Hand in Glove

 Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh (1962) 239 pages

Nicola Maitland-Mayne is a typist who has been hired by Percival Pyke Period, who wants to write a book. Little does Nicola know the drama to come: Desiree, Lady Bantling--larger than life, renowned for her parties--lives nearby with Bimbo, her third husband. Her second husband, Harold Cartell, and his obnoxious dog, now live with Percival. Harold's sister, Connie, lives on the next estate over. Connie's adopted daughter, Moppet, has a boyfriend who has been in trouble with the law, and it looks like Moppet is going astray, but Connie thinks Moppet can do no wrong. Lady Bantling's son Andrew, is trying to coax his guardians, one of whom is Harold, to allow him to buy an art gallery, to no avail. When Harold is found dead in a ditch being dug for a sewer line on Percival's property, everyone looks suspicious, with the possible exception of the typist. When Inspector Alleyn is called in by the local authorities, he is the picture of calm, clear thinking, although it must be admitted that this cast of characters tests Alleyn's temper more than once. Fun Sunday afternoon read.

 

The Witch's Heart

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec, 359 pages

Fans of Norse mythology (or of Marvel's Thor movies) are generally familiar with Ragnarok, the prophesied end of rule by the Norse gods. A long winter starts the process, followed by the breaking of all bonds — including the ones holding back a massive wolf and a massive sea snake; keeping the dead in their land; and holding captive the trickster god Loki — and an epic battle. 

The Witch's Heart revisits this old tale from the point of view of Angrboda, a witch who once attempted to teach the gods how to see their own futures but was thrice burned at the stake and had her heart removed after angering Odin. Somehow surviving all of that, Angrboda hides in the forest and becomes irreversibly intertwined with the events and major players of Ragnarok, thanks in part to regular visits from Loki.

This is a fascinating reimaging of the tale, focusing on the woman who saw it coming but was unable to stop it. While it would probably help to have some knowledge of Norse mythology, it's not exactly necessary, as Gornichec weaves a compelling feminist version of Ragnarok. Recommended for fans of Circe.

Horseman

Horseman by Christina Henry, 302 pages

It's been decades since Ichabod Crane was scared out of his wits by the Headless Horseman, but in Sleepy Hollow, the threat of the spectral creature is still alive and well. There are certain parts of the forest that are avoided by all living creatures, though some of the boys of the village dare each other to go there. Ben is one of those boys, and it's his unlucky fate to be playing along the edges of the forest when one of his schoolmates is found headless and handless in the forest, setting off a series of increasingly gruesome and scary crimes. Luckily, Ben's grandfather is Brom Bones, the hero of Sleepy Hollow, and a lead investigator into the current happenings. That doesn't mean, however, that things won't get particularly scary before the dust settles.

This is a fitting sequel to Washington Irving's classic story, and one with a few wonderful twists. I particularly like the inclusion of a trans storyline that isn't particularly important to the horror aspects of the story — it's refreshing to see that played out as a matter of course rather than something that holds sway on the monsters. A great spooky book, and one I wish I'd read before Halloween.

When Ghosts Come Home

When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash, 290 pages

As sheriff of a small county in North Carolina, Winston Barnes is not used to dealing with too many dead bodies, especially not those that have been murdered. Yet when he wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of a plane landing at the tiny regional airport by his house, that's exactly what he finds: a murdered Black man near his abandoned car and a crashed airplane. While he begins the investigation, Barnes must also contend with a meddling FBI team (who seem to only see Barnes as a taxi service for their specialists) and a blatantly racist (but rich and well-liked among some of the community) challenger in the rapidly approaching election.

While this sounds like the basis for a cracking good and challenging mystery novel, it's much more character driven, focusing largely on Barnes and his daughter, who has recently come to stay with him after the death of her newborn son. It's not a particularly cheerful novel, nor is it particularly action-packed. But if you're looking for a slower murder mystery with plenty of commentary on race, this might be up your alley. 

Malibu Rising

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 369 pages

For most of her life, surfer and model Nina Riva has taken care of her three younger siblings, since her rock star dad abandoned their family and her mom hasn't handled it particularly well. Dropping out of high school, running the family business, taking any and all modeling jobs to get the money... all of it has been so Nina's two brothers and sister could get their education and follow their dreams (one of her brothers is a pro surfer while the other is a surf photographer). But now that her wealthy husband has left her for another woman, cracks are starting to show in Nina's tough exterior and everything comes to a head at the annual Riva end-of-summer party.

Told over the course of 24 hours (though interspersed with lots of flashback chapters), Malibu Rising shows the impact parents have on their kids, particularly when those parents are running away from their responsibilities. This was an enjoyable book, particularly for those who get vicarious glee out of the destruction of beautiful things at parties.

We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom

 We Want to Do More Than Survive by Bettina L. Love, 200 pages.

