literary – Krista Beucler

February 18, 2026February 18, 2026

January 2026 Books

Books Reread

The cover of Mississippi Jack by L.A. Meyer shows a girl in a red dress playing a fiddle and dancing on the cabin of a keelboat on a river

Mississippi Jack by L.A. Meyer***
Bloody Jack book 5 of 12
CW: slavery, n-word, racism, racial slurs
Continuing on with my re-listen of this series, one of my all time favorite series. In this book, Jacky is hiding from the British government who still wants to arrest her for piracy by traveling down the Mississippi River in a keelboat that’s also a floating tavern and musical and theatrical revue. As always it’s very fun, though on a reread, I might like this one a little less than I remember. I just think Jamie is very annoying in this one. He’s always complaining and while, yes, bad things happen to him, bad things happen to Jacky too and she always has a good attitude about it. Also I don’t love the way he treats Clementine. It feels different than the way Jack treats her various beaus throughout the books.
4/5 tall tales

New Books Read

The cover of To The Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage shows an erupting volcano, stars, and the moon — Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster

To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage***
CW: domestic violence, trauma, racism
I liked this but I think not as much as my sister did. Steph is determined to be the first Cherokee astronaut, a journey that will span decades and continents and whose consequences will ripple out in her family and relationships. This is an important book that examines themes of culture, identity, appropriation, and the effects of colonization.
3.5/5 sharks

The cover of Who's Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler shows the title and author on a blank white background rimmed in yellow and purple

Who’s Afraid of Gender by Judith Butler***
Fascinating examination by one of the world’s foremost gender scholars of what everyone’s so afraid of when it comes to ‘the gay agenda.’ Unfortunately, this is one of those books where the people who most need to read it are also the people least likely to. But even if you’re not afraid of gender, this book can still help you understand the fear of the Right and give you the tools to combat it.
4/5 phantasms

The cover of Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman shows Carl running through a circus about to throw a stick of dynamite in his trademark boxers, Princess Donut the cat on his shoulder and Mongo the velociraptor at his heels — Ace Publishing

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
Dungeon Crawler Carl book 2 of 8
CW: gore, body horror, death
The second installment of the Dungeon Crawler Carl books follows Carl and Donut down to the third floor of the Dungeon–created when an alien corporation zoned the Earth for mining and killed nearly everyone and everything on the surface, leaving all the survivors to fight for survival in a real life video gameshow being streamed to every corner of the universe. I’m still enjoying these, particularly the audiobooks. I think I liked this one just a little less than the first one, but I am enjoying the development of the geopolitical aspects. I’m interested to see how the governments and corporations outside the Dungeon develop.
4/5 bombs

The cover of Don't Let the Forest in by CG Drews shows a black and white drawing of a boy in a school uniform with what looks like claw marks ripping the image across his face. From the tears, flowers and throrns and bugs creep through — Feiwel & Friends

Don’t Let the Forest in by CG Drews
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: child abuse, neglect, trauma, PTSD, gore, body horror
Impossible to put down. I loved this dark, obsessive horror. I don’t know how to blurb this one (I’m going to try anyway), but I think you should read it. When Andrew arrives back at boarding school for senior year, he’s haunted by something he can’t quite remember, an accident from last year. With his twin keeping an odd distance from him and his best friend Thomas’s abusive parents missing, Andrew is desperate to figure out what’s going on. But there’s something dark awaking in the forest. Can the boys keep it from consuming them and the rest of the school? Obsessed. I’m not saying Thomas and Andrew had a healthy relationship, but I’m also not saying I’m against it.
5/5 monsters

The cover of The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie shows a mustachioed Peter Dinklage as Poirot standing before a shadowy train — Audible

The A.B.C Murders by Agatha Christie*
CW: murder
Always fun to read a Poirot novel. In a challenge to Poirot, a serial killer is working their way through the alphabet. Can Poirot catch them before too much blood has been spilled? This one was kind of fun. I liked the way the reader was led through the mystery because I felt like I was figuring things out a little ahead of Poirot, but then there would be a twist. The Audible full cast performance was very good, and Peter Dinklage was perfect as Poirot.
3.5/5 railway guides

