Tag: Science Fiction

Kate’s Review: “Kiss Slay Replay”

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Book: “Kiss Slay Replay” by Rachel Harrison

Publishing Info: Berkley, September 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher at ALAAC2026

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

Book Description: Every wedding guest’s worst nightmare is on repeat in this wild and twisty new horror novel from the New York Times bestselling author of So Thirsty and Play Nice.

It’s the picture-perfect wedding The venue is dreamy, the weather is beautiful, love is in the air—and Willa Sullivan is having a bad time. She’s excited to celebrate her best friends finally having the big wedding they’ve always wanted, but this is the first time she’s seen her ex-fiancé in months, and he brought a date. Everything feels off, like she stumbled into an alternate universe. But things start to look up when Willa meets Danny, the groom’s charming and single childhood best friend. When they sneak off together, their rendezvous is interrupted by a masked killer terrorizing the reception. Willa and Danny fight to save the ones they love and survive the night, but the killer is unrelenting. A final girl, Willa is not.

Or is she? She wakes up and it’s the morning of the wedding. She just had the most intense nightmare of her life. Only as the day unfolds, there are some uncanny coincidences that make her question whether it was really a dream, déjà vu, or something more sinister. After a horrifying turn of events, Willa comes to understand that she’s stuck in a loop of carnage and terror that she must learn how to escape or else suffer a fate worse than death—being an eternal wedding guest.

Review: Thank you to Berkley for giving me an ARC of this novel at ALAAC26!

I am usually not super anxious when I go to ALA every year and I am on the hunt for ARCs. For one, Serena and I have basically perfected the ARC hunt strategy, figuring out where the publisher’s booths are ahead of time, getting there early to get in line for the exhibits hall, and knowing that in all likelihood we will get the books that we want. I had Rachel Harrison’s newest horror novel “Kiss Slay Replay” on my ‘seek out’ list, and on one of the mornings at opening I determinedly but politely and NOT obnoxiously made my way towards the publisher tables in hopes I’d see it. And lo and behold it was there!…. And people were SWARMING for it. I was lucky enough to get a copy, because my inherent need to not be a dick about ARCs meant I was one of the last people to get one before they were gone. It’s admittedly great seeing horror get such an enthusiastic response. And I was very excited to see what Harrison was going to do with it.

And it definitely lived up to what I was expecting, and kind of went a few steps further. The premise is definitely one we’ve seen before, at the very least in films like “Happy Death Day” and “Groundhog Day”, but Harrison takes it a step further and makes it even more fun by altering the threats of the time loop wedding massacre for each time Willa has to go through it. It could be a masked murderer at one loop, but then it could be zombies at another loop, with each scenario being campy and out there but still being grotesque and very horror centric, even with the humor and outlandishness. And while I don’t really like the film “Cabin in the Woods”, I kept thinking about it as I read this and it was in a positive way. Harrison has her tongue planted firmly in cheek in this story and while it sometimes had me squirming, it was a true hoot and felt like a fun horror movie that kept me interested. So much so I read it in one afternoon!

But there is also an undercurrent of pathos and melancholy in this book as we follow Willa during a particularly hard moment in her life. She is still reeling from a recent breakup of a long term relationship/engagement, and is now going to the wedding of a friend in their circle, and having to face her friends for the first time in a group setting after years apart after this huge change. It fits for a time loop story, as Willa is not only literally trapped in a loop that won’t go forward on her friend’s wedding day, but even before this she feels stagnant and lost, unable to move forward after her monumental break up and wallowing a bit in the aftermath. Much like the aforementioned film “Happy Death Day”, Willa is stuck in grief which has altered her life and relationships, and perhaps to actually be able to move forward literally she will need to start to move forward emotionally. It’s well worn territory, but Harrison makes it feel fresh and it is effective and bittersweet seeing her have to process all of this. I really enjoyed that aspect, and it was very on brand for Harrison’s horror stories that have some pretty relatable womens experiences at their heart.

“Kiss Slay Replay” is another fun and lighter (not light, but lighter) horror story from Rachel Harrison! If you like time loop stories, check this one out!

Rating 8: A fun and heartfelt Sci-Fi horror tale that feels like “Happy Death Day”, “Groundhog Day”, and “Cabin in the Woods” all rolled into one, with some melancholy undercurrents. Quite enjoyable!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Kiss Slay Replay” is included on the Goodreads list “Time Loops”.

Kate’s Review: “A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up”

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Book: “A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up” by Elizabeth Agyemang

Publishing Info: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, September 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the author

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

Book Description: TRON meets sixth grade in this heartfelt and fantastical graphic novel where a pixelated quest helps one girl navigate grief, friendship, and the wilds of middle school.

