A Lowcountry Bride

 

A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams (2021) 343 pages

Maya Jackson is a wedding dress designer for a renowned New York bridal gown brand. She's overstressed trying to please her boss, the one and only Laura Whitcomb, but she now has a chance to become a senior designer, which would fulfill her mother's wishes for her. When her widowed father breaks his hip, she is forced to take unpaid time off to stay with him in South Carolina. In order to pay her her bills while she's with her father, she takes a temporary job at a small dress shop in Charleston, which is run by Derek Sullivan. Derek has his own problems. His beloved wife was killed in a church shooting a couple years prior and his mother, the owner of a bridal shop, has passed away too. He's in danger of losing the business. Can the dresses that Maya designed with a blend of design elements from her Filipino and West African ancestries—but which weren't acceptable to Laura Whitcomb—attract business to Derek's shop, or will he be forced to sell it? Meanwhile, can Derek make peace with his twelve-year-old daughter who's living with her own pain since the losses of her mother and grandmother? 

Feral Creatures

 

Feral Creatures / Kira Jane Buxton, ready by Robert Petkoff,  353 pgs.

S. T. is back! He is working hard to keep his nestling safe.  He is trying to raise Dee as a the perfect Mofo but she is more interested in being an animal. Like most parent/child relationships, there is friction.  But now things are changing, S. T. is convinced that returning to his murder is necessary to keep Dee safe.  They start out on this trip a little bit disconnected by riding on the backs of some killer whales.  Yes, if that last sentence doesn't clue you in that this is a read doozy of a story, just check it out yourself.  S. T. still has some amazing lines but he is a bit of a control freak.  Are the restrictions he tries to place on Dee making him part of the patriarchy? Or can a crow who can't really stop anything really be the problem?  I love it when Dee just scoops him up and takes him along.  A really fun audiobook.

Sheets

 

Sheets / Brenna Thummler, 238 pgs.

Marjorie is just a kid, 13, but she is basically running the family business because her dad is suffering from depression after the death of his wife.  She is also going to school and suffering all the teen problems that come with trying to fit in.  Wendell is a ghost who makes the laundry his evening place.  He is trying to help but instead makes problems.  A local businessman wants to buy the building.  Can Marjorie keep it together or is everything doomed?

A Slow Fire Burning

 

A slow fire burning / Paula Hawkins, read by Rosemund Pike 306 pgs.

A gruesome murder brings to light many questions aside from "whodunit".  The young man was killed only a couple of weeks after his mother died of seemingly natural causes. Was there possible foul play?  The aunt of this man is grieving now for a nephew and a sister.  She has plenty of other grief on her radar.  The ex-husband of the aunt is also struggling.  The woman who lived close to the young man and found his body is now reliving trauma from her past.  And then there is the young woman with a violent past who spent the night with him.  She claims her innocence but has a lot of "issues" of her own.  Is it possible that none of these people is our murderer?   Hawkins takes us through some twists and turns getting to know each character and how almost any of them could really be the killer. She has the ability to make you doubt everyone and wonder what else is at play even as she leads you down the path to the answer.  Rosamund Pike is a perfect narrator. 

The butchery

 

The Butchery / Bastien Vives, 85 pages.

Young people in love but with the lens focusing only on some small situations. Showing them brushing their teeth together, walking hand in hand, laying in bed together.  But when it ends, the pain and problems are very real.  This is a sketchbook of many minor moments that may end up being more important than we realize. Nice art work. Few words.

Onion Skin

 

Onion Skin / Edgar Camacho, 158 pgs.

I was thinking the title would be a hint of a layered story but instead, it is difficult to parse what is supposed to be a flashback, an alternative story line, and what is supposedly happening.  A young couple decides to fix up a food truck to travel around and live out their dreams.  When they accidently get on the wrong side of a gang, their truck is damaged and they are out for revenge.  I think this is the story line that we are supposed to see as "true."  Perhaps there is just a little too much confusion for me to appreciate all of this. 