The cover of The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch shows a split image, one side Christmasy with a drawing of the Christmas Prince in a red coat and the other side Halloweeny with the Halloween Prince in black. They eye each other playfully — Bramble

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch***
A delight. Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Nightmare before Christmas. The Prince of Christmas falls for the Prince of Halloween, but the running of one of the world’s biggest holidays is more fraught than he could have imagined. Is revolution coming to the Christmas monarchy? I loved the banter and the characters and the magic of the holidays. And I loved that it wasn’t just a romance but also a political revolution.
4.5/5 swear word jack-o-lanterns

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
CW: death, suicide, trauma
I really enjoyed this. It was dark, atmospheric, and moody, but also surprisingly hopeful and heartwarming. When a mysterious woman washes ashore nearly dead on Shearwater Island at the edge of Antarctica, the family of caretakers on the island, must decide whether they can trust her with the island’s dark history. I loved the themes of climate change as well as trauma and healing. I really liked the prose. I have one more thought but it’s about the ending. Read More: SPOILERS AHEAD

I was hoping for a happy ending though.

4.5/5 seals

The cover of The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden shows a lit cabin in a winter night. The silhouette of a girl stands before the cabin in the snow. — Del Rey

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden*
**Book Hangover Alert
I didn’t like this book quite as much as Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts, but it was still good. Inspired by Russian folklore, the story follows Vasya, a wild young girl whose grandmother may have been a witch, and the struggle between two brothers Fear and Death. The book examines themes of tradition, religion, and feminism. I loved the magical world and all of the different folktale creatures we get to see. I really loved the examination of Christianity as a way to exercise control and enforce conformity through fear. I don’t really feel like that gets talked about enough. A little sad the bear was the bad guy.
4.5/5 hearth spirits

*This book only includes straight white cis people. Aside from Poirot, who obviously is queer coded, The ABC Murders only includes straight white cis people.

**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be lying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Mississippi Jack for themes of slavery and indigenous conflict with colonizers. Read To the Moon and Back for queer indigenous perspectives. Read Who’s Afraid of Gender because it will make you smarter and more thoughtful. Read The Nightmare before Kissmass for queer joy and also revolution and reparation in fantasy. I’m not tagging Dungeon Crawler Carl yet but I have a feeling that as the books go on, they’re going to get more and more political.

Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQIA+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.

March 31, 2025May 6, 2025

March 2025 Books

New Books Read

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan
Trying to earn the rest of his college recommendation letters, Percy takes on perhaps his most dangerous quest yet: pet sitting for Hecate. Still enjoying these. Sad that I’m now caught up and have to wait for the next one.
3.75/5 hellhounds

Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane by Andrew Graham-Dixon
Super fascinating biography of one of the most interesting and skilled Renaissance painters, Caravaggio. Graham-Dixon does a good job of blending art historical analysis with biographical information, evaluating the various sources we have about Caravaggio’s life. My only complaint is not a fair one; I appreciated Graham-Dixon’s commitment to only verifiable facts supported by documents, but I would have liked to hear the salacious rumors and conspiracy theories too.
3.5/5 duels

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: slavery
This was really good. An expert in octopus behavior gets the opportunity to study octopuses on a remote island where strange happenings have given the island a reputation for being haunted by some kind of monster. The scientist discovers the octopuses have their own language and culture and must figure out how to communicate with them raising questions of what it means to be human. I loved the multi-POV (a shocker, I know) and the way the storylines built into one another, giving us little nuggets of information together with the quotes from fictional books written by two of the characters before each chapter. The quotes and timelines all build his themes of intelligence, communication, isolation, humanity, memory, and sustainability. The only thing I thought was not great was the dialogue. I know it’s hard to have expert scientists talking and make it so the reader (who is not an expert in octopus behavior, AI, or human communication) understands what’s going on. But there were places where the dialogue felt unbelievable because I was like that character doesn’t need that explained to them. I do, but they don’t, so why would you say that? Also, why was this the title? I think they could have done better on the title.
4.5/5 octopuses

Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin***
I read this because I needed a translated novel for my StoryGraph challenge and this book said it was an LGBTQIA+ cult classic. A queer coming-of-age set in 1980s Taipei. I did not like it. It was about sad adults in bad relationships, which is my least favorite genre of adult novel. I liked the parts about Lazi’s friendships and the parts about the crocodile, but thought all the parts about Lazi’s romance were awful. Maybe it was the postmodern structure. I tend not to like postmodern novels.
3/5 crocodiles

The Morningside by Téa Obreht*
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: war, genocide (implied), war crimes
I loved Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife so I was excited about this one. In a not-so-distant future, refugees Silvia and her mother come to live at the Morningside, a once-luxury apartment building in a city slowly being swallowed by rising seas caused by climate change. Silvia doesn’t know much about the Old Country’s history or why they’ve been running for so long. Her aunt Ena, the super at the Morningside is the only person who will talk about it, sharing impossible stories from their homeland which transform the way Silvia sees her world, bringing magic and folklore into their very building. (That blurb was hard to write and didn’t nearly do justice to this book.) I loved the way it blended folklore and magical realism. I love her prose.
4.5/5 black dogs

The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag***
A sweet LGBTQ+ graphic novel. When Morgan meets a selkie who says they’re destined to be together, Morgan must confront her homosexuality and learn to stand up for herself and what she believes in. Lovely art and a super cute story.
3.5/5 selkies

Outlawed by Anna North***
**Book Hangover Alert
This was so good. Like The Handmaid’s Tale if the handmaids became outlaws in an alternative history Wild West. Driven from her home for being barren, Ada joins the Hole in the Wall Gang of other misfit and outcast women led by the charismatic Kid. Ada dreams of helping other women like herself and the Kid promises to help with this dream, if the gang can pull off the heist of the century. This book was so unique and so salient.
4/5 outlaws

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros*
The Empyrean book 1 of 5 (?)
I wasn’t crazy about this. After training her whole life to be a scribe, Violet must enter the Riders’ Quadrant where only the strongest survive. Violet must figure out how to survive the cutthroat military college, which involves bonding with a dragon. For me, this book would have been better without the romance. Now, I know that’s what drew many people to this book, so if that’s what does it for you, that’s great. But for me Violet’s mooning over Xaden was frankly annoying and got in the way of all the far more interesting things that were happening at the school. Clearly there was more going on with the war than the cadets were being told. There was more going on with the rebellion from 5 years ago than is taught in history classes. There was something really important about that folklore book Violet’s dad gave her before his death. And Violet wasn’t paying attention to any of those things! For supposedly being super smart, she seemed slow on the uptake to me. The story also felt very predictable. I kept seeing things about readers being surprised by twists in this book, but I was like what twists? Yarros’s language is also very repetitive, which is especially noticeable in the audiobook. I counted 11 “my chest tightens” (and one “my chest tightening”). There were also 11 “his jaw flexes.” And that doesn’t include all the other slight variations of those phrases (“my chest squeezes tighter,” “my chest draws tight,” “his jaw works,” etc.) Not to mention how much Violet’s shoulders dipped and scalp tingled. There were a few characters I liked (and Andarna, of course) but not enough to read the rest of the books. Also I just have to note the audiobook narrator for Xaden. What in the Matthew McConaughey frat boy was that voice?? So I don’t know if the last chapter didn’t land for me because it was bad or because of the narrator. I would have been interested in Xaden’s perspective earlier in the novel because he actually had shit going on, but I think in that final scene it actually would have made more sense to be in Violet’s head for reasons I won’t say because spoilers.
2.75/5 dragons

