Three Books I'm Reading Now, 10/20/25 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now

I'm reading the wonderful Alix E. Harrow's upcoming novel The Everlasting; I'm listening to Yiming Ma's exploration of a future in which memories are valuable but dangerous, These Memories Do Not Belong to Us; and I'm listening to Laurie Woolever's foodie memoir centering around being an assistant to Mario Batali and Tony Bourdain, Care and Feeding.

What are you reading, bookworms?

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01 The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

Sir Una Everlasting was a legendary knight in the kingdom of Dominion, an orphan who rose to greatness and died in service to her queen. Her bravery is the stuff of fables, but her real story is no longer remembered.

Centuries after her death, spindly, awkward historian Owen Mallory unearths her story--and becomes inexorably intertwined with the events of Una's life as they occur in the past.

If Una and Owen are going to change the way history is remembered--or simply get Owen back to his own timeline--they'll have to work together.

I love Alix E. Harrow's writing style and worldbuilding, and I'm loving The Everlasting so far.

I received a prepublication version of this title, which is scheduled for publication October 28, courtesy of NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group.

Alix E. Harrow is also the author of the wonderful The Once and Future Witches, Starling House, and The Ten Thousand Doors of January, as well as A Spindle Splintered, A Mirror Mended, The Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage, and Fractured Fables.

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02 These Memories Do Not Belong to Us by Yiming Ma

In a future land ruled by the Qin Empire, citizens all wear MindBanks, contraptions that record, monitor, and transfer memories and thoughts. Memories can be manipulated, unacceptable memories can be used as evidence of traitorous intent, and in a squirrelly example of "everything is for sale," those with enough money (Mind Capital) can buy others' memories and immerse themselves in recollections of strangers' vivid experiences.

Our unnamed narrator inherits his mother's banned memories, and he enters into her saved collection while realizing he is in extreme danger for merely possessing them.

I received an audiobook version of this title courtesy of Mariner Books and Libro.fm.

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03 Care and Feeding: A Memoir by Laurie Woolever

Laurie Woolever is fresh from culinary school and realizing she doesn't want to be a chef when she stumbles into a position as assistant to Mario Batali at his revered restaurant Babbo.

His personality is overbearing, he is frequently sexist, verbally abusive, groping, petty, and prone to childish power plays. Yet his connections and opportunities allow "Wooly," as he immediately decides to calls her, to coauthor a cookbook and meet various players in the food community, eat ridiculously wonderful food, and learn the workings of a busy kitchen.

Woolever also recounts her time as assistant to the kind, passionate Tony Bourdain until the time of his death, and in between accounts of her wild work duties and schedule, she takes the reader through her unrelenting alcohol- and drug-induced hazes, hangovers, regrettable extramarital affairs, lies, and doubts about her mothering abilities.

I'm listening to this as an audiobook.