It's the BEST time of year- Hugo Award time!

  As a reader, Book Awards are really always interesting to me.  Sometimes some really inexplicable choices are made and I'm left scratching my head, or thinking that I failed to see the beauty in a certain written work. 

   Over the past several years, I've become fascinated with the Hugo Awards.  Particularly the one given for best novel.  The Hugo's as a whole are pretty broad, there's a Best Series award, the Best Novel, one for Short fiction, Best Fanzine, Best Artist, Dramatic Presentation... the list goes on and on. 

One of the reasons I have focused on the Hugo is that- in recent years- the winners have all been really solid novels that I enjoyed. So, I of course, decided I'd read all the Hugo award winning novels. Sadly for me, the early ones... are just full of sexism, and reflect a strong lack of imagination about women's roles in the world.  It's kind of amazing how Science Fiction may reflect the times it was written in much more than it really looks to the future! 

That said, after the finalists were announced, I decided to check out ALL the finalists for BEST Novel. 

 I am glad that I did this, and I hope to do it every year. 

This was an interesting exercise as I would not have actually picked up many of these books if they had not been in the list of nominees. I enjoyed them all to varying degrees! One thing for certain, they were all well written, polished pieces of fiction. You can't really go wrong with one of these as a selection. 

    It's so hard to predict a winner. For me, my TOP top read of this bunch was The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. I never even actually wrote a full review of this! I finished this one in July which was a month of oblivion for my reading. I had the road trip, an unexpected surgery, and a complicated series of job interviews which lead me to conclude that my current employment is pretty darn good. While I still was reading, I was focused on reviewing advanced copies, so my apologies to Robert Jackson Bennett. 

The Tainted Cup is a winner for me based on it firstly being the most enjoyable one of the six for me as a reading experience. The characters are likeable, and unique. The story is a mystery set in a fantasy world with sci-fi elements (lots of personal augmentations). It was easy to follow, and fun to try to figure out who did what and when! I enjoyed the blending of fantasy and sci-fi, and feel like this one really reflects the Hugo Award. 

Do I think it is going to win?

I actually do not. 

Last week, I made a TikTok Video saying I think that Wiswell's Someone You Can Build a Nest In would be the winner.  Today, as I sip my coffee and stare at this screen, I'm leaning toward Alien Clay - which I liked, but didn't love. 

So lets go from my least favorite to my most. 

Service Model  I actually gave this a 3.5 /5 stars.  I enjoyed it but I did find the "robot doesn't understand" humor to be funny but repetitive. the novel read like it was written for a young audience, but it was not marketed for a young audience. 

A Sorceress Comes To Call.   Interestingly I loved this one when I read it.  My review says it all.  Fantasy with magic. Over time, however, I have found that while it was effortless to read, it was also easy to forget. Would I still recommend it?  Yes. Is it the Best SFF novel of 2025, I don't think so. 

Alien Clay  is a book that I enjoyed, but I found the beginning to be interminably slow. There is a lot of academic chatter, that I didn't really enjoy and thus, the lower ranking. It did show a wild imagination on the part of the writer, and in some ways I think because this one is literally the ONLY NOMINEE that's set in space, maybe it will win? 

Someone You Can Build A Nest In -  Was a really interesting read for me. Like The Tainted Cup, it's set in a fantasy type world with Sci-Fi elements. As an added bonus there was an element of horror involved, which I thought added to the book. Overall, I feel this has a very strong chance to win. 

The Ministry of Time  was a "Dark Horse" read for me. I really really really did not like the cover, and it made me not want to bother. In addition, it was heavily marketed on Tik Tok and I was not so sure about that. But, I fell in love with this novel, even though the end was a little messy and confusing to me. The reason it is sitting in my number two spot is that I haven't found myself burning for a second book. I haven't looked up more by the author, so I guess I am not entirely enamored.  

As I noted before, at the top is The Tainted Cup. 