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

AMAZE, AMAZE, AMAZE, as Rocky might say.  The third book by The Martian author, Andy Weir, is a enthralling combination of hard science (but not too hard for the math challenged), plausible solutions to complex problems, dramatic plot turns, and a compassionate exploration of interspecies friendship.  Waking up from a coma and finding himself alone in a spaceship, Ryland Grace doesn’t know who he is, much less how he got there.  As his mind clears and memory returns, he begins to grasp the situation, realizing that his mission is no less than the saving of the Earth, whose sun is being slowly dimmed by an interstellar plague.  And it’s not just our sun and home planet, but those of other nearby systems.  His ship’s location is light-years away from Earth in the one area that seems to be clear of this fast-replicating plague, and Grace is not the only sentient being out there trying to save a world.  Reminiscent of the best of Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury and other classic sci-fi authors -- I could not put it down.  478 pp.

32 Yolks

 

32 yolks : from my mother's table to working the line / Eric Ripert, with Veronica Chambers, 247 pgs.

Every time I read one of these chef memoirs where people recount the terror of working in a hot kitchen under a sadistic chef, I wonder why anyone does this sort of work.  And yet, there is no shortage of people who put up with the back breaking labor and continue in the field.  Do they get a real gas from having people like their creations?  It really is a creative and artistic field.  I enjoyed this book very much. Ripert came from a fairly rich household so it seems even less reasonable to work 18 hour days. I loved his focus on good food as a kid, maybe he really had no choice but to become a chef.

Atomic Habits

 

Atomic habits: tiny changes, remarkable results / James Clear, 306 pgs.

Whenever a read a book like this I think - "Wow, I can DO this." Most of the time a week goes by and I never do it. But, I'm still optimistic about this one.  Even if I don't change a lot, it seems easy to understand how to increase your odds...make a good habit EASIER.  Put all the stuff you will need in one place, stop on your way to another place.  All of these ideas seem doable.  What I like the most, however, it the idea that one little change is good.  You don't need to think about changing everything, start with ONE thing.  Now lets see if I do it...

Crooked Hallelujah

 Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford (2020) 288 pages

Fifteen-year-old Justine is a member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. When her father had left many years ago, her mother, Lula, took refuge in the Beulah Springs Holiness Church, complete with faith healing, prophetic visions, speaking in tongues, and the requirement of modest dress. Justine is feeling hemmed in by her mother's congregation. And now she is pregnant.

Justine gives birth to Reney, and although she works multiple jobs, they are just getting by. Justine drinks too much and the men she associates with are unreliable, sometimes scary. Reney often finds more stability in time spent with her grandmother and great grandmother.

The novel chronicles the relationships between the four Cherokee women over time, especially from the viewpoints of Justine and Reney. The bonds of love are strong, but so are the difficulties encountered. Justine feels helpless when her mother develops seizures but Lula prefers the prayers of her congregation to any medical care. Unable to change her mother's view, Justine bounces between Texas and Oklahoma, trying to find her place in the world. Reney grows up quickly, and struggles to avoid her mother's pitfalls.

The debut novel of a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Crooked Hallelujah feels authentic and loving, but heavy.

Siri, Who Am I?

Siri, Who Am I? by Sam Tschida, 348 pages

What would you do if you woke up from a coma with no clue as to who you are and no wallet to help you verify anything? That's what happened to Mia, and thank goodness she had her cell phone, because she's determined to figure out who she is and who conked her on the back of the head using only the apps on her phone. Specifically, Instagram, as just about everything else is wiped clean. From what she susses out, she's uber-wealthy with a billionaire chocolatier boyfriend and a penchant for maple lattes. But as she starts to dig more, Mia begins to realize that what she's posting on the 'gram isn't at all an accurate depiction of who she really is. Thankfully, she has Max, a neuroscientist and the house-sitter for her boyfriend, to help her sort things out.

This is a lightning-fast read that mixes mystery and relationship fiction with plenty of pop culture references and humor. I loved reading it, even though it's not at all realistic. It's just SO MUCH FUN!

