Originally posted by Scott on Goodreads.
Historical sf/f. Steampunk. In the late 19th century, idealistic (but somewhat misguided) socialists from Europe and formerly enslaved people from North America purchase territory in what is now the Congo from the brutal colonial regime of Belgium’s King Leopold II, and join forces with those already living there (some of whom have mysterious access to …
Science fantasy. Spaceships and necromancers. Sequel to Gideon the Ninth. Because it is a sequel, I can’t say anything about the plot without spoiling the first book. I will say that I was a little hesitant to read this one because I thought there was no way that it could match the intricacy and sheer …
Sci-fi. A first contact story set in 2007. The protagonist is the estranged oldest daughter of a narcissistic publish-all-the-leaks anti-government guy. He releases a leaked memo indicating that the US government has been covering up the existence of extraterrestrial life on earth, but she has no interest in this and wants nothing to do with …
Middle grade contemporary fantasy. A young girl who lives with her grandparents above their bookshop in London, England, discovers that certain people, she among them, can literally enter books, have conversations with characters, and directly observe or even participate in the stories therein. Through the story, she and the reader learn more about the hidden …
Literary fiction. Follows three women in three different generations of the same family – a riot grrrl-esque musician whom we first meet on her rise to renown in the ’90s, her mother (a hippie), and her paternal grandmother (who migrated to Canada as a young woman). Traces their respective journeys with partners, family, work, sexuality, …
YA sci fi. Set on a future earth that is well down the path to climate apocalypse. Follows two teen girls, one living as a scientifically brilliant (and seemingly neurodivergent?) high-status resident of one of the aerial eco-cities that an older generation created as an attempt to reduce humanity’s impact on the planet, and the …
Literary fiction. Follows a blue-skinned boy being raised as a god in an ashram run by his father outside a small village in Tamil Nadu, India. The promotional copy on the book jacket does not make this clear, but because it becomes evident to the reader pretty early on (though not to the protagonist) I …
YA contemporary. A young woman at the end of high school has spent every spare moment over the last few years making a podcast called *Artists in Love* with her boyfriend, with whom she is in one of those ‘perfect couple’ high school relationships. Except he breaks up with her and announces he’s leaving town …
Fantasy. I picked this one up because the author makes bookish content online that I quite like – her taste in books isn’t the same as mine, but it’s related, and she’s smart and politically interesting so I enjoy her videos. The book is a vaguely-medieval-Europe, dragons-and-castles-and-magic sort of fantasy that I don’t read a …