I picked this book as part of a reading challenge I was doing this year, specifically for "read a non-fiction book about anti-racism." And while it definitely fulfilled that prompt, I don't know that it quite followed the premise presented in the title. This is a decent book looking at the long history of racism in America and intersectional identities, but even being generous about it only about a third is even tangentially related to education.

Six Crimson Cranes

 Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim, 454 pages.

 Princess Shiori can do magic. Which is a problem because all of the magic in Kiora is supposed to be locked in the holy mountains with the demons, and she'll almost certainly be banished there if anyone finds out, whether or not she's her daughter's favorite. When she loses control right before the betrothal ceremony she wants nothing she thinks that nobody notices the little paper bird she brought to life, but it turns out that she's caught the eye of her stepmother, who has dark magic of her own. Soon her brothers are cursed to turn into cranes and Shiori is transported far from the palace with a bowl magically attached to her head to hide her face and the knowledge that any sound she makes will kill her brothers. Now Shiori must find a way to break the curse and fix the even greater dangers that are coming to her kingdom.

This is a beautiful fantasy retelling of "The Wild Swans" by Hans Christian Anderson. The mythic, fairy tale type feeling is also enhanced by weaving in bits of many other fairy tales, including Cinderella, The Girl with the Black Bowl, and the legend of Chang'e, until there is an extremely magical, out-of-reality feel to the story. I really enjoyed all of the characters, and was pleasantly surprised that in a story like this all of the brothers had enough personality that I could remember who was who. This book is intensely magical, and just generally very cool. I would definitely recommend it. 

Note: This cover is so pretty, I just wanted to draw attention to it.

This Thing Between Us

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno, 258 pages

After weeks in a coma, Thiago's wife, Vera, died from injuries sustained in very public and politically charged incident at a local Metra station. Thiago's naturally having trouble managing his grief, though the odd behavior of his Alexa-like Itza certainly isn't helping, as the last thing Thiago needs is a device randomly ordering things to his house and reminding him of his late wife.

Full of grief, anger, confusion, and technological horror, This Thing Between Us is propulsive and does not let up. It took me very little time to read this book, and I imagine it'll be haunting me for quite some time to come.

The Coward

The Coward by Stephen Aryan, 424 pages

Ten years ago, Kell was a 17-year-old desperate to prove himself on a quest with a dozen tried-and-true heroes. The party accomplished their mission, traversing the frozen north to defeat the Ice Lich, but at a cost: Kell was the only one to survive. Now Kell is a farmer living quietly in a small town, avoiding any place where minstrels might sing the saga of his heroic journey. But when the king summons Kell to once again head north and seek the source of the encroaching winter, Kell is more than a bit reluctant to make the journey again, seeing as how the last one left him scarred mentally and physically.

For the bulk of this book, Kell's story, and that of the people who end up traveling with him, is an excellent fantasy-based examination of the military experience and the PTSD that all-too-often accompanies combat experience. There are a few things that distract from that, however, and I'm hoping that those elements play a big role in future books in this series. Otherwise, I'd highly recommend this book.

Scandal in Babylon

Scandal in Babylon by Barbara Hambly, 233 pages

After six months serving as an assistant to movie star Kitty Flint, Oxford-educated Emma Blackstone is yearning for a return to the classic education she loves. However, when Kitty's long-estranged husband turns up dead in her dressing room, Emma is instead thrown into an investigation to clear her kind employer's name and see who in this glamorous world could want to frame Kitty.

This book is certainly chock full of 1920s Hollywood, from the ghastly makeup and the even-more-ghastly attempts at "historical accuracy" to bootleggers and the corrupt studio system. It's an OK mystery, and Emma's obsession with Latin gets a bit tedious at times, but if you're a fan of Hollywood before the talkies, this is the mystery for you.

The Reading List

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams, 373 pages

While all her friends are having fun with their summer and relaxing before heading to university, Aleisha is stuck working at the library (she doesn't even like reading!), and helping her older brother support their mother, who has been struggling with severe anxiety and depression. When she finds a random list of books at work, however, Aleisha decides to give this whole reading thing a whirl. Meanwhile, widower Mukesh has recently stumbled across a library book checked out by his late wife, who was a voracious reader. When he heads to the library to return it, however, he finds that he can't quite part with this last piece of her and instead seeks a book recommendation from Aleisha, who suggests To Kill a Mockingbird, the first book on the list she found. Soon the two begin to discuss the books on the list as they read through them, becoming friends over the course of the summer.

This is a delightful love letter to books and libraries and the power that both have to bring people together. It should be no surprise that this librarian loved it, and I'll happily recommend it to other fans of books and reading.

The Jasmine Throne

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, 563 pages

After refusing to sacrifice herself (literally, by burning to death) for her brother's empire, Princess Malini is imprisoned in a former temple and pilgrimage site, which is also the site of her emperor brother's most heinous crime: the burning alive of the priests and children who served the temple. Malini's seclusion is broken, however, by regular visits from the local governor's housemaids, including Priya, who was one of the few temple children to escape the conflagration. Soon Priya and Malini band together in an attempt to fight the emperor's cruel reign.

