What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

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It’s not unusual for revered writers to lose some of their literary vitality as they age (sorry, Don DeLillo). It also appears that Ian McEwan received his immunization against this particular affliction. What We Can Know, his 18th novel, is a prescient work of fiction that both charms and haunts. And similar to McEwan’s Atonement, a novel published a quarter century ago, What We Can Know will eventually take residence somewhere deep in memory, where recalling its very existence evokes some weighty emotions—even if the details are lost.

The novel is set not too far in the future, 2120; yet it’s still just on the other side of human catastrophe. Nation-states as we know them are gone. AI-initiated defense systems led to various nuclear exchanges. Sea levels have risen dramatically and in what used to be England—and what now appears to be a series of archipelagoes—there lives a scholar, Thomas Metcalfe, trying to piece together an understanding of life in the early 21st century.

We are given microscopic glances into the state of the world Thomas occupies, which makes sense. Thomas doesn’t even know the immediate state of his world. Global interconnectivity via the web has essentially disappeared. Thomas still has access to the detritus of the once-digital world. He can read logs of our digital correspondences and posts. But he finds them—just as most of us find them now—to be not only indigestible but also garbage.

His focus of research concerns the events surrounding a 2014 dinner party that took place at the country home of Francis Blundy, an eminent poet. It would become known as the “Second Immortal Dinner” because it was when Francis, in front of notable guests, recited a sonnet cycle for his wife entitled “A Corona for Vivien.” There was only one copy of the poem. It was never published and not known to be read by anyone other than Francis. Through attendees’ journals and letters, Thomas studies their lives and the world they occupied. So, in many ways, this is the world Thomas lives in as well, a plentiful world he can only dream about.

But, of course, Thomas must make his way in his contemporary world. If you’re a humanities instructor today and think teaching literature and history is a struggle, Thomas and his colleague—and on/off romantic partner—Rose would like for you to try it after the collapse of civilization. To their students, with their “flattened and timorous” minds, there’s almost a cruelty in studying a world that once held so much. When forced to examine the past, their students wear a particular countenance: an unspoken knowing that most of the inhabitants of the early 21st century “deserved the mega-deaths they brought upon themselves.”

To Thomas and Rose, within the years the world shattered “world literature produced its most beautiful laments, gorgeous nostalgia, eloquent fury–and those masterpieces, so we promised, we would study together.” Still, they have intense disagreements over how one should chronicle the past. Thomas is so obsessed with the missing poem, Rose believes he’s no longer acting as a responsible scholar, at least when it comes to filling in the historical blanks around the time “A Corona for Vivien” was recited.

Thomas knows that the missing poem is famous because it’s missing. The real scholarship lies in the reactions it elicited, that the idea of the poem is what people find beautiful. It’s a repository for dreams. But Thomas is fixated with the poem proper. To complete the circle, he and Rose go on a journey to find it.

McEwan forces the reader to sit with his various characters. A first-time McEwan reader may wonder if the time is worth the payoff. A returning McEwan reader knows to wait. And sure enough, like an increasing electric current, What We Can Know starts to hum. Throughout the second part of the novel, I found myself quite often smiling as I read, beguiled by McEwan’s writing and devilish techniques.

What We Can Know places the reader in a unique position, for we are contemporaries of the people Thomas studies. We understand them more than we can understand Thomas and his contemporaries. Nevertheless, regardless of the human era, “We are trapped between the dead and the unborn, the past ghosts and the future ghosts,” thinks Thomas. After experiencing many tribulations, he continues, “Our ultimate loyalties must be to the loud and ruthless present.”

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Review by Jason Sullivan

The Accidental Rewrite by Milly Johnson

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Polly Potter is unhappy. Her partner, Christopher, takes her completely for granted at home and at work her misogynist boss treats her as a servant and takes credit for her work. But in The Accidental Rewrite by Milly Johnson, Polly is about to make some changes.

Polly and Christopher have been together for eight years and their relationship deteriorated to the point that he had an affair. Polly left but agreed to come back if they would work on getting back to what they once had. A year has past and things are no better. The only enjoyment she has is her creative writing class which Christopher doesn’t even know she attends. He has no interest in what she does other than cleaning and cooking.

