Book Review: "The Delivery" by Gregg Hurwitz

“What if you could have something that knows everything about you, everything you want, and could get it for you? While staying totally under your control?”

File this under “careful what you wish for, you just might get it!” This was a bit creepy and compelling, one of Amazon’s First Reads for June.

Rebecca and Mark have been trying to get out from under the grief following a miscarriage. But with pressure mounting from Mark’s boss and the needs of Maddy, their neurodivergent daughter, neither feels like they have a handle on their lives. So when they’re offered an opportunity to purchase a solution developed by a technology company, they take the leap.

Several months later, they take delivery of “Mr. Man,” an AI companion who looks surprisingly human. Mr. Man was grown from their family’s DNA, and he can anticipate their every need. At first, it’s a complete pleasure: laundry is done, dishes are washed, meals are prepared…

But then, as tragedies start occurring, they realize that Mr. Man not only fulfills requests, but he also takes care of things they’ve only talked about in passing. In some cases, they haven’t even clearly said anything, but it appears Mr. Man’s job is to protect them. No matter what.

Gregg Hurwitz is one of my favorite thriller writers, but I realized that I’ve only read his Orphan X series. So to experience his writing in a different genre was definitely a pleasure. I know sometimes I wish I had some help, but I’m good without an AI companion! (Trigger warning: animal cruelty but you can skim over it.)

This will publish 7/1/2026.

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: "The Plus One" by Sarah Archer

Kelly is a robotics engineer. She's smart and ready to go places with her career, but her interpersonal skills aren't always the strongest. She winds up making a mess out of her encounters with people, even when she doesn't mean to. Even her best friend Priya thinks she's socially awkward, even though she knows Kelly means well.

"It would be so much simpler if everyone could just do what she did and suppress their emotions, stuffing them in the back of the closet, right next to the childhood traumas and the performing-in-your-third-grade-play-naked-and-then-all-your-teeth-fall-out dreams."

The problem is, Kelly's younger sister is getting married, and their mother, a wedding consultant who owns a bridal shop, is in absolute heaven as she plans and controls every aspect of the wedding. This includes ensuring Kelly has a suitable date, which is an issue of concern for her mother, because Kelly's dating history is, well, shaky.

Kelly doesn't quite understand all of the craziness surrounding her finding a wedding date. She isn't all that interested in dating anyway. But when a night of clubbing with Priya ends unsuccessfully (although she met a handsome man who introduced her to his boyfriend) and the latest blind date her mother arranged ends in disaster, Kelly decides to take matters into her own hands—literally.

Using her engineering skills and the myriad different parts in the robotics lab, Kelly builds herself a wedding date. Ethan is incredibly handsome, courteous, caring, and he grows more intelligent with each interaction. He is utterly devoted to Kelly and, strangely, she feels more comfortable around him, too. Ethan charms those around him, including Kelly's mother, and no one suspects that he isn't human.

Even though the plan is to disconnect him after her sister's wedding, Kelly realizes she enjoys being with someone and having someone care about her, even if he isn't real. As her relationship with Ethan starts to interfere with her relationships and her job, she knows she has to follow her original plan. But she doesn't count on her mother's continued pressure, and she's utterly unprepared for how she's falling for Ethan. How can she simply take him apart when she cares about him so much?

I thought this was an absolutely charming, silly, sweet book. So many of us have felt the pressures Kelly did, and although we might not have the intelligence or skills to engineer the same solution she did, I definitely identified with a lot of the emotions she felt. Sure, I had to suspend my disbelief, and I kept expecting everything to blow up, but I really enjoyed the way Sarah Archer laid this story out.

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie where you knew everything was going to go awry and you were worried about what might happen but at the same time you couldn't look away? That's exactly how I felt reading The Plus One. It almost felt like I was reading with my hands half over my eyes!

This book brought a new, fun twist to the rom-com genre and I really enjoyed it. If you can embrace the fun side of the book without delving too deeply into what's possible, you'll definitely enjoy it, too.