Read THE SIREN, THE SONG, AND THE SPY by Maggie Tokuda-Hall if you love mermaids, shipwrecks, hyenas, broken families in a broken world, bloodshed, lies, evil empires, resistance, oases, pirates, mothers, dragons, lovers, reckonings, cycles & noodle soup.
I have a #BookRecs for y’all! If you’re fascinated by plants, go buy or borrow The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger. The audio is excellent! It’s new, it’s one of those books where a science writer fell into a deep, deep rabbithole and came back with all the research, and it’s about plant consciousness.
Nobody is saying plants have theory of mind, but plants clearly differentiate themselves from their environment and they act to shape themselves based on their surroundings. It goes SO much deeper than this! It’s so good! It’s the most profound book I’ve read in years. #Taoist friends, this book shows a lot of science that fits perfectly with the way we view the world. I think if you’re a Taoist you’ll find it deeply moving and hopeful.
Five stars. Like share subscribe. A+ writer, would buy more.
Read THE MERMAID, THE WITCH & THE SEA by Maggie Tokuda-Hall if you love ships, arranged marriages, queer love, mermaids (obvi), the sea as a character, the horrors of colonialism, learning to read, genderfuckery, good soup, learning your own magic, escape, comeuppance & doilies.
Read THE DEAD TAKE THE A TRAIN by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey if you love blood & guts & viscera, eldritch horrors, corporate bullshit, eyeballs (so many eyeballs), backstabbing, best friends, vodka, New York, more blood, more guts, more viscera, magic, takeout, doors & bookstores.
Read PALADIN'S FAITH by T. Kingfisher if you love global politics, spies, big brothers, feeling hollow, taking baths, remote locations, mudslides, cults, doggos, feeling safe, running for your life, strike solidarity, gadgets, gods, a good pair of boots & salt.
Nice to see Ronald McGillvray's "Tales From The Parkland" hanging in there on Amazon's "Hot New Releases" chart a week after launch. I'd say that's a well-deserved success and would highly encourage any speculative-fiction fans out there to give it a read.
Read PALADIN'S GRACE by T. Kingfisher if you love crises of faith, tremendous loss, feeling broken beyond repair, trudging onward, perfume, meet cutes but make them deadly, killers on the loose, gingerbread, best friends, political intrigue, assassination attempts, amazing kisses & civets.
Read SO LET THEM BURN by Kamilah Cole if you love ancestral magic, the bond between sisters, the story that happens after the war is over, young people stepping up to save the world, dragons, libraries, magic schools, anti-colonial frameworks, intense crushes, the grey areas & dancing all night.
Read DEFEKT by Nino Cipri if you love big box stores, Corporate America, being overworked, employee handbooks, feeling broken & alone, taking a sick day, special projects, calezones, defective merchandise, found family, finding your super power & "Clair de Lune."
Read IN THE DREAM HOUSE by Carmen Maria Machado if you love haunted houses, gut wrenchingly beautiful prose, autobiographical accounts, trauma narratives, exceedingly queer stories, a meticulous exploration of abuse, thematic echoes & brilliantly structured books.
Read VENOM & VOW by Anna-Marie & Elliott McLemore if you love duel perspectives, enemies-to-lovers, warring kingdoms, secret identities, So Many Knives, badass mobility aids, genderfuckery, T4T romance, magical creatures, living castles, disguises, disability representation, being seen for who you really are.
(Also Vico Ortiz narrates the audiobook & gives an AMAZING performance).
Read THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER by V.E. Schwab if you love old friends, new friends, strong tea, being a hero, rebellions, running away, heists, chronic illness, magic items, sacrifices, festivals, markets, crowded shops, mirrors, f**ked up families & seeing what others do not.
Read A CONJURING OF LIGHT by V.E. Schwab if you love jumping right into the action, invasions, infections, sacrifices, pirate ships, magical markets, sharing pain, the scars left behind, so much blood, betrayals, the terror of love, dungeons, flashbacks & a shit ton of knives.
Read A GATHERING OF SHADOWS by V.E. Schwab if you love magical tournaments, secret identities, political intrigue, lovers' reunions, shared pain, rebirth, masks, pirate ships, learning who you are, dysfunctional families, impossible decisions & body modifications.
My brain is currently a mess (whomst among us is not floundering while the world burns), and you know what that means: COMFORT REREADS. I'm revisiting THE SHADES OF LONDON series by V.E. Schwab before I read THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER.
Read A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC if you love traveling between parallel worlds, interesting magic systems, collecting trinkets, pickpockets, plagues, night markets, masquerades, the river Thames, dive bars, fancy coats, too many knives, lucky kisses, queer dynamics & secrets.
Read STARLING HOUSE by Alix E. Harrow if you love houses as characters, small coal towns, familial trauma, bisexuals, dingy motel rooms, creepy childrens' books, searching for home, tattoos, intense longing, terrifying beasts, the neglected & abandoned, and unsettling dreams.
Read SYSTEM COLLAPSE by Martha Wells if you love grumpy murderbots, annoying humans, trauma narratives, corruption corporations, saving those in peril, drones, watching media, using storytelling as both a technique for persuading as well as healing, and fixing the broken bits.
Read BROTHERSONG by TJ Klune if you live complicated family dynamics, the color pink, trauma narratives, heartbeats, tiny cabins in the woods, lonely road trips, ghosts, finding your place in the world, deep-seated guilt, repetition, community support, queer werewolves & breaking cycles.