About halfway through the summer, I stopped tracking my reading in all the places I’d been recording them, save on Goodreads. But I didn’t stop reading. I’d like to get caught up with reviews here in the next week or so and then share my favorite 2025 reads. And, so, here are my thoughts on what I finished back in July and August:

Empire of Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson

This was a fun read for those who like Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, Jungle Cruise, or The Librarian movies/tv series. Ellie — a suffragette arrested during a protest, recently fired museum archivist (see aforementioned activism), and aspiring archaeologist — finds herself in possession of an illicit map that hints that a legendary South American city may exist. The biggest of her problems? A villain knows she has it. So what’s a newly unemployed middle class young woman to do? Get on a boat and go find out, of course! Once she lands in Belize (then British Honduras), she finds it necessary to join forces with an American surveyor and tour guide and hot foot it on her way. They’ll face danger from natural forces, local villagers, and their own mutual distrust, in addition to the unethical people pursuing Ellie in hopes of reaching the mythical city first.

Paper. Library copy.

Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds

Stuy, a New York City teen, aspires to become a drummer in a band like his punk rock mother was before him, but finds himself couch surfing with his uncle after his stepfather throws him out. He makes friends with a teen guitarist in his uncle’s building, and together they form a band, Soundtrack, with some other teens, which becomes a surprise hit around town. But after one of the bandmates gets into some trouble, they’re forced to perform on the run, taking to performing in subway stops with viral posts pulling in their audience and trying to stay one song ahead of the police.

To my knowledge, this remains available only in audiobook format. It’s a full-cast performance with terrific musical and ambient additions to help cement the setting. Heartbreakingly sweet. Recommended.

Audio. Library copy.

The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King

Monica is a college student who decides to take time off from her computer studies degree and return home when she learns that her beloved grandmother has dementia and her care is challenging her already ailing grandfather. Her professor offers her a paid remote internship to continue working on an app that helps bring strangers together, which allows her to feel like she’s making some progress towards an eventual career. When, in the process of testing the app, she turns up another college student who has a connection to her grandmother’s estranged cousin, she reaches out to the young woman, who passes along a pencil from the family’s pencil factory back in China.

Meanwhile, her grandmother starts to write down her recollections of surviving two wars in China, her girlhood with her cousin, her emigration to the United States as a spy for the Chinese government — and the mysterious ability the women in her family possess to capture memories in the “lead” of the Phoenix pencils.

If you like historical fiction and magical realism, this is a well-written, well-researched novel with sympathetic characters that raises questions about technology (both digital and analog) and asks to whom stories belong.

Paper. Library copy.

The Rivals by Jane Pek

The second book in the Claudia Lin mystery series, about a young Chinese-American woman who goes to work for a company that investigates people who are paired together via matchmaking sites to verify that they are who they claim to be. Except that, as we learned in the first story, they’re also investigating the matchmaking sites themselves as these tech companies utilize AI and seek to secretly drive user behavior in other realms, as well.

It’s an interesting, but exhausting modern thriller. In this one, there are illicitly duplicated user profiles, a crossover with a gaming site, and not one, but two, people Claudia is interested in. Plus Claudia must repair strained relationships with her family, including her older brother, who’s just taken over a work project from a deceased friend — a coder who may have gotten too close to the truth of the matchmakers. I will keep reading the series, but I may switch to paper in the future to better follow the story. If tech mysteries are your speed, start with The Verifiers.

Audio. Library copy.

The Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Nora, a high-powered romance literary agent, and her younger sister, Libby, head from New York City to North Carolina for a girls’ only vacation before Libby’s second child is due. Nora can tell that something is off with Libby, who refuses to open up, so Nora agrees to a trip full of stress-inducing activities her more free-spirited sister enjoys, including dyeing her hair and going on dates. While she doesn’t really believe in happily ever afters (although she may be open to a vacation lover), she does keep finding herself running into an arrogant editor that she met once a few years back in the City. I wonder what will happen…

This is a nice contemporary romance and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Fellow romance readers and watchers who find the “big city girl heads to the country for a trip and ends up realizing life is so much better in a small town” trope really irritating should check this one out.

Paper. Personal copy.

We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang

In this charming, jewel-toned picture book, Mr. Li is awakened one night by a noise. Going outside, he finds three individuals in his field, where their vehicle has crashed. He considers leaving them to their repairs, but decides that, as it’s the middle of the night, he should invite them in to rest until daylight. The next morning, his guests assure him that they are definitely human, and they are eager to be on their way once they find parts to fix their “car.” After Mrs. Li prepares breakfast and they chat about how they “make business” (one of which is “wear hat”) and “play sportsball” in their spare time, Mr. Li takes them into town to the hardware store. After the townsfolk learn these visitors from “Europe” have broken down, one after another they head to Mr. Li’s bringing tools, parts, food, music, and general welcoming cheer to help these unexpected guests resume their travels.

Charming. Beautiful. So, so needed right now. Highly recommended.

Paper. Library copy.