Contributor Profile: Gabrielle Harbowy

NAME: Gabrielle Harbowy

SECRET UNDISCLOSED LOCATION: East of Los Angeles, West of the Moon

NERD SPECIALIZATION(S): Interviewer, tattoo fanatic, TTRPGer, Team Star Wars. Totally normal about Baldur's Gate 3.

MY PET PEEVES IN NERD-DOM ARE: many and varied. How much time do you have?

VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, ZOMBIES, ALIENS OR ROBOTS: Astarion Ancunín specifically. In this essay I will...

RIGHT NOW I'M READING: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

...AND A COUPLE BOOKS I RECENTLY FINISHED ARE: A House Between Sea and Sky by Beth Cato, A City on Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith ... and some fantastic books by clients (I'm a literary agent) that I can't talk about yet, but believe me I'll be crowing proudly about them when you can read them!

NEXT TWO ON QUEUE ARE: Final Orbit by Chris Hadfield, Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

WHEN THE WEATHER SUCKS OUTSIDE I'M MOST LIKELY TO BE... Curled up under a homemade blanket with a book and a mug of tea. No...I'll be at my desk reading queries.

MY FAVORITE SUPERHERO: Does Dana Scully count?

IF I WERE A SUPERHERO/VILLAIN, MY POWER WOULD BE: Regulating the air temperature around me. Always comfortable in all situations!

THE BEST / WORST COMIC FILMS OF THE PAST 5 YEARS IS: I think it's been longer than that since I've seen one. I'm happy that other people enjoy them! I get my nerd-fix elsewhere.

I JUST WATCHED XXXX AND IT WAS AWESOME: Del Toro's Frankenstein

I JUST WATCHED XXXX AND IT WAS TERRIBLE: the nightly news

EVERYONE SHOULD SEE XXXX BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE: the aurora borealis (or aurora australis), with their own eyes.

BEST SCIENCE/SPECULATIVE FICTION SHOW OF THE PAST 10 YEARS: Severance and Mrs Davis both hit me right in the feels.

NAME A BOOK YOU *NEED* A MOVIE OF (OR VICE VERSA): I need a movie of Aether's Pawn by Gabrielle Harbowy so that I can retire comfortably.

Welcome Gabrielle!

Film Review: Zootopia 2

The city of talking animals reveals a wider world in its past and its future

Some movie premises, like “How did Han Solo get his last name?”, can be classified as “Nobody asked for this.” Others, like “How did the rebels get the Death Star schematics?”, are in the smaller category of “Nobody asked for this, but now that you went ahead and made it, it turns out it’s really good.” Zootopia 2 belongs in that latter category. There was no need to explore why we didn’t see reptiles in the first movie, because the class of mammals sufficed for its predator/prey allegory (also, the vast majority of reptiles are predators, so their presence would only have overcomplicated the plot).

(Also also, the talking animals eat fish. Are the fish sentient? Don’t ask.)

The worldbuilding of the first Zootopia was only as detailed as it needed to be, and that’s OK; that’s how storytelling is supposed to work. But now that Disney has decided to answer an unnecessary question, we’re lucky that the result is as good as it is. Zootopia 2 takes the first movie’s points about exclusion and prejudice and weaves a bigger mystery that involves racism, real estate encroachment, and the erasure of the history of marginalized communities.

Our protagonist duo is back: Judy, the overachiever rabbit with a compulsive need to prove herself caused by the mother of all impostor syndromes; and Nick, the socially isolated fox who only became Judy’s coworker because he literally has no other friends. (This is not me roasting them; the script has them explicitly saying this.) So, after a spectacularly disastrous unauthorized mission, they’re quickly ordered to get support group therapy to address the rough edges between them.

As it happens, this is a tense moment for the police department: the city of Zootopia is celebrating the centennial of its climate control walls that allow camels and polar bears to coexist. This is the pivotal invention that makes Zootopia and its marvelous diversity possible, and to highlight their importance, the exclusive gala that commemorates their creation also has a priceless historical document in display: the design notes of the engineer who designed the walls. The notebook has been preserved by a distinguished lynx family that for some reason is hostile to one of its descendants, Pawbert, who seems to not measure up to the patriarch’s expectations.

The plot kicks into gear when a viper crashes the party, steals the notebook, rapidly delivers a speech that convinces Judy of his good intentions, and ends up accidentally envenoming the police chief in a comically contrived set of circumstances that make it look like Judy and Nick were the attackers. So now our heroes have to go on the run from their own colleagues while they try to solve the mystery of why a reptile has showed up in Zootopia after a century of absence, why the lynx family is so suspiciously hostile to him, and what the design notes have to do with it all.