Polly made her plan to leave but decided to wait until after a family commitment. Christopher’s sister is renewing her vows and Polly is to be bridesmaid and wear the hideous dress picked out for her. While waiting she begins an assignment for her writing class. She is to plan a novel. Her heroine, Sabrina Anderson, is all the things Polly wishes for herself. Sabrina is strong and leaving her unfaithful husband and lousy job, her daughter is alive and traveling, and she had parents who loved her.

Finally the day of the vow renewal arrives. Polly has her bags packed, her money and passport in her purse, and will load her car and leave after the ceremony. When she reaches the town hall and is ready to follow the bride down the aisle, she realizes something is terribly wrong. Even with all eyes on her Polly can’t do what is expected and flees.

She doesn’t take time to pack all her things in the car, she just goes. She sticks to her plan to spend a couple of weeks at the coast where she has happy memories. Almost there Polly stops at a scenic spot hoping to regroup and get a cup of coffee. But a bad day gets worse when she is mugged and injured.

Awakening in the hospital her mind is blank. Her purse and car are gone and the only thing she knows is her name, Sabrina Anderson. Of course, no one with that name is listed as missing and Christopher and family are not searching for Polly Potter. If her memory doesn’t return, she is destined for a long hospital stay then a shelter.

Marielle, a retired nurse and a volunteer at the hospital, befriends Sabrina/Polly and decides to help her regain her memory. Marielle has an apartment attached to her home and offers it to Sabrina while she is recovering. She even finds Sabrina/Polly a job working in her son’s restaurant.

As Polly settles into her new home and job, she remembers some things but it is all mixed up with Sabrina’s story. She grows close to the people she works with, especially Tony, Murielle’s son, and begins to build a new life.

But what will happen when her memory returns? When Sabrina’s life collides with Polly’s, will she be strong enough to fight for the life she deserves?

Johnson has written a humorous, heart-warming novel about found family and second chances. A special touch is the printed retractions from The Daily Trumpet between some chapters. The Daily Trumpet is the local paper renowned for all the mistakes they make including one involving Sabrina.

You may find it takes a while to get to the heart of this novel but keep reading, you will be rewarded. The library has this title in both regular print and large print.

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Review written by Patty Crane, Reference Librarian

Superfan by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

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Minnie is a college freshman, feeling adrift and isolated after relocating from Denver to Austin. College was supposed to be a time to meet lifelong friends and have new experiences. Instead she finds herself eating dinner alone in the dining hall and watching internet videos in her dorm room.

That is where she first encounters HOURglass, a soon-to-be-viral boy band modeled after K-pop groups.

The boys make her feel less alone. Their shining light beaming out of the laptop screen and into her soul. She watches their performances, follows their journal videos, participates in live streams – HOURglass becomes the center of her life.

Jenny Tinghui Zhang’s SUPERFAN is a dual-perspective novel. Half of it follows Minnie through her first year of college while the other focuses on Eason, one member of HOURglass, and a secret from his past that could destroy their chance at fame.

To the fans, Eason is Halo. He is the bad boy of the group; rough around the edges, but loved the most because of it. Each member of HOURglass has had his image and history carefully curated to endear them to their fanbase.

The public knows that Halo is the member that came in with the least experience. Minwoo was an opera singer in Korea. Julian was a professional figure skater. Colt has model-like good looks and a background in sports.

Eason’s big break came when he delivered food to an audition. A week later, he got a phone call telling him the executives liked his air of pent-up frustration. It was a break that he did not know he needed. He has worked himself to the bone to become Halo – to avoid ever going back to his old life.

HOURglass has accumulated a devoted following. Their U.S. tour has sold out stadiums, and they have a huge following for all of the videos they post. Minnie feels deeply connected to the boys, but she knows that she is one devoted fan in a legion of devoted fans.

Still seeking connection, she finds an online forum dedicated to HOURglass called The Heaven. The people are all welcoming and she can tell that they are all huge fans of the band. Minnie is even able to find support about the other issues in her life through the forum.

But there is a darker side to The Heaven. A sub-group of members has dedicated themselves to following the band. They have connections in particular industries or enough money to buy privileged information. They appear at the airports and hotels when the band is traveling. And they know the secret that is haunting Eason.

SUPERFAN is an excellent examination of fame and fandom. The ways that we claim ownership over something that can never really be ours. Minnie loves Halo, and she is motivated by wanting to help and protect him.

When they do come face-to-face, Eason also feels a connection to her – he can feel how passionate she is about HOURglass. But she is more than just their fan and he is more than just her idol, and neither of them will ever experience that part of the other.