This is a richly imagined world, full of all of the magic and majesty of high fantasy, with a LGBTQ and feminist twist. I loved the many facets of rebellion shown here, and I can't wait to see what Suri has in mind for the rest of this trilogy.

The Holly

 

The Holly: five bullets, one gun, and the struggle to save an American neighborhood / Julian Rubinstein, read by the author and Larry Herron, 392 pgs.

This fascinating book was one I could not put down.  At first you don't see where this is going...is it another account of a wayward criminal who reinvents themselves?  Then backslides?  That is not giving credit for the extensive research and reporting by the author that builds an almost unbelievable narrative of gangs in Denver.  What is the impetuous for their activities?  What could put a stop to the violence?  Who benefits?  Do we get all the answers? of course not.  But we do get a lot to think about.

The Anthropocene Reviewed

 The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green, 293 pages.

This collection of personal essays reviews a wide range of concepts from the current geological age, from diet coke to plague, and rates them on a five star scale. These essays are often informative, and always at least a little philosophical, in addition to often being deeply personal. 

I really enjoyed this book, I think largely because I really enjoy how John Green sees the world. This book was written during the current pandemic, and if it has a central theme it is healing and the power of community, even (or especially) in the face of huge amounts of pain. I enjoyed this book more than I've enjoyed any of the authors novels, and I recommend this easy read whole-heartedly.

Five Little Pigs

 Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie (1942) 266 pages

This book was actually discussed in a medical book I just read (When Doctors Don't Listen, by Wen and Kosowsky). What Dr. Wen liked about this book was that detective Hercule Poirot was looking back at a crime, and using the testimony of several witnesses 16 years later to reconsider a case. For Dr. Wen, practicing medicine is similar to being a detective, and listening to people is crucial. 

Since I didn't recall this book as one of the numerous Agatha Christie books I have read, I found it. A young woman, Carla Lemarchant, has turned 21 and received a letter written to her by her mother, Caroline, who died in prison shortly after being convicted of killing her husband 16 years ago. Caroline says she did not kill her husband. Carla wants Poirot to find out the truth--did or did not her mother kill her father? Caroline's husband, Amyas, was an renowned artist who had an unfortunate habit of having affairs with other women. This time, the woman, only 20 years old, was living with the family while Amyas was painting her portrait, and the young woman becomes very brazen about her plan to marry Amyas. When poison is thought to be missing, and then Amyas dies of poisoning, everyone believes Caroline killed him. Her attitude on the witness stand during her trial does nothing to dispel that notion. 

So 16 years later, Poirot interviews all of the police and prosecutors associated with the case, and then the five witnesses, including a stockbroker (the pig who went to market), the stockbroker's brother (the pig who stayed home), a rich woman (the pig who had roast beef), the governess (the pig who had none) and the teenager who had been injured long ago (the pig who cried wee wee wee). Can Poirot learn anything new with a trail this old? But yes, or he is not Hercule Poirot!

When Doctors Don't Listen

When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests, by Leana Wen, M.D. and Joshua Kosowsky, M.D. (2012) 334 pages

Doctors Wen and Kosowsky write a terrific book on how to interact with medical teams, especially in an emergency situation, in such a way as to cut through the "cookbook medicine" route of ruling out  possible diagnoses in order to learn sooner what one's medical problem really is. They analyze the care that a number of real patients got and explain how their care would have been much improved if the patient and the medical professionals had communicated better. They set out a strategy to show just how to do this, and they suggest we practice so that when we might find ourselves or loved ones in a medical emergency, we'll be better equipped to receive a good working diagnosis and proper care.

The Virgin Suicides

 

The Virgin Suicides / Jeffrey Eugenides 272 pgs.

It seems a little bit silly to write a summary of this book.  I think we all know what happens just by reading the title, not to forget that this was published in '93 and most of you have already read it or watched the movie.  So why did it take me this long to get to it?  I think this is the crux of every readers problem...quite a backlist of titles that stay on the list. Glad I made time for this one.

Factory Summers

 

Factory Summers / Guy Delisle, 152 pgs.

For three summers while in college, the author worked at a paper factory.  This book documents that work, sometimes interesting, sometimes dangerous, sometimes monotonous.  His co-workers and the culture are key to this job that he didn't particularly like or dislike.  There is also a reveling subtext of the relationship he has with his father who also works for the same company.  

Feline Philosophy

 

Feline Philosophy: cats and the meaning of life / John Gray 122 pgs.

I think this is trying to say that if you were a cat, you wouldn't need philosophy because the cat just lives its life.  Maybe there IS something to learn here.

Under the Whispering Door

 Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune, 373 pages.

