Slipstream

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by Madge Maril
First sentence: “Stories sell.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC stacks at work.
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and a couple on-page, but not super graphic sex scenes. It’s in the Contemporary Romance section of the bookstore.

Lilah just wants to be a serious documentary filmmaker. So, when her boyfriend and business partner decides to take on a documentary about an F1 racing team as their next project, Lilah feels betrayed. Even more so, when he tells her he’s been sleeping with he team’s marketing manager and breaks their relationship off. Newly dumped and betrayed, she turns to the team’s backup driver, Arthur Bianco, who only wants to get back on the grid, preferably on his old team, and not one where his overbearing uncle is the team principal. Of course, this means they go in together to try to sabotage the documentary. Of course, this means they will fall in love. And of course, things will work out happily ever after.

All that said, this one was a lot of fun. I think I liked it partly because Lilah wasn’t really part of the racing team – she was adjacent to, and while she was working for it, it’s not like she was part of the racing team. I liked it, too, because you got to see Lilah fall in love with F1 as well as with Arthur, and I thought Maril did that well.

Yes, it was corny and unbelievable, really, but hey, it’s a romance book. It’s not supposed to be. It was fun, and honestly, that’s all I expect. And this one absolutely delivered.

In the Serpent’s Wake

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by Rachel Hartman
First sentence: “Once there was a girl named Tess, Who’d got herself in a wretched mess.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Seraphina, Shadow Scale, Tess of the Road
Content: There is violence towards others, including colonizer violence, and talk of rape. It’s in the Young Adult Science Fiction section of the bookstore.

Tess has promised her quigutl friend, Pathka, that she will take him to the Sea World Serpent, especially after she was inadvertently responsible for the death of the Continental World Serpent. However, even though she’s on a voyage with noted scientist Countess Margarethe and her brother-in-law (of sorts) Jacomo, this task isn’t as easy as it seems. First: there’s the competing dragon expedition, headed by Spiro, whom Tess has had (unfortunate) dealings with. And then there’s the repeated warnings that the serpent is not for her- and other Deadlanders, as the island peoples call them – and she will not be allowed near.

It’s a simple story at it’s heart, but Hartman, because she’s a brilliant writer, has managed to weave in so much. The consequences of not saying anything in the face of injustice. The assumptions that class and privilege afford you. The choices we all make, for good or ill, and the fallout of those. And, most of all, reparations for those choices, especially when they’ve done ill (whether you’ve meant it or not). I marveled just how much Hartman was able to pack into this simple voyage story, and how satisfying it was, even if Tess didn’t succeed at her quest.

I’m not sure I’ll continue with the new one, at least not yet. But, if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading one of Hartman’s books, I’d highly suggest remedying that.

Audiobook: Problematic Summer Romance

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by Ali Hazelwood
Read by Elizabeth Lamont & Eric Nolan
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs, as well as some pretty detailed on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Maya’s brother Eli and his fiance Rue are getting married in Italy, and everything about this is perfect. Except that Eli’s best friend, Connor, is going to be there. The Connor that Maya has been in love with for three years, and who Connor has very gently, but very firmly, discouraged. See: Connor is 38, and Maya is 23. Connor can’t get over the age difference, so even though they spent years talking daily, and they’re pretty perfectly matched, he won’t give in. Much to Maya’s dismay. She wants nothing more than to be with Connor, his imperfections and all.

First off: the book is, in fact, problematic. I’ve been thinking about it since I finished, and I’m not sure why I couldn’t get over the age gap. It’s the same as in Emma, why is that 21-to-37 age gap okay (I mean, Mr. Knightly literally saw Emma grow up!) and this one is not okay? I was talking to another friend about it, and she pointed out that if we switched the roles – Maya was older, and Connor was the younger one pining and not letting her “no” be final – then it would be really problematic. I don’t know. It could just be the way Hazelwood wrote Maya and Connor – she’s very flirty and aggressive and he is very reserved and protective. Maybe I’m not comfortable with that? (Which, yes, says more about me than the book. Maybe all of this says more about me than the book.)

