There’s nothing like the first week of classes to just knock you flat on your ass (in the best way possible). No, but genuinely I’m very happy that the school year has started. Somehow over breaks I always manage to forget that I function best when I’m busy, and then I start classes and suddenly have a will to live again. That being said, I was running all over the place this week and only got through three books plus about 2/3rds of a fourth, but I’m not mad about it. I think my pace will pick up a little as I settle in. We have two ARCs and one audiobook to talk about so this won’t be a terribly long roundup, but nonetheless let’s get into it!
The Henchperson’s Guide to Unionizing by Marshall J. Moore (out 9/22)
This was an ARC so you can read my full review here! This is a cozy fantasy standalone about Igor, the henchman of the eccentric and unhinged Doctor, who is devoted to the Great Work of creating new life
from dead flesh. With their latest attempt goes wrong and yet another peasant mob runs them out of town, Igor and Doctor end up in Ravenwald manor, sharing the space with a witch and her familiar and a vampiric Count and his bride. As Igor gets to know Grim and Cornelia, the aforementioned familiar and bride, the three of them start to realize how they have been mistreated and learn that together they can undo the harm they’ve helped their masters cause.
This was cute, but it wasn’t really anything more than that. It’s a cute idea, the chapters are nice and quick which was a relief for my overwrought brain, and the execution was perfectly fine, but the fact is if you ask me in a month to describe the actual plot events of the book I can almost guarantee I’ll have forgotten them. It’s not a groundbreaking book and I don’t think every book needs to be groundbreaking, but unfortunately I just need a little (read: a lot of) pain and suffering in my books for me to care. Why then do I keep reading cozy books? Well, I mentioned this in my full review, but a few of my favorite books are considered cozy-ish and managed to balance that with a healthy dose of angst, so I’m always chasing that high. If you like cozy, I think this is a very solid pick! If you are a raging sadist, I fear this will not scratch the itch.
The Rest is History by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook
This is a nonfiction book based on a podcast by the same name where the creators hit on some of the historical topics from their most popular podcast episodes. It’s a wild ride through Ancient Rome, Australian Prime
Ministers, history-making pigeons, and US Presidential scandals, so strap in!
I listened to the audiobook which, considering this book is based on a podcast, I think is very much the way to go. There’s music and sound effects and some fun little bits that probably don’t translate super well to paper. That being said, I felt generally positive about this but for sure a little mixed. I got the sense immediately that this book (and by extension, this podcast) is for a certain kind of history nerd. The kind of history nerd that really likes to learn about Ancient Greece and Rome, WWII, kings/emperors/prime ministers/presidents, Winston Churchill…do you get where I’m going with this? I’ll stop being coy—it’s the kind of history that cishet White guys enjoy, and there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not really the same areas of history I’m drawn to. Man, the chapter on how cool and badass Winston Churchill was really tempted me to put the book down because I simply don’t care. I’m glad I didn’t though because there were for sure some sections that were more of interest to me like the top ten eunuchs and it was generally a nice thing to have on in the background. Some of the bits are kind of grating and go on too long (the Dan Brown chapter was funny for about five minutes and then I was just waiting for it to end) and it’s overall a supremely shallow exploration into history, but it was charming enough that I don’t feel like I wasted my time. I don’t think I would recommend it, but it was alright.
Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske (out 9/15)
This was an ARC so you can read my full review here! This is a dark academia fantasy/mystery novel about a group of scholars taking their final exam at a school for mage-healers over the course of five days.
On their first day, they enter the exam hall to find the most accomplished scholar in their cohort dead on the floor. After the first case, a series of letters from their dead classmate begins to unravel a great mystery and pick away at the secrets each of them are holding.
I’m not a mystery fan but the premise of this sounded cool and I enjoyed A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske enough to trust that this book would be solid, and I ended up liking it a lot! The mystery itself wasn’t that interesting to me, but the worldbuilding was really compelling, it had a great cast of characters, and there were some sideplots that kept me from getting bored. A story like this really benefits from strong characters, and each of our five protagonists have their own side-conflicts and complicated relationships with the others. The word is queer-normative which always gets me on board and I like the idea that healers are a really limited resource in this world. In fantasy media, healers are usually treated like they’re disposable and uninteresting, but the way that the mage healers in this book are kind of being rushed through schooling to join the workforce and are at the whim of whichever place needs them more closely parallels the reality of our healthcare system where healthcare workers are often overworked and not given enough support. This book didn’t rock my world and the mystery did make it harder to enjoy personally, but it was still pretty great and if you’re into mysteries, I think you’ll love it!
Solid week overall, considering I mostly was only able to read in short bursts between classes and work. I’m currently a good chuck of the way through The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan on audiobook, and it’s been fun to revisit one of my favorite series from when I was a kid, so look out for my review on that next week. Bodies of Magic wasn’t on the plan for this week originally, but Tor (<3) approved my request partway through the week and I jumped on it since it was being published so soon. I know this is the third week in a row I’m saying this, but I will be reading my ARC of Buzzard by Inez Ray (out 9/22) this week, and Strange Lights by Mira Gonzalez (out 10/6) will be next up if I want to read another ARC (not to be confused with Strange is the Light by Sarah Maria Griffin). I decided I wasn’t in the mood for Headlights by CJ Leede so I returned it to the library, but The Devil Knows Her Name by C. N. Vair is still on the table. I am kind of in a romance mood after wanting more from the romance in Bodies of Magic, so maybe this week I’ll get around to The Mercenary and the Mortician by Alexandra St. Pierre.
I passed my reading challenge goal months ago, butI also have a list of twenty-six books I want to read in 2026 and I have read…seven. Most of those are backlist titles and I’ve mostly been reading new releases, but I would like to get to those books so I might be reading more backlist stuff for the rest of the year. I also might make a post about the books on the list, both my thoughts on the ones I’ve read so far and why I’m excited to read the others because I think that would be good motivation. I don’t know—I’m very busy, so I’m not going to put pressure on myself and just read whatever I feel like. Reading isn’t homework and I don’t want it to be, so we’re just going to keep it fun. I hope you have a nice week (and hopefully you’re enjoying the day off)!
Have you read any of these books? Did I convince you to read one of them (or not to read one of them)? By all means, let me know what you’ve enjoyed recently or what you’re looking forward to!
Happy reading!
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