Summer 2026

Rutabaga's Reads 2026: Part 7

It is a commitment to begin a new series, but this one is comprised of short novels. I tend to gravitate toward fantasy stories, so this series is right up my alley. As of this posting, there are 11 published books with the twelfth slated for publication early next year. I plan to read and review each of them. Thanks to my coworker, Brittany, for the recommendation!

            FYI: The write-ups are in chronological order.

Every Heart a Doorway (Apr. 5, 2016) by Seanan McGuire.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

There sits an elegant manor. It houses Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. Eleanor – once little Ely West – has a door that remains open, though that is not the norm for most who cross the threshold of her house. They come desperate to return to the worlds they have visited. They are desperate to find their doors. This includes Nancy Whitman, who’s just arrived. She went to the Halls of the Dead and plans to return to the darkness and stillness and right otherness of that Underworld. All this color and fast movement is as nonsensical to her as terms like Nonsense, Logic, Wickedness and Virtue (world types). But Nancy’s only just arrived, and three students are murdered in quick succession. Who’s an easier target to blame than the new girl with darkness in her veins? Fortunately, Nancy has comrades in Kade (Prism: a Fairyland), Jack Addams (the Moors with a mad scientist) and Christopher (Mariposa/Country of the Bones: a world of happy, dancing skeletons).

            Here is a gothic fantasy series opener for adults that is a grown-up version of holding childlike imagination. When one door closes, the door each of these people want may not actually open again. Or it may be lurking, but the traveler isn’t looking in the right place. This short novel is a gem of darkness, yearning and hope. The story can be mean, and it isn’t typically pretty. It’s a portal fantasy that’s “Grimm” but strangely charming, too. It is for every person who’s ever felt out of place, but I hope you, dear reader, don’t have to portal to another world to find your home.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (June 13, 2017) by Seanan McGuire.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

When Chester and Serena Wolcott got pregnant, it was for the convenience of a handsome baby boy or a beautiful baby girl. When they were told they were expecting twins, they were smug about the idea, how it “smacked of efficiency.” Instead of a girl and a boy, out came two girls: Jacqueline and Jillian. While Louise Wolcott (a.k.a. Gemma Lou) tried to raise them with love, she was kicked out by her son after five years. The twins were given a type according to their parents’ whims: Jacqueline got the frilly dresses and long tresses, while Jillian got the pixie cuts and sports gear. When they’re 12, Jack and Jill open an old steamer trunk holding an impossible stairway instead of clothes and costume jewelry. They find the Moors. They are promised three safe nights, but Jack leaves with Dr. Bleak after only one, and Master despises being selected second. Jill had already chosen him, though. The same of face, Jack and Jill are competitors as well as companions, but here, where a vampire and a mad scientist reside, they are as different as night and day in a land of eternal twilight. Jack learns of love from Alexis, a plump, well-endowed teen whom she and Dr. Bleak once resurrected, but Jill does not. Yearning to become Master’s daughter, she chooses ruthlessness. She also chooses desperation, and it has devastating results for the both of them.

            While someone could read this without reading the first book, I’d still start at the beginning. Jack and Jill are 17 in the series starter, but this is the story of what happened first. It gives context to why they wound up at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. The Moors are dark and fantastical, but they aren’t the only land through that doorway, and I do wish more had been said about the werewolf lords of eternal winter in the mountains and the Drowned Gods of the sea. McGuire’s prose is lyrical even when upset and is lush in its discontent. The second short novel in the Wayward Children Series is richly crafted, a gothic fantasy charmer with horror always at its heels.

Beneath the Sugar Sky (Jan. 9, 2018) by Seanan McGuire.