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Book review by Alyssa Berry, Technical Services Librarian

The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage

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New Year’s Day in the Australian outback is not turning out how twenty-nine year old Lexi Villers had envisioned.  One minute she is camping with her two best friends – Finn and Jack – and she is about to make what feels like a stronger connection with Jack, when a helicopter interrupts.  Out steps her grandmother’s long-time personal assistant, Stewart, and he lets her know that there has been a terrible accident and she needs to return home to England immediately.  

Lexi’s grandmother is the Queen of England, and due to a skiing accident Lexi is now first in line for the crown.  Despite leaving on bad terms years earlier, and vowing that she would not take part in the royal family’s drama moving forward, Lexi quickly resumes her royal duties. Her relationship with her family and the Crown is a complicated one. Since birth she has felt immense pressure to conform to her family’s expectations, and with little guidance she has always had to decide how to navigate her personal ambitions and her inherited responsibilities.  And this time home is no different, with the Queen giving her a year to decide if she will assume her rightful position, next in line for the crown, or if she will officially renounce it for good.  

Lexi is unsure what to do.  She has built a beautiful life of her own in Australia.  She has friends, a career, a solid place that feels like her own.  But being “next in line” she feels a strong sense of duty to help her family.  Over the next year Lexi learns a lot about herself, her family, her friends and her country.  In the end, a scandal threatens her plans and she must decide how she wants to live the rest of her life. 

I saw this contemporary fiction novel promoted as a “modern fairytale,” and that might not be the best description, but it is a great hook to get people  interested in the book. Readers who enjoy stories where the characters are the heart of the story will likely find this one engaging and memorable. The book has something for everyone – drama, romance, intrigue and feminism.

My favorite part of the book is the pacing. There are pockets of intrigue and drama, but also quiet scenes where Lexi looks internally at her choices. The author seems to employ this so readers can have a behind the scenes look and consider why the characters act as they do it. The author unfolds the story a bit at a time, through flashbacks and it is effective in keeping the action moving and hooking the reader. The timing is spot on, and notably, the dialog is clearly delivered.

All-in-all this novel is easy-to-read and entertaining. Questioning where one fits in the world is one that most people struggle with, making the story engaging and accessible to many.  

Review written by: Jeana Gockley, Joplin Public Library Director

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The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

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Dear Reader,

This April marks the fourth year for Joplin Reads Together, Joplin Public Library’s community read designed for adults. A month-long initiative, Joplin Reads Together aims to provide the community with a shared reading experience, community connection, a promotion of literacy, and programming by way of selecting one novel, inviting the author to visit the library, and hosting programs inspired by that novel. This April the library will host 11 programs inspired by the selected novel, including a presentation and book signing by the author. We couldn’t pull it off without the support from our three Joplin Reads Together Community Partners: Friends of the Joplin Public Library, Post Art Library, and MSSU Spiva Library. I appreciate their contribution and excitement each year! Just as I appreciate the community members that have joined in Joplin Reads Together each year, and the first-timers that join! It is always a joy to see our hope come to life: community members that might otherwise never cross paths excitedly coming together over a shared interest. I’ve been fortunate enough to write about the selected novel in my book reviews for the last three years and I’m excited to once again share about the selected title for 2026: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. 

Published in 2025, The Correspondent is Evans’s debut novel. One reason I am looking forward to meeting Evans in April is she has said she wrote and attempted to get published for years before The Correspondent was finally swept up. What an exciting time this must be for her, as not only did she find her success in getting her writing published, but her book has also become a word-of-mouth hit. It now sits on the New York Times bestseller list and has gained additional acknowledgements such as being longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal, as well as being named a Best Book of the Year by: NPR, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Elle, Christian Science Monitor, and She Reads.

