I have been a fan of Rainbow Rowell since reading her first novel for young adults, Eleanor and Park, which remains one of my favorite nerd romances. I also very much liked Fangirl, about a young fan writer who learns … Continue reading →
The cover copy says that this book takes place “in the world of The Goblin Emperor,” a novel that I read several years ago and remember very much liking. It was one of the first books I encountered where quiet … Continue reading →
I have a particular fondness for books about people who work with books—booksellers, writers and, of course, librarians. I couldn’t resist The Library of the Unwritten, subtitled “A Novel from Hell’s Library” and “Join the Library. Raise Hell.” The story … Continue reading →
This is the first novel in what will likely be a massive fantasy series by a very promising Nigerian author. Unlike several new epic fantasies, which I never quite got through, I finished this one in two long days of … Continue reading →
This book is a collaboration between author Joanne M. Harris, known best for her mainstream books (most famously, Chocolat, which was made into a movie), and fantasy/comics illustrator Charles Vess (Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Stardust). It is a series of … Continue reading →
CatNet is a social media platform managed by a sentient AI known, at least to our adolescent protagonists, as CheshireCat because of their interest in cat pictures. (CheshireCat uses the singular ‘they’ pronoun.) CheshireCat revealed their identity to some of … Continue reading →
This is a much-acclaimed first novel, including being a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe Award. Legendborn is now also nominated for a Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (presented by the World … Continue reading →
This is a raw, chaotic, difficult novella, bursting with righteous anger and inconsolable grief. It is a graphic documentation that violence against people of color has not ended; it is the only thing we see in Onyebuchi’s dystopian near future. … Continue reading →
Witch Hat Atelier has become my new favorite manga. It is a great place to start if you are interested in manga but confused by the enormous number of titles and volumes available. It is well-written, beautifully drawn, and easy … Continue reading →
There has been a rash of young adult fantasy novels featuring strong teenage girls coming into some sort of magical power. A Deadly Education, billed as “Lesson One of the Scholomance” is one of my favorites. The Scholomance is inspired … Continue reading →
This book came highly recommended by a customer, who said it was so good she read it in less than two days. It took me a bit longer than that because I wanted time to savor the elegant prose, and … Continue reading →
This is a first novel from J. Elle, and one of the first fantasy novels from Simon and Schuster’s Denene Millner Books line, described on her web site as “a love letter to children of color who deserve to see … Continue reading →
In the acknowledgments, the author reports that this story of fourteen-year-old apprentice baker and wizard, Mona, was repeatedly rejected for being too dark for a children’s book. So, it eventually got published under the name T. Kingfisher, which is the … Continue reading →
This decidedly weird novel is narrated by a smart domesticated crow named S.T. (short for Shit Turd) who has been lovingly raised alongside a not-so-smart bloodhound named Dennis. Their master, a guy they call Big Jim, was clearly not the … Continue reading →
This is a dense fantasy by an accomplished New Zealand writer who seems to be informed by a degree in literature and a historian’s interest in myth, rather than a voracious consumption of (or borrowing-from) the modern fantasy genre. It … Continue reading →
This is a first novel by a very promising new writer. It feels a bit like Ursula K. LeGuin and NK Jemison, in that it tells a sweeping galactic tale by focusing on the intensely personal consequences of scientific advancement. … Continue reading →