<This is the third novel in a series.>

<Alert: Potential spoilers ahead.>

A girl falls from the sky and lands with a splash in the pond behind Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, her sugary dress dissolving and leaving her [confidently] naked. The girl is Onishi Rini, from Confection, a “land of the culinary art become miracle.” She is looking for Sumi, her mother (who was in political exile per the Countess of Candy Floss), not expecting to hear that her mother was murdered. Rini is from a Nonsense world, and Reality cannot stop her quest. But without Sumi existing, Rini’s story is dissolving. Rini sets off with Kade (Goblin Prince: Prism), Cora (Mermaid: the Trenches), Christopher, beloved of the Princess of Skeletons (Mariposa) and Nadya (Drowned Girl: Belyyreka). They travel to the Land of the Dead to meet with Nancy, who was at the Home, but was able to find her door again, but there is a cost. One of them must stay behind. With Sumi’s walking skeleton (it cannot talk and has no soul), the group falls into Confection. Literally. Here, the world rearranges itself so that anywhere is within a day’s walk from one’s starting point: “A good day’s journey is like baking soda: use it well, and the cake will rise up to meet you.” To everyone’s dismay, they’re captured by the Queen of Cakes’ soldiers. Without Sumi to overthrow her, she’s back in power. They’ll have to escape a jail of baked gingerbread bricks “glued” together with hard-packed frosting and trick the cakey queen if they’ve any hope of finding the mythical Baker and baking Sumi back to life.

            The third in McGuire’s Wayward Children Series is a magical, restorative tale of adventure, baking and friendship. The gothic portal fantasy exists with reality, even when reality for one world is nonsensical to another, and this story homes in on a character’s struggle with self-acceptance as readers are wooed by robust and zesty prose. This installment is another diverse one, and it happens to contain a world where milk grows on trees and candy corn farms exist. It’s a world where brownies are perfect treats that also double as roofing materials. It’s a world where the Wizard of Fondant can whip up sugar traveling beads. It’s a world where one might go to great lengths to save Confection, even if it means, “I was just a candy shell filled with shadows.” Most importantly, it’s a world where “...everything was different, and everything was finally the same.”

"A Touch of Blood" by Sajni Patel

A Touch of Blood (Feb. 25, 2025) by Sajni Patel.

<This is the second novel in a duology.>

<Note: This novel does contain a trigger warning.>

“Potent. Deadly. Inevitable.” Before Manisha was sent to hide on the floating mountain, her elder sister, Eshani, made a deal with the shades to provide safe crossing across the marshlands for the naga during the Fire Wars. Now years later, the shades expect Eshani to fulfill her promise and seek to bring her to the Nightmare Realm and the Gatekeeper. The “little goddess of spring” is said to be the key to fulfilling the Nightmare Realm’s prophecy, and the Shadow King wants her, because he covets immortality. Eshani is separated from Lekha, whom she raised from a scared kit (she’s a golden tiger), and is stolen to the realm and chased by monsters. She must evade the Shadow King, a brutal being who thinks Eshani’s fertility is part of the prophecy. The Gatekeeper, meanwhile, has his own problems. Hiran isn’t supposed to be alive, having been immolated as a child by his own half-brother, the current Shadow King. His sister Holika, a dreamreaver, also lives, though her physical form lies captive at the bottom of the Court of Nightmares’ pool of dreams. The Gloom follows Hiran everywhere (and has a dark sense of humor). Hiran refuses to meld with it, as he fears that he’ll become as monstrous as the current and former Shadow Kings. The Nightmare Realm isn’t overly partial to a particular Shadow King so long as there is one, and it will get what it wants. The hidden stowaway, long thought dead, and the science-loving nagin must save entire worlds.

Patel’s YA dark fantasy/mythology tale is as lush as it is sinister with vivid world-building and slow-churning affection. It combines the Indian mythology of the naga and the Greek mythology of Persephone. There is dark rage and the light of healing. As with its companion in the duology, there are upsetting scenes, and I wouldn’t recommend this story to anyone who gets queasy easily. The fury and survival is terrifying and compelling. Eshani’s journey is tragic but also triumphant, and reading her story is intense. Destiny is calling Eshani and Hiran. For one, a kingdom awaits, and for the other, a goddess arises.

            P.S. As I understand it, this is still considered a duology, but the author has clearly set up (Eshani’s twin) Sithara’s story and the conclusion to the Fire Wars. Fingers crossed!

