
Currently Reading
AI Engineering: Building Applications with Foundation Modelsby Chip Huyen (2025)
Publisher review: Recent breakthroughs in AI have not only increased demand for AI products, they've also lowered the barriers to entry for those who want to build AI products. The model-as-a-service approach has transformed AI from an esoteric discipline into a powerful development tool that anyone can use. Everyone, including those with minimal or no prior AI experience, can now leverage AI models to build applications. In this book, author Chip Huyen discusses AI the process of building applications with readily available foundation models. The book starts with an overview of AI engineering, explaining how it differs from traditional ML engineering and discussing the new AI stack. The more AI is used, the more opportunities there are for catastrophic failures, and therefore, the more important evaluation becomes. This book discusses different approaches to evaluating open-ended models, including the rapidly growing AI-as-a-judge approach. AI application developers will discover how to navigate the AI landscape, including models, datasets, evaluation benchmarks, and the seemingly infinite number of use cases and application patterns. You'll learn a framework for developing an AI application, starting with simple techniques and progressing toward more sophisticated methods, and discover how to efficiently deploy these applications. Understand what AI engineering is and how it differs from traditional machine learning engineeringLearn the process for developing an AI application, the challenges at each step, and approaches to address themExplore various model adaptation techniques, including prompt engineering, RAG, fine-tuning, agents, and dataset engineering, and understand how and why they workExamine the bottlenecks for latency and cost when serving foundation models and learn how to overcome themChoose the right model, dataset, evaluation benchmarks, and metrics for your needsChip Huyen works to accelerate data analytics on GPUs at Voltron Data. Previously, she was with Snorkel AI and NVIDIA, founded an AI infrastructure startup, and taught Machine Learning Systems Design at Stanford. She's the author of the book Designing Machine Learning Systems, an Amazon bestseller in AI. AI Engineering builds upon and is complementary to Designing Machine Learning Systems (O'Reilly).
Started: Jul 24 2025

Currently Reading
Forging the Darksword (The Darksword Trilogy, #1)by Margaret Weis (1988)
Publisher review: In the enchanted realm of Merilon, magic is life. Born without magical abilities and denied his birthright, Joram is left for dead. Yet he grows to manhood in a remote country village, hiding his lack of powers only through constant vigilance and ever more skillful sleight-of-hand. Forced to kill a man in self-defense, Joram can keep his secret from the townspeople no longer: he has no magic, no life. Fleeing to the Outlands, Joram joins the outlawed Technologists, who practice the long forbidden arts of science. Here he meets the scholarly catalyst Saryon, who has been sent on a special mission to hunt down a mysterious "dead man" and instead finds himself in a battle of wits and power with a renegade warlock of the dark Duuk-tsarith caste. Together, Joram and Saryon begin their quest toward a greater destiny—a destiny that begins with the discovery of the secret books that will enable them to overthrow the evil usurper Blachloch...and forge the powerful magic-absorbing Darksword.
Started: Feb 14 2026
Currently Reading
Death of the Authorby Nnedi Okorafor
Publisher review: The future of storytelling is here. Life has thrown Zelu some curveballs over the years, but when she's suddenly dropped from her university job and her latest novel is rejected, all in the middle of her sister's wedding, her life is upended. Disabled, unemployed and from a nosy, high-achieving, judgmental family, she's not sure what comes next. In her hotel room that night, she takes the risk that will define her life - she decides to write a book VERY unlike her others. A science fiction drama about androids and AI after the extinction of humanity. And everything changes. What follows is a tale of love and loss, fame and infamy, of extraordinary events in one world, and another. And as Zelu's life evolves, the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur. Because sometimes a story really does have the power to reshape the world.
Started: Jun 14 2026

Currently Reading
The Everlastingby Alix E. Harrow (2025)
Publisher review: From Alix E. Harrow, the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, comes a moving and genre-defying quest about the lady-knight whose legend built a nation, and the cowardly historian sent back through time to make sure she plays her part–even if it breaks his heart. Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters―but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten. Centuries later, Owen Mallory―failed soldier, struggling scholar―falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives―and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs. But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend―if they want to tell a different story--they’ll have to rewrite history itself. DELUXE EDITION―a beautiful hardcover edition featuring dark teal sprayed edges, a foil stamp on the casing, and full-page illustrations!
Started: Jun 23 2026

