Highlights for 2026!

There are always so many books to look forward to each year. So in this post, we tackle the impossible task of choosing some favorites that we’re most excited about in the next twelve months!

Serena’s Picks

Another year’s worth of books to look forward to, and, as always, I had such a hard time narrowing this down to only five titles. All of these happen to be books by authors whose books I have already loved, but there are also a bunch of debuts that look incredibly interesting! Some standouts (these include debut authors and also authors who I myself haven’t read yet) are “Weavingshaw” by Heba Al-Wasity, “Daughter of Crows” by Mark Lawrence, “Thistlemarsh” by Moorea Corrigan, and “The Geomagician” by Jennifer Mandula. There are also a bunch more books coming out from favorite authors of mine that didn’t make the dedicated list, and some of those would include “Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter’ by Heather Fawcett, “A Trade of Blood” by Robert Jackson Bennett, “This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me” by Ilona Andrews, “The Eye of Leviathan” by M.A. Carrick, and “Entwined” by H. M. Long.

Note: Yes, this first one is a sequel to a book I haven’t yet reviewed on the blog! But that review should be coming here in the next two weeks and, spoiler alert, I absolutely loved it!

Book: “The Half-Hearted Queen” by Charlie N. Holmberg

Publication Date: March 3, 2026

Book Summary: Nym never told Prince Renn she loved him. And now, as a captive and political pawn to the ruthless King Nicosia, Nym finds herself guarding more than her forbidden feelings for Renn as the kingdoms of Cansere and Sesta clash and the bloodshed of war rages. Nym’s connection to Renn is more than just romantic—it’s magical, and King Nicosia will stop at nothing to find Renn’s weakness and claim the kingdoms as his.

Now Nym must find a way to escape the cruel and twisted fate of imprisonment as she faces the unimaginable horrors and dangerous secrets hidden within King Nicosia’s palace walls. With the succession of kings on the line and a dangerous prophecy unfolding, Prince Renn faces his own impossible choice. The future of the throne hinges on a political alliance that means forsaking his love for Nym. If he can’t fulfill his destiny and unite the kingdoms, King Nicosia will destroy them all.

Book: “Wolf Worm” by T. Kingfisher

Publication Date: March 24, 2026

Book Summary: The year is 1899 and Sonia Wilson is a scientific illustrator without work, prospects, or hope. When the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use. But soon enough she finds that there are darker things at work than the Carolina woods. What happened to her predecessor, Halder’s wife? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about “blood thiefs?”

With the aid of the housekeeper and a local healer, Sonia discovers that Halder’s entomological studies have taken him down a dark road full of parasitic maggots that burrow into human flesh, and that his monstrous experiments may grow to encompass his newest illustrator as well.

Book: “The Tapestry of Fate” by Shannon Chakraborty

Publication Date: May 19, 2026

Book Summary: Amina al-Sirafi thinks she’s struck gold. Tasked with hunting down magical artifacts for the council of immortal peris, she can savour the occasional adventure on the high seas with her cherished criminal companions while still returning home to raise her beloved daughter.

But when Raksh, the spirit of discord with whom she is reluctantly wed, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina is charged with a seemingly impossible quest: steal a spindle capable of rewriting fate from a mysterious sorceress on an island no one can escape.

Forced to leave her daughter, Amina finds her mission almost immediately thrown into peril. But deadly storms, an erratic poison mistress, and old enemies are the least of her worries. For the peris’ story is unravelling, hinting at a far deadlier game whose rules Amina must swiftly puzzle out. A game that sets her against an adversary more cunning and powerful than she has ever faced.

A game that not everyone on her crew wants her to win.

Book: “The Unicorn Hunters” by Katherine Arden

Publication Date: June 2, 2026

Book Summary: Anne of Brittany was a child when her realm was invaded, her home besieged, and her royal father driven to his death.

Now her treasury is empty, her land occupied by her enemies, and she is ordered, under threat of renewed war, to become queen of her conquerors and marry the King of France.This marriage means her country’s annexation. But Anne promised her father that Brittany would never be conquered.

Defiantly, she betroths herself in secret to France’s greatest enemy. But in a world where courts may spy on each other by magic, there is only one way to solemnize this illicit union.

Anne takes her court deep into a legendary forest, where the court diviners’ skill cannot reach. The world thinks they are only a hunting party, coursing after unicorns. But that is a lie, a trick, a feint. No one in living memory has seen a unicorn. All Anne wants is this secret wedding, which is her only hope of salvation.

But when against all hope a unicorn appears and a stranger out of legend stumbles from the trees and falls at her feet, Anne is plunged into a world of enchantment where a doomed sovereign might find the power to change her own and her country’s destiny—or be lost in the shadows forever.

Book: “The Art of Charming a Changeling” by Sylvie Cathrall

Publication Date: August 25, 2026

Book Summary: On her first day working in the prince’s galleries, art conservator Florrie Hyverfell discovers that the most famous portrait in the collection is not only a fake-it’s also inhabited by Vern, a fairy trapped in the forged painting.

Tracking down the stolen original is the only way for Florrie to save her job and for Vern to escape his canvas. Yet as they journey to a famed fairy museum to find the missing artwork, Florrie finds herself taking more than an art historical interest in the changeling painting’s charming inhabitant.

