Kate Shanahan's Blog

I just finished a streak of good books. I rated them all five stars, which makes me look like I don’t have any critical sensibility. But I do, I just don’t keep reading a book if it’s less than 4 stars (usually.)

I read all of them from May to June 2025. It was mostly due to luck, because when I finish one book, if I don’t have anything in my TBR I’m hankering to get to next, I go to Libby and filter by “what’s available”, “fiction”, “general content.” If I’m in the mood for something specific, like suspense or historical fiction, I’ll filter for that. So what turns up is somewhat random. Sometimes it’s an audiobook, sometimes an ebook. Sometimes a 7-day loan (more and more these days it’s 7 days. A change in licensing, perhaps?) and sometimes a 21-day loan. If I borrow one and find I’m not that into it, I return it. I don’t rate or review my DNFs because it’s not fair to readers or authors. I’ve returned books after only reading a few chapters that are very popular, on the NY Times bestsellers list, or have won national book awards. So it’s a matter of what I like to read, and not a judgment on the writer.

My 5-star reading streak started with Real Americans by Rachel Khong in May. This one had a long wait, so it wasn’t one of those serendipitous Libby loans. I’d loved her book Vitamin, so I put her next on hold as soon as I heard about it.

Next was Black River by Nilanjana Roy. I had not heard of this book or the author before I saw it pop up in Libby displayed as an AAPI-month book. I don't read many mysteries or thrillers, but the location, a village a few hours from Delhi, India, and how the plot was informed by the location, appealed to me. It's not a true mystery - because the author lets you know quite early who the most likely culprit is. So it's less about plot twists and figuring things out than it is about modern India, the conflict between India's Hindu and Muslim populations and the country and its culture, and that made for a fascinating book that held my attention.

Next was Throwback by Maureen Goo. This, too, was displayed for AAPI month. The main character is a Korean-American teenager. It’s a YA novel, which I normally wouldn’t pay much attention to, but I was intrigued by the time-travel element. I, too, wrote a novel with a time-traveling young person, and I wanted to see how Goo approached it. While the method of travel was a bit too easy with no attempt to explain the magic behind it, it was funny: a ride-share to the 80’s! The audiobook narration was excellent, and I enjoyed listening to the story on my daily walks, hearing the main character Sam complain about her mother, and then find herself back in time dealing with her mother as a teenager. The writing was a notch above the usual YA style of writing.

The other 5-star books I read in this short time were A Girl Like Us by Anna Sophia McLoughlin, The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins, The Other Lata by Kirthana Ramisetti, Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney, and A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher. After three suspense books that turned out to be so enjoyable, I thought I would get a few more, but had a couple of DNF’s in a row. After reading A Sorceress Comes to Call, I decided I was going to read all of Kingfisher’s books, and have started Nettle and Bone. So far, I can tell it’s going to be another 5-star read.

You can read my review of each book if you’d like to know why I enjoyed them so much.

These are some of the standout reads for me in 2024 in no particular order: Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong; Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi; The Bookeaters (great audiobook narrator, btw) by Sunyi Dean; The Prophet's Wife (another excellent narrator) by Libbie Grant; Yellowface by R. F. Kuang; The Fraud by Zadie Smith; Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe; and Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.

So many 5 stars, so little time.

The sequel to Tangled Spirits will be published on February 10, and my latest blog post on my website shows the cover and why it is what it is.
Click this link to see it and read (if you wish) about the cover design process.

https://kvshanahan.com/blog/f/cover-r...

Back Cover Blurb
Heian Capital, 1002: Masako loves her job as shrine miko, but her powers have vanished and rumors fly she’ll be dismissed. When the Crown Prince's consort dies in front of her and a lady-in-waiting disappears, Masako risks everything to save the young woman from a gruesome end. But without her powers, she may be destined for the same fate.

Kyoto, 2019: Mina longs to return to the life of a normal college student, but unsettling visions and dreams won’t leave her alone. Her friend Kenji helps her search for Masako’s journal, but instead they find desperate letters Masako wrote a thousand years ago.