As police investigations go, this one doesn’t rely on brilliant deduction as much as miraculous convenience. For our heroes, clues fall from the sky as needed; the only doubt is whether they’ll survive the next slapstick chase through a swamp or a water pipe or a collapsing house or a Gazelle concert in the desert.

A handful of characters from the first movie make an appearance in the sequel: your favorite criminal sheep, donut-loving cheetah, car racing sloth, hyperanxious rabbit parents, and mobster shrew return for brief yet memorable scenes. The new characters are no less vivid: the new mayor of Zootopia is a former action movie actor horse with a hilarious catchphrase, one of the key informers in the investigation is a plumed basilisk with a perverse sense of humor, and one unlikely ally our heroes meet is a tomboyish beaver with a conspiracy podcast. And of course, the star that steals the show is Gary the viper, voiced with endearing sweetness by a perfectly cast Ke Huy Quan.

The day is saved by generous emotive oversharing, multi-species cooperation, rusty electrical equipment, the magic of snake antivenom, and… the Zootopia patent office? OK, a bit bureaucratic, but I’ll take it. The reveal of why reptiles left Zootopia and why mammals have such a low opinion of them has echoes in the real-world history of forced displacement and the insidious normalization of racism. It’s heartening to learn the true extent of reptile contributions to animal society, but it may deliver a mixed message to have a plot where reptiles are only welcomed back into Zootopia because they contributed to animal society. As a matter of principle, a group of people shouldn’t have to show proof of noble deeds before getting basic dignity and equality.

Zootopia 2 shows us a more complex side of its society, a deeper manifestation of the disguised prejudices that were already evident in the first movie. Even if the specifics of the story could have been planned better, the basic message of joy in diversity resonates loud and clear.

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10.

POSTED BY: Arturo Serrano, multiclass Trekkie/Whovian/Moonie/Miraculer, accumulating experience points for still more obsessions.

Contributor Profile: Eddie Clark

NAME: Eddie Clark.

SECRET UNDISCLOSED LOCATION: The bottom right corner of the map, if we have in fact been included on it.
 
NERD SPECIALIZATION(S): SFF books. Video Games. Anime. The intersection of gay shit with all 3.
 
MY PET PEEVES IN NERD-DOM ARE: The Hugo Award for Best Novella from Tor. Books which don’t trust the reader to do the slightest bit of work. Mistaking aesthetic preference for for moral valence.
 
VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, ZOMBIES, ALIENS OR ROBOTS: Alien Vampires.
 
RIGHT NOW I'M READING: The Incandescent, by Emily Tesh.

…AND A COUPLE BOOKS I RECENTLY FINISHED ARE: A Tangle of Time, by Josiah Bancroft. The Door on the Sea, by Caskey Russell. The Effaced, by Tobias Begley.

NEXT TWO ON QUEUE ARE: Notes from a Regicide, by Isaac Fellman. Seventhblade, by Tonya Laird.

WHEN THE WEATHER SUCKS OUTSIDE I'M MOST LIKELY TO BE… on the couch. Either book or controller in hand.

MY FAVORITE SUPERHERO AND SUPER-VILLAIN ARE: My answer to this will vary over time. This month: Kid Juggernaut and Mysteriant respectively (Anthony Oliveira’s run on Avengers Academy is a thing of queer beauty; do check it out).

IF I WERE A SUPERHERO/VILLAIN, MY POWER WOULD BE: Sending anyone to sleep instantly. I’d mostly use it on myself.

THE BEST COMIC FILM OF THE PAST 5 YEARS IS: Probably haven’t seen an western comic adaptation in the past five years! But the Netflix limited series adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto in 2023 was spectacularly good.

THE WORST COMIC FILM OF THE PAST 5 YEARS IS: Happily for the genre, I really don’t have one to offer!

I JUST WATCHED XXXX AND IT WAS AWESOME: Kowloon Generic Romance—pitch perfect vibes, well produced, casually queer, and didn’t take any easy exits. 

I JUST WATCHED XXXX AND IT WAS TERRIBLE. Star Trek: Section 31. Did not understand what Star Trek is. Didn’t understand character. Bleh.

