Staff Pick
Klune, Tj
😍 Loved it
Spice Frequency: Rare
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 🙂 Liked it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
So, I picked this for a plane ride and yeah - don't do that. Then I read it while taking myself to lunch and then returned to finish it and just sit with it. It's a lovely little story - a life lived well that wasn't perfect and a journey to finish one last thing to be able to let go. Oh, and the world is ending - did I mention that? It's lovely and wrenching and even with the world ending, it's so beautifully hopeful that I can't bring myself to lend it out because I want to reread it to chase that feeling again. Love ❤️❤️❤️
Staff Pick
Truelove, Barbara
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
So, I picked this up after my bestie was like, "this is a fun read" and then I was emotionally invested in a pair of sentient AI's trying to not die while a ragtag group of monsters is killing Dracula. Yes, that's what I meant to say. It was wild and chaotic but also deeply touching, hopeful, and more than a little charming. I loved it and I cannot wait to read it again.
Staff Pick
Stothers, Greer
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 🙂 Liked it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 🙂 Liked it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
Sometimes you pick a book because the cover is just to delightful to pass up. And we all know that if we give Jill a book, she'll have to read some pages. And if she reads some pages, she'll probably need the audiobook to listen to while she's driving to work. And once she reads some pages, she's going to fall in love with the main character, a himbo with heart and just have to know that he's going to get a happily ever after. While he does - but the path that this story took was in no way predictable and I could never have imagined how charmed and enthralled I would be turning the pagse and seeing where the adventure would go next. A lighthearted read with an overdose of sweetness - it's a must read for our complex times and gentle on the head and soul.
Staff Pick
Green, John
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
Like John Green himself, I had give no thought to Tuberculosis outside of tragic deaths in novels until I learned about it on his YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers. This is where I came to know the world's deadliest curable disease. You read that right - we can diagnose and cure it and have been able to do so since the 1950's, but the story of why we don't and how that has actually come to impact a truly staggering amount of the world we live in is the heart of this book. It's a memoir of a disease but also a look at a broken system with the wrong motivations and the impact on real lives. I've read everything John Green has written and this is, by far, the best work he's done.
Staff Pick
Reid, Rachel
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 🙂 Liked it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
Loved it. Was worried it might be overhyped but fell in love with Ilya and Shane and their love story. Didn’t watch the series yet but absolutely adored this darling spicy story. Don’t know a thing about hockey and still don’t but pretty sure it’s not actually relevant to the story.
Staff Pick
Dinniman, Matt
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
I'd heard the hype and was sure that it couldn't be that good - and I was wrong. I read two pages and then devoured the entire book in 2 days and we're not going to talk about how quickly I ordered and consumed the sequels. It's a rollicking good time, Princess Donut is the ultimate sentient animal sidekick, and I'd take advice from Mordecai any day of the week. Also, I love the llamas. I cannot remember when I have enjoyed a read so much and was practically feral for the sequels and the ever deepening and expanding world of the Dungeon and of Carl and Donut.
Staff Pick
Doocy, Maiga
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
My favorite romance read of 2025 - no notes. I loved Leo and his journey and was rooting for him and Grimm from like page 10. I loved the magic system and I am a sucker for a magically enhanced journey sparked by a spell gone awry featuring sentient plants, a hidden tower, and a witch who might be a fixer but has her own story to tell. A true slow burn with with characters you can't help but root for and I am eagerly awaiting book 2 which will publish in 2026.
Staff Pick
Chambers, Becky
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
When I grabbed this pair of novellas (A Psalm for the Wild Built and Prayer for the Crown Shy - combined into a single volume) off the shelf, I wasn't sure what I was in for and could not have been prepared for the book that would rock my world. A story of Sibling Dex and their journey to find what they need to be fulfilled and their unwitting encounter with Splendid Speckled Mosscap, the robots chosen representative to check in on humanity and their travels together. I wasn't expecting a radically hopeful take on what a future could look like where we put people first and decide to save the planet. And having had a glimpse of that world, I have revisited it no less than a dozen times and I revisit every time I need to remind myself that the future isn't set and that radical hope is resistance.