Now Mina faces a choice: return to the past to save Masako, or move on with her life and leave the ancient world - and her best friend - behind forever.

In this exciting sequel to Tangled Spirits, Kate Shanahan weaves Japanese history and folklore into a captivating tale of courage, strength, and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.

“I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in tales of the Japanese supernatural, romance, and fascinating speculative fiction.” – Dr. Noriko Tsunoda Reider, author of Japanese Demon Lore

If you are interested in strong women in history who are relatively unknown in the English-speaking world, you might enjoy my latest blog post (link below) on Empress Dowager Senshi, who lived in the late 10th century. She was known as "the mother of the nation" - called that by a nobleman of the time who complained about her in his diary.

https://kvshanahan.com/blog/f/imperia...

I'll be posting an update soon about my upcoming novel, a sequel to Tangled Spirits!

For the full review - which includes what the intro to this book and the author's note in my book have something in common - see my website blog post here:

https://kvshanahan.com/blog/f/review-...

Most of the tales in Ko’s book are short, and several are familiar to me from other collections such as Royall Tyler’s Japanese Tales. It’s an easy book to pick up, read one story and its commentary, and put down. One can take a bite of culture and history, chew on it, and take another bite later if you're still hungry.

Ko’s commentary frames each story in light of Japanese philosophy and culture, which makes this book stand out among other books in English with Japanese folktales. The commentary is frequently as long as the tale it explains, partly because Ko shares tidbits that don’t always bear directly on the tale. In the first story, Mother-Rid Hill, he tells the reader that Shibuya Station in Tokyo is on the floor of a valley, which might be why it’s called Shibuya. Ko tells the reader Shibuya means “bitter valley.” He theorizes it was called bitter because of the high level of iron in the water. He does address the cultural background of the story of Mother-Rid Hill, but it’s fun to get those other facts and speculations along the way.

This nice mix of culture and history written in a casual, friendly style makes this book a worthy read. I highly recommend it, and don’t skip the commentaries - that’s the best part!

I recently finished this book and now I have to let everyone know about it. It's funny, a quick read, and so well translated I didn't feel like I was reading a translation at all. The main character, a college graduate, must do her own job as well as get coffee for and clean up the mess left by the men she works with. So to avoid all that, she pretends she's pregnant.

Aspects of this book reminded me so much Laura's Kriska's memoir Accidental Office Lady, when Laura was a recent college grad working in Japan in the late 80's, and found out she was expected to serve tea.

I'm not at all diligent about updating my Goodreads books. I only give myself time to read (other than the newspaper) during lunch (I love to eat while reading, don’t you?) and then again while dinner simmers, stews, bakes, or roasts. Occasionally I’ll read a bit after dinner, but later in the evening, after walking the dog, I watch streaming series or movies with my husband.

I get most of my books from the library through Libby. When there’s a hold, I have to read it quickly because it’s not renewable. And then, magically, the next book becomes available, another book with a hold, so again I have to read quickly, which means I don’t get around to reviewing the last one. I find myself at the end of each year trying to update my Goodreads list all at once. Does anyone else find themselves in this pickle?

I tried syncing my author blog here but the format just didn't work, so I'm starting again. Anyway, maybe I'll start posting snippets from my blog to this space with a link for readers to continue reading on my website.

But the big news is: The audiobook version of Tangled Spirits is now available! The narrator is Anne Marie Lewis, and she does a wonderful narration that does the book justice. See below for a bit about her. The audiobook is available just about everywhere audiobooks are found, including Audible, Libro.fm (and you can support your local bookstore if you use them!), Spotify, and many more. If you enjoy it, please consider reviewing the narration as well as the story.

Working as an audiobook narrator since 2018, Anne Marie’s performances draw from a deep knowledge of the classics, facility with languages and dialects, her Filipino-Irish heritage and over twenty-five years’ stage experience. She has recorded for Audiobook Empire, Spoken Realms, The Talking Book, Twin Flames Studios, Monster Ivy, Pink Flamingo, and Learning Ally.


Anne Marie lived and worked in Japan, sang opera, and lives in the Chicago area.