Kate’s Picks

It’s always fun to look and see what books are coming out in a new year, and given that this year is already off to a crazy start (derogatory), I have been enjoying setting time aside from current events to look and see what kinds of stories I can dive into when the time comes. And while it’s true that a lot of my most anticipated books of the year are authors I have a solid love for already, there are a few new authors that are also catching my eye. It’s always hard to narrow it down to just a few choices, so some honorary mentions are of course in order. On the horror front I’m excited for “Maria the Wanted” by V. Castro, “The Curse of Hester Gardens” by Tamika Thompson, and “Molka” by Monika Kim. For thrillers my eyes are on, “The Unknown” by Riley Sager, “The Intrigue” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and “Hot Girl Murder Club” by Ashley Winstead. And I can’t forget that Jennette McCurdy has her debut fiction novel “Half His Age” coming out too!

Book: “Yesteryear” by Caro Claire Burke

Publication Date: April 7, 2026

Book Description: My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

Book: “Japanese Gothic” by Kylie Lee Baker

Publication Date: April 21, 2026

Book Description: October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn’t always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.

October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father’s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.

One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.

Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it.

Book: “It Came From Neverland” by Cynthia Pelayo

Publication Date: June 9, 2026

Book Description: Peter Pan meets Stephen King’s It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairytale set during WWI.

1914, Wendy Darling works by day as a school teacher and by night, she assists soldiers who have returned home from the Western Front. There is one mysterious patient who despite all the care they’ve given him, is in a deep sleep, unable to wake up. One night, when he murmurs the words “Peter Pan,” Wendy is thrown back to a darker time, one that she wishes she could forget.

When one of her students goes missing, it brings back memories of when children went missing and were later found murdered in London many years ago. Wendy believes that Peter Pan, the entity that she believed killed those children, is back. She and her brothers had a close encounter with Peter Pan, after all. But her brothers only remember Peter Pan and Neverland as a fantasy of childhood games.

When another child goes missing and signs start to point to Wendy, Scotland Yard digs into old reports, finding that Wendy knew the names of all the children who had been killed. As Wendy tries to prove her innocence, she also has to find a way to stop Peter Pan once and for all.

Book: “You First” by Caroline Kepnes

Publication Date: June 9, 2026

Book Description: How did Joe Goldberg become Joe Goldberg? What led to his first love…first obsession…first kill? Find out in the highly anticipated prequel to New York Times bestselling author Caroline Kepnes’s hit You series, which inspired the blockbuster Netflix show.

Joe Goldberg is ready for his life to start. He’s seventeen years old, working in Mr. Mooney’s bookshop, falling in love with every girl on the subway all while wondering who will be the one. He knows what he A woman who will force him to get his GED, go to night school, and make something of himself. But who would ever fall in love with him?

Then he spots MISSED CONNECTION, NYC Bookstore Babe.

Someone is looking for Joe. And that someone is Vail Gunderson, a production assistant with a passion for rom-coms. The only she’s twenty-four, which means that Joe has no choice but to lie about his age…and, naturally, nearly everything else in his life. Joe thinks he’s found true love, but when Vail needs more convincing that Joe is her happily ever after, he’s determined to convince her…no matter what it takes… 

With her incisive and darkly comedic prose, Caroline Kepnes captures Joe poised on the edge of manhood, entering the vicious, dog-eat-dog New York dating scene for the very first time, and buffeted by forces that will determine what kind of man he will become—and how he will write his own twisted love story.

Book: “What Feeds Below” by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

Publication Date: October 6, 2026

Book Description: The darkness isn’t empty. It’s hungry.

At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good.

Petra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void’s upper levels, where the dangers are better understood, while Jade wants to risk a descent to the deepest and most mysterious Sixth Layer. Because the deeper they go, the better the payout, and the sooner their dreams can become reality. Their friendship is Petra’s whole world, and Jade’s approval means everything—so Petra agrees to do it Jade’s way.

When their job goes wrong and Jade is lost in the Void, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void . . . or what really waits for her in its depths.

What books are you all looking forward to this year? Let us know in the comments!

Serena’s Review: “The Elsewhere Express”

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Book: “The Elsewhere Express” by Samantha Sotto Yambao

Publishing Info: Del Rey, January 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: You can’t buy a ticket for the Elsewhere Express. Appearing only to those whose lives are adrift, it’s a magical train carrying very rare and special cargo: a sense of purpose, peace, and belonging.

Raya is one of those lost souls. She had dreamed of being a songwriter, but when her brother died, she gave up on her dream and started living his instead. One day on the subway, as her thoughts wander, she’s swept off to the Elsewhere Express. There she meets Q, a charming, handsome artist who, like her, has lost his place in the world.

Together they find a train full of wonders, from a boarding car that’s also a meadow to a dining car where passengers can picnic on lily pads to a bar where jellyfish and whales swim through pink clouds. But they also discover that the train harbors secrets—and danger: A mysterious stranger has stowed away and brought with him a dark, malignant magic that threatens to destroy the train.

But in investigating the stowaway’s identity, Raya also finds herself drawing closer to the ultimate question: What is her life’s true purpose—and might Q be connected to it?

Review: For the most part, I enjoyed this author’s debut book, Water Moon. It was written in a gorgeous, lyrical style, and the sheer scope of creativity on display was truly impressive. The characters were also largely enjoyable. What held me back was the very loose trappings of a plot that held together the inventive scenes that took place throughout the book. All of this being the case, I was excited to see another book coming out from this author, as I thought she had a lot of potential. I will admit, however, that I was a bit concerned by the synopsis: in many ways, it sounded like it was leaning into the exact problem points that I had with the first book. And now, having completed it, I have to say that that impression was correct.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy this read! Like the first book, there was a lot to enjoy here, and many of the author’s strengths were once again on display. There’s no overstating how impressive the author’s range for creativity truly is. The book moves from train car to train car, each more fantastical and whimsical than the last. These descriptive elements also continue to be written using a lovely, flowing style that perfectly aligns with the dream-like quality of these worlds. The author also made an attempt to tie some of these fantastical scenes into deeper themes of loss and life. There were a few moments here that really stood out. However, others felt like they were either too on the nose or too obscure to be fully realized.

