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Spindles, Secrets, and Sisterhood in Spellbound
It’s been a minute since I posted some good, old-fashioned book thoughts. But this week I found an absolutely perfect mid-fall read, and I knew I had to share. It’s a Sleeping Beauty retelling called Spellbound, and its contemplative take on a generally simple story was a refreshing break from my usual intrigues. I love
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Through Hell and Back: On Katabasis, Academia, and the Hope of Connection
Grad school is hell. So sayeth all my friends with a doctorate, and so sayeth Dr. R. F. Kuang in her latest book, Katabasis. Katabasis (lit. “journey to the underworld”) follows a final-year doctoral candidate as she treks to Hell to rescue her (questionable) doctoral advisor. To her irritation, she’s stuck with the department’s Golden
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Colonialism and culture wars in Tasha Suri’s The Books of Ambha
For those who follow my Goodreads, you may have noticed an uptake in my fantasy reading this year. I’ve been really enjoying the epic stories and the intricate human plots – their own kind of mystery. But at times, I can get tired of how so many of the kingdoms are rooted in Western culture
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Fantasy politics with a mystery twist in A Drop of Corruption
Robert Jackson Bennett is back! And he’s advancing the stories of Ana and Din, an imperial investigator and her assistant. Regular readers know how much I adore RBJ, and I’ve been extremely excited for this next release. A Drop of Corruption rejoins Ana and Din months after the events of The Tainted Cup. They’ve been
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February 2025 roundup: a mystery here, some history there
Somehow, February is already over. I’m not sure how we got through two months of the year so quickly! This month has been a busy one, both at home and at work. But, I still got some reading in, most of it accretive to my 52 Book Club goals. Plus, I finally caved and got
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Reading adventures, Pt. 1: Stories familiar and novel in Madrid
When I was little, summer meant one thing: travel. Whether we were packing our car for a road trip through the Appalachian Mountains or buckling in for a long-haul flight to Kolkata, my family was lucky enough to spend our summers adventuring. And that meant I got to take my reading to the most wonderful
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TCO Reviews: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
Man oh man do I feel lucky about my January ARC lineup. It’s been a minute since I’ve really indulged in fantasy stories, but by fair my favorite sub-genre is hard fantasy. If the book has complex political intrigue and (ideally) a good dose of economic speculation, I will munch it right up. And perhaps
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The “bookish” bar: Mislabeling The Library of the Unwritten
The Library of Hell. A mysterious and powerful book. At least three librarians characters. A book combining mystery, action, and fantasy – sounds like a recipe for literary fun, right? That’s what I was hoping for when I picked up A. J. Hackwith’s The Library of the Unwritten. Specifically, I wanted a new series that
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TCO Reviews: The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft
I love stories about magic. I love stories abut mystery. And I love stories of adventure. So when I came upon The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft, I knew I had to give it a try. (Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for the gift copy!) The Hexologists follows a wife-and-husband duo of adventurers, the Wilbys, who
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TCO Reviews: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies is an Autumn book in spirit, but not in practice. Despite the academic vibes, the book actually takes place over a dark, frigid, Norwegian winter. But the latest entry in the series, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is a perfect fireside material. (Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for