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Ruth Ozeki's latest novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness (2021), is a big book in terms of length. It's a big book, too, in terms of the ideas and issues with which it deals, including Zen Buddhism, mental illness and the systems that surround its treatment, the nature of reality, and the pressures of the marketplace and capitalism.

A Sign of Affection is a really cute romance manga in where Yuki, a soft-spoken girl who is deaf, falls for Itsuomi. Itsuomi is a friend of a friend who loves traveling and learning about new cultures and languages. This is a really sweet manga about love and communication.

Burns and Allen, a radio program from the golden age of radio, were vaudeville acts performed by George Burns and Gracie Allen, his wife.  Gracie is the not-so-smart but charming wife who gets George into trouble, i.e.

Nikhil is a voice actor for a popular space cartoon, Raj Reddy in Outer Space. His mom and him must relocate to Ohio to help look out for his grandparents. Nikhil for the first time must be a regular kid, away from the recording studio and the rush of Hollywood.

I really enjoyed listening to the newest book by Sally Hepworth, The Soulmate (2023), because it had many elements of a great audiobook.

Grave Mercy is full of action, adventure and secrecy. The main character Ismae escapes an arranged marriage to become a trained assassin, a handmaiden to Death. She is trained by nuns at the St. Mortain convent under the guise of being a nun herself. In this new life Ismae finds freedom, traveling the world and learning new skills to become independent.

Ocean’s Echo (2022), a sci-fi/romance by Everina Maxwell, puts a military sci-fi spin on the classic fake dating trope. In this novel, scientific experiments have created Readers, who can read other people’s minds, and Architects, who can influence thoughts.

I've now read the book and also listened to the audio book of I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai. I scarcely had a break between my reading of, and listening to, this novel. When it became available, I seized the day, as it had been on hold for some time and, I knew, would probably go back on hold again.

“Where She Went” is the sequel to “If I Stay.” “Where She Went” is told from the P.O.V. of Adam Wilde, the boyfriend to Mia Hall in “If I Stay.” After the tragic death of Mia’s parents and younger brother in a car crash that left Mia in a coma. The relationship between Adam and Mia was never the same. In this book we learn more about Adam and his life after the accident. We get an insight to how much he loved Mia and how he also grieved for Mia’s family. I really enjoyed this book because it felt like closure to the first book.

Flipped is a really cute romance book with a strong female protagonist named Juli. In the book Juli talks about her funny and loving family, her dreams and the boy next door her age, Bryce, that she quickly develops a very big crush on when he moves in.

Dr. Henry Marsh, in his book And Finally (2023), addresses issues of life and death as he faces the end of his life due to prostate cancer.  Dr.

The Drift (2023) by C.J. Tudor is an engaging multiple perspectives thriller, following 3 different groups of survivors in a compelling apocalyptic race to save their own lives in 3 deadly situations that may have something in common. The Drift is fast-paced, plot-driven and may be of interest to readers okay with violence, plague, and apocalyptic themes.