June, a 12 year old bookworm, brings home a book with the word "witch" in the title and her very strict parents freak out, confiscate it and all other books in her room, and the bring up the issue to the principle of her middle school. June got the book from the middle school library, and very shortly the librarian is suspended and nearly all books have been removed from the shelves to be reviewed by a panel. Teachers are told they cannot assign any reading outside of the approved curriculum, and students are threatened with detention if they are caught with an unassigned book. June loves book too much to roll over- she starts lending books to fellow students out of an empty locker, dubbing herself 'The Rebel Librarian'. This is a quick and easy read, which I would have enjoyed a lot at age 12.

However, I checked it out because I am a trans author of a book which had been facing a series of bans and challenges all around the country. The patterns that I am seeing in the current wave of book challenges is this: books with queer themes, books on the history of racism, books by POC authors, and books about sexual health, sex ed, and abortion are the books being hit the hardest. None of those topics ever come up in Property of the Rebel Librarian, and June's parents don't seem to have any particular political or religious stand point- their only motivation is an intense, manic desire to control their child for her "safety". Making the book bans in this middle grade novel more explicitly about queer books, trans books, books by POC authors etc would have made this narrative much more political- and possible made the book itself more vulnerable to the exact kind of book challenges that it talks about! I can see why the author chose to tell a simpler, smaller story. But I do think a lot of depth was lost to me, an adult reader, by making the logic behind the bans apolitical and rather tame. 

This is a very short anthology, just 120 pages, which I think flew under the radar when it came out in 2016. It contains short stories from some very well known Indigenous authors, including Cherie Dimaline (The Marrow Thieves, Empire of Wild), Daniel Heath Justice (Why Indigenous Literatures Matter), and Darcie Little Badger (Elatsoe, A Snake Falls to Earth) among others. For me, the stand out was Darcie Little Badger's story about a Lipan Apache veterinarian on a spaceship to Mars, who has to be woken out of stasis sleep because of an emergency, and builds a friendship (or something more) with the Diné pilot. But all of the stories are very good, and I hope people still continue to find this collection even thought the indie publisher has now folded. 

Like many WWI vets, Will Darling struggles to find any kind of employment in England after he gets back from the war. In desperation he writes to a long estranged uncle and reconnects to him just before the man's death. Will inherits a used bookstore which harbors a dangerous secret. The recipe for a weapon even more deadly than gas is hidden somewhere among the 40,000 books and many boxes of papers his uncle left behind-- or so Will must assume, when he begins to receive threatening visits from both the War Office and also a violent anarchist organization. Seemingly by chance, a charming man named Kim Secretan shows up at just the right moment to offer Will his friendship, his help, and maybe more. There's an undeniable sexual attraction between them from the start, but Kim is full of his own secrets, and before long Will isn't sure if he's an ally or an enemy. This is a pulp romance with a satisfying amount of twists and turns. There were a few times in which I think Will fell into slightly obvious traps or showed less agency than he could have; but the high-tension ending gave him time to shine, and show off his own bravery and skill. I've been meaning to start this series forever and I'm pleased I finally made time for the audiobook. I definitely plan to keep reading the series! 

 A really delightful retelling of "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett, but set in the modern day. The 1993 movie was one of my absolute favorites as a child, and this book hits all of the important emotional notes. I really liked the adaption of Colin's illness into anxiety, and the conversations about how Colin and Mary process their respective grief differently. Martha and Dickon are as cheerful and supportive as always, and Mary and Dickon's friendship feels genuine. The secret garden is as beautiful and healing on a rooftop in New York as in the English countryside. 

A very sweet continuation of the Berrybrook Middle School comic series. In this installment, Jorge thinks he is above the wave of crushes, dating, and breakups that are sweeping through his junior high class. Until he realizes that the way he blushes and freezes up around Jazmine from the drama club means that- in fact- he likes her! Jorge is a tall, athletically gifted student but he isn't a jock. He's a quiet, shy guy who intentionally uses his size and glare to break up instances of bullying or teasing he sees around campus. He mostly keeps to himself except for his two close friends, social butterfly Liv and football team wannabe Garrett. When he learns that Jazmine, the girl he likes, already has a boyfriend, he prepares to keep his feels secret forever. But junior high is full of drama, and the social landscape around Jorge shifts so fast he can hardly keep up. I've been a fan of Svetlana Chmakova's artwork ever since I spotted it in "Manga Mania: How to Draw Japanese Comics" edited by Christopher Hart when I myself was in junior high. I love the gentleness and simplicity of this world, and the diversity of the character designs. I'm glad there's already another book out in this series for me to read!

Sir Robin Blyth, recently orphaned and now in charge of an estate, a London household, and his teenage younger sister, receives the shock of his life when he turns up at what he thinks will be a boring civil service job only to discover that magic is real. Magic is real, and requires paperwork; he has ended up with a liaison position, combing over reports of potential magic sightings and reporting them to either his magical co-worker, Edwin Courcey, or all the way up to the Prime Minister if the problem is serious enough. Things take an even stranger turn when Robin is attacked and placed under a curse by assailants who seem to think he has knowledge of a missing magical artifact. Edwin and Robin did not have a good first impression- Edwin is a prickly, buttoned-up, bookish type, while Robin is a good looking, athletic, traditionally masculine minor noble. But Edwin still feels responsible for breaking Robin's curse and so takes him back to the Courcey estate, where magic is sunk into the very soil. When it turns out Robin's processor- presumed missing- was in fact murdered, the pair realize they are caught in a plot much larger than they had comprehended. I enjoyed this book a lot, though it did leave a lot of threads unresolved at the end (it's the first book of a planned trilogy). It's kind of a sexy Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel lite, with a distinctly fanfiction feel. On AO3, this book would be rated explicit. 

Timothy Snyder is the author of many books on the rise of fascism and communism in the 20th century, and he put out this very slim volume (just 126 small pages) in 2017 as a response to the Trump administration. The majority of the book remains as timely as ever. It outlines twenty short lessons on how to maintain a democracy, especially in the face of rising political division and authoritarianism. Most of what it boils down to is this: every citizen must be an engaged citizen, because the institutions that protect democracy and civil rights do not protect themselves. He quotes American abolitionism to say "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." To my pandemic-weary brain, this sounds exhausting, so I have also started reading "Pleasure Activism" by andrienne maree brown to try awake further thoughts on this topic. 

 A dramatic and difficult ending to Karasuno's set of games with Blue Castle, which I think filled almost four volumes?? How does this author do it, serious. I'm impressed, and curious to see what happens before the spring tournament begins. 

A young princess repeatedly escapes from her castle to go on lighthearted adventures in the kingdom, meeting various silly or shady characters a long the way. I found the story a little thin, but the art is extremely charming and the book is full of interactive activities like mazes, puzzles, and Where's Waldo type searches that work very well. 

I've been making my way through various nonfiction books on friendship lately, and unfortunately none of them has really impressed me, this one included. I like that it's current enough to talk about some of the challenges of maintaining friendship during covid, and it has many heartwarming anecdotes from the author's own life and many fulfilling friendships. But I don't know that any of its advice really stood out as anything beyond common sense. The one quote from it that I wrote down was "Friendship builds rituals, and rituals build friendship" which does feel like a nugget of truth I want to keep thinking about, but that might be the only piece of this book that sticks in my brain long term.