The Correspondent

 

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, 285 pages.

Sybil Van Antwerp has always made her most meaningful connections through writing. She has spent her very full life writing letters to anyone who struck her fancy: loved ones, authors whose work she enjoyed, professional correspondence, and anyone else who cares to write. Much to her displeasure, being in her 70s does not stop life from continuing to change, and even feelings she has kept buried for decades will not lie in peace. 

Despite the crushing popularity of this book, I'm afraid I found it pretty dull. I am usually a big fan of epistolary novels, but I think I would have liked this one better if it had some sort of anchor point, aside from Sybil herself. It did feel very realistic, with correspondence often drying up and not particularly connecting. I did like Sybil, flawed though she was, and the writing itself had a lot of verisimilitude, I only wish there was anything at all in this book that had hooked me. I know many people enjoy this book, but I don't myself understand the hype. 

There Be Dragons Here

 

There Be Dragons Here by S.L. Rowland, 288 pages.

For nearly a century Hilda Flintbreaker journeyed on adventures in every corner of the continent with the adventuring party Stone & Splendor. But for the last several decades, Hilda Rockfall has had a much smaller kind of adventure, marrying and raising children and grandchildren. But when the last of her old adventuring party dies and leaves her with an outlandish request, Hilda is set for one last adventure to spread his ashes on a mountain in dragon territory. Her granddaughter, a war goat, and a dragon broodling all come together to make the adventure of a lifetime. 

This was the coziest, most wholesome book. Unlike some books of that description, it had a solid plot that felt exciting but not necessarily frightening. There was a lot of emotional heft to it, and the novel managed to deal in a meaningful way with grief without feeling heavy. I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it for an emotionally-driven fantasy novel.  

Wisdom Corner

Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (2026), 320 pages 

Somehow it missed me (and several others) that this is actually Book 2 in the Virgil Wounded Horse series. So, as I will be doing that shortly - go read Winter Counts first. 

Virgil Wounded Horse is a former enforcer/vigilante for hire on the Rosebud Reservation where he resides. He is trying to shake that lifestyle, but a murder on the Reservation and potential gang activity from the neighboring Pine Ridge Reservation are pulling him back in.  

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It is touted as a thriller, but the pacing does not lend it to that. It more of a slow burn. Weiden does an excellent job of portraying current Native life on a Reservation, but sometimes bogs the story down with too many side-details and historical notes. I find these details very interesting, but others will find them distracting. As always, though, I will forever feel angry for how Native Americans were/are treated on their own land. 

 

The River is Waiting

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb (2025), 466 pages 

This is a tough read. Corby is struggling as a husband and father. He recently lost his job and is sliding into alcohol and drug addiction. Through his own actions, he causes a family catastrophe and ends up in prison. The novel follows his journey through prison, personal reckoning, and family reconciliations. It is a hard, sad story and not the book to read if you aren't in a mentally decent place.

Voted Most Likely to Murder

Voted Most Likely to Murder by Lacey Moone (2026) 294 pages

Belinda Bishop is an outspoken daughter of a cop and a real estate agent. Her parents now run a small cottage rental and RV park in their small town in Nova Scotia. Belinda is back home working with them after her attempts to make a living by journalism haven't worked out. She reluctantly goes to her class reunion and catches up with both good friends and her former best friend—now enemy—Jolene. 

They are not the only ones with issues. There's a moment when things get heated on the dance floor, when classmate Andy, a big flirt, starts lecturing Trawler about his treatment of Trawler's wife, Jolene. It's awkward, and even more so when Belinda and her friend Stevie stumble onto Andy's dead body later. When Jolene is deemed a person of interest in the murder, Belinda and Stevie try to help clear Jolene's name, which is tricky because of Belinda and Jolene's rocky relationship.

The murder investigation by the three women has a solid foundation, but they keep getting in the way of the real investigators in the police force. The story flowed well, but the outspokenness and sometimes impulsiveness of Belinda was a bit much at times. Enjoyable in spite of that.

