The Tea Master and the Detective (Xuya Universe), byAliette de Bodard

Subterranean Press, March 2018

Long Chau is a consulting detective, with a prickly, arrogant personality, and a drug addiction. Sound familiar? It strikes all the right notes, but this is far from just Holmes in space. The setting, space habitats in a mining belt, is rich and interesting. The shipmind Long Chau hires to be assist her, The Shadow's Child, has her own issues and insecurities, but also intelligence and insight. I hope de Bodard has more of their investigations in store for us.

Recommended.

I bought this novella.

I Hate Everyone But You, by Gaby Dunn (author), Allison Raskin (narrator)

Audible Studios, October 2017

Ava Helmer and Genevieve Goldman have been best friends forever, growing up in Santa Monica, California. Now they're headed off to college--on opposite sides of the country. Ava is attending a University of California campus near home, as a film major. Gen is headed to Boston, to attend Emerson College and become a journalist.

Being Gen Z new adults, that's no reason for them not to be in constant contact with each other. They're going to document their lives, multiple times a day, in texts, emails, and Instagram.

My Teacher Fried My Brains (My Teacher is an Alien #2), by Bruce Coville (author), Tyler Aitken (narrator)

Full Cast Audio, 2017 (original publication January 1991)

Last year, Duncan Dougal was a minor player in his sixth grade class's struggle to save their town from the alien who was masquerading as a teacher at their school. Now he's in seventh grade, hoping to turn over a new leaf and be a better, or at least less troublesome, student in his junior high, with new teachers.

Unfortunately, he's really not good at this whole "get to class on time, don't provoke the teachers, and do the assignments," thing.

Also, there's an alien teacher at the junior high, too. And since Duncan creates conflict with everyone, he's on his own in dealing with a problem everyone else wants to believe is over.

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1), by Martha Wells (author), Kevin R. Free (narrator)

Recorded Books, October 2017

Murderbot, a.k.a. Sec-Unit, is a composite being with both human and robot parts, legally a robot owned by a company that leases him out as a security unit. He's currently leased out to a survey team on an unsettled planet. It's a small survey team, and he's the only security unit.

What neither the clients nor the company know is that he has hacked his governor module, and obeying orders is a choice for him.

That will turn out to be a good thing for everyone.

The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You, by Elaine N. Aron

Citadel, November 2013 (original publication 1996)

Everyone feels overwhelmed sometimes. Too much is happening, too much information is incoming, you just can't cope. It happens to everyone.

It happens to some of us far more often than it does to most people. We are more sensitive--to sound, to lights, to activity, to voices, to some or all of them, and we need the time and space to process what we're taking in.

This is often described as "shyness," or "over-sensitivity," or "introversion," and in western culture is often considered a flaw. Confident, active extroversion is valued and admired. The lower level of sensitivity to stimulation is more common, more typical of most people.

Those of us who have the greater sensitivity may start getting negative messages very early. "You're too sensitive." "Don't let it get to you." "You're over-reacting." Too much of this, too early, can lead to life-long anxiety and depression. Yet this is not inevitable, and this greater sensitivity has advantages as well as disadvantages.

Dance Upon the Air (Three Sisters #1), by Nora Roberts (author), Sandra Burr (narrator)

Brilliance Audio, June 2008 (original publication June 2001)

Helen Remington flees an abusive husband in California, and a few months later, Nell Channing arrives on Three Sisters Island in Massachusetts. For the first time in years, she feels a sense of home, and a sense of safety, and real connections to the people around her. She takes a job as the cook at a bookstore café, and after a while, starts a catering business. She also starts seeing the island Sheriff, Zach Todd. It's a tricky relationship, because Zach is the person best positioned to figure out who she really is, but she can't bring herself to just cut it off. Nell needs to live again.

Murder in Room 346 (DCI Cook #7), by Phillip Strang

Phillip Strang, March 2018

DCI Isaac Cook and his team are still coping with their politically connected, not very competent new boss, Caddick. That's annoying at the best of times, but now they're investigating the murders of two people in a seedy hotel. The man is James Holden, a moral purity campaigner and Member of Parliament, older, married, and respected. The woman is Helen Langdon, young, beautiful, and with, let's say, a complicated history. They were in bed together, of course.

Were they killed because Holden made enemies? Or is the crime tied to Langdon's background, dancing in a strip club run by organized crime?

Or are the two things connected?

It is, in any case, only the tip of the scandal iceberg, and others will be brought down by it.

Head On (Lock In #2), by John Scalzi (author), Wil Wheaton (narrator)

Audible Studios, April 2018

Chris Shane, FBI agent and most famous Haden (survivor of Haden syndrome, "locked in" to their own body and navigating the world in robot bodies, "threeps"), is attending a hiketta game with their parents. The Shanes are billionaires, only in part because Marcus Shane was a star NBA player.

[We continue to get no hint of Chris's gender, and if you get the audiobook, you can choose between Wil Wheaton or Amber Benson as the narrator. I chose Wheaton because I like him as a narrator, but those who choose Benson seem equally pleased.]

Flipped (Better With Prosecco #1), by Lisa-Marie Cabrelli

Galahad Press, April 2018

Hazel Blackmore is, she believes, in control of her life. She's on track to be the next equity partner at work, with a pitch coming up for the next project, which she is sure to win. She has some issues with her nutty mother, Indigo, and Indigo's crazy, always expensive schemes, but also loves her dearly.

Then a slimy rival at work manages to steal her proposal for the next big project, and her life is in chaos. She effectively has no work or income for the next three months.

But Indigo rushes to the rescue with her latest crazy scheme. Hazel should go with her to Italy, where she has inherited a house and some money, in circumstances that seem very vague and mysterious. Hazel will manage the rehabilitation of the house, and they'll sell it, netting a tidy profit. Despite well-founded skepticism about Indigo's plans, Hazel really doesn't have a better plan. So off to Italy they go.

Father Found (The Daddy School #1), by Judith Arnold (author), Tomm Dheere (narrator)

Barbara Keller, June 2014

30-year-old Jamie McCoy is living the carefree life of a successful, popular, newspaper columnist, with a very comfortable income, and no real responsibilities.

At least, until one morning he hears strange, mewing sounds coming from his screen porch at the back of the house. Upon investigating, he finds a tiny baby, some bags and a suitcase, with a note informing him that the baby is his daughter, Samantha.

Suddenly, Jamie has a major responsibility, and no idea how to cope. An only child with no married friends, he has no prior experience with babies. He calls the local hospital looking for help, and is directed to nurse Allison Winslow, who runs an educational program called The Daddy School.