Briefly, my news, so I can get that out of the way and talk about other things:

• The Oratoria Magazine interview came out here. The email subject is a quote.

• My big ask: rank Aether and Ego “want to read” (or “read” if you have) on Goodreads. You can even go a step farther and click “Edit my activity” and add the book to one or more of your shelves, if you use those. Apparently having a ranking (“want to read” or “currently reading” or “read”) pushes the algorithm to list it higher in searches and the like.

• You can also still get an ebook copy of the pre-proofread version of the book at NetGalley. You’ll need to write a review in exchange and post it to Amazon or Goodreads or wherever else you like. SFWA members can also read it in PDF at Recommended Reading.

Okay, on to the stuff I want to talk about! (I am sick to the teeth of book promo but of course it has to be done! but promoting other people’s books is a positive joy.)

Currently reading: Mercutio by Kate Heartfield. It’s about his life pre-Romeo when he and Dante (of Inferno fame) open a crack between our world and Faerie and so far I’m enjoying it immensely.

I’m also re-reading the dark academia Scholomance series for comfort.

Recommended: One of the folks in my critique group recommended Of Monsters and Mainframes to me, which is the bonkers tale of a werewolf, a mummy, and a vampire joining forces to fight Dracula in space, told from the point of view of an aging ship AI. What’s not to like?

I borrowed the tradwife-time-travel novel Yesteryear from the library, curious about the hype. It was very well-written and pulled me along, but I found the ending a bit difficult to believe, and I still haven’t decided if I liked it or not.

In contrast, Naomi Kritzer’s obgyn-kidnapped-by-a-cult novella Obstetrix was great, very suspenseful and realistic, and if you need a short book to catch up on a reading challenge it’s a good option for that too.

Also, Jesus Murphy, this weekend the trade war between the US and Canada kicked off again. I say trade war but given that the US is regularly meeting with Alberta separatists and one of the demands that deepsixed the deal was that we abandon dual-language packaging (literally an existential issue for us) it’s not just a trade war. Here are a few resources for buying Canadian: clothing companies, grocery and household essentials, and the more comprehensive Made in Canada (I haven’t the resources to vet all of these but on a quick lookover they seem legit) and Americans can buy books from Canadian presses at this list I made.

_{For full disclosure, if you buy any of the books linked above from Bookshop, I’ll get a tiny commission, which I normally promise to spend irresponsibly but this month would still go to fixing our chimney.}