The World We Make (Great Cities #2)

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin is the conclusion to her Great Cities science fiction series. 

New York City's avatars have kept the Woman in White mostly in check - other than her taking over Staten Island. But their enemy from another dimension has not given up on destroying NYC - she has just changed tactics.

A mayoral candidate who is spreading hate and want to regain a never-happened time from the past is causing strife in the city. Strife that could ultimately change the very character of the city. Now the avatars must figure out how to keep NYC itself.

Jemisin is an amazing writer! If you have not read any of her series, you are missing out. This exciting and timely conclusion to her Cities series is imaginative and brilliant. I will read every book NK Jemisin ever writes!

Jemisin, NK. (2022). The World We Make. New York: Orbit.

Pocketful of Names

Pocketful of Names by Joe Coomer is the story of a tiny island off of Maine, and the family who lives there. 

The Island of Ten Acre No Nine is where great uncle Arno lived and based his lobster fishing. As a teenager Hannah spent her summers helping in the lobster boat for money to help with school during the year. 

While Arno and Hannah do not like many people, they get along well. He teacher her to fish and to live in live in solitude. 

When Hannah is an adult, after Arno dies, the island becomes hers. She plans to use it as a quiet place to work undisturbed. But no long after she moves in, a dog washes up with the tide.

The dog is only the first person who will invade her island - and with each person Hannah will have to adapt to having people to take care of and people who will take care of her.

Coomer has captured the feel of a tiny island in the cold sea. He makes the setting feel both appealing and isolating at the same time. 

Coomer, Joe. (2003). Pocketful of Names. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press.

A Scatter of Light

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo is a companion novel to her Last Night at the Telegraph Club - they can be read in either order. 

Aria Tang West is a graduating senior who grew up in Massachusetts. She will be going to MIT in the fall. Her plan is to spend the summer with friends on Martha's Vineyard. Instead, her father sends her to stay with her grandmother in Marin, California. 

Joan West is an artist. Her husband was an astronomer - a path the Aria plans to follow. Her new plan is to study her grandfather's papers while helping her grandmother around the cabin. 

Then she meets Steph who is her grandmother's gardener. Suddenly a who new idea opens up to Aria - the idea that she may be attracted to women, or at least Steph. 

Lo is a masterful storyteller who captures young queer love like few other authors. All of Lo's books are wonderful and should be put on hold at your library today! 

Lo, Malinda. (2022). A Scatter of Light. New York: Dutton Books.