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 …

What if, in Star Wars, Luke and Vader didn’t kill Emperor Palpatine after all. What if he actually has been using techniques that some considered to be unnatural? What if… he was never really dead at all and was actually in a clone body this whole time? No, we aren’t talking about The Rise of …

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 …

This week we discuss the second half of Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau’s Bloom. Can Ari learn that not everything is about him and get Hector back? Will the bakery survive complete devistation? Will Cameron continue to be the absolute worst? Find out this episode! Subscribe to the Show Become a Patron! Twitter: The Show …