Automatic Noodle is a cozy science fiction novella by Annalee Newitz about a group of abandoned robots who open a hand-pulled noodle shop in post-war San Francisco, facing challenges like a targeted review-bombing campaign and finding their place in a world not built for them. Published in August 2025, the book explores themes of identity, found family, and community through its charming, near-future story of bots finding purpose and creating a business.

Kindred by Octavia Butler is a foundational sci-fi/historical fiction novel about Dana, a modern Black woman in 1976 California who is repeatedly, inexplicably transported to the antebellum South. She must protect her white, slave-owning ancestor to ensure her own existence, exploring the brutal, lasting impacts of slavery.