Celestial Lights

 

Celestial Lights by Cecile Pin isn’t the space novel you’re expecting. It’s not about the science. It’s not about the mission. It’s about a man who was always going to choose the stars over the people who needed him to stay.

Ollie is born the same moment the Challenger falls from the sky. Decades later, he’s one of the most respected astronauts of his time. When a billionaire offers him the chance to lead a ten-year mission to Europa, he says yes. Not dramatically. Not after a fight. Just… yes.

His wife Philly knows he’ll go. He knows he’ll go. But they go through the motions of a marriage that softly unravels without ever raising its voice.

This is a short book, under 250 pages, but it carries a lot. Cecile Pin writes with such economy and precision that every sentence does real work. Ollie isn’t particularly warm or likable, but I don’t think he’s meant to be. He’s ambitious, smart, emotionally distant. He’s the kind of person who’s probably great at being an astronaut and complicated at being a husband or father.

Is this sci-fi? Technically, but barely. If you’re looking for elaborate world-building and a deep dive into astrophysics, this isn’t it. If you want a literary character study with beautiful prose and a family drama that unfolds in sighs rather than slammed doors,   then pull up a chair.

I won’t pretend I figured out everything this book is trying to say. But it stayed with me in a low-key, thoughtful way.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you Henry Holt and Co for the gifted finished copy. Out now. 

QOTD: Do you prefer your literary fiction to have a clear emotional payoff, or are you okay with a book that leaves things open-ended?

#celestiallights #cecilepin #literaryfiction #bookstagram #theretiredlibrarian

About the Author

Cecile Pin is a London-based writer. Wandering Souls, her first novel, was long-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Carnegie Medal, the Prix Femina Étranger, and was short-listed for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. She has won the Fragonard Prize for Foreign Literature, a Somerset Maugham Award, and a London Writers' Award. In 2025, she was selected as one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe.

Ascendents

 

Science just proved the afterlife is real. The catch? Your genes determine if you’re invited.

Today is pub day for a debut that asks what happens when the most powerful force in the world isn’t money or weapons. It’s who gets to exist after death.

Happy pub day to Ascendants by Don Schechter! 

It’s 2060, and the world has been split in two, not by war or politics, but by a scientific discovery that changes everything. An afterlife exists, but only for those with the right genetic marker. If you’re an Ascendant, transcendence awaits. If you’re a Biomass? Oblivion. And a powerful organization called the Jacobs Institute controls all of it.

This debut techno-thriller follows three characters pulled into the Institute’s web: a scientist who helped build this world, a grieving husband desperate to follow his wife into the afterlife, and a young woman fighting to survive in a society that has decided she doesn’t matter. It’s a story about what happens when science, faith, and power get tangled together in the worst possible ways.

If you’re a fan of Black Mirror or dystopian thrillers that make you think, this one is worth a look. Thank you PR by the Book and  GFB for gifted ARC! 

QOTD: If science could prove the afterlife was real but access was limited, who do you think would control it?

#ascendants #donschechter #pubday #sciencefiction #dystopianfiction

About the Author

Don Schechter is an entrepreneur, filmmaker, writer, and Professor of the Practice at Tufts University. Ascendants is his first novel and part of a larger sci-fi project that includes a short film anthology. He’s the founder and CEO of Charles River Media, co-host of the science fiction podcast No Win Scenario, and a lifelong student of speculative storytelling.

Five for Friday: Heist Novels

 

I am a sucker for a good heist novel. The tension, the misdirection, the moment you realize you never saw it coming. I’m here for all of it.

Swipe for 5 that delivered: a few you may know, a few you probably don’t, and all of them worth your time. Drop your favorite heist read in the comments. I’m always looking for my next one. 🔓📚

QOTD: what was the last book you absolutely couldn’t put down? 

#5forfriday #heistbooks #crimefiction #thrillerbooks #bookstagram

Whether you’re in it for the con, the characters, or that perfect twist, these five have you covered.

Antihero

 

What happens when a trained killer is told he can’t kill?

Antihero is the 11th book in Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series, and it might be the most emotionally complex one yet. 

Evan Smoak, government-trained assassin turned vigilante protector, takes on a case that breaks every rule he’s built his life around. A young woman named Anca was violently assaulted during a seizure, the attack recorded and sold to a predatory website. Evan steps in to protect her, get her help, and track down the men responsible. But Anca extracts a promise from him first: no killing. And that single promise unravels everything.

