Audio book: We Are the Answer

Leave a comment

by Timothy J. Heaphy
Read by Matt Godfrey
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There really isn’t anything. It’s short, it’s accessible to pretty much any level of reader (or interest in politics). It’s in the Current Events section of the bookstore.

Heaphy – who was the lead investigator into the January 6th insurrection as well as the Charlotte, VA white supremacist marches – sets out in this small book to give readers advice on how to best fight the encroaching authoritarian tendencies of the US government. The basics: read, talk to your neighbors, find a community, and participate. It’s simple, even it it’s not easy.

And it’s honestly nothing new, if you’ve been paying attention for the past 10 years. Especially the last six. There’s been so much about mutual aid, about putting local over national, about getting to know your neighbors and building a community. But, for those who haven’t been paying attention (or who are just now beginning to pay attention): there is still hope. We don’t have to give up and give in to authoritarianism.

The narrator was fine – it’s such a short book, he didn’t really make an impression. I wouldn’t say this is the most important book to read about the Times we’re living in, but it’s a good start.

The Whole Wide World of Mabel Mulligan

Leave a comment

by Victoria Jamieson
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher
Release date: October 6, 2026
Content: There are challenging moments with communication with parents. It will be in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

It’s the summer before fourth grade, and all Mabel wants to do is hang out with her stuffed animals (which are WAY better than real kids) and build a treehouse with her dad. But things don’t go her way: they don’t have the money for her younger sister’s daycare, so she’s underfoot all the time. Her mother is throwing up every morning, which is very concerning – is she dying? There’s no treehouse, and instead, Mabel is getting moved up to the attic four years earlier than she expected. And, worst of all, she overheard her dad saying she was too babyish to play with her stuffies all the time.

With humor and heart, Jamieson tackles these very real issues for an 8/9 year old kid, someone for whom life isn’t as certain or as easy as we think it might be. There are ups and downs, the parents aren’t perfect, and they make mistakes. I liked that Jamieson portrayed the stuffies as “real” – Mabel had full conversations with her favorites. I liked that Mabel had a growth arc over the course of the book – she figured out how to get along with her sister, she even made a friend (one who didn’t play sports all the time), and she made peace with her parents. It was a charming book, perfect for those who are struggling with change, and want to feel like they aren’t alone.

Very sweet.

Mixed Feelings

Leave a comment

by Sara Amini and Shadia Amin
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is a mention of girls having crushes and name-calling. It’s in the Middle-Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

It’s the start of sixth grade, and Sara wants to make it the best year ever. Except that she has no classes with her best friend, she’s suddenly sprouted leg hair, and she just doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere. Part of that is because everything is awkward in sixth grade, but part of it is that she is half Colombian and half Persian, and doesn’t feel like she’s enough for either.

Then she finds the drama club and discovers that acting helps make her feel like she belongs.

The book follows the whole school year: the ups and downs with Sara’s best friend, and her making new friends; the drama of not feeling like you fit in with everyone else. There’s nothing major, really, but it does capture the tiny trials of sixth graders, especially one who is bi-racial. It’s a solid story, and one that I think a lot of kids will relate to.

Last Day Pool Party

Leave a comment

by Emma Steinkellner
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher
Content: There are some moments of bullying. It’s in the Middle-Grade Graphic Novel section.

It’s the last day of eighth grade, and several different kids ended up at a pool party, hosted by Dustin. There are best friends who are going through a breakup, the popular girl who is being forced to go by her mother and her cousin who does not want to be there, and Rosie who just wants to stop being invisible. Their worlds collide at the party, and things shake out in unexpected ways.

This was quite good. I liked that it all took place over one day, that the friendships felt real – both the BFFs that were falling apart, and Rosie’s attempt to make new friends. The art does service the story well, and I appreciated the diversity in characters. There’s nothing super exceptional about this – but it is a good graphic novel, and one that I can see kids really liking.

Heartstopper Volume 6

Leave a comment

by Alice Osman
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5
Content: There is a handful of swearing, including a few f-bombs. There is also some fade-to-black sex. It’s in the Teen Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

The final volume of the Heartstopper series sees Nick finishing up high school, and applying to university, Charlie being head boy, and everyone worrying that the friend group will fall apart as they head their separate ways.

I’ll be honest here: I kept confusing the Netflix show with the graphic novel. I thought Nick had already graduated (that’s the TV show) and that they had these existential discussions already (also the TV show). Which means, I don’t really remember what happened in Volume 5. And that this volume felt redundant. Pretty much everything in here has already happened in my brain (what I get for watching TV?). It’s always good to hang out with Nick and Charlie, though, and I didn’t dislike this volume. I just thought the story was farther along than it actually was.

I needed to get the book to finish out my Heartstopper collection. I would say I’d miss these characters, but to be honest, I’m not sure I will. I am glad that their story has come to a satisfying stopping point, though.

This is a Door

Leave a comment

by Daniel Nayeri
First sentence: “A boy named Nothing woke up on the floor.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: October 27, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: It has a fairy-tale-like feel, and there is a lot of white space. However, the words make pictures and while that’s cool, it might put off some readers.

