A graphic novel about a young woman in a Muslim family which immigrated to the US from Egypt. The dad is a pilot, the mom is a somewhat scold-y parent who is pressuring Anisa to go to medical school which Anisa does not want. She takes a trip to Egypt to stay with family and gets to know more of her roots and decide what she actually wants for herself--to wear the hijab and to do illustrations/cartoons as a job. Some Egyptian politics in there as well.

A graphic novel about the early days of Mormonism. This book does a good job separating fact from “Things Joseph Smith said that can’t be verified” and I appreciate it. It’s a warts-and-all look at what Joseph Smith’s deal was, and why he was charismatic and believable while at the same time being problematic along a number of axes. It ends with his death, so nothing after that is in the book. Done by an ex-Mormon, good bibliography at the end.

This was an adorable book about a girl who finds a tardigrade in some water she is examining and decides to keep it with her as a plaything. The somewhat cute and anthropomorphized tardigrade is given little environments to live in as we the reader learn more about what a tardigrade is. The book is lovely with a combination of illustrations and papercraft artwork with a lot to look at on every page. Creative and informative.

This was the next book in the Rivers of London series. Our protagonist detective is trying to support his heavily-pregnant wife while also going undercover at a tech company to try to figure out why there’s some weird magic going on there and exactly who is in on it. And there’s an untouchable billionaire at the center, of course. One of the better books in this series, a lot going on and some plausible tech stuff along with the usual magicking.

This was a bit of an infill since I started reading this a few days ago and said “Wait I’ve read this fantastical mystery set in a bell foundry before.” No idea why I failed to write it down at the time. Read it in the last year or so. It’s the next installment in the Rivers of London series and we’ve seen the protagonist cop become a detective and try to sort out the maniacal supernatural dude who has it in for him. Did not read it all the way through a second time.