EVERYONE SHOULD SEE XXXX BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, Run, don’t walk, to whatever distribution is available in your country and watch the superb SF black comedy Creamerie. Funny, sharp, and bleak.

BEST SCIENCE/SPECULATIVE FICTION SHOW OF THE PAST 10 YEARS: The Expanse.

NAME A BOOK YOU *NEED* A MOVIE OF (OR VICE VERSA): A Merchant Ivory adaptation of A Mourning Coat by Alex Jeffers would be amazing.

Welcome, Eddie!

Book Review: We Who Hunt Alexanders by Jason Sanford

A dark fantasy contemplation of family, and monsters, and darker subjects still.

Amelia lives with her mother. Driven out of their village into the big city of Medea, they live on the edges of society. Amelia and her mother have special... dietary needs. Dietary needs that cause them to pursue and hunt a particular two legged sort of prey. For, you see, Amelia and her mother are both monsters. Rippers, specifically. Rippers are monsters who hunt a particular kind of man called Alexanders.

This is the story of Jason Sanford’s We Who Hunt Alexanders, a dark fantasy novella.

The novella is set in a somewhat fantastical version of our own real world, in the imaginary city of Medea, in a county that is never named, but feels like from context and clues like an analogue of Great Britain during the Victorian or maybe early Edwardian Age (Amelia, it turns out, loves to read penny dreadfuls). With that set up, Sanford plunges us immediately into the nature of Amelia and her mother, what rippers do and how they do it. And quickly from there sets up the conflicts and themes of the novella. The novella is a lean and mean story that stays in Amelia’s point of view throughout.

The novella makes Sanford’s theme explicit from the get go: Rippers are monsters who only hunt men, and only men who have or do commit violence, the Alexanders.¹ The Rippers, it turns out, cannot actually hunt men who haven’t taken that violence into their heart, that violence into their hands. Amelia and her mother are in a new age (and we learn that her mother is old, and dying, and of another age). In this world, there are almost too many Alexanders, and they are too powerful to reduce their numbers. Amelia, young and uncertain and not yet strong, grows into her own. In addition to that coming of age story, Amelia slowly begins to realize she is different from her mother, different from other Rippers in fact. And as her mother slowly weakens, the outside threat that hunts them both comes to the fore: Bishop Stoll. He is, in the parlance of the novella, an incendiary : a man who stirs up anger and hatred and violence on a large scale but is not directly an Alexander himself. They convince others to do their bidding, or others are inspired by the incendiary to actually turn Alexander themselves.

The problem for Amelia’s mother is that since Stoll is NOT an Alexander, they cannot attack and harm him, and actually suffer physical consequences in trying to do so. Part of the genius of Sanford’s writing is in the antagonist of Stoll. Not only is he an incendiary and not an Alexander, he is genre-savvy enough and knowledgeable enough to know about Rippers... and about their limitations. And is willing to use those weaknesses against Amelia and her mother, as needed. There is a gloating intelligence and cleverness and evil to Stoll that shows his dark charisma not only to his followers but to the reader as well.

And given Stoll’s charisma, and his backing of the church, he is an existential threat to Amelia and her mother. Not only are there now too many powerful Alexanders to try and control, but these Alexanders, led by Stoll, have other targets. Not necessarily the other monsters (we learn and meet a vampire in the course of the novella) but Stoll sets his sights on disrupting and destroying an underground gay bar. In the course of the novella, Amelia, who has made friends with the owners and a frequenter at the bar (as well as come to an accord with a Ripper who spends time there), Amelia finds her friends and colleagues in the course of Stoll’s persecution and rage. While Stoll is genre-savvy as noted above, and wants to deal with and extirpate Rippers at all times, Stoll and his followers have this broader “culture war” target in mind. The framing is obvious and direct: Stoll sees queer folk as monsters, and to be dealt with as such. But of course, since Stoll himself is not an Alexander, merely the leader of many Alexanders, the still inexperienced Amelia and her weakening’s mother’s opposition to Stoll is necessarily fraught and perilous.

It was fascinating, taking apart the concept, once I had read it, and thinking about it. Rippers specifically target male purporters of violence. Could a ripper target, say, a female serial killer? As I further thought about it and the limitations of the food supply of Rippers, or, instead, their target base, I went again to the theme of the novel. The novel is an indictment of how male violence is institutionalized in modern society, how there are many Alexanders, and worse, as in the case of the Bishop, those who do not commit violence themselves, but instead whose words and actions incite others to commit violence. Parallels to contemporary society, and contemporary leaders come to mind and its not a big leap to see how Sanford’s Victorian world resonates with the modern day and its own problems. One can also see the transphobia rampant in modern society today as the modern inspiration for this world’s Stoll’s crusade against queer members of society, making them monstrous (like the “real monsters” Amelia and her mother and rippers and vampires are).