Wallace Price is dead. Luckily, this is only the beginning of the story. Wallace is collected by a Reaper and taken to Charon's Crossing, a tea shop that doubles as a waypoint for souls as they prepare themselves to cross over to the other side. The ferryman who runs the teashop, Hugo, is empathetic and handsome, and Wallace quickly finds himself wishing he had found this place while he was still alive. Actually he finds himself wishing he had done a lot of things while he was still alive. Wallace Price had not been, by any metric, a good man. Now that he's dead he's finally learning how to live, which feels monumentally unfair. But Charon's Crossing is only meant to be a place people stop briefly, not a place where they can say, and sooner or later Wallace will have to move on.

I read The House in the Cerulean Sea earlier this year (before I started blogging, sorry!) and this sounded like the exact same brand of soft, middle-aged queer romance, which I liked the first time and was certainly interested in reading more of. This book was, in a good way, pretty much exactly what I expected. It was wholesome and engaging, and the pacing felt pretty perfect. It would be easy to think a book about death is sad, and it is a little, but it mostly isn't. This is an extremely gentle book about grief, and I would definitely recommend it. 

Queen of the Cicadas

Queen of the Cicadas by V. Castro, 214 pages

In the 1950s, Milagros left her family in Mexico to be a migrant worker in Texas, hoping to earn some money to help them survive and eventually immigrate to the U.S. themselves. Instead, she met a horrific end and the cotton plantation where she died became the site of drought and brutal unexplained deaths, spawning an urban legend among Mexican-Americans. Half a century later, Belinda Alvarez visits the plantation and begins digging into Milagros' story, with stomach-churning and surprising results.

This is a fantastic mash-up of folklore, urban legend, and the foundation of a new feminist religion, though it's really hard to categorize because of that. It's horror, yes, but it's more than that. Really, this could have been a much longer book, with more details about Milagros and Belinda, and I would still have been captivated.

Under Color of Law

Under Color of Law by Aaron Philip Clark, 285 pages

As a Black cop in the LAPD, Trevor Finnegan is used to being an outsider at work and in society. Just four years after starting with the department, he's now a homicide detective, and when he's given the case of a murdered Black police academy recruit, he knows that his role is partially to find the killer, but mostly to be the Black face of the LAPD in a particularly tricky and highly public case. But as he follows the clues and gets pushback from his superiors, Finn is having increasing trouble balancing his career ambitions and his moral code.

Wow, this is an incredible mystery novel. It faces the complexities of being a Black cop in today's world head-on, without preaching or judging, while still providing an intriguing and innately readable plot. I was thoroughly impressed by this book, and I will be recommending it to everyone I meet.

The Stormbringer

The Stormbringer by Isabel Cooper, 343 pages

A century after being frozen in battle with the evil wizard Thyran, Amris is awoken from a magical stasis by Darya, a magically enhanced human on the hunt for evil beings. Though he's missed out on the land's descent into poverty and despair, Amris has returned none too soon, as he and Darya soon discover that Thyran has also returned, and is set on finishing what he started 100 years earlier. Luckily, Darya has a sword that is imbued with the soul of the powerful wizard Gerant — who just happens to be Amris' long-gone lover.

OK. The summary makes this sound ridiculous, and for the most part, it is. There's fantasy, there's romance, there's a shirtless warrior on the cover (Amris wears armor in the book), and the baddie is fairly cardboard. Worth your time? Eh, depends on what you're looking for. For me, who went into this assuming it was straight-up fantasy (based on a recommendation), it wasn't worth it.

The Hand of the Sun King

The Hand of the Sun King by J.T. Greathouse, 370 pages

Wen Alder is the son of a wealthy Sienese merchant, one who is dedicated to the god-like emperor and his brutal methods of wiping out minority belief systems. Unfortunately, Alder's mother is from one of those minorities, and his grandmother is determined to teach him the magical ways of his forbidden heritage. While moving ahead with his father's plans for him (performing well on imperial exams, finding a place in the empire's vast machinations), Alder learns the old ways of magic from his grandmother, and struggles to balance the contrasting values.

Greathouse has set up a strong cultural clash and rebellion with Alder, though Alder isn't a particularly likeable character (the secondary characters, however, are VERY intriguing). I am curious to see what Greathouse has in store for the Sienese empire.

As the Wicked Watch

I didn't read the
large-print version, but
that's the image I found.

As the Wicked Watch by Tamron Hall, 388 pages

Chicago TV news reporter Jordan Manning is getting sick and tired of her producers and managers overlooking and downplaying the stories of missing black girls. But when one of these girls turns up dead, Jordan is able to convince her bosses to let her do a bit of investigative reporting, diving deep into the community surrounding the dead teenager to search for an answer. But can she do it without getting drawn into the emotions and danger surrounding the girl?

It's nice to read a mystery that really shows how hard reporters work, and this one definitely did that (of course, having an Emmy-winning reporter for an author helps). It's a thrilling story, and I'm looking forward to other Jordan Manning stories in the future.

