An exceptional book about wildlife, specifically tiger, conservation in Siberia and also to a lesser degree in China. Slaght, who also wrote a compelling book about fish owls in the same region, talks about US/Russian cooperation for the Siberian Tiger Project from the early 90s until now. A lot changes, a lot stays the same. Color photos of amazing animals and a lot of nerdy science. You really get to know the place; an excellent geopolitical conservation tale.

Another one of the forensic anthropologist mysteries where we again are working towards a thrilling conclusion of the series. This one had a convoluted mystery, a lot of rando characters with similar-sounding names and not a lot of history stuff which is usually my favorite part. And then there’s the overarching plot arc which continued in a good way. A nice familiar read but not one of my faves of the series.

I’ve liked Barry’s other books and I liked this one in a different way. It’s a straight up long-haul forever-war sort of story about a crew of four flawed people on a four-year tour of deep space with a mission to kill a seemingly endless supply of one type of alien creatures. Oh and their ship is run by an AI so sophisticated that the humans are really only there for PR purposes, and maybe to help the AI company sell more AI. Written in 2020 but still feels fresh. That said, there’s a lot going on in the past maybe 5% of the book which made me feel differently about the first 95%.

A graphic novel memoir about the author’s journey to the US starting as a Vietnamese refugee coming to Thailand on a boat under awful conditions & slowly getting to the US and eventually becoming the graphic novelist and cartoonist that he is today. It’s told in chapters each of which has a different food (some Vietnamese and some very much not) as a framing device. It’s really interesting getting to see the refugee experience through the eyes of a child. A well told story.

Another one in this series with a slightly confusing cast of whodunit characters, a bike race, and some local lore at the center of it. This particular book took a big jump in a few plot points, mainly in good ways but some in less-plausible-feeling ways. Feels a bit like the author is trying to readjust some story arcs to wrap it all up which it does a few books from now. I enjoyed getting to see the same folks again, but not my fave of the mysteries.

I have not read the original book that this is an adaptation of. However, this is a glorious book in and of itself, discussing not just the author’s knowledge of trees and forest ecosystems, but his path through finding a way to find meaningful work studying and promoting these things. The adaptation is masterful, the drawing, lettering, and coloring all add to the final product, itself printed on sustainably forested paper.

Another one in the Ruth Galloway forensic anthropologist series. This one has a lot of character development, a slightly lackluster mystery and doesn’t really end with a thrilling conclusion for which I am grateful (early books always saw someone in extreme peril - lately there’s just low-level peril). I’m aware the series is wrapping up soon, so this seems to be laying groundwork for it. All the usual characters have good roles.

This is a quasi-simple book in a slightly-fantastical world where some animals are part of the geography of a place. And Goodreads tells me it’s for middle grades but I liked it for me as well. Lu and Ren are kind-of friends when they are tiny and they meet up again as young adults to try to track down Lu’s grandmother, a geozoologist, who is maybe missing or maybe just on an adventure. Gorgeously drawn and told and there’s even a mobile library which makes an appearance. Worth your time.

This is a memoir about a year in the life of the author when their mother was diagnosed with a “not long to live” cancer. They also came out as trans to their family. Also all the characters in this book are drawn as birds for some reason. I’m not usually great with “my mom had cancer and died” stories (my mom had cancer and died, it’s a me thing) and I’ve had a hard time with graphic memoirs from younger people in the past. However, this one was quite good, everyone’s managing their own feelings and trying to do it together in a way that is empathetic to the fact that not everyone feels (or shares) their feelings in the same way.

Don’t know if it’s the librarian’s fault or mine but I started reading the next book in this series by accident. A LOT happens in this one and it was a little confusing. This story is mainly in Italy in a small town where everyone has known each other forever, including when the Nazis were occupying. Old secrets surround a skeleton found at a dig, and an old friend asks for Ruth’s assistance. Then the gang shows up for $REASONS. A good story, but a little unusual for this series.