Audiobook: The Blonde Identity

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by Ally Carter
Read by Emily Ellet & Andrew Eiden
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs; violence; and fade-to-black sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

In Paris, in the middle of a blizzard, a woman wakes up with a headache and no memory of who she is. She finds herself caught up with spies – mostly because she looks like her identical twin sister, Alex, who IS a spy. She ends up teaming up with Sawyer, Alex’s partner, to help her 1) figure out who she is and 2) find Alex. What they didn’t expect was that sparks would fly between the two of them.

I’ve had this one on my shelf since it came out, but I just never got around to reading it. I was looking for a new audiobook, though – after I started and bailed on several (as well as print books! Gotta love a reading slump), and I realized that this one might be fun. And I was right: it was the perfect mix of action/adventure, of women being smart but also being vulnerable, and romance. I’ve loved Carter’s YA books, and this is – like she pitched it when it came out – just a grown up Gallagher Girls book. And I adored it.

It was exactly what I needed at exactly the time I needed it. (

The Year I Stopped Drawing

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by Grant Snider
First sentence: “The year I stopped drawing was the year my parents started yelling.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher
Release date: November 10, 2026
Content: There is mention of adult alcoholism, parental fighting, and bullying. It’ll be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Adam’s always been the best artist in school, but seventh grade is different. His parents are fighting, he’s struggling at school, and he’s lost his desire to draw. He doesn’t know who he is without drawing, and at the encouragement of a school counselor, he spends the year trying to find himself (and his love of drawing) again.

It’s a simple novel, but I do love the way Snider tells it. It’s peppered with his art, in many different styles, as Adam tries to figure himself out. As I’ve only read Snider’s comic strips, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this and how well he captured what it means for a kid to have their life in flux. It caught the turmoil and uncertainty of middle school especially well.

Highly recommend this one.

Rising Thunder

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by Neal Shusterman
First sentence: “The Mona Lisa was dead.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: December 1, 2026
Others in the series: Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll
Content: There is talk of assisted suicide and of murder – including mass events. There is also some mild swearing. It will be in the YA section of the bookstore.

In this prequel to the Scythe series, we follow a diverse group of (mostly) young people in the world as it struggles to figure things out. There’s Aziz, who programs a couple of AIs that are given competing directives (not by Aziz). There’s Renz, who was an eco-nihilist until he destroyed the Mona Lisa. There’s Lizzie, who has taken it upon herself to release people who are put into stasis (there’s a place called Twi-Life where, when someone gets too close to death, they can choose to go there to “wait” for a cure) against their will. There are a lot more characters – almost too many – to relate here. The book takes place over several years, as the world comes closer to immortality, and this group of people – who don’t know that they are the ones in this online message board (for lack of a better term) talking about the problems of immortality – becomes more and more invested in what the future will hold.

Much like the Scythe series, in this one Shusterman tackles the ethics of immortality and curing all disease, as well as the ethics of creating AI. I know in those books, the Thunderhead is an all-knowing, wise creation, but in this one, the competing AI – Overcast and Securis – are not that. And I found it fascinating to see the process of how the Thunderhead became what it is in the books. In fact, this is one of those prequels that’s best if you read the original series first. It gives background and worldbuilding that deepens and expands the story, which is always a good thing. I’m pretty sure this is going to be at least a duology (if not a trilogy), because the story doesn’t end; it just stops, which is a little frustrating. That said, this is as good as any in the original series, and I’m happy to be back in this fascinating world.

Monthly Round-Up: August 2026

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I got through the month reading lots of short books on audio. I don’t know why August seems to drag (probably the heat), but I haven’t really had the attention span for something really long since I finished Victorious. Ah, well. It’s the end of summer; one must give oneself grace.

