This collection of 10 essays weaves together memories and experiences of the author's real life with the rich and varied lives of sea creatures, from octopi, Chinese sturgeon, whales, sand strikers and immortal jellyfish to yeti crabs and more. My favorite part was learning about some deep sea creatures I had never heard of before, the kinds of beings that live in oases around thermal vents on the ocean floor and survive by chemo-synthesis. I loved a story about encountering a bloom of clear, gelatinous creatures known as salps flooding the water of Riis Beach, a historically queer hangout spot in New York. This book wrestles with heavy content- one essay deals with eating disorders and parental pressure to diet, another with sexual assault and blackout drinking. It's hard for me to judge the quality of these essays when my life has not been touched by these topics, but I appreciated the author's honesty and the thoughtful maritime metaphors. 

Human boyfriend Cooper Dayton and his werewolf boyfriend Oliver Park are trying to buy a house together; but their aesthetic sense of what makes an inviting home is vastly different, and neither of them are communicating their needs well to the other. How convenient that their next case for The Trust, the werewolf government, involves them going undercover to a couple's retreat where they will investigate a missing person report while also doing bonding exercises and couple's therapy. Will Cooper finally acknowledge that he was PTSD? Will Park admit their massive family wealth disparity could be a source of tension between them? Will they manage to figure out the link between a threatening park ranger, a local lumber mill owner who wants to buy the land the wolf retreat is built on, not one but two missing employees, the mysterious research of a wolf scientist (who may have experimented on his own children), a wolf pack leader showing up at the retreat unexpectedly? This installment continues the development of the central relationship while also fleshing out the lore and intricacies of the wolf world. 

Seraphina is the assistant composer to the royal family of Goredd, which means she lives in the castle and spends her days auditioning new musicians, leading rehearsals, performing at state functions and giving the vivacious, whip smart, slightly spoiled princess her weekly harpsichord lessons. In two weeks, the most important dragon general will be visiting the capital city to celebrate the 40 year anniversary of the peace treaty between humans and dragons which he negotiated with the current human queen. But then one of the members of the royal family is killed, and some people start pointing the finger at dragons; tensions begin to rise in the city as anti-dragon mobs attack a young dragon traveling the city in his human form. Amidst this tension, Seraphina is even more desperate to keep her longest and darkest secret: that she is half dragon, and carries hidden scales, maternal dragon memories, and a mental link with other powerful beings. This was such an original take on a dragon fantasy, with a rich and complex world, characters that I immediately cared for and rooted for. I'm definitely going to keep reading this series! 

Evelyn, the closeted lesbian teen daughter of nobles in an oppressive and strict empire, sets to sea aboard the Dove on a six month voyage to meet the husband her parents have chosen for her. On the Dove she meets Florian, a sailor her own age she who she befriends despite his lack of education and rough manners. But what Evelyn doesn't know is that Florian is also Flora, an orphan who joined the crew out of desperation and killed a man in cold blood to earn her place. And also- the ship is crewed by pirates, who plan to take all of the passengers as slaves. They have also committed a crime against the very sea itself: the capture of a mermaid with intent to sell it's blood, which men drink to forget. This is a dangerous and violent world, but the connection between Evelyn, Florian/Flora and the mermaid might be enough to save them all, with the help of some cleverness, bravery, magic, and love. This book had some tonal shifts that I struggled with, but I deeply appreciated the multifaceted queer rep. 

The third book in the werewolf/detective romance series I've been wolfing down on audiobook. In this installment, Cooper Dayton, human BSI agent, is still heaving from the wounds of his previous case when Oliver Park, werewolf BSI agent, learns that his grandfather and head of the pack he abandoned several years ago died. Oliver asks Cooper to come with him to the funeral, and Cooper agrees, having no idea what he's getting into. The couple narrowly avoids a deadly car-crash on the way up to the family mansion in Canada, where Cooper learns that even though Oliver's family is fine with him being gay they are not really fine with him dating a human. Several of Oliver's relatives very explicitly try to scare Cooper off, then he's shot with a tranquilizer in what may or may not be an accident, then it turns out that Oliver's grandfather might not have died of natural causes. Amongst all this chaos, will Cooper decide the wolf world is just too much and that he needs to back away from it? Or will be just dive in even deeper? Even though I could easily guess the answer, I am still very hooked and will definitely read more! 