However, once again, the story fell apart a bit with the plot itself. Our main characters were interesting enough (though I will say that the friendship between them developed quite quickly, all things considered). But the premise of the train itself did start to feel very tired very quickly, with our characters simply moving from one section to another, again and again. Our primary main character, Raya, seems to early on realize that this is more than it seems and wishes to leave the confines of the train, and, unfortunately, this sentiment transfers to the reader all too easily.

Beyond that, I was a bit disappointed with the whole “train” thing of it all. I love trains. I grew up traveling across the country on them every summer, and there is truly an old-fashioned sort of “romanticism” to be found there. However, as far as the structure of this story is concerned, our characters could have been traveling through any series of interconnected places. They could be in a hotel just as easily as a train, for all that it mattered. The train itself was just a vehicle (no pun intended) for these fantasy scenes to be strung along, rather than a feature itself.

Ultimately, my experience was very similar to that of Water Moon. I was initially pulled in by the beautiful whimsy of it all. But as the book continued, the formula quickly became tired, and I needed more depth from our characters and more “plot” from the plot to really become invested in what was going on. I’m starting to think that this author might do better going the novella route, similar to Seanan McGuire and her Wayward Children series. In a shorter format, I think the author’s true genius for wildly creative fantasy worlds could be better highlighted while not getting tangled up in weaker plotting. Overall, I’ll say that your experience with this book will likely be similar to your experience with Water Moon. If you loved that book, I highly recommend this one. If you’re a bit on the fence, just make sure to expect a similar experience here.

Rating 7: High marks for imagination and whimsy, but sadly lackluster as far as plot and characterization.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Elsewhere Express” can be found on these Goodreads lists: The Most Beautiful Covers of 2026 and All the New Fantasy Books Arriving in January 2026.

Kate’s Review: “Angelica and the Bear Prince”

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Book: “Angelica and the Bear Prince” by Trung Le Nguyen

Publishing Info: Random House Graphic, October 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: At her lowest point, a teen girl finds solace and a potential crush in her local theater’s mascot’s DMs, sparking a quest to uncover the true identity of this mysterious figure. From the bestselling author of The Magic Fish comes a new fairy tale romance with a twist.

What do you do when you’re the girl who can do it all, and suddenly you can’t?

After burning out last year, Angelica is ready to get her life back together. Thankfully she has amazing friends to support her…including Peri the Bear, the mascot of her town’s local theater. At her lowest moments, Angelica found comfort in private messaging Peri’s social media account, and well, she might have a bit of a crush. Now, Angelica is interning at the local theater in the hopes of finding the person beind the account and thanking them. Who was this mysterious stranger and why did they help her out? Was it just caring for a stranger…or did they feel the same connection that Angelica felt?

Review: I’ll level with people a bit here, I’ve been having an exhausting and draining week with everything going on in the Twin Cities. And whenever I am facing burnout and mental stress, I find it very difficult to concentrate on reading for very long. When I was at a local bookstore gathering information and resources for my community, I saw “Angelica and the Bear Prince” by Trung Le Nguyen. We are reading his previous graphic novel “The Magic Fish” for book club this month (keep an eye out for that in the near future), and one of our members said that she had read this newest book and really liked it. So on a whim I tossed it onto my stack of things and bought it. I figured that maybe my attention span could focus a bit better on another graphic novel. And I was right. Not only because I find graphic novels easier to process during these kinds of times, but also because “Angelica and the Bear Prince” to be delightful and sweet and exactly what I needed.

Much like “The Magic Fish” before it, “Angelica and the Bear Prince” has a gentle feel and a lot of heart. We follow Angelica, or “Jelly” to her loved ones, as she starts an internship at a local theater after having a suffered a severe case of overextension and burnout that left her drained for months. It just so happens that she has struck up a friendship with a fan account of Peri the Bear, the theater’s mascot, and she wonders if working at the theater will help her find out who her new friend is. But a simple rom-comesque premise is actually teeming with a lot of emotion, not just for Jelly but for those around her. The story discusses grief, pushing down emotions, and the downside of trying to persevere, and it isn’t just Jelly who is struggling. We have a rich cast of supporting characters, from Jelly’s mother who is still grieving the death of her own mother (and who has pressed it all down within herself), to Gable, Jelly’s mysterious pen pal who was once Jelly’s friend but is now shy to reveal that they are the person Jelly has been talking with, to Christine, Jelly’s best friend whose relationship is on thin ice. I liked how Nguyen shows all of the different ways that grief and loneliness can affect a person, and how it can apply to so many different situations, be it actual death, or a simple changing of a relationship. But it’s also a story about connection and reconnection, be it renewing old friendships, or a child and a parent finding unexpected commonalities, or finding a new sense of self. It’s just lovely and sweet.

I also liked how it was all backdropped against the fairy tale “East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon”, another fairy tale retelling from Nguyen with similar deconstructions of the themes from the source material. I am not as familiar with “East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon”, but I liked how the bear was Gable’s bear costume for the theater production, and how Jelly was the princess who was trying to find out the secrets of the bear vis a vis figuring out who her mysterious pen pal is. And without going into the story itself as that would require me to talk about spoilers a bit, Nguyen is very creative in taking certain beats of the original story and transferring them to this one, which is more a coming of age contemporary tale as opposed to an actual fairy tale. It just works really well.

