Book #38:

System Collapse by Martha Wells (Length: 248 pages).  This is book 7 and the end of the Murderbot journey. Again, this is book 7 but it’s technically the sequel to Book 5/Network Effect, so I’d suggest reading this book after Book 5. In this novel, Murderbot and several Preservation Station colonists are still on a partially-terraformed planet trying to rescue some stranded colonists who are essentially slave labor. This book wraps up the series with the same dry humor from Murderbot and it’s fast-paced, easy to follow (especially on audio which is tricky for science fiction) and 100% enjoyable. I’m so sad the series is done, but I enjoyed every minute I spent with Murderbot and I hope you will too.

Book #39:

The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez (Length: 327 pages). This sweeping historical fiction novel is set during the creation of the Panama Canal. This lovely book follows several different characters, several of who end up interacting with one another. There is a perfectly drawn sense of place, the characters are all interesting and the through line of the “big dig” of the canal propels the plot forward here. This is well-written, memorable and I absolutely recommend. I always wanted to pick this one back up so it would be a great vacation or beach read this summer for sure!

Book #40:

The Other Side of Night by Adam Hamdy (Length: 302 pages). This is part mystery and part science fiction, with a super intricate plot. Very well-written (and plotted) with strong character development. The premise here is a disgraced female detective briefly dates a man and then ultimately ends up investigating the death of his colleagues from work at a physics lab. This is a bit odd, but just go with it and enjoy this very fun ride. You will need to suspend your disbelief but if you, you will have a great time with this. I love memorable mysteries as they are few and far between.

Book #41:

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig (Length: 419 pages). One of my book club friends recommended this fantasy to me and I finally picked it up. This is a fantasy romance but it’s heavier on the fantasy. The world building here isn’t complicated at all. It’s a dark fairy tale of sorts and the premise is that Elspeth Spindle lives in the kingdom of Blunder, which has been existing under an age-old curse that manifests in a mist which surrounds the villages. There is a deck of Providence Cards and if all of the cards are collected, the mist will lift and the “infected” will be cured. I love the writing here, the premise is clever and there is some witty banter (love the banter!) between some side characters. This does end on a cliffhanger because it’s part of a duology, so know that going in.

Book #42:

Just For The Summer by Abby Jiminez (Length: 424 pages). This is THE read of the summer (along with Emily Henry’s newest novel) and I LOVED it. I’m obsessed with all of Abby Jiminez’s books as I love her writing. Her rom-coms always feature witty banter, believable chemistry between the romantic leads and her characters are always flawed and dealing with real-life situations. These are all the case here as traveling nurse Emma meets Justin thanks to a Reddit “Am I the Asshole” thread where Justin mentions all of his exes immediately meet their soulmates after he breaks up with them. Since that’s also the case with Emma, they cook up a plan for them to date, to then break their respective curses. There are a few very funny gags in this novel (ie, Toilet King) that make for funny through lines here. I adore this novel and can’t wait to read next year’s.

Book #34:

Look Closer by David Ellis (Length: 459 pages).  This is a mystery/thriller that is very well-written and plotted, and a pleasant surprise. Without giving spoilers, the main premise involves a law professor, Simon, his current partner Vicky and his former crush Lauren, who ends up dead on Halloween night. At first I almost set this one aside because the beginning reads like so many other mystery/thrillers I’ve read over the years, but I kept going, and I’m so glad I did. I figured out where the author was going pretty early on, so I just hung on for the ride and enjoyed the heck out of it. Fair warning that no one is likable and there is no one to root for her, but honestly, as fun as this one is, who really cares? 4 stars from me!

Book #35:

The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander (Length: 336 pages). I found this sweet novel at the Tucson Festival of Books and literally picked it up due to its darling cover. Set in England, this is about a young woman, Jess, who loses her grandmother who raised her and her librarian job within a short time period. So when Jess stumbles across a tiny derelict cottage for sale hours away during a drive in the country, she impulsively puts in an offer, not expecting it would be accepted. But it is and Jess finds herself without a job, in the middle of a quaint village with a cottage that needs a ton of work, plus an accompanying historic red phonebooth that she’s also responsible for caretaking. She turns it into a tiny lending library with her grandmother’s books, ultimately bringing together her new community. This is well-written, fun to read and very cute. 3.5 stars.

