Bias Interrupted by Joan C. Williams

 

I listened to the audio book and it is very informative and contains lots of statistics and factual information.  I think that this book can really help companies to understand why inclusion can help their workplace to be more productive and it can help them to identify problem areas. 

The House of Tongues by James Dashner

 

So, this is a very strange, creepy, strange horror story.  It goes back and forth between 2017, when David is a 44 year old widower with 4 children on a visit to his parent's house, and 1989, when David and his best friend Andrea are 16 and suffer horrors that David has forgotten/suppressed the memory of until now, when they once again threaten him and his family.  The audio book is well done and gripping.  

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

 

This book is absolutely awesome!  It is absolutely my favorite book that I have read this year.  Middle school science teacher, Ryland Grace, has been recruited to help save the earth from an alien microorganism that is eating the sun. When he awakens in a space ship, he can't remember who he is, where he is, or why.  The book cycles between his memories of the past as they return to him and his attempts to find out why another star is able to resist the alien microbes so that he can send that information back to earth.  It just so happens that an alien spaceship from another planet whose sun is also being eaten is there for the same reason and soon Ryland and Rocky, the name he gives to the alien, work together on a solution to the problem so they can save both their planets.  

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

 

It is now senior year and El and Orion have successfully cleansed the Scholomance of  the majority of the deadly mals, but can they survive graduation?  Can they help their friends survive with them?  There is more sorcery, romance and intrigue in this second book in the series which ends with a major cliffhanger.  

Boy Underground by Catherine Ryan Hyde

 

In 1941, fourteen year old Steven Katz has made friends with 3 sons of men who work on his father's farm.  This is not socially acceptable to his family, especially because one of his friends, Suki, is Japanese.  As the war goes on, Manzanar, a Japanese relocation camp is built nearby, Steven's friend Ollie joins the army and Nick, who Steven has feelings for, is in trouble with the law.  Steven struggles with his feelings, and his family, and tries to protect his friends. 

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

 

This book has much sorrow as well as much joy.  Katrina has been abused because she is transgender and she longs for love and acceptance.  Shizuka has made a deal with a demon to provide him with talented violinists and she thinks that Katrina can fit the bill as her last student. And Lan, an alien who is running a donut shop while trying to save her family, and possibly the universe, falls in love with Shizuka. Can they help one another and banish their demons?  

A Spindle Splintered Fractured Fables #1 Alix E. Harrow

 

I listened to the audio book of this fun to read feminist fractured fairy tale.  On Zinnia's 21st birthday, she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and is pulled into another reality in the multiverse where a beautiful princess is trying to avoid both her sleeping beauty curse and the prince.  Can Zinnia help the princess and escape her own curse - an environmentally caused genetic disorder that has her time counting down to near zero now?   This is a totally fantastic story and I highly recommend it!

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

 

Do you ever feel bereft after finishing a book because it's over?  That is how I feel after reading this book.  The story is intense and I listened to the audio book in two days.  The story is told by 4 characters over two timelines - the present, and eleven years before when two women and a child went missing.  Eleven years ago, a woman named Shelby went missing, followed by Meredith and her 6 year old daughter, Delilah.  Eleven years later, Delilah shows up. Meredith, her son Leo, Delilah, and their next door neighbor Kate take turns telling parts of the story as it goes back and forth between the present and eleven years ago.  The plot twists and turns and goes in unexpected and unusual ways.   

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Jessica Arden

 

In this cute paranormal cozy mystery, Paige makes a wish and an app appears on her phone which allows her to investigate the murders of ghosts, who she can now see.  Her hedgehog also talks to her and the first murder victim she chooses is one whose murder is blamed on a friend of hers.  Of course, she must clear her friend's name and solve the  mystery!  The story is fun to read, with some romance included as well. 

The Orphan Witch by Paige Crutcher

 

Paige has been on the move her entire life.  From her early childhood when she was shuttled from foster home to foster home and into her adulthood, now at age 32, she has never been able to settle down anywhere due to powers she cannot control and does not understand.  When she accepts an invitation from a woman who has befriended her to go for a visit, she finds family, mystery, magic, and romance. 

The Peculiarities by David Liss

 

In London in 1899, Thomas has been ripped from his carefree life and forced to work in the family bank as a cleric after his father passed away.  As prominent people in London study mysticism, strange things are happening called peculiarities.  Women are giving birth to litters of rabbits, the fog is acting strange, children have lobster claws for hands and Thomas has his own problem.  Thomas's older brother, Walter, is forcing him to marry a woman in order to help the bank, and Thomas decides to find out what is really going on. This is a fun and different story.

The Bookbinder's Daughter by Jessica Thorne

 

With magical realism similar to books by Alice Hoffman and Erin Morgenstern, the story of Sophie, a bookbinder who can't remember her past due to a traumatic experience, is brought  back to her childhood home, the Ayredale Library, home of a fine book collection.  When she arrives, the mysteries of her past and her lost memories begin to resurface.  She is drawn to Will, her childhood best friend and boyfriend, and tries to understand the magic in the library that surrounds her. Magic, mystery, intrigue and love abound in this story. 

An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillon

 

Wow!  This book is so totally awesome!  First of all, I listened to the audio book and the narrator is amazing.  The story is of an intersex teenager who grew up in Nigeria with a mother who thought she was an abomination, and had raised her as a boy along with her twin sister.  Her father had abandoned them because Oto was imperfect and wrong.  But Oto works hard and he manages to get himself into a private school where he can be away from his mother and he is able to learn about what he- actually she - really is and it is just an amazing story.  

The Library by Bella Osborne

 

This is a lovely feel good story about 16 year old Tom and Maggie, a woman in her 70s.  Both are lonely and circumstances throw them into an unlikely friendship.  Together, they, and other townspeople work together to save their local library from being closed down and they help each other to be less lonely and to get past some of the tragic events in their lives. 