And I really like Nguyen’s art style still. He is so good at capturing a contemporary aesthetic as well as a fantastical one, and I really liked how it combined for both kinds of vibes within the story.

(Source)

“Angelica and the Bear Prince” is a charming romance and coming of age tale that felt like a calming balm as I was reading it.

Rating 8: A sweet and gentle romance that talks about grief, love, growing up, and finding connection in many ways. It was a quiet read I needed in this tense and exhausting moment.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Angelica and the Bear Prince” is included on the Goodreads list “YA Novels of 2025”.

Also….

If anyone is wondering how you can help immigrant communities in Minnesota while ICE continues to occupy our streets and cities, HERE is an article that has a lot of mutual aid links of all kinds.

Serena’s Review: “The Book of Blood and Roses”

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Book: “The Book of Blood and Roses” by Annie Summerlee

Publishing Info: Del Rey, January 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: In the mists of the Scottish Highlands is a university where vampire students study alongside humans.

Rebecca Charity is a vampire hunter undercover at the university, searching for the mysterious Book of Blood and Roses, a lost compendium of ways to kill vampires. If she finds it, she’ll be one step closer to avenging her parents, who were slain by those creatures of the night.

But when Rebecca arrives, she finds something unexpected: a coffin. Her new roommate is Aliz Astra, scion of one of the most powerful vampire families… and the most beautiful woman Rebecca has ever met.

The maddeningly gorgeous Aliz is everything that Rebecca has always hated, but also everything she ever wanted, and now Rebecca doesn’t know if she wants to kiss or kill her.

When Aliz rescues her from a vampire attack one moonlit night, she accidentally makes Rebecca her familiar. Now, they must work together to break the curse, but as they get closer to solving the mystery, Rebecca and Aliz get closer, too.

But can a vampire hunter ever fall in love with a vampire?

Review: A reader’s reception of this book will largely, I believe, have to do with their feelings toward vampires. If you’re happy with the general boundaries laid out in other stories like Buffy and True Blood, then you might enjoy this. But if you’re looking for anything deeper to be added to vampire lore, or for any of your expectations for a vampire romance novel to be subverted, well…you’ll probably be a bit underwhelmed, like I was.

That’s not to say that this was a bad book. It sets out with a goal: to tell a sapphic “enemies to lovers” (hold the “enemies”) vampire story that takes place in a school setting. And it proceeds to do just that, but never much more than that. At times it felt like the author was on a personal mission to include every single piece of vampire lore in the book, with not a change made to any of them in sight. I kept waiting for what would make these vampires different from the rest, and there just wasn’t anything. Plus, if you think about it, most vampire stories only include a few of the common vampire tropes. Because, like you see when you step back and evaluate this book’s version of monsters, when you include them all (garlic, silver, sleeping in coffins, etc.), it all starts to feel a bit silly.

The romance itself was fine, though it definitely fell closer to the “instalove” side of the spectrum than not. I also think the whole “enemies” thing was fairly overblown. Not all romances need this element; indeed, the vast majority would be better to avoid it altogether unless the actual story calls for it. And even here, with the concept of a vampire and vampire hunter put together as roommates and falling in love, the “enemies” portion felt rather silly right from the start.

This wasn’t helped by the fact that I didn’t enjoy the main character. For an individual with a covert mission, she was wildly obvious at every moment in both her thoughts and actions. She was also incredibly judgmental of everyone around her. While this could have led to an interesting arc of growth and understanding, I don’t feel like this was ever accomplished. The writing was also incredibly simplistic, often relying on telling the reader exactly how our main character or those around her are feeling, rather than showing any development.

All of this comes across as rather harsh, but I think my strongest feeling when closing the book was apathy. Like I said, it’s not a bad book by any means. The story, while simple, was paced well, and I think many readers will connect with the romance more than I did. Unfortunately for me, I just wanted a bit more from a vampire romantasy.

Rating 7: Inoffensive but also not inspiring, this book included pretty much every vampire trope you can imagine while changing none of them.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Book of Blood and Roses” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2026 Debuts and 2026 Queer SFF.

Kate’s Review: “It Rhymes With Takei”

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Book: “It Rhymes With Takei” by George Takei, Harmony Becker (Ill.), Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger

Publishing Info: Top Shelf Productions, June 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: George Takei has shown the world many faces: actor, author, outspoken activist, helmsman of the starship Enterprise, living witness to the internment of Japanese Americans, and king of social media. But until October 27, 2005, there was always one piece missing—one face he did not show the world. There was one very intimate fact about George that he never shared… and it rhymes with Takei.

Now, for the first time ever, George shares the full story of his life in the closet, his decision to come out as gay at the age of 68, and the way that moment transformed everything. Following the phenomenal success of his first graphic memoir, They Called Us Enemy, George Takei reunites with the team of Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger for a jaw-dropping new testament. From his earliest childhood crushes and youthful experiments in the rigidly conformist 1950s, to global fame as an actor and the paralyzing fear of exposure, to the watershed moment of speaking his truth and becoming one of the most high-profile gay men on the planet, It Rhymes With Takei presents a sweeping portrait of one iconic American navigating the tides of LGBTQ+ history.