            Book One: A Drop of Venom

Rutabaga's Reads 2026: Part 6

Welcome to this first edition of adult fiction titles for 2026. I actually have more adult fiction than usual plotted for this year, but some are saved under different nicknames and not specifically as adult fiction posts. Stay tuned, my fellow readers! I didn’t plot the post this way, but each of the short novels is from a Japanese author.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Nov. 17, 2020) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

   Geoffrey Trousselot, translator.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

Clang-Dong. Customers at Funiculi Funicula can go back in time, but there are unbending rules to be followed, including the one that states the trip will only last until the coffee gets cold. The cafe in Tokyo is small and unassuming, but it’s significant for four people one sweltering summer. She knows she can’t change the present, but Fumiko Kiyokawa still wants to tell her boyfriend Goro Katada how she feels. Kohtake, a nurse, wants to retrieve a letter from Fusagi, her husband battling dementia. Yaeko Hirai runs a successful bar after leaving her family’s inn, but is desperate to connect with Kumi, a sister six years her junior. Kei Tokita, the wife of proprietor Nagare Tokita, wants to travel to the future, but not to know if she’s alive. She knows her heart is weak, and she isn’t afraid of dying. They will be guided by Kazu Tokita, cousin to Nagare, and the only one who can serve the transporting coffee. There’s also a teenage girl looking for someone, but no one knows who she is when she turns up in that seat, the one normally occupied by the woman in the white dress (she’s a ghost). It remains to be seen if the travelers will find the answers they’re looking for, but one thing’s for sure -- they must all return before the coffee gets cold. Clang-Dong.

            The first in a series of the same name is a short, adult fiction, Japanese literature novel centering on magical realism and time travel. It’s as immersive as one’s favorite cup of hot coffee/tea/chocolate and is wistful, delightful and totally individual. It’s also heartwarming and heartrending, and it made me teary, but I can’t deny its charm and simple beauty. The story is engaging and highlights the power of human relationships and love. Based on one of the cafe’s rules, it reminds readers that you can’t change what’s already happened, but you can change yourself.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop (Aug. 20, 2024) by Mai Mochizuki.

   Jesse Kirkwood, translator.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

Welcome to the Full Moon Coffee Shop. There are no set hours, no fixed location, and it typically appears without notice. The shop is currently appearing under a Kyoto moon to people feeling lost who are also interconnected. The shop doesn’t have a menu, but guests will be served by talking cats who will discuss astrology and natal charts and say things like Mercury is in retrograde and With Venus in your fifth house. There’s Mizuki Serikawa, a scriptwriter down on her luck, Akari Nakayama, a director who isn’t as goody-goody as she presents herself despite the perfectionism she places on herself and others, and Satsuki Ayukawa, a lead actress crumbling under a public scandal. There’s Jiro, a stylist whom someone hasn’t admitted she has romantic feelings for, Takashi Mizumoto, co-owner of M Y Systems and its server security engineer who feels like things go wrong more for him than his partner, and Megumi Hayakawa, a hairdresser who’s made a rather impulsive career choice based on a dream. They will be served delectable, otherworldly treats like Astral Milk from the Milky Way, Aquarius Trifle, Mercury Cream Soda and Sunrise Syrup (none of which can be replicated with regular, mortal ingredients). It may be served by Master, a six-foot tall tortoiseshell cat; Caelus, a Singapura; Cronus (Saturn), a tuxedo cat; Venus, a Persian; or Mercury, a Siamese. With varying personalities and cryptic wisdom, these working lost will reclaim their paths.

            Although I don’t drink coffee, I do love cats, and with cats on the cover, I was drawn to this short, adult fiction novel of contemporary fantasy and magical realism. It’s a cozy Japanese literature story and a gentle one. Even though I’m not into astrology, this tale is charming and well-crafted. Reading it goes down smooth like a luscious milkshake and dazzles like diamond stars in the night sky. Clever celestial confections, unruffled fantasy and enchantment create a feel-good story, despite the woes of the human characters. The magical cats are a delight, too. I will be continuing this series.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (Oct. 8, 2024/US edition) by Hisashi Kashiwai.

