Our Sister’s Keeper

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by Jasmine Holmes
First sentence: “Lucas Fulton was Marah’s least favorite client.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: June 9, 2026
Content: There is a lot of Black trauma in this one – lynchings, abuse, racism, general violence – and a lot of violence against women, both overt and passive. It will be in the Horror section of the bookstore.

On the surface, East Cobb, Mississippi, sounds like heaven. It’s a Black town where everything is perfect: men have good jobs, there are good homes, and best of all, there isn’t any violence. It should be the perfect place for newlyweds Thea and Kidd Elliott to make their home. Except, once they get there, Thea starts to realize that not everything is as it seems. There is a patriarchal order that she is uncomfortable with; everyone in town, both men and women alike, looks down on her for wanting to be like Ida Wells and make a living writing and reporting. She’s supposed to be supporting her husband and having babies, right? And then, when she starts to see and hear things – women screaming, lynchings, echoes of crimes past – the women in town start gaslighting her: there are no ghosts. There isn’t anything wrong. You’re just going crazy, dear.

Marah, on the other hand, is trapped as a carrier in East Cobb – a woman to takes away, literally, the burdens of the men in town. She – and the other carriers – are “experiments” of a white doctor, and of the Black mistress who runs the house. Then, after a couple of the girls die under suspicious circumstances, Marah starts trying to figure out how she got to be a carrier and how to break out of the prison she is in.

There was so much anger baked into this book. Anger at the way Black people are treated. Anger at the way women are treated. But there is also a lot of hope: the community of Black women who band together (instead of hiding and giving into the patriarchy) is Strong, and not only are they survivors, they will Flourish despite all that has been done to them. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I felt like I was witnessing the anger of Black women and the retribution that will (eventually) come.

I was thinking when I started that this would be Mexican Gothic-like, but as I went on, I found it was less Horror and more speculative fiction. The “magic” of the carriers was never really explained, which I didn’t mind, but I also wasn’t terrified by it all. It’s a good work of historical fiction, and I appreciated looking at what an all-black town could be like. It’s also a warning, though: if we don’t heal from the past, there is no way to have a good future.

All this to say: it wasn’t what I expected, but I am glad I read it.

Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen

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by Kate Evans
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: It’s a bit cumbersome being a hardcover graphic novel, but otherwise, there’s nothing. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

This is a slightly fictionalized biography of the life of Jane Austen. It’s different in that Evans takes a look at the fabrics in Austen’s life – one of the more interesting parts is when Evans breaks down the history of individual fabrics that Austen would have had use of – and she also extrapolates elements of Austen’s life from her novels. I found it beautiful and interesting – mostly because I enjoyed Evans’s art and her take on Austen’s life, but also because I found the notes and the use of Austen’s book fascinating. I didn’t really learn anything – I’ve read other books about Austen, her works, and her life, but I found this one enjoyable and (more particularly) a beautiful book.

Coming Out Perfect

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by Richard Mercado
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: July 7, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some teenage drinking. It will be in the Teen Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Kevin has always felt like he’s ignored. No one (except for his two best friends) knows his name at school. His parents ignore him in favor of his (more successful) older sister. And so when his parents ignore him when he comes out to them, he decides he needs to do something different just to get noticed. Enter Raymond: the most popular kid in school, who is also gay. He decides to take Kevin under his wing, changing Kevin’s clothes and hair and catapulting him into the popular circle. But the further down this path Kevin goes, the worse he feels about everything. Can he find a way to be true to himself and get noticed?

I liked this graphic novel – it’s an age-old story, one that I think needs to be told over and over again: being your most authentic self is much better than being popular. It’s a hard lesson to learn, especially in middle and high school, and I think that this is a good book to add to the canon of this kind of story. I liked that it was set in the Philippines, and that there were class divisions as well as personal and societal expectations. It’s a good story with a good message, and one that I hope readers will find as valuable as I did.