Combining historical context with intimate subjectivity, It Rhymes With Takei shows how the personal and the political have always been intertwined. Its richly emotional words and images depict the terror of entrapment even in gay community spaces, the anguish of speaking up for so many issues while remaining silent on his most personal issue, the grief of losing friends to AIDS, the joy of finding true love with Brad Altman, and the determination to declare that love openly—and legally—before the whole world.

Looking back on his own astonishing life on both sides of the closet, George Takei presents a charismatic and candid witness to how far America has come… and how precious that progress is.

Review: One of my biggest regrets at ALAAC25 was not planning well enough to be able to meet George Takei when he was there signing his most recent memoir “It Rhymes With Takei”. As someone who has loved “Star Trek” for most of my life with “The Voyage Home” being my absolute favorite “Trek” film, I’ve had a special place in my heart for him for a long time, following him as Sulu, then as an activist for LGBTQIA+ rights after he came out in 2005. I also absolutely loved his memoir “They Called Us Enemy”, which is him recollecting his time in Japanese Internment camps as a child. So when I was out at a local indie bookstore and saw “It Rhymes With Takei” for sale, I decided that I needed to guy it and finally read it. And much like “They Called Us Enemy”, I found myself really enjoying it.

While “They Called Us Enemy” is a very specific memoir by Takei, “It Rhymes With Takei” is a bit broader in scope and time, though it does have a central theme of him slowly accepting and embracing his identity as a gay man. We start with him as a preteen and then follow him up through marriage equality in this country, with Takei also talking about his experiences as a political activist, as an actor on “Star Trek” and beyond, and as a man figuring out who he is at his heart and being true to himself. I really like how candid Takei is and how he’s willing to talk about a huge swath of things about his life with lots of honesty, heart, and humor. Even though I’ve been a fan of his for years, there were so many things I never knew about him, like how he studied acting in England, or how he had a brief stint in politics and was even appointed to the Southern California Rapid Transit District. I honestly had no idea that he had been soon invested in many social justice and political issues even before he came out in response to the fight for marriage equality in California, and I found his stories to be really engaging. And yes, there are plenty of “Star Trek” stories to be found as well.

I also really appreciated how willing he was to talk about the way that his childhood in a Japanese Internment camp shaped his fears of being othered, and how it contributed to his fear of being outed as gay during a time where it would be incredibly damaging. His introspection about his love for acting and how it helped him compartmentalize the secrets he were desperate to keep was bittersweet and incredibly personal, and getting to see how he lived this whole other life as a gay man where some people knew but many did not was an at times emotional tale (I found myself tearing up while he talked about losing so many friends to AIDS, as well as him coming out to his brother, who did not take it well). Takei is able to be incredibly true to himself and talk about these experiences in a way that never feels dismissive but also feels like the genial and hopeful person that the world has come to know him to be, and I thought it balanced out very well. It was also just nice getting to see the romance between him an husband Brad.

“It Rhymes With Takei” is a heartwarming memoir that allows George Takei to share more of himself with the world on his own terms. I quite liked it.

Rating 8: A deeply personal memoir about his acting career, activism, love, and finally being able to be true to himself, “It Rhymes With Takei” is George Takei’s story on his own terms.

Reader’s Advisory:

“It Rhymes With Takei” is included on the Goodreads lists “AAPI Graphic Novels”, and “Graphic Novels Featuring LGBTIQ Themes”.

Book Club Review: “The Hacienda”

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Book: “The Hacienda” by Isabel Cañas

Publishing Info: Berkley, May 2022

Where Did We Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

Serena’s Thoughts

I’ve had this one on my TBR for a while now, ever since reading Kate’s review and thinking that it sounded like my sort of horror novel (that is, on the gothic side and only mildly horrific!). So when my prompt for book club was ghosts (guess whose prompt that was…), I knew that this was my opportunity, and boy did it not disappoint!

There was so much to love about this book that I’m not sure where to start. One thing really stood out, however: I don’t know enough about this location and point in history. The historical setting and events of the time played a crucial role in much of the story, and while the book didn’t go into tons of detail, I really enjoyed what we did see. For one thing, I liked the careful handling of the realities of so many revolutions. Often, they don’t end when they “end,” and there are rarely sides that are completely in the right or wrong, or who won’t switch positions on the moral compass as a conflict progresses. I didn’t expect to see these themes in a gothic ghost story, but I definitely enjoyed them!

I also really enjoyed our two main characters. Beatriz was brave but believably mystified about how to handle her increasingly terrifying prospects. And while Andres brings many answers to the situation, even he is challenged by the extreme horror of the situation before them. I really enjoyed the relationship that was built up between them, and the story took a surprisingly romantic turn toward the end of the book.

The gothic elements were also on point. The house itself was a character in and of itself (something that I think is almost a requirement for any haunted house story), and just when you think you have a handle on the mysteries, another wrench is thrown into the situation.

I really enjoyed this one! So much so that I definitely plan on checking out the other books by this author! Vampires, here I come!

Kate’s Thoughts

I still really love this book on a re-read. I was so happy that Serena picked it because going back to it with new eyes sounded like a fun time, and my opinions haven’t really changed much. It just goes to show that there’s a reason that Isabel Cañas is one of my favorite horror authors writing today.

Reading this again, I still feel like some of the strongest elements are the way that Cañas addresses the ways that European colonialism has destabilized and completely uprooted so much of the culture that Beatriz and Andres have been living within, whether it’s the realities of colorism and racism that Beatriz and other darker Mestizo characters have to deal with, or how Andres has decided to hide his brujo and healing skills by joining the Catholic Church as a priest.

