MsSarahMorgan

Book 43 of 2026: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

This was INTENSE. Incredibly suspenseful and kind of funny, but in this vicious way that feels like watching a car crash. Or, more specifically, reading the inner thoughts of the worst people on the internet. There's a feeling I've been getting recently, reading some books that are in some way about being online--I guess I just don't feel like the internet is real life anymore. Like there was a time when Twitter felt like real life, when even if most of the population was not on Twitter, everyone I knew was, and everyone in the media was, and it felt like things that happened there were really happening. And now that's gone. And aren't we all the better for it? Anyway, this book was very good, but brace yourself to dive deep into hideous envy and self-justification.

Book 42 of 2026: Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce

I read the Alanna books as a kid and loved them. Rereading this one now felt like rediscovering a forgotten key to my entire personality. Like actually this driven, hardworking, brave, rash, angry, feeling girl training to be a knight is load-bearing and can't be removed. I'm going to read everything Tamora Pierce has written and I already know it will be time well spent.

Book 41 of 2026: The Singer Sisters by Sarah Seltzer

A rich, layered family story about motherhood, secrets, and why we make art? Yes please! I read a lot of spec-fic, but when I hit on a really good realistic novel about family drama, etc, it's such a treat. I loved this one.

Book 40 of 2026: The Outlander by Gil Adamson

This is very different from the usual sort of thing I read, and really, really excellent. A young woman is fleeing across the harsh landscape of the frontier west. She's killed her husband, and her brothers-in-law are pursuing her. The story is lean, propulsive, incredibly suspenseful, and full of odd, vivid characters. I could not put it down.

Book 39 of 2026: Rental House by Weike Wang

Keru and Nate get a rental house and host both sets of parents in succession--Keru's parents are Chinese immigrants, Nate's are extremely white Americans. Wang has an offbeat, deadpan style that super worked for me in Joan is Not Okay and didn't quite work for me as well here. Overall a good, layered, interesting read.

Book 38 of 2026: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It's a classic! What can I say? This time around I particularly noticed how nobody ever responds to Mary when she speaks, which is a really good bit. I also noticed how Charlotte Lucas was right about everything, but is that really news to anyone?

Book 37 of 2026: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

This...was not what I expected. Which I think is not my fault! It was described as "witty, sexy, escapist fiction." Having read it, I would instead describe it as wistful, tense, melancholy, and ultimately quite tricky. About two-thirds of it is moody and quiet, then all of a sudden the plot gets turned up to 11. I liked it a lot, but if you go in expecting a romp you will be disappointed.