Staff Pick
Zinn, Howard
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
If you are pretty sure that the history you learned maybe wasn't quite complete - you are right! I have loved this book since I read if for the first time in my 20's and I return to it when I need to center myself in the actual history of the United States and take a step off the talking head treadmill. Centering the stories of the Black and Brown, Indigenous, Female, and otherwise marginalized voices that made our country what it is today and provides a much more nuanced view of how we got to where we've found ourselves in these current times. Not an easy read but a necessary one for anyone who wants a more complete story of the telling of our complex history.
Staff Pick
Kingfisher, T
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
So, if T. Kingfisher writes it - I will read it, no questions asked. And this one did not disappoint - a novella chronicling an detachment of Goblins pulled through a portal by a fleeing wizard who find themselves behind enemy lines, it hits all the Kingfisher classics. Loveable main characters, the side character who steals your attention and makes you want them to have their own stand alone story, a journey, plenty of magic and just a touch of horror to keep it from being saccharine. I loved it and cannot recommend it highly enough if you've read all the canon or you're just looking to dip a toe into the water.
Staff Pick
Aoyama, Michiko
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
Not gonna lie - bought it for the cover and started listening to it as an audiobook and I was completely hooked. I didn't know that what my soul wanted was to read/listen to the stories of people at a fork in the road and getting the advice they didn't know that they needed from a community center Librarian with a felting obsession. Cozy but full of feeling, I couldn't put it down and I have returned to the stories a few times when in need of literary hug. It's also kickstarted an obsession with reading cozy translated Japanese and Korean literature (which I had no idea that I would like!). If you want a book hug that makes you think - this is a solid pick.
Staff Pick
Vo, Nghi
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 😍 Loved it
Emotional Impact: 😍 Loved it
The first of 7 novellas (so far) chronicling the adventures of Cleric Chih and their companion, Almost Brilliant as they adventure in search of stories for the Singing Hills Monastery. Written in a spare style but with a depth and description that makes the stories leap off the page. This first installment concerns a story about the complex origins of the renowned and feared Empress of Salt and Fortune and her daughter and successor. I have read all 7 and cannot wait for the next installment. They are a wonderful window into some of the lesser known mythologies of Southeast Asia and just a sheer delight to read. Love them all!
Casualfarmer
🙂 Liked it
Audiobook
Narration Performance: 😐 It was okay
Writing Style: 🙂 Liked it
Plot: 🙂 Liked it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 🙂 Liked it
Emotional Impact: 🙂 Liked it
Dammit - I thought that after Dungeon Crawler Carl and Heretical Fishing, I would be done with LitRPG, but no - then I had to read this one and it was so lovely. I mean, I am mildly jealous that my Frenchie has no change of turning into a spirit beast and that beware of chicken doesn't have quite the same meaning on my own farm, but I loved this story. A good guy who just wants to make the world a better place without some kind of massive trauma baggage is rather refreshing as a main character and the people he meets along the way are also just a delight. But truly, come for the people and stay for the spirit beasts - trust me.
Fawcett, Heather
🙂 Liked it
Print
Writing Style: 🙂 Liked it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 🙂 Liked it
Emotional Impact: 🙂 Liked it
In a world of chaos and magicians who just cannot seem to behave well, be Agnes. Choose kindness. Take care of the vulnerable and see them as they are - not how you'd like them to be. Open a mystical cat shelter with and if you happen to fall in love along the way - what a delightful turn of events. A lovel soft read in a very trying time.
Whitten, Hannah
😍 Loved it
Writing Style: 😍 Loved it
Plot: 😍 Loved it
Characters: 😍 Loved it
Pacing: 🙂 Liked it
Emotional Impact: 🙂 Liked it
A girl goes into the woods and meets a wolf and so far, so familiar but then the story takes a turn and you find out that it's so much more complex and interesting that the story we've all heard (no grandmothers are involved). This was one that I originally bought on vacation like three years ago and loved it so much that I read it in a day, consumed the second one in one more day, and mostly haven't shut up about how much I enjoyed them to mostly anyone who listen. I loved the characters and I especially loved how the forest itself was a character with it's own magic and arguably agency. A must read for lovers of Hemlock & Silver or A Sorceress Comes to Call.