The Last Contract of Isako

 The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee (2026) 528 pages

This is my first book by Fonda Lee. The synopsis of this standalone sci-fi adventure caught my attention. I love samurai movies, so a legendary swordswoman in the future on a planet gradually being terraformed and controlled by corporate interests is an intriguing twist on the genre. On this planet, Aquilo, in the future, humans are in a strict hierarchy and are divided over terraforming taking top priority to make the planet more habitable or trying to re-establish contact with Earth (which was lost centuries ago). Stay in the corporate hierarchy, with a wide gulf between the rich and the poor, or look outward toward exploration and potential better opportunities? Isthmus Isako is our heroine. Everyone has a personal name of a plant, animal, or geographic feature from old Earth and a kith name, or family name, on Aquilo. Isako and everyone with the same sort of job as her, an atier, operates with a modified Bushido code and fights with longknives. Their job is part bodyguard, part espionage, and all about strategy. The rich and powerful who control the corporations and govern the domed habitat of multiple cities have the means to transfer their brains into synthetic bodies when they reach 80 or 90 years old. This ruling class calls in second stage, while everyone under them tends to call them jarbrains. In this world, Isako's contract surprisingly changes hands and she is sent on a final mission to dig up dirt on an executive of a gas production corporation pushing to be nominated to the highest Board of Directors. This man, in his 70s, is young for the recent second stage transfer operation he went through. His atier, Dragonfly Martim, was mentored by Isako. Martim is a young overachiever just beginning his career, who suddenly supposedly dies of a drug overdose... Isako knows something is wrong with this reported cause of death and turns her final mission into an investigation of Martim's death. About a quarter of the book changes perspective to show us Martim's life. Then we return to Isako's point of view to wrap it up. I liked the action and the surprises and the cautionary future sci-fi world presented.

Mathematics without apologies

Mathematics without apologies: portrait of a problematic vocation by Michael Harris (2015) 438 pages

A mathematical memoir and creative writing exercise is not as odd as it might sound. Abstract math is the bailiwick of fast-thinkers living in a very esoteric world. Popular science and math books abound and Harris gets credit for NOT making it all about him. The book is arranged in stand-alone chapters, each illustrates a concept or personality which the layperson can (or may) relate to. I was flummoxed by the chapter on the use abstract math in the novels of Thomas Pynchon – specifically Against the day and the allusion to automorphic forms and conic sections. Harris points out that reviewers of Pynchon’s work often prefaced their critiques with the acknowledgement that they know no math -- sad. Recommended to those enjoy a non-linear reading adventure.

Call Me Ishmaelle by Xialolu Guo, 446 pages

 

 

This is kind of a playful retelling of Moby Dick, but with a new protagonist. Ishmaelle is a teenage girl posing as a young man who sets out on a ship very similar to the Pequod. While correcting the all-maleness of Moby Dick, it gives a lot of characters a new look with more cultural understanding. None of that contributed to me not feeling this one. Usually I like a lighthearted romp into a beloved classic (looking at you, Jasper Fforde). But it was just too long, and the protagonist was devoid of personality to a startling degree.

Ruby Falls by Gin Phillips, 368 pages

 

 

Others have summarized this one, so I’ll skip that part. I like this one pretty well! While technically a mystery, it didn’t really have that tone or fit into any of the endless flavors or subgenres. Just a solid realistic historical fiction. And there's plenty here for you if you just...like rocks. Will definitely seek out more by this author.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey, 190 pages

 

This is one of those memoirs that isn’t strictly a memoir, and contains just interesting things that the writer has found out researching a topic. In this case, the story vacillates between the author’s own experience with a chronic illness and her relationship with a snail that a friend brings her for company, and interesting snail facts about snails in nature and pop culture. Kind of a subgenre that could be called “We’re Not So Different, You and I”. This as a pretty good quick little read. No real complaints about it, but nothing earthshattering. Alternate title could easily be Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Snail Sex but Were Afraid to Ask.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, 163 pages

Others on our blog have summarized this one very well, so I’ll skip that part. I had tried the audiobook of this one a while back, but found that it required more attention than I was willing to give in that moment. Inspired by the reviews of my coworkers, I gave it another shot and am glad I did. It’s hard to find something that finds the sweet spot of wholesome but not saccharine, and I think this did that very well. The pacing of revealing with the world in the story was excellent, but I’m not sure that there was a whole lot going for it after that. The approach to social issues that it touched on seemed a little on-the-nose...but overall it was a very fun quick read.

Rivers of London

 

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, 392 pages

Probationary Constable Peter Grant is hoping for any permanent assignment that saves him from a position in the bureaucracy department, and a ghostly witness to a strange murder proves to be just the ticket for getting into a much more interesting department. Peter finds himself under Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who is currently the whole department handling supernatural problems around London, the police's single wizard. Peter is pulled into the politics of rivers and casting spells, even as the gristly murders keep multiplying. 

