The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Read: Mar 18 2026

A historical fiction novel I decided to read because of my proximity to Niagara Falls. It talks about faith in what happens after death, in love, and in what you know about the world around you. The main character longs to believe in a god, a reason for hope after death. I like that its not automatic, she has to struggle with faith. I liked the time skips. It allowed me to focus on the key points of their relationship: how they met and their life together. I would recommend this.

Skyhunter by Marie Lu
Read: Mar 15 2026

I like a post apocalyptic setting where the last remaining bits of society are worshipped, revered and mysterious. Its fun to piece together the hints that the characters dont understand. This book has a mute main character. I love seeing signed language! My only qualm is that the different countries share it. In real life they're just as varied as spoken languages. Technological marvels are haunting because of the inhumane experiments it took to get there. Unfortunately, its a romance so I will not be continuing the series despite how much I want to see how it ends and how they can recover from the ending situation.

The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
Read:May 12 2026

This book was in my first haul after getting a library card for my current city. It follows a spaceship of people (capable of bearing children) on a one way trip to a new planet. Fortunately, there's no romance! There's betrayal and family issues and paranoia and not being able to trust what you're seeing. The author hold your hand throughout the book, telling you what conclusions you should be drawing. There are bird facts between chapters that are used to hint at the betrayal. The main character already knows these things so its nice to be included as a reader. The variety of genders could be complained about but I thought it was nice to not listen to solely she/her through the entire book. It drew from real life themes and a possible future, if we can hope. I wouldnt say I hope for the future the author posits but parts of it are nice. The world came together to give humanity a chance to try again. How they got there was icky, the reason we need a second chance is bad, but the hope is nice. I would categorize this as a more adult Young Adult book.
Quote I liked: "She'd already been through the worst possible things, already, in real life. Make believe couldn't hurt her." (pg139) and "She thought how there was nothing pure about love after all. How it had to get muddy with misunderstanding." (pg353)

The Vagrants by Yiyun Li
Read:May 1 2026

Halfway: This novel hasnt drawn me in so its taking me a while to finish. I've been reading in bed to help myself get sleepy. I dont like any of the characters, though they are complex and have good and bad traits. Every time they rationalize what they're doing I just roll my eyes. I cant even say I'm rooting for them. This one guy just killed an entire family and a dog in his plot to kill an entirely different dog. (Could be considered a spoiler but I'm leaving it because so far I'm not recommending this book.) The story is told in multiple points of view which isn't my favorite and is difficult to get me to enjoy. I'm a little more than halfwat through and things may be starting to pick up. There are rumors of dissent and unrest. Hopefully something happens with that.
Finished! And I do not like it more. Its a little slice of life, moment in time for this town in China. It delves into characters' minds and feelings. They are petty and scared and selfish. Only some have a hint of guilt. But maybe that selfishness is what has kept them alive in tumultuous times. Overall, I will not be rereading. Its not for me.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Read: Feb 13 2026

I've been trying to expand my palette into different genres and authors. This was one of my forays into horror. I don't know if I just didn't get it but it was only slightly unnerving. It has the tag "thriller" but that did not feel accurate to my experience. It was gorey and uncomfortable but not scary. I liked the antagonist or villain. She was so valid in her motivations. Towards the end it felt like a folk tale with rules and riddles and traps and justice.