Of Women and Salt is one of my favorite books of 2021, so far. This book focuses on the overlapping stories of immigration in Florida and overlapping Latinx identities. In particular, this book focuses on the difference between the Cuban community in Miami and other Latinx communities.

I am not sure how to describe this book – intense? weird? uncomfortable? This was like a more confusing, modern Monkey Wrench Gang (a compliment, FYI).

As much as I love the ebook loans from my local library, the loan length of popular books is...a true challenge. I had to rush through all 517 pages of *The Once and Future Witches* by Alix E. Harrow in 7 days and I finished it with about 35 minutes left on my loan, so the plot is all a bit of a blur. What I *do* remember from the plot is that it pays real attention to the very real race and respectability politics that were at play in the for-realsies suffrage movement. Stuff You Missed in History Class has several episodes about the women's suffrage movement and I would especially recommend their episode on [Frederick Douglass](https://www.stitcher.com/show/stuff-you-missed-in-history-class/episode/frederick-douglass-50974361).

Kent Haruf is canceled for the grave crime of absolutely destroying my heart.

The growth of their friendship is really wholesome and gave me all the feels. Loneliness and companionship is something to which people of all ages can relate but I appreciate that these characters are elderly.

A quick recap: the Element Games have finished. In the party that follows the culmination of the competition, a dark force rises and threatens the Maresh Empire and the balance of power in all four Londons. Finally all together again, Rhy, Kell, Lila, Alucard, and Holland team up for their biggest challenge yet.

A Frolic Through Fiction has brought me many excellent book recommendations (thanks, Ashleigh!), but From Blood and Ash was not one of them.

I might give it another try in the future

Previously, I have read Aliyah Whiteley's The Beauty and was what you might call "weirded out" by it. "Thoroughly disturbed" is another phrase that comes to mind. Whiteley's newest, Skyward Inn, is another probing insight into what makes us human. The first half of Skyward Inn was not all I hoped it would be. I had a hard time following and did not really enjoy it. The second half, however, blew me away.

Too many people write off the romance genre as frivolous or silly. It certainly can be, but the main problem I have with the romance genre – and why I have historically steered clear of it – is the toxic and heteronormative relationships it often evangelizes. We have all seen the recent discourse on Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series. I read The Duke and I...and yeah. I am still going to read the rest of the series though because I enjoy torturing myself. It is really fun, and you should try it. Books like Get a Life, Chloe Brown are the gems that have made me fall in love (ha, pun unintended; sorry not sorry) with romance.

The story is compelling. The prose is engaging and humorous. Brian is a PhD student in anthropology and is in a rut. He experiences a traumatic event which prompts him to accept a job with the famous and arrogant cryptozoologist, Mark, who is running from a traumatic event of his own. Mark has received grainy footage from Karla, a woman in rural Iceland who claims she has seen a unicorn.

I found this book through watching Joel at Fictional Fates on Youtube. I am glad I went on his recommendation because I do not read a lot of sci-fi. This one was definitely worth it.

A beautiful story of neighboring immigrant communities in Gilded Age New York