I don’t really go in for short story collections and I don’t really like the original Alice or her twee wonderland. But ah, Christina Henry is such a master that I forget all about that when I read her work. These stories are interconnected novelettes, complex and complete unto themselves, but even better when taken …
If you’re struggling to find ways to contribute during the pandemic, a small way you can help several communities at once is to buy books by Asian or Asian American authors from your local independent bookstore. Debut authors especially, but really anyone with a book out recently is hurting. Small retailers are hurting. And the …
Like many people during this pandemic, I’ve been in a bit of a reading funk. A bit of a doing-anything-at-all funk, if I’m being honest. I lose interest in things quickly, if I do them at all. I can’t read more than a few pages. I do the dishes in stages. Heck, I got up …
If you want an engrossing book or two that will help you enforce social distancing and keep you inside for as long as possible, consider these long series or massive tomes (or, in a few instances, both) that don’t have anything to do with pandemics. Priory of the Orange Tree (Samantha Shannon) – This extra-large …
If you want to lean into the trend, here are fifteen books about pandemics that can hopefully take some of the stress out of distancing, quarantine, or just the general anxiety of being alive in these “interesting” times. The Stand (Stephen King) – A superflu kills 99.4% of the world population, and that’s just the …
Note: I don’t think it’s possible to give this book a proper review without at least some spoilers, but since there are several dramatic reveals and—I hesitate to call them “twists” since they’re not at all gimmicky like so many twists are these days—please be forewarned. For people who prefer no spoilers at all, know …
Forrest Leo’s The Gentleman is a silly book. It knows it is. It exults in absurdity, delights in mishap, and does an absolute jig around the plot. And why not? We need some silliness right now. Lionel Savage is anything but. More fraidy-cat than king of the jungle and more shy than savage, he’s a …
Dragon Hoops, though it features no actual dragons, accomplished something more magical an inexplicable than most of the fantasy I’ve been reading. Something so inexplicable, so unbelievable, that I previously didn’t think it was possible. It made me care about basketball. Like Gene Luen Yang himself in the beginning of the book, I too was …
In a world only a little different from our own, there exists a home furnishings store called LitenVärld. That’s “Small World” in Swedish, but it turns out that neither the store nor the world is particularly small. Both are places where people can get lost, and that’s exactly where Nino Cipri’s Finna begins: a missing …
As the celestial enforcer for the realm of California, Genie already has her work cut out for her. She’s managing the yaoguai who invaded in the last book, she’s navigating her new relationship, she’s kicking ass in school and extracurriculars, and she’s getting ready to apply to college. She does not have time for interdimensional hijinks. …