That said, I adored the narrators on this one. Lamont was fantastic as Maya/the general narrator and though I don’t usually like a duet narration, I liked the way Nolan did the men. Maybe I’m just a sucker for an Irish brogue. So, even with the whole problematic part of it, I did end up enjoying the book. If only because the narrators were just amazing.

The House with No Keyes

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by Lindsay Currie
First sentence: “West holds his end of the banner up against the wall and laughs.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: September 30, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Others in the series: The Mystery of Locked Rooms
Content: There are some intense moments. It will be in the Middle Grade (ages 8-12) section of the bookstore.

It’s a few months since the Deltas – Wes, Hannah, and Sarah – have solved the mystery, won the treasure, and opened up (with help) the Delta Game escape house. They’re mostly happy – there is some small friendship issues- with the way things are. But, then they get an invitation to try a new escape house: The Mystery Mansion. The personal invite says that if that can beat the house in under two hours, they will win $10,000. And it turns out that the kids – individually, not collectively – need the money. But, as they get into the house, there is definitely something suspicious going on.

I’m not sure this sequel needed to exist, but honestly, it was fun being back in an escape room with the Deltas. Currie has a gift for creating fun rooms (I wish they existed, even though I’d be crap at doing them), and it’s interesting to see how the kids figure out how to solve the rooms.

It was a fun read, and I’m sure fans of the first book will be glad to have another one to read.

Audiobook: All-Star Superman

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by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
Read by a full cast
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is comic-book violence. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

In this series of collected comics, Superman deals with the madness on the backwards Bizarro planet. There is a bottled city that proves you can never go home again. A living sun hell-bent on destroying humanity. A world without the Man of Steel. Twelve impossible labors and mere moments to save the Earth. (Yes, I copied the back copy, because honestly, I’m not sure what really happened.)

I’m going to get this out of the way first: graphic novels/comics really are a visual medium, and don’t work in audio. That said, it’s kind of a fascinating experience. The narrators not only read the dialogue, they describe what is going on in the picture. It makes me wonder if they’re reading the script the writers write before the artists take it on? Or if they wrote a whole new script for the audiobook? I don’t know. It was hard for me to imagine scenes (my brain doesn’t really work that way – when I think of the word apple, I don’t see a picture of an apple in my head), which is why I don’t think the audiobook worked for me.

That said, I liked the stories. I’m glad we listened to this before going to see the movie, because there were parallels from this collection and what James Gunn did. And I can see the value of having audio versions of graphic novels, even if they are not for me.

Audiobook: System Collapse

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by Martha Wells
Read by Kevin R. Free
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect
Content: Like all Murderbot books, there is a lot of violence and swearing (Wells is a master of the artfully placed f-bomb). It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

I don’t have much to say about this that I didn’t already say two years ago. I finally convinced my husband to read this series (thanks to the TV show on Apple+) and this was the last one he had to read, so we listened to it on audio on a recent long drive. I didn’t mind revisiting Murderbot and its world, and I had heard that the audio was really good.

The audio is really good. Free does a fantastic job with the narration, with capturing Murderbot’s personality, with the book in general. He kept my interest, and it’s one of those books you don’t want to turn off and get out of the car.

And an additional bonus: K, who was in the car with us, ended up listening as well, and she’s plowed through half of the series since we got back.

I call that a win.

Into the Riverlands

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by Nghi Vo
First sentence: “The barber paused, flicking water droplets from his razor with a brisk snap of his wrist.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some violence and evidence of a murder. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

We scheduled an event with Vo, and the marketing person at work is super excited about this, so she decided to pass out Vo’s books to staff to get them excited, too. This was the one she thought I would like.

I’m not quite sure of the plot. There’s a monk – but they’re not religious – and their talking? sentient? bird named Absolutely Beautiful and they’re on a journey… somewhere? They meet up with people who go with them. Stories are told, a dead body is found. Maybe other stuff happens? I am honestly not sure.

