I hope everyone is enjoying the last bits of sunshine unless you’re a cave-dweller like me and are eagerly awaiting chillier weather. I didn’t get through a ton of books this week by my standards but I really enjoyed all three of them so this was actually a great reading week! Thankfully, I’m still able to make time for reading because I would probably go crazy if I couldn’t. We have one ARC, one audiobook/reread, and one backlist title (not really, it’s only a year old) to talk about, so let’s get into it!
Strange Lights by Mira Gonzalez (out 9/22)
This was an ARC so you can read my full review here! This is a queer sci-fi/fantasy novel about a Paranormal investigator named Reggie, her adopted toddler chupacabra named Eldi, a skeptical podcaster-turned-werewolf
named Calvin, and the lengths Reggie will go to in order to protect her weird little family, even if it means confronting her demons and the family she left behind.
There was a lot to love about this and I go more in depth into it in my review but overall it does a great job balancing the humor and coziness with some pretty dark plotlines and emotional moments towards the end, and as we all know, suffering is my bread and butter. Combine that with queer rep, found family, and an unabashedly strange world, and this book knocked it out of the park. My only critique is that a weirdly long part of the book is taken up basically by a flashback sequence which just kind of threw me for a loop, but I would absolutely recommend it, especially for fans of Monsters & Mainframes by Barbara Truelove!
The Mercenary and the Mortician by Alexandra St. Pierre
This is a queer dark romance about Cal, a young man groomed from a young age to be a mercenary for a mysterious criminal organized, and Ryan, a young funeral director with the ability to see spirits and a crematorium that
would really come in handy if someone wanted to dispose of dead bodies without leaving a trace. Cal becomes increasingly obsessed with Ryan and Ryan likewise is strangely drawn to Cal despite how unhinged he is. When Cal’s employer threatens their relationship, Cal will do anything to keep Ryan and his family safe, no matter the cost.
Hehehehehe…that’s how I sounded for most of this book. Don’t get me wrong—this is definitely a dark romance and it’s objectively super toxic and disturbing, but with this kind of thing you know what you’re getting into. Unlike some straight dark romances (looking at you, A Songbird in the Gallows, mentioned in this roundup), this book does not hold back and gives you all of the angst and freaky stuff you want and then some. It’s pretty long, over 500 pages, but the chapters are super short so it feels really fast-paced. You have to put away your moral compass and lower your standards of believability to root for Cal and Ryan, but I am entirely capable of doing so. What can I say? They truly match each others’ freak. I definitely had a fun time with it and I’d love to read more from Alexandra St. Pierre whenever I’m in the mood for something kind of insane.
The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan
(Reread – no rating)
This is the third book of Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series which follows a Norse demigod named Magnus as he dies and becomes an undead warrior, getting tangled up in godly spats and
other hijinks as he and his friends try to prevent doomsday.
I talked more about it in my last roundup, but this series will just always hold a special place in my heart and I had so much fun rereading it. I truly believe these books hold up and especially in the third book there are some great emotional bits. I’ve always loved Riordan’s humor (as many of us do) and I think it really shines in Magnus Chase because it’s targeted at a slightly older audience. I genuinely laughed out loud at a few points, which I don’t do a lot with books! I’m still probably going to reread Kane Chronicles as well which will be fun, but let me just say that if you stopped at the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus books, Magnus Chase is totally worth your time even if you think you’re too old for it. It will always be my favorite of Rick Riordan’s series.
What a good reading week, right? I mean, I wish I had gotten to read more, but 3/3 being really good ain’t too bad! The Mercenary and the Mortician was on my list of twenty-six books in 2026 (which I’m still planning to make a dedicated blog post about), and I’ll keep trying to get through at least one of those a week to finish the list by the end of the year. For this upcoming week, the next one I’ll get through will probably be Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher since I have it checked out on Libby. I also have Kiss, Slay, Replay by Rachel Harrison checked out which seems like a fun horror novel, and I have an audiobook of The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein checked out as well which is a nonfiction book that I think combines science and memoir/essay elements. I don’t really know, but my dad has some weird takes on it so I wanted to read it so I could more effectively argue with him about it :P. In terms of ARCs, Solace House by Will Maclean (out 10/13) is next up which sounds like a super weird, trippy thriller so that could go either way for me. Lot’s to look forward to as always, and let’s pray the streak of good books continues!
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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