My favorite this month:

Radio Free Texas

It’s the Libba Bray of the 2010s that I love, mixed with great music. I hope others will enjoy it as much as I did. As for the rest:

Adult Fiction:

Kill All Wizards (audiobook)
Victorious
Free Falling
Rasputin Swims the Potomac (audiobook)
Moon Called (audiobook)
Eric (audiobook)
Carmilla (audiobook)

Graphic Novels:

Hometown
Mexidkid Dreams

Non-Fiction:

First Light

What was your favorite this month?

Audiobook: Carmilla

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by Sheridan Le Fanu
Read by Katherine Press
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There’s not much, though there is talk of death by vampires. It’s in the Horror section of the bookstore.

In Austria in the late 1800s, Laura leads a solitary life with only her father for company. That is, until a stranger happens upon their isolated schloss and needs her daughter to stay with them to recover from her illness. This daughter, Carmilla, becomes Laura’s closest companion, her bosom friend (as Anne of Green Gables would put it). The problem is that deaths among the peasants from a mysterious disease start happening, and then Laura starts succumbing to it as well. The thing is: Carmilla is a vampire.

The tagline on the book is “the story that inspired Dracula”. I’m not sure if that’s the case, but it’s definitely a vampire story in the vein of Dracula. It’s all insinuation (it’s very sapphic – Carmilla doesn’t just want Laura for her blood, but also for herself) and conjecture. Its narration is in the form a recollection by Laura after the fact, so you know going in that she survives. It’s not gory or graphic. But it is compelling. I think that helps because of Press’s narration: she is very good at what she does. She gave the text an ominousness that helped with the vibe, and kept me interested in listening to it.

It’s also short, which is kind of what I want right now. Even though I don’t think I’m much of a vampire person (or werewolf, really), I did like this one.

Audiobook: Eric

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by Terry Pratchett
Read by Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz & Bill Nighy
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: It’s in Discworld, and the fourth in the Unseen University series. But, like all of Discworld, you can read it out of order.
Content: It’s Sir Terry. There’s nothing objectionable. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Eric is your typical demon summoner, except that he’s 14 and not very good at it. He’s attempted to summon a demon to grant him three wishes, and all he got was Rincewind, who isn’t a very good wizard at the best of times. And, in attempting to grant Eric’s wishes, they unravel time and space back to the beginning. Before ending up in hell, of course.

There’s really not much to say about this, mostly because it’s Terry Pratchett. It’s funny, it’s sweet, the footnotes (read by Bill Nighy!) are hilarious, and it’s an utterly pleasant way to spend 4 hours on a road trip. Highly recommended, especially if you’re driving somewhere.

Audiobook: Moon Called

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by Patricia Briggs
Read by Lorelei King
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs, as well as violence with a pretty high body count. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Mercy Thompson is a shapeshifter, but she was raised by werewolves, so she knows a lot about them. And so when a newly changed wolf shows up at her garage in the Tri-Cities, Washington, she knows there’s going to be trouble. And she’s right. She teams up with the Alpha of the Columbia Basin Wolfpack, Adam, but when he’s severely injured, she returns home to Montana and her first love, Samuel, for help.

First off: this is much more world-building than actual story. There was a lot of explaining (no, please: sum up!) about wolf habits, wolf law, and pack politics. (The words “I’m not pack” were uttered more times than I cared to hear.) It was a decent mystery: who was at the heart of kidnapping kids and turning them into wolves, and how they were developing tranquilizers that worked on werewolves, was interesting. But, it wasn’t a romance. Not really. Sure, there were hints of a love triangle between Mercy, Adam, and Samuel, but it didn’t really go anywhere (yet). I liked Mercy as a character – she was smart and resourceful and didn’t let the men push her around. So, there’s that. But will I read more? Probably not. It was fine, but not exactly something I really want to spend a lot of time with.

Mexikid Dreams

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by Pedro Martín
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date 9/1/26
Others in the series: Mexikid
Content: There is some general sibling rivalry and teasing, plus a raid by La Migra. It will be in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section.

