Lucas Stoffel

You've Reached Sam Book Review: Here is what I can tell you about Dustin Thao after reading both his novels. He writes loneliness the way most writers write romance. It is the thing he keeps his eye on. You've Reached Sam is his debut, and it is where he figured out that grief in YA does not have to be loud.

Dustin Thao's When Haru Was Here is his sophomore novel after You've Reached Sam, which was already proof that this author understands loneliness the way some writers understand plot or dialogue. It's his native language. And in When Haru Was Here, he's become even more fluent in it.

Remarkably Bright Creatures Book Review: Here's the pitch, and I need you to stay with me: a lonely seventy-something widow named Tova works the night shift mopping floors at an aquarium. During those shifts, she develops a relationship with Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus in one of the tanks. Marcellus is old, he's dying, and he's smarter than almost every human who walks past his enclosure. He also knows the answer to a mystery that has haunted Tova for thirty years...