Watching Evan squirm is something else. This is a man who was trained to eliminate threats, not feel them. Anca’s strength, her faith, her moral clarity all get under his skin in ways no enemy ever has. Her presence also stirs something paternal in Evan toward Joey, the young woman who washed out of the same brutal program that made him. These aren’t small character moments. They crack him open.

Hurwitz doesn’t let any of this slow the story down. This is still pedal-to-the-metal action from start to finish. But the emotional current running underneath it is deeper than anything we’ve seen from Evan before. Scott Brick’s narration is absolutely essential here. He captures every crack in Evan’s composure with precision.

I’m genuinely curious where Evan goes from here. This mission changed him. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: If a character you loved made a promise that completely went against who they are — would you want them to keep it or break it?

#bookstagram #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #audiobooks #antihero #orphanx #orphanxseries #gregghurwitz #evansmoak #audiobookreview #thrillerbooks

About the Author

Gregg Hurwitz is the author of the New York Times bestselling Orphan X novels. Critically acclaimed, his novels have been international bestsellers, graced top ten lists, and have been published in thirty-two languages. Additionally, he’s sold scripts to many of the major studios, and written, developed, and produced television for various networks. Hurwitz lives in Los Angeles.

Missing

 

Missing by E.A. Jackson publishes TODAY and it is such a solid debut. It follows DI Martha Allen, a sharp and tenacious detective who in 1990 is assigned to lead a high profile missing infant case in London. And this is the 1990s Met Police — still very much a boys club — so having a woman lead this investigation is a big deal.

Baby Bella Carpenter disappears from a hotel room. Martha works every lead, suspects the father, but before she can crack it — the baby turns up. A teenager named Nell brings her in, claiming she found the baby at a bus stop. Case closed. Except Martha never believed it. And that case haunts her for thirty years.

Flash forward to today. Nell is murdered. Martha isn’t investigating the murder — she’s finally going back to find the truth about what really happened to baby Bella. And the twist at the end? I did not see it coming.

And if you’re an audiobook listener, Nicola Walker’s narration is absolutely top notch. She brings Martha to life perfectly.

Missing by E.A. Jackson is out today. 4 stars from me and highly recommend. Thanks Simon Audio for the gifted copy. 

QOTD: Have you ever read a book with a twist you truly didn’t see coming?

#bookstagram #bookreview #audiobook #thrillerbooks #policeprocedural

About the Author

E.A. Jackson is an American transplanted to England. She was born in Philadelphia and lived in Iowa, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Cambridge, and Bristol before ending up in Exeter, where she now works as a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter.

In Her Defense

 

What happens when everyone in the courtroom is lying — including the witness?

In Her Defense by Philippa Malicka centers on a sensational libel trial where beloved TV star Anna Finbow accuses her daughter’s therapist of brainwashing her for financial gain. Told through three unreliable narrators, the story toggles between a London courtroom and flashbacks to Rome. And nobody is telling the whole truth.

This one didn’t fully land for me personally. I’m an action-oriented reader, and this leans much more literary fiction than thriller. The characters were hard to root for, and the central question — did a predatory therapist manipulate a vulnerable young woman to get her close to a “poor little rich girl”? — didn’t grip me the way I hoped. That said, the Rome setting was gorgeous. Narrator Anna Popplewell was outstanding. I had zero trouble telling characters apart. I found the ending was genuinely satisfying.

If you love psychological drama and morally complex women, this one’s for you. It’s a February Reese’s Book Club pick for a reason. Just know going in that it’s a slow burn. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook. All opinions are my own.

QOTD: what are you reading this week? 

#bookrecommendations #audiobook #booklover #psychologicalthriller #bookstagram

About the Author

Philippa Malicka was born in Essex and now lives in London. She is an alumnus of the Prose Fiction MA at the University of East Anglia. Her nonfiction has appeared in The Sunday Times (London), The Sunday Telegraph (London), and Grazia among others. In Her Defense is her first novel and has been longlisted for the Bridport First Novel Award.

Five for Friday: Five Mysteries and Thrillers Set in Ireland

 

☘️ Looking for a bookish way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

Ireland’s beautiful landscapes make the perfect backdrop for dark secrets, twisty investigations, and unforgettable crime stories.

These mysteries and thrillers are all set in Ireland and showcase some terrific Irish crime writing—from gritty heists to small-town murder investigations.

If you enjoy atmospheric settings and suspenseful storytelling, these are great places to start.

📚 Have you read any of these?

QOTD: What’s a mystery or thriller set somewhere memorable?

#bookstagram #mysterybooks #thrillerbooks #irishcrimefiction #stpatricksdayreads