“The Honey Witch,” by Sydney J Shields. Copyright 2024, New York: Redhook (268 pages, $18.99).

Content Warning: Fire/fire injury, death, grief, sexual content, miscarriage, blood, death of a parent, torture, confinement.

In Shields’ debut novel, she takes magic, nature, and finding one’s self when all odds are against you and turns it into the sweetest success. Marigold Claude has always preferred the ways of the wild than conforming to societies’ standards (and suitors) and jumps at the first chance she can to see a different life. Apprenticing under her grandmother, a honey witch, and then taking over for the care of the Isle of Innifree, Marigold faces the ups and downs of being a witch. One of those consequences being that no one can fall in love with a honey witch. A “curse” that Marigold was ok with, or so she thought.

As Marigold experiences loneliness after her grandmother’s passing, she seeks familial companionship in her friends. What Marigold did not think would happen was falling in love with the sceptic, Lottie, and the choice that Marigold now faces. Stay a witch, keep the curse, save Isle of Innifree. Or forsake all that she has worked towards in order to love openly and freely with Lottie.

The Honey Witch is a delightful fantasy novel with a lot of cozy vibes. I’m looking forward to seeing more of what Shields plans to write in the future.

Kayleigh Dyer is a Library Technical Processing Assistant at May Memorial Library. Contact her at kdyer@alamancelibraries.org.

Thirsty. Hammonds, Jas. New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2024.

Content Warning: alcohol addiction, self-hatred, bullying, hazing, and suicidal ideation.

Wow. Jas Hammonds writes books that move you to tears (sad and happy). I wasn’t sure if Thirsty could be as good as their first book, We Deserve Monuments, but it absolutely is.

Blake has been dating Ella for four years, the entirety of high school. Now, she, Ella, and her best friend Annetta are going to college at Jameswell and (hopefully) joining the Serena Society. Serena Society is more than just a sorority – it is a network of Black women who support each other, mentor each other, and membership leads to success in life.

As summer begins, Blake is drinking. A lot. She is drinking to escape that she doesn’t have a great relationship with her parents, who don’t seem to understand the struggles she is facing as a biracial lesbian. She is drinking to escape that even after four years of dating, she doesn’t feel secure in her relationship with Ella. She is drinking to escape that this charmed life could end with one wrong move on her part (like throwing paint on a racist country club member’s yacht), because she isn’t rich like Ella and Annetta. She is drinking because she is insecure, and drinking brings out Big Bad Bee, who isn’t scared of anything, who is up for anything, and whom everyone loves. Everyone but her best friend Annetta, who worries that Blake is drinking too much.

Then the official Serena Society pledge period begins, and there’s more drinking, more hazing, more chances for her life to go off the rails. The president of Serena Society, Roxanne, seems to revel in making the pledges drink to excess and complete risky tasks. Roxanne flirts shamelessly with Ella, making Blake feel even more insecure in her relationship. Annetta tries to intervene and help Blake with her drinking, but Annetta has her own issues to deal with, including a new relationship with a nonbinary person, and figuring out if she (or they) is/are nonbinary as well.

At times, this book is difficult to read, because you hurt for Blake while internally (or externally) screaming at her as she makes bad choice after bad choice. Hammonds does an incredible job of making the reader feel just as unsettled, depressed and desperate as Blake feels. This book deals with serious issues, such as alcohol addiction, self-hatred, bullying, hazing, and suicidal ideation. But it also has hope, and that makes all of the pain worth it.

Mary Beth Adams is the Community Engagement Librarian for Alamance County Public Libraries. She can be reached at madams@alamancelibraries.org.

Zom 100 (manga) : bucket list of the dead / story by Haro Aso ; art by Kotaro Takata ; translation: Nova Skipper ; touch-up art & lettering: Vanessa Satone. San Francisco, California : VIZ Media, LLC, 2021.

Warning: Mature themes, rated M. Not intended for younger readers.

Contrary to the title, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead isn’t about zombies. Well… OK it is. But this isn’t your grandpa’s zombie apocalypse. Zom 100 follows Akira Tendo, a 24-year-old wage slave. He works for a production company he thought would be his forever career; only to find out it was an extremely exploitative company. When he wakes up after coming home from an all-nighter he opens his door to zombie apocalypse and is filled with emotion. Not dread as everyone around him seems to be, but all-out delight. He doesn’t have to go to work anymore? This is the best! Now he can do everything he wanted to. And so, the “Things I want to do before I become a zombie” bucket list was born.

Haro Aso, Zom 100’s author, mixes dystopian themes, deeply human emotional moments, and comedic joy in to this fast-paced manga. It’s an exploration on the importance of mental health, facing every-day anxieties, and relying on friendships in the face of adversity. Whether said adversities are zombies or otherwise. Despite being set in a zombie apocalypse the zombies really serve as a mechanism to move the characters along. Zom 100 is first and foremost a love letter to people who feel stuck or unfulfilled and advocates to not wait until the zombie apocalypse to go out and do the things you’ve always wanted to do.

Ian Alcantar is a Circulation Assistant at North Park Library. He can be reached at IAlcantar@alamancelibraries.org.