Murder by Memory (Dorothy Gentleman, #1)by Olivia Waite
My review:
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novella category. I had never read anything by this author, so I was looking forward to discovering a new author!
A mind is a terrible thing to erase... Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty's most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger. Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn't hers—just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship's detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot. Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor—and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting—knows more than she's letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work—and if so, they've had three hundred years to perfect their schemes...
It was quite an entertaining story. Despite the fact I do not like mysteries (even when set in space), I ended up liking it quite a bit.
(★★★★)
Started: Jun 21 2026 Finished: Jun 23 2026

Cinder Houseby Freya Marske
My review:
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novella category. Despite hearing a lot of good things about the work of this author, I had never read anything by her, and I was eager to give it a try. What a treat it turned out to be!
You think you know this story. You're halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.
Freya Marske's Cinder House takes the Cinderella tale by the throat and refuses to let it go anywhere comfortable. Ella is dead — murdered at sixteen, her ghost furiously tethered to the house that should have been hers, invisible to all except the stepmother and stepsisters who've made themselves quite at home in it. She cannot be heard. She cannot leave. And every midnight, without fail, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.
Then she strikes a bargain with a fairy charm-seller for three stolen nights of something close to living — and the familiar shape of the fairy tale begins to reassert itself, but darker, stranger, and far more interesting than you remember.
Gothic in atmosphere, fiercely feminist in spirit, and described by the New York Times as "a fairy tale by way of Shirley Jackson," this 144-page novella is compact but leaves a mark. The house itself is practically a character; the ball glitters with menace; and Marske, known for romantic fantasy with genuine heat and craft, brings all of that to a story about a girl who refuses to disappear just because she's dead.
I was blown away by this story, and I cannot wait to read more of her work. It is perfect for and recommended to anyone who has ever wanted Cinderella to have a little more fury in her.
(★★★★★)
Started: Jun 12 2026 Finished: Jun 21 2026

When He Calls Your Nameby Catherynne M. Valente (2026)
My review:
This review is for When He Calls Your Name by Catherynne M. Valente (goodreads often groups together stories that appears in anthologies).
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novelette category. I had previously read some of the previous work by this author, and particularly liked her short fiction. I loved this one too!
It's two in the morning on the kind of summer night that wrings the breath right out of you, and a woman sits on her farmhouse porch with a shotgun in her lap, waiting. Not for a bear, not for a raccoon. For something older and stranger than either. Her husband has been slipping out the door every night since a particular woman caught his eye at the bank — a woman with auburn hair and green eyes like the word emerald thinks of itself, a woman who doesn't quite belong anywhere that has central air conditioning.
Written in a voice as thick and rich as good bourbon, Catherynne M. Valente's Hugo-nominated novelette is a story about marriage, mythology, and what it means to be happy with what you've got — or to wonder, at 3 a.m. on a dark porch, whether you ever really were. Inspired with deep love by Dolly Parton, it takes a classic song's premise and asks what happens when the woman left behind decides she has something to say directly to the other woman — and means every word of it.
It is a sharp, funny, heartbreaking, and unexpectedly tender story, that I recommend to everyone.
(★★★★★)
Started: Jun 11 2026 Finished: Jun 12 2026

Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (The Murderbot Diaries, #2.5)by Martha Wells
My review:
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novellette category. I had previously read and loved all other instalments of the Murderbot series, and I was looking forward to read this one too. I was not disappointed.
Rapport is told from the perspective of Perihelion — the formidably intelligent research transport known to fans as ART. When Perihelion and its crew venture into a corporate-controlled station caught in the chaos of a hostile takeover, the mission itself is only half the story. The other half is something more personal: a machine intelligence grappling with a strange new development in its inner life, and the question of whether — or how — to share it with the humans it calls its own. Warm, funny, and surprisingly tender, Rapport is a gift for devoted readers of the series who have ever wondered what was going on inside ART's hull between adventures.
This is a fun and interesting entry for the series, that I recommend to people that are really into the series.
(★★★★)
Started: Jun 08 2026 Finished: Jun 11 2026

