Hello, reader…
*Note to first time readers: the following is a summary of a discussion by friends who gather monthly in a virtual space called Second Life. Reading notes are lightly edited reflections shared in real time via text chat.
The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon by Grace Lin.
Lin weaves many Chinese fables and beliefs into her books and her illustrations are phenomenal. The two guardian lions that grace the entrances to many gates in China are a male lion holding a sacred sphere and a female lion with a lion cub in her front paws. These lions live in their own world behind and within the gate and take care of everyone living on the other side. So the reader meets the young lion at the beginning of the book, angry at his father for stopping his game with other spiritual beings living behind the gate. The audience is probably middle schoolers and up because it is so smartly written as to draw in readers of all ages. The story goes between the real living people on the outside of the gate and the spirit beings when the sacred sphere is dislodged and rolls into the living world.
FireWoman thought this was an incredible read.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Starry River of the Sky, and When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin.
FireWoman Pleiades read these three books after finishing The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon and said she cried during some of them. She admired how Lin’s illustrations at the beginning of each chapter change with the story. The books are connected through generations of women, and FireWoman mentioned she might reread them to better understand who was who from book to book. In one story, the girl is young, and in another, the old woman appears to be that very same girl.
The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton.
FireWoman called it a classic in juvenile fiction. The story centers on a house that was used during the Underground Railroad and all its secret hiding places. She mentioned that the sequel, The Mystery of Drear House, is equally enthralling. The book is set in the 1960s, and Dies Drear, in the story, was a white abolitionist who built the house and helped runaway slaves. FireWoman said she had seen this book on library shelves for years and finally decided to find out what it was about. The discovery of the second book came as a surprise, and she shared how much she loved the way Hamilton wrote these stories.
Scattergood by H. M. Bouwman.
Veyot said the story takes place on the prairie in 1941 and reads like an adult novel in its style of writing. It follows two young girls who are friends and talk about the war. Veyot mentioned she hasn’t read very far yet, but somebody gets sick—though she doesn’t yet know who. She discovered the book by looking at its cover and then checking the print inside, which is how she usually decides what to read. She noted that the book is easy on the eyes and has a pretty cover. It was published in 2023.
A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz.
Veyot said she always reads at least one mystery and this time chose A Line to Kill. She mentioned that Horowitz also wrote Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders, which were adapted for PBS Masterpiece Theatre.
In the book, the author himself solves a murder alongside Detective Hawthorne. The story is set on a small British island during a literary festival where all the authors stay in the same hotel and begin to suspect each other of being the killer. Veyot said the reader gets plenty of clues throughout, but the ending is a total surprise. She joked that although it’s set in Britain, she read it with an American accent.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
Stina said she only recently discovered The Book Thief, and it immediately became her favorite book of all time. She described it as having everything—heart, warmth, sorrow, wit, beauty, and death. Stina shared that she’s afraid to watch the movie adaptation, even though she loves the actor in it, because she worries it might replace the vivid world she imagined while reading. She added that the book is very lyrical—so much so that some people even say it’s too lyrical. FireWoman agreed, saying she also hasn’t seen the movie and that the story still calls to her to be read again.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Zoe read The Correspondent, a debut epistolary novel published in 2025. The story follows a woman in her seventies who is a retired lawyer and avid letter writer, and whose correspondence reveals both her quirks and her humanity. At first, the protagonist seems fussy, even “a bit of a Karen,” but as her letters unfold, readers uncover her secrets and the deeper struggles behind her tone.
Sybil, the protagonist, writes to family, friends, famous authors like Ann Patchett and Joan Didion, and even to a customer service representative she once argued with. By the end, Zoe said she cried — it was the best book she’d read all year, touching on themes of aging, self-perception, and empathy.
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