The summer reading theme for this year is Adventure Begins in Your Library, and we have plenty of adventures for people of all ages!

Our Summer Reading Kickoff is this Saturday, June 8, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at Graham Recreation Center. We’ll have an inflatable obstacle course, a face painter, a balloon artist, cotton candy, oversize lawn games, a special mascot, our Mobile Library, and more. All of this is at NO CHARGE!

Our programming calendar lists our larger programs at each branch this summer. We have storytellers, magic shows, knights, painting and art, gem mining, cosplay, animals, sewing and more! Some of the programs do require registration, so pay attention as you choose programs (look for the *RR beside the listing in the brochure).

Our regularly-scheduled programs for kids, from storytimes to book clubs, also will be happening and will take them on even more adventures. You will find these and our other special events listed in each branch’s monthly calendars (here’s June’s calendars from May Memorial, Mebane, North Park and Graham).

The other part of our summer reading adventure is our reading log through ReadSquared! We challenge everyone (kids, teens and adults) to read 1000 minutes this summer. For every 90 minutes you read (or are read to), you earn a prize or a raffle ticket for our end-of-summer gift baskets. Everything counts when you’re trying to reach your 1000-minute goal – books, audiobooks, comics, magazines, and newspapers. Sign up today and start logging your minutes on Monday, June 10.

If you need recommendations of books for children and teens to read, we have you covered, with brochures with plenty of options of adventurous reads. Or you can ask your favorite library staff member to recommend some great books.

It’s going to be a great summer – join us for adventure at Alamance County Public Libraries!

This could be us. Ryan, Kennedy. New York: Forever, 2024.

In true Kennedy Ryan fashion, This Could Be Us is a beautiful romance novel about self-love and self-discovery for fans of Ryan’s other book Before I Let Go.

This Could Be Us follows the life of Soledad Barnes, a scrupulous planner, do it all yourselfer, stay at home mom, and wife. Her picture-perfect life starts to unravel when a knock at her door leaves the world she came to know with her husband Edward crashing down around her. Yet, there is no time to grieve, forced to quickly pivot to create a new reality for her and her three daughters. Amidst the struggle, she rediscovers her identity while grappling with the possibility of a new love.

Judah, the perplexing other main character, provides a captivating look into parenting two young children that are on the autism spectrum. It sheds some light on challenges that most people may not have thought about. The story mainly follows Soledad’s journey of healing through self-love while the romance between her and Judah is an incredibly slow burn. Without any spoilers, I can tell you the fire never runs out.  The big question is can she trust herself to make the right decision when it comes to loving someone again? She’s lost it all before and refuses to make the same mistake twice.

The author skillfully merges the first book to the sequel by expounding on the friendship between Soledad, Yasmen, and Hendrix. Highlighting the importance of maintaining adult friendships even as people grow busy, have romantic relationships, and deal with family issues. At times the story was intense, spicy, funny, and heartwarming. There were so many great life lessons to learn in this novel. Ryan definitely knows how to keep the readers on their toes. This is a great novel for readers who enjoy multilayered romantic fiction with elements of drama and inspiration.

Chantell Huell is a Circulation Assistant at North Park Library. She can be reached at Chuell@alamancelibraries.org.

Someday, Maybe. Nwabineli, Onyi. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Graydon House, [2022].

Content Warning: Suicide, depression, grief

“Someday, maybe” is a quote that sums up hopes and fears of our main character. It’s a response that stagnates her into this unknown space between “yes” and “no.” Onyi Nwabineli’s Someday, Maybe follows Eve Ezenwa-Morrow, the novel’s protagonist as she tries to navigate life after the death of her husband, Quentin Morrow, to suicide.

After his death on New Year’s Eve, she is so weighed down by the grief that follows that a new personality emerges: the “Eve of now” which is vastly different from the “Eve of before.” Most of the plot takes place at her home in London, where Eve is plagued by reminders of the life she once shared with Quentin. Grief seems to be the other main character, as Eve is all but “content to wallow in [grief’s] cesspit for all eternity because it is like poking at a mouth ulcer with the tip of your tongue—inadvisable, painful, but addictive.”

Onyi Nwabineli is truly a master wordsmith with how she is able to convey grief with such raw poignancy. The story staggers forward, mended together with memories from Eve’s childhood and her relationship with Quentin, a photographer from one of London’s elite families. Nwabineli skillfully intertwines Eve’s Igbo heritage into the story by including phrases, food, and traditions. Nwabineli succeeds in making you see how grief can strain what was once very close family ties. It isolates Eve in a pool of melancholy at the smallest reminder of Quentin; and reduces the importance of everything else in her life, including her career. Her ice-cold mother-in-law Aspen, also remains ever present in the background of Eve’s grief, further spiraling her into a world of depression.

Readers should be warned that the novel does deal with suicide, and it does describe aspects of Quentin’s death, but it doesn’t go on to clarify the method until late in the book. Someday, Maybe could be considered as a study on grief that forces the reader to examine it without turning away. As each page goes on, the readers are experiencing that grief with her – along with the well-meaning attempts from her friends and family at “fixing” it.

Chantell Huell is a Circulation Assistant at North Park Library. She can be reached at Chuell@alamancelibraries.org.