   Jesse Kirkwood, translator.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

In this second helping, Chef Nagare Kamogawa and his adult daughter Koishi continue running the unassuming but incredible Kamogawa Diner and the Kamogawa Detective Agency, respectively. Nagare’s turned his past as a former detective and his passion for food into a culinary sleuthing business. He serves a mouthwatering set menu to first-time customers. They might be served miso-marinated pomfret, deep-fried Manganji peppers, hamo eel and chilled tofu, but they seek lost recipes. An Olympic-level swimmer looks for nori-ben (nori seaweed on a bed of rice) made by his estranged father as a gray pantsuit-ed woman always in a hurry looks for a Japanese-style hamburger steak recipe that she thinks her father made. A couple who run a traditional bakery are hoping for a Western-style Christmas cake as an offering for their young son’s shrine (he died in a car accident six years ago) while a model friend longs for fried rice made by her deceased mother. A managing director of a printing company seeks ramen from a yatai (food cart) existing during his university days over 30 years prior and a singer pursues ten-don (tempura served over a bowl of rice) she once had after her one hit from a restaurant that’s no longer open. Each of these characters longs for lost recipes. They need help finding them again.

            When you’re on Karasuma and reach Higashi Honganji temple, turn onto Shomen-dori to find the tucked away Kamogawa Diner. The second novel in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series is as comforting as rich hot cocoa and as healing as any balm. The adult fiction, cozy mystery highlights the marvel of delectable food. I love the details of the served food as well as the found food. This short novel is easy to devour with a lot of flavor and nourishing to boot. The only unfortunate part isn’t the story, but the lack of any Japanese restaurants near me.

            Book One: The Kamogawa Food Detectives

"The OKs Are Not Okay" by Grace K. Shim

The OKs Are Not Okay (Mar. 3, 2026) by Grace K. Shim.

<This is a standalone novel.>

She’s the life of the party. Truly. Seventeen-year-old Elena Ok (pronounced “Oak”) is such a financially savvy, socialite party “it” girl that people and companies pay her to appear at their events. After turning a What’s that? embarrassment as a 14-year-old into a trademarked phrase, Elena has artfully and carefully curated her perfect self. From her luscious hair to her dewy skin to her toned physique, she is the envy of all, and she adores the attention. Her livelihood depends on social media and being in the spotlight. All of that comes crashing down when It’s Ok! (pronounced “Okay”), the fast-fashion family business, comes under scrutiny from the IRS. Their fortune is completely gone, except for what Elena has earned on her own, which is considerable, but not close enough to keep them in luxury. Elena, Gavin (her big brother) and their parents, Dale & Gloria, end up on a dusty plot of land that Dale & Gloria own. It’s in (fictional) Blaire “... in central California, west of Bakersfield, north of Santa Barbara.” Population: 150. It’s in a National Radio Quiet Zone, and now their family “vehicle” is a two-seater tractor, as vehicles in this zone need to run on diesel.

            Elena is distraught over their circumstances and suddenly having to live like “regular” people. Not only is she stuck in the middle of nowhere without Wifi and all of her fluffy conveniences, her parents and Gavin seem to take to their Korean farming heritage with ease, while their family dynamics unravel. It gets better meeting fellow 17-year-old Callie Hartford, lifetime Blaire resident and intern at the Blaire Observatory, and she really likes meeting Brennan, an observatory intern from NOVA (Northern Virginia). She even discovers, albeit in an at-first unwilling, dragging-her-feet sort-of-way, that her entrepreneurial spirit helps sell more at the farmers market. She’s got business savvy, but no one in her family acknowledges it. Their parents enthuse over Gavin, who’s set to take over the business someday, but he’s got a big secret, too. Out of the crumbling, the Oks must find a way to rise to new successes.