The Route of Ice & Salt

The Route of Ice & Salt by Jose Luis Zarate Herrera, 194 pages

The captain of the Demeter has taken on a simple, if strange, commission: to carry several boxes of soil from Varna to Whitby. However, as the ship makes the journey, strange forces arise, inspiring the captain to dream of a long-lost lover and his men to begin dying. This twist on the doomed voyage of Count Dracula's home soil is atmospheric and haunting, and full of the sensual language that has become so common in vampire lore. However, it's important to read Dracula first, otherwise you'll be adrift at sea.

The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton

The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton by Eleanor Ray, 305 pages

Years ago, Amy Ashton's best friend and boyfriend vanished on the same day. While the police concluded that they ran off together, Amy's convinced that her two favorite people in the world would never do that to her. As investigators, family, and friends moved on, Amy became stuck, staying at the same "temporary" job she had when they disappeared and gathering lost "treasures," that include discarded bottles, plant pots (but not the plants), newspapers, and a veritable flock of ceramic birds. Now, Amy's treasures have overtaken her home, and the pressure of meddling neighbors and rambunctious children next door is beginning to make Amy's collection, and her mental health, crumble.

This is a very real and humane look at hoarding, mental health, grief, and the relationships that make up our lives. I loved the way Ray treated Amy's many issues with kindness and empathy, particularly as hoarding has become such a sensationalized issue in much mainstream media. I absolutely loved this book, and recommend it to those who enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

How to astronaut

 

How to astronaut: everything you need to know before leaving earth / Terry Virts, 319 pgs.

This is a personal story but also very educational.  Not many of us are going to get the opportunity to leave earth...but if you do, this gives you many hints and tips for your trip.  Virts spent an extended period on the space station but that wasn't his only space trip.  He has lot so experience and tells it how it is.  Yes, you learn about how the bathroom works (and how he had to fix it) but also a lot of more serious information for the future traveler. Fascinating stuff.

An age of license

 

An age of license: a travelogue / Lucy Kinsley, 198 pgs.

The author has a fantastic opportunity to take a European trip that is mostly paid for as a book tour.  Side trips with friends and family round out the tour, including exploring a relationship with a Nordic dude.  The drawings are fantastic and the meandering trip is well documented.  Enjoyable on several levels.

The Storyteller

 The storyteller: tales of life and music / David Grohl, 376 pages, read by the author

Not a fan of his music?  That certainly isn't required to enjoy this memoir that takes you from early years to Foo Fighters.  Family, music, and fun are the theme.  Grohl is a modest guy with great success who appreciates every minute of it.  He is a natural storyteller. If you are into Nirvana or the Foo Fighters, you BETTER get your hands on this.  Wonderfully narrated by the author...certainly the best way to read this title.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate

 To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers, 153 pages.

In this near-ish future version of Earth space travel has evolved to the point that instead of changing distant planets astronauts change themselves instead. A mission of four astronauts is sent to explore four terrestrial bodies orbiting a distant star, a round trip that the reality of physics assures will last longer than the lifespan of anyone they know on Earth. These astronauts, in a big twist on the genre, are not setting out to colonize distant worlds, but rather to observe and learn as much as possible while effecting the things they touch as little as possible. This novella is a long exploration of scientific discovery.

Much like Chambers' other novella that I read, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, this novella feels more like an idea than a story. It's a great idea, which makes this interesting reading, but it somehow doesn't feel quite complete. Still, the setting is super interesting, as are the questions it asks about science, ethics, and the nature of community. I need to get around to reading one of Chambers' full novels to see if this is universal for their style or just a common product of novellas.

The magic fish

 

The magic fish / Trung Le Nguyen, 229 pgs.

This is a beautifully illustrated book that features a young boy who is figuring out who he is and how to tell his parents.  He still reads with his folks and they enjoy fairy tales from various world cultures.  The stories within the story are so beautifully done it is worth looking at this book just to enjoy the masterful transitions and art.  I wasn't expecting this to be so good.

Leave the world behind

 

Leave the world behind / Rumaan Alam, read by Marin Ireland, 241 pgs.

This starts out as such a common family vacation story but eventually things go sideways.  If you rented a great Air b-n-b but a knock at the door brings the owners?  They are in the area and there is something odd going on so they want to stay in their house.  Yea, well so do YOU.  After this oddness, the story really goes down hill.  Internet and tv go away and there is an insanely loud noise.  Is this the end of the world?  Or simply a remote area that lost internet?  hard to say.  An interesting view of things from one families perspective. Do we know what happened?  Not really.  This could be the way it all goes down...who knows?

The Hawthorne Legacy

 The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, 358 pages.

