Book Review: "All the Water in the World" by Eiren Caffall

I’m really late to the party in reading and reviewing this, but I’m so grateful to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance copy I received. Amazingly, this is the second piece of climate fiction I’ve read in the last few months, and it really made me think.

It’s a time after the glaciers have melted and the world is lashed by severe weather conditions, including floods. In what was once New York City, Nonie, her older sister Bix, and their father live in an encampment of sorts atop the American Museum of Natural History. The girls have been taught to hunt and grow their food in Central Park.

Their other responsibility is to try and save the museum’s collections so that work in human history and science are not lost. But Nonie has a heightened sense of when precipitation is incoming, and when a massive storm breaches the city’s flood walls, her family and their researcher friend must flee. They grab what they can from the museum, including a birchbark canoe, and travel north along the Hudson River.

The journey is a harrowing one, fraught with danger and potential disaster. Along the way they not only have to brave the elements, but they also have to face the fears and uncertainties of the people they encounter, survivors who have formed small communities. They don’t have any sense of whom to trust and whom to fear, which proves harrowing.

The characters are really beautifully drawn, particularly Nonie. She, like so many who must brave catastrophe, is wise beyond her years, but she is also tremendously kind and empathetic.

While this moved a bit slower than I was expecting, I found this to be a powerful, emotional, and eye-opening book. In addition to its depiction of a world ravaged by climate change, this is a book about grief, love, and survival. It’s also a powerful tribute to the value of museums and what they help us learn and remember, important messages given the dangers museums face in the U.S.

Book Review: "It's Not the End of the World" by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

Can a book be off-the-wall crazy AND scarily prescient simultaneously? Asking for a friend.

Thanks so much to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy of this one!

America in 2044 has seen better days. Climate change has done severe damage, and in Los Angeles, wildfires and smog have gotten so bad you can barely see the skyline—unless you can pay for an artificially clear one. The country is under the thumb of a fascist authoritarian government, with right-wing militias and rampant anti-queer sentiment.

Mason and Yunho are a wealthy gay couple whose financial position keeps them blissfully unaware of just how badly the world is falling apart. They’re spending $100,000 on a 100-person baby shower for their soon-to-be-arriving newborn, and they (particularly Mason) don’t see anything wrong with that.

When disaster hits LA on the day of their shower, Mason should cancel, but it’s not the end of the world, after all. He figures that money can solve this problem too. Yet when he goes out to run a few last-minute errands, he finds himself enmeshed in the chaos that he thought he was insulated from, with threatening consequences.

This book has it all—wry social commentary, political satire (which seems far too on the nose right now), blood and gore, even pink smog that turns people into zombies. It’s definitely a wild ride, but the details of this world that Jonathan Parks-Ramage has created are truly remarkable. And frightening as hell.

I loved Parks-Ramage’s debut, Yes, Daddy, so I was excited to see what his follow-up would be like. This is different in a lot of ways but it proves just how wide-ranging his talent is.

Book Review: "The Life of Chuck" by Stephen King

I’ve been reading Stephen King’s books since I was a teenager (which was shortly after movable type was invented, lol). While I definitely have had my favorites through the years, I always enjoy when he departs from his usual work to write more thought-provoking and emotional books.

“The Life of Chuck” was originally included in King’s 2020 collection If It Bleeds. But when a movie adaptation starring Tom Hiddleston (squee!) was released last year, King’s publishers released this on its own.

The story opens at a time where the world seems on its last legs. Natural disasters are destroying the U.S., wiping out farms and manufacturers. The internet and other forms of communication are sporadic when operational at all, and the overall state of the world has led to a significant rise in suicide.

Marty is a schoolteacher who is trying not to become too cynical as the destruction continues. Meanwhile, all over town, he sees billboards and signs proclaiming, “Charles Krantz. Thirty-nine great years. Thanks, Chuck!” But who is Chuck, and what has he spent 39 years doing?

