Starting the seventh book of The Expanse series, I was surprised that it opened with a thirty year jump forward in the timeline. I was also a bit relieved as it meant getting to skip all of the recovery that was required in the wake of events from the previous few books. And happily Holden and his crew were older but still no less prone to getting mixed up in the thick of things, so I still had familiar characters to spend time with. While the series does skip ahead in time, the book is no more relaxed than previous volumes and a new threat launches itself on the scene that I imagine will turn the wheel of the plot for the remainder of the series. As usual when I finish one of these books, I can't wait to see where they go next.

This was such an adorable cozy horror novel and while I'm typically not one for horror at all, I enjoyed the heck out of this one. It's got Eldritch horrors, small town charm, and a very sweet sapphic romance. Plus it's set in a small town in northern Ontario and is full of delightful Canadiana. If you liked Welcome to Nightvale, this will be an absolutely perfect read for you.

One of the titles that ended up on The List because I read the blurb for work and it sounded interesting. This graphic memoir largely recounts in comic format the efforts of Kurzweil's father to create an AI chatbot that will speak entirely in his father's voice. Originally published in 2023 when the ubiquity of ChatGPT was just starting to be a thing, only a few year's later this book hits different. Recounting Kurzweil's conversations with her father on the project, her reflections on who her grandfather was and whether through AI she can ever possibly know this man she never met. Interwoven through are also snippets of Kurzweil's personal life, particularly her relationship with her partner. The book ends roughly around 2021ish in the midst of the pandemic with the project still in flux and Kurzweil and her partner moving to a new city for his work. If that feels like a lot in a blurb, it's a lot as a book and it didn't completely adhere for me. Distinguishing different people isn't always easy in Kurzweil's style, she does a lot of layering of cartoon-ified versions of actual documents underneath some of her panels and determining whether it's worth reading all of it is challenging, and occasionally determining the order of speech bubbles is tricky. Plus the AI of it all even just a few years later after publication feels both dated and naive. It was an interesting reading experience but not one I'd strongly recommend unless you're keenly interested in the topic or show more have enjoyed Kurzweil's other work. show less

This is the definition of what the British often call "hen lit" these days. The novel follows Kate, who is nearing forty, has had her relationship with her boyfriend suffer a major injury, and she's stuck in a job that she kind of hates. When she sort of accidentally ends up volunteering at a care home, she meets 97 year-old Cecily whose strong opinions aren't always easy to take but the two end up forming a friendship. As one would expect for this time of book, Cecily shares life lessons that help Kate to move toward a life she actually wants and along the way there is many a food description. It ends exactly as you'd expect it would and is a perfectly fine read for the genre. What nudged my rating up half a star was the author's note that revealed that the cookbook that is a major element of the plot in the book was a real book that was written by the author's own grandmother. Crying out to be a book club book, don't expect any groundbreaking plots but enjoy it for it being exactly what you'd expect.

Poirot is on vacation at the isolated Jolly Roger Hotel on an island off the coast of Cornwall. When one of the guests is found murdered it seems likely another hotel guest must have committed the crime. But all the likely suspects have alibis and none of the unlikely suspects seem capable of the method of murder...

Another well-crafted mystery from Christie. The plot of this one initially seems to borrow a few elements from an earlier Poirot story ("Triangle at Rhodes" in [Murder in the Mews]) but, of course, Christie crafts something completely fresh. This one is definitely escapist fiction for the time period as there's no mention of the war (although Mussolini gets namedropped) nor the Blitz, and everyone is taking a completely normal summer vacation. This one is definitely worth reading although the final few paragraphs made me wrinkle my nose in distaste at the patriarchy.

In this limited comic arc, Spider-Gwen is struck by something mysterious while in the space between universes that causes alternate versions of herself to be dispersed throughout the timeline. To prevent her present from becoming a dystopian nightmare, she must travel through time to retrieve the alternate versions of herself and then defeat the person who caused the splintering the of the timeline in the first place.

Solid fun although the artwork didn't always clearly help pull the narrative along. Probably best for readers pretty familiar with Spider-Gwen and/or the Spider-verse narratives as you might feel a little lost otherwise.

Emma Southon's history which focuses on various women from throughout Rome and the Roman Empire's history is both highly informative and full of sharp humour that brings her subject to life. Whether discussing the wife of the founder of Rome, the owner of an entertainment venue in Pompei, or a poet who left her poems engraved on a statue in Egypt, Southon brings each woman and her time period to life in excellent detail. I can only imagine how fun it would be to have Southon as a prof as her writing style is full of wry asides that often had me laughing as I listened. While my personal interests when I studied classics in undergrad always leaned more towards ancient Greece rather than to ancient Rome, Southon's book was so highly enjoyable that I have every intention of trying her other books to enjoy her writing even more. I'll also note I listened to this on audio and Danielle Cohen's narration is highly enjoyable, with both her British accent and her perfectly capturing in tone all of Southon's humour and asides.

