Nova is my third novel by Samuel Delany, and I feel like I'm officially a fan. Nova is a ROMP, packed with action and cool concepts and exciting characters. Once I got going, which did take a hot minute, I did not want to put this book down. ⁣Delightful.

About two thirds of this short story collection take place prior to the events of the original trilogy, and the remaining third is a single novella that takes place after. I’d still advise you read the series before tackling this book, because the stories and companion authors notes may spoil some of the experience of the novels, and you also will understand the context much better reading in that order. Most of the stories were small tastes back into a beloved story, a few of which I’d already read in other publications (when I last tried to hunt down all things Hexarchate.) They were a fun mix of filling in details and humorous vignettes, but the real heart of this book for me was reading the final novella, Glass Cannon. It’s absolutely everything I wanted in more Hexarchate fiction.

My favorite was the title story, Things We Lost in the Fire, which reckons fiercely with the history of men burning their wives. The stories are all set in Argentina, and a sense of place thrums palpably through each one. This collection is so smart, and more than once it felt like a complete grasp of the story was a bit beyond me. I often felt marooned by the endings of the stories, a common refrain for me with short fiction, to be honest. Still, I definitely feel consumed and a little haunted by these stories, and I know I’m going to have the writing rattling around in my mind for a while.

Alexander is a poet and this memoir is a work of art, suffused with beautiful language as she details their life together and carrying on after his passing. It's an intimate story, giving the reader insight into a profoundly intertwined and in love couple. I was captivated by how she talked about their marriage, her descriptions of knowing each other more than anyone else knows them, and about their loving family, and how she and their two teenage sons continue on together. I loved how she explains the way Ficre continues to be present in their lives, how she incorporates dreams and recipes, and her how she lays bare her evolving understanding of life without his physical presence. Definitely recommended for anyone, especially lovers of memoirs or gorgeous poetic prose.

Amazing. I feel like I fell headfirst into this story and I’m just figuring out how to come up for air after finishing this morning. This book is everything, tensely plotted and charged with unanswered questions, gloriously speculative, delicately emotional, and richly atmospheric. I went into this novel knowing nothing about the premise, and if you can manage it, I wish the same for you. Ishiguro unfolds this story with beautiful, intentional pacing, creating a luscious page-turner with deep impact. I’m a huge fan of speculative fiction that gets nitty gritty explaining details of science and society, and this is decidedly not such a story, but it’s far from lacking because of that. While I still have some questions I think interesting to explore, this book wasn’t the place for them, and it’s all the more complete and lovely in its pointed focus in on its characters.

Though occasionally a little disjointed, this story, originally published in web comic format, was a lot of fun to read and I enjoyed its strong cast of characters.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi is a phenomenal novel, I had really high expectations for Emezi's YA debut after loving their brilliant novel Freshwater, and wow do they deliver. I was captured immediately, got emotional several times, and loved every minute of this page turning novel about Jam, a Black trans girl who joins forces with an otherworldly being called Pet that crawls out of a painting with the mission to hunt a monster.⁣⁣
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Jam lives in the city of Lucille, where there are no monsters. The systems that breed and allow monstrous people to flourish have been systematically eliminated. But if Pet is right, perhaps the people's belief that their city is a paragon of safety has opened back up blindspots for those very monsters to lurk once more.⁣⁣
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This novel has everything: a clever speculative premise and setting, with timely commentary executed alongside an exciting well paced story. And the characters!! I treasure Jam, her loving parents, and her best friend, Redemption. And Pet is vibrantly non-human, and crackles with otherworldly energy. I love a non-human character to really feel apart, and Emezi nails it with Pet. All the stars!

Wagamese is a deft writer, exposing painful history while crafting such a compelling character and captivating narrative. Emotionally searing, thoughtful and thought-provoking. One of the best books I have read so far this year. Pick it up.

I enjoyed this collection of stories centering on a queer Afro-Latinx young man and his family, interspersed with other characters’ stories all set prominently in Houston. Washington expertly situates the reader’s sense of place in these stories, and the characters come alive in his richly drawn settings. This book didn’t land quite as strongly for me as I had expected, but I think I had unfair expectations given that I’m not usually a great lover of short stories without some speculative element to them, and this collection feels like straight up contemporary fiction at its finest. On that note, no one is surprised that the story about two characters finding a chupacabra was the most captivating for me

It took a bit for me to get into this book, but I really loved it and I'm excited to check out more of Castillo's smart, creative writing.⁣
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This incisive feminist novel explores the lives of five women in a small New Mexican town, Sofi and her four fated daughters. We open on the death and resurrection of Loca, the youngest daughter, and Castillo begins to slowly build up a narrative entwining her original characters with spirituality and fierce commentary on many topics. ⁣Plus I'm still reeling from the searing queer storyline in this book! So much packed into this novel that provokes thought and discussion.