Sixth grade. The game just got real. For Lexie, this year was supposed to be all about joining clubs, claiming the perfect lunch spot, and gaming after school with her best friends. But shifting friendships and the grief of losing her beloved grandfather make middle school feel more like someone switched her life to hard mode.

Then Lexie discovers a mysterious journal tucked inside her grandfather’s things. It’s filled with cryptic notes and cheat codes from an unfinished video game he was Warrior’s Quest. When Lexie and her older sister, Eunice, are suddenly transported into the game’s pixelated world, the line between reality and fantasy starts to blur. Can Lexie and her sister level up and face the monsters in the game—and in real life—or is it game over for good?

Review: Thank you to Elizabeth Agyemang for sending me an eARC of this graphic novel!

I have lots of fond memories of playing computer games with my sister and/or the neighbor kids after school when I was a kid. We would play games like “Oregon Trail”, “Are You Afraid of the Dark: Orpheo’s Curse”, “The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain”, and more that I can’t remember the names of. When Elizabeth Agyemang reached out to me with “The Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up” these memories definitely bubbled up, and when I read that the premise was not only kids being sucked into a video game and having to find their way out, but also kids dealing with real life anxieties, I was on board to give it a try.

Taking into account the target audience I found “A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up” to be a fun fantasy/Sci-Fi tale with a good premise of kids being sucked into a video game and having to find their way out. Our main character is Lexie, who is dealing with starting sixth grade and the stresses that come with that as well as the recent death of her grandfather, a video game designer that she misses very much, and how she and some friends become part of a mysterious game they find in his belongings. The description makes reference to “Tron” and it definitely fits, and made me think a bit about “Jumanji” as well. I enjoyed seeing Lexie and her friends have to solve the game mechanics and how it makes literal villains out of the mean girls that Lexie and her friend Mika have been dealing with while also making an escapist game seem like a way to get away from the real world problems she’s been going through (more on that in a bit). The game itself felt pretty realistic, and this elder Millennial was hit with a full on nostalgia bomb of playing CD ROM games with friends.

The strongest aspect of this book, however, was how Agyemang tackles real life issues that may be relevant to the intended audience, aka middle grade kids who are experiencing life changes as they get older. Whether it is the grief that Lexie and Eunice are experiencing in the aftermath of their grandfather’s death (and their opposite ways of dealing with said grief), or the growing pains of entering a new school environment and how that can cause issues between friends, or the difficulties of dealing with other kids who aren’t so great, or racism, and so forth, we have a story about a girl who is going through a LOT and is having a hard time dealing. It’s presented in an empathetic way without being overly melodramatic, and I definitely think that some of the things Lexie is going through would be relatable to middle grade readers. Lexie herself is an enjoyable protagonist who misses her grandfather so much, and her grief and awkwardness about her new school life are realistic to be sure.

“A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up” is a cute graphic novel that will be fun for kids who may be navigating some tougher issues and who happen to enjoy a nice video game!

Rating 8: A cute middle grade tale about school growing pains, grief, and teamwork in life and video games.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Beginner’s Guide to Leveling Up” is included on the Goodreads list “Middle Grade Graphic Novels of 2026”.

Serena’s Review: “The Infinite State”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “The Infinite State” by Richard Swan

Publishing Info: Tor Books, August 2026

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

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

Book Description: WHO GIVES YOU LIFE?
PATER AETERNUS.

Katherine Fuller’s husband is dead. As an esteemed member of Pater Aeternus—governing party of the fascist, galaxy-spanning Decurion Empire—he has left behind an estate of immeasurable wealth. And Katherine is going to inherit it.

WHO GIVES YOU PURPOSE?
PATER AETERNUS.

Life under the Eternal Father is rigidly stratified, surveilled, and controlled—each new day to be endured, not lived. But with Katherine’s newfound fortune, she is presented with a rare and dangerous opportunity: purchase a virgin world, and create a better, fairer society.

WHO GIVES YOU JOY?
PATER AETERNUS.

But the Empire cannot allow its wayward daughter to succeed. And as Katherine works in secret, recruiting allies she’s not even sure she can trust, she will discover exactly how far Pater Aeternus is willing to go to stop her. Because Katherine is going to create something nobody has seen for many years.

A democracy.

Review: I went into this one fairly optimistic. I had heard great things about this author and his various fantasy series and had been waiting for a chance to jump on the band wagon. Based on my experience here, I’ll definitely still be looking into his previous fantasy titles, but I don’t think the jump between genres worked as well for him as it may have for others making a similar switch.

To start with what I did like and the reason that I’ll continue to keep an eye on this author and try to read his previous titles, the writing itself was very strong. It’s clear that he has a particular talent for writing complex, interesting characters, and I was quickly drawn in to the stories of the various personalities we found here. Each was compelling in their own way, with their own rich histories and particularities of viewpoint that they brought to their experience of the events in this book. There was a lot of variety between them, which I really appreciated. In particular, I enjoyed the perspective of Katherine, a middle-aged (ish) woman who has struggled with fertility and goes on to lose her husband in a mysterious way. Hers is a perspective that we don’t often see in books like this, and I think it balanced nicely against some of the more expected perspectives.

