Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler

March 28, 2026

Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler

Renata Bronstein lives in a Manhattan tenement with no particular goals other than finding a steady girlfriend, partying with her friends, and doing her best not to hold down a regular job. She sees ghosts, especially the ghosts of her friends who died of complications from AIDS. The only ghost she wants to see but never does is the ghost of her best friend and roommate Mark, who she didn't get a chance to say goodbye to.

A look at LGBTQ life in 1980s Manhattan, with the grief from losing friends far too young and the fear of AIDS lurking at every corner. The two main tropes are the AIDS crisis and Renata's ability to see ghosts, both of which have been done before and done better (see Lincoln in the Bardo about the dead being unable to rest; Angels in America, Borrowed Time, or And the Band Played On about AIDS in the 1980s). The ghostbusters here are not funny guys with slime guns but might be government contractors tasked with getting old, sick, poor, marginalized people out of their rent-controlled apartments so the areas can be gentrified. Possible triggers include addiction, violence against LGBTQ people, suicide, poverty, shame.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

New York LGBTQ club scene circa 1980

The Shattered King by Charlie N. Holmberg

Marc'h 26, 2026

The Shattered King by Charlie N. Holmberg

Nym Tallowax is a craftlock healer who uses magic to heal. Magic is outlawed in her kingdom, except for healing, since the king's youngest son is an invalid and his mother is desperate to find a cure for him. Nym works as a beekeeper to support her family until she is conscripted to serve the ailing prince. In a kingdom always on the brink of war, Nym finds herself navigating not only the prince's health, but also the machinations of the court and the royal family.

I have read several books by this author and usually enjoy them, especially the Whimbrel House series. This one was okay, had some creative magical elements, but there were other things that didn't make sense, like the queen's attitude. If you finally find someone who can heal your precious son, why would you treat them terribly? Wouldn't you treat that healer like a treasure and give them whatever they need to do their work? I also don't understand Nym, the main character - why not just tell the queen and the prince to go screw themselves until they start to treat her better? So they might send you to the dungeon - it isn't any worse than the broom closet they gave her to sleep in, and at least no one would bother her and she could get a night's sleep. The center of the book drags somewhat, too much time spent inside the prince's head and then Nym and the prince wandering around the city and the forest. If you're looking for a romantasy, you'll be disappointed with this story. The first half of a duology. I may read the second book in the hope that there will be some answers about who the prince really is and how he got so badly injured.

The Disaster Gay Detective Agency by Lev AC Rosen

March 24, 2026

The Disaster Gay Detective Agency by Lev AC Rosen

When hotel clerk Brandon falls in love (again) after a one-night stand with Jon, his new love ghosts him. Convinced that Jon is the man of his dreams, he persuades his three best friends to help him track down the new man. But when they witness a murder that Jon appears to be involved in, they realize that there is a lot more going on than just a guy who led Brandon on, and that they may be in way over their heads.

The strong sense of friendship was one of the most appealing things about this mystery. But the characters are all quirky just for the sake of being quirky, and the last half of the story was extremely repetitive (do we really need to read the exact same texts and get the exact same scene from four different POVs?). It took a long time to get to the solution. Disappointing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

March 18, 2026

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch, now retired from the LAPD, is recovering from a knee replacement when he attends the funeral of a man who was his mentor when he first became a detective. After the funeral, the man's widow gives Harry a murder book that she found in her husband's desk, a case file of an unsolved crime. But when Harry examines the file, he discovers that the case was originally assigned to two other detectives and his mentor never worked on the case, and there is no explanation about why he has the file or why he was obsessed with the case.

I've read most of Connelly's Harry Bosch novels but this one took me a while to get into, mainly because there are three cases going on: Harry's cold case that surfaced after his mentor's death; his friend Renee is investigating the death of a homeless man found in his burning tent in LA's skid row; and Mickey, Harry's lawyer brother, is defending a man in a supposedly unwinnable case. The three cases turn out to be linked and come together at the end. This is a great series, although this wasn't one of my favorite books.

Skid Row in Los Angeles - it's a 50 block area in downtown Los Angeles where over 4,000 people live in tents

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

March 14, 2026

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Tuberculosis is a disease rarely heard about in North America, Australia and Europe so we think it has been eradicated (although it does still exist here among the lower economic classes). There has been a vaccine available for decades, as well as antibiotics, and most of us were treated with the vaccine as children. 20th century sufferers who were successfully treated include former Beatle Ringo Starr and the late Senator Bob Dole. But TB is still widespread in Africa and Asia, and one of the major killers, even though there have been successful drug therapies against the disease for decades. Green follows the case of Henry, a 17 year old boy from Sierra Leone with drug resistant TB. The author explores the reason why the drugs don't get to those who need them most, which range from Big Pharma pricing to World Bank regulations to politics to cultural superstition and belief. Informative and moving. Yes, this is the same John Green who wrote The Fault in Our Stars (which I highly recommend).