            I read the entirety of this YA contemporary, realistic fiction novel, but I struggled for much of it. For Elena’s mom to be surprised at what her daughter doesn’t know about anything in the kitchen is ridiculous, because it’s by her parents’ own hiring of nannies and personal chefs, etc., that Elena’s never had to do anything for herself except make herself pretty. Elena is also incredibly self-absorbed, beyond anyone I’ve met in real life. My parents would never have tolerated such behaviors or attitudes, and I won’t, either. To be fair, there is self-discovery, but it comes pretty late and at the cost of Elena hurting others. The novel also shows that hard work does pay off and this fish-out-of-water can find understanding within her family. I get that not everyone can manage farm/rural community life, but sheesh, this girl needs to learn basic life skills.

"The Escape Game" by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss

The Escape Game (Apr. 7, 2026) by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss.

<This is the first novel in a duology.>

In the finale of the fourth season, contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered on set. Six months later and season five is now underway, and there is one standout team right out of the gate. Not for their solve times (which are dismal) or their immediate camaraderie (nonexistent), but for Sierra Angelos, younger sister of the deceased and one of multiple suspects in Alicia’s murder. Sierra wants justice and prize money as she distrusts everyone and hides behind thick makeup. Also on the team are Aditya (Adi) Parvesh, the cryptographer with the face of a model; Carter Kelly, the math whiz and highest-ranking Solve Specialist on the Domain; and Beck Matheson, dexterous synesthete (he can taste sounds) and aspiring game master. As Team Helsing starts uncovering clues and someone on the Domain going by the Real Game Master says all will be revealed in the finale, it’s clear that the stakes are deadlier than they imagined. To win this season of Hitflix’s The Escape Game, the team will also have to survive. Nothing is as it seems.

            The opening story in a contemporary YA, murder mystery thriller is sarcastic and sharp with treachery, drama and some of the best escape-room puzzles imaginable. As soon as I started the novel, I knew I was going to enjoy it. Untimely death isn’t a delight, but the writing is consuming, the solve story is nonstop, the drama is compelling, the room maps provide a nice visual, interviews punctuate the steady pace, and the puzzles are complex. But be wary, for those puzzles might get you killed. Thanks to this topsy-turvy page-turner with its twists and turns, I’ll definitely be putting the sequel on my TBR!

Rutabaga's Reads 2026: Part 5

It’s time for the first Christian/inspirational compilation post of 2026. Hooray (if you read that genre)! For those who read from this genre, who are your favorite authors? What or who inspires you to read these books?

All Booked Up (Mar. 17, 2026) by Melody Carlson.

<This is a standalone novel.>

Widowed for almost 18 months, 61-year-old Riva Owen lives in a historic Victorian house that’s been in her family for three generations, but she can hardly afford to keep living there. Riva doesn’t want to give up her impressive personal library. Her daughter, Kenzie, clearly a minimalist, tells her to have a book-burning bonfire (horrifying) and sell the place. Riva can’t just leave the decades of memories nor her books. On a prayerful whim, she opens up her home to renters. Women only. There’s Windy Brewer, who excels in the kitchen and the garden. There’s Laurel Wright, Riva’s friend who’s got her eye on Marcus Millican, Windy’s retired-teacher-slash-handyman big brother. Then comes Fiona Harris, an Irish fiddler who works at her relatives’ bistro. And finally, upon Laurel’s recommendation comes Kitty Brinson, salon owner and woman of a certain age who acts and dresses like she’s a 20-something. Going from one personality in a lonely home to a handful of personalities creates chaos. It’s mostly manageable, but Kitty is the firecracker, especially when she’s been drinking. She’s ultra self-absorbed even as her life is a mess, and she’s especially cruel to Laurel, including honing in on Marcus for herself. Marcus doesn’t seem romantically interested in Laurel or Kitty. Is he interested in ... Riva?

            The latest from Carlson is a Christian fiction, contemporary romance that is expectedly wholesome. There are themes of grief, found family and navigating different personalities under one roof. It’s a story where a bibliophile widow continues to work through grief while suddenly taking on the responsibility of landlord, and it’s also a story of taking second chances on oneself. Fictional Greenwood, Oregon, hosts unexpected changes under this roof, and there’s frustration as well as compassion, uplifting compliments and not-so-little digs. There’s struggle amid enduring faith. Drawn to the book’s title, I didn’t care for the book as much as I hoped I would. Much of it was Kitty, but it was also in part because the main characters are closer to my parents’ generation, so of an age range that I haven’t yet experienced but will, hopefully, one day (just not too soon, please).