Following the resolution of the first game at the end of The Inheritance Games, Avery is instantly launched into another cryptic game, this time to find Toby, the son of the billionaire who's fortune she inherited, who has been presumed dead for twenty years. The search quickly becomes deeply personal for Avery, which keeps her playing long after the game turns dangerous.

I really liked The Inheritance Games as a quick, fun adventure. Unfortunately, The Hawthorne Legacy took the genre typical amount of contrivance and turned it up to eleven. There's not very much in this book that's even remotely plausible, that being said, it is still sort of fun. Overall not an exceptional book, but not terrible either.

Tricky

Tricky by Josh Stallings, 289 pages

LAPD homicide detective Niels Madsen is on his way to work when he gets in the middle of a tense situation: a rookie cop has his weapon pointed at an intellectually disabled man who's standing next to a dead body and holding a gun in his hand. Luckily, Madsen is able to de-escalate the situation before learning that the mentally disabled man he just helped, Cisco, is in fact an ex-con and a brutal killer for one of L.A.'s toughest gangs. While the higher-ups are pressuring Madsen to arrest the ex-con, Cisco swears that he would never hurt his dead friend, who lived with him in a group home for people with special needs. Madsen must confront his instincts and his biases to reconcile the brutal murderer from the gentle man he's become.

This is a fantastic police procedural with a twist. It's clever, it's funny, and it manages to confront a lot of biases without clobbering the reader over the head with them. I absolutely loved this, and highly recommend it to fans of police-based mysteries.

The Clover Girls

The Clover Girls by Viola Shipman, 403 pages

When they were teens, Liz, Veronica, Rachel, and Emily met and became inseparable friends at Camp Birchwood. After 30 years, however, the "friends forever" mentality has faded quite a bit, thanks in part to drastically different career paths. However, when Emily sends the other three a letter with devastating news, the former pals return to the now-abandoned camp for one last reunion, in the hopes of bringing them back together again.

Let's face it: this is not a new story. There are dozens of weepy books and movies made with a very similar storyline, made to tug at those heartstrings and have their readers/viewers reminisce about their own childhood friends. Does that make this book any less effective? Nope. It is what it is, and if a weepy tale of friendships past is what you want or need right now, this is the book for you.

Firekeeper's Daughter

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley, 494 pages

Daunis is still dealing with the unexpected death of her uncle earlier in the year when additional tragedies strike Daunis' tight-knit Ojibwe community — meth is taking its toll on the young people around Daunis, and she's soon swept into an FBI investigation that's trying to take down the makers and sellers of a particularly bad version of the drug. Meanwhile, she's also trying to get her start in college and stay connected with her community through cultural practices and hockey.

This is a wonderful YA mystery that sheds light on indigenous culture, hockey culture, and the nuances of life on and off the reservation. I loved this glimpse into Ojibwe culture, as well as the way Boulley and her heroine didn't shy away from some of the problems that are inherent to rural and Native American communities. Also? That cover is AWESOME.

The Death of Jane Lawrence

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling, 362 pages

Pragmatic Jane is thinking only of a business partnership when she offers herself in marriage to Augustine Lawrence, the odd but kind doctor in town. He's initially hesitant, but eventually agrees with the arrangement, provided he lives at the family estate in the country while Jane resides at the apartment above the doctor's office. But you know what they say about the best laid plans... Through a series of mishaps, Jane ends up spending much of her time at the estate, and soon learns that there are magical and haunting reasons that Augustine wants her away from there.

This is a wonderfully creepy and atmospheric gothic horror novel, one that kept me guessing throughout. It has tinges of Daphne du Maurier and Shirley Jackson, but is definitely all its own.

The Blacktongue Thief

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, 416 pages

Kinch is a darn good thief, but unfortunately not a good enough one to pay off the debts he owes to the Takers Guild, which educated him in the many skills of thievery. To work off a bit of that debt, Kinch takes on an assignment to accompany Galva, an intimidating survivor of the goblin wars, on her quest to find her queen, who has gone missing after giants ransacked her home city. Adventure — in the form of kraken, goblins, and the occasional assassin — ensues.

I love books about thieves and odd pairings, and thankfully this book has both. It was a boatload of fun, and I look forward to more stories about Kinch and Galva in the future.

Little Thieves

 Little Thieves by Margaret Owen, 512 pages.

For years Vanja was the loyal servant of Princess Giselle, until a year ago, when she stole the Princesses face and life with an enchanted string of pearls. Since then she's being leading a double life as the princess waiting for her (terrible) fiancé to return and the Penny Phantom, a master thief who has been robbing the local nobility blind. After all, she's already learned that nothing in life comes without a price, including a mother's love, and without a whole lot of gold there's no way she'll be able to outrun her godmothers, Death and Fortune.

Everything is going to plan until Vanja steals the wrong token and is cursed by the goddess of the forest to be consumed by her greed by the next full moon if she doesn't make up for everything she has taken, and she's taken a lot in the last year. If that wasn't enough Giselle's sinister fiancé is back from the war front and planning the wedding immediately, all while she is slowly turning to gemstones and being pursued for her crimes by an inspector from the godly courts. If she has any chance of survival she'll have to unlearn everything that's allowed her to survive up until now, and that isn't an easy road.

