , ,

Detour is a science fiction novel by co-authors Jeff Rake and Rob Hart. I received a copy courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher (Random House Worlds) in return for an honest review (paid link). You can read what I thought below.

I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

Ryan Crane wasn’t looking for trouble—just a cup of coffee. But when this cop spots a gunman emerging from an unmarked van, he leaps into action and unknowingly saves John Ward, a billionaire with presidential aspirations, from an assassination attempt.

As thanks for Ryan’s quick thinking, Ward offers him the chance of a lifetime: to join a group of lucky civilians chosen to accompany three veteran astronauts on the first manned mission to Saturn’s moon Titan.

A devoted family man, Ryan is reluctant to leave on this two-year expedition, yet with the encouragement of his loving wife—and an exorbitant paycheck guaranteeing lifetime care for their disabled son—he crews up and ventures into a new frontier.

But as the ship is circling Titan, it is rocked by an unexplained series of explosions. The crew works together to get back on course, and they return to Earth as heroes.

When the fanfare dies down, Ryan and his fellow astronauts notice that things are different. Some changes are good, such as lavish upgrades to their homes, but others are more disconcerting. Before the group can connect, mysterious figures start tailing them, and their communications are scrambled.

Separated and suspicious, the crew must uncover the truth and decide how far they’re willing to go to return to their normal lives. Just when their space adventure seemingly ends, it shockingly begins.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

This book initially caught my attention because it featured a crew of astronauts as the main characters. However, this was a large part of why this story didn’t work for me. The professional NASA astronauts on the crew had previous spaceflight experience, but their training for the mission to fly around Titan on a new spacecraft was minimal to non-existent. Three civilians were also selected, but no screening for medical conditions or psychiatric testing was shown. These would have been particularly important aspects to consider for a mission that was expected to last two years.

The commander of the mission turns out to be a known alcoholic, and his colleagues at NASA cover for him constantly, even when he tries to distill alcohol from mouthwash in the middle of the mission after drinking all the alcohol that NASA sent along with them (LOL). One of the civilians is socially awkward and claustrophobic, which is also not a great combination aboard a spacecraft. Another one gets into a fistfight with another crewmember before they even leave Earth.

I found the pacing odd, with roughly the first half of the book being taken up by introductions of the characters. Once they finally arrive near Titan, the ship circles the moon and then comes home. No direct input from any of the astronauts was performed, bringing up the question of why a manned mission was even necessary. Of course there is a strange explosion on the ship when they are at Titan and they lose most (but not all) of their communication ability after that point. Unfortunately the nature of that explosion isn’t really investigated and by the end of the book it is clear that this is going to be the first of a series. The book ends on a cliffhanger and gives no answers to their situation.

The action that opened the novel was exciting and hooked me on the book enough to finish it despite the flaws in characterization and mission logic. The best part of the book occurs in the last third, when more action happens. The prose was also easy to read and I liked the cover.

While the premise of this book held potential for an exciting and intriguing story, I don’t plan to be reading more in this series.

Have you read any books lately that were disappointing? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

January 2026 Reading Wrap Up

04 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The beginning of January gave me pneumonia, so while I didn’t feel well and missed work, I DID have more time to read. The second half of the month left me busier though, so I didn’t quite meet my goal of finishing 6 books for the month. These are the books I finished in January:

Since it takes me so long to get to reviews lately, I thought I’d give you a preview of what I thought by listing how many stars I gave my recent reads. Here are my ratings for what I read in January with purchase links:

When I set my reading goals for 2025, I estimated that I could read 6 books a month (72 for the year). Of course, being unrealistic about my reading goals, I then put 9 books on my to-be-read list for January. Even with that, I feel like I did well with my reading, having started 2 additional books from that list, and leaving only 2 that I haven’t started yet.

I’m currently enjoying the trade paperback edition of The Will of the Many by James Islington. I’m about 200 pages into this one. Then my audiobook journey through the Outlander saga continues with #7 – An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon (paid links). I have 26 hours left of 46, putting me around 43% of the way through the book. If I add my progress for these two books up, I think that should count as a sixth book for January.

The two from my unrealistic list that I didn’t get to were Quicksilver by Callie Hart and Alchemised by SenLinYu (paid links). I still want to read these books, so I’ll have to figure out where to squeeze them in.

I’m going to limit my list for February to only 6 books, and half of them are under 400 pages, so maybe I’ll manage to read them all? Of course I have to finish those I’m currently reading too. Here are the books I’m planning to read in February:

  • A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge – 613 pages, e-book – This is a classic science fiction novel that I received from Net Galley quite a while ago. I’m slowly catching up on my review reading.
  • The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow – 320 pages, hardcover – I have read a ton of stellar reviews for this book and am very excited to start it.
  • Grievar’s Blood by Alexander Darwin – 13 hr, 31 min, audiobook – This is the second novel in a series I started a while ago that was a mashup of fantasy and MMA.
  • The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett – 410 pages, e-book – This novel won both the 2025 Hugo and World Fantasy Awards for Best Novel. It is a selection for an upcoming book club discussion.
  • Pilgrimage: The Book of the People by Zenna Henderson – 255 pages, paperback – This is a selection for an upcoming book club discussion and is a classic published in 1961.
  • The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst – 384 pages, e-book – This is a cozy fantasy novel by the author of The Spellshop and was given to me for review by Net Galley. It will be published on March 31.