While it was nice to get back into urban fiction, which was at one point a lot of what I read, I don't know that I'm jumping to recommend this book in particular. The general consensus among the Orcs & Aliens book club was that Peter was a bit of a boring protagonist, and there's a fair bit of sexism that isn't surprising for a book published in 2011 by a fifty-year-old man, but did make it less enjoyable. Part of me is curious to see where some of the settings open paths go, but I'm unlikely to continue the series. 

A Single Thread

 A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier (2019), 336 pages

Violet Speedwell finds herself, at 37, to be a "surplus woman". The year is 1932 and many young men have lost their lives in the Great War. Instead of remaining home with her difficult, embittered mother, she strikes off on her own as a typist in a neighboring town. Life is difficult and lonely and Violet finds herself drawn to a society of broderers (women who embroider kneelers and cushions for churches). There she finds friendship and company. 

This was an interesting book as I knew very little about broderers and found the subject quite interesting. The novel also delves into Cathedral bell ringers and the mechanics behind that trade (also interesting). The story itself, though, was just ok. While I appreciate Violet's struggle for autonomy and self-sufficiency in a time where women were expected to be married, she wasn't that likeable of a character. But, if I had survived the Great War and lost so many people I loved, I might not be particularly likeable either. 

The Burn Line

 

The Burn Line by Jonathan Sims, 384 pages.

Five passengers on the London underground share what seems to be a normal journey on the tube, rendered especially unpleasant by a historic heat wave. But if the trip was normal, why can none of them shake the feeling that something terrible and unnatural happened? The feeling is impossible to shake, and only grows stronger as they feel themselves being stalked, and as strange and not-quite explicable events keep happening around them. The five individuals have nothing in common but their commute, but they will have to come together if they want any chance of survival.

This book had a bit of a slow start. There was a lot of characters telling us they felt uneasy, with very little actually happening on page. However, Jonathan Sims excels at character writing, and I think the split perspective style, cycling through the whole cast, definitely added to the book. Once it hit its stride it was engrossing, and I really enjoyed how it all came together. I don't know if I would call this Sims' strongest work, but I did enjoy it, and would recommend it as a fun bit of summer horror.

This book is scheduled to be released on 8/25/2026. 

June Totals

 A special welcome to new blogger Sarah!

My TBR is getting truly out-of-hand friends

Annie: 2 books, 648 pages

Byron: 4 books, 1029 pages

Jan: 6 books, 1931 pages

John: 2 books, 1529 pages

Kara: 4 books, 1328 pages

Kevin: 3 books, 1472 pages

Regan: 12 books, 3551 pages

Sarah: 3 books, 685 pages

Tracey: 8 books, 3071 pages 

Totals: 44 books and 15,244 pages

Beyond Magenta

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin (2014) 182 pages

This book was published over 12 years ago, but the information still seems fresh. The author interviews six teens, going into their lives and when they became aware that they didn't match up with their assigned-at-birth gender, and how they and their families navigated after that. Some of the young people are male-to-female, some are female-to-male, one was determined to be intersex. Some have families that accept them, some do not. The soul-searching that these young people go through to try to figure out who they are is difficult.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 [graphic novel]

 

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton (2009) 149 pages

Somehow I'd missed reading Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel from 1953. This graphic novel version caught me up in no time. It's a timely subject for those reeling from book bans. Guy Montag is a fireman, but fireman means something quite different in his time: he helps burn books of those who are found to have them. He meets a young woman in his neighborhood while walking home one night, and his conversations with her make him start questioning everything he sees and knows. Good book, which makes me want to read the original. 

Go Gentle

Go Gentle by Maria Semple (2026) 365 pages

Adora Hazzard has gone through a lot to get where she is, but feels she has been saved by philosophy ‒ in particular, Stoicism. Now she has a job with benefits, unusual for a philosopher. She works at the Lockwood Library in NYC where she researches and writes, and also provides moral training for the 11-year old twin sons of Lionel and Layla Lockwood. She and her 15-year-old daughter live nearby in an old building, where the 7th floor is increasingly inhabited by "The Coven," women who share food, transportation, and most of all, moral and physical support for each other as they grow older. What more could Adora want?

Throw in a few monkey wrenches: a strange delivery coming to the library, a man who contacts Adora for help getting a message to Layla Lockwood without being observed, and the destruction of some famous art pieces around the world, along with the reawakening of Adora's wish for sexual intimacy, and who knows what will happen!