My prediction... is swaying between Wiswell and Tchaikovsky. It would help if I knew more about the people who vote on this award, but... I'm going with Wiswell as a prediction (which will likely be wrong!!!) The award is going to be presented at World Con on August 16th! 

Please comment below  who you think will win and who you'd vote for!  

Book Review: Salvagia by Tim Chawaga

  I was very hesitant to pick this up when I saw it on NetGalley.  The cover was so cool and the premise was good, but would my own expectations get in the way? 

I am so glad I finally hit the request button and even more glad that Simon and Schuster sent me the Advanced Listener Copy.  Another Banger for 2025!

  I did a little digging about and it seems that Tim Chawaga is a debut novelist that works in tech, and does not live in Florida. Despite all that, he captured a lot of what is great about Florida and some of the less great as well. I sunk into this novel, and honestly, I slowed the narration down to the very regular 1.0 speed  because I didn't really want it to end. 

So- interlude to talk about the cover.  The design is credited to Jim Tierney. I peeped at his website and saw a ton of books I'd picked up because of the cover. Seriously!  I guess... if you want to sell me a book, get Tierney to make the cover? 

SPOILER FREE SUMMARY  because spoilers are for losers, and I'm a total winner. 

Triss is living in a future Florida that is mostly underwater. Triss is a diver and brings up thing slike air conditioners for money, but... also Salvagia - which is essentially nostalgic salvage. Just like nostalgic items are valued today for the story attached to them, salvagia increases in value similarly. 

We join Triss and the crew as they salvage a specific shoe, but after some issues with the crew, Triss discovers one of the most powerful family heads chained underwater, dead. This is a problem! The after math of this discovery leads our main character on a adventure all over Florida, with risky diving, even riskier space races with "atmo-breakers", interaction with semi-sentient machines, real estate schemes and more. Triss is caught between the Feds, the powerful Florida "families" and her obligations to her friend who's seeking a third way (you'll have to read to find out about the ways). Can Triss and company carve out a different way of living that is sustainable and free?  Well, obviously you'll need to read to find out. I do hope you'll read! 

   Things I loved about this book and want to highlight? 

- Really solid world building that is easily understood.  Chawaga starts with a foundation that many know well- Florida. On top of Florida an entirely different world is created with just enough of the old mixed in with the new that the reader can easily immerse themselves in this new Florida setting which is a comfortable combination of the old and the new.  

-I never could figure out the gender of many of the characters. This simultaneously bothered me and intrigued me.  I really wanted to know, and then I was left sitting in my thoughts about why was it so important that I know.  I liked that this novel wasn't "about gender"  but without being about gender, still gave me a lot to think about regarding gender in society. 

-Realistic while being futuristic.  I read a lot of romance, and I appreciate the genre because it is predictable to a T. (We get a happy ending, the heroine never dies in the villains clutches etc). In Salvagia I had a few moments when I realized that some places/characters were not going to be revived/reintroduced and as disappointing as it was to my heart, I liked it a lot because indeed, the world doesn't save everyone.

-Mechanical alligator.  Need I say more?  I think not. 

As a person who accidently came to live in Florida and love it for many of it's quirks and weirdness (It could be a little less weird these days!)  I really loved the imagined sunken cities, the salvagia and the typical freedom seeking folx depicted.  It seemed to capture the essence of Florida now and into the future. 

Highly recommend! 

STATS

First Published : August 2025

Pages: 272

Available as an Audio Book :YES

Trigger Warnings: Death, climate issues, blood, medical situations, violence.

Not a fully TW list, please read responsibly. 

Book Review: The Hurricane by RJ Prescott 3/5 Stars

 So, I read this because the title  "The Hurricane" fits nicely into my water theme. 

Does it have anything to do with actual hurricanes?  No. Most assuredly no. 

If I really want to spin it, I could probably discuss how often we use water associated terms to describe non-water events, people, things. I don't think I want to delve into things that deeply. 

This is an average, enjoyable sports romance set in the UK.  There's nothing unique about it at all, and for me, that was actually what made it enjoyable.  My mind didn't have to work with this one.