I did really well in keeping with my new rule to only buy the number of books I read in the previous month minus one. In December I read 5 books, and then for January I only acquired 4 new ones:

  • Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
  • The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
  • Pilgrimage: The Book of the People by Zenna Henderson
  • Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibanez (Fairy Loot)

You can see that there is significant overlap in my recent reading and the books I needed to obtain. I might have requested a book on Net Galley, but it hasn’t been approved, so it doesn’t count yet!

Coming up later this month on this blog are reviews of Slow Gods by Claire North, Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, and Detour by Jeff Rake and Rob Hart.

What are you reading this week? Are there any new books that you’re looking forward to reading? Let me know in the comments.

Book Review – Lessons in Magic and Disaster

02 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I didn’t realize that Charlie Jane Anders had a new book out until I came across it while browsing NetGalley. I’d really enjoyed three of her earlier books, and you can find my reviews as well as purchase links below. Lessons in Magic and Disaster is her newest book and my review follows.

  • All the Birds in the Sky (review here / purchase here)
  • The City in the Middle of the Night (review here / purchase here)
  • Never Say You Can’t Survive (review here / purchase here)

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

In the vein of Alice Hoffman and Charlie Jane Anders’s own All the Birds in the Sky comes a novel full of love, disaster, and magic.

A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic–with very unexpected results–in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love.

Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training–she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she’s also a powerful witch.

Serena, Jamie’s mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories.

Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn’t know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path.

Now it’s up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives.

This book was one of a few unfortunate DNFs (did-not-finish) for me in 2025. I made it about a third of the way before I gave up. It wasn’t that it was bad, it just wasn’t for me, and I think there are probably people out there that will love this novel. Let me see if I can explain my reaction.

Jamie is the protagonist and discovers that she can perform rites that cause favorable events to happen for her. This magic has no instructions or teacher, but she has fumbled her way to a rudimentary functional understanding that allows her to produce vaguely predictable results. I found the initial descriptions of the magic to be inventive and in a way, earnest. I could truly believe that this magic worked for Jamie and her mother, and that drew me in at the beginning of this book.

However, the story became less about the magic and more about Jamie’s relationships and her thesis struggles. By itself, those ideas could make for a decent story, but I never liked Jamie and couldn’t get invested in her struggles. Much of the novel is taken over by her obsessive research into a mid-18th century novel that feels like it should exist, but doesn’t. I felt like I was not enough of a literature nerd to understand what was going on, and this aspect of the story bored me.

I think that the concept (for as far as I got) would have worked better in a shorter format. Despite not enjoying this book, I loved the author’s earlier books and would still pick up a future novel by her.

Have you read anything by Charlie Jane Anders? Which book was your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my book reviews here.

Book Review – The Keeper of Magical Things

27 Jan 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I previously read and loved Julie Leong’s debut novel, The Teller of Small Fortunes, and you can find my review of it here (with a purchase link here). When I came across her newest novel offered for review on NetGalley, I requested it and was fortunate enough to receive it from the publisher. The Keeper of Magical Things is set in the same world as The Teller of Small Fortunes, but each could be read separately as there is no direct overlap in the characters or events (paid link). Read on below to see what I thought.

I read the e-book edition.

Here is the blurb:

Certainty Bulrush wants to be useful—to the Guild of Mages that took her in as a novice, to the little brother who depends on her, and to anyone else she can help. Unfortunately, her tepid magic hasn’t proven much use to anyone. When Certainty has the chance to earn her magehood via a seemingly straightforward assignment, she takes it. Nevermind that she’ll have to work with Mage Aurelia, the brilliant, unfairly attractive overachiever who’s managed to alienate everyone around her.

The two must transport minorly magical artifacts somewhere safe: Shpelling, the dullest, least magical village around. There, they must fix up an old warehouse, separate the gossipy teapots from the kind-of-flaming swords, corral an unruly little catdragon who has tagged along, and above all: avoid complications. The Guild’s uneasy relationship with citizens is at a tipping point, and the last thing needed is a magical incident.

Still, as mage and novice come to know Shpelling’s residents—and each other—they realize the Guild’s hoarded magic might do more good being shared. Friendships blossom while Certainty and Aurelia work to make Shpelling the haven it could be. But magic is fickle—add attraction and it might spell trouble.

This novel was easy to read and featured an immediately sympathetic character in Certainty. While the author’s first book took characters along a journey through different towns, this book leaves Certainty and Mage Aurelia stuck in the village of Shpelling.

A classic quest story takes characters on a journey that is often a literary device used to introduce them to new places and adversaries. In a novel like The Keeper of Magical Things, the story could stagnate by being set in a single locale, but instead, this book moves the plot along by having Certainty explore the village, greet its inhabitants, and grow her relationship with Mage Aurelia.

This novel does feature a romance, and it isn’t hard to figure out who is involved. The author adds several fun quirks to the story, like winged cats and a talking teapot, and the “useless” magical artifacts provide a way for Certainty’s creativity to shine. I also loved the cover on this one!

Overall this was a nice read that shows the importance of community and finding your niche when it seems like you’ll never fit in. I think I did like the author’s previous book a little better, but this was a quick and easy book to fall into and I’ll be looking out for more by Julie Leong in the future.

Have you read either of Julie Leong’s novels? Have you tried a cozy fantasy novel yet? Let me know in the comments.

You can find more of my reviews here.

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