I really enjoyed this Hercule Poirot outing, which begins with Poirot going to the dentist. When later that day the dentist is found murdered, it sets off a chain of events that leaves Poirot with several deaths to investigate. This one is particularly fun as you can just imagine Agatha Christie going to a dentist's office and getting inspired. For the engaged reader, you can also sense WWII going on just off the page although Christie is by no means including current events in her book. A fun Poirot I'd recommend (although be prepared there is at least one point a character drops a racial slur).

Rainbow Rowell always writes novels that pull me in completely and her latest is no exception. The blurb on this one is a tad misleading as it gives the sense that this is a romance where Cherry finds herself and new love after her marriage ends. Instead, Rowell crafts a novel that's an exploration of Cherry's love life before and after her separation and how both her own body image as a fat woman and growing up in her family of women who mostly look like her had a significant impact on that relationship. Rowell's novels are always compelling and even in the moments where Cherry's choices were ones that I questioned, I still remained engaged in finding out what came next for her. Recommended for fans of Rowell and for those who enjoy a novel that explores an established relationship with all of its glories and flaws.

I wandered past a colleague's desk where the title of this picture book caught my eye, so I picked it up and read it. It's an utter delight as the narrating character talks about her new sibling. From my brother is a poppy seed to the titular avocado to a watermelon, she talks about all the things she hopes for and wants to do with her new baby brother when he arrives (although if he's a watermelon, how will he ever fit in the tub with her?!). With a cute twist at the end, this is a fun picture book for all but particularly for kiddos who are expecting a new sibling.

Watching Christie experiment with form is always a delight and having this novel open with the murder trial of one of the characters and then backtracking to the whodunnit of it all makes for a compelling read. Spending the whole of the novel determining whether the character on trial actually did it is a nice change and added some variety to my ongoing delve into all the Poirot novels.

Sera Swan was one of the most powerful witches in recent history, up until her great-aunt died and teenaged Sera used her magic to bring her aunt back to life. That act of love drained her of most of her magic and led to her being an outcast from the magical establishment for transgressing one of their core rules. Now an adult, Sera runs a small inn that is enchanted to only be found by kind people who need its refuge. This, of course, leads to it having an eclectic but goodhearted group of residents. When Sera receives news that there's a spell that might just help her recover her magic, she's excited but to use it she'll need the help of one of the newest guests at the inn, who really just wants to be left alone to work on his magical history research.

Oh this is a delightful cream puff of a book. Full of charming magic and a cast of eccentric but endearing characters, reading it was a delightful escape. I devoured it in a few sittings over the course of a little more than 24 hours and enjoyed every second. If you're looking for a book with found family who are kind and accepting with a dollop of romance and a dash of a fun magical world, I can't recommend this one enough.

Book 6 of The Expanse series finds humanity grappling with what comes next after the attacks of the Free Navy on Earth. Earth and Mars find themselves strange bedfellows along with fragments of the OPA who have distanced themselves from the extremists that initiated the attacks. And as always, James Holden and his crew end up pulled into the centre of it all.

This entry in the series feels a little bleak as the ramifications of the attack on Earth continue to ripple out. Everything is just so dark and there's a lot of making the best of a terrible situation and battles. That said, it's still highly compelling reading and I'm so invested in these characters that I'll ride with them to the end. I did enjoy that this novel is told from a lot of different character perspectives but all of whom are people we've met earlier in the series. Reconnecting with them in the new realities of this universe adds a really enjoyable element to the read.

Revisiting this Miss Marple mystery on audio was an utter delight. Stephanie Cole does a fantastic job of narrating and crafts distinct voices for each character, which makes listening highly enjoyable. There is so much of this novel I like as Miss Marple spends time in a London hotel that perfectly provides all the comforts of the Edwardian period in the post-WWII era but all is not as it seems. It's really only the very ending that feels a bit of a letdown and gets a bit... judgy that keeps me from rating it higher. That said, I did add the audiobook to my list of favourites that I'd relisten to so take that quibble accordingly.

A collection of interpretations of fairy tales set within the Doctor Who universe. As with any short story collection some stories are more successful than others and while every story features one of The Doctor's many antagonists, only a handful feature an appearance of the doctor. Recommended for those who like both Doctor Who and fairy tales.

