Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

Fun and cozy. I hope there are more cozy sci-fi novels like this. In this novella, robots opened a noodle restaurant. It had found family, community, food, and wholesome robots. I really enjoyed it.

Dec 5-6 on Kobo Clara BW.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

This was for a reading challenge to read the oldest book on my TBR. I picked this one because I remembered the English teacher in my summer high school class mentioned it. We did not study it but the teacher mentioned it was one of her favourite books. I enjoyed this book. It was very well written and the characters were developed so well. No wonder this was a classic. I wish I had read it earlier. This is why I like reading challenges for forcing me to reflect and choose what I missed years ago.

Dec 10-12 on Kobo Clara BW.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (The Kamogawa Food Detectives #2) by Hisashi Kashiwai

This was actually the first of the Japanese novels I read in Japan. I needed something that I knew would be light and easy to read towards the end of my jet lag. I also wanted to read this before going to Kyoto. I was underwhelmed by the first book in this series but upon reflection, it worked as a book about Japanese food. This was a series of light hearted novels describing various food dishes. Not much else to say since the characters are lightly drawn and nothing really happens so definitely read for the Japanese food vibes. I was able to sample some amazing Kyoto food too.

Dec 13-15, 2025 on Kobo Clara BW

The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 1 (Lightnovel) by Natsu Hyuuga

After finishing the main Ascendance of a Bookworm light novel series, I decided to take a break from that universe and light novels (LN) in general. I was curious about Apothecary Diaries since the anime is very popular. I decided to try the LN even though it is far from being completed. LNs are great for travel and actually written for busy young people especially on commutes. It was easy to read but I found some aspects wanting. Mao is a great female protagonist with charisma, coolness, and depth. I liked her character. Jin, like Ferdinand in AoaB, has too much control and power over the situation and in their relationship. I did not care about their flirtation so it will take a lot for me to become invested their romance. Lastly, the mystery aspect of the novel was written without much detail. A lot of things happened off screen and was quickly explained later. There was something odd about the pacing of the mysteries. I am left feeling a bit whelmed by the light novel so I will proceed with the manga and anime for now and perhaps return to the LN later.

Read Dec 24-25, 2025 on Kobo Clara BW.

Due to travel, all except one of my December reviews were written in January or February. I need to get better about reading and then reviewing right away.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

What a ride. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this. Donna Tartt has been on my TBR for awhile given her reputation. I liked this more than thought. I believe this was one of the few true Dark Academia books that I have read. I am not that fascinated with collegiate life. I have two post-secondary degrees and did not like my experiences in either of them that much. I saw school as a drag and a means to an end. I was not interested in drugs, partying, or alcohol either.

I was not predisposed to love the characters or the plot. In fact, I did not like them as people and the plot bordered on the melodramatic. The writing flowed though. Tartt was able to balance setting, characters, mood, and dialogue very smoothly. Her writing cadence worked for me. It was a tad long especially after the reveal and the story takes its sweet time to play out, but I enjoyed the whole way through. I have The Goldfinch as well and look forward to reading it in the near future.

November 30-Dec 2, 2025.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, Corey Allen (Narrator)

The first of three audiobooks I listened to on the way to my long (delayed) journey to Tokyo. I enjoyed this short YA poetry book about growing up and playing basketball.

December 3, 2025.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, adapted by Lulu Raczka, performed by with a full cast

This Audible exclusive full cast audio was getting a lot of buzz. As Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite novels, I had an open mind. However, I did not realize this was an abridged adaptation and not in love with ut. I noticed the changes and the use of modern words. I did really like the cast especially the two leads. I would recommend it to people if they want to experience a shortened version of this classic. Most people do not want to read classics and I think this kind of adaptation did a good job overall. It was not the best adaptation though. I think watching a TV or movie version would have been just as good.

December 3, 2025.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston with Natalie Naudus (Narrator)

I listened to this on most of my flight to Tokyo. I dozed for couple of times through this book which was fine since romances are great for that. This was a good romance with a magical realism and sci-fi twist. I liked this more than Red White and Blue which was a decent romance too. I prefer romances with fantastical elements so I really liked the time bending. The characters and found family aspects were good as usual from McQuiston. One of the leads was a Chinese American lesbian and well drawn. I had a difficult time on the flight and this novel eased things.

Dec 3-4, 2025.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

This was a lighthearted historical novel with wry humour. While it did not shy away from describing the historical realities for some of the characters in Soviet Russia, it did not dwell on it. This is a novel of hope and optimism. It bordered on being twee since there were hijinks and there was no real villain. It was not gritty historical fiction. It was decently written with characters, setting, and world building worked well. I got the sense the author spent a lot of time in nice hotels. A nice read.

November 24-25, 2025.

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean with Jennifer Jay Myers (Narrator)

As this is my third Orlean book, I firmly like her style. This is her most famous work having been adapted very loosely in the movie “Adaptation”. I watched the film years ago and found it funny and knew it was not like the book. While I like the micro history on orchids, some of the other tangents in the book felt aimless including the anticlimactic end where she does not even see the Ghost Orchid. I understand she wanted to write a longer book from her original essay, but this may have had one too many extraneous tangents. I was not interested in that much discussion of Florida Man. I also preferred when Orlean narrated her work and the narrator here was only okay. I still look forward to her other essay compilations and her recently released memoir.

Nov 24-26, 2025.

A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt

I read this for an Indigenous Voices challenge on GR. It was a nice and short story. It’s auto fiction which I did not mind. It leaned more into a memoir and had no plot which was fine with me. It was more an exploration of the author as the character and state of mind. It was similar to some of Ocean Vuong’s work and the author referenced their work in this book too. I am glad I read this since it was from a perspective I do not usually read.

November 29, 2025 on Kobo Libra 2.