The Lights of Prague

The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis, 413 pages

Domek Myska is a lamplighter in 19th Century Prague. Every night, he walks the streets to, yes, light the gas streetlamps, but also to fight the monsters that prey upon unwitting people every night. And by "monster" I'm being quite literal — he hunts the vampiric pijavice, as well as poltergeists, ghosts, and all manner of supernatural evil. One night during a battle, he comes into possession of a powerful will-o'-the-wisp that has somehow been trapped and forced into servitude for a pijavice. While he doesn't know how or why, Domek does know that no good can come of this combination, and is determined to figure it out. Meanwhile, the clever, beautiful, and mysterious widow Lady Ora Fischerova keeps popping up in his life. There's something special about her, no doubt, but Domek can't quite put his finger on it.

For a debut novel, this was so good!! The world-building, the complex characters and relationships, the descriptions of the creatures...all of it was spot on. I don't know if Jarvis plans to return to Ora and Domek's Prague in future books, but I know I certainly wouldn't complain. That said, I'm pretty sure I'll read whatever she comes up with next. This was fantastic.

Rejected Princesses

Rejected Princesses: Tales of Histories Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics by Jason Porath, 370 pages.

This book, based on the blog of the same name, takes various women (of varying degrees of fame) from history and relays their stories in bite-sized bits with full-color illustrations for each. You can definitely tell from these illustrations that Porath is a former Dreamworks animator, and they add a lot to the book. 

I had actually followed the blog this book is based on for a number of years, and the wealth of stories here is a real treat. I appreciate the great breadth of women represented. There are both fairly famous figures (like Ada Lovelace and Joan of Arc) and plenty of others who I had never heard of before (like Osh-Tisch and Annie Jump Cannon), in addition to mythic characters (like Sita and Xtabay). The entries are both funny and informative, which makes them very light to consume a few at a time.

The other thing that I think is really neat about this book is it's rating system. Each story is given a maturity rating from 1-5, in addition to content warnings in the sidebar for things like violence, self-harm, or rape. This organization system is very solid, and seems to work a lot better than sorting the stories by either time period or region. However, it does mean I would warn against doing what I did and reading the book straight through. The last several entries are extremely dark and fairly graphic, and causes to book to end in an extremely emotionally heavy place, so I would recommend jumping around a little to read those ones non-consecutively. That being said, I would still recommend reading them, along with all the other entries in this book, for some extremely casual non-fiction. 

Fun Fact: If you want to read some of the entries in this book (and also some not in this book), you can check out the author's website at rejectedprincesses.com
 

Who Is Maud Dixon?

Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews, 324 pages

Aspiring writer Florence is still relatively new to New York and struggling to find an identity when she gets hired to be the personal assistant to Maud Dixon, a pseudonym for the reclusive woman whose debut novel took the world by storm. When she takes the job, only Florence and "Maud's" agent know the author's true identity, and Florence quickly takes control of everything in the author's life that's not actually writing the next novel. But when Florence survives a car accident on a research trip to Morocco — and there's no sign to be found of her boss — Florence begins to consider taking on the "Maud Dixon" persona herself.

This is a twisty, roller coaster of a novel, and I absolutely loved it. The unpredictable twists, the unsympathetic characters, the overall unreliability of everyone... all of it was presented perfectly. For a debut novel, this was amazing, and I can't wait to see what Andrews comes up with next.

Milk Blood Heat

 Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz (2021) 202 pages

In this selection of short stories, the protagonists are often girls or young women of color. In "Feast," a woman cannot get past her miscarriage. In "Necessary Bodies," a young married woman is not sure if she will bring her pregnancy to term. In "Thicker Than Water," an estranged sister and brother drive their father's ashes to Santa Fe at the behest of their mother. In "Snow," one of my favorites, Trinity is a bartender who wonders if she will stay with her husband. At work one night, Trinity finds herself drawn to one of her customers, a woman named Snow. Snow has been dreaming of her Vietnamese father who had recently died, talking about how his death affected her, even though they were not close. In a few other stories, girls deal with serious issues at far too young an age. 

