Someone You Can Build a Nest In

Well, I did not expect this novel — about a (female) blob monster who falls in love with a (human) woman and decides she wants to lay her eggs in her body, after which her offspring would devour her from the inside out — to be one of my favorite reads of the year. And yet! What fun this was!

Service Model

Adrian Tchaikovsky is trying to do a lot here, and insofar as his intentions go, I think he succeeded — Service Model is a funny, voicey book that hits its themes home. Unfortunately, the execution was just not for me.

Wild Houses

Maybe I’ve read too many books with a similar setting, character archetype, and mood, but I didn’t feel like this one did anything compellingly new for me; it was just another well-written book in its subgenre.

Alien Clay

This is objectively good storytelling that is unfortunately not well aligned with my taste in books — I just don’t love hardcore alien world scifi. So it’s not a new favorite, but I enjoyed it enough to easily finish it!

The Art of Vanishing

The Art of Vanishing is a book about a woman who gets a night shift janitorial job at an art museum and, upon realizing she can somehow step inside the paintings, falls in love with one of the subjects. It’s a fast read and very fun — I think it would make a GREAT beach read this summer.