And there are strong themes of family and found family in the novella too. Amelia and her dying mother of course, but also the humans that they live with, the aforementioned vampire, other rippers and the sense of community in the bar. Families come in all shapes and sizes in this novella with intersecting and interesting memberships and interactions. All of these families are under threat by the Alexanders, one way or another, and grow and change as those interactions intensify as the novella progresses.

The ending of the novel, then, as Amelia finally grows into her own abilities and in fact proves herself a different sort of ripper, is one where Sanford is addressing, through the medium and milieu and the nature of this different sort of ripper, the limitations of the original ripper variety. That is to say, the limitations of old ways of combating and opposing hatred in society. Amelia represents a fantastical version and answer that points to the need in our own society for different and broader solutions to societal problems. Amelia shows that retail response to a societal problem is insufficient, and for real change and growth to occur, in this modern worlds, other, deeper solutions are needed. Amelia’s mother’s solutions are insufficient in the modern age, her encounter with the Bishop proves that. Amelia points to a potential future.

So I don’t think that is a horror novella, and is definitely much more of a dark fantasy. There are dark subjects here, sexism, queerphobia, domestic violence. One might say that Sanford himself is being provocative and incendiary in this novella in tackling these subjects, so for those who wish to avoid these subjects, this novella is probably not for you. The fantastical nature of rippers and how they kill does mitigate the impact of the violence, it's not in excruciating realistic detail. But this is a story of monsters who hunt other monsters and are hunted in turn.

There is probably a whole additional piece to be written in reading this in concert and parallel with Crista’s story in Plague Birds. Sanford clearly is still hitting the themes of Plague Birds, from a somewhat different voice , but the same strong storytelling and characterization. Consider, Crista becoming a plague bird in the titular novella, and what plague birds are expected to do, and contrast with Amelia, growing into her role and identity as a ripper. While Amelia was never human, and Crista was thrust into the role, one can see rippers and plague birds as two varieties of Erinyes that Sanford has created. To put it in musical terms, Sanford is building a fugue with this theme, with Plague Birds and We Who Hunt Alexanders as the canons, not identical but clearly in dialogue with each other, as voices in that fugue.

I look forward to more voices in Sanford’s fugue of resistance and response to violent patriarchy and the forces that nurture it.

¹ The etymology of Alexanders is something that Amelia herself wonders about and we do get an answer, but it’s a lovely bit of worldbuilding that I am not going to spoil. 

--

Highlights:

• Strong themes of found family, fighting against institutional violence and patriarchy.
• Vividly imagined central problems for main character: coming of age, uncertain of abilities even as their mother is clearly dying
• Rippers as strongly imagined Agents of Vengeance-- not the first use of the idea by the author.
• Stands strongly with author’s previous work.

Reference: Sanford, Jason, We Who Hunt Alexanders (Apex, 2025)

POSTED BY: Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I’m just this guy, you know? @princejvstin

Contributor Profile: Maya Barbara

NAME: Maya Barbara

SECRET UNDISCLOSED LOCATION: Nestled somewhere between two major cities in West and Middle Tennessee 

NERD SPECIALIZATION(S): horror, literary fiction, narrative essays, comics, anime/manga, vampires, movies, hyperspecific pop culture moments that is special to gay women specifically, pop music

MY PET PEEVES IN NERD-DOM ARE: gatekeepers, poorly written plot twists, unearned quips, mean horror movies, acting like genres were just born out of tiktok

VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, ZOMBIES, ALIENS OR ROBOTS: Vampires, duh.

RIGHT NOW I'M READING:

Beneath the Trees Where No One Sees: Rites of Spring by Patrick Hovarth

Pure Innocent Fun by Ira Madison II

...AND A COUPLE BOOKS I RECENTLY FINISHED ARE: 

Aggregated Discontent by Harron Walker

The Chromatic Fantasy by H.A.

The Grimmorie Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis

NEXT TWO ON QUEUE ARE: 

I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

WHEN THE WEATHER SUCKS OUTSIDE I'M MOST LIKELY TO BE... in bed, rotting away with either a movie or a book.

