Book Review – Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel is the third and final novel of The Themis Files. For the past ten years, Rose, Vincent, and his daughter Eva have been stuck on an alien planet. Through Rose’s ingenuity, the alien invaders who made Themis and massacred 100 million people were persuaded to leave Earth, taking their creation with them. Unbeknownst to them, however, Rose and company were celebrating inside Themis when she was beamed away. Though initially prevented from leaving, Rose, Vincent, and Eva have managed to make their way back to Earth using Themis, where they hope they can finally return to living a normal life. Things are never quite that simple, however, and 10 years is a long time following so much destruction and so many lives lost. Humanity and their understanding of who they are in the universe has forever changed and must be reckoned with before peace can ever be attained again.

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Books on My Summer 2025 To-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. This topic is actually from a couple weeks ago. I meant to post about it then, but work has been a little busier lately and I believe that kept me from remembering to do it. At any rate, this week’s topic is a freebie for any previous topic, so I’m taking advantage of that now. I actually finished 7/10 books from my Spring TBR list this year, so I’m hoping this will be a good way to help cement what I want to be reading this season too.Read More »

New Books & Novel Discoveries (May 2025)

I managed to show a bit more restraint last month, though I couldn’t help succumbing to some random whims. I really don’t know how it is that you can decide for years that you don’t need certain books, that it doesn’t matter to you if you read them, and then suddenly your mind completely changes—for arbitrary reasons, no less.

Enough talking around it, let’s check out these books.Read More »

New Books & Novel Discoveries (April 2025)

Somehow, I went absolutely ham with buying books last month. I don’t think it’s an egregiously high number, all things considered, but it was enough to make me procrastinate writing this post. I didn’t mean to indulge myself this much, I just wound up having too many opportunities to pick up new books at decent prices. I’m once again concerned I forgot one or two, but I do believe all of the are presented below.

Let’s see the damage, shall we? I’m seriously running out of places to put these things.Read More »

Book Review – Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel is book two of three of The Themis Files. It has been ten years since Themis, a giant robot found in pieces around the world and painstakingly reassembled, was turned over to the United Nations, founding the Earth Defense Corps, which stands on guard to defend the world against extraterrestrial threats. Though Kara and Vincent, the only people known to be able to pilot Themis, are living well in their renowned positions, physicist and Themis expert Dr. Rose Franklin has struggled to come to terms with her existence, having mysteriously re-emerged five years younger than she was when she died during an explosion at Denver Airport. Her brilliant mind may not have the luxury of such a personal crisis, however, as a second, larger robot suddenly appears in London, intent on destroying Themis on sight. Unless she can figure out what these visitors want, the very future of humanity may be at risk.

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New Books & Novel Discoveries (March 2025)

Well, I haven’t left this post too terribly late this month, but I probably should’ve had it up last week. I just felt the itch for other things, I suppose. The only other source of hesitation is the belief that I’m once again forgetting some book or other that I purchased and just hefted onto the pile. I’m pretty confident that I got everything, though. It’s a weird month, because despite the number of books, it feels like I didn’t actually get very many.

Let’s see just what the heck I’m talking about.Read More »

Books on My Spring 2025 To-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. With winter already approaching its end, at least as far as the calendar is concerned, and a number of my winter to-read books completed, I thought now would be a good time to figure out what books I want to read in the coming springtime months. Though I have a lot more reading time now than I used to, my progress has been a bit slower than I would like, so I’m hoping more of a plan can help motivate me.Read More »

Book Review – Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer

Acceptance is a 2014 science fiction horror novel by Jeff VanderMeer and the third novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. With the Southern Reach having fallen and the fate of the world unknown after Area X started to expand, Control and Ghost Bird embark upon their own expedition into this anomalous landscape in the hopes of reaching a remote island that they believe may hold the answers they seek. For Control, it’s the secrets behind Area X and how to stop it from expanding; for Ghost Bird, it is the fate of the biologist from the twelfth expedition, of whom she is a copy, in the hopes of gaining closure and a better understanding of who she is separate from her progenitor.Read More »

Ten Books I Never Reviewed

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. I thought this week’s topic would be an interesting one to delve into, as I used to review nearly every book I read, but lately I’ve been reviewing maybe a handful or so a year from what I read. Looking a little further back so as to not make it too easy on myself, I was surprised to find some of these I really hadn’t reviewed, while others I still feel a pang of regret.Read More »