Martín picks out another story from his childhood, this one of the time that his family were sharecroppers and worked in the strawberry fields in California. He writes about the early mornings, the stained fingers and knees, and the backbreaking work they did. But he also talks about the good times, the music in the fields, the time with his family, and the way they all worked together. He also writes about the financial challenges of being a sharecropper, and the desire of Martín and his siblings to not have to do this for the rest of their lives. It’s about dreaming, working, and finding oneself.

I liked this one a lot. I think it’s important – it’s good to tell the stories of the people who pick our food, so that kids know where strawberries come from, but it’s also got Martín’s trademark humor. It’s a very funny story, as well as a touching one, at its heart.

Another excellent graphic novel.

Radio Free Texas

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by Libba Bray
First sentence: “Years from now, when my screaming fans ask, Hey Bowie, how’d you get to be such a superstar, I’ll say: It all started with a stolen radio station.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: October 6, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some swearing (I don’t remember any f-bombs), as well as talk of teenage sex and drinking. It will be in the YA section of the bookstore. (I will have to put it in the Historical Fiction area, which kind of makes me cringe. I’m old.)

Bowie James Jones (Boo-ie, not BOW-ie) is a high school senior in a small North Texas town, but he really doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. His mom wants him to go to college, he knows, but he’s not sure he’s ready. Then, on the first day of school, the girl Bowie has a crush on sets off a firecracker, and Bowie decides to take the fall for her. From there, he’s sentenced to 100 hours of community service, and he chooses to do it at KEYN, a small, struggling radio station run by one Marlon Mardell, an eccentric Vietnam Vet with a huge knowledge of music. This changes Bowie’s trajectory: he discovers not only his love for music, but a talent for talking on the radio.

But it’s about more, too. Bowie ropes in his friends – both new and old – and they discover, together, what it means to be friends, to fall in love for the first time, and how to grow up.

I loved this. It was very Breakfast Club – a group of kids who wouldn’t normally hang out, being together and finding things to like about each other – but with awesome music. Bray pulls out all the stops when it comes to songs: there are lots I’ve heard of, but many I haven’t. And she leans into the importance of music in one’s life, the idea of lying down in the dark with a record playing and just letting the music wash over you. I don’t think people experience music like that much anymore, and there is something life-changing about it. I also appreciated reading a well-written YA book! I don’t know if it’s just me, or if the quality of prose has gotten worse, but I didn’t ever feel like Bray was simplifying things or talking down to her readers. She knows her audience; she is comfortable writing for YA, and she’s good at it. All of which came through.

Now you’re going to have to excuse me while I go put on a record, turn off the lights, and enjoy the magic that is music.

Audiobook: Rasputin Swims the Potomac

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by Ben Fountain
Read by Ron Butler
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs and some off-page sex, as well as talk of violence. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

This one is going to be a hard one to sum up.

President *** (It was “President Bleep” on the audiobook) is running for a third term. Except people keep breaking out in what is called “the weeping sickness” at his rallies. A professional wrestler who goes by Gregori Rasputin (who really believes he is THE Gregori Rasputin) can heal those people. Somehow. So **** brings him on. Then it gets complicated. Rasputin gains in popularity, so he decides to run for president. The White House asks a staffer, Faith, to go spy on Rasputin, but she ends up believing more in him than in ****. And then there’s Clarence Thomas (not the Supreme Court judge), an independent journalist, who gets wrapped up in all of this.

And then the book ends.

This was very much a WTF book. I think, in large part, it’s because I don’t get/appreciate/like satire, and this is satirizing something. I talked to K and R about it at dinner, and we tried to figure out what Foutain was doing – was he satirizing the willingness of the American public to go with whatever is big and popular, despite red flags? (Maybe.) Is he satirizing the nature of the current political system – the way no one was willing to stop **** from defying the Constitution and running for a third term? (Maybe.) Was he satirizing the way that politics has become more of an entertainment gig than actual governing? (Maybe.) Did he do any of this well? (Uncertain.)

I liked it enough to finish it, which is saying something (I don’t know what, though). I’m just sure I didn’t “get” it.