Beyond characterization, the author has a great overall style to his writing. “Voice” is a hard concept to write about in a book review, but so often it is the one, nebulous element that really makes certain books stand out. The storytelling just flows in a way that is easy to read and enjoyable, and such was the case here.

Unfortunately, when we get into the nitty-gritty of this particular story and the worldbuilding/dystopian elements, that’s where things start to fall apart. Right from the very beginning, I was put on the backfoot by the fairly generic set up of it all. We’re introduced to an extremely authoritarian world with a heavy dose of social monitoring. Insert grand leaders and an obsession with fertility, and you’ve got most of the generic bases covered. And while many dystopian novels follow a similar vein, I kept reading for quite some time expecting some further depth to be revealed about this all. WHY was this society so obsessed with fertility? What was the original driving force behind this regime?

Instead of any actual depth, it felt like certain aspects of the world building (the fertility thing is the best example) were inserted just because they felt like hot button issues or coded towards certain viewpoints. But without something behind them, it all just felt kind of weak and silly. And then the regime itself felt evil simply because…they are evil? For an adult sci-fi dystopian novel, I needed more. Authoritarianism is bad, obviously. But if that’s all you got, it’s a pretty dull, generic, and ultimately, derivative reading experience.

There were also some issues with pacing and an over emphasis on certain plot points. I, for one, could have lived without some of the page count devoted to the world of racing that made up one character’s plot line. But even these scenes were written well, so while I don’t think the balance was quite right, had the overall dystopian worldbuilding aspects been better fleshed out, I don’t think these would have stood out to me so starkly.

Overall, this was a frustrating reading experience. On one hand, I think this author is very talented. On the other, I’m not sure what this book was trying to accomplish. Like I said at the start, transitioning from one genre to another can sometimes be a challenge, and this was a case where it felt like the author didn’t quite have enough to back up the story he was trying to tell and relied too strongly on basic genre conventions to hold the entire thing up. Fans of this author may still want to check this out, however, as well as those who perhaps care less about intricate world-building.

Rating 7: Way too generic on the dystopian front for my taste, but the author is clearly a talented writer and had some great characters, so I look forward to exploring his back catalog.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Infinite State” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Best Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction and Excellent Space Opera.

Kate’s Review: “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow”

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Book: “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” by Tom King & Bilquis Evely (Ill.)

Publishing Info: DC, July 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

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

Book Description: It’s Supergirl like you’ve never seen her before, in a character-defining sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece from Mister Miracle writer Tom King and Wonder Woman artist Bilquis Evely!

Kara Zor-El has seen some epic adventures over the years, but she now finds her life without meaning or purpose. Here she is, a young woman who saw her planet destroyed and was sent to Earth to protect a baby cousin who ended up not needing her. What was it all for? Wherever she goes, people only see her through the lens of Superman’s fame.

Just when Supergirl thinks she’s had enough, everything changes. An alien girl seeks her out for a vicious mission. Her world has been destroyed, and the bad guys responsible are still out there. She wants revenge, and if Supergirl doesn’t help her, she’ll do it herself, whatever the cost. Now a Kryptonian, a dog, and an angry, heartbroken child head out into space on a journey that will shake them to their very core.

Review: With the new “Supergirl” movie coming out this week I thought it would be fun to read and review the story that inspired the upcoming film/the DCU’s iteration of Supergirl. After all, when she showed up at the end of “Superman” drunk, disheveled, and a hot mess, I was like ‘okay, WHAT is going on with this version of Kara and WHY do I love it so much?’. And it’s probably pretty clear to most people who have seen my reviews/the characters that I really love that I probably love this version of Kara because she is such a mess. I LOVE a messy character with a traumatic backstory and unhealthy coping mechanisms. So that is why I decided to take on Tom King’s “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow”, because the concept of a Kara Zor-El so ravaged with trauma and PTSD she is a walking disaster is so uniquely human, and I had to dive in before seeing it on the big screen.

While this is certainly a Supergirl tale, and while King absolutely nails this take on Kara, this story feels like it goes above and beyond and creates a story that is not only about Supergirl unpacking her trauma, but also about the way that trauma drives us for better or for worse. But the center of the tale is a girl named Ruthye Marye Knoll, a girl living on a distant planet who is seeking out vengeance for her father’s murder at the hands of the violent Krem of the Yellow Hills. While on her search she meets Kara, who is going from planet to planet, dimension to dimension, trying to cope with her own inner demons, and the two of them team up to hunt Krem across the universe. It’s such an interesting take on Supergirl because it doesn’ really center her, but I also feel like King really understands the inherent tragedy of Kara and brings it to a poignant hero’s journey while trying to help a girl who is driven by despair and rage. As they hop across plants and dimensions and universes they learn a lot from each other, and start to find commonalities and the beginnings of healing and growth. It is such a charming and lovely coming of age tale for Ruthye, while also being such an emotional tale for Kara, who feels like her purpose is gone and who feels incredibly alone. I loved the friendship that Ruthye and Kara build as they go on their journey, and how much King draws from both of them to create a narrative that needs them both to work.