Emily is a broken fragile girl who remains fantastically attractive and fragile. She's struggling financially but she does have her apparent talent for math going for her as she forges ahead in her mathematics degree. Despite her very bad circumstances, she remains physically attractive and unfailingly kind and nice to every one who approaches her, all the time. 

Cormac O'Connell is an undisciplined boxer who grew up with an alcoholic mother. He's desperately seeking a feeling of home.

One day he seems Emily being kind to a homeless man, and decides she is going to be the one for him. 

And he falls hard and fast. Emily falls hard but requires some convincing. 

Together they become stronger. Predictably, both have huge amounts of emotional intelligence and their relationship quickly become bullet proof. (This is honestly the part that really is not that believable, as most folks packing that much trauma between the two of them would have more communication issues/trust issues etc, but this is a novel, it's ok!) Both of them speak to each other as if they had a degree in "trauma -informed" therapy. This novel which is a series of stand-alone but interconnected romances  was put out in 2016- which I think we can all agree was a very different time. 

I enjoyed O'Connell's obsession with Emily and I enjoyed that it was a welcome obsession. I enjoyed the moments where  together they conquered his horrid mother and her vicious step-father on the way to a happy-ever-after ending. 

Pearl Hewitt reads the novel in the audio book, and I think she did a pretty good job with the narration, though maybe I could have used a bit less of the high pitch. That said, it was a clean and clear narration, and easy to follow. 

  I learned nothing about water! 

Do I recommend?  YES - if you want a spicy contemporary romance about overcoming obstacles. No- if you are looking for anything more nuanced. 

STATS

First Published : February 2016

Pages: 432

Available as an Audio Book :YES

Trigger Warnings: Death, parental neglect, alcohol, SA, poverty, violence, sexual content, family drama, toxic relationships. 

June/July Reading Wrap up

   I seem to have missed doing a June reading wrap up. 

The beginning of July was fraught with a road trip, then came the corneal scarring issues and then boom, I had to have some surgery and thus I never did it. 

So, it's my blog.  Lets do a Combo June/July Wrap up.  Between the two months, I was so busy that I did not a significant drop off, I also had a serious number of DNF non-fiction books that just... were coma inducing.  I read a total of 28 books! 

Let's get into it! 

Statistics!

Books in Translation:  NONE.  This is ridiculous. I'm going to ahve to remedy that in August if I can. 

Books by Diverse Authors: 36% of my reads were by diverse authors. Not the best, but not the worst. I seem to be bumping that up for August, so far.  in June and July I did sink into a lot of predictable reads to sort of help with the stressors, but I still could have read more diversely. 

TOP Read for June/July?

In the end, I'm going with 

Aqueous by Jade Shyback for June 

Even though it is not the most polished read I had, I was captivated by the story and want to read for from the author, specifically the next installment of this series. 

For July? 

 Gotta be The Island of Last Things.  I loved this one, weird as it might have been!

So... in August lets see if I can move forward on some translated works and pump up my diverse reads. Alas some of the authors I believe to be somehow "diverse"  when investigated appear to be as cornbread as I am with very little indication of other "diverse" indicators. 

 But I will say, For August, I've only finished 2 books, both of them Bangers, so we'll see how it goes.  More reading escapades await!  

Book Review: Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis 5 millions stars

Sometimes a novel comes along that it so powerful, that it's hard to even talk about because, nothing I could write down could express anything coming close to the reading experience. 

Old School Indian falls into that realm for me. 

I saw this on the library's "new books shelf" and grabbed it, and checked it out on book club day.  Then I had to sit through Book Club (listening to a tepid discussion about a mediocre book written by  yet another mediocre writer) with this enticing cover just staring at me. The cover was done by Alex Jacobs and honestly, it really grabbed me.   Go check out his website because it's... really really enjoyable, stunning and just sort of surprising. Kind of wonderful in the age of those weird AI covers. 

