I was a big fan of Sara Nisha Adams’ The Reading List (2021) and so when I saw she had a new book, The Twilight Garden (2023), I knew that I had to read it, and I was glad that I did. Sometimes you just want a book that takes you somewhere else into someoneContinue reading “The Twilight Garden”
Tag Archives: contemporary fiction
Sex On Murder Island
Sex On Murder Island (publication day June 30, 2026) is Jo Firestone’s second Luella van Horn mystery. Luella is the private investigator alter ego of former Staten Island social worker Marie Jones. PI jobs have been slow to come by. She can’t afford her rent, so she has to move in the middle of summer,Continue reading “Sex On Murder Island”
Long Island Girls
Long Island Girls (publication day June 23, 2026) is Gabrielle Korn’s first foray into historical / literary fiction from her previous two novels, The Shutouts and Yours for the Taking, which were speculative, near-future, fiction. The novel primarily follows 17-year old Susan, beginning in 2005, where she and her best friend Katie live on LongContinue reading “Long Island Girls”
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years (2024) is Shubnum Khan’s first novel published in the U.S., but she also has published an earlier novel and a memoir. Set along the coast of South Africa among the Muslim Indian community there, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is delicious, heartbreaking, gothic historical literary fiction that hasContinue reading “The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years”
The Disaster Gay Detective Agency
The Disaster Gay Detective Agency (publication day June 2, 2026) by Lev AC Rosen is a funny mystery/ thriller featuring four friends in New York City who get involved over their heads in a situation and have to pull together to get out alive. This is my first Rosen book, and I will probably tryContinue reading “The Disaster Gay Detective Agency”
A Grandmother Begins the Story
A Grandmother Begins the Story (2023) by Michelle Porter is an inventive, beautifully-written book that tells the story of five generations of Métis women and the bison and the land they live on. The audiobook is read by a full cast of 16 different actors, who read the chapters written from the perspectives of theContinue reading “A Grandmother Begins the Story”
The Library of Flowers
The Library of Flowers (publication day May 3, 2026) by L.C. Chu (aka Lily Chu) has a little bit of everything. This hard-to-categorize, enjoyable fantasy/historical/ romance/family drama/coming of age features Lucy Hua, the latest in a long line of Hua women perfumers who can create perfumes that can affect emotion or even summon true love–calledContinue reading “The Library of Flowers”
Fat Swim
Fat Swim (publication day April 28, 2026) by Emma Copley Eisenberg (of the Frump Feelings Substack, Housemates, and The Third Rainbow Girl) is a beautiful collection of semi-linked short stories that is a celebration of fat, queer love. All of the stories are set in or around Philadelphia and feature fat and queer characters inContinue reading “Fat Swim”
While You Were Seething
While You Were Seething (publication day April 14, 2026) by Charlotte Stein is a cute, fat-positive, enemies-to-lovers hetero rom-com. The third book in a trio of standalones with some of the same characters (When Grumpy Met Sunshine, My Big Fat Fake Marriage), Seething features public relations professional Daisy Emmett and mega best-selling author Caleb Miller.Continue reading “While You Were Seething”
Cherry Baby
Cherry Baby (publication day April 14, 2026) is only the second Rainbow Rowell book I’ve read, and wow!! (I read her amazing historical YA romance Eleanor and Park ten years ago!) Cherry Baby is fat positive in the best ways, and though Cherry has to deal with anti-fat bias (as we all sadly do inContinue reading “Cherry Baby”
Reading While Fat 