MY FAVORITE SUPERHERO AND SUPER-VILLAIN ARE: Batman and Magneto 

IF I WERE A SUPERHERO/VILLAIN, MY POWER WOULD BE: telepathy because Jean Grey is iconic.

THE BEST COMIC FILM OF THE PAST 5 YEARS IS: Across the Spider Verse

THE WORST COMIC FILM OF THE PAST 5 YEARS IS: Thor: Love and Thunder (UGH!)

I JUST WATCHED XXXX AND IT WAS AWESOME: I just watched Love Bites (1988), a softcore gay romcom created by porn vets, and it was awesome.

I JUST WATCHED XXXX AND IT WAS TERRIBLE: I just watched Prom Night (1980) and it was terrible because no one died for an HOUR. 

EVERYONE SHOULD SEE XXXX BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE: Everyone should see Interview With The Vampire (2022) before it’s too late. 

BEST SCIENCE/SPECULATIVE FICTION SHOW OF THE PAST 10 YEARS: It’s going to be Interview With The Vampire (2022) I fear.

NAME A BOOK  YOU *NEED* A MOVIE OF (OR VICE VERSA): YELLOWFACE BY R.F. KUANG. I’m DYING for a A24/Neon level adaptation of it! It’s tailor made for it!

Welcome Maya!

Film Review: Wicked: For Good

Pragmatism versus idealism in the emotional conclusion of the hit musical

Those who have seen the long-running stage musical Wicked already know that the second half of the performance takes a dark turn as the story moves from bold empowerment to anger and tragedy. While Wicked, Part 1 explores the relationships of the witches of Oz during their time in school, the second part of the story undermines the original plot elements of the classic film, The Wizard of Oz. The result is an emotionally stressful story that will have you reaching for your tissues. Wicked: For Good picks up with an angry and disillusioned Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) trying to expose the corrupt Oz government while trying to free the newly oppressed talking animals. Meanwhile Glinda (Ariana Grande) accepts her figurehead role at the hands of the evil Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) while still worrying over Elphaba’s safety and pining for Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) who remains devoted to Elphaba. After the death of their father, Elphaba’s sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) becomes the governor of Munchkinland. But her obsession over her former classmate Boq (Ethan Slater) (who only loves Glinda) turns her into an oppressive and toxic tyrant to the Munchkins and to Boq in particular. Meanwhile, the arrival a little girl from Kansas creates a catalyst for the final confrontations in the story.

It’s hard to top a musical production as entertaining as Wicked, Part 1. The film did a great job of addressing themes of bigotry, social gaslighting, hypocrisy, and oppression. But, the messaging was subtle and cleverly woven into addictive show tunes and big dance numbers. The enemies to friends dynamic between Elphaba and Glinda was funny and endearing, and ultimately led to an entertaining ensemble dynamic with their friends Fiyero, Boq, and Elphaba’s sister Nessarose. However, in For Good, the amusing love polygon from the first film takes a grim turn as Nessarose obsesses over Boq to the point of imprisoning him, Boq pines for Glinda to point of bitterness, Glinda fixates on Fiyero to the point of a forced engagement, and Fiyero longs for Elphaba to the point of endangering his life and his humanity. 

In Wicked: For Good, the societal and philosophical commentary is more direct, the set design is darker, and the songs are definitely sadder. The combined weight of this removes any subtle irony and makes the film more directly angry, rather than quietly critical. The more serious tone is underscored by solid performances by Jeff Goldblum as the comfortably deceiving Wizard who flippantly justifies everything from fraud to oppression to murder. Additionally, Marissa Bode’s Nessarose is excellent as she shifts from adorable pining to a physically toxic control of Boq.

The grim visuals of the film stand out as an extension of the anger of the characters and the toxic nature of the new Oz society. However, the film intentionally balances the dark themes of the source material against an apparent need for a PG rating. As a result, several intense moments where key characters meet their demise, are diluted or given minimal screen time. Additionally, the Tin Man aesthetic was a little disappointing as it remained mostly aligned with the traditional film version rather than opting for something a little edgier or interesting for the big screen. Given the grim tone, it would have been nice to see something a bit more creatively gothic as the character descends into anger and bitterness.