So, this gorgeous novel rode around in my car for 3 weeks.  I didn't start it, didn't look at it much more and returned it to avoid a library fine.  I honestly- had started to have a lot of vision issues and reading actual text wasn't that appealing or easy.  I wanted to read that book, but, if wants were...

(Bear with me as this relates to the book.) 

I saw the novel again as an audio book from the library and checked it out. When I started the read/listen I was immediately pulled in and could not stop reading. 

So- as you know, I dislike spoilers. So  let's try to do a spoiler free "summary"!

 Our Main Man Abe is a Mohawk Indian. Raised on the reservation, he attended Syracuse University, met the love of his life and embarked on a life the seems deep and full and yet also not entirely of his own making. It seems he's always on the outskirts of the life he's made. He's enjoying himself, but he's mostly deriving happiness from making others happy. Eventually settling in Miami (maybe the most non-rez place I can think of in my limited experience), he is diagnosed with a rare, incurable, untreatable auto-immune disease.  This sets him up perfectly for a midlife "crisis" and coming of midlife age experience. In a rare move, Abe returns to the reservation, and considers his options. With themes of family, illness, identity, generational trauma, grief and loss, this one hit really close to home for me. The observations of auto-immune illnesses (really any chronic disease that's not well understood) and their effects on people, their relationships and life choices ( what it takes from a person, and what it might give to a person) just was so spot on and relatable that I did actually possibly, shed a tear or maybe two out of my incredibly dry auto-immune diseased eyeballs. 

If you want to know what happens to Abe - you obviously have to read the novel, because I really really refuse to spoil this one for anyone. Though I will say - it had maybe the MOST SATISFYING CONCLUSION of a novel for this entire year.  (after having read 120 or so books this year that's saying a lot).  It is so well put together, with beautiful tight writing, and surprisingly well paced that I think it's a must for anyone who's into reading current fiction, not just folks with auto-immune issues.  Every time I felt like I had a handle on "this is where this is going", I did not have a handle on it. I enjoyed being gently surprised all the way through! 

So anyway, fast forward back to my eyeballs.  What I thought was just my vision changing turns out to be an auto-immune issue to add to the Graves Disease which I already have. My eye doc was able to help me with a lot of ways to treat it and it may be getting a bit better, but my left eye may just always be like looking through a waterfall due to some deep corneal damage.  So reading this while going through that diagnosis period was kind of intense. I am extremely grateful it was available on audio as I would still be reading it in the print version. 

 This was a debut novel for Aaron John Curtis and I really really hope he has more work to share. 

STATS

First Published : May 2025

Pages: 416

Available as an Audio Book :YES 

Trigger Warnings: death, drug use, alcohol, open marriage/cheating, chronic illness, medical situations, injury.    As always this is likely not a complete list, so please read responsibly. 

Book Review Waterline by Aram Mrjoian

 

Obviously, it is still 2025 and I am still reading on the theme of Water.  I'm not sure where this is getting me, the theme, that is, but I am definitely picking up books I might have otherwise ignored.  This one was difficult to ignore because of the bright colors used on the cover. 

Secondarily, I wanted to read this because I had a good friend in my first two years of college who was Armenian.  Her mother often discussed this genocide which, of course, I had not heard about. Her mother always reminded us that "You can't give up because you don't know what will happen tomorrow"  this is in very stark contrast to my Mom who would wonder and worry incessantly about what could happen tomorrow. So, it's stuck with me. 

The novel, however... 

Has nothing to do with my college friend beyond the fact that both my friend and the novel characters were both affected by the Armenian genocide. Or maybe, if I spoke with her today I'd find out it had EVERYTHING to do with her, who knows.  

     

    For me this is an astounding work of fiction, that I think, is advertised as something that is maybe isn't. 

What I thought I was going to get- a deep look at the generational trauma of the Armenian genocide and how it affects persons today. 

What I feel I got?- A deep look at grief  and the effects of suicide within a close knit family, with a nod to generational trauma related in this case to the Armenian genocide. 