Counterfeit by Kristin Chen
Such a fun unreliable narrator! Ava is dealing with a rocky marriage and a difficult two year old when Winnie, an old roommate from college, reappears in her life. Before she knows it, Ava’s been pulled into Winnie’s counterfeit handbag scheme, which seems like very little risk for high rewards. What could go wrong? This one was so fun. So readable, such good characters. Because the narration is Ava talking to a police detective, the dialogue seems summarized and like telling the action when it really is showing. I got used to this eventually, and I can see why the author did it this way, but at the beginning it kind of bothered me.
3.5/5 Birkin bags

Homebody by Theo Parish***
A lovely graphic memoir about Parish’s journey to discover their nonbinary identity. I love the graphic medium for memoirs. I really enjoyed this one. Very sweet, inspiring, and likely just what some young person needs.
3.5/5 homes

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo***
In colonial Malaysia, Li Lan the daughter of a respectable Chinese family looks forward to her marriage to a handsome, kind young man from the Lim family. But when the heir to Lim family dies under suspicious circumstances, the Lims suggest Li Lan become a ghost bride for the dead heir. His spirit plagues her in dreams and she must journey to the Plains of the Dead to unravel the mystery and gain back her freedom. This was so cool! I listened to this right after Fourth Wing and it was hard not to compare them. Choo’s prose is so lovely and evocative, and not a bit of this story was predictable. I loved learning more about ghost marriages and funeral practices in this time and place.
4/5 horses for the dead

Icarus by K. Ancrum***
**Book Hangover Alert
I loved this. I almost cried on a plane reading it. Icarus has been helping his father steal and replace all the art in Mr. Black’s house with forgeries for years. But when he’s caught by Helios, Mr. Black’s son, Icarus must reevaluate what’s important: money and his father’s ancient vendetta or friendships and the childhood he’s missed. I have to say it again: I loved this. Gorgeous, spare prose. Unputdownable. I loved Icarus and all of his friends, and I loved Helios. Such a cool take on the myth.
5/5 art heists

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins***
**Book Hangover Alert
Hunger Games prequel
CW: death of children, corrupt governments
Poor Suzanne Collins out here screaming into the void for people to wake up and notice that their government is corrupt and the power is held by those who control the narrative. In this prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy, we see the 50th annual Hunger Games and 2nd Quarter Quell, in which Haymitch Abernathy was reaped. It was very, very good. Very sad, obviously, but very good. I still love that reading Collins’s prose doesn’t even feel like reading at all.
5/5 mutts

*This book only includes straight white cis people. The Morningside is all just straight white cis people as far as we know, but also there’s no romance and it’s in an invented country. Gives eastern European vibes. Fourth Wing technically does have one nonbinary person and I think several gay or bi people, but all of the mains are straight, white, and cis.

**Book Hangover Alert indicates the kind of book that will leave you full up on love. Satisfied, but wishing the book never had to end. You’ll be laying on the floor with no idea what to do with yourself (other friends have called this feeling Good Book Depression or say that certain books necessitate Floor Time). This is the kind of book that gets its teeth in you and won’t let go easily. After the last page you’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. You’ll bother all your friends trying to get them to read it so that you won’t be alone in your Hangover.

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read The Mountain and the Sea for a meditation on humanity, sustainability, AI, and communication. Read Notes of a Crocodile (if you want to, I guess) for a cult LGBTQIA+ classic and view of what it was like to be gay in Taipei in the 80s. Read The Girl from the Sea for a sweet fantasy coming out story. Read Outlawed for feminism and LGBTQIA+ rep in an alternate Wild West. Read Homebody for a nonbinary memoir. Read The Ghost Bride for a Chinese inspired fantasy. Read Icarus for a queer coming of age. Read Sunrise on the Reaping to understand propaganda and authoritarian governments.