I also just enjoyed the world jumping in this story, whether it’s in bars and dives that would feel right at home on Earth, or on a planet with strife between warring factions, or on a planet with a green sun that renders Kara basically down and out due to the pain and puts Ruthye in a fighting position she has ached for but hasn’t really understood. King has so many interesting worlds to explore as the two women chase Krem, and it almost feels like a series of vignettes sometimes because of the attention and diligence that each story within the story gets.

And finally the artwork. Bilquis Evely is an artist that I was unfamiliar with when I picked this up, but I really liked the art design of this series. It just sets a tone that is frenetic and busy, but always feels grounded somehow.

(source)

I now feel ready to go see “Supergirl” when it hits theaters, because “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” is a thrilling and somewhat emotional story that gives Kara a unique path. Definitely a must read for any Supergirl fan!

Rating 8: A unique and vibrant take on Supergirl and the weight of being super.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” is included on the Goodreads list “Ladies of DC”.

Book Club Review: “The Space Cat”


This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again pulling random words from a hat and finding a book that matches the prompts. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “The Space Cat” by Nnedi Okorafor

Publishing Info: First Second, August 2025

Where Did We Get This Book: The library!

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

Prompt Word: Cat

Book Description: Invaders from outer space have descended on Nigeria. They have no idea whose home they’re messing with.

Ah, yes, the luxurious life of a well-loved cat. It’s the best. And Periwinkle has it the cushiest. But there’s more to this pampered pet than meets the eye. He’s not just a house cat. He’s a space cat. By day, he’s showered with scritches, cuddles, and delicious chicken fillets. By night, he races through the cosmos in his custom-built spaceship.

Between epic battles with squeaky toys and working on ways to improve his ship, Periwinkle is never bored. And when his humans decide to leave the United States and move to the small but bustling town of Kaleria, Nigeria, he’s excited to explore his new home—even after he learns that many Nigerians hate cats. After all, a born adventurer like Periwinkle doesn’t shy away from new experiences. But not everything in Kaleria is as it seems. Soon enough, Periwinkle finds himself on his most out-of-this-world adventure yet, right here on Earth.

Kate’s Thoughts

I have almost never been without a cat in my life (outside of a few years in college where I had moved out of the family home and had roommates who couldn’t have a cat), and cats have always been a huge part of my existence. I’ve had wonderful cats, snotty cats, sweet cats, grumpy cats, the whole experience. I LOVE cats. So when our book club picked “The Space Cat” by Nnedi Okorafor, I knew that even if the Science Fiction elements didnt align with me, the cat would certainly make up for it. And I was mostly right.

This book is basically Nnedi Okorafor wanting to write a Sci-Fi tale about her in real life cat Periwinkle, and it is a great premise for a book for middle grade readers. While the Science Fiction themes were kind of not my thing as the genre itself just isn’t really my jam, EVERYTHING with Periwinkle was great. I say this as someone who has spent the past nine months with three unruly kittens/almost adult cats who have been completely joyful as well as being complete menaces, so all of the shenanigans that Periwinkle got into were a hoot for this harried cat mom. I also liked how Okorafor brought Periwinkle and the fictionalized version of his family (including Okorafor and her kid) to Lagos, bringing in a story about finding a new home in an unfamiliar place and the culture shock that can go with it (specifically how cats aren’t super well loved by many people in Lagos due to superstitions).

I can see middle grader readers, especially those who love cats, really enjoying this one. It’s just a fun kinda meta read.

Serena’s Thoughts

Like Kate, I too have had cats pretty much throughout my life. It is also my mission in life to indoctrinate my two boys into being cat lovers (so far, so good: one’s favorite stuffed animal is a toy cat, and the other is always hugging our ginger cat, much to the poor cat’s dismay). Between that and my enjoyment of science fiction, this one was definitely a fun read.

While middle grade fiction is my favorite, the funny cat quirks really carried this one. For anyone who has had cats, so many of the little nods to their eccentricities were spot on. What’s more, we’ve all looked at our cat and felt like there was something more going on, so the idea that they may be from space just checks out, really.

Beyond the cat-specific aspects, I liked the way the story explored themes of family, identity, and culture shock. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable to truly confront the vast divides between cultures, but I appreciated the way the author dealt with these realities rather than trying to brush anything under the rug or avoid the issue altogether. And, of course, it was all done with a light touch, as is appropriate for the reading group.