The surprising plot, the good dialogue, and the delightful characters make this a fine read. Some of my favorite characters turned out to be Adora's daughter, Viv, and the Lockwood twin sons. Plus I learned/relearned a bit of philosophy in the most palatable way.

The Last Hour Between Worlds

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso, 432 pages

I first read and blogged about this book just about a year ago, and I'm still wild about this wackadoodle slipstream/multiverse magical mystery. I love the characters, the complex world that the author created, and I'm very interested in where this story goes next. Super good, though it's nearly impossible to describe. Read it, and then come talk to me.

The Girls Before

The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall, 320 pages

When Audrey was a teenager, her ex-best friend Janie went missing, and nobody looked for her. Janie was almost 17 and it wasn't unheard of for her to disappear for a few weeks without anyone noticing or caring when she returned, but this time, she completely vanished. Close to 20 years later, Audrey still can't forgive herself for not seeking out her ex-friend, and now volunteers for search and rescue missions any time she can. When the latest disappearance occurs, Audrey sees some disturbing similarities to Janie, from the age and description to the girls' obsession with a local witch of legend.

I liked that this book was largely from the point of view of someone on the search and rescue team, and I REALLY liked that the dog survived (phew!), but some of the twists played out a bit oddly, and I'm honestly having trouble remembering the details of this one. So it's good for a quick thrilling read, but don't expect it to stay with you.

The One Hundred Nights of Hero

 The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg (2016) 224 pages 

I read this on Libby. I like the color scheme of the art and the fantasy of this setting, an alternate land called Early Earth. "In the tradition of the Arabian Nights" is the perfect way to summarize this book. The author is British so cheeky describes the sense of humor in these feminist folk tales. Cherry and Hero outsmart the wicked suitor, Manfred, like Shahrazad delayed the vengeful Sultan, with stories. Hero wins over the guards and others with her stories in a world where women are supposed to be illiterate and powerless. She subverts all expectations.                        

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and B. Traven

 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven (1935) 313 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla narrated by three voices. I love the movie version from 1948 and have been curious to check out the source material. The book has a lot more background information, but not about the three main gold prospector characters. Instead, the author paints a picture of Mexico, its bandits, its socio-religious conditions, and other backstories about people craving gold. The plot with Dobbs, Curtin, and Howard is nearly identical to the movie. Howard is the knowledgeable old-timer. Dobbs and Curtin first meet on an oil drilling contract and then go searching for gold in the mountains. Trust and saving each others' lives eventually devolves into paranoid distrust and murderous intentions. Dobbs, in particular, has an epic descent into madness over his greed for gold.

B. Traven: Portrait of a Famous Unknown by Golo (2024) 144 pages

This graphic nonfiction is translated from French. I was curious to learn more about the author of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The enigma, B. Traven, remains an enigma. He used many pseudonyms through the years. Golo uses Traven's novels to piece together what his life experiences might have been. It gets into the weeds of German politics between WWI and WWII. One of his novels is about the terrible conditions working shoveling coal on a steam ship, and so, it is thought it is based on his lived experience, a job that allowed him to escape Germany and the rise of Naziism. When he begins living in Mexico I was much more engaged in the life story. He wrote many novels set in Mexico. The art of the graphic novel is fairly busy (especially on the color montage pages), so I didn't find much clarity about the man.

The Incredible Kindness of Paper

The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Sky (2025), 256 pages 

If you enjoy Hallmark movies, but want them to be even more saccharine sweet, this is the book for you. No judgement if you just want a nice story that ends in happiness (we could all use a bit of that), but this was just a little bit too over the top for me. Although - it has renewed my interest in origami.

The Marlow Murder Club

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (2021), 384 pages

Murder is afoot in the sleepy town of Marlow. Never fear as septuagenarian Judith Potts is on the case. If you love cozy British mysteries, this is right up your alley. Overall, I did enjoy it, but it isn't a favorite. I have also already read The Thursday Murder Club and it is almost impossible to not compare the two. The MMC feels a bit heavier and less fun the then The TMC. The characters didn't feel as original and I enjoyed the relationship between the characters more in The TMC. But, if you love The TMC and have zoomed through the series and looking for something similar, definitely check out The MMC. 