Final Approach (Aug. 5, 2025) by Lynette Eason.

<This is the final novel in a series.>

It’s vacation time for Air Marshal Kristine Duncan and her friends. Kristine is on duty when a hijacker tries to get into the cockpit of their plane. Also jumping into action is FBI Special Agent Andrew Ross, and together, they thwart the attack and the plane returns safely to Lake City, North Carolina. Kristine and Andrew both acknowledge to themselves that they’d like to get to know the other, despite personal baggage, but first there’s an investigation to sort through. The two – with their colleagues and friends – are confused from the start. The hijacker only took the “job” out of desperation, but someone else was on the plane watching him. The connection between them is unknown. Andrew’s undercover friend resurfaces and is in danger, but it turns out that the target might not be the undercover agent. With shots coming from different directions and being run off the road, at least one someone is out to interfere with Kristine’s and Andrew’s lives in a big, big way. Then there’s the interference in their personal lives. For years, Kristine has been the moderator between her siblings and their dad, who’s become increasingly controlling since their mother died (and she blames herself for). Andrew is concerned about his parents taking in his wayward cousin with his drug (and therefore money) issues. Their skills will be necessary and vigilance is key to finding truth and justice.

            The final Christian romantic suspense novel in the Lake City Heroes series does not disappoint. It’s an adventure ride right from the launch and doesn’t slow down until the story concludes. Families are complicated, and this story demonstrates that, partly in an unexpected way. The leads must traverse guilt while also sifting truth from trickery. For those who enjoy edge-of-your-seat storylines and clean romance, this series with its satisfying conclusion is sure to sate your literary palate, at least until you pick up your next book!

            Book One: Double Take

            Book Two: Target Acquired

            Book Three: Serial Burn

A Lesson in Propriety (May 20, 2025) by Jen Turano.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

The family’s fortune has been stolen, her fiancé is now an ex, and Miss Drusilla Merriweather’s New York Four Hundred life has been upended. All she can think to do to provide for her mother and younger sister is to open a finishing school on an allegedly haunted castle estate in Chicago that the Merriweather sisters have inherited from an eccentric aunt whom they haven’t seen in two years and is rumored to be dead. There’s a seedy underworld containing unscrupulous developers coveting the valuable land the estate sits on, alarm goats in the spooky home and a neighbor by the name of Mr. Rhenick Wittenbecker. He’s a charming architect who considers Aunt Ottilie his friend but missteps when he proposes that he can solve Drusilla’s problems by declaring they should marry when they’ve only just met. Drusilla forgives him his blunder and declares that he should never broach the subject of marriage again. Trouble is, he’d really like to court this woman whom he finds most extraordinary (yes, all four of his younger sisters were surprised when he used that word, too), and Drusilla is surprised to feel disappointment when he doesn’t. Can this improper proposal be turned proper and the seedy characters of Chicago dealt with so that the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies can open?

            I can already tell this new series from Turano is going to be a fun one. The Christian fiction, historical romance with its strong female characters, laugh-out-loud banter and mischievous antics set in the Gilded Age is witty and fast-paced. The characters are easily distinguishable and human in their imperfectness. Rhenick stumbles with his spur-of-the-moment proposal, and Drusilla maybe shouldn’t be allowed a firearm. The story is gallant, heartfelt and thoroughly charming. The threatening situations never feel particularly dire, but that’s acceptable in this mostly lighthearted novel. I look forward to the second installment!

Rutabaga's Reads 2026: Part 4

Here I am with the first young-adult (YA) compilation post for 2026. If you read YA fiction, what do you like about it that has you reading it? What can get on your nerves when it comes to YA?

And the River Drags Her Down (Oct. 7, 2025) by Jihyun Yun.