Overall, this felt like a love letter from the author to her cat, and it’s the kind of thing that, I imagine, only authors who have truly proved their worth can pull off pitching to their agents! While I wasn’t perhaps as in love with it, simply because of the middle grade genre, this is sure to be a hit for readers in that group!

Kate’s Rating 7: A cute Sci-Fi action story centering a clearly beloved actual house cat, “The Space Cat” has some humorous moments and lots of relatable ones for cat owners young and old.

Serena’s Rating 7: Full of adventure and humor, this is a sure fire hit for middle grade readers, though perhaps not quite as strongly for adult readers.

Book Club Questions

  1. This book has three parts in the story: Periwinkle getting a new home, the move to Lagos, and the space war. Which part was your favorite part?
  2. If you have a cat, did you feel like Periwinkle’s behavior was spot on? Why or why not?
  3. What were your thoughts about the portrayals of the people of Lagos and how some of them seemed to view cats and other animals?
  4. What did you think of the space/Sci-Fi parts of the story?
  5. What were your throughts on the artwork of this book? Did it work in the story or not?
  6. If there were going to be more adventures of Periwinkle do you think you would read them?

Readers Advisory

“The Space Cat” is included on the Goodreads lists “Cat Lovers List”, and “Middle Grade Graphic Novels of 2025”.

Next Book Club Pick: “When the Tides Held the Moon” by Venessa Vida Kelley

Serena’s Review: “Tailored Realities”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Tailored Realities” by Brandon Sanderson

Publishing Info: Tor Books, December 2025

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

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

Book Description: Spanning the genres of fantasy and science fiction, this collection features stories from beyond the bounds of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. Along with the never-before-seen novella “Moment Zero,” Tailored Realities will include “Snapshot,” “Perfect State,” “Defending Elysium” (a novella set within the world of Skyward), and five other stories that were originally published individually elsewhere-never before collected into one volume, and many never before available in print.

Review: I’ve known that Brandon Sanderson has published a number of short stories and novellas over his career (because writing a bunch of hundreds-of-pages-long novels simply isn’t enough!), but I haven’t managed to check many of them out myself. That being the case, while this book also includes a new novella, all the stories here were new to me!

While I tend to prefer fantasy over science fiction, and this holds true for my taste in Sanderson’s collections of work as well, this book was a great reminder of how the genre can sing in the hands of a talented author! I’m not going to cover them all here, but I will say there is a good mix on offer, with some stories more strongly focused on action while others are clearly examples of Sanderson testing the boundaries of genre writing. I’m not sure all of these experiments were clearly successful, but I loved the included notes that gave readers further insight into the ideas behind each story and how they came to be. These postscripts on their own made the book well worth reading for any Sanderson fan out there!

I’m sure many reviewers will also note this fact, but it’s pretty amusing that Sanderson, an author known for producing brick-like tomes, has included a “novella” in this story that is close to 200 pages long, the same length as many other authors’ typical novel. However, as I don’t often love short stories, this fact worked out perfectly for me, as I got to read a short story collection while also sinking into what felt like a fully realized novel all on its own as well.

Beyond this lengthy one, “Moment Zero,” there were a few others I enjoyed as well. The first story in the collection, “Snapshot,” was one of my favorites. The story felt very Inception-like, with two detectives traveling back through a crime scene photo to investigate a serial killer. The entire concept was interesting, and I would absolutely gobble up a full-length novel of this story. I also really enjoyed “Defending Elysium,” even though I haven’t read the Skyward books that it is connected to. That said, I’m always going to enjoy a great “first contact” story, and this one definitely lived up to my expectations for that sort of tale.

I don’t think any of the stories here were bad, though there were a few that were a bit weaker, in my opinion. For example, “Probability Approaching Zero” is a flash fiction story, meaning it was incredibly short. Too short for me to really get much out of it, honestly. The story “I Hate Dragons” was one of those odd experiences where I really appreciated the creativity of the story (a character who can hear spelling and grammar), but the actual execution left something to be desired.

In the end, I enjoyed the majority of the stories here, and even the ones that didn’t perfectly land were still very interesting, especially when adding in the postscript explanations for how the story was conceptualized. I do think that this is the sort of collection that will best be appreciated by current Sanderson fans and perhaps a bit less approachable by readers who have never read any of his books before. But you also don’t need to be fully up to date with his entire massive catalog to appreciate it either!

Rating 8: Everything that I’ve come to expect from Brandon Sanderson: adventurous, creative, and never lacking in heart!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Tailored Realities” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Short Story Collections – Single Author.

