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I liked one of Tansy Rayner Roberts other fantasy series, so I gave this — the first in a series — a go, and it was good! It’s a gaslamp fantasy novella — obviously inspired by Jane Austen and other regency romances, but in an alternate 1870s Britannia, a couple centuries after Queen Elizabeth won a war against the Queen of the Fairies.

There’s a second volume out now, and two more due out this year or next.

KSR always writes compelling science fiction; this is a bit of a departure — it’s historical fiction set in the Neolithic period in France, about a shaman’s apprentice in a time when early humans live alongside Neanderthals, and mammoth, rhinoceros, bison, lions, leopards and other now-extinct animals are a constant presence.

I finished this about an hour before midnight on New Year’s Eve, and the next morning my spouse and I had a mini bookclub conversation about what we loved about both books in this Teachers in Love series. Mistletoe & Mishigas is a standalone, although characters from the first book do make cameo appearances, and is my favorite of the two — you could totally start here if you like.

I really liked the alternating point-of-view structure of this novel, because I found both leads to be adorable in their own ways and appreciated their perspectives. The holiday aspect added fun. The spiciness was just about perfect as well. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

This is the third S.A. Cosby book I’ve read — all are set in rural Black Virginia, all are very violent to be clear, and all incredible. I don’t read a whole lot of crime, but he’s one of my favorites.

The first Black sheriff in a rural Virginia county is called out to a school shooting of a beloved white teacher by a young Black man; the shooter is killed by two white deputies. The investigation reveals that a serial killer has been at work for a long time.

A compelling retelling of the story of Jesus of Nazareth.

When Maryam, a virgin and wife of Yosef, gives birth, it’s a miracle child: a beautiful girl. But at age 5, the child proclaims: “I am a boy. My name now is Yehushua.” Yosef accepts this, but Maryam cannot quite bring herself to do so.

Ryman captures better than anyone I’ve ever read what it would be like to live in the absolute poverty of first century Galilee, how it’d feel to follow a charismatic teacher, what miracles might feel like, how it might be to have the God of all creation folded down into the mind of one peasant from a nowhere town.

I’ll be thinking about this book for a long long time.