And the book is still really really unnerving, with a great ghost story and a Gothic flair in a place that isn’t as expected in Gothic stories. Cañas is so good at capturing a time and place and creating unease and fear, while having many supporting players to be terrorized (or in some cases doing the terrorizing).

I really love “The Hacienda”! It absolutely holds up on a re-read and it created a lot of good discussion in our book club to boot!

Serena’s Rating 9: Just the right combination of fantastic and horrific, with a splash of historical fiction and romance to sweeten the pot!

Kate’s Rating 9 : Still so wonderfully Gothic and creepy with lots of interesting history and critique of imperialism within the aftermath of a revolution.

Book Club Questions

  1. How familiar were you with this time and place? What did you learn that was new?
  2. The various women in this book all experienced limited choices regarding their own lives and futures. What stood out to you about these women’s tales and what you have done similarly or differently?
  3. The story has a lot to say about religion, both Catholicism and author’s interpretation of local faith systems. How did religion and magic mix in this book and how well do you feel these themes were explored?
  4. This is a gothic horror novel. Did you enjoy the horror elements? What there a scene that was particularly scary to you and why?
  5. Beatriz and Padre Andres both experienced challenges in this book, ultimately turning towards one another to face their foe. Did you enjoy this relationship? How did you interpret the ending?

Reader’s Advisory

“The Hacienda” is included on the Goodreads lists 2022 Gothic and Books Set in Mexico.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Magic Fish” by Trung Le Nguyen

Serena’s Review: “Tea and Alchemy”

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Book: “Tea and Alchemy” by Sharon Lynn Fisher

Publishing Info: 47North, January 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: audiobook from Netgalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Cornwall, 1854. The people of Roche have always whispered about the recluse in the black granite tower that looms above the moorland. But one young woman is driven to discover the truth behind the old tales.

Her life overshadowed by family tragedy, Mina Penrose escapes her lonely days by working at The Magpie, a cozy tearoom on the village’s edge. Lately she’s been seeing shapes in the sodden leaves that hint at the future. After one such omen, Mina stumbles upon a murdered man on the heath. Villagers immediately suspect Harker Tregarrick, a living, breathing mystery who never ventures beyond the bounds of his centuries-old estate.

Until the day after the murder, when the handsome and compelling recluse visits The Magpie…leading to a meeting that will change both their fates. Captivated by a man around whom danger and rumors of death swirl, Mina has never felt more alive. Can she uncover Harker’s heartbreaking history—and the truth about the murder—before tragedy strikes again?

Review: It’s been a few years since I read Salt & Broom, but I still remember it every once in a while when I think back on some of my favorite retellings of classic tales. That being the case, I was very excited to see another similar-sounding title coming out by this author, featuring characters with names drawing from Dracula. Is it a re-telling? No. But does it capture some of the same spirit and mix it with a sweet romance? Why yes, it does.

To that point, other than the names, the presence of something resembling a vampire—though never identified as that—and the overall gothic nature of the story, there isn’t much tying this to Dracula. And, honestly, I was fine with that, but readers will be better served going in without expectations of a re-telling. Instead, the wonderful gothic environment and the dramatic romance of it all (both location and actual love story) were more than enough to draw me in and keep me invested. Beyond that, there was a surprisingly creepy mystery at the heart of it all, one that unspooled slowly while also nicely building up the tension and horror of this being.

I also really enjoyed both of our main characters and their love story. This was a split-POV story, but erred toward more chapters from Mina’s perspective. Both perspectives were interesting. Beyond their burgeoning love story, I enjoyed following Mina’s arc as she dealt with the fraying relationship between herself and her brother. We don’t often see sibling relationships explored in this way, especially when combined with the exploration of the limited gender roles offered to each of them during this time. Given how little of the story was really dedicated to this subplot, I think it was really well done. Harker’s story was a bit more straightforward, but I enjoyed learning more about his family and his history.

My only niggling complaint would be the rather abrupt manner in which things were wrapped up in the end. The conflict itself was fairly succinct, and then some of the solutions to other challenges appeared too quickly and easily. But as I loved how it all ended up, these pacing issues were barely an issue. If you have enjoyed this author before or like gothic romances, this is definitely one to check out!

Rating 8: Dramatic in both atmosphere and romance, this gothic fantasy is sure to please!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Tea and Alchemy” is on this Goodreads list: Fantasy/Romantasy.

Kate’s Review: “Shiny Happy People”

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Book: “Shiny Happy People” by Clay McLeod Chapman

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, November 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC at ALAAC25

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A gripping, genre-bending novel about a mysterious new drug plaguing a small town and one girl who must uncover the terrifying truth behind the haunting side effects—or she will be next.

At sixteen Kyra is still haunted by the horrors she saw as little girl living with her mother’s drug addiction. Years later, Kyra doesn’t always feel like she belongs—and disturbing dreams come to her at night.

When a new party drug makes its way to her high school, Kyra’s life becomes an actual nightmare. A challenge spreads among the students thanks to a few videos circulating—and Kyra is unable to escape the inexplicably strange side effects.

Everyone around her seems to be mysteriously changing, including the people she loves the most. Her brother has a new personality overnight. Her best friend suddenly feels like a stranger. The only other person who seems to be noticing the eeriness around them is Logan, the new boy at school. Like Kyra, he has steered clear of the party scene.

But as strange occurrences begin to turn sinister, Kyra can’t shake the feeling that something unnatural is at play . . . as if something deadly spreading is in their veins. With Logan’s help, she decides to find out exactly what is behind the mysterious drug—before they’re next. As they begin to get closer to the truth, the line between Kyra’s past and her present blurs . . . and she will need to face the terrors inside herself to save everyone.