October 1, 2022

September 2022 Books

New Books Read

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami
CW: bullying, suicide, suicidal ideation
I really liked Breasts and Eggs by Kawakami so I was excited to read this. I was left with the feeling that I didn’t get it. I mean, I understood the fundamental struggle of humans to try to give meaning to our lives, particularly our strife, the idea that suffering has to mean something. But the whole thing just left me sad and dispirited, and I felt that I suffered with the characters through the novel and then was left with no meaning at the end. Which maybe was the point, that the characters suffer meaninglessly and the reader does too, but it didn’t leave me particularly satisfied. So did I miss something? Have you read it? What did you think?
2/5 letters

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: gun violence, suicide
This book was just so good. We love to see ace characters. We love to see deep friendship given as much consideration as romantic relationships. We love 90s and early 2000s nostalgia. This book had all of that, as well as being thought provoking and literary and haunting. I loved it.
5/5 Donkey Kong machines

Upgrade by Blake Crouch
CW: nonconsensual medical procedures
This book was definitely a page turner. I enjoyed the ethical question of the lengths we should go to if it means saving the human race. I was interested in the examination of gene editing, especially since that is something that might be within reach of current science soon. I wish Crouch had spent more time examining the ethical problem of whether we should edit genes, even if we have the ability to, and if it’s ethical to upgrade people without their consent.
3.5/5 upgraded vigilantes

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: war, genocide, rape, anti-semitism, torture
I’ve said this about every Kristin Hannah book I’ve read so far, but I love her female characters. I love how distinct they are from one another and how the both develop throughout the narrative. I learned a lot about World War II. I loved how Hannah managed to portray her characters with such empathy, whether they were choosing to keep their heads down to try to survive or whether they were resisting the Nazis in large or small ways.
4.5/5 ration coupons

Agent 355 by Marie Benedict
This was a fun little novella speculating on the identity of a spy instrumental in bringing down Benedict Arnold during the Revolutionary War. It was enjoyable and I liked Elizabeth’s plucky nature. But I could have done with more spying and less falling in love.
3/5 redcoats

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas
Crescent City book 2
CW: fantasy racism
I do think this was maybe a bit too long and had too much graphic sex in it for my taste. But that being said I did really enjoy it and I will read the next one. I do still kind of think this story is a grown up version of Throne of Glass, but again that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I won’t explain more, because spoilers.
4/5 comm crystals

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire***
Wayward Children book 6 of 10
CW: bullying, fantasy racism
This is a stand-alone in the Wayward Children series and it might be one of my favorites from the series. We don’t get to see Eleanor West of the other children from the home for wayward children, which is a shame since I do miss them, but I loved Reagan and her story.
3.5/5 centaurs

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: racism, sexual assault
I adored this one too. I love the idea of epigenetic inheritance and the idea of reincarnation (although that’s not quite what’s happening here). It reminded me a lot of David Mitchell’s work, and he’s one of my favorite authors. It also reminded me a bit of The Bonesetter’s Daughter. I loved the way each woman’s story echoed into the next and how each was wrapped up. It was moving and poignant and just so lovely.
5/5 typhoons

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
CW: racism, ableism
Of 20th century dystopian novels, this one is not the best. It’s intriguing and I certainly agree with Huxley’s critique of consumerism and agree with the fundamental right of personal autonomy. But I didn’t love it. I think it was because I didn’t like any of the characters much, and I’m not really sure that you were supposed to. Bernard was shallow and cowardly and Lenina was also shallow, though that may have been a result of the conditioning of the World State. That left me with John, who I felt I was supposed to sympathize more with but I really didn’t much care for him either, even if his view of human nature and the natural order of the world is closer to my own. The caste system was interesting and frightening in its believability.
3/5 soma tabs

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children book 7 of 10
CW: fatphobia, bullying
I was glad this installment of the series included both many of our old friends from the home for wayward children, and let us see Reagan again from the last book. I really enjoyed this one and liked that we got to see the Whitehorn Academy which has been mentioned before in the previous books.
3.5/5 mermaids

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow for LGBTQIA+, mixed race and immigrant, and female perspectives in the world of video games. Read The Nightingale to learn more about WWII and the suffering Jews and other minorities, as well as French resistance fighters faced, and the everyday struggles of the women of occupied France. Read Across the Green Grass Fields for LGBTQIA+ representation in fantasy. Read The Many Daughters of Afong Moy for a Chinese perspective on the past, present, and future.