What Stalks the Deep (Sworn Soldier, #3)by T. Kingfisher
My review:
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novella category. I had previously read and loved other books by this author, including all the instalments of the Sworn Soldier series. I could not wait to read this!
Lieutenant Alex Easton was hoping for a quiet life after the horrors of Usher House. No such luck. An urgent summons arrives from their old friend Dr. Denton — and as anyone who survived the last peculiar adventure with him knows, that's never good news. Denton's cousin has vanished while investigating an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia, and he needs Alex and their steadfast aide-de-camp Angus to help find out why. Grimdark MagazineSkiffy and Fanty
What they uncover in the dark beneath the mountain is stranger, slimier, and far more unsettling than any reasonable explanation Alex keeps hoping for. Squelchy noises, creeping dread, and disappearances that refuse to add up — some things are better left in the deep. Skiffy and Fanty
Equal parts claustrophobic horror and Kingfisher's signature dry wit, this third Sworn Soldier novella can be read on its own, though fans of What Moves the Dead will be glad to see Alex and Angus again.
I really loved it, and I cannot wait for the next instalment of the series!
(★★★★★)
Started: Apr 26 2026 Finished: Jun 09 2026

Automatic Noodleby Annalee Newitz
My review:
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novella category. I had previously read other books by this author, including some of the non fictions ones, but this one ended up being my favorite thus far.
In a San Francisco rebuilding after a war of secession, a crew of abandoned food service robots power themselves back on in an empty ghost kitchen — and decide to make a go of it themselves. They take what they know and start making the tastiest hand-pulled noodles in the city, hoping food is still the way to a city's heart. Business is good, found family is better... until a wave of mysterious bad reviews threatens to take it all away. Newitz weaves a story that's both a love letter to San Francisco and a sharp, timely satire, proving that even in a world of algorithms and uncertainty, a really good bowl of noodles — and the people who make it — can mean everything.
The book is a nice feel-good, comfortable story, with interesting social commentaries... An excellent example of the culture of the city I called home for many years (no, not the tech bros one, but nevertheless one shared by many techies). I loved the book and.... it left me with a craving for biang biang noodles...
(★★★★)
Started: Jun 03 2026 Finished: Jun 08 2026

Kaiju Agonistesby Scott Lynch (2026)
My review:
This review is for Kaiju Agonistes by Scott Lynch (goodreads often groups together stories that appears in anthologies).
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novelette category. I had not previously read anything by this author, hence I was looking forward to discovering something new. I was not disappointed.
In Kaiju Agonistes, Scott Lynch takes the giant-monster genre and turns it into a wildly inventive alternate history spanning decades of Cold War politics, nuclear anxiety, media spectacle, and human ambition. When a mysterious colossal entity emerges from the Pacific in the aftermath of the atomic age, governments, militaries, and ordinary people struggle to understand whether it is a threat, a warning, or something far stranger.
By turns hilarious, satirical, and surprisingly thoughtful, the story blends the grand scale of classic kaiju films with sharp observations about politics, public relations, and humanity's talent for misunderstanding even the clearest messages. Lynch delivers a tale that is both a loving homage to monster movies and a clever examination of how civilizations respond when confronted with forces beyond their control.
I really enjoyed, and I am looking forward to read more by this author.
(★★★★)
Started: Jun 03 2026 Finished: Jun 03 2026

Never Eaten Vegetablesby H.H. Pak (2026)
My review:
This review is for Never Eaten Vegetables by H.H. Pak (goodreads often groups together stories that appears in anthologies).
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novelette category. I had not previously read anything by this author, hence I was looking forward to discovering something new. I was not disappointed.
In Never Eaten Vegetables, H.H. Pak transforms a classic generation-ship premise into an intimate and deeply moving story about responsibility, identity, and what it means to care for a future you may never see. When an interstellar mission encounters an unexpected crisis, difficult choices ripple across generations, leaving behind mysteries that refuse to stay buried.
Blending sharp social commentary with genuine emotional depth, Pak explores motherhood, personhood, and the tension between corporate priorities and human needs through the eyes of unforgettable characters—some human, some not entirely so. Thoughtful, poignant, and surprisingly hopeful, this is science fiction that asks difficult questions while never losing sight of the people at its heart.
This story turned out one of my favorite in this category, and I recommend it to everyone.
(★★★★)
Started: May 30 2026 Finished: Jun 02 2026

Missing Helenby Tia Tashiro (2026)
My review:
This review is for Missing Helen by Tia Tashiro (goodreads often groups together stories that appears in anthologies).
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Short Story category. I had not previously read anything by this author, hence I was looking forward to discovering something new. I was not disappointed.
Years ago, a young woman sold her genetic material to fund an escape from a traumatic upbringing. Now, long after the dust has settled on her subsequent marriage and ultimate divorce, she receives a startling piece of news: her ex-husband intends to marry her clone. Told through a striking second-person narration, Missing Helen is a poignant exploration of identity, memory, and the deeply tangled roots of nature versus nurture. As the protagonist reflects on the highs and lows of her failed relationship, the narrative beautifully charts the differences between the woman she became and the younger duplicate shaped by an entirely different world. Far from a conventional sci-fi trope, Tia Tashiro delivers a deeply intimate, beautifully written, and grounded story about the anatomy of love and the pieces of ourselves we leave behind.
(★★★★★)
Started: May 25 2026 Finished: May 31 2026