A character driven plot, The Correspondent is an epistolary novel (composed entirely of letters and emails) that focuses on main character Sybil. Sybil is a septuagenarian with the routine of sitting down almost daily to read and write letters or emails to her friends, family, and even people she does not know, like authors about their latest books, a university president, and a DNA testing facility. By way of these letters the reader learns about Sybil and her life piece by piece, as well as the secondary characters that are in her life. While I think Sybil could be the type of character that some readers could be slow to like or have mixed feelings about, part of the magic of this book for me was how real she felt, how interestingly Evans revealed her to the reader a little at a time. I say that some readers might have mixed feelings about Sybil because she can be brash and reactionary in her feelings at times. In a way, some parts of Sybil mirror uglier parts of people we don’t always want to look at closely, and I think that is what makes Sybil such a well-crafted character. Don’t get me wrong, while I say Sybil is brash, that exterior covers a caring, loving core; Sybil is just the type of person that doesn’t always know how to express those feelings. As the novel continues Sybil shifts and grows, showing that no matter our age we can always learn and grow within ourselves. As Evans develops Sybil’s character we learn to understand why she approaches life the way she does. The novel spans several years of Sybil’s life, taking the reader along her everyday interactions and relationships by way of her correspondence. 

This novel carries themes of family (both found and biological), aging, relationships, grief, and the continued struggle and growth of loving yourself and others while carrying grief. The epistolary format makes the book really consumable, and if you enjoy audiobooks it has a really great one. The secondary characters shine and are really enjoyable to read; many of the letters in the novel are from them and not just Sybil. I have always enjoyed an epistolary novel, something about the format seems to bring the characters closer, and this one was no exception for me. If you pick up this book, consider meeting the author when she visits on April 28th and check out the other Joplin Reads Together programming in April (whether you read the novel or not, all adults are welcome!).  

Sincerely,

Sarah

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Review by Sarah Turner-Hill, Adult Programming Coordinator

ALL THE BLUES IN THE SKY by Renee Watson

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January is a big month for youth literature. Librarians, authors, and children’s literature fans spend months reading and making guesses in anticipation of what some (me) might call the Super Bowl of youth literature: the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards. Every January, a slew of award winners and honorees are announced. The awards include, most notably, the John Newbery Medal, the Caldecott Medal, and the Coretta Scott King Award. I hadn’t read any of the three winners prior to the announcement, so I rushed to read all three as soon as they were announced.

The John Newbery Medal is awarded for excellence in children’s literature. Renee Watson, this year’s winner, is no stranger to acclaim, though this is her first Newbery medal. The winning title, All the Blues in the Sky, is one of just a few novels-in-verse to win the award. I have loved many of Watson’s other books, but I was a bit reluctant to read this one. The book follows 13-year-old Sage in the months after the death of her best friend on Sage’s 13th birthday. Although I recognize the importance of books about death and navigating grief, I wasn’t sure if I was prepared for such a heavy read. However, I like to read every Newbery Award winner, so I abandoned my reservations and checked out All the Blues in the Sky. 

Watson’s newest middle-grade novel is certainly heavy, but it contains important themes and valuable lessons that upper elementary and middle school-aged readers could benefit from. All the Blues in the Sky is sad, but it’s never hopeless.

From the outset, Sage’s grief is palpable. The novel’s poetic format lends itself to a stream-of-consciousness narrative style, where the reader feels as if they are in Sage’s head. Through her poems, readers also gain insight into the nature of grief, at least in the ways it affects Sage. As she comes to terms with what happens, Sage slowly starts to connect with new friends, open up to her family, and acknowledge this new reality. Watson fully illuminates the experience of losing a loved one. Such a loss can feel too heavy and nearly impossible to survive, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that joy cannot exist alongside loss. 

Novels in verse can fall into a few categories: sometimes they limit the effectiveness of the story and sometimes they illuminate it. All the Blues in the Sky falls in the latter category. Watson utilizes the length and language within each chaptered poem to share what Sage is willing to divulge at that time. At the beginning of the novel, Sage is more guarded and the text shows that. As she opens up in therapy, makes new friends, and allows herself to feel her feelings, the reader gains more details about what happened.

All The Blues in the Sky has many valuable lessons to impart: how we survive hard things, forgiveness for ourselves and others, and our ability to hold conflicting emotions. Watson’s novel will be helpful to readers struggling with grief. It will also be an insightful read for upper elementary and middle school readers using books to learn about other experiences and to process difficult emotions in a safe space.

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A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst

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Imagine being stuck in a life raft on the Pacific Ocean for 118 days. Now imagine your spouse being in that bobbing raft with you. The addition of the spouse into the scenario is not meant to elicit a cheap laugh. The change in setting has a genuine bearing on one’s attitude. Instantly relieved? Or immediately tense? In 1973, Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, a British married couple, experienced this exact event. They ended up writing a book about it, so you could just read their account. Or you could do yourself one better and read A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst.

