professional libby user

“Ghosts aren’t real” it’s very fair and rational that you believe that

“Ghosts aren’t real anymore” I’m about to hear a poem or very sad story

(Defining middle aged as "40+"; not counting immortal or slower-aging characters whose apparent / equivalent age is below human middle age; some estimation required.)

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo

The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

The Village Library Demon Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliott

The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst

Honorable mention goes to Swordheart by T. Kingfisher bc it's a fantastic, hilarious book, but I think the female lead is in her 30's; the misogyny that goes into the people around her treating her like an old maid is part of the story.

Still, if it helps you or anyone else, here are some trans SFF novels outside of YA and horror.

Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman

Hell's Heart by Alexis Hall (arguably cosmic horror)

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott (note: MC is not trans but a major character is)

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

Expanding to novellas I can also add

Unexploded Remnants by Elaine Gallagher

Volatile Memory by Seth Hadden

The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo

The Tensorate Series by Neon Yang

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

I actually got Notes from a Regicide as an ebook from my library a while ago but didn't end up reading it so this is a good reminder to put it on hold again, because it looked really interesting.

A few that I would add to this are:

Novels/series:

The Ancient's Bargain series by V.T. Hoang

Tales of the High Court series by Megan Derr (specifically books 3 and 4)

The Hades Calculus by Maria Ying (science fantasy horror)

Novellas and shorter:

How Not to Marry a Prince by Megan Derr

Dirt-Stained Hands, Thorn-Pierced Skin by Tabitha O'Connell

The Devotion of Delflenor by R. Cooper

Of the Wild by E. Wambheim

And that this is actually a really fun, low cost way to not only access news and larger cultural magazines, but also to get free patterns for many different crafts that you can screenshot if need be and that lower the financial barriers to entry for trying new things

From my experience working in both academic and public libraries, many libraries are use it or lose it funding-- I have to say this because a lot of patrons feel guilty for how much they use the library and how often they're using it funny enough, but the worst thing you can do for libraries is not try out new features and not use what's already given to you as much as possible.

The breeding of the astrophage to make fuel for the spaceship took so much energy that Eva Stratt paved over half of the Sahara desert, causing the weather to change in Africa and Europe. She blew up Antarctica to speed up global warming so they wouldn't die of cold before the probes could return. Stratt is playing supervillain with the Earth in the hopes that at least half of humanity would survive. After sending the three astronauts to certain death, her job is to keep humanity together for long enough to save the sun.

I think it adds a lot to her decision to send Grace away. Yes, it was cruel, but she knows what is coming for her and perhaps many of the people on the Hail Mary project. She is going to hold Earth and humanity together for decades, as people blame her for destruction and as nations in all likelihood go to war over scarce resources. Then, even if they succeed, she will probably be vilified or even executed for what she did.

like sorry but in an apocalyptic alternate-universe earth, the phrase "train of thought" is plausible even in a world without locomotives, because the word "train" comes from the 14th century, and it meant "to drag"

that's why we call dress trains "trains". because they drag. the word wasn't invented for locomotives.

it's free shipping on bookshop.org today (4/26)!

time to crack out the anti-amazon neeta. if you still haven't read Hunger's Bite, or if you read it at a library and want a copy for yourself, today is a great day to pick one up! check out some pages!

get yourself some books! support independent bookstores! or me! any books you buy through my link will also give me a buck :^)

Lady Sybil Ramkin sat off to one side, wearing a few acres of black velvet. The Ramkin family jewels glittered in her fingers, neck and in the black curls of today's wig. The total effect was striking, like a globe of the heavens.