Since I’ve fallen rather far behind on reviews given 2020, I’ll probably be writing some shorter reviews. Usually when I write posts covering more than one book, the titles have little in common other than being speculative fiction that I’ve read, but this time I’m covering two fantasy books about magical women pushing back against patriarchies: The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk and The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. As an Amazon Associate I earn from […]

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Although the bulk of my reading is speculative fiction because of its myriad worlds and endless possibilities, I primarily read for characters. In particular, I appreciate stories with characters so vividly multifaceted that I have complicated, difficult-to-articulate feelings about them—when I don’t simply love or hate them, when the way I think about them changes from moment to moment, when I’m left uncertain precisely what to think of them because they […]

Happy book release day to Namina Forna! I’ve been excited about her debut novel, The Gilded Ones, ever since I read an excellent interview with her on Refinery29 discussing why she wrote a YA epic fantasy book in which women literally bleed gold, among other subjects—and I’m thrilled to have a guest post by her to share today!   Read an Excerpt About THE GILDED ONES: The most anticipated fantasy of 2021. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood […]

It seems like it becomes harder to limit my anticipated speculative fiction book releases post to a semi-reasonable number of works every year, and it was incredibly difficult to narrow down my initial long list of titles coming out in 2021. But after scouring the web for early reviews, excerpts, and more information from the author and/or publisher, I managed to cut it down to 30 books that I think look especially promising. (Of course, a few of these books […]

Truth be told, 2020 was not the easiest year for concentrating on reading (or writing for that matter, which is why it took me so much longer than usual to get this post together). But it was a year filled with AMAZING books, and I am so grateful to every author on this list for their work, as well as many others whose stories helped me get through this year. Cover images link to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I […]

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Book Description: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic. “The dark school of magic I’ve been waiting for.” Katherine Arden, author of Winternight Trilogy I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life. Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his […]