That's What Friends Are For

That's What Friends Are For by Wade Rouse (2026) 344 pages

Four gay men, ranging in age from their sixties to early eighties, are living together in Palm Springs, in a pink house once owned by Zsa Zsa Gabor. They came out as gay in times when people were even less tolerant than they are today, and each of the men has been wounded along the way. They call themselves the Golden Gays, and they even put on shows regularly, modeling them after the Golden Girls TV show that aired from the late 80s to the early 90s. Teddy, who runs a vintage clothing shop, plays the role of Dorothy. Barry, who is an actor who never made it big, writes the shows for the Golden Gays and plays the role of Blanche. Sid, the oldest at eighty-one, is still working ten hours a week as an attorney. He was once married to a woman and has adult children and now grandchildren. He plays the role of Sophia. Ron keeps the house running and the others fed, as well as tends to various civic boards in the city. He plays the role of Rose.

Even now, as best friends and housemates, they have secrets from each other. The novel sets them in motion, and as we see their lives unspool, it's hard not to care about them a whole lot. I highly recommend this book.

This Inevitable Ruin

 

This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman, 870 pages.

Floor nine of the dungeon means Faction Wars! And, for the first time in history, the rich and powerful aliens who come to the dungeon to play games with their lives can die too. In this seventh book of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, the chaos is escalating as the system AI goes of the rails and pandemonium spreads outside the dungeon. 

I was really looking forward to this floor, and in some ways it met my expectations, and in some it didn't. On one hand, the out-of-dungeon politics are really interesting, and this book does a great job crystalizing a lot of details of the larger scale plot. On the other, I do feel like this book got a little bogged down in the logistics of a many factioned war, and it often felt less fun and breakneck than many of the other books because of it. I did still enjoy this book, and I will be reading more of the series. I'm excited to be almost caught up!

 

The Secret Public

 

The Secret Public: How Music Moved Queer Culture From the Margins to the Mainstream by Jon Savage, 784 pages.

This hefty book does pretty much what it says on the cover, tracing the intersection of queer history with music and pop culture. More specifically, from 1955 to 1979. I found this book a little lacking in focus, although supposedly about music, it also spent quite a bit of time on Hollywood and Andy Warhol. I'm also not entirely sure why the author decided to stop in 1979 after the fall of disco, when I think the 1980s might be one of the more interesting decades for this topic. 

That being said, it was still very informative, and I do feel like I learned a lot. This is indisputably a slow book, but everything in it is also thoroughly researched. I think I would recommend this more to people interested in the pop culture of the 1950s-1970s than anyone else. 

The Edge

The Edge (The 6:20 Man #2) by David Baldacci, 417 pages

While Baldacci does tend to be a bit formulaic and his character writing, to me, a little stilted, I did enjoy this follow-up to the 6:20 Man. I actually think it is better than the first book. It was a good twisty mystery with some heft. Baldacci even gives a shout out to his second cousin (former Governor of Maine). I do wish he would lay-off the ex-military, but super nice guy tropes. If you enjoy this genre of books, I think you will enjoy The Edge.

Transported

 Transported: The Everyday Magic of Musical Daydreams by Elizabeth Margulis, 240 pgs. © 2026

I saw the author speak at Left Bank two months ago and was really interested to read this. I've enjoyed reading other works about the latest scientific discoveries of music research. This one didn't quite hit the mark for me. Margulis is the director of the Music Cognition lab at Princeton so she's definitely in her wheelhouse, but a lot of this book reads like an extended version of a grad student's final paper. She relies on a lot of pop culture reference to illustrate her points about some of the latest research, probably to make it easier to understand for the layperson. And while connecting and quantifying imagination with music and daydreams is really interesting, it seems like a field that's still in it's infancy. That is to say maybe this book should've been written when there were more conclusive findings that actually pointed to answers. Still, there are some interesting takeaways, like how people in a group can hear a new piece of music and imagines similar themes and images--or how music can call forth autobiographical memories more readily in dementia patients. It's an interesting field, I'm sure there will be more to learn as research continues. 

The Unteachables

 The Unteachables, by Gordon Korman, 288 pgs. © 2019

Another night time read with my kiddo. Korman's definitely got a style and he knows how to cater to this age group but also make it fun for adults. Each chapter switches to a different character so that helps make the narrative interesting while also developing the plot. This particular story focuses on a band of misfit school kids who get a new teacher at the end of his rope--it's a fun premise that really gave me some Bad New Bears vibes, if anyone remembers that movie 😂