Through Elmhirst’s narrative, not only do we read about the Bailey’s ordeal at sea, we have the added benefit of Elmhirst’s expert writing. She has a Truman Capote-like talent in describing subjects and events with expert concision. Within a matter of pages, the reader knows Maralyn and Maurice.

Prior to meeting Maurice, Maralyn’s circumstances left her feeling isolated from the life she wanted to live. Maurice, on the other hand, isolated so that he could live the life he wanted. To Maurice’s great fortune, he met Maralyn, a rare someone who shared his want to avoid a conventional work-a-day life and instead spend it outdoors. More importantly for Maurice, Maralyn didn’t seem to mind that he could be a downer, a man who rubbed most others the wrong way and had the “tendency to get in the way of uncomplicated joy.”

It was Maralyn who convinced Maurice that they should sell their English home and commission the building of a sailboat that would take them around the world, ending up in New Zealand to begin life anew. To Maralyn, it was that simple, her positivity at times bordering on naiveté. One friend later recounted that Maralyn often spoke of New Zealand as if “might still be uninhabited.”

They put their plan into action, with Maurice as skipper and navigator, and with Maralyn in charge of the supplies and the galley. Having honed their skills over the years, they were competent sailors. They successfully crossed the Atlantic and docked in Barbados with the intoxicating high of having crossed a wild ocean. Once through the Panama Canal and fully resupplied, they set out on the Pacific Ocean.

When the impact came, they were both below deck. The collision of a breaching whale, much bigger than their sailboat, sent water gushing into the cabin. They had just enough time to load some supplies into an inflatable raft and a dinghy. Maralyn took a photograph of the sailboat just before it completely disappeared, the last tip of the mast sticking out of the water “like a thin arm hoping for rescue.”

What follows over the next 118 days is about as harrowing as you can imagine. Drifting deep into the Pacific Ocean, their only potential stroke of luck was that they were in a shipping lane. But that also meant what was once a liberation, sailing the open ocean and watching a passing vessel recede into the distance, became a repeated soul-crushing occurrence. It appeared they were not going to be spotted at all, not while still being alive anyway.

It was also clear that Maurice was no longer the skipper, as Maralyn became the decisive one. Maurice would later say that he wouldn’t have survived without Maralyn’s firm belief that they would be rescued. She constantly had to keep him from giving up. Maralyn had them talk about their next boat and where they would venture; she made a deck of playing cards out of paper, which didn’t really last because of the ocean spray.

Still, they worked together in collecting rainwater to drink and in catching sea turtles to eat. One day they went on a near-rage and killed anything they could get their hands on, including small sharks that were caught by the tail. This was done as they kept a pet turtle aboard. After they were rescued, neither ate another piece of meat—of any kind—for the rest of their lives.

They said hurtful things to each other. They survived epic storms, “squall after squall.” But, writes Elmhirst, “They were alive, just.”

A Korean fishing vessel ultimately plucked them from the water. News of their rescue made them famous before they reached land. Their recovery process was long, but they would eventually acquire another boat to set sail once again.

The ultimate end—via illness—came for Maralyn long before it found Maurice. And it was as though Maurice was set adrift once again. “There had been,” however, “a strange kind of peace adrift on the ocean, even if it was a peace close to annihilation,” says Elmhirst. Now, on land and back in England, Maurice was without the one person to help him navigate life. He shuffled around, becoming once again—shall we say—a bit much to take. Whether waiting for rescue on the open ocean or acting on your own volition with two feet firmly on land, that time is yours. Writes Elmhirst, “…dying is still a process. You’re still alive while you’re dying.”

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Review by Jason Sullivan

Cold Weather Reads

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The snow and cold we had a few weeks ago was a perfect excuse (if you needed one) to curl up with a few good books.

One of the first I read, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, was recommended by a friend and long-time library user. The author, Walter Isaacson, takes you on an in depth dive into a sentence most, if not all, of us recognize immediately: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

This crucial sentence in the Declaration of Independence penned by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams was the premise on which the United States was formed. Isaacson dissects it almost word by word, giving the beliefs and influences that each man brought to the crafting of this foundational sentence.

This is a small book, only 80 pages, with almost half it being supporting texts and the full Declaration of Independence. It won’t take you long to read but will give you a lot to think about, especially as we celebrate 250 years as a nation.