Witch Please by Ann Aguirre

 

In this cute, fun to read, very steamy romance, Danica is a witch who falls hard for a sexy baker.  Her grandmother has told her that she needs to marry another witch because mundanes are bad - even though Danica's own father is not a witch.  Titus falls even harder for Danica and they rock each other's worlds, however, Danica's grandmother's prejudice against mundanes threatens to end their relationship and a witch hunter shows up in town. Danica and her cousin and their coven of witch friends set out to solve the problems besetting them.  The story is funny and includes explicit sex scenes and sets us up for the next book in the series which is sure to be another fun read. 

Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer

 

This is the seventh book in the series, yet it is introduced well enough that it could be read on it's own and enjoyed without having read the previous books.  In this book, Enola sets out to solve a mystery that has been brought to her brother, Sherlock Holmes.  A young woman has come to Mr. Holmes because she has received a letter telling her that her twin sister has suddenly died and been cremated.  Leticia does not believe that her sister has died, and when they learn that the death certificate was forged, they decide to look into the case.  Who will learn more and solve the case, young Enola, or her famous older brother?  In a time when women were not even supposed to travel alone and were treated as property, can girl power save the day?  This is a fun to read book and a nice addition to the series. 

Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune

 

This book is total awesomeness!  It made me laugh out loud in parts and brought tears to my eyes in other parts.  After workaholic Wallace dies, a fact that he has a difficult time coming to terms with, a reaper named Mei takes him to a tea shop owned by a man named Hugo, whose job as a ferryman is to escort the dead on to whatever lies beyond.  Wallace doesn't want to go, and as he spends time with Hugo, Mei, and some other dead folks, he learns a great deal. Klune is  one of my favorite authors.  I have loved all of his books and this one is absolutely fantastic!   

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

 

This book is an excellent conclusion to the Practical Magic series.  Kylie and Antonia Owens were raised without knowledge of their family's magic - or it's curse.  When Kylie's love is threatened and she learns about and sets out to break the family curse, the magic begins anew.  I thoroughly enjoyed all the twists and turns in this magical journey and I highly recommend this book.

Ashfall Legacy by Pittacus Lore

 

I totally loved this book as much as I have loved the author's previous books.  Sydney, a teenager who has been on the run his whole life with his mother, has finally been caught and now he is on a mission into outer space to find his father, who is an alien from another planet.  There is mystery and intrigue in this fun to read science fiction novel! 

The Halloween Moon by Joseph Fink

 

There were many things that I liked about this fun middle grade horror story.  I like that 13 year old Esther, the only Jewish student in her school, loves Halloween because her grandmother also loved Halloween.  I enjoyed the scary things that happened on that Halloween with a full moon, and I liked the dentist. 

The Boy Who Lived in the Ceiling by Cara Thurlbourn

 

Freddie is a homeless teenager whose family has rejected him.  He feels hopeless and unworthy.  Violet had been happy and popular until she had to leave her friends and go to a new school and is bullied.  Due to circumstances that you can read about, Freddie winds up living in Violet's attic, although she and her family are not aware that he is there.  When they do meet, they slowly become friends and help each other with their problems.  The story is heartwarming and it takes on the issues of bullying and homelessness.

The Quest For The Golden Arrow (Time Stoppers #2) by Carrie Jones

 

When Annie Nobody, who now knows that she is a Time Stopper, awakens, she feels like something is wrong.  Soon, she and her friends - Eva the dwarf, Bloom the last elf, and Jamie, who might be a troll discover that Miss Cordelia, the magical Time Stopper, who is now Annie's guardian, after a long string of foster families, is missing.  Together, Annie and her friends have to save Miss Cordelia from the evil demon Raiff.  Action and adventure abound in this second book in this fun, middle grade series.

The Agony of Bun O'Keefe by Heather Smith

Fourteen year old Bun O'Keefe grew up isolated, neglected and abused, living with her mother, who was a hoarder.  When her mother told her to leave, she did, and was taken in by a group of young outcasts who helped her learn how to live in the real world.  The story is tragic and funny and touching and the characters are lovely and horrible and I highly recommend this book.

Feed (Newsflesh #1) by Mira Grant

 

It is the year 2040 and a virus that turns the dead into zombies has changed the world.  Georgia and her brother Shaun are journalists - bloggers who feed the news to the world.  When they and Buffy, their tech guru and poet, are hired to join a presidential candidate's campaign, it seems like the best thing ever.  Their ratings soar, but so does the danger.  Because I read this during the Covid pandemic, it really seemed to touch on a lot of valid points and is eerily and sadly close, in many ways, to reality now.  I thought the book was awesome and I look forward to reading the other books in the series.

Flas Fire (The Extraordinaries #2) by T.J. Klune

 

Like the first book in this series, Flash Fire is a fun to read, laugh out loud, feel good book.  Nick and Seth continue in their relationship and a couple more Extraordinaries appear on the scene bringing in some humor and intrigue.  The book is heavy on social issues, but still manages to be a fun and fabulous story. 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

 

Can octogenarians solve crimes?  These four want to.  In this laugh out loud tale, a group of retirement home dwellers has the wonderful opportunity to solve a murder!  What fun! I listened to the audio version of this book and it was delightful.  I highly recommend it. 

Nyxia by Scott Reingten

 Emmet and nine other teenagers have been recruited by a company to go to another planet and mine it for a valuable substance that is only found there.  The teenagers are trained to fight and run the mining equipment.  The training is brutal and highly competitive.  The story is filled with action and mystery and I enjoyed it so much that I had to read the next two books as well.  I highly recommend it.