Review: Thank you to Delacorte Press for giving me an ARC at ALAAC25!

When I heard that Clay McLeod Chapman was writing a YA horror novel in 2025, my knee jerk reaction was ‘wait what?’. In part because when I think of hi as a horror author, I think of really graphic, no holds barred, visceral horror. Like VISCERAL HORROR. So the thought was a little out there to me at first. But shortly after my initial ‘um’ reaction, I thought ‘well, I bet he could do it. Probably.’ Because I do find Chapman to be such a great horror writer, even if his books have disgusted, horrified, and sometimes traumatized (kidding… kinda) me. When I read about “Shiny Happy People” I thought that it sounded pretty promising, and I was VERY interested to see how it would compare to the books he writes for an adult audience. I never should have doubted, because this book translates well for a new kind of audience while still being pretty creepy and unnerving.

This is very much an homage to “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” stories, with a fair amount of emphasis on the 1978 Version starring Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams (just look for the easter eggs!), but Chapman does a stellar job of making it feel more in tune with modern YA sensibilities. We have Kyra, a girl who had a rough start at childhood due to her mother’s drug abuse and neglect, who is now living with an adoptive family in a small town trying to just have a normal life. Until a new party drug called “Spore” starts making the rounds at her high school, and videos of her classmates taking it go viral, and seemingly improves their lives even if they seem… off. Kyra is a great choice of protagonist for a body snatchers story, as she has a traumatic past with drugs and will not be easily swayed to try anything even before it’s clear that something is up, and I enjoyed seeing her slowly piece things together as more and more people start changing. The tension as she and new kid Logan try to solve the mystery all as time is running out was well paced and taut, and even though I’m familiar with the general beats that this kind of story takes (and therefore could pinpoint what was going to most likely happen next), I still found it to be engaging and suspenseful.

But I also liked how Chapman still takes the idea of a metaphor of the pod people as insert whatever it may be here (as so many stories have had so many kinds of symbolism) and update it for a modern YA audience. Here there are some pretty clear themes about conformity, peer pressure and the need to feel included (viral video challenges on social media always seem to come from this), and drug use, as well as fears of Big Pharma and some interesting takes on gentrification. It can feel a LITTLE scattered at times, but it didn’t really bother me too much because so many of these kinds of pod person stories can speak to so many different kinds of fears, and lots of that can overlap. It’s also really fun seeing Chapman easily jump from writing some really gonzo and grotesque adult horror to a more toned down but still horrifying/in his wheelhouse brand of horror for a younger audience. It’s a testament to how talented that he is as an author.

“Shiny Happy People” is a very fun YA horror tale from one of my favorite horror authors! If you like any kind of pod person/”Invasion of the Body Snatchers” tale, this is a new one to add to the genre you should check out!

Rating 8: A fun homage to “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” packaged for a modern teen audience, “Shiny Happy People” is a departure for Clay McLeod Chapman that shows his appeal across audiences.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Shiny Happy People” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Killer Plants in Horror & Science Fiction Fantasy”.

Also…..

Just on a personal note as a lifelong Minnesotan who has lived in Minneapolis, who has friends who live in the Powderhorn neighborhood, who has people I love in South Minneapolis, I just want to say please keep Minneapolis, and Minnesota, in your thoughts. This community, this state, has been through so much pain the past few years. Please keep the loved ones of Renee Nicole Good in your thoughts, as well as the people being targeted by ICE in our neighborhoods. And if you can, please donate to the GoFundMe that is going to support Good’s child and wife.

Serena’s Review: “The Poet Empress”

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Book: “The Poet Empress” by Shen Tao

Publishing Info: Bramble, January 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic lost to all except the powerful.

Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves.

Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel heir of the beautiful and brutal Azalea House.

But in a twist of fate, the palace stands on the knife-edge of civil war with Wei trapped in its center…at the side of a violent prince.

To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself. Even if it means becoming a poet in a world where women are forbidden to read—and composing the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of death…and love.

Review: Well, this was not what I expected, and probably all the better for it! This is the problem both with the user tags on Goodreads as well as with expectations regarding what certain publishing imprints are producing. Going in, I had every expectation that this book was some sort of romantasy. Perhaps less of a romantasy than others, but still solidly within that category. Not only did Goodreads tag it as a romance, but Bramble is Tor’s imprint for romance titles. And hopefully others who may go into this with those impressions take the time to stick around and appreciate what this book has to offer, even if it isn’t a romance!

So, while I did enjoy this book, it was also a challenging read. Not only does it tackle deep themes of grief, destiny, and tragedy, but the story itself spools out a slow tale, one that dedicates plenty of time to establishing its characters and stakes. And those characters are all challenging as well, in their own ways. They read very much like true, conflicted, and complicated people. Every single one of them will do things that leave the reader questioning them and their decisions. But through this slow build, once the story gets to its conclusion, the payoff is well worth the struggle.

There are also some incredibly horrific and difficult scenes in this book. The story doesn’t shy away from the darkness of this world. However, these more grim parts are nicely balanced by the beautiful, lyrical writing style and the focus on art and the power of writing and reading. What could come across as a pedantic message is instead carefully messaged into moments of truly profound insight into the importance of literacy in all of its forms.

That said, this is definitely a slower-paced book, one that expects readers to settle in and wait as all of the pieces are carefully positioned. I think this pacing works for the most part, but I do think that, combined with the misleading expectations of it being a romance novel, there are a subset of readers who may be turned off before reaching the point where this slower approach will pay off.

