Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them): I usually give tons of in-person recs, but it's been awhile since I did it on here. So let me hype some of my recent reads!

I usually give tons of in-person recs, but it's been awhile since I did it on here. So let me hype some of my recent reads!

We’ve returned to the olden days, when word-of-mouth was the only real way to advertise. As an author, if you enjoy a book, please: tell your friends. Your group chat, your sewing circle, your family WhatsApp, your work Slack, the voice channel of your MMORPG guild, anything.

I picked up The God and The Gumiho and then realized it was an enemies-to-lovers plot, which usually isn't my thing... but I really loved how it was done here, and the world of Korean folklore existing alongside an urban setting in 1992 was awesome

The God and the Gumiho a book by Sophie Kimbookshop.org In this sly and dazzling contemporary fantasy, the most notorious nine-tailed fox in Korea pairs up with a trickster god-turned-detective to track down a wrathful demon . . . before it can destroy the...

Do you like ancient aliens? Deep philosophical conversations? Near-future tech? Plot structures that don't follow standard patterns of conflict? Jumpnauts has a premise that sounds familiar, but takes it in a very different direction.

Jumpnauts a book by Hao Jingfang and Ken Liubookshop.org From the Hugo Award--winning author of Folding Beijing comes a gripping science fiction thriller in which three unlikely allies attempt a desperate mission of first contact with a mysterious alien rac...

If you have been, for inexplicable reasons, thinking a lot about the costs of revolution and how to balance that with the necessity of drastic and violent change, City of Last Chances is a masterful meditation on those themes in a stunning setting. (There is also a giant murder centipede)

City of Last Chances a book by Adrian Tchaikovskybookshop.org WINNER OF THE 2022 BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL'Endlessly creative... so much invention peeking around every corner' Patrick NessArthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times be...

Hello yes I *may* have fallen in love with half of the gay bandits in The Water Outlaws. Seriously, this is probably my favorite book of the year so far, I loved it

The Water Outlaws a book by S. L. Huangbookshop.org A 2023 Pick for Vulture The Washington Post Publishers Weekly Men's Health IGN Polygon Goodreads Amazon Nerd Daily WeAreBookish Paste Books, Bones & Buffy The Escapist Paste Magazine SciFixF...

I honestly don't know what to say about The Saint of Bright Doors that others haven't already?? It's good, y'all. Go read it. Now.

The Saint of Bright Doors a book by Vajra Chandrasekerabookshop.org Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel!A 2023 New York Times Notable Book "The best book I've read all year. Protean, singular, original." --Amal El-Mohtar for the New York Times The Saint of Brigh...

If you've ever wondered how much of a cluster fuck one of those libertarian sea-steads would be, Liberty's Daughter is a great imagining of it through the eyes of a teen.

Liberty's Daughter a book by Naomi Kritzerbookshop.org Beck Garrison lives on a seastead - an archipelago of constructed platforms and old cruise ships, assembled by libertarian separatists a generation ago. She's grown up comfortable and sheltered, but s...

Just finished this one! Took a little bit to get the embers glowing but worth it in the end.

(Also, where the centipede comes from! 🫢)

YES the reveal was so fucking good