    Both of these are things worth writing about, but as I read through this book, I definitely felt that they were two different things  and that reviewers were leaning into the historical aspect very heavily, when the book just touches on it as part of the family lore. Mrjoian says that he intended that less than 10% of the novel be focused on the genocide - which I believe he achieved. The genocide itself was like a ghostly spectre sort of hovering about throughout all of the characters we are introduced to- in one way or another.  Reviewers, however, really pushed the genocide connection which lead me to think that I would be getting chunks and chunks of history. 

For me, this was a novel of a portrait of deep grief and the way a family processed this grief in the modern era. The author explores different ways to process (or not process) grief and loss and leaves space for readers to recognize themselves in characters and processes. Some characters drink, others find release in movement (hiking, swimming, sex, exercise classes) while others power forward and only melt down when it all becomes too much. The knowledge of the genocide seeps in at the corners of their minds, and affects the choices they make in grief, but a glaring direct connection isn't present- which is likely the point. Perhaps, generational trauma isn't a sledgehammer exactly, but more of an insidious process that finds us and creates core expectations and beliefs that we'd be hard pressed to explain. 

   This is a worthy read, but I can't say it would be one if you wanted to learn exact details of the Armenian Genocide. The writing is gorgeous and to the point and I'd gladly read another work by Mrjoian any time- but I might check into the topic a wee bit more deeply before diving in!

STATS

First Published : June 3, 2025 

Pages: 288

Available as an Audio Book : yes

Trigger Warnings: suicide, generational trauma, genocide, alcohol and drug use, revenge porn, infidelity, as always this is likely not a complete list, so please read responsibly. 

 

Book Review: Cowboy It's Cold Outside by Maisey Yates 3/5 stars

 Every year in July, I like to read at least one Christmas novel.  It's hot, everything here is miserably humid and just reading about colder weather is very very welcome. 

So when I saw this very cute cover over at NetGalley,  I decided to request it! 

  I'll just say - there is nothing new under the sun in this romance.  That said, it delivers exactly what the cover promises! Generally when I read romance, I'm not looking for a stunning new life revelation, so this was perfect!  We have a FMC, Sheena  who is tough as nails, but also smart, sassy and sexy.  our MMC is Denver, and he's really been living lately mostly to make amends for his Father's mistakes- some of which directly affected Sheena and her family. 

  Sheena decides it's time to call in the favor that he's promised quite some time ago. She wants help starting up a business. Despite skepticism from his family, Denver knows he's going to offer that help.  What he doesn't know is that he's going to fall for Sheena as the season gets chillier! Sheena is just as caught off guard when she realizes she doesn't like seeing Denver with anyone but her! Yates digs into themes of family trauma, guilt, forgiveness and trust. All these complex emotions are of course resolved with a little bit of love, because this is a Happy Ever After ending book!  One kind of disappointment for me is that there isn't a whole lot of ranching being done at Four Corners Ranch, but that also gives the novel a very contemporary feel as there are fewer working ranches these days and more folks in that area branching out into viable business ventures, just like Sheena and Denver are doing.  I admit, I had real expectations of branding cattle, inspecting fence posts on horseback and other "ranchy" activities.  Despite the Holiday cover, I did kind of feel like the Holiday wasn't really the emphasis of the novel and so I did not get my usual Warm fuzzy Jingle Bell feeling from this one, which detracted from my joy, but might be just exactly what someone else wants, less holiday hoopla and more healing and growth! 

This is the ending of the Four Corners Ranch series, and as a newcomer to the series, I can attest that it isn't necessary to have read the other books in order. This comes out in October, and would make a good gift for the romance reader in your life, even if, of course, that romance reader is you! This looks like a perfect gift to top off a stocking! 

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press and Maisey Yates for this ARC.

STATS

First Published : Coming October 2025

Pages: 320

Available as an Audio Book :YES planned release on same day at the print novel. 

Trigger Warnings: parental death, drug use (not on page) alcohol,   As always this is likely not a complete list, so please read responsibly.