Since I am still behind, these are both April and May releases. The good news is, these are all out now, so you can go read them! Also, they are all hits!!!  🥳🥳

Sanctuary by James Cleary
Homebound by Portia Elan
If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Choyeop, translated by Anton Hur
Five by Ilona Bannister
We Burned So Bright by T.J. Klune

Sanctuary by James Cleary
Published by Berkley on April 28, 2026
Pages: 368
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

“The meek shall inherit the Earth, unless the rich get there first.” That’s the reality of the post-apocalyptic world in this electrifying debut thriller.
The near future…

Climate disasters have crippled the United States. With half the country under water and the other half a dust bowl, civil unrest would soon escalate into something darker, something unstoppable. Billionaire John Brandt anticipated this and channeled his money, power, and influence into being prepared for the great unraveling.

Now Brandt, his family, and his security team must retreat to Sanctuary, their underground bunker—a vast luxury mansion beneath the parched earth of the Nebraskan Great Plains. But they are not alone. Above ground a group of raiders are desperate to survive and will use any means possible to accomplish that goal.

As tensions mount both inside and out, battle lines are drawn— between the haves and the have-nots, between decency and expediency, between life and death. In this game, everyone's a loser.

Bottom Line: So well done, but so very haunting in its prescience.

Homebound by Portia Elan
Published by Scribner on May 5, 2026
Pages: 306
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Five interlocking lives. One beloved story. A dazzling adventure across centuries and continents in search of the things that hold us together.

It’s 1983 and Becks can’t wait to get the hell out of Cincinnati. She’s nineteen, blasting her Walkman, and hiding from the fact that her beloved uncle, the only person who understood her, is dead. But she has work to do: he left her a half-finished game to complete—one last collaboration to find her way out of loneliness.

Little does she know, what Becks is making will echo far into the future and shape the lives of a scientist, a sentient automaton, and a flinty sea captain in ways she cannot imagine. All are bound together by their search for connection—and by a futuristic traveler on a mysterious mission through space.

A novel about our deep interconnectedness, Homebound is a clear-eyed, hopeful adventure into humanity’s future and capacity for love.

Homebound is different than what I expected, but in a very heartfelt way. I loved the interconnectedness of the stories, and the vast changes the world undergoes in the centuries that pass, but really the best part of the story for me is the characters. I really felt for them all, no matter when we meet them or for how long. The struggles that Becks faces in 1983 aren’t really that profoundly different than those that Yesiko encounters in 2586, and ditto everyone in between. Grief, finding purpose, self-discovery, they’re all hallmarks of what it means to be human.

The book does start off a bit slow, and I wasn’t wholly sure where it was headed, but I am glad that it went where it did. I even enjoyed the game within the book, which is usually something that doesn’t appeal to me, but here it did because it tied into the story in such a big way, and in a way that reflected the characters, that it didn’t seem superfluous. The attention to detail and the way it all connected really appealed to me, because it was clear that the author really wanted to do justice to the characters and their connections.

Bottom Line: A lovely cast of characters who span more than a quincentenary who illustrate that the human condition transcends time.

**Bonus points for the author’s link at the end! View Spoiler »https://portiaelan.com/ if you have read the book and didn’t play the game, you MUST! « Hide Spoiler Do yourself a favor and make sure you scan the QR code at the end of the book- this was just as well done as the book, perhaps even more so since we have come to love the characters. It tugged at my heartstrings and was almost like an epilogue I didn’t know I needed. Excellent addition!

If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Cho-yeop, Anton Hur
Published by S&S/Saga Press on April 28, 2026
Pages: 192
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Meet the alien species that put the humanity into human beings Discover the fate of Slefonia III once warp travel became obsolete Visit the Mind Library to commune with the dead

Kim Choyeop became an instant literary sensation in Korea with her debut short story collection. Each of these bitesize speculative masterpieces represents a journey into the unknown, guided by a writer blessed with a boundless imagination.

From alternative futures to distant alien planets, in the company of scientists, space explorers and ordinary citizens in extraordinary situations, Kim Choyeop revels in making the impossible seem not only possible but somehow inevitable.

Each story focuses on an specific issue of discrimination against women or other marginalised groups, adding a mind-bending twist to hold a mirror to modern society and its everyday iniquities.

Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur

I quite enjoyed this collection of stories. They’re all sci-fi and speculative in nature, though their levels of such vary by story. Some are far-flung futuristic and deal with alien life, while some are set much closer to our current time and take place in worlds we can imagine ourselves in. But they all have in common a question or concept that really makes you think. For example, what would you do if you could tangibly hold emotions? Would you choose to visit the uploaded mind of a loved one after death? How would you react to a first alien encounter? All of these stories really provided some great questions wrapped up in very unique plots. While every story didn’t hit the same, I was never bored, and fully invested in what quirky scenario the author would throw at us next.

Bottom Line:  This collection is unique, thought provoking, and entertaining. Definitely recommend.