These stories are haunting, woven with deep meaning. I usually prefer a full novel to a short story, but it feels right to have experienced what these stories have to offer.

A Pale Light in the Black

 A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers, 421 pages.

Kara beat me to the punch this month! So check out her original review of this book last year. 

I had a bit of a harder time getting into this book. The first fourth or so was a bit of a struggle for me, and I didn't really get into it until about half way through. However, from that point I was completely invested. I really appreciated the detailed explorations of how in the distant future people continue to be essentially the same, and the interesting ways that is expressed in a changing world (the examination of evangelical reactions to space was especially interesting for me). 

I really enjoyed all of the characters on Zuma's Ghost, and most of the characters in general (D'Arcey in particular is a favorite). This book was extremely sweet, and once I got into it it felt extremely comfortable to read. I'm looking forward to discussing it more at Orcs and Aliens tonight!
 

The Tea Dragon Society

 The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill, 72 pages.

Greta, an apprentice blacksmith, has her life greatly enriched one day when she rescues a tea dragon from the marketplace and returns it to it's owner, tea shop owner Hesekiel. When she shows an interest in the dying (and demanding) art of tea dragon care Hesekiel offers to teach her, and soon Greta has bonded with both Hesekiel and Erik (owners of the tea shop) and their shy ward Minette.

This comic instantly shot to the top of my list of "fictional worlds I would like to live in." I am so sad that this world is made up and I cannot live there. The comic itself is extremely charming, the art is beautiful, and I love all of the characters. This all in addition to the world that I desperately want to know more about. Needless to say I instantly ordered the second book.

The Story of Silence

The Story of Silence by Alex Myers, 451 pages

Between a ridiculous law decreeing that only male children can inherit and a greedy father who can't stand to see his precarious claim to Cornwall disappear, Silence is raised as a boy despite being born female. For the most part, he grows up far from prying eyes, but still longing to become a knight and uphold the chivalrous ideals of knighthood. However, despite his father's attempt to block his knighthood, Silence takes a roundabout path that includes time as a traveling minstrel, participation in tournaments (as both a singer and a swordsman), and a quest to find Merlin.

While this reads very much like a traditional Arthurian tale, the Nature vs. Nurture element plays a large role in Silence's story as they sort out who they are. It's a particularly intriguing take, in that the dual nature of Silence is forced by their parents — and given that the story itself is rooted in an 800-year-old poem called Silence, I was particularly intrigued by this. I enjoyed what Myers did with the story, though I have a few questions about the ending. If anyone else reads this, please let me know so we can chat!

A Pale Light in the Black

A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers, 421 pages

OK, I read this back in May of 2020 (which seems like a lot longer ago than it actually is), and re-reading my review of the book then, I can't say that my opinion has changed. I still love it, and I can't wait to chat with the Orcs & Aliens about this tonight! Also, I really need to get around to reading the second book in this series.

Shipped

Shipped by Angie Hockman, 329 pages

Henley is the very definition of a career-driven woman, working all hours of the day as marketing manager for a cruise line, taking classes to get her MBA at night, and constantly asking for a rain check for any sort of social outing with her friends or her sister. When a new position opens up as digital marketing director, Henley finds herself as one of the finalists, up against the remote-working, lazy Graeme. To help choose who will get the promotion, Henley & Graeme's boss sends the two candidates on an adventure cruise to the Galapagos with a mission of creating a proposal that will increase bookings there. As expected in romance novels, Henley & Graeme's competition starts sparks flying.

This was a fun, quick book, and the very definition of a beach read. No, there's nothing particularly groundbreaking here, though I did enjoy Henley's friends and the proposal she came up with for the Galapagos cruise. My one complaint is a petty one — who the heck names their lovely daughters Henley and Walsh? I mean, yeah, they were apparently Eagles fans, but Walsh? Really??

The Brightest Fell

 The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire, 368 pages.

