Nettle & Bone

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher, 243 pages

Marra is the third daughter of the king of a small, mostly useless kingdom. The only thing the kingdom has going for it is its harbor, which is why both the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom want it. When Marra's oldest sister is married off to the prince of the Northern Kingdom, everyone breathes a sigh of relief that a political marriage has saved Marra's kingdom from potential capture. But then that sister dies mysteriously and Marra's other sister is married off to the same man, one who Marra learns is abusive and simply vicious. Despite being trained in a convent, Marra decides that the only way to save her one remaining sister is to kill the king-to-be, and she'll enlist the help of anyone she can to get the job done.

I absolutely love Kingfisher's pragmatic and wry heroines (particularly Digger, which is also Kingfisher, but was published under the name Ursula Vernon), and Marra is no exception. Yeah, it takes her a while to figure out what she's doing, but she's determined, no matter how scary the world around her becomes. This is a fantastic twist on your average fairy tale — how many princess stories do you know of that center on a revenge murder plot and include a dog made of bones? — and I'll happily read many more of Kingfisher's books.

The Heartbreak Bakery

The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta, 352 pages

Regan wrote a great review of this charming book here, and I'll happily admit that her review is what made me pick up this fantastic book. So go read that review — I agree with everything said there and the only thing I would add is that I love the inclusion of the recipes, some of which I *really* want to try out at home.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, 152 pages

This sequel to A Psalm for the Wild-Built picks up directly where the first one left off: monk Dex and robot Mosscap are traveling together, heading ultimately toward the City and lots of meetings with academic and political leaders. But along they way, the pair stops at plenty of small villages, giving Mosscap a chance to meet humans and ask its question, "What do humans need?"

Just like the first Monk and Robot book (which you really must read full stop, and definitely before picking up this one), this quiet and contained science fiction story explores humanity, meeting "the other," and what we really need to survive. And what's particularly great is that Chambers never gives us an answer, leaving her readers to figure that out themselves. This is something that Chambers is absolutely masterful at, and it's why I have yet to read one of her books that I haven't completely loved. Highly recommend her as an author, and these books in particular.

The Lies of Locke Lamora

 The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, 752 pages.

Locke Lamora is the leader of the criminal gang The Gentleman Bastards. Unlike most of the other gangs in the city of Camorr (a fantasy city-state reminiscent of Venice) they use con-artistry to steal from the cities nobles, which is astoundingly dangerous since it violates the secret agreement between the leader of Camorr's criminal underground and the Duke's forces. Luckily they are very good at what they do, so most of the drama of this book comes from people using knowledge of their wrong doing to throw the gang in way over their heads, pitching them headfirst into magic and politics.

This was a pretty good book! It's been a while since I read epic scale fantasy, and it was nice to get back to it. I think it would be a great book if some of the ways it was cut together weren't so weird and jarring. That being said, that the flow of chapters was the one big hang-up for me, I have a lot of hope that I'll like the next book even more! Camorr is a really cool location, and it was really fun to see the way that Locke's scheme came together. This is a very clever book, which made it fun for me, and it had a laser focus on a small group of characters and a relatively small area that's not common for fantasy of this scale. I'd definitely recommend it, and I'm planning on reading the sequel.

The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor

 The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 106 pages. 

This book collects a series of newspaper articles that Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote in 1955 about a sailor in the Colombian navy who fell overboard and was stranded at sea for ten days. The story is very exciting, and allegedly true (although there are some details that range from extremely implausible to completely impossible). This was also the selection for UCPL's Read the Classics book group, and everyone seemed to like it, so I'll count that as a vote of confidence as well. The story is well told, and at 100 pages it's definitely worth the time.

Fuzz

 Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach, 317 pages.

This book follows Mary Roach, prolific pop nonfiction writer, around the world as she investigates all sorts of human-animal conflict (and some human-plant conflict). Chapters follow Roach learning about man-eating leopards, invasive stoat control, poisonous plant management, and bear home invasions (among many more). Roach goes around the world to tour relevant locations and interview experts and officials responsible for every variety of conflict.

This was an interesting read, although I will say that a lot of it read more like a travel memoir than an informative book. But! It was still very fun and would make a nice casual read.

The Librarian Always Rings Twice

 

The Librarian Always Rings Twice by Marty Wingate (2022) 328 pages

Hayley Burke is the librarian caring for Lady Georgiana Fowling's mystery collection. A board of directors, comprised of the late Lady Fowling's good friends, has approved Hayley's plan to open up the private library one afternoon a week to let people come in and enjoy the the first editions that Lady Fowling had amassed. However, to her consternation, Hayley has been directed by the board to allow Lady Fowling's nephew, Charles Henry Dill, an annoying older gentleman, to come work in the library once a week.

During one of the open afternoons, a man named John Aubrey comes and indicates he is the grandson of Lady Fowling. Since Lady Fowling was not known to have had a child, this causes a bit of a stir, especially with Charles Henry Dill, who had thought he was the closest existing relative to the Lady. After an associate who looks somewhat similar to John Aubrey is murdered, Charles Henry Dill is a suspect. Meanwhile, Hayley is busy trying to find out whether Aubrey is really a grandson to the Lady. He certainly knows a great deal about her writings.

The Bird King

 The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson, 403 pages. 

The year is 1491 and Fatima is concubine to the last sultan of the Iberian peninsula. The newly united kingdom of Spain is coming for the sultanate, and more specifically for her best friend Hassan, who they consider a sorcerer for his ability to manipulate physical space with the maps he draws. Soon they are fleeing with the might of the Inquisition behind them and their only hope is the impossible island that Hassan has mapped them a way to. 

This was a really cool book! For the first hundred pages or so it almost reads like pure historical fiction, which was really interesting. It was even more interesting because I don't know all that much about this period. I enjoyed the discussion the Orcs and Aliens book club had about this book, and everyone there seemed to like it too, so I would consider that a solid recommendation. 

PS: read Kara's review here

Evvie Drake Starts Over

 Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (2019) 289 pages

Evvie Drake has spent the year since her husband died feeling like a fraud. Her husband, Tim, was a respected doctor in their small city in Maine, but what nobody knew–not even Evvie's best friend Andy–is that Tim didn't treat Evvie well. His unexpected death in a car accident came at the very time she was packing her car to finally leave him.

Meanwhile, Dean–until recently–was a professional baseball pitcher who just can't pitch with accuracy anymore. He comes to Maine to be near his good friend Andy to get away from the New York media's attention.

Dean moves into an apartment inside Evvie's home where the two interact and try to heal emotionally. We might think we know they will get together in the end, but these characters feel like real people who may or may not connect that way. There is a lot of baggage!

Pirate Women

 Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe, 