I was still going through my “reading ennui” where books were not so enjoyable due to life. I decided to read shorter novels and continue the audiobooks.

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

I read this for a GoodReads reading challenge. It was a short novella and had another short story at the end. It was a quick read during a weekday lunch hour. I think I liked this more than How You Lose the Time War even though it is the same ephemeral writing style. The story was a fairy tale which worked better with the style.

June 11, 2025 on Kobo Libra 2.

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

This is a Hugo award winning novella set in the Universe of Xuya which is a sci-fi alternate universe where East Asia became the dominant superpower. In this alternate future, there are sentient mindships. This was an enjoyable and well done story based on Sherlock Holmes and Watson. It was not exactly cozy but it was not too dark either. The author captured the Holmes format while deftly incorporating world building and these characters. The mystery was not noteworthy. Intriguing and fun overall though. I look forward to reading more from this universe as this was quick and satisfying.

June 11, 2025.

If You Can’t Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine DeRuiter (Narrator)

This was a collection of personal essays by a food writer. Most of the essays centred around gender, feminism, food, and the food industry. It started well and had a great essay about baking and being child free. I found the last few essays less interesting and there was a bit too much about the internet and food.

1.75x. June 9-13, 2025.

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, Nadia May (narrator)

Published in 1922, this was the first of the Tommy and Tuppence mysteries. This was more a thriller and spy novel. Maybe it was my reading slump, but it was only an okay read. There was a lot of plot and twists as usual from Ms Christie. I prefer Tuppence over Tommy. While there was little to no anti-Semitism in this (unlike some other Christie novels from this era), I felt like it aged badly. All the spy stuff was really farfetched. The audio narration was very 1920s style which felt excessive so I only listened to 10%.

1.5-17.5x. June 13-15, 2025.