The Great Animorphs Re-Read: “Animorphs 55: The Podcast”

Title: “Animorphs 55: The Podcast”

About: A book club style review of the Animorphs series of books from the 90’s! One life-long, slightly obsessive fan (Zach), one one-timer (Patrick), and one total newbie (Alex) gather together around the proverbial fire to power through the full Animorphs kids’ sci-fi series, with plenty of side tangents along the way. Buckle up!

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Animorphs55ThePodcast (My specific episode is S2E6, but definitely check out the other episodes in the series!)

Book Covered: Animorphs #10 – “The Android”

My Original Review: https://thelibraryladies.com/2017/06/09/the-great-animorphs-re-read-10-the-android/

I’m back to Animorphs! And probably not in the way you want…

Yes, there are, like, four new graphic novels that I still haven’t covered. I have no excuse…

Instead, I’m here to promote a podcast that I was invited on as a guest! Guess being nerdy on the Internet about a decades-old children’s book series has finally paid off! The podcast is a combination of a read-through of the entire series alternated with episodes that cover other random ’90s goodness. I, of course, was happy to join one of the book review episodes. Luckily for me, the book they happened to be on with the timing of it all was from one of my favorite characters’ perspectives: Marco’s book, The Android! It also introduced some important world-building aspects that I’m sure they will discuss more as it comes up.

It was a great discussion all around! Their group is made up of three people, two of whom have read the series (though one only once, I believe, and long ago) and one who is reading the series for the first time. As such, they don’t discuss spoilers for the rest of the series on their show. And man, was it tough to bite my tongue, but I think I managed to not ruin anything for anyone. Phew!

Definitely give the episode a listen, as well as check out the rest of their show! Like, subscribe, all that fun stuff!

Book Club Review: “Redshirts”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again pulling genres from a hatch and matching them together in one book. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “Redshirts” by John Scalzi

Publishing Info: Tor Books, June 2012

Where Did We Get This Book: Kate owns it;

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

Mix-and-Match Genres: Science Fiction and Humor

Book Description: Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that:
(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces
(2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations
(3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

Kate’s Thoughts

I’m the one who pulled the two genres for this book, and while my immediate reaction was ‘oh no Science Fiction?!’, my second reaction was ‘oh that’s easy, I’ll pick “Redshirts”!’ When thinking of these two genres combined it was an easy conclusion, as it’s been touted as one of the funniest Sci-Fi novels of the past couple of decades. While I hadn’t read it, my husband has a copy (signed by John Scalzi, no less, with a very hilarious inscription), so it just seemed like a good excuse to pick up the book he had been so keen on ten years ago. Plus, I love “Star Trek”. It seemed like a no brainer.

And for the most part I enjoyed it! It is definitely very funny with its tongue planted firmly in cheek, and it was so fun seeing the references and winks about not only “Star Trek” but also cruddy cable or syndicated Sci-Fi shows that tried to desperately to be it. I enjoyed the hilarious ways that Dahl and the other more ‘expendable’ crew members would be put in ludicrous situations with ludicrous outcomes, and enjoyed the parodying of the more ‘important’ crew members and how absolutely insufferable they are with their plot armor. But what I really enjoyed about this book was when our ‘space crew’ came to the real world to confront their makers, as not only did it feel like a cute reference to “Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home” (my very FAVORITE “Trek” film), but it also turns into an interesting rumination on the way that characters can feel like they come to life and go their own way beyond their creators controls. And I also really liked the three separate codas at the end, each representing the first, second, and third person perspectives, and how they managed to add to the story but didn’t feel superfluous in spite of the fact they were kind of tangental.

“Redshirts” was fun!! I’m glad that I finally picked it up.

Serena’s Thoughts

I was super excited when Kate picked this book! It’s been on my TBR list for forever, but for whatever reason, I’d never gotten around to it. And I really have no excuse; not only do I enjoy science fiction in general, but I also really love “Star Trek.” And boy did this book not disappoint!

While I think many of the sci-fi tropes being touched on would be easily recognizable to most general fans, this is definitely one of those parodies that is better appreciated the more knowledge of “Star Trek” you have. On top of the titular commentary of the “redshirts” who were only ever there to die terribly while the main cast sailed through the plot, there were also so many fun little references scattered throughout. And, like Kate referenced, it was particularly fun having the main plot call back to “Voyage Home,” one of the most popular of the films.

The humor and parody is central to the plot, and this was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was laugh-out-loud funny consistently throughout, but if you go in looking for much of the deeper commentary or more layered dynamics often found in science fiction, you won’t really find that here. I enjoyed the characters and the story itself, but, other than the comedy itself, nothing was particularly memorable. But I think for a book like this, that works fine! This is a fairly straight-forward story focused on sending up a beloved science fiction franchise, with all the love and ridicule it can muster!

Kate’s Rating 8: A fun and funny send up and love letter to “Star Trek” and campy Sci-Fi TV, as well as an interesting exploration of art and creation.