I loved this book! It's a retelling of The Goose Girl, but there are shades of other stories artfully woven throughout. The setting is also very interesting. Politically it is extremely similar to the Holy Roman Empire (honestly an underutilized fantasy European setting), but there are also aspects that are uniquely fantastical, so it feels new and strange, but also firmly rooted in the same kind of culture that gave rise to the Grimm fairy tales originally. It is also has a lot to say about cycles of power and entitlement, and the ways systems of power often leave people without it with no good options and than judge them for their immorality. This book is often heartbreaking, but also very warm and healing. I loved all the characters, and I am so excited to see more of them in the sequel that's been announced!

(Note: There's also not just one but two asexual characters who talk about their experiences in a way that feels extremely genuine and I think that's really neat)

The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier

 The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina, 560 pages.

This book, an expansion of Urbina's articles for the New York Times, explores the full range of criminal (and technically not criminal) actions that take place in the vast expanse of the ocean. It is also an exceptional piece of investigative journalism. The Outlaw Ocean reads in plenty of parts like an adventure, yet that never detracts from how deathly serious the issues he is investigating are. This book is absolutely stuffed with research, facts, and statistics, but they are integrated so smoothly into the narrative of the investigation itself that this remains an extremely engaging read. 

Which is a real benefit, given how many terrible things it will likely introduce you to that you had no idea of before, because they happen to far away and to people who don't have the means to make their situations known. For example, did you know that up to 25% of seafood is caught illegally? That it is common (and not even illegal!) for sailors to be stranded on their boats by the companies who own them for indefinite amounts of time with no supplies? How about the fact that sea slavery is not only very common, but very rarely prosecuted? I certainly didn't, and I was often shocked and appalled at the conditions he described. Which is not to say that all of the stories are bad. He also writes about a boat that takes advantage of a loophole in maritime law to offer abortions to women in countries where they are illegal. Or a man who sounds more like something out of an adventure novel, who runs a company that specializes in stealing boats on behalf of a ships owners, insurers, or creditors and spiriting it away from the jurisdiction of whatever harbor is detaining it (generally these boats are either stolen or being illegally detained by corrupt government/harbor officials).

This book is important, interesting, and informative and I would definitely recommend it. It also includes nearly 100 pages of appendix, notes, and further reading, which gives me a lot of confidence in the academic legitimacy of the work.

(Note: despite containing what I think might literally be every other form of transportation on the planet, there are no train rides in this book, therefore no bonus points)

The last days of Ellis Island

 

The last days of Ellis Island / Gaelle Josse, 203 pages

It is the end of Ellis Island and John Mitchell has been there for a long time as an officer of the Bureau of Immigration. He lives on the island and has had a long career and life there. He was married briefly to a wonderful woman who was a nurse on the island but is now on his own. This book covers some of his memories and some of the events in his history. Although there were some enjoyable entries in this "diary like" book, there is also a casual situation where he basically admits to raping a woman who was there with her brother seeking asylum. Although he comes across as a compassionate and caring man, his behavior in that instance is inexplicable. Maybe common but certainly upsetting in the context of this book. Overall I don't know what to think about this book.

The first husband

 The First Husband / Laura Dave 246 pgs.

Annie and Nick are on track for a beautiful future together.  She is a travel writer, he is making it as a director.  Then one day it comes crashing down when Nick decides he wants to pursue a relationship with someone else.  Annie wants to be strong but she is a mess.  Finally after hiding out for a length of time, she forces herself to go out and she meets Griffin.  In a bit of a whirlwind, she is married and moved to the east coast.  Will this work out?  Especially since Nick is now begging to go back to where they were?  I'll never tell, read it yourself!

Nightbitch

 

Nightbitch / Rachel Yoder, 248 pgs.

A former artist now full-time mother with a two-year-old son, our protagonist is struggling.  She adores her son but also feels resentment that she is on her own all week while her husband travels for work.  She is lonely and exhausted and close to losing her mind. Not fitting in with the perfect mommy crowd at the library, she withdraws but notices changes in her body.  Deep inside her, she is becoming more canine.  There are sharper teeth, patches of hair, a new sharper sense of smell. Instinct takes over and she plays with her child like a pup.  She gives in more and more to this new behavior and finds herself much happier.  Of course things will eventually come to a head.  Oh boy, this is an interesting and fun read.  Plenty of us lose ourselves at times, here is a story of a woman who finds herself.

Delicates

 

Delicates / Brenna Thummler, 316 pg.

Marjorie Glatt is back.  She is still working with the group of ghosts living in her family’s laundromat. Marjorie finally gets accepted by the popular kids at school, which shifts her attention away from the family and Wendell, her best ghost friend.  This makes Wendell unhappy. 

