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There is something about Margaret Atwood's writing that I just find eminently readable, and this selection of short stories is no exception. Old Babes in the Wood (2023) is a mixed collection of stories. Many of them follow the lives of an elderly couple – Nell and Tig, with themes of aging, death, and loneliness.

It's summer, but snow is falling in Tokyo. Actually, it's not snow. It's ash. Ash fills the air, strange creatures of shadow stalk the streets, and a boy with a mysterious book struggles desperately to save his little sister from a unknown illness as the world ends.

Renegades is a great read, especially if you like Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir! It has caped villains and superheroes with complicated backstories. It includes a very complicated love triangle between two heroes, with a dash of enemies to lovers. The main character Nova, is very interesting.

Steelheart is a great book by Brandon Sanderson about David who wants to avenge his father's death. His father, a great optimist to many degrees, believed that the world would be saved by superheroes. However, David's dad got brutally murdered by one of the heroes he believed in, prompting David to seek out superhero hunters and join their forces. 

Why bother with people when you could have the perfect companion? In a world where personal computers (or persocoms) have been given human form, that is the question that Chobits - the beautifully drawn, thought-provoking science fiction story by CLAMP - explores.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) begins with the story of Evelyn Wang, a Chinese American immigrant, and her race to keep her teetering family business running. A high-stakes meeting at the IRS with Evelyn's husband and father takes a sharp and completely unexpected turn, and Evelyn finds herself suddenly thrown into an interdimensional, surreal adventure.

If "ghost ship in space" sounds like a fun premise to you, then you should definitely check out Dead Silence (2022), by S. A. Barnes.

I loved this new time travel novel from Emily St. John Mandel. Covering a span of several hundred years from 1912 onwards, we are taken to moments in time connected to a mysterious time slip or glitch.

The Sparrow (1996), by Mary Doria Russell, opens in 2059, in the aftermath of a disastrous Jesuit mission to make first contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. Emilio Sandoz, a priest and linguist who is the only survivor among the mission’s crew, has just returned to Earth physically mutilated and spiritually broken.

Meg's science fiction journey to find her father is a thoughtful read. It's use of quantum physics and theology is an interesting mix. I highly recommend it and the series it is part of. One of my favorite books and authors. 

-Teen Reviewer

The new Dune movie (2022) proved to be a character development exercise.  I found myself longing for the galloping action style of the 1998 movie.  Though the action sequences were few

Winter’s Orbit, by Everina Maxwell, is an intricately plotted blend of space opera, court intrigue, and slow-burn romance. When the death of Prince Taam threatens to destroy a peace treaty that protects the Iskat Empire from alien invaders, the Emperor attempts to salvage the treaty by arranging for her grandson, Prince Kiem, to marry Taam’s widower, Count Jainan.