<This is a standalone novel.>

Ancestral magic follows the female line, but there is a strict rule that one will never resurrect departed humans. Soojin Han and her older sister, Mirae, followed that to the letter, even after their mom died when her car went down an embankment. It’s six years since that accident and now one year since Mirae drowned in the local river that runs through Jade Acre, a [fictional] California town along its coast. Soojin and her dad have only grown apart since they became a two-person household. She doesn’t know how to lift others up like Mirae did and so, in desperation and with Mirae’s milk tooth, she resurrects her sister. She is overjoyed to have her big sister back, but their good friend, Mark Moon, doesn’t share her joy. As Mirae claws her way out from the earth, he sees rot where Soojin only sees vitality. And for a brief while, Mirae seems content. When their dad’s away for work during the week, Mirae cooks with Soojin and prepares her lunches to take to school. The sisters and Mark get up to tame shenanigans in the middle of the night. But Mirae grows tired of hiding. She’s restless and hungry. She needs retribution. In a town that becomes afflicted with a deluge of heavy rain, watch out. “It listens through the water. It comes through the water!” The sister Soojin brought back isn’t, perhaps, the sister she knew, but one she still loves.

            In this YA paranormal fantasy and horror novel, ancient, ancestral magic and desperate loneliness weave together to create an unraveling that is devastating and poignant. The story is grief-filled and sometimes horrible, creepy and disquieting. The plot is propulsive, the horror is mature, and the value of being well-loved is sown throughout. It’s a story of sisterhood but also of selfishness and the desperate, dangerous choices one might make to retrieve what one lost. The narrative is water-stained with darkness and decay, which makes it all the more compelling to read. This haunting isn’t for the faint-hearted, but the strong-willed, even if they come with broken hearts.

Eliza, from Scratch (May 13, 2025) by Sophia Lee.

<This is a standalone novel.>

The one thing standing between Eliza Park (Korean American) and clinching salutatorian is a scheduling conflict that lands her in Culinary Arts – a regular course – instead of AP Physics. Not only is the class unweighted, non-Honors and non-AP, Eliza can’t cook. At all. She can’t fry an egg and only knows the mandolin to be a musical instrument, clearly not knowing that a mandoline is a culinary utensil. She planned for a perfect, flawless senior year with her best friends Kareena and Meredith, but secrets kept and an academic rival disrupting the friend group has Eliza feeling unbalanced. Culinary Arts classmate Wesley Ruengsomboon (Thai American) has her feeling unbalanced, too. She’s also incredibly annoyed with his ease, skill and know-all in the kitchen. In the final period of the day, Eliza goes from star student to mortifying mess. Eliza’s high expectations push her to believe she can win the midterm cooking contest. She’ll learn from Wesley, whom their teacher infuriatingly paired her with, and from her mom. Her mom doesn’t know that Eliza’s learning how to cook Korean food for school and instead thinks she’s learning in order to become closer to the late grandmother she never put in effort to truly understand and know. This overachiever is about to learn some lessons – about life and cooking – from scratch.

            To Wesley, Eliza looks like a cookie cutter cutout of overachieving perfectionism, and she is. Anyone who’s vied for the top spot in their class understands Eliza. It’s eye-opening and frustrating in equal measure and might have some racing to convince themselves that they were never as bad as Eliza. This YA contemporary romance features an enemies-to-lovers, AAPI couple with a sweet/salty plot and a zesty cast of characters. Lee’s debut is here to appease clean romance appetites and make readers hungry for all manner of cultural cuisine. There’s a main character who doesn’t take it in stride or handle it with grace. There’s toughness and vulnerability, hidden feelings and emotions spilling over. The story is well-balanced with freshness and high school drama. For this reader who’s very nitpicky about the YA she can stomach, this one hits the spot.

The Encanto’s Curse (Mar. 4, 2025) by Melissa de la Cruz.