The story follows Chuck from adulthood through his teenage years. You see him spending a few hours one afternoon dancing to a street drummer’s music, an occasion that fills Chuck with nostalgia. We also see Chuck growing up, living with his grandparents, who share some memorable moments and also leave him with a secret that shakes him to his core.

I couldn’t devour this fast enough. It’s emotional, thought-provoking, life-affirming, and a bit of a warning about what could come. It’s definitely a book I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

Book Review: "Automatic Noodle" by Annalee Newitz

I really enjoyed this, although it’s definitely not one of my usual genres. I’m not ashamed to admit that my love of noodles is one of the things that drew me to the book. Thanks to my friend Matthew for reading this with me!

It’s 2064, in the aftermath of a brutal war between California and the rest of America. One day a group of deactivated robots awaken in the ghost kitchen where they all used to work in the rubble of San Francisco. With the war over, the robots don’t really have a purpose, and there’s still some in California that don’t think robots should be citizens.

While the group didn’t like cooking the horrible food they had to in their old restaurant, Hands misses their time as a chef for a food truck, while Cayenne loves tasting everything, even if they can’t eat it. They convince their friends, Sweetie and Staybehind, that they should open their own restaurant in the same space. Hands is fascinated by the art of hand-pulled noodles, and so Authentic Noodle is born.

Each robot has a purpose, and shortly after the restaurant opens, it becomes a smashing success online. But they’re determined to keep their identities secret, since there are many who would cause trouble if they knew the food was being cooked and served by robots.

Suddenly disaster strikes, when the restaurant is hit with a barrage of 1-star reviews online, reviews that hit on robot ownership and cooking. Their reputation is on the line, but they’re determined to find out who’s behind this.

Automatic Noodle is so creative and sweet. There’s lots of great messaging here about chosen family, fighting for yourself, and valuing the contributions of outsiders.

Book Review: "Wild Dark Shore" by Charlotte McConaghy

I’ve read all three of Charlotte McConaghy’s books now, and each one has been a 5-star read for me. They’re intense, tremendously thought-provoking, and emotional, and they really make me think about climate change’s effect on our world.

“…I can understand why he might not, in fact, be alright. Why maybe none of us will be, because we have, all of us humans, decided what to save, and that is ourselves.”

Dominic is the caretaker of Shearwater, an island not far from Antarctica. It is home to seals, penguins, and other animals and birds, as well as a vault containing samples of countless seeds. Dominic and his three children are the only inhabitants left on Shearwater, which used to be a research hub, until the rising tides began destroying the island.

One day, the body of a woman washes up on shore. Dominic and his children rescue her and care for her until she recovers. This woman, Rowan, has come to Shearwater to find her husband, who was once the head researcher there. But he is nowhere to be found, and while Dominic tells Rowan that her husband left with other researchers, she thinks he is hiding something.

As they spend their last few months on the island before they are to be picked up, they must decide which seeds they can take back with them. At the same time, Rowan tries to make sense of the secrets that Dominic and his children are keeping—from her and from one another—and they each need to imagine their futures.

This is a slow-paced book but there is an underlying tension, as you wonder what secrets there really are, and what will happen to all of the characters. At the same time, McConaghy has created a setting so evocative yet so dangerous, that I wanted to visit and also stay as far away as possible. This was just fantastic.

Book Review: "Sea Change" by Gina Chung

One of my goals for 2025 is to read more books I own. Like many of you, I’m sure, I have lots of books at home that often get passed over for shiny new things, so I’m definitely going to try and shop from my stacks a bit more.

When I bought Sea Change, I’ll admit I was drawn in by the octopus on the cover. I was still riding the high of loving Remarkably Bright Creatures, so I was looking forward to another story about a relationship between the main character and an octopus.

I was wrong.

Ro’s life isn’t going the way she thought it would as she entered her 30s. Her boyfriend broke up with her to train for a space mission to Mars, her always-prickly relationship with her mother has grown into estrangement, and she probably has a drinking problem. The one thing that brings her solace is her job at an aquarium in the mall.

Ro enjoys spending time with Dolores, a giant Pacific octopus. She feels that Dolores gets her, plus the octopus was one of the last things her marine biologist father found before he disappeared on a trip when Ro was in high school.