The Millay Illusionby Sarah Pinsker (2026)
My review:
This review is for The Millay Illusion by Sarah Pinsker (goodreads often groups together stories that appears in anthologies).
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novelette category. I had previously read and enjoyed work by this author, hence I was looking forward to read this.
Set against the glittering world of early twentieth-century traveling magic shows, The Millay Illusion follows a young performer whose life is transformed by the arrival of a brilliant illusionist determined to claim a place on the stage in a world that insists she does not belong there. As careers rise and fall and rivalries simmer beneath the spotlight, the story explores friendship, ambition, identity, and the price of being remembered.
Blending historical fiction with the wonder of stage magic, Pinsker crafts a tale that feels both intimate and mythic. Rich with atmosphere and unforgettable characters, The Millay Illusion is ultimately a story about artistry, recognition, and the elusive line between illusion and true wonder.
I really liked the story, but I am not sure it should qualify for the Hugo since there are no fantastical or sci-fi elements... Still, it's really a good story.
(★★★)
Started: May 29 2026 Finished: May 29 2026

In My Countryby Thomas Ha (2026)
My review:
This review is for In My Country by Thomas Ha (goodreads groups together stories that appears in anthologies).
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Short Story category. I have read and loved previous work by this author, and I was looking forward reading this new story.
Reminiscent of classic mid-century dystopian literature, Thomas Ha’s award-nominated short story In My Country delivers a deeply atmospheric and unsettling look at life under a quiet, insidious regime. Rather than focusing on grand political machinations or a named external adversary, the narrative turns inward, focusing on a single family. It masterfully explores the slow, compounding friction that builds not just between a household and a hyper-vigilant, oppressive society, but within the family unit itself as they navigate the unspoken rules of survival.
Told with a meditative, eerie focus on character interiority, the story trades flashy sci-fi spectacle for a tense, psychological landscape where what is left unsaid carries the most danger. By forcing the reader to read between the lines, Ha crafts a haunting allegory of contemporary societal anxieties—leaving a lingering sense of unease that probes the costs of conformity and the fragility of trust behind closed doors.
This is another strong contender for the award in this category... it is going to be quite hard to pick among them this time around.
(★★★★★)
Started: May 19 2026 Finished: May 25 2026

The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me Forby Cameron Reed
My review:
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novelette category. I had not previously read anything by this author, and I was thrilled to try something new. It was AMAZING. I can't wait to read more by this author.
Set in a stark, corporate-run dystopia, this novelette follows a young trans woman who was plucked from the margins of poverty for a singular, clinical purpose: to serve as a surrogate and give birth to a clone. Having fulfilled her corporate contract, she is forced to confront the chilling reality of her disposable status when she unexpectedly comes face-to-face with her own replacement. Exploring deeply resonant themes of identity, commodification, and the lengths to which a society will go to manufacture a perfect lineage, the story balances sharp social commentary with intimate emotional stakes. It serves as a hauntingly poignant look at autonomy and human connection under the crushing weight of systemic exploitation.
This is my favorite Hugo finalist in the Novelette category this far!
(★★★★★)
Started: May 16 2026 Finished: May 17 2026

10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Daysby Samantha Mills (2026)
My review:
This review is for 10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days by Samantha Mills (goodreads groups together stories that appears in anthologies).
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Short Story category. I have read and loved previous work by this author, and I was looking forward reading it.
I started reading the book while on the plane, flying back to my birth country when I got the news that my dad was at the hospital. I kept reading it while at the hospital at his side. He always loved sci-fi, and he was the one that introduced my to sci-fi when I was a kid, and got me hooked. It seemed so completely appropriate to read it to him to confort him (one hand holding his hand, the other holding the kindle) on his last days.
The story turned out to be incredibly fitting... [spoilers removed]
I am sorry, this is not a typical review, but given the situation it cannot be. It is indeed a great story, that will always have a special space in my heart.
(★★★★★)
Started: Apr 29 2026 Finished: May 07 2026

