here anew

Books
Red City, by Marie Lu. Billed as "The Godfather meets the Magicians" and that's probably a decent shorthand. The magic system is fantastic and I'm going to steal bits and pieces of it for games I'm in. The story and characters and twisty plot full of people with questionable morals was also very good. I'm in for the next one, though I can't tell if this is two or three for the series.
The Conductors, by Nicole Glover. First in a series of post-Civil War (US) fantasy mysteries featuring a married couple who were conductors on the Underground Railroad. She has the magic (and it's an intriguing system) and he's got brawn. They both have brains. The mystery is good and by the end of the book they're nicely set up for more stories. I'll read the next one.
The Last Note of Warning, by Katharine Schellman. Third and next-to-last, apparently, in this queer Harlem nightclub mystery series. Our protagonist runs into another murder that's connected to the lady boss she's into and puts her in need of help from the Commissioner's nephew, the other side of the romantic triangle. I think the romantic arc is coming to a climax so the next one may be a good endpoint, but I'm there for the rest of the ride.
Viviana Valentine Gets Her Man, by Emily J. Edwards. First in a series about a NY private investigator's Girl Friday in the 50s. This time she's solving the mystery of an heiress who apparently has a secret boyfriend. These came with the recommendation of a friend and they're fluffy and cute and I quite enjoyed the first, so I'm in for more.
Unabridged: The Thrill of and Threat to the Modern Dictionary, by Stefan Fatsis. I've had the Kory Stamper book in my to-read for a while so this one was a natural. I quite enjoyed the history and was depressed by the modern prospects for the dictionary. Fatsis did a great job of showing what dictionary work has been like over the decades and how it could improve. It's still going to require money to do it, though, as is the problem with every kind of pure knowledge acquisition.
These Summer Storms, by Sarah MacLean. Halfway between a romance and a family saga, this is the story of the four kids and widow of a billionaire tech overlord who can't stop fucking with people even after he's dead. The main POV character is the daughter who walked away for reasons you find out during the book but other characters get their chance too. The just too good to be true romantic foil is the one whose interior I really wanted to see and didn't The final twist is perfect, though.

Short Stories
The Final Voyage of the Ouranos, by Marie Brennan. I always enjoy Brennan's work (except for her Victorian pastiche, which lost me) and this is no exception. Super creepy raypunk-esque history of a lost/destroyed aether-ship.
Bots All the Way Down, by Effie Seiberg. A perfect little bot bedtime story, with a lovely ending twist.
Slake, by Victor Manibo. A horror story about a high rise and a hurricane which was kind of freaking me out (I grew up in hurricane country and have been flooded in).

Olivella's. Another local pizza place that has thin Neopolitan crust. They also have an amazing lasagna that's been great for warming me up during the cold winter months.

Resident Taqueria. We had an unimpressive experience at Resident, which is around the corner and across the road, the first time we ate there, which was not long after our move to Dallas. We tried them again a year or so ago and they're now a favorite. They have fantastic gringo tacos and their expansion last year has definitely improved the sit-down experience (they now have a bar which has doubled the seating capacity during the day). My favorites continue to be the scallops, the pork belly, and the tempura shrimp. Apparently they also do lobster but it arrives Thursday evening and is always sold out before we get there.

Tokyo Harbor (Plano). We've been looking for a good hibachi place since we arrived in Dallas and none of them have really hit the spot, so we tried this one after we donated blood because it's right around the corner from the Red Cross. Like most places they do sushi (which we haven't tried) and hibachi, and now they also do a seafood boil (which we didn't try either). The hibachi was good and they had a couple of unusual meats, specifically the sea bass, which I got and was very happy with. Alas, no calamari steak! We enjoyed it enough to go back, which is more than we can say for other hibachi places we've tried in town.

Son of a Butcher. We've eaten at this slider place in the mid-burbs and on Greenville, which is where we ordered from. We passed on the fries based on previous experience and tried several different sliders. They're okay but I'd rather get my chicken from Birdcall and I like Rodeo Goat better for fancy burgers.

Shady's Burgers and Brewhaha. Also right across the road, in the same center as Resident Taqueria, it's been an off and on place for us. They don't deliver, so it's not a great option in bad weather, unless it's snowing and they're open so it's easier to get there on two feet. We've had both their regular burgers and their smash burgers, which are both fine except when they're too salty. The tots are good except, again, when they're too salty. This time only the tots were oversalted, but considering they were open in the first place, we didn't feel like criticizing.