<This is the second novel in a duology.>

<Alert: Potential spoilers ahead.>

A creature stalks the night. It is a manananggal – a mythical creature of the Philippines that separates its upper torso from its legs when hunting – and MJ Robertson-Rodriguez must protect her kingdom as she’s also learning how to be the newly crowned queen of Biringan. She has a vivid dream in which she attacks a young couple in love. The very next day, the couple is there. Injured, but alive. They’re reporting a manananggal attack on one of their goats. MJ comes to the mortifying conclusion that she is the monster. She has no idea how this curse came upon her, and she flees to Mount Makiling with select members of her court, including Sir Lucas Invierno; Grand Duchess Amador Oscura, Sir Lucas’ promised bride; and Nix Xing, a princess of Jade Mountain. Also with their group is the delegation from Jade Mountain, led by Prince Qian, a half-brother to Nix, after he initially tries to get Nix to return to Jade Mountain by force. Prince Qian is a handsome, famed monster hunter. MJ is charmed by him and thinks she could love him someday, but her heart still beats for Lucas just as it also fills with bloodthirst. The young queen must gain control of herself lest she lose her kingdom, her crown and herself, to the viciously hungry ways of the manananggal.

            The concluding novel in The Encanto’s Daughter duology is a YA fantasy that is steeped in Filipino mythology and paranormal romance. I don’t consider it romantasy, for while it does contain kissing, there’s nothing particularly steamy about any of the scenes. I did prefer this story to its predecessor. Where MJ came across as often petulant in that story, I did not get that here, as she races to lift her curse and hide the changes happening to her. The pace is fast, the plot is tense and the tone is dark with notes of hopefulness. Aswang queen though she may be, she’s still a queen and an encanto. And unlike Yara Liliana, practically erased from the history books, MJ has friends who care for and support her. Time isn’t on her side, but her friends are.

            Book One: The Encanto’s Daughter

Poems: Presenting Haiku Poetry 4

Photo by Marta Branco via Pexels

<Each stanza highlights different novels I’ve already read this year.>

There is a return

To the Archipelago.

Grand dragons dying.

(“The Poisoned King” by Katherine Rundell)

 

Rocket to the moon.

Onasander is missing.

Infiltrate the camp.

(“The Super-Secret Mission to the Center of the Moon (Pie)” by Melissa de la Cruz)

Ancestral magic.

Mirae’s milk tooth brings her back.

Seeks retribution.

(“And the River Drags Her Down” by Jihyun Yun.)

Filipino food

At Tita Rosie’s Kitchen.

There is food murder.

(“Arsenic and Adobo” by Mia P. Manansala)

 

The Rue de Paris.

Mysterious bakery.

Need pastries and bread.

(“The Mysterious Bakery on the Rue de Paris” by Evie Woods)

Full Moon Coffee Shop.

Astral Milk. Sunrise Syrup.

The shop’s run by cats.

(“The Full Moon Coffee Shop” by Mai Mochizuki)

One can time travel

Before the coffee gets cold.

It’s in Tokyo.

(“Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi)

A library with

Book characters brought to life.

Magic and romance.

(“The Charmed Library” by Jennifer Moorman)

Isle of Ever.

Two hundred years have gone by.

Hides Evelyn’s friends.

(“The Curse Breaker” by Jen Calonita)

Lisa K.

March 24, 2026

A Poem: "Not Really Grown Up"

Photo by Disney PhotoPass 2025 with Memory Maker purchase.

Not Really Grown Up

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Is the ultimate question for our youth.

It is a question for every age,

To seek those answers like a sleuth.

But this is not a poem of convention.

It’s one of imagination and dreams.

Yesterday I was a pirate queen,

Today a designer with color schemes.

This weekend, I shall be concertmaster

At Boston’s Symphony Hall.

Next month I’ll join Cirque du Soleil,

Then to Broadway for my curtain call.

 

After that, I’ll be a mermaid

For a little, watery bit

Before a turn as a vampire,

But to drinking blood I won’t commit.

 

I’ll take a turn running Walt Disney World

And fly by Firebolt to avoid delays.

I’ll best the record for tallest croquembouche

While writing Oscar-winning screenplays.

It’ll be off to the moon for a landing

Until gravity tempts me toward home,

Where my feet will land on my homestead

And reading encourages me to roam.

Lisa K.

March 23, 2026