Nothing has no parents, and isn’t regarded at all in the mountain town where he lives. (Hence, his name.) All he has is a woman he calls Nana, his mouse friend mOmO, and a dog named Pöppy. Nothing wants to find out his True Purpose, and asks Nana how. She sends the trio off on an adventure. Things Happen, and Nothing figures out that it’s not what he’s named or who is parents are, it’s who he is.

There’s not much substance to this book – mostly because it’s a fairy tale, a fable. What IS cool about this book, and the reason I kept reading, is the format. The words make pictures on the page. Like this:

It’s very visually engaging. Though, as I was raving about this to a coworker, they mentioned that maybe that would make it difficult for some kids to read. Because it’s a very involved book. Sometimes the text goes over a page turn and back again, which confused me until I figured it out. This will be amazing for some kids – they will enjoy the puzzle of it all, and the visual aspect of the book, but it will absolutely turn others off. I fall in the enjoyment camp: I found it engaging and entertaining, though it was entirely because of the visual aspect.

And truthfully, I can’t wait to see the final book.

Audiobook: Everyone in This Bank is a Thief

Leave a comment

by Benjamin Stevenson
Read by: Barton Welch
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, Everyone on This Train is Suspect, Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and some pretty graphic descriptions of burned bodies. It’s in the mystery section of the bookstore.

Our intrepid detective, Ernest Cunningham, is looking for a bank loan to start his own personal detective agency. He’s been turned down by every bank he’s tried, that is until he gets a personal invitation from a bank in Huxley. Once there, though, the bank gets held up, and Ernest, his fiancé Juliet, and eight other people are sucked into a hostage situation. Which turns into a murder mystery.

Much like the others in the series, this is a smartly written, amusing murder mystery. Stevenson has collected an interesting bunch of people, and wove their stories together in interesting ways. It was good enough that we got discracted while we were driving and missed a couple of exits. And I think Stevenson even stuck the landing – it was satisfying without being maudlin.

I really love this series, and this is a good addition to it.

Audiobook: All About Love

Leave a comment

by bell hooks
Read by January LaVoy
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: It’s challenging to read, and very honest about emotional abuse. It’s in the Creative Non-fiction section of the bookstore.

I’ve had this on my radar for a long time, one I knew I “should” read. It just turned out that I had a little bit of a window, and it’s a short read. That said, it’s not an easy one.

The basic premise is that hooks believes that people, Americans especially, don’t know how to love. And this book is all the things that are keeping people from fully experiencing love. It’s a hard book, mostly because hooks is so black and white. Capitalism, patriarchy, sure, but also our tendency to tell little white lies, to not be fully honest, to place too much emphasis on romantic love. The nuclear family divides us – we should be living in community – and prevents us from experiencing all forms of love.

It’s also one that I kind of regret listening to it. While LaVoy was an excellent narrator, I needed to see the words, and – this is unusual for me – I wanted to mark up the book and make notes in the margins. I know I will need to reread this, in print form, sometime. I just think I need to sit with it for a little bit first.

Monthly Round-Up: June 2026

Leave a comment

June came and went much too fast. I’m not entirely sure where it went, either. But go it did, and some books got read.

My favorite this month:

An Octopus Named Houdini

An absolutely wonderful little book. I’m still thinking about it.

As for the rest:

Adult Fiction:

A Girl with a Thousand Faces (audiobook)
Vengeful
Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It (audiobook)
Christmas in Austenland (DNF)
Rules for Aging and Larceny
The Starling House (audiobook)
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 7 and 8

Middle Grade:

Licorice

Non-Fiction:

Jesus for Everyone

And on to July!

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, volumes 7 and 8

1 Comment

by Beth Brower
First sentence: “I’ve yet to come up with a suitable greeting for when I see Pierce this morning.” (volume 7) and “When I came down for breakfast this morning, I found Agnes happily fussing over the stove while Parian ate his breakfast at the table, a cup of steaming coffee at his side.” (volume 8)
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Volume 1, Volume 2 and 3, Volume 4 and 5, Volume 6 (which I didn’t review!)
Content: There’s not much, though it does touch on abuse and PTSD in volume 8. It’d be in the Fiction section if the bookstore carried it.

I was talking to my husband when I was reading volume 7, and he asked what was happening, and to be honest: I couldn’t sum up the plot. It’s about Emma and her daily adventures. And he said, “So, it’s a bit of a soap opera?” and I can’t get past that. Yes, it is a bit of a soap opera. Maybe in the way that Austen is a bit of a soap opera, but Austen was concise and didn’t draw things out. I found myself losing patience with volume 8 in particular – how many pages do we need to read about Emma and her adventures at Stonecrop? Yes, I did finish the series, but by the end – especially as we got Revelations about Pierce and Islington and Emma’s feelings – I wanted to know when it would end.

And maybe that’s the rub. I enjoy Emma and the variety of people she has collected around her, but there’s no end in sight. How long can I read about Aunt Eugenia Spencer’s desire to use Emma as a foil to marry off her daughter? How long can Hawkes be mysterious and enigmatic? How long is she going to draw out the Pierce-Emma-Islington triangle (I firmly believe that there is a triangle there). How long is she going to draw out Mary’s crush on her professor? What happened to Jack? It’s just. so. much.

So, yes, I finished it, and I didn’t hate it, but I think I’m a bit tired of Emma, and I’m glad there isn’t a volume 9 just yet.