Reads marked as part of the Books for a Social Conscience series will regularly address topics like race and racism, colonialism and post-colonialism, LGBTQ+ experience, feminism, BIPOC experience, social and political issues, history, identity, class, disability experience, immigration, gun violence, poverty, colorism, environmentalism, and more! The goal of these books is to diversify the stories we’re reading, grow our empathy for those who are different from us, and amplify voices who are often silenced.

June 1, 2022

May 2022 Books

New Books Read

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
**Book Hangover Alert
I loved this book. It was my March BOTM pick and I loved the mystery of it and the magic of maps. Shepherd really managed to instill a sense of wonder in the art of looking at and learning from maps. I feel like I appreciate maps in a whole new way now. I also liked the development of Nell’s character and the growth of her found family throughout the story.
4.5/5 gas station maps

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
There are spoilers in this review. I feel like they aren’t really spoilers because this book has been out for over 150 years, but just in case you want to read it (which I actually don’t recommend) don’t read the spoilers. I’m not sure why I finished reading this book. It’s definitely way too long. And only the parts about Anna Karenina are interesting. I did not care about Levin and how much he liked farming and that he found God in the end (spoiler alert, I guess?). Also, if I had a nickel for every time the death of a horse early in a Victorian novel foreshadowed the death of the leading lady, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird it happened twice (another spoiler, I guess). All in all, you should just watch the Kiera Knightly movie instead, even though Vronsky has terrible hair and a bad mustache.
2.5/5 unfaithful partners

Diary of a Hounslow Girl by Ambreen Razia***
This was an adaptation of a play arranged for Audible. It addressed some important themes for young women, especially young women of color from underprivileged backgrounds. It’s a story of a young woman trying to balance the expectations of her family and cultural roots with finding her own freedom growing up in the UK.
3/5 pretty hijab pins

I Live a Life Like Yours by Jan Grue***
Grue spoke at a panel on disability and creativity at the Bay Area Book Festival which I went to a few weekends ago. I really liked the panel and thought Grue had a lot of interesting things to say, so I went and read his memoir. I like his writing style and how scholarly it was. It wasn’t simply a catalogue of his own experiences, but a story very much in conversation with disability theorists.
3.5/5 wheelchairs

Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl
CW: racism, unnecessary killing of fish and sharks
This was an old book I think my dad was trying to get rid of but I stole it. It’s a fun adventure story. It is a very “boys will be boys” thing to decide to float across the Pacific in a wooden raft just because no one would publish your theory about how the South Pacific islands were populated. It’s also a very white man thing to say “no, of course there’s no way primitive people from Peru could have sailed all the way to the South Pacific in wooden rafts” even though both Peruvians and Polynesians had stories about people who left before the Inca rose to power and sailed west (Peru’s story), and ancestors who arrived from the east and peopled the islands (Polynesia’s story). But I digress. I enjoyed reading it, even though I had a hard time getting over the author’s torment of sharks for no apparent reason (boredom?) and the fact that they just chucked all their trash into the ocean as they went. I know they’re certainly not the first or the only people to litter in the ocean, but it still annoyed me. It also annoyed me that Heyerdahl felt like he had to mention the skin color of every person they encountered who wasn’t white. It is certainly a product of the 1950s. I also can’t get over that they actually developed film on the raft from their film cameras.
3/5 balsa rafts

Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson
CW: domestic violence, child abuse, human trafficking
This was a solidly average book. It was enjoyable but not special. I liked learning about the music business and I liked how it highlighted the misogyny in the industry, especially in country music. I liked the full cast audio recording, especially as Dolly Parton reads one of the characters. I did feel like there were some story threads that were dropped and never got resolved, and I would have appreciated being able to solve at least parts of the mystery on my own as a reader before we were just told at the end. I liked that Annie Lee was trying to be a strong independent woman, but it got annoying that she would never ask for help and needed rescuing in the end.
3/5 guitars

I felt like I should have gone to Muir Woods to take a picture of this book but this tree by my apartment had to do.

