‘Tales from the Territory’ by Travis Baldree

Tales from the Territory, expected in September 2026 from Subterranean Press, assembles short stories about beloved characters from Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes best-selling series. This essential collection offers glimpses into the lives of Thimble, Viv, and Tandri before Viv attempted to open a coffee shop in the city of Thune. It reveals how Zyll the goblin met a certain Elder Blade called “Breadlee,” and introduces competition in the form of a rival coffee shop.

Looking forward to new semester at UCM

Looking forward to a new academic year, University of Central Missouri, as I pursue my Master’s degree in Library and Information Science. Here’s my study-space organized for my upcoming classes. During Fall 2026, I’ll be studying library administration and leadership.

‘What's Growing in Your Garden?’

In a post to social media, Phi Kappa Phi is encouraging its members to share “What’s growing in your garden these days?” In response to this prompt, I have a rescue orchid at home that currently has a beautiful white bloom on its flower spike.

‘The Sinking House’ by Darcie Little Badger

I’m looking forward to publication of a new book by one of my favorite authors. The Sinking House, by Darcie Little Badger, will come out in August 2026.

Book-Talk: Legends & Lattes (graphic novel adaptation)

I loved Travis Baldree’s “Legends & Lattes” cozy fantasy series and now the first book has been adapted as a graphic novel, coming in October 2026. Reading this book was a very “cinematic” experience and I thought the artists’ depictions of the characters seemed very faithful to how they were described or how I envisioned them from reading the original book.
https://youtu.be/1vhWyTx2X8g

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‘The Gender Binary is a Big Lie’

In honor of International Non-Binary People’s Day, observed each year on July 14, I recommend The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie by Lee Wind. The title offers an excellent summation that immediately positions it as an alternative to the narrative that everyone must fit into one of only two socially-imposed gender identities. This narrative is vital and compellingly attractive to a reader like me, someone who has always known myself to fit outside the gender binary.

I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi

Cleared another book from my TBR list this week: I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi. “When news stations start reporting that Earth has been contacted by a planet named Alma, the world is abuzz with rumors that the alien entity is giving civilization only a few days before they hit the kill switch.”

Book-Talk: Night of the Abiku by Craig Kofi Farmer

When his eighth-grade class becomes stranded during a field trip to a southern plantation, Winston comes face to face with something terrifying within the mansion’s walls.
https://youtu.be/GXTvlXc22zw

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‘Children of Ragnarok’ by Cinda Williams Chima

I recently completed Children of Ragnarok by Cinda Williams Chima (Grade 7 and up - School Library Journal). Published in 2022, this book was “new to me” when I purchased it at a second-hand bookstore. I was deeply interested in the fantasy setting that incorporated Norse mythology and I quickly became caught up by the story, which centered around three young people whose respective quests and challenges converge in New Jotunheim: a seeming paradise that is tainted by hidden evil. School Library Journal says: “Hand this to fantasy fans and younger readers aging into YA.” Children of Ragnarok is the first book in Chima’s Runestone Saga. The story continues in Bane of Asgard, published in 2024 — currently on my “want to read” list.