B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Readsalternate universe / f/f romantic elements / Fantasy / mothers and daughters / POC / POC author / self discovery / Vietnam4 Comments
Award-winning author Aliette de Bodard returns with a powerful romantic fantasy that reads like The Goblin Emperor meets Howl’s Moving Castle in a pre-colonial Vietnamese-esque world Fire burns bright and has a long memory…. Quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh was sent away as a hostage to the powerful faraway country of ... more >
B Reviews / Book Reviewsclass differences / female friendship / female protagonists / female sexuality / LGBTQIA / murder mystery / POC / POC author / Science Fiction / space opera / teacher / thief / VietnamNo Comments
Vân is a scholar from a poor background, eking out a living in the orbitals of the Scattered Pearls Belt as a tutor to a rich family, while hiding the illegal artificial mem-implant she manufactured as a student. Sunless Woods is a mindship and not just any mindship, but a ... more >
B Reviews / Book ReviewsChina / dysfunctional family / family relationships / POC / POC author / post-apocalyptic / Science Fiction / short stories / space opera / VietnamNo Comments
Here is The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun and Other Stories, a short compilation of Xuya universe stories: sentient spaceships, the dark between the stars, and–always–food and memory and family. Review Several reviewers here have read and raved about Aliette de Bodard but up until now, I’d not ... more >
B Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads18th-century / A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery / autobiography / documentary / English historical mystery / France / Historical / History / journalists / London / Movie / murder mystery / neurodiverse / non-fiction / Paris / Post WWII / sailing / science / tv adaptation / Vietnam / War / Military / World War II17 Comments
The Right Sort of Man: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery by Allison Montclair In a London slowly recovering from World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair—The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. ... more >
A Reviews / A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Reading Lists / Recommended Reads / Top Ten Lists#metoo / #ownvoices / 1870s / 1920s / 1970s / accountant / Agent/Spies/Undercover / arranged-marriage / Asian heroine / Asperger's / audiobook / book editor / California / class differences / Contemporary / custody battle / dragons / enemies to lovers / epistolary / f/f / Fairyland / fake relationship / family / Fantasy / farming / friends-to-lovers / gods / heroine in disguise / high-school / historical romance / Hong Kong based world / illegitimate-child / LGBTQIA / Literary fiction / London / look alikes / mafia / magical powers / Malaysia / martial arts / Mexico / nobleman / Northern Ireland / nurse / POC / POC author / political intrigue / quest / Reading lists / reformed hero / Regency-based world / romantic-elements / roommates / saga / single dad / streetwise heroine / Time-Travel / Vietnam / waitress / war19 Comments
I was tempted to make a list of my favorites among the 2019-published books I read this year. In the end I decided to focus on my favorite 2019 reads (first time reads; I didn’t include books I had read / reviewed in prior years) without regard to their year ... more >
A Review Category / A Reviews / A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Need A Rec! / Reading Lists / Recommended Reads / Top Ten Lists#ownvoices / arranged-marriage / autistic character / autobiography / bookseller / Canada / Cancer / cartoons / cats / class differences / Contemporary / death / enemies to lovers / England / epistolary / family relationships / First-Person / France / friends-to-lovers / Historical / Humor / immigrant fiction / mathematics / medieval / New York City / non-fiction / pilot / POC / POC author / PTSD / servant romance / Vietnam / Wales / War / Military / Womens-Fiction / World War I / World War II9 Comments
This year I didn’t have as many A reads as I did last year but these B+ books are strong ones that almost made it. My list ranges from historical to contemporary, has fiction and non-fiction, and even a picture book of cats. In kinda, sorta chronological order in which ... more >