The Overstory by Richard Powers***
**Book Hangover Alert
I’m still not really sure I’ve processed this book. It was really good. But I wouldn’t necessarily say it was enjoyable to read. It’s about trees. About forests and about ecosystems and about sentience that humans have no right to destroy. It will probably change the way you think about trees and it will probably make you very sad about deforestation, like it made me. But there is a grain of hope at the end? That I might not ever live to see?
4/5 redwoods

Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders***
CW: genocide, fantasy racism, transphobia (mentioned)
This was exactly what I hoped it would be: a queer escapist space fantasy. I loved the focus on strong friendships and bodily autonomy and consent. I loved that every character shared their pronoun in their introduction and I loved that all the characters asked for permission before they touched each other. It was a fun read and I’m excited to read the rest of the series. My only real criticism is that I wish fewer of the aliens had died and that more aliens had gotten to be major characters, apart from the Earthlings.
3.5/5 universal translators

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston***
CW: homophobia, religious trauma
This one was fun. I picked it up at the Bay Area Book Festival after I heard McQuiston speak on a panel, and I also got it signed! I don’t think I liked it quite as much as McQuiston’s first two books, but it was still a fun read. I liked the exploration of queerness in the context of a small southern town and a religious school.
4/5 pink notes

The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande***
CW: alcoholism, PTSD, domestic violence, child abuse, neglect
A memoir of a young immigrant from Mexico trying to make her way in the United States. This isn’t an easy story to read. Grande has faced a lot of really difficult struggles. But in her story we can learn more about immigrant experiences and the realities of the ever elusive American dream.
3.5/5 first generation college graduates

Scout’s Honor by Lily Anderson
CW: PTSD, death
This book was fun! It was exactly the monster-killing, sisterhood vibes I was hoping for. I really appreciated that the main character was struggling with trying to decide whether to be a part of a toxic organization and try to change it from within, or to quit and get out of that space. I relate to that struggle. There were just a couple things I didn’t like as much. I do resent a little bit all the insinuations that Girl Scouts just sell cookies. I also thought it was gross that the author kept pointing out whenever Kelsey slurped spit off her braces. While this is a believable character trait, it’s gross and I don’t want to read about it. There were a couple of sections of the book inexplicably in verse and I feel like it was necessary or really added anything, but overall I enjoyed it.
3.5/5 mulligrubs

Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong***
**Book Hangover Alert
Who gave Ocean Vuong permission to write like that? This is his third book, second poetry collection, and I think it’s his strongest. He’s always been amazing but he’s just getting better. Favorites include “Beautiful Short Loser,” “Dear Sara,” “The Last Prom Queen in Antarctica,” and “Woodworking at the End of the World.”
4/5 ants on the page

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson***
**Book Hangover Alert
CW: see Author’s Note at the beginning of the book
I adored this book. I bought it after hearing Ferguson speak at the Bay Area Book Festival and the only regret I have is that I didn’t get it signed by her. We love that Native and asexual representation so much. This book was just so well done, I don’t even know what to say. I loved the characters; I loved the struggle of balancing your identity with what other people want you to be; I loved the sense of community and the focus on the land. Also I just really want to eat all the ice cream described in the book.
5/5 reds

***This book is part of my Books for a Social Conscience series! Read Diary of a Hounslow Girl to learn about balancing cultural and familial expectations with finding freedom and identity. Read I Live a Life Like Yours to learn more about disability experience through a non-American lens. Read The Overstory to grow your empathy for trees, the earth, and the environment. Read Victories Greater than Death for a diverse sci-fi story. Read I Kissed Shara Wheeler for an exploration of queerness in the context of a small, southern, religious town. Read The Distance Between Us to learn about the immigrant experience. Read Time Is a Mother to learn more about AAPI and LGBTQ+ experience. Read The Summer of Bitter and Sweet to learn about Native and asexual experience.