I may have read 26 romances this year, but only three of them were new to me books, and only one of those was more than meh.

I never read much SF, I’m backlogged on comics (I really do need to pick up my new reading glasses), and I’m only reading a little non-fiction, so these genres get to share a single post.

Romance

After Hours at Dooryard Books (2025) Cat Sebastian

Coming as a surprise to no one who has read a Cat Sebastian book, this was excellent.

It’s not light and fluffy as it deals with grief and homophobia and the Vietnam war.

“I realize this is wildly hypocritical of me,” Nathaniel says. “But even though I’m very much against emotions when they happen to me, I think it’s possible that refusing to feel anything at all fucks you up fairly comprehensively in the long run.”

But it is good.

Patrick is doing his best to pay back good into the world after one woman saved him when he was a teenager and had no where to turn. Nathaniel has spent his life pretending to be something he isn’t and ignoring the things going on around him until he can’t take it any more.

Add to that grief, folk music, and a new baby and it still doesn’t tell you anything about how the book made me feel.

9/10

Self-published

Historical, Queer

Graphic Novel

Lady Mechanika: The Devil in the Lake (2025) Joe Benítez, M. M. Chen, Siya Oum

Lady Mechanika Volume 8

Lady Mechanika is a steampunk superhero who remembers almost nothing of her past and how she was transformed from a normal young woman into a someone no longer fully human.

You absolutely can’t start here, but you can absolutely find the earlier volumes.

8.5/10

Image Comics

Fantasy, Historical

Non-Fiction

The Drunken Botanist (2013) Amy Stewart

Have you ever wondered how we got the various alcohols we have today?

No?

You should, because a look at the history of alcohol and the plants we’ve taken up into the cause is fascinating.

8/10

Algonquin Books

Food, Science & Nature

SF

Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (2025) Martha Wells

The Murderbot Diaries #2.5

Murderbot short story, but with ART and his crew.

8.5/10

Tor

Queer

 

The Books of 2025