august 2025
hello my friends! my life has finally settled down enough that i was able to get some time in doing my favourite summer hobby: playing video games in a cool, dark room. first, i devoted some time to replaying Powerwash Simulator (again. for the 3rd time maybe?), during which I also put away several audiobooks, then I caved to the advice of a persuasive friend and bought something new.
game: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024). This is just a truly excellent game. It feels like a classic Indy movie but less misogynist and more aware of collecting ethics. Lest you worry that it accomplishes this by making Indy (brilliantly depicted in voice and motion by Troy Baker) inexplicably woke in 1937, it’s the characters you meet in the various places Indy travels that largely do that work. It’s 1st person, which doesn’t always work for me, but switches to 3rd-person from time to time so you don’t lose the sense of being Indiana Jones, specifically. I loved the various disguises you switch between (which kicks off with Indy as a priest in the Vatican—very good), and ADORED the secondary cast. In particular, I loved Dame Nawal Shafiq-Barclay, played by Necar Zadegan, and Indy’s primary quest companion, Gina Lombardi (Alessandra Mastronardi). My one major bone of contention is that this game is expensive. Like most current AAA console games, it retails for $70, but the gameplay clocks in at 35 hours. That’s not a lot of bang for your buck! I definitely recommend it, but do not blame anyone who prefers to wait for the cost to inevitably drop.
read: Aunt Dimity’s Death (1993) and Aunt Dimity and the Duke (1995) by Nancy Atherton. These are books 1 and 2 (actually books 1 and prequel to book 1) of a mystery series that I’d never seen before, and I came across them entirely by accident, weeks apart, and then inadvertently read them in story-chronological order. Spooky. I found Aunt Dimity and the Duke in a little free library and was charmed by the concept of a ghost solving a murder. Except based on the in-universe timeline, Dimity was definitely still alive at that point. So, not a ghost, just a meddler? It’s a sweet, gothic-y mystery set in a British country house and starring an American—ultimate wish fulfillment. There’s even a romance, shockingly not with the duke. I thought it was fine but likely would not have followed up if I hadn’t stumbled across Aunt Dimity’s Death in a used bookshop. This I enjoyed much more. It’s also about an American in an English house, but the mystery being solved is one in Dimity’s past, which appealed to the historian in me. She’s definitely a ghost now, btw. (Used paperbacks.)
read: Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd (2025). It’s 1945. Nora Breen has been a nun for decades when a former novice and her dear friend’s letters stop coming. She leaves the order and travels to the rooming house where her friend last stayed, only for another of the residents to shortly turned up murdered. I loved the trappings of this—Nora’s way of interacting with a world which is entirely transformed from when she was last in it is delightful, and her process of discovering herself goes hand-in-hand with discovering the murderer. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her. (Library ebook.)
read: Shady Hollow by Juneau Black (2022), read by Cassandra Campbell. If you read The Wind in the Willows and thought it would be improved by a murder or two, then Shady Hollow might be for you. Set in the titular town, which is populated by woodland creatures, it follows investigative reporter Vera Vixen (a fox, of course), and utterly commits to its premise. The book's preface encourages you not to think too hard about the concept of bears and mice frequenting the same cafe, but the fact that some residents walk and some fly is an important part of the landscape of the book. I loved the writing and the mystery plot, and Cassandra Campbell’s character voices are fantastic. Favourite character was definitely Lenore the raven, owner and proprietor of Nevermore Books. (Library audiobook.)
read: Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews (2025). First in a new series by Mimi Matthews, this sees her riffing on Dickens. Matthews’ version of Miss Havisham is a jilted bride who opened a charity school with the goal of turning out canny ladies capable of social infiltration as well as self-defense. Her first graduate is one Euphemia Flite (wonderful name) who is sent to London to topple a corrupt politician’s empire. She comes up against a man with his own agenda for the same man—one that requires his reputation unblemished. It’s a great set-up, and as always Matthews’ greatest strength lies in her devotion to historic accuracy. (Library ebook.)
read: Bittersweet Legacy by Jenna Ryan (1993). I found myself in a thrift store with spinning racks of Harlequin suspense novels for $0.70 a pop, which naturally I could not resist. I picked this one on the strength of the hot pink cover, but to my delight found it unputdownable. Set mostly in San Francisco, it opens with the worst map of the city I have ever seen, and which proved of absolutely no use to me. It also ends on a very unexpected and dark twist, which made me literally gasp. Great stuff. (Used paperback)
read: History Lessons by Zoe B. Wallbrook (2025). This was my favourite read of the month for sure. It follows a professor of French History at a fictional Ivy-esque college who finds herself unwittingly embroiled in the mystery after a colleague in the anthropology department is murdered. It’s deeply about the reality of being Black, a woman, and especially a Black woman in lofty, traditionally white spaces. I was not at all surprised to discover that Wallbrook is herself an academic. There’s a sweet romance, some excellent friendships, and a very good dog. I don’t know if this is destined for series treatment, but I would not be disappointed. It’s a little heavy on pop culture references for my taste, but otherwise truly excellent especially for a debut. (Library hardcover.)
read: A Rare Find by Joanna Lowell (2025). I loved Lowell’s previous book, A Sure Thing, and picked this up on the strength of that. And was rewarded! A Rare Find is a regency romance that follows next-door neighbors and childhood enemies Elfreda and Georgina. Elfreda is an archeologist and the child of archeologists, serious and dedicated to her family and her field. Georgie is gay, genderqueer (not words she uses, of course), and dedicated to her field (having fun). When she is banished to the country by her brother, she ends up in Elfreda’s way and sparks fly. I genuinely loved this. It’s funny, sweet, and hot. My main critique is Lowell reveals a pretty big mystery at the very end of the book, without any sense of whether she’s planning to follow up on it. I hope she does! (Library paperback.)
Note: You might have noticed I’m indicating where I got the books I read. This is something that my friend Felicia Davin has started doing in her newsletter, and I really like it! So I am flagrantly stealing it from her. Thanks, pal!
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