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The Tapestry of Fate

May 27, 2026

tapestry

The infamous pirate Amina al-Sirafi is back. She made her debut in Shannon Chakraborty’s novel The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, where she was brought out of retirement to retrieve a kidnapped girl. When Tapestry of Fate, the newest novel in the series, begins it is years later and she’s happily living in her isolated home with her all of her family around her, including her ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: fantasy, vacation reading

I, Medusa

May 25, 2026

medusa

Is there anything worse than being the ugly duckling in a family of gorgeous women? Yes. You could be mortal and they could be goddesses. That’s life for 17-year-old Meddy in I, Medusa by Ayana Gray, a refreshing retelling of the Greek myth about the monster Medusa. Meddy is a tomboy who loves books and dreams of escaping their isolated island for Athens. Her only vanity is ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, fantasy, mythology, retellings, vacation reading

The Poet Empress

February 2, 2026

poet empress

The Poet Empress is a debut by Shen Tao, set in 650AD China in the kingdom of Tensha. The current emperor is dying and two of his sons are vying for the throne.  One of them, Terren, needs a bride and concubines, so a nationwide search is begun. During the approval process he randomly chooses the daughter of a rice farmer, a nobody from a poor famine-stricken village. Even more ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: China, debut, fantasy

Spinning Silver

January 14, 2026

spinning silver

In Spinning Silver author Naomi Novak takes the components of the fairytale Rumpelstiltskin and separates them in the same way the heroine in that story had to separate the straw to weave into gold. From seemingly unimportant, innocuous bits of chaff, Novak spins an entire storyline and then brings it all together for mesmerizing reading. The kind that jumps between characters ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: fantasy

2025 Best Backlist

January 1, 2026

I couldn’t exit the year without an acknowledgement of the backlist books that kept me afloat in 2025. While there were excellent new books released in 2025 these six special novels, all published in previous years found me when I needed books to provide an escape, thrill me, make me laugh, and even break my heart a little.       Fantastic ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: book clubs, fantasy, historical, mystery, rom-com, vacation reading

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

October 27, 2025

katabasis

I’ve read and enjoyed both of R.F. Kuang’s adult novels (Babel, Yellowface) so was looking forward to her latest, Katabasis. A Greek word meaning “going down or descending” this chunky novel is about Alice Law, an American student getting her graduate degree in Magick from Cambridge. The title refers to Alice’s descent into Hell to retrieve the soul of her academic advisor, the ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: England, fantasy, literary

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