Eliza Duncan is a bit of an outcast at school. She’s an avid photographer, and is interested in finding and photographing ghosts maybe because as an oustider, she feels like a ghost herself. 

Marjorie must soon come to terms with the price she pays to be accepted by the popular kids. Is it worth losing her friend, Wendell? Is she partially to blame for the bullying Eliza endures?

Delicates helps us see what it feels like to fit in, and how it feels to those who don't. 

Remote Control

 Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor, 160 pages.

Sankofa wanders a near future rural Ghana with the power of death her only companion (aside from a little fox). Ever since she lost her name at seven years old she glows green both when threatened and at will, and the green glow has the power to kill any living thing it touches. Now, seven years later, she has become a mythic figure, the alleged goddaughter of death, who wander the country on foot and survives on fearfully provided hospitality wherever she stops, pursuing a mission that only she knows. 

I really enjoyed this book, although it wasn't quite what I was expecting. The blurb sounded more like folklore than science fiction, so I admit I went into this expecting a more literal personification of death. Which is interesting because a lot of the themes in this novella are exactly that, an examination of the power of the stories told about Sankofa, and all of the ways they are simultaneously true and untrue. Reading about her travels was simultaneously fascinating and heartbreaking, especially since Okorafor doesn't hesitate to remind us that Sankofa is, ultimately, a deeply traumatized child. I will say that it lost me a little in the events of the last chapter or so, but at 160 pages its definitely well worth the read.

Throne of the Crescent Moon

 Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, 367 pages.

Kara just wrote about this book here for Orcs and Aliens! Her synopsis is good so there's not much more to write on that front, so instead here's a blog post with my opinions.

This book wasn't really for me I'm afraid, I found most of the prose to be unusually formal, and it made the story drag for me. It gave the impression of reading a much older book, which is an interesting effect, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it. I also, unfortunately, wasn't really interested in any of the characters, and the plot was a pretty classic formula (except for the fact that at least a third of the book was spent in downtime research, to explain using the roleplaying game parlance that it reminded me of). However! This book was something of an introduction for me to fantasy stories not based in a European tradition, and I'm definitely interested in reading more in the genre.

Honey Girl

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers, 293 pages

Grace Porter is 28 years old and has just received her doctorate in astronomy. For the past 11 years, she's been working hard for this degree, and is ready to enter the world of non-stop research and publishing. Except that her first interview goes disastrously and her graduation celebration trip to Las Vegas lands her with the last thing she was planning on: a wife whose name she doesn't remember. No matter what she does, Grace is losing control of her carefully planned life, and is also coming apart at the seams. 

For a book that starts with a very fictional premise (how many bad movies start with a drunken Las Vegas wedding?), it handles the complexities of mental health and big life changes very well. There were a few things that didn't entirely make sense to me (like the whole idea of holding sacred vows that you can't remember making to someone you'd never met before; why not just annul?), but on the whole, I enjoyed reading this book. Sometimes it was a bit too real, particularly regarding Grace's anxiety and lack of family communication, but that's just something I'll have to deal with in my own therapy sessions. I'm looking forward to seeing what Rogers comes up with next.

Son of the Storm

Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa, 487 pages

Despite his high position as a scholar, Danso is an outsider in the strict caste system of Basso. His mother was an immigrant to the city-state, his father a native healer, so he's a rare mixed-race member of the upper caste. He's also VERY curious about the world outside Basso, though information information is hard to come by. But when a skin-changing woman from the Nameless Islands (which, according to Basso sources, don't even exist any more) appears in Basso, Danso finds that what he thought he knew isn't right at all.

As the beginning of a series, this book does an excellent job of addressing a multitude of complex topics — including race, caste, propaganda, colonialism, political uprisings, and immigration — without losing any of the action and adventure. The characters are equally complex, and grow (sometimes horrifically) throughout the novel. I can't wait to see what happens next in this series!

Murder at Wedgefield Manor

Murder at Wedgefield Manor by Erica Ruth Neubauer, 282 pages

Jane Wunderly is spending a lovely holiday with her Aunt Millie at Millie's friend's English estate when the baron's mechanic dies in a car accident. Or was it? Turns out that the brake lines were cut with a knife bearing the baron's monogram. So was the baron trying to murder the mechanic, is someone trying to frame the baron, or there something else going on entirely? Luckily, Jane's friend and inspector, Redvers, happens to stop by just in time to help Jane investigate, since the local police aren't too thrilled with Jane's poking around.

This was a delightful throwback to golden age British mysteries, but with a few modern twists on race and sexuality. As the second Jane Wunderly mystery, it certainly helps to have read the first one (Murder at the Mena House) for a bit of background on Jane, Millie, Redvers, and Jane's cousin Lillian, but it's definitely not required. Pick this up for an enjoyable afternoon of reading.