Serena’s Rating 8: A rollicking good time that will be especially gratifying for all of the “Ster Trek” fans out there!

Book Club Questions

  1. This book has been referred to as post-modern Science Fiction as well as meta fiction Science Fiction. Have you read any meta books before, Sci-Fi or otherwise?
  2. This book takes a lot of inspiration (and is a lovely send up of) “Star Trek”. If you have watched “Star Trek” did you enjoy this book? If not, did it still work for you even without the frame of reference?
  3. The original title of this book was “Redshirts: A Book With Three Codas”. Which of the three codas was your favorite?
  4. What do you think this book was saying about fate and free will?
  5. What do you think that John Scalzi as a writer was trying to convey about writing as an art form?
  6. One of the biggest praises of this book is the humor. What moment stood out as funniest to you?

Reader’s Advisory

“Redshirts” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best Comedic Science Fiction Books”, and “Humorous Space Opera”.

Next Book Club Pick: “Someplace Generous: An Inclusive Romance Anthology” by Elaina Ellis (Ed.) & Amber Flame (Ed.)

Kate’s Review: “Lucky Day”

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Book: “Lucky Day” by Chuck Tingle

Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, August 2025

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

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

Book Description: Lucky Day is the newest novel of terror from Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Bury Your Gays, where one woman must go up against the most horrifying concept of all: nothing.

Vera is a survivor of a global catastrophe known as the Low Probability Event, but she definitely isn’t thriving. Once a passionate professor of statistics, she no longer finds meaning in anything at all.

But when problematic government agent Layne knocks on her door, she’s the only one who can help him uncover the connection between deadly spates of absurdity and an improbably lucky casino. What’s happening in Vegas isn’t staying there, and the world is at risk of another disaster.

When it comes to Chuck Tingle, the only thing more terrifying than a serious horror novel is an absurd one…

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

This may be a bit of a strange revelation, but I take three annual trips a year, in general. The first is to the North Shore on Lake Superior, and my husband, kid, and I like being on the lake and just having chill family time. The second, of course, is ALA, no matter where that may lead. The third, and more out of character one, is going to Las Vegas every year for my husband’s birthday celebration. Las Vegas is a weird town to me. It’s overwhelming and very self indulgent, and I’ve seen things there that remind me while Randall Flagg in Stephen King’s “The Stand” chose it for his home base. But I generally have a good time because I can make it into whatever I want it to be (aka poolside in the shade, a fun couple of nights out with friends, and in bed by ten with my stack of books). But I was cackling a bit as I was reading “Lucky Day” by Chuck Tingle, as a good deal of the action takes place in Las Vegas, and Tingle doesn’t hold back on the absurdity and arrogance of this city. Oh, and there are also existential ruminations and some “Final Destination”-esque deaths, making for a strange and entertaining read!

Chuck Tingle continues to surprise me as an author. I had been expecting another horror novel, and while there are certainly horror-esque moments in this book (with lots of gore and outlandish slasher-y deaths), this to me seems more like a Science Fiction story than an outright horror tale. Usually when this kind of thing happens I find myself unable to connect with the book (Science Fiction, man, it’s not really my bag, baby), but in the case of “Lucky Day” Tingle mostly kept me interested and I felt like I was reading a story that could have been in “The X-Files”, and I meant that in the most complimentary way. I love the concept of messing and tweaking with luck and fate and having to have an offset in some way, with a huge and absolutely devastating “Low Probability Event” (LPE) leading to millions of deaths in the most improbable ways (fish falling from the sky causing accidents, a chimp running loose through a diner in Chicago and mauling people, spontaneous combustion, and more!) and a survivor and a shady Government agent teaming up to investigate. I love how Tingle tweaks and twists with the idea of manipulating luck through various inter-dimensional means, but then showing an offset and a cost that is INCREDIBLY high.

And I enjoyed the time spent in Vegas as our survivor Vera and Agent Layne start to investigate the head honchos of a casino that promises their gamblers the best luck on the Strip. It is such a nailing of Vegas and the glitz, the gilded glamour, and the way that people can convince themselves that they, too, can be lucky and everything will work out, without seeing or dealing with any consequences of it (what happens in Vegas, after all). Until you have to deal with it because disaster after disaster is happening. The portrayal of Denver, the head of the incredibly lucky casino, is spot on to what I would expect from a powerful player in a Vegas casino in the modern age, and her disingenuous nature and plastered on smile and charm made her easy to root against but was a fun characterization all the same. I also really liked Vera, our traumatized but still quite logic based statistician who lost so much in the LPE as she has to force herself to care again, and gets sucked more and more into probabilities, dimension rifts, and Nothingness versus Everything. Layne was a little more of a mixed bag for me character wise, and I felt like we got some reveals that didn’t make as much sense as they could have, but that’s a quibble when other parts of this were so strong.