When the patriarch of the Lee family is found in his locked rooms brutally murdered, Poirot aids in the investigation with the local constabulary. The victim's various family members all have plenty of reasons to want the old man dead, leaving Poirot with the question of who did it as well as how they got away.

A pretty solid locked room mystery, I have to admit the book, despite it's title, doesn't feel particularly Christmas-y. That said, Christie remains an impeccable crafter of characters and situations and while I picked out a few of the major clues, the ultimate reveal still surprised me.

Peggy O'Donnell Heffington crafts a thoughtful history of women without children. Her focus is predominantly on American history, which I admit disappointed me a little as I was hoping for a more international exploration, but that's on me for not reading the book blurb thoroughly. However, she does explore the perspectives and experiences of queer women and women of colour, which does broaden the discussion in ways I appreciated. Dividing the book into chapters that focus on various factors that result in woman not having children included contraception and abortion, economic reasons, infertility, and environmental reasons, among others, O'Donnell Heffington sensitively discusses various figures throughout American history (and a few abroad) who opted not to have children, couldn't have children, or like many were somewhere in between. A valuable read both for those with and without children.

In the fourth book in the All Souls series, Marcus' partner Phoebe is set to begin her transition to a vampire. The traditional process requires them to separate for 90 days as Phoebe acclimates to her new self and life and the waiting pushes Marcus to recall his own experiences growing up in America just prior to and during the American Revolution and his own early days as a vampire. At the same time, Diana and Matthew grapple with what their twins abilities might be.

I went into this novel knowing only that it was supposed to be Marcus and Phoebe's stories and so did not expect the novel to include as much of Diana and Matthew as it does. And I'm not sure how much I like it as a result. As a novel with fuzzy genre lines somewhere between fantasy and historical fiction, the sections recounting Marcus' youth were the most compelling to me. The Matthew and Diana content felt a little tacked on and the transitions between all the various viewpoints wasn't always smooth. That said, I did enjoy the novel and getting to both know many characters better and also see ongoing developments with the twins, and having diluted Matthew time is always preferable as he still frequently rubs me the wrong way. If you enjoyed the first three novels in the series, this isn't a must but it is an enjoyable continuation if the summary tickles your fancy.

In the sixth Maisie Dobbs novel, it's just before Christmas when Maisie witnesses a Great War veteran committing suicide by bomb. Shortly afterwards when a threatening letter that seems likely to have ties to the bombing is sent to several major British leaders and mentions Maisie by name, Scotland Yard asks her to help with the investigation. As the letter writer's acts continue to escalate and indicate that his preferred method of harm is chemical weapons, it will take all of Maisie's skills to track down the perpetrator before London's population is at risk. At the same time, Maisie also provides support to her assistant, Billy Beale, as he struggles to help his wife during a mental health crisis in the wake of their daughter's death.

Another excellent entry in this series which is enjoyable just as much for the mystery as for the historical fiction element. It continues to be gratifying to watch Maisie develop as a detective and recover from her own experiences in the Great War. Winspear also deftly handles the topic of mental illness in ways that are both appropriate for the time period (the early 1930s) while also recognizing that to modern eyes, historical treatments are often horrifying. I particularly appreciated how the subplot surrounding Doreen Beale serves as a foil for the main mystery plot. I'll also note that as I listened to this on audio that Orlagh Cassidy's narration is quite well done. Recommended for fans of the series.

Charles Dickens' classic tale of Little Dorrit, the child of the Marshalsea Debtor's Prison in Victorian London. Filled with his usual biting social commentary as well as a massive cast of characters from all walks of life, this is one of my favourite Dickens' novels (that I've read so far) and a delight to revisit in audio. Simon Vance is thoroughly deserving of his many accolades for his work as an audiobook narrator as he provides distinct voices for each character with aplomb (no easy feat in a Dickens tome). His reading was thoroughly enjoyable and made this lengthy audiobook fly by smoothly.

Poirot is asked to investigate and promises to resolve it in twenty-four hours, when an older woman dies while on a tour of Petra with her family. Initially death is presumed natural, but when a hypodermic needle mark is found on her wrist it becomes a question of murder.

This one was an odd read. As well-crafted as ever, it suffers from the murder victim being so awful that I was left ambivalent about whether I wanted Poirot to solve it. Of course the resolution is as fitting as ever and for once I mostly figured out the whodunnit of it all before the final reveal.

The third entry in the Thursday Murder Club series sees the gang delving into the cold case of a local reporter who disappeared under suspicious circumstances nearly a decade ago. At the same time they also deal with consequences from their last case and encounter friends and enemies both new and old.