This novel, book 11 in the series, continues the trend of making Toby's life more complicated just as things are starting to look up for her. Despite these constant setbacks, her life has trended generally upward throughout, which is both a thing I appreciate and something that is made abundantly clear by the friends she is surrounded by at the start of this book. Of course, having more people you care about means having more to lose, as Toby discovers when her fiance and friend are kidnapped as leverage to force her to find her sister who has been missing for more than a century.

One of the things I appreciate the most about this series is how great it is at rewarding readers for paying attention throughout the whole series. McGuire is really great at sowing seeds for things that won't happen until many books later, which makes the payoff feel especially satisfying when it happens. It feels like were really gearing up for big plot things that have finally started rolling, and I'm really excited to see where this goes.

The secret to superhuman strength

 

The secret to superhuman strength / Alison Bechdel, 240 pgs.

Who doesn't love a good secret?  Alison Bechdel seems to tell a lot of secrets in her books.  This one does seem to get at the secrets...perhaps the meaning?  She tells of her lifelong obsession with fitness and how that fits into enlightenment...and how is doesn't.  This would have been worth the read if it just tracked the crazy fitness fads for the last 50 years or so.  The way in weaves in philosophical insights and theories makes it another fantastic foray into the award winning author/artists brain.

The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death

 

The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death: Reflections on Revenge, Germaphobia, and Laser Hair Removal by Laurie Notaro, 218 pgs.

This book from 2008 manages to have an essay that, perhaps, foretells the  pandemic and our rapid onset germaphobia. There are other essays that are pretty awesome and a few that feel dated.  What the heck, 2008 wasn't that long ago, right? I still love me some Laurie.

Questland

Questland by Carrie Vaughn, 296 pages

Eccentric billionaire Harris Lang has made his money on tech innovations, so literature professor Addie Cox is more than a bit confused when Lang's people contact her for a super-secret project. Turns out that they need her geek bonafides to infiltrate a private island that Lang created as a high-priced destination for fans of fantasy realms. Yup, on Insula Mirabilis, Lang has created a land full of dwarves and elves and just ripe for questing — the only problem is that one of Lang's project directors has gone rogue, cutting off contact with Lang's headquarters and pulling a force field down around the island that has killed the crew of a Coast Guard vessel that was attempting to check in on the island. And from what Addie gathers, that rogue director is probably her Elvish-speaking ex-boyfriend Dominic.

If you combined Jurassic Park and Ready Player One, and then subbed in dragons and unicorns for all the dinosaurs and VR headsets, you'd probably get something like this book. It's fun and full of references to Dungeons & Dragons, Tolkien, Narnia, and a whole host of RPGs and Renaissance faires. Is it the best book ever? Nah. But it's a boatload of fun and well worth the read for fans of fantasy.

No Gods, No Monsters

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull, 387 pages

When Laina hears that her brother has been shot by police, she assumes it's another case of police brutality against a black man. But when she gets a hold of the bodycam video, she learns that it's much more complex than that: Laina's brother was a werewolf, or something of the sort, and in monster form when he was gunned down. When Laina leaks the footage online, there's a visceral response across the country — but then the footage gets mysteriously edited to remove any proof of monsters, and the world has a collective moment of "did that actually happen? Nah..." and goes about its business. Well, except for the conspiracy theorists and the actual monsters that is.

With this novel, Turnbull has created a fantasy world full of monsters living among us, and as the story develops, it's hard to tell whether the monsters are really the ones who can shift bodies and breathe fire and manipulate technology and become invisible...or if they're the "regular everyday people" who lash out based on their fears and assumptions. It perfectly captures the zeitgeist of today's political situation and culture wars, and I cannot wait to see what Turnbull has up his sleeve for the next book in this series.

Just one look

 

Just one look / Lindsay Cameron, 290 pgs.