So perhaps it was more Sci-Fi than I was anticipating, but I still found “Lucky Day” to be creative and enjoyable. I’m trying to get my husband to listen to the audiobook on the way to Vegas for his birthday in a few weeks.

Rating 8: Incredibly existential, out there, and creative, “Lucky Day” is the boldest story from Chuck Tingle yet!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Lucky Day” is included on the Goodreads lists “Bisexual Books of 2025”, and “2025 Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction”.

Serena’s Review: “Bound by Stars”

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Book: “Bound by Stars” by E. L. Starling

Publishing Info: Entangled: Teen, July 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: She never belonged in his world. He never thought he’d leave it.

When Weslie Fleet wins a golden ticket aboard the Boundless, humanity’s most opulent starliner, it’s a dream―and a danger. Raised in the dust-ridden ruins of Earth, she is thrust into the gleaming luxury of Mars’s elite, where every whispered word carries weight and every glance is a silent judgment. And none watch her closer than Jupiter, the golden boy of Mars’s high society, bound by duty, legacy, and a future he never chose.

Their reluctant partnership was supposed to be a one-off assignment. Instead, it becomes a battle of wills, a spark that ignites, and a love neither of them anticipated. But fate is as cruel as it is unpredictable, and when the Boundless veers off course, love won’t be enough to save them.

The ship is failing. The odds are impossible. And in the darkness of space, survival is the only thing that matters.

But some loves are worth defying the stars for.

Review: This is one of those odd reads where what drew me to the book (science fiction re-telling of “Titanic”) is the specific aspect of the read that I most disliked. That is to say, there was a lot to like here whenever I could disconnect my brain from the parallel’s to the movie. While there weren’t any groundbreaking science fiction moments, the struggles between Mars and a vastly reduced Earth was an interesting political stage upon which to set the story. And the overall conflict and themes of the story (mostly centering around classism) were fairly well handled, especially for a young adult novel. The discussions of these themes was also done well and avoided straying too far into preachiness, a perpetual problem it seems in books like this. Further, the disaster itself that befalls the starliner was action packed and intense. However, this is a perfect example of how the comparisons to “Titanic” don’t work in the book’s favor.

Maybe I’m being nitpicky, but to me at least, there is a huge difference between the natural disaster that befell the Titanic with its ramming of the iceberg and a rebellion attack upon a luxury starliner. I picked this book up looking for a disaster and survival story; indeed, anyone who is promised a book that is a re-telling of “Titanic” would expect the same. A rebellion attack is a very different thing, and while not bad on its own, not what I been expecting or wanting from this read.

And you might say at this point “well, just try to read it as an original story, disconnected from the re-telling.” But you can’t! There are scenes that are direct call-backs/re-imaginings of scenes from the movie. From little things, like the FMC winning her ticket onto the starliner at the start of the book to a full scene devoted to re-imagining the “you jump, I jump” scene from the movie. There’s no getting away from the callbacks. (And I didn’t want to get away from the re-telling POV ultimately, I just wish the book had more confidently stuck to that premise in the first place!)

The change-out from disaster to rebellion attack was annoying enough, but I really began to get fed up with the way our main characters’ love story played out. Yes, classism is present in the dynamic between Rose and Jack in the movie. But there, we are seeing it through the lens of how restricted Rose is beneath the weight of this system, and Jack’s role is to free her from these binds and remind her of the joy and love to be found in life. That’s a lovely story! But here, a huge chunk of the first half of this book is devoted to Wes’s resentment towards Jupiter and his place within the wealthy uber-upper class. The enemies-to-lovers trope struck again, and in one of the most inopportune books you could find. Rose and Jack were NOT enemies! Jack didn’t spend all of his time resenting and lecturing Rose!

Not only does the change in this dynamic hurt a book that is being marketed as a science fiction version of “Titanic,” but it’s frankly a more boring choice. I’ve read a million stories that have this exact same romance and commentary on classism at their heart. And frankly, I didn’t need another. The book would have not only been more true to its concept had it stuck with the original dynamics between romantic interests, but it would have been a more interesting read on its own, as well.

If I really squinted, I could try to read this book disconnected from its “Titanic”-retelling origins. And for the brief moments where I could, it was a fine read. As a YA science fiction story, I think there’s definitely an audience for this book. But at the same time, I was incredibly disappointed with the more direct ties to the movie, especially the significant changes made to the love story at its heart. If you’re looking for a decent YA science fiction story, this may be a good fit. But if you were looking for a “Titanic” story, disaster and romance included, this is probably not for you.

Rating 7: Fine enough as a YA science fiction story, but disappointing as a “Titanic” re-imagining.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bound by Stars” can be found on this Goodreads list: Books with “Star” in the Title.