These books continue to be an utter delight and I'm always happy when I get to spend time with these characters. Fiona Shaw narrates this audiobook and does an excellent job of creating distinct voices for each character. Fans of the series will be pleased this entry. I also enjoyed that the audio edition included an interview with Richard Osman at the end, which was lovely to listen to although I do wish the audiobook editors had given a bit more white noise between the end of the final chapter and the beginning of the interview. Transitioning from Fiona Shaw's plummy tones to the interviewers very strong northern accent was a bit abrupt. Otherwise, highly recommended.

Aurienne and Osric hate each other from the first. As a member of an order of magical healers, Aurienne wants absolutely nothing to do with Osric, whose order specializes in assassination, murder, and general skullduggery. However, when Osric is diagnosed with a magical ailment that only Aurienne could potentially solve, he uses his significant funds to buy assistance from her order. Suddenly thrown together regularly, the pair continue to despise each other. Even as their continued collaboration and investigations of a potential plot that threatens everything leave them wondering if hate is truly the best description for how they feel.

A friend recommended this one to me and noted that I'd likely enjoy it most for its excellent banter. She wasn't wrong. Knightley has a fantastic way with words and her dialogue between these two characters is a constant delight. She also does a brilliant job of building this magical world and crafting an overarching plot that is compelling and isn't just the thing that serves as background to Aurienne and Osric verbally sparring. Readers in the know will appreciate this book's roots as a Dramione fanfic but that knowledge isn't required to enjoy it. I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing how Knightley resolves the duology in the second book. And can't wait to see how many more ridiculous pub names she can squeeze in, as well.

Hercule Poirot travels to Egypt, where murder, of course, follows. While on a cruise on the Nile, one of his fellow passengers is found murdered and Poirot is asked to investigate.

One of Christie's more famous Poirot novels and highly deserving of its acclaim. The setting of the novel obviously makes it stand out and Christie crafts a cast of characters who are fascinating in their own ways. Watching Poirot unravel this one is a delight as usual.

Murderbot and Three are on a mission to retrieve some humans. Again. And what should be a relatively simple task of infiltrating a corporate space, find the humans, and get back out again is not as simple as it should be. Of course.

A new Murderbot novel is always exciting for this reader and I was not disappointed in this latest entry in the series. Watching Murderbot continue to grow is always rewarding and seeing its interactions with both Three and the humans in this novel are a delight. Do I wish there was more ART? Always. But I had an excellent time as usual with this book, which Wells herself described as a "family road trip from hell." Highly recommended, as usual.

With colony ships heading out through the rings, the political situation between Earth, Mars, and the Outer Planet Alliance is in serious upheaval. When a new group arrives on the scene and blows up the political order as anyone knows it, the ramifications are vast. With humans across the solar system grappling to understand what comes next, Holden and his crew are, of course, mixed up in the thick of it.

The first book in the series where the narrative points of view are limited to just the core four characters of Holden's crew, and boy does this book put all of them through the wringer. There are major developments here and I'll be fascinated to see how this impacts the back half of the series. Quality remains top notch and I continue to highly recommend these books if you like space opera.

Emma arrives in London just weeks before she is due to take possession of her inheritance, Lapis Lazuli House, on her twenty-first birthday. But before that day there are elderly cousins to butt heads with, friends to visit, mice trying to take over her garret, and a decided lack of pocket money to address.

I finally succumbed to all the warbling about LT and listened to this on audiobook. This first book is largely focused on establishing Emma as a character and her world. As with any novel told in diary format, events in any entry range from big to small in import. I was thoroughly charmed by Emma, and Genevieve Gaunt's narration, and look forward to seeing what future books hold for Emma.

Poirot receives a letter from an older woman, several months after it was dated, asking him to investigate a strange incident that resulted in her injury. When Poirot goes to visit, it is to discover that the writer of the letter died several days after it was written of apparent natural causes leaving a will that surprised both her employees and nieces and nephews. As Poirot investigates the oddities, it becomes clear that once again all is not as it seems.

As ever a well-crafted mystery, and one that proves that Agatha Christie was definitely a dog person.

A collection of four short stories all featuring Hercule Poirot, which were well done as usual.

Meena returns to Texas with one goal, have her husband, Nikhil, finally sign the divorce papers so that Meena can move ahead with her plans to marry her current boyfriend and throw her hat in the ring for an election. But when a hurricane rolls through and leaves Meena to take shelter with Nikhil, she begins wondering if the divorce is truly what she wants.

This novel is definitely a riff on the plot of Sweet Home Alabama and while it does some things better, it also flounders in some places. Meena and Nikhil spend a lot of time communicating poorly, both in the present timeline and flashbacks to the past, which is not my favourite trope. The romance was ultimately sweet and I don't regret my time with it, but it also isn't one I'd push anyone to read.