After my sojourn into seriousness, I moved onto a more light-hearted read, Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds. All of the other Allison Brennan books I’ve read have been thrillers or romantic suspense with the emphasis on suspense. This one is a cozy mystery taking place on a beautiful Caribbean island.

Mia Crawford works as a financial planner and is being offered a partnership in the firm of McCann & Cohn. But first she is being sent on a non-negotiable vacation to celebrate her five year anniversary. St. Clair is a secluded resort island and the only thing that will get Mia through her forced vacation is books. Well, books and maybe meeting an eligible man for a holiday fling.

Having finished her travel read, her first stop on the island is the gift shop to stock up. The only book that catches her eye is on the free table containing books left behind by guests. With book in hand she is ready to start her vacation.

As she meets her fellow guests, a lot of the talk is about a missing guest, Diana Harden. Word is Diana took the ferry to St. John and never returned. Mia loves a mystery so she takes every opportunity to learn as much as she can about the missing woman.

But she can’t snoop all the time so some beach time with her book is a perfect way to relax. She is enjoying the story until she finds that the previous owner defaced the book. They wrote in the margins and underlined and circled words throughout. Mia is outraged but also intrigued.

When Diana’s body washes ashore, Mia figures out that the book she has may have belonged to her. What was Diana doing that got her killed and what do all the numbers and marked words mean?

Mia now has a mystery to solve and a holiday fling to have and only 7 days to accomplish both.

While this stand-alone novel came out late last year, Brennan’s seventh book in the Quinn & Costa suspense series was just released.

In Make It Out Alive, the FBI Mobile Response Team is called in to catch a serial killer praying on married couples. All the women have a similar look which Kara matches. So she and Matt Costa go undercover as a married couple and soon lure the killer, Garrett Reid, out. Job completed the team heads back home but Kara and Matt don’t make it.

The team soon finds evidence that their teammates were drugged and abducted. Was the profile wrong? Did Reid have an accomplice? The unit pulls out all the stops to try to find them but Matt and Kara may have to find a way to save themselves.

Trapped in an abandoned booby-trapped factory with no food or water time is running out. Told from the three perspectives of killer, law enforcement, and victim this story is hard to put down.

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Reviews by Patty Crane, Reference Librarian

You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

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In the final few hours before the space station where she lives is blown up, Niko Larsen receives a mysterious package. Not a shipment of supplies, which would be addressed to her restaurant. The box is large and heavy; the shipping label has been torn off. There is no indication where it came from or who sent it.

But Niko has bigger problems right now. Last Chance Restaurant is about to be visited by a food critic and Niko’s staff – the remains of her former military regiment – are beside themselves trying to prepare.

Her former sergeant, now head chef, is requesting permission to acquire an eggplant, by any means necessary. For some reason, her comms officer has seen fit to accept a reservation from a large party that claims to know Niko. And their front-of-house host, part of an alien race with the ability to see the future, is making predictions of doom.

All seems to be going well by the time the food critic, Lolola Montaigne d’Arcy deBurgh, arrives. Although she is quickly followed by an unexpected guest.

Arpat Takraven is a famous racer and apparent food connoisseur, and he is willing to pay top dollar for the privilege of dining in the same room as Lolola. Niko agrees, but before the meal can begin, the station is attacked.

With Takraven offering them shelter, Niko, her crew, and Lolola leave the restaurant. Along the way, Takraven is killed by debris. Like many of the extremely wealthy, he has a clone body that his consciousness will transfer to. In the meantime, he gives Niko a password to get the rest of them onto his ship.

Once aboard the You Sexy Thing, the ship informs Niko that the password she was given is one used to indicate to it that Takraven was under duress. The Thing has been directed to take everyone aboard to a prison planet and turn them in for theft.

As they gather themselves, Niko is surprised that a member of her crew brought along the mysterious crate from her office. Within the box is a young woman in cryosleep. She is an imperial heir with no memory of why she was sent to Niko.

The crew sets about making themselves at home on the ship, for what time they have there. They even seem to be making some headway gaining a rapport with the Thing. However, they soon find out that Lolola is not who she seems, as she forcibly takes control of the ship and changes their course to the Intergalactic Association of Pirate Havens.

Cat Rambo’s YOU SEXY THING is the first book in their Disco Space Opera series. It is full of well-developed characters and extensive lore. This book only scratches the surface of the world that Rambo has built. I found it to be a fun read, well-deserving of the phrase “space opera.”