The two main villains, Madame Morrible and the Wizard, dominate the fates of the characters, but they do so without much introspection or depth. Instead, the real villains are the residents of Oz who openly accept the injustices around them and readily swallow the lies from their leaders without debate or question. That seems to be the real message of the film: the manipulation or gullibility of the masses. As the film tells us, truth is what everyone agrees on, not what really exists. The Wizard is highly symbolic as a great, unrepentant con-artist who notes that once people buy into a lie, they will irrationally choose to cling to it, even when it’s been clearly disproved and shown to be toxic.

The other key theme is the idea of pragmatism versus idealism. Glinda and Elphaba both agree that the oppression of the talking animals is wrong and that the Wizard’s deception is wrong, but they still take very different paths. Glinda accepts a position in the oppressive Oz administration and uses it to her advantage, admitting she has an addiction to adoration. Elphaba is headstrong and repeatedly directly attacks the Wizard and Madame Morrible, but with failed results that paint her more and more as a villain. She, initially, lacks the subtlety to be strategic and Glinda, initially, lacks the resolve to be ethical. Fortunately, as the film’s title implies, the two opposites influence each other and result in a change in both of them, for good. As expected, the performance of the song “For Good” by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande is the showstopper moment of the film that will have viewers reaching for tissues in the best possible way. 

Wicked: For Good is a grim change from the tone of the first film but ultimately leaves audiences with a sense of hopefulness. Elphaba shows that her core value is her love for Oz and her desire to see it be the best version of itself. As the film tells us, in this second part of the story, we may not be changed for the better, but hopefully you will feel changed for good. The hard themes of For Good may be a bit heavy handed, rather than introspective, but the pay off is worth it for a solid ending that will leave you cheering, even if things aren’t as perfect as we wish they would be.

--

Highlights:

• Grim tone and visuals
• Heavy handed but relatable themes
• Showstopping moment defines the film
  
  

Nerd Coefficient: 7/10

POSTED BY: Ann Michelle Harris – Multitasking, fiction writing Trekkie currently dreaming of her next beach vacation.

Contributor Profile: Christine D. Baker

NAME: Christine D. Baker

SECRET UNDISCLOSED LOCATION: Vancouver, B.C. (Oops, I disclosed my location. Feel free to say hi if you’re local!)

NERD SPECIALIZATION(S): History over all other things, especially ancient and medieval history. Memes and Early Internet culture. SFF books and short stories. Working to develop a specialization in Canadian SFF.

MY PET PEEVES IN NERD-DOM ARE: Plots that are entirely based on two characters failing to have a normal conversation.

VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, ZOMBIES, ALIENS OR ROBOTS: Definitely vampires.

RIGHT NOW I'M READING: I am almost always reading 6-10 books at a time (have I mentioned the ADHD?). These are the books I am actively reading at the moment: 

• How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World (2024) by Ethan Tapper.
• The Raven Tower (2019) by Ann Leckie.
• The Tapestry of Time (2024) by Kate Heartfield.
• Dreams Underfoot (1993), Newford #1, by Charles de Lint.
• Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of ADD (1999) by Gabor Mate, MD.
• Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History (2025) by Moudhy Al-Rashid. 

...AND A COUPLE BOOKS I RECENTLY FINISHED ARE: 

• Bog Queen (2025) by Anna North.
• The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap, 2nd ed (2016) by Stephanie Coontz. 
• The Siege of Burning Grass (2024) by Premee Mohamed. 

NEXT TWO ON QUEUE ARE: Honestly, I never know. It could be one of the books on my massive TBR list, the next book I have on reserve to pop up from the library, or something I hear about on social media and then immediately buy and devour. 

WHEN THE WEATHER SUCKS OUTSIDE I'M MOST LIKELY TO BE... Hiding in my bed, under several cats, listening to an audiobook. 

MY FAVORITE SUPERHERO AND SUPER-VILLAIN ARE: Favorite villain is Ivan/Fornax from Drew Hayes’ Villain’s Code series. I avoid heroes. 

IF I WERE A SUPERHERO/VILLAIN, MY POWER WOULD BE: Reading. Is there a book that the team needs to get through to save the world/destroy the world, I will be the one who can skim-read it quickly. 

THE BEST/WORST COMIC FILM OF THE PAST 5 YEARS IS: I have no idea, as this is not my area of nerdery.

I JUST WATCHED XXXX AND IT WAS AWESOME/TERRIBLE: The secret truth about me is that I do not actually watch things. My ADHD does not allow it. 

NAME A BOOK  YOU *NEED* A MOVIE OF (OR VICE VERSA): I think that Peter Clines’ 14 (in the Threshold series) would make a fun movie!

Welcome Christine!