Five by Ilona Bannister
Published by Crown on May 5, 2026
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Five lives. Five stories. Four will live—one will die. Who it will be? In this slow-burn masterpiece of psychological fiction, the choice is all yours.

Have you ever tried to pass the time by imagining the lives of the strangers standing next to you? Ilona Bannister’s Five introduces readers to five seemingly random people waiting for a train. But these are not just any five people. From the beginning we know that one of them is going to die soon. Very soon. In five minutes the next train to London will arrive, killing one of them. But before this happens you will learn their stories.

None of these people are saints. Readers might fall in love with the beautiful young man who is on the verge of gambling his life away. They may pity the cantankerous old woman who has fallen to the ground yet is refusing help. Perhaps readers will look away from the child throwing a tantrum. Or judge his mother, who must surely be to blame. And some will be curiously compelled by the successful and damaged businessman orbiting them all.

These are the candidates for this morning’s misfortune. But they don’t know it. Only you know. And you, our complicit reader, will not be able to resist deciding who deserves to walk away, and who deserves only five more minutes to live.

An incredibly original novel that breaks the fourth wall and asks the reader to be judge, jury, and executioner, Five looks at some of the most complicated issues of contemporary life: motherhood, disability, addiction. Every stranger has a story. And in Ilona Bannister’s skillful hands, five people’s stories come together to create an unforgettable novel.

 I was expecting a thriller/mystery story that was high octane. I did not expect tremendous character exploration, both beautifully lyrical and humorous writing, and a story that made me think, really think, every single step of the way. To say I was blown away is an understatement, frankly. I will say, while the mystery unfurls throughout, it isn’t even the most important part of the story. It keeps the reader guessing and on their toes to be sure, but it more serves purpose on the aforementioned provoking thoughts and feelings. And are there ever feelings! I laughed, I cried, my heart was warmed and broken and uplifted, as this book has a little of everything.

The characters are so complex, so well written, and I loved the breaking of the fourth wall. I don’t want to say too much about this book, because again, it is a suspense at the end of the day, but you’ll take a deep dive into the very chaotic morning that someone dies, but you’ll also explore each of the potential victims’ stories in great detail. And if you feel some sort of way, well, the narrator understands.

Bottom Line: Read this, and then come back so I have someone to talk about it with!

We Burned So Bright by T.J. Klune
Published by Tor Books on April 28, 2026
Pages: 176
Format:eARC, Hardcover
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley, Purchased

A heart-wrenching standalone novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, We Burned So Bright follows an older queer couple on an end-of-the-world road-trip.

The road stretched out before them. No other cars, just the headlights on the blacktop. Above, the cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky….
Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they’ve experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world.

Now, the world is ending for real. A wandering black hole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they’ve ever known will be gone.
Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They’re in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it’s all over.

On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how—impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, and new friends.

And as the black hole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough.

Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes?

TW via Author’s Note: “This story explores love and grief at the end of the world. There are discussions of death in different forms, including death by suicide. Please read with care.”

Oh this lovely, lovely little book that broke my heart but in a really good way. Of all the apocalypses I have read about (and trust, there have been a lot), this one left me the most content with the impending end of days. That’s a weird sentence, no? But it’s true. Our main characters, Don and Rodney, are excellent, and so very human. Sure, they’ve made mistakes, but they are decent men who have lived and loved, and now embark on one final journey before The End.  I think that it’s fairly clear what their Very Important Task™ is from pretty early on, but I won’t give anything away here. Just know that it is something that they need to get done, and they have to travel across the country in a literal apocalypse to do so. Along the way, they meet a lot of people who offer them reminders of the important things in life, sometimes in very messed up ways, but that is what looking death in the face can do to folks. I really found each of their encounters fascinating in their own ways- some in heartwarming and bittersweet ways, others in well-that-was-batshit ways, but all very readable.

I read a few reviews, I don’t know why because I usually don’t before I write my own, but I did. And I want to say a few things about complaints I have seen about this book, in a way to hopefully address them if you’ve seen lower ratings (cause I am all for honesty, but these things really made me mad).

1. People mad that the book was “depressing”. Friends. This book is about the end of the world. Did… you and I read different synopses? This book literally promises heartbreak and reflection on death, it feels like being made that a comedy book made you laugh.
2. The “too political” crowd, listen up: If you do not think that this book about two married men who lived through the AIDS crisis and watched half their friends die shouldn’t be political, you can fuck all the way off. There’s probably a group of fellow shitty white women who write books designed just for you, read that instead and stop rating books low because you can’t understand that a book about the lives of gay men would be and very well should be “political”. And FYI, the “political” that they don’t like is basically just saying that all human beings should have rights and that Ronald Reagan sucked so thanks for telling us exactly where you stand, disgusting Goodreads reviewers who pissed me off today.

Bottom Line: I bought the pretty Barnes & Noble special edition of this and am so happy to have it on my shelf to both warm my heart and break it all at once.

Have you read any of these books? Plan to? Let us chat about them!