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Book Review: Again Behold the Stars by Jessie Latimer

Book Review: Again Behold the Stars by Jessie Latimer


Again Behold the Stars by Jessie Latimer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an advance digital copy of this novel from the author. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

While YA and its many subgenres has been hit-or-miss for me in the past, I’ve read a lot of truly excellent young adult sci-fi and fantasy over the last few years. Again Behold the Stars is among the very best. The story is cleverly written, compelling, and loaded with humor and heart and heartbreak, with characters who grow and change and win you over. I was excited from the very first page, when we were introduced to our snarky, unusual narrator: the book itself. And that excitement never wavered, as Latimer never lost the plot or the structure or a solitary character. She was juggling so much, and yet she never dropped a single ball.

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Book Review: Galahad and the Grail (Merlin’s Isle, #1) by Malcolm Guite

Book Review: Galahad and the Grail (Merlin’s Isle, #1) by Malcolm Guite


Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Exquisite. Timeless. Exceptional. This is a masterpiece of the highest caliber. And it’s to be treasured in all of its formats. Reading Galahad and the Grail, Guite’s introductory volume in his four-part Merlin’s Isle, feels like uncovering a treasure lost to antiquity, one that is somehow fresh and vibrant in the light of the 21st century sun. His presentation of the search for the Holy Grail is captivating, and it left me so excited to experience the rest of his Arthuriad as he plans to release them over the next few years. Every line, every word, every syllable was chosen with such care and intention. Though this is epic poetry, a form little read in modern society, the story being told through the verse is easy to follow. This could easily be experienced as a family read aloud. It truly feels not only timeless, but ageless in its appeal.

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Book Review: A Lady’s Handbook to Gadgets and Guile by Angela Bell

Book Review: A Lady’s Handbook to Gadgets and Guile by Angela Bell


A Lady’s Handbook to Gadgets and Guile by Angela Bell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Lady’s Handbook to Gadgets and Guile is an absolutely delightful story. Drawing inspiration from Little Women, Inspector Gadget, and Victorian England, it is also something uniquely and wonderfully its own. Bell’s sophomore novel is funny, heartfelt, faith-filled, and a joy from start to finish. It also delivers some wonderful disability representation that is going to provide solace and soothing affirmation to those struggling with chronic pain and severe anxiety.

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The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer


The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“All stories are love stories if you love stories.”

The Book Witch is one of my very favorite things: a book about books that actually remains a book about books all the way through. There’s also great banter, housed in a wonderful but star-crossed romance where the romantic interest is also a charming friend, one who makes an excellent partner in crime. And there’s a multilayered mystery to be solved. But at its very heart, The Book Witch is a love letter to all stories, but especially to the ones that make us brave.

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Book Review: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

Book Review: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

ARC provided by the publisher—Tor Books and Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art by Kelly Chong

The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 398 pages (Hardcover Edition)

Word Count: 139,000 words

Published:  20 January 2026 by Tor Bramble (US) and Gollancz (UK)


I am in awe. The Poet Empress is absolute greatness manifested. This is a must-read epic fantasy standalone masterpiece for fans of The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang, The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu, and Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurts.

“You were born second, so you never learned the meaning of duty. You never learned that there is no glory without sacrifice. There is no greatness without suffering.”

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Book Review: Dandelion Wine (Green Town, #1) by Ray Bradbury

Book Review: Dandelion Wine (Green Town, #1) by Ray Bradbury


Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dandelion Wine is an absolutely beautiful coming-of-age story. It’s a book I’ve owned for years, one I purchased second-hand when I realized that it was part of a series that included one of my favorite books, Something Wicked This Way Comes. But for some reason, I kept putting it off, fearing that it would somehow weaken the magical grip Something Wicked has on my heart. Instead, it strengthened it. This slim book is every bit as weirdly wonderful and inexpressibly nostalgic as its counterpart, weaving that same magical grip around my heart regarding the summer as Something Wicked did with autumn. It’s exactly what I’m always craving—but rarely find—when I venture into the realm of natural realism.

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Book Review: The Lesser Devil (The Sun Eater, 1.5) by Christopher Ruocchio

Book Review: The Lesser Devil (The Sun Eater, 1.5) by Christopher Ruocchio


The Lesser Devil by Christopher Ruocchio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“He had always been the lesser devil. Always in Hadrian’s shadow, or his father’s. It had taken years, decades, to realize that it was this that had made him angry as a boy. This that had made him … whatever he’d been.”

“…shadows shrink in time.”

Crispin, the “lesser devil” of House Marlowe, has always lived in Hadrian’s shadow, even close to 40 years after his older brother’s disappearance. Hadrian is constantly on Crispin’s mind. His longing for his older brother, in spite of how terribly they parted, was poignant. “I wish Hadrian was here” and “Hadrian would know what to do” were frequent refrains in his thoughts. And yet, he has within himself the potential to be a better man.

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Book Review: Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1) by Larry McMurtry

Book Review: Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1) by Larry McMurtry


Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove Book #1 of 4)

Genre: Historical Fiction, Western

Pages: 946 pages (Ebook Edition)

Word Count: 379,000 Words

Published:  1985 by Simon & Schuster


I thought I was done with reading a Western-setting novel. Lonesome Dove proved me wrong by becoming the best Western story I’ve ever read.

“I’m glad I’ve been wrong enough to keep in practice. . . You can’t avoid it, you’ve got to learn to handle it. If you only come face to face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life it’s bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day–that way they ain’t usually much worse than a dry shave.”

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Book Review: The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee

Book Review: The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee

ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit Books—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art designed by Tommy Pocket

The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Cyberpunk

Pages: 514 pages (ARC Edition)

Published:  5th May 2026 by Orbit Books


The year is off to an explosive start. The Last Contract of Isako is the best science fiction standalone novel I’ve ever read.

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Book Review: Isles of the Emberdark (Secret Project, #5) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Isles of the Emberdark (Secret Project, #5) by Brandon Sanderson


Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Sometimes the only path forward is costly. We must travel it regardless.”

Isles of the Emberdark is a story I’ve been both excited and nervous to experience. Getting a new novel in Sanderson’s Cosmere is always an amazing feeling, but I always have this small sense of trepidation when approaching a new world, a fear that I might not love it as much as I’ve loved those onto which he’s already invited me. He’s never let me down so far, and Emberdark didn’t break that trend. I loved this new world, and I loved seeing how the technological development of these fantastical worlds is making the Cosmere smaller in a sense. The opening, in which a young Dragon is finally getting her draconian form, delighted me. It was a sweet, lovely, joyful way to start a story. From there, we shift to a place and people wholly different. It was interesting to see how the two disparate parts of the story interact. Starling, the young Dragon, and Sixth of the Dusk, an Eelakin trapper on the isle of Patji, on the world First of the Sun.

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