Laser Eyes Ain't Everythingby Effie Seiberg (2026)
My review:
This review is for Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything by Effie Seiberg (goodreads groups together stories that appears in anthologies).
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Short Story category. I do not believe I ever read anything by this author before, and I was thrilled to discover a new writer.
This is a story of a wheelchair user gets zapped by a falling piece of alien spaceship debris and develops super powers: laser eyes. Yet still their life is full of ordinary frustrations — the super-abled union they join won’t put in a wheelchair ramp so that they can join meetings with dignity. Nobody lets them contribute to the fight against the arch-villain, Doctor Croc, who is razing buildings. So they take matters into their own hands...
The plot is light and fun, but the story has an interesting serious core. As the author writes in a note, this short story was born from the frustration of having to deal with accessibility issues, and with people refusing to make even super easy accommodations.
It's a solid, good, and worth reading story.
(★★★★)
Started: Apr 25 2026 Finished: Apr 26 2026

Uncanny Magazine Issue 69: March/April 2026by Michael Damian Thomas (2026)
My review:
This review is for "
What We Mean When We Talk About the Hole in the Bathroom" by
Angela Liu.
This is the story of a long-married couple that one day discovers an impossible, two-foot-wide void on their bathroom wall.
While the woman views the anomaly as the ultimate proof of her lifelong "bad luck," her husband—exhausted by corporate life and marital friction—prefers to believe it will simply vanish with a good night’s sleep. What begins as a domestic argument over a literal hole quickly spirals into a surreal exploration of the metaphorical gaps between partners. It is a haunting, atmospheric story about the silence that grows in a marriage and the tempting allure of disappearing when communication finally breaks down.
It's a great story with a lot of depth and full of symbolism. It reads almost as fiction, despite the sci-fi premise.
I am looking forward to reading more by this author.
(★★★★)
Started: Mar 14 2026
Finished: Mar 14 2026

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear (Wayward Children, #10)by Seanan McGuire (2025)
My review:
I have read and enjoyed the previous instalments of the Wayward Children series, and I was looking forward reading this latest instalment.
This is the story of Nadya. She had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her.
Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she'd been missing from birth.
It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong.
It wasn't her.
Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyyreka, the Land Beneath the Lake... and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyyreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.
But even in Belyyreka, there are dangers, and trials, and Nadya would soon find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure.
Seanan McGuire never disappoints, I am looking forward the next instalment of the series.
(★★★★)
Started: Feb 09 2026 Finished: Feb 14 2026
Poniesby Kij Johnson (2011)
My review:
I heard a lot about this short story. People seems to have quite divergent opinions about it... this made me very curious to read it.
Ponies is a dark, unsettling short story that follows a young girl who longs to fit in with a group of classmates obsessed with their magical, talking ponies. When she is finally invited to join them, she discovers that belonging comes at a disturbing cost. Blending fairy-tale elements with quiet horror, the story explores themes of conformity, cruelty, innocence, and the painful pressures of childhood social hierarchies, delivering a haunting commentary on what it means to be accepted.
I thought it was a good story that worked quite well despite the short length.
(★★★★)
Started: Feb 09 2026 Finished: Feb 09 2026
The Stranded (Wool, #5)by Hugh Howey (2012)
My review:
I had watched the Apple TV's series and loved it, hence I decided to read the books that inspired it. As for the first four instalments, the tv adaptation matches the fifth one's story, but this time not as closely as before.
The Stranded is set in a vast underground silo where humanity survives cut off from a toxic outside world. The story follows Juliette as she grapples with the consequences of rebellion and exile. As she navigates isolation, buried secrets, and the fragile systems keeping the silo alive, long-suppressed truths about the structure’s purpose and history begin to surface. Without revealing key twists, this installment deepens the series’ central themes of control, truth, sacrifice, and the human drive for freedom in a tightly regulated society.
I really enjoyed it, it was hard to put down, a lot of fun, and it has a very satisfying ending.
(★★★★★)
Started: Jan 12 2026 Finished: Feb 08 2026

The River Has Rootsby Amal El-Mohtar
My review:
I had previously read other books by this author, and I was quite curious to see what this new book was about... I was particularly taken by the beautiful book cover (yes, you should not judge a book by its cover, but this one really stands apart).
In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family. There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honor an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees. But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…
3 stars because the story and storytelling are good, the writing is extremely poetic and excellent, but the fairy tale like genre is not exactly my cup of tea. If it is yours, you are likely going to love this book.
(★★★)
Started: Nov 18 2025 Finished: Jan 09 2026