Book #36:

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (Length: 352 pages). If you don’t enjoy angsty novels about depressed main characters, skip this one. I truly don’t but the writing sucked me in, and I am glad I stuck with it. This is truly an unusual novel in its organization with sections that seem almost stream of consciousness, but they all come together in the end. This is mostly about a woman’s journey through mental illness (depression-adjacent?) from 17 years of age to 41. Two marriages, at least one suicide attempt and a miscarriage–triggers abound here–but if you push through, it’s worth it. At first I found Martha entirely too whiny and very unlikeable and several chapters are entirely too navel-gazing for my liking, but on balance, I believe that’s the point. The narrator is incredibly self-aware, even if she often hides the truth from herself, and I thought the various laugh-out-loud funny lines (mostly dialogue and texts between Martha and her sister Ingrid) and several moments of charm (between Martha and husband #2) and ultimately the resolution of the novel made this worth reading. The writing quality is stellar and the plot is memorable. 4 stars from me.

Book #37:

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (Length: 172 pages). This is book 6 in the series, but chronologically it takes place between Exit Strategy and Network Effect, which I really wish I knew before listening to this one. Back on Preservation Station with Dr. Mensah, in this standalone novella, Murderbot discovers a dead human body and gets roped into an entire investigation. This one is more dialogue and less action than the other parts of this series and wasn’t my favorite. But it’s Murderbot and of course I’m glad I read it. The last book is the last of the series and I almost don’t want to start it yet because then it will mean this whole ride is over.

Book #30:

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (Length: 163 pages).  Yep, more Murderbot Diaries for this reader. Still on audiobook, I’m LOVING this journey with our favorite Murderbot. Book 4 is my favorite of what I’ve read to far. In this book, Murderbot is trying to deliver evidence of GrayCorp’s evil machinations back to Dr. Mensah, the only human he truly respects. She also happens to be the first human who’s seen past his sec unity exterior into the humanity buried deep inside. I adore this series if that’s not obvious already, but here are some of my favorite quotes from Murderbot: “Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)” and “They were all annoying and deeply inadequate humans, but I didn’t want to kill them. Okay, maybe a little.” I mean, come on . . . how can you not enjoy this robot series?

Book #31:

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry (Length: 386 pages). I ADORED this book and this reading experience! Set in 1989 in Danvers, Massachusetts near Salem and home to its own witch trials, this delightful and WITTY novel focuses on a girl’s (with one boy) high school field hockey season. Seeking to break its previous losing streak, a teammate co-opts an Emilio Estevez notebook to write some spells and their luck starts to change. This isn’t too angsty (a flaw of some YA novels in my opinion) but is full of 1980s pop culture references and has some seriously laugh-out-loud funny lines and scenes. This is very well-written, memorable and just plain FUN. I will say that each chapter is focused on a particular game and player and could be confusing on audio, so print may be the way to go with this one. This will be on my top 10 of this year for sure.

Book #32:

Network Effect by Martha Wells (Length: 348 pages). This is book 5 of the series and is full-length. This has won some awards and I can see why because it’s excellent! Murder Bots 2 and 3 join the fun and the adventures here are more fleshed-out, obviously. The audio is still perfection and yet still easy to follow. There is LOTS of action, a big rescue scene and the same funny dialogue, both interior and spoken out loud. I’m getting sad that there are only 2 more in the series. I’m rarely a series completist (save Louise Penny and Nancy Drew) but this one I absolutely will see to its finish. I hope some of you are joining me on this fun ride!

Book #33:

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan (Length: 423 pages). This romance novel is written by one of the most popular audiobook narrators there is, so I was excited to finally read it. This is excellent! While it was a bit slow to start for me (it picks up around the 20% mark on the Kindle), I enjoyed the central premise here. Swanee is a popular audiobook narrator who meets a mystery man in Las Vegas after an audiobook convention. She also has a fun texting relationship with a male audiobook narrator, a counterpart who is just as popular as she is. There is some travel here, great side characters (especially Swanee’s famous actress BFF and Swanee’s grandmother Blah). I enjoyed the inside look at how audiobooks are made and the work that goes into the various voices and characters. I’d give this 4.5 stars, high praise for a romance novel!

Book #26:

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Length: 246 pages).  This one has been on my TBR for a while as it’s recommending by EVERYONE I follow on Bookstagram. It’s been compared to Circe by Madeline Miller, and since that’s one of my all-time favorite novels (READ IT if you haven’t yet!), I was excited to pick it up. The plot is strange and very twisty and confusing, so it took me awhile to get the hang of it. I have read it’s a bit of a puzzle so I decided to just let my brain go along for the ride. The entire premise or backstory of the novel is a big twist, and I’m not sure how I feel about it when all is said and done. But I will say that I AM glad I finally read it to see what the fuss is all about. I may not be the target audience for this book, and that’s okay.