Which is really my reaction to this. I have no idea what I read. I’m not a “good” enough, close enough, critical enough reader to actually get what happened in this short book (is it a long short story or a short book?). I can see how people like this; it was well written, and the language is beautiful, but personally. I don’t get it.

Exiles

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by Mason Coile
First sentence: “The beeping won’t stop.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: September 16, 2025
Review copy thrust on me by a co-worker who loved it. Spoiler: he was right.
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and two very grisly murders. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

It’s the near future, and humanity has decided to colonize Mars. They’ve sent some bots ahead to build a base, and three humans – Beck, Kang, and Gold – have been chosen to start a base there. But, when they come out of suspended animation (it’s a long seven-month trip, why stay awake?), the bots that were supposed to greet them aren’t responding. That’s the first clue that something… unusual… has happened. As the humans get to the base, they find parts of it destroyed, and some irregularities with the bots. And, as the mystery unfolds, they realize that the problem is larger than they could have ever imagined.

Oh, wow, this was intense. It’s being billed as gothic horror in space, but I felt like it was less horror and just good, straight-up science fiction. It’s a tight book, coming in at just over 200 pages, and it’s pretty flawless. The twists were genuinely surprising (well, I’m also not the closest reader), and it’s a clever look at what might happen on Mars (spoiler: it’s not good). Anyone who loved Murderbot will love this one as well.

Remarkably well done. (Maybe I should read William?)

Audiobook: America’s Best Idea

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The Separation of Church and State
by Randall Balmer
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: It’s a bit wonky at times. It will be in the History section of the bookstore.

This is a short, impassioned history and defense of the First Amendment’s freedom of religion. The idea of not having a state religion, as Balmer asserts, has led to the freedom to have a plethora of religions, a freedom from state-mandated religious requirements, and a true freedom to worship how citizens would like. It’s that, which led to the separation of church and state, that has, in many ways shaped America.

And Balmer passionately asserts that the shift to Christian nationalism, the laws imposing religion on society, are not only unconstitutional, they are anti-American.

While Balmer isn’t a great narrator – his pace was uneven, and it was just odd at times – the subject matter was interesting enough, and it was short enough that it really didn’t matter too much. It’s an important little book, a reminder to those who would say that America is a Christian nation first, that it’s the separation of government and religion that our country was founded upon, and has allowed for so many religions to thrive. And it needs to stay that way.

Sisters in the Wind

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by Angeline Boulley
First sentence: “My heart races when the handsome Native guy enters the diner.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: September 2, 2025
Review copy sent by the author
Content: There is violence against women; off-page teen sex and teenage pregnancy; and swearing, including a few f-bombs. It will be in the YA Contemporary (or maybe 2009 is history?) section of the bookstore.

Lucy’s dad died years ago, and she’s bounced through foster care. She’s finally on her own, and is making ends meet when two things happen: a Native man finds her and tells her that he’s a friend of her dead half-sister, that she didn’t know she had. And then a bomb blows up the diner where she worked and she’s injured. She’s thrown into a new world, one where Daunis and Jamie are supporting her and fighting for her, and introducing her to her mother’s family – a part of Lucy’s world that she didn’t want anything to do with, having been told her whole childhood that her mother “gave up her maternal rights”. As the mystery of who bombed the diner (and why), Lucy comes to terms with her Native heritage and with the trauma of being a part of the foster care system.

I adore Boulley’s storytelling, how she tackles tough subjects (foster care can be good, but is often terrible, especially for non-white kids) with grace and with heart and with characters that are complex and fully real. This one is told through a dual timeline – you see Lucy go through her father’s death and the subsequent foster care when her stepmother refuses to take care of her, and then the contemporary timeline after the blast and figuring out who is after Lucy. Boulley doesn’t shy away from dealing with the harm that white people have done to Native people, and doesn’t shy away from illustrating the results of that harm.

In short, this, like Boulley’s other books, is a powerful look at one girl’s story and the impact that knowing her heritage and family has on her.

Excellent.