Overall, I enjoyed this read. “Enjoy” might be the wrong word, as so much of it was beautifully tragic. But it was definitely one of those books that I was glad I read, and that will stick with me for a bit!

Rating 8: A bit too slow and dark to fully satisfy my preferences, but it was also truly beautiful once it all came together in the end.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Poet Empress” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2026 Debuts and Asian SSF.

Kate’s Review: “Beth Is Dead”

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Book: “Beth Is Dead” by Katie Bernet

Publishing Info: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, January 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Beth March’s sisters will stop at nothing to track down her killer—until they begin to suspect each other—in this debut thriller that’s also a bold, contemporary reimagining of the beloved classic Little Women.

When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year’s Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer. Suspects abound. There’s the neighbor who has feelings for not one but two of the girls. Meg’s manipulative best friend. Amy’s flirtatious mentor. And Beth’s lionhearted first love. But it doesn’t take the surviving sisters much digging to uncover motives each one of the March girls had for doing the unthinkable.

Jo, an aspiring author with a huge following on social media, would do anything to hook readers. Would she kill her sister for the story? Amy dreams of studying art in Europe, but she’ll need money from her aunt—money that’s always been earmarked for Beth. And Meg wouldn’t dream of hurting her sister…but her boyfriend might have, and she’ll protect him at all costs.

Despite the growing suspicion within the family, it’s hard to know for sure if the crime was committed by someone close to home. After all, the March sisters were dragged into the spotlight months ago when their father published a controversial bestseller about his own daughters. Beth could have been killed by anyone.

Beth’s perspective told in flashback unfolds next to Meg, Jo, and Amy’s increasingly fraught investigation as the tragedy threatens to rip the Marches apart.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

As an elder Millennial I have a very special place in my heart for the 1994 “Little Women” film. I just love the story of the March Sisters growing up and experiencing love, loss, and growth. But I’ve always found the character of Beth to be a little twee, so good and so angelic, only to die a tragic death that is so unfair because she was just SO good. Beth has had some great performers behind her, don’t get me wrong (Claire Danes is perfection), but as a character, to me, she’s there to be a tragedy. Suffice to say, when I saw the book “Beth Is Dead” by Katie Bernet on my various social media and book feeds, it caught my eye. At first I was thinking ‘well that’s a LITTLE grotesque’, as turning a death from a weakened heart due to illness into a violent murder seemed perhaps a little crude. But, as you all know, I’m really big into thrillers and mysteries, especially if the mystery involves murder, and the idea of making “Little Women” into a modern murder mystery was just too fun. I jumped in with no expectations, but ended up really enjoying this re-imagining. And it may surprise some of you to learn that a book that makes Beth March a murder victim actually humanized her more than I’ve encountered in other adaptations and reimaginings!

They mystery at hand is what I will talk about first, just to get it all out there, because to me that was one of the weaker aspects of this novel, if ONLY because if you are familiar with the source material you will probably be able to discern what is going on for basically all of the characters. But that isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy this book, because I found it hard to put down, mostly because I wanted to see how Bernet was going to fit the themes from the original text into a 21st Century murder mystery. And overall she did it very successfully. We have the March Sisters of Jo, Meg, Amy, and yes, Beth (more on Beth in a bit) jumping from their Victorian personalities into a whole new world, but Bernet managed to fit all of them into new boxes in believable ways. For Jo we have an aspiring author who has found her voice in becoming an influencer, creating stories of her day to day life for a hungry audience. For Meg we have an Oldest Daughter Syndrome people pleaser who wants to live up to the lofty expectations of her family and herself, though she can easily be taken advantage of by those around her because of it. For Amy it’s a rebel child who stirs up trouble, dreaming of getting to Europe to pursue and artist’s life at any cost. And for Beth it’s a painfully shy girl who feels like others don’t know her so well, but aches to come out of her shell. I also really liked how in this the father isn’t a soldier who is off at war, but is an author who has taken the lives of his daughters and written a literary novel that is based on their lives, which has set off a firestorm of controversy that causes him to leave in hopes he will stop hurting his children (or perhaps in hopes it will all blow over). It’s things like this that feel like they echo the source material while feeling relevant to our modern world.

But it’s the way that Bernet tackles Beth that worked the best for me in this novel. While the crux of the story is Jo, Meg, and Amy trying to solve their sister’s murder (while also hiding their own secrets from each other), we also get flashbacks to Beth’s final months, and the road that led her to her unfortunate end. I’ve seen this kind of thing in other “Little Women” reimaginings, getting Beth’s perspective at least a little bit, but even in those that I’ve read it feels like Beth is still otherworldly and angelic in those interpretations. In this story where she is murdered, ironically enough, I felt like we actually got the most humanized version of Beth that I’ve seen put to page. She still feels true to her original characterization, preferring her piano and being introverted to being more out there, but it isn’t the only thing we learn about her. We also see her own hopes and dreams, which don’t keep her limited to being the kindest and most loved March Sister due to her inherent goodness. She doesn’t want to just be good, and I really, really liked that.

“Beth Is Dead” was entertaining and suspenseful, and it was a successful twist on a classic that has been so well loved for so many generations.

Rating 8: A fun and suspenseful modern re-imagining of a beloved classic, where sisters keep secrets and a long martyred and beloved March Sister gets a voice.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Beth Is Dead” is included in the Goodreads article “204 Retellings with New Spins on Old Stories”.