At the start of this second installment in my new favorite paranormal romance/murder mystery series, Agent Cooper Dayton and Agent Oliver Park of the Bureau of Special Investigations have been sleeping together for 4 months but still have not defined their relationship. Some of their miscommunications stem from cultural misunderstandings, but more of it comes from them both being too gun shy to be the first one to say "I love you." Meanwhile, Cooper takes Oliver to meet his family in the small town of coastal Maryland where he grew up- introducing Oliver only as his partner at work, because Cooper's family don't know he is gay and also don't know werewolves exist. Then a 25 year old skeleton is uncovered on the Dayton family property, and Cooper and Oliver have to set aside their other issues to solve the cold case, which might implicate one or both of Cooper's parents. A very enjoyable second book which manages to avoid a lot of the things that often bug me in romance novels and develops the relationship in satisfying ways. 

In this contemporary murder mystery/romance novel, werewolves exist and have always lived in small numbers around the world. A few years before this story starts werewolves outed themselves to the US government in order to better liaison with law enforcement to address werewolf-human crimes, but the general public still does not know werewolves exist. Cooper Dayton survived a werewolf attack, and is subsequently transferred from his former job at the FBI into the BSI, the Bureau of Special Investigation. When two bodies turn up in the woods in rural Maine, Agent Dayton is chosen for a trial program, and he is paired up with an agent from The Trust, the werewolf government. Dayton is attracted to his new partner, Agent Park, immediately- but when it turns out Park's family is active in the area of the murder, Dayton realizes he can't rule out the possibility that his co-worker might be actively covering for the criminal. This book starts an enjoyable paranormal romance series complete with plenty of spice but also very solid procedural mysteries. I was glad to be able to guess some parts of, but not all of, the mystery as it unfolded and I also thought the romance novel beats hit well! 

Annae is a PhD student, a brilliant researcher, and a survivor of academic abuse. She is forced to leave the US when her former mentor claims her research and ruins her name (after sleeping with her). They work in a small field, advanced magic so complex it feels almost more like science, so Annae transfers to a university in the UK to complete her degree. There she finds herself in a cohort of entirely male graduate students under a famous but cruel teacher. Her main defense mechanism and invasive habit is reading minds, a kind of compulsive act that lets her see how her peers view her, and themselves. Unsurprisingly, these insights bring her no peace; Annae tries to rebuild her research, but urge to fall into the same traps as her role models is strong. This is a novella, only about 4 hours as an audiobook, and fairly open ended but I'm still thinking about it. 

Set in a world similar to but one step sideways from our current world, this story follows Jo, a creative, biracial, bisexual woman trapped by the restrictions of her society. In this US, women are under constant suspicion of witchcraft, a crime that can still be punish by public burnings. Women who aren't married by 30 are especially suspected, and have to check in with a counselor bi-weekly, and risk losing their jobs, freedom, and ability to have their own bank accounts or own property. Jo is 28, and while she is causally dating, she has no interest in marriage. She has a hard time believing that love can even exist under the pressures placed on women. It doesn't help that her mother disappeared when Jo was 14, and during the investigation, she was questioned by witch hunters. It's been 7 years and Jo's father decides it's finally time to declare Jo's mom officially dead. This ends up opening up a clause in her will that requests Jo travel to a island in the middle of one of the Great Lakes on a very specific day in Autumn and collect a certain fruit that only grows there... This book is so skillfully written, for the first half I was left wondering if magic really did or did not exist; it could just be the excuse that men used to oppress women, queer people, and people of color. But then the book takes a really Kelly Link or Octavia Butler-like twist in the middle and gets weirder and wilder. Highly recommend, especially the audiobook. 

A collection of short stories by long time Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Greg Sarris; a writer I've been hearing about for years and am finally sitting down to read! These stories are all set around the Sonoma Mountain and Cotati, very close to where I grew up, and I loved being able to picture the foggy mornings, the many oaks, the quail, poppies, lupine, hawks, coyotes, and creeks in these stories. The book has a frame narrative of two crow sisters, Question Woman and Answer Woman, who introduce each story and also appear as characters in one. The stories are interwoven, nearly all set in the village by Copeland Creek where Coyote lives as headman with his wife Frog, his cousin Chicken Hawk, and his many neighbors. The stories use a lot of the kind of repetitive language that lends itself to memorization; I honestly didn't feel like sitting down and reading the book cover to cover wasn't the best way to experience them. It might have been better to flip the book open to a random story and read whichever one caught my eye, especially to read it out loud, either to myself or to a young listener. Maybe I'll get an opportunity to read it that way sometime to a nibling.