Absolutely devoured this book. Kaner's world building is exquisite, and her characters vibrant and intriguing. The story concept had me hooked right from the beginning (I have a soft spot for world building that includes any kind of religious system) and Kissen's narration pulled me write a long. I really enjoyed the descriptive flow of the prose Kaner's ability to be flawlessly inclusive was a refreshing change as well. "Godkiller" is a cinematic masterpiece.

Heartfelt and beautifully illustrated, Andi Porretta's debut graphic novel is a coming-of-age story that reminds us we don't have to have the rest of our lives figured out on anyone else's schedule.

The summer after high school graduation, Cassie feels out of place within her long-time group of friends: each of them is headed off to college in the fall, all with a set path ahead, and Cassie is still asking herself "what's next?" Cassie, Marcy, Nico, and Aaron are relatable and authentic, jumping off the page as they struggle to change and grow as individuals without ruining their relationships with each other, with enough uniquely teenage drama to make you cringe in solidarity. Full of New York City charm (and sneaky Pratt references- I see you Luigi's Pizza and late nights on the G train) and emotional, thoughtful conversations, this novel is a great reminder to readers of all ages that uncertainty and growing up go hand-in-hand...and we are all, always, still growing up.

Nayler's newest novella is a one-two punch of beautiful and devastating. In a world where all elephants in the wild have been driven to extinction by poachers, the science world has chosen instead to resurrect the long-dead wooly mammoths--science for the sake of science meets want for the sake of want when this great biological experiment is put up against a revival of ivory poaching culture. Lyrical prose leads the reader through three stories colliding on the fringes of humanity, testing empathy, compassion, and the insurmountable power of human greed.

This book is the literary-equivalent of a warm hug. Let it pour you some tea, make you laugh, probably make you cry, and remind you why life is so so beautiful.

Welcome to Team Ambit: shoot now, save the heart-to-heart for after. L.M. Sagas' debut novel is fast and fun thrill ride, soft in all the right places. No power in the 'verse can stop this patched up group of misfits and you'll be tearing up and cheering through the final page. For the fans of Becky Chambers, Firefly, and found-family space operas with a ton of heart.

Yi Tenen offers a thorough and thoughtful analysis of the near-entire history of human inclination towards automation: we have always, for various reasons, sought out ways to automate labor, and the conversation around automating intellectual labor did not start just because ChatGPT can now generate your entire English essay "from scratch."

The connections made between literary movements and the industrialization of literature--in the form of templates, universal outlines, skeleton forms, etc.--is an especially interesting point to add to the discussion of art and writing created by AI tools vs by human labor. The growth of automation into what we see as the creative and academic spheres is inevitable, and the challenge will be adapting how we measure success and learning in this new world, and how we regulate the use of these evolving tools. Yi Tenen follows with the equally interesting comparison of factory-made products to AI-generated literature, and how the movement from hand-crafted to machine-crafted also served to make products more universally accessible, if not as unique and meaningful (meaning, as discussed, is not something a computer can really grasp). Just like story templates made writing things like screenplays more formulaic and easier to teach, automation in writing like spell check and sentence completion has made a standard of writing more accessible across the board.

While I'm sure a certain amount of the machine-language-specifics still went over my head, Yi Tenen's perspective is a fresh and more positive take on the coming AI revolution, and his cast of smart-furniture and their programmers is an entertaining history lesson. The future of automation belongs to more than just the tech bros and Silicon Valley: we are all, collectively and collaboratively and universally, building the path forward.

Vandermeer's twisted worlds have a way of sinking their teeth into you, dragging you right down the tower steps. Part sci-fi mystery, part psychological eco-horror, Area X had me hooked from the first page and questioning the foundations of my reality by the last.

A soft, quiet novel exploring the power of community and connection (and coffee, and books) when we feel wistless and lost in ourselves. Takako's character hit pretty close to home (am I too, just another mid-twenties depressed sleep-monster recharging my batteries in a musty old bookstore?) and her arc was fulfilling. If you're looking for something calm but powerful, a nice reset, this is the book for you.

Interesting Facts about Space does, in fact, have a lot of interesting facts about space--did you know there are planets that orbit dead stars? It is also an intriguing 300-paged character puzzle, piecing together Enid's story bit by bit as she ruminates, compartmentalizes, and uncovers parts of her own self that she's locked away. Complicated family dynamics and a deep internal exploration of mental illness and neurodivergence in a fast-paced novel, and I enjoyed Austin's writing style.

What to say about Vandermeer that I haven't said before? Every time I think he's reached the weirdest and most unhinged he could possibly be, he peels back the surface and dives another layer deeper. All the intrigue, and all the skin-crawling creepy too.