Book #27:

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (Length: 149 pages). I officially am in love with Murderbot. This is book #2 in the series and this time, Murderbot is working with a crew of young scientists who wants their data back from an evil company who stole it from them. ART (Asshole Research Transport) makes his first appearance and he’s delightful as well. This second novella showcases Murderbot’s hilarious inner dialogue and is as well written as the first one. I listened to this on audio and intend to listen to the entire series at this point as I enjoy Murderbot’s asides, his sarcasm and his growing humanity. Such a fun read and series!

Book #28:

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor (Length: 282 pages). This is a backlist (2013) book with the blurb: British madcap time-travelling series. Sold! This is book one of a series of 14 (!) books which center around a modern-day off-the-books historical institute where trained historians travel back in time to “only” observe certain time periods in history. They even travel 67 million years back to the Cretaceous Period when dinosaurs roamed the earth–very cool! This novel is super-witty, excellent writing, with a bit of open-door romance (definitely not middle grade as I initially thought it was going to be). The plot and characters are very memorable, and I will definitely look into reading further in the series to see what happens with my favorite characters. I give this one 5 stars.

Book #29:

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (Length: 150 pages). This novella is the third in “The Murderbot Diaries” science fiction series, yes, I listened to this on audio, and yes, I loved it. This one is centered around yet another mission with humans, and this time MurderBot becomes “friends” with an AI bot named MIki. Chaos ensues, a few fight scenes occur, sarcastic comments are uttered at the best moments, and the plot is super fast-paced. This is another perfect novella, optimal for audio! Off to start Book #4.

Book #22:

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon (Length: 345 pages).  Set in a Seattle public radio station, this rom-com is a bit different than many I’ve read, which I appreciated. Shay needs a concept for a new show after the long-running show she produced is axed, so she proposes a show where two exes chat–the only problem is she doesn’t have an ex, but there IS an annoying, hot new reporter at the station who might fit the “fake” bill. The enemies to lovers trope works here. The novel is a bit slow to start but hang in there because once it gets going it’s cute. Writing is good (minus a few typos), the banter is top-notch and the chemistry is believable. All within a unique setting. I’d definitely recommend this one as a library check out.

Book #23:

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (Length: 348 pages). This is THE thriller of the moment and my book club chose it for our March read. While I’m getting a bit burned out on thrillers, with so many trying to be the next “Gone Girl”, this one will be a bit more memorable than most for me, mostly due to the clever title. The title refers to a tip for con-men (and women) that the first lie they tell sets the tone for the story they’re telling or the con they’re running, so it needs to be a good one. The protagonist here, Evie Porter, meets her latest mark, Ryan Sumner, as instructed by her mysterious boss: Mr Smith. This is set in a small town and the author does a great job of setting the scene and drawing the reader in, while slowing revealing Evie’s backstory. The plot is very fast-paced, there is a twist or two and again, it’s a bit different than most thrillers. Perfect beach read!

Book #24:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron (Length: 487 pages). This sweeping novel is listed as the all-time favorite of several readers whom I trust, so I finally read it. It’s incredible! The first of four in a series entitled The Cemetery of Forgotten, this novel in translation begins with a young boy, Daniel, visiting The Cemetery of Forgotten Books with his father in 1945 Barcelona. There follows a dozen seemingly unrelated characters who will all come together later on in the book, so just hang on for the ride. The writing is gorgeous and if you love a sweeping family saga (which I most certainly do!) and a pulse-pounding plot, this is worth a read. 5 stars from me and it will be on my end-of-year top 10 books for sure.

Book #25:

All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Length: 156 pages). This novella is the first of 7 in “The Murderbot Diaries” science fiction series, and I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to dive in. I listened to this on audio and it’s absolutely the way to go as the narrator is perfection. The premise of this multiple award-winning series is that a Company-supplied security unit robot hacks his own governor system so he can watch soap operas instead of working and interacting with humans while on various planetary missions. This is LOL funny at times, the writing is succinct and translates perfectly to audio–my attention never lagged for one minute. Halfway through the first novella (I’ve kept reading in the series), I paused it to text my dad to tell him to read this one ASAP. Five stars!