When the aquarium sells Dolores to a wealthy private investor, Ro goes into emotional freefall. She misses her boyfriend even though she wasn’t the best girlfriend, she barely speaks to her childhood best friend, and she doesn’t know how to pick herself up and pull her life together.

This was a depressing book, and Ro isn’t the most sympathetic of characters. The book jumps around in time a lot, and other than Ro’s brief time with Dolores, there wasn’t much in the book that really grabbed me.

Book Review: "A Fire So Wild" by Sarah Ruiz-Grossman

Intriguing and thought-provoking, A Fire So Wild is both a meditation on climate change and a look at housing inequity, as well as how the path back from disaster looks different for the haves versus the have-nots.

It’s an unbearably hot summer in Berkeley, California, much as it has been for some time with the damage wrought by climate change. A wildfire in the distant hills threatens the city, but many aren’t too concerned that it will actually reach them.

Abigail works for an affordable housing organization, not seeing the irony of living in a hillside mansion with her wife and son. She’s desperate to show that she’s doing good for the community, so she decides to throw a fundraiser for her 50th birthday, to subsidize more affordable housing units in a new building under construction.

Sunny and his girlfriend, Willow, are currently living in their van, but have recently been approved for one of the apartments—if the funding comes through. They dream of the difference a place of their own will make, not having to move the van every night. And then, in the midst of it all, flames rush into the neighborhood, destroying homes, lives, and futures.

This was definitely a character-driven book, and there are a number of characters the story follows. Not all of the stories are as fleshed out, but I felt drawn into the fear and anger, and the descriptions of the fire were so evocative. I was worried that the book might veer into melodrama, and was so glad it didn’t. Definitely kept me thinking!

Book Review: "Open Throat" by Henry Hoke

This was honestly one of the most unique and creative books I’ve read in quite a while, and I don’t think I’ll forget it anytime soon.

Open Throat is narrated by a mountain lion who lives in the hills under the Hollywood sign. It’s difficult to be a creature living in the wild when you’re smart enough not to get caught, but in the drought-ridden world, finding food and water proves a challenge even for the most cunning of hunters.

The lion is lonely. They spend a lot of time listening to hikers and others pass by, talking about therapy, relationships, ambition, and lots of other things the lion doesn’t understand. They also dream of their father, who was brutally violent, and the life they wish they could live.

When a forest fire started purposely flushes the lion out of the hills, they find themselves having to go to the city of “ellay,” as the hikers call it. And from there, the lion is tempted by their true nature as well as the desire to become more human, to be cared for.

All of the descriptions of this book refer to the lion as queer. There isn’t anything in the text that leads you to that conclusion, so I’m wondering if it’s more of a metaphor, that the lion—like LGBTQIA+ people in many places—is fine as long as they stay hidden and behave in an acceptable way.

Maybe I’m overthinking, but this was fascinating. Thanks to MCD x FSG for the advance copy!

Book Review: "The Light Pirate" by Lily Brooks-Dalton

A powerful, poignant book about a world being destroyed by climate change, a story about love, loss, and family, both biological and chosen.

A powerful hurricane is heading for Florida. These storms are becoming more frequent and more destructive with each passing year. Frida, very pregnant, wants to evacuate, but her husband Kirby, a lineman, tries to assure her everything will be fine.

In the calm before the storm, Frida’s two young stepsons go missing. Kirby sets out to find them. And as the storm rages, Frida goes into early labor all alone, giving birth to a baby girl she names Wanda, after the hurricane in which she arrives.

The book follows Wanda through her life, from her curious childhood through her adolescence, as she deals with more loss but learns more about the world around her and how to understand the changes occurring. It also tells of her adulthood, in a world vastly different than she could imagine, and the need for connection.

This is a bleak book in that it paints a picture of our country wrecked by climate change until the point it’s no longer recognizable. There’s a lot of loss in the book as well. But it’s such a beautifully told story of love and survival that I couldn’t get enough of.