The Favorites

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by Layne Fargo
First sentence: “Today is the tenth anniversary of the worst day of my life.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher ages ago.
Content: There is swearing (including multiple f-bombs), allusions to sex (but none actual), violence (mostly off-page), and lots and lots of Drama. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

Katarina Shaw is driven to skate. It’s all she’s wanted to do since she saw Sheila Lin win gold at Calgary in 1988. She didn’t have money, so she worked at the ice rink to pay for her lessons. And then Heath Rocha came into her life. He was a foster kid, and there was an immediate attraction (of sorts; they were 10). Kat taught Heath to skate, and her drive kept them going. Eventually, they made it to LA to skate at Sheila Lin’s academy, and then the Drama starts. We follow Kat and Heath’s story through their ups and downs, breakups and fights, through wins and losses, to the bitter end.

I was telling one of my coworkers that I was reading this, and she mentioned that she met the author at a Heartland Fall Forum. One of the inspirations (aside from being obsessed with ice dancing) was Wuthering Heights, and now that she mentioned it, I can’t unsee it. This book is a Drama-filled train wreck with dead parents and abusive older brothers, with backstabbing friends and Russian mobs. It’s got it all. And I was absolutely here for it.

In retrospect, I think I would have really enjoyed listening to this one, especially if it’s a full cast, because it does have a Daisy Jones and the Six feel to it, just with competitive ice dancing instead of music. Even so, I did find this to be ridiculously fun – maybe it’s because the Olympics is on right now, and I’m in the mood for ice skating drama – but I ate it up from the first page on. Fargo knows how to capture the drama of passion and of drive, and even though none of the characters were especially sympathetic (well, I did like Garrett), they were compelling and intriguing enough to keep me reading.

It was definitely an entertaining read.


A Prince Among Pirates

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by Katie Abdou
First sentence: “Canon fire before breakfast is obscene – and waking up to it an atrocity.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: June 16, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some violence, and lots of drinking (well, they are pirates). There are inferences to sex, but none actual. It will be in the Young Adult section of the bookstore.

Kit – otherwise known as Christopher-Henry – has spent his whole life living under his father’s thumb and in his shadow. The last thing he wants to do is marry the woman his father has picked out, even if she’s of a higher station than he is, and would increase his status in the English upper crust of the 1700s. So, he does the only thing he can think of: he runs away to the port and picks the first ship he sees to board. He charms (of sorts) his way on and convinces the crew that he can be of use. Two problems, though: 1 – the ship is captained by the charming and desirable Reggie Swan, and Kit finds himself smitten. And 2 – it’s a pirate ship. Kit finds a home and friends on the ship there, and will do anything to help and protect his shipmates, especially when his past catches up with him.

I picked this one up because the markup notes mentioned Our Flag Means Death, and oh, this scratched that itch. It’s not deep, it’s not historically accurate (it’s accurate-ish), it’s mostly just a lot of fun, which is exactly what I wanted out of it. I liked Kit’s growth arc, and the characters of all the pirates on the ship. I’m also here for any book that has me sailing around the Caribbean, experiencing the open air and the sea. It’s a delight of a book, and one that will make a perfect summer romance read.

Audiobook: The Wedding Date

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by Jasmine Guillory
Read by Janina Edwards
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs, and fade-to-black sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Drew doesn’t want to go to his ex-girlfriend’s wedding by himself, so when he meets Alexa (in the elevator), and there’s instant chemistry, he convinces her to go to the wedding with him. Where he accidentally calls her his “girlfriend”. But, they realize there’s something there and start a long-distance (well, LA to San Francisco) relationship of sorts. As their relationship goes on, though, they wonder if it could be something more.If only they weren’t so far away. If only one of them could say how they feel.

This was a fun romance. Nothing too deep – Alexa has a side project trying to get an arts program for troubled kids set up in Berkley – but it was fun. I didn’t like Drew – he was (especially in his internal narration) very reluctant to commit, and was so very often misunderstanding Alexa’s motivations. It was a trope, yes, but his end of it really annoyed me. The best thing, I think, was that these characters’ lives felt real. They ate. They went to the store. They had normal-sounding conversations. It was nice.

I enjoyed it enough that I think I’ll give another one of Guillory’s a try.