Platform Decay by Martha Wells

March 11, 2026

Platform Decay by Martha Wells

The SecUnit known to itself as Murderbot finds itself on a rescue mission, this time to locate and bring home Dr. Mensah's marital partner, daughter, and mother-in-law. En route to visiting Mensah's older daughter at university, they were illegally detained and imprisoned by the Barish-Estranza corporation, for unknown reasons but possibly in retaliation for previous actions by the Preservation consortium. They find themselves trying to escape from an artificial outer platform ring that surrounds a planet that has been stripped to nothing for its resources. SecUnit finds itself assisting an old enemy by rescuing her people while getting Mensah's family to safety. 

The eighth book featuring Murderbot, the sarcastic rogue SecUnit. Murderbot continues to grow as a character, experiencing new (and not always welcome) emotions. One of the hardest and sweetest feelings for Murderbot to process is that the humans they are responsible for really do care about him, as do his AI friends Three and ART. Bypassing security systems and planning escapes are just part of Murderbot's daily chores - their biggest challenge is fitting into human society and passing for humanoid. There is Murderbot's trademark sarcastic humor, particularly when it comes to the humanoids they need to protect. I wish ART and Three would have played larger roles, but Naja is a new favorite character - think of Ruth Gordon in a futuristic setting. Love this series, hate that I'll have to wait a year for another installment. Highly recommend the whole series to anyone who reads SF, but start at the beginning with All Systems Red.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

An example of strip mining that strips all of the minerals and resources from the ground and leaves the land desolate and destroyed

The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry

March 10, 2026

The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry

Tom Rourke is a drifter in the mining town of Butte, Montana, in 1891. He emigrated from Ireland and landed in Butte along with thousands of other Irish immigrants, where a good income could be earned working in the mines. But he is unsuited to the work and soon finds himself working part-time at a second class photography studio and spending the rest of his time drinking, smoking opium, and patronizing the town brothels. At the studio, he meets the new wife of one of the mine owners, who is decidedly lower class than her new husband, and the pair decide to run off together. But the miner wants his wife back and sends a bounty hunter to track them.

I picked up Barry's latest book from the library, and it had a romance sticker on the spine. It is NOT a romance - Barry writes literary fiction, usually about the grittier side of life. Yes, there are two people who may be star-crossed lovers who run away together, but you know right away that there is no happily-ever-after going to happen. I've read Kevin Barry before so I had an idea what to expect. The language is poetic but the lack of punctuation makes the dialogue difficult to follow at times. There is a Bonnie & Clyde vibe here, two doomed lovers who know they are doomed, repeatedly make the wrong choice, and know they are doing it. This is a Western adventure populated by the author's usual Irish characters and their dark humor and outlook on life. Other reviewers have compared this novel to the TV series Deadwood, which I loved. Not for everyone.

Butte, Montana, in the late 19th century

Anima Rising by Christopher Moore

March 8, 2026

Anima Rising by Christopher Moore

On his way home from an evening on the town, artist Gustav Klimt sees a naked dead girl lying on the bank of a canal. Fascinated by the color of her skin, he stops to draw her, and then realizes that she isn't dead. He takes her home to his studio, where one of his regular models Wally takes her under her wing and nurses her back to health. But the drowned girl can't remember her name or how she got into the canal, so Klimt takes her to see his friend Dr. Sigmund Freud, and under hypnosis, the girl tells a fantastic tale of being murdered and reanimated by none other than Victor Frankenstein. Who also brings a Malamute named Geoff who loves croissants back to life.

Another out-there tale of history/fantasy/horror from Christopher Moore, featuring a number of real-life characters including artist Gustav Klimt and his favorite model Wally, Egon Schiele, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung (Adolf Hitler even does a walk-on), and incorporating the story of the bride of Frankenstein (coincidentally, the movie The Bride starring Maggie Gyllenhall is just about to be released). Moore also incorporates Inuit mythology and stories of shapeshifters. The humor is darker than in many of his books and there are darker themes at work here as well, including sexual and physical abuse, sex work, some animal death that is mostly off-stage, murder, and mental health. My favorite character by far is Geoff the pastry-loving dog, who is Judith's protector, and yes, he is fine at the end of the story.

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt - he was known for the mosaic costumes on his models