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Review by Alyssa Berry, Technical Services Librarian

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

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I Who Have Never Known Men was my last read of 2025 and one of my most interesting reads of the year. The post-apocalyptic science fiction novel explores themes of survival, female friendship, and purpose in life in under 200 pages with no chapters and no name given to the main character. This unique novel has an equally special author. Jacqueline Harpman published I Who Have Never Known Men in 1995 in French. Born in Belgium in 1929, Harpman and her parents were Jewish and fled Belgium in 1940 when the Nazis invaded. They spent 5 years living in Morocco, where Harpman faced institutional antisemitism, before moving back to Belgium in 1945 after war ended. As an adult Harpman became a celebrated Belgium author and a professional psychoanalysis. I think Harpman’s background as a psychoanalysis and Holocaust survivor made her uniquely qualified to author one of the most profound and disturbing science fiction novels I’ve read. And I think the internet agreed. Harpman’s novel was translated into English in 1997 by Ros Schwartz. It was then recently re-released in 2022 when dystopian novels were very popular and TikTok users took it from there. The novel went viral, and I was among the many that learned of it. 

The novel is written from the point of view of our main character, a teenage girl when the novel opens, and it follows her life from there. The novel is written like her journal entry, looking back on her strange life experience and recording what she lived through. Her story opens as the youngest in a group of 40 women, kept in a locked cage underground, guarded by a rotation of six men. The men never speak to the women, the women don’t know why they are being kept there and they never leave, and the main character has no prior memories before the cage. The older women aren’t able to tell the young girl much anymore about life before the cage, partly because they have a hard time remembering, and partly because the guards crack a whip menacingly when the women begin asking too many questions. The women used to try harder to get out, pleading with the guards, attempting escape, but enough time has passed that they have resigned themselves to this fate. This existence is all our main character has known. The limited education she does possess is thanks to the women in the cage with her.

One day the routine is broken when, as a guard puts the key into the lock of the cage, a siren the women have never heard before goes off. The guard turns and runs, leaving the key. This is it, a miracle they didn’t think possible. They unlock the cage and our main character is the first one to exit, venturing towards the door with the other women trailing behind. What they find is a staircase that leads them outside to hills of grass in every direction, but no other buildings or people are visible. The women are at first elated – they are free! They gather supplies from the storage closets they found where they were being kept and slowly begin to explore the area. It does not take long for the women’s hope to drop as they discover there is nothing else around, they even wonder if they are on a different planet than Earth. The guards are nowhere to be found, nor is any type of technology. The only thing they do find is other bunkers with cages like their own, some filled with 40 women like theirs, others with 40 men. Sadly, these captives didn’t have the luck of a guard happening to unlock the cage at the right moment: they’ve all died locked inside. 

Years pass like this. The women build a small community of homes, find more empty bunkers, and most accept this is all there is; no one is coming for them, no one is here with them, they are alone and will always be so. Years go on and they all pass away until only our main character is left. She was the only one that still questioned maybe something is out there to find, something that will explain why this has happened, why they are all there. She leaves the homes they built and begins walking, exploring further than ever before. Everything is the same, grassy hills, until she eventually finds an underground bunker clearly designed for someone in charge: endless amounts of food, a kitchen, a bed with nice bedding, and a bathroom, all things she’s never experienced. This is also where she finds paper and pen, and after years spent alone in this bunker, decides to write everything down should anyone find it after she is gone. 

I read a review of this book that described it as “quietly devastating” and I think that is the best way to sum up this novel. Harpman created a story that had me saying wow, just…wow. This isn’t a typical read. The premise of the main character knowing very little creates a reading experience where the reader likewise has the same questions she does, but they never get answered. Instead the reader spends time in the main character’s head, absorbing her thoughts and emotions, and also wondering what happened here to create this situation, but there is never the satisfaction of knowing. The novel spends years with the main character as she tries to create some semblance of a meaningful life with the situation she has been dealt. This is a haunting speculative fiction novel specifically focused on women and I recommend it to anyone wanting a moving read that won’t be easy to forget. I think the fact that this 30-year old Belgium novel went viral on one of the biggest social media sites says a lot, and I’m glad for it because I ended 2025 with one of my favorite reads of the year.

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Review by Sarah Turner-Hill, Adult Programming Coordinator