Offside

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by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and illustrated by Mari Costa
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher
Release date: July 7, 2026.
Content: There is some neglect by parents, and conflict between friends. It will be in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Jackson Middle School’s soccer team has gone co-ed. Al – the team captain – doesn’t like this, but mostly because his dad is staunchly against Al playing on a team with girls. Nicky, the girl who pushed for the team to go co-ed, is ecstatic once she makes the team, but is finding it difficult to be a team player. Palmer has been sidelined for the season due to a torn ACL, but is finding new talents writing for the school (and city) newspaper. And Fabiola and Seba are adjusting to life in America and learning how to belong here.

It’s a story of friendship and belonging, of teamwork and chasing your dreams, and I really enjoyed it. I do think there was a bit too much going on – not only did Nicky have issues with her old teammates who felt they dropped her for the boys, but she also had drama with her dad, who spent more time with his new girlfriend/wife than with her. Al’s biggest issue was his overbearing (and sexist) dad, a problem that was magically resolved when Al’s grandpa came to visit from Brazil and was suddenly okay with girls and boys playing soccer together. Fabiola and Seba’s problems were straightforward: they couldn’t speak English well and struggled to communicate. The characters were all pretty well developed, but I think I would have rather there be less going on. But maybe that wouldn’t have been realistic.

At any rate, it was a good graphic novel, and one I’d definitely recommend to soccer-loving kids.

Monthly Round-Up: January 2026

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I saw somewhere that it feels very derivative to read with all that *gestures widely*. That said, I did read some books this month. This was my favorite:

An Expanse of Blue

It was a beautiful book, and I can’t wait for it to come out.

As for the rest:

Adult fiction:

Thistlemarch
Heated Rivalry
Canon
Fever Beach (audiobook)
Annie Knows Everything
Spark of the Everflame
Red City (audiobook)
Fishbone Cinderella

Non-Fiction:

Separation of Church and Hate

There’s so much to say and yet no idea how to say it. Be kind, friends.

Fishbone Cinderella

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by Elizabeth Lim
First sentence: “Marigold Yuen used to think she had a knack for fixing things.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: July 28, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is abuse, including physical, and some swearing, including a few f-bombs. It will be in the Fiction section.

Yut Ying was the youngest of four children – her three older brothers were obviously more important than her – in 1940s China during the occupation. She was living in a poor village until her mother sent her to live with her father and his second wife in Hong Kong. There she was treated as a servant, cooking and cleaning for the family instead of getting the education her father promised. But, after a bad relationship, she married the first man who could take her to America, eventually to Chinatown in San Francisco, where she raised her three daughters. The catch with all this: the women in Yut Ying’s family are cursed. Yut Ying herself can disappear, and her daughter Marigold can catch snatches of memory when she touches people. They end up going back to Hong Kong to try to break the curse, so they can all live without fear.

That summary doesn’t really do it justice. It’s a family drama, with the conflicts between mothers and daughters, and between siblings, mostly sisters, and it’s been a long time since I’ve read one of those. While the magic is a central plot point, it’s not really magic in the fantasy sense of the word, which is surprising since Lim is known for her sweeping YA fantasies. It’s a quiet book, one in which you care about the characters, even though not much happens in the plot. I really enjoyed it, but as I’m sitting here writing about it, I find I don’t have much to say. It’s a good book, one that I thoroughly enjoyed, but can’t seem to find anything to say about.

Separation of Church and Hate

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by John Fugelsang
First sentence: “I’m here because two people broke a promise to God.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some swearing, including a couple of f-bombs. It’s in the Religion/Philosophy section of the bookstore.

I picked this up because we were selling a ton of it at the bookstore back before the holidays, and I got curious. It’s basically Fugelsang’s treatise to MAGA “Christians” – he was raised Catholic by a former monk and nun who left and got married – about specific issues that conservatives like to use the Bible to back up their position. It’s not as theological as I thought it would be, but then Fugelsang is not a theologian, he’s a comedian.

That said, he has some good points on many of the topics – from birth control to LGBTQ issues to feminism to white supremacy – and even though it’s not as deep as I wanted it to be, it is a good look at the Bible, Christianity, and Jesus’s teachings.

It’s not a keeper, though.