Cassie is a bag of neurotic problems. She was fired from her job at a law firm and is now temping in a low level job at another doing document review. One of the young lawyers in the firm got caught up in the search for documents and so many of his personal emails are included in her work.  She becomes obsessed with him, his wife, and their life. The emails are from months prior and in her internet stalking, she begins to believe they are divorced.  Now she is trying to attract this guy and become his new wife.  Yes, it is some kooky stalker stuff. Now her one friend in the temp job, Dalton, kills himself but Cassie is not convinced he would do such a thing.  She does a little research and gets caught up in something bigger and illegal.  Now we wonder, who is stalking whom?

Interior Chinatown

 Interior Chinatown: a Novel / Charles Yu, 270 pp.

I always feel a bit silly writing that a National Book Award-winning book is good, but to say otherwise would be a lie!  Willis Wu grew up in the Chinatown SRO above the Golden Palace restaurant, watching his parents struggle to succeed as Young Beautiful Oriental Woman and Generic Asian man, and always dreaming of becoming Kung Fu Man.  When adulthood finds him trapped as Special Guest Star on the TV detective series Black and White, featuring a black male and white female detective, Willis struggles to break free.  

The whole novel works within the conceit of bit actors playing minor parts on a stage (or in front of a camera), but it works seamlessly.  Tremendously imaginative and insightful.  Essential American reading.

The Way of the Househusband Vol 1

 The Way of the Househusband vol 1 by Kousuke Oono (trans. by Sheldon Drzka), 160 pages.

This manga centers on Tatsu, formerly known as The Immortal Dragon, as he puts just as much effort into being a househusband as he did to rise through the ranks of the yakuza. This is a very lighthearted comedy, and it was a very nice break from heavier reading. 

I actually picked this up because I've seen quite a few of the episodes from this book floating around on social media, and I was a little disappointed to find that I had actually already read most of the stories in this volume. Luckily I've already ordered the second volume, which should have more stories I haven't seen yet!

(Fun fact: this series of manga is also an animated series on Netflix. It's mostly just a voiced and colored version of the comics, but it's still sort of fun!)

Nine Shiny Objects

 Nine Shiny Objects by Brian Castleberry (2020) 319 pages

Castleberry takes us back in time to 1947, when (in real life, too) a pilot flying near the Cascade Mountains reported seeing nine shiny, fast-moving, saucer-shaped objects in the sky that nobody could explain. Oliver Danville, a would-be actor who supported himself hustling at a pool table in Chicago, takes the news story as a sign to change his life. He hitchhikes west, gathering followers to his theory that alien beings are going to come and fix conditions on Earth. Each of the nine chapters in the book moves the plot ahead 5 years, each giving a glimpse into the lives of different people who all intersect in some way. The Seekers, followers of Oliver (later referred to as Tzadi Sophit), plan to build a utopian town, but there are those who work against them, those who view "real" Americans as white, Christian people.

Most of the characters highlighted are fully fleshed out with a compelling storyline. Often I jot notes as I read, but I didn't this time when it would've helped me make more connections between characters and events. After finishing the book, I immediately reread it. Liked it, but would definitely benefit from a group discussion!

To Hell with it

 

To Hell with It: Of Sin and Sex, Chicken Wings, and Dante’s Entirely Ridiculous, Needlessly Guilt-Inducing Inferno by Dinty W. Moore, 168 pgs. 

This thought provoking "sort of" memoir is creative and interesting.  I'm not sure how this review of Dante's version of hell takes us to a chicken eating contest but it is a fun trip.  This is more about the author than hell.  He really tells us how little a chance that there really is a hell.  He tells about his early religious education and how early he starts questioning it. A fun read.

The Office of Historical Corrections

 

The office of historical corrections / Danielle Evans, read by a cast, 269

This is an amazing set of short stories each read by a different narrator. It's topical, funny, and amazing that each story is so complete, it is like reading an entire book.  I don't know how Danielle Evans does it but she is the master.

August totals!

Holy cow, we've finished another blogging year! Stay tuned for a full round-up of our reading/blogging stats, but for now, here are the August totals.

Christa  7/1714

Jan  6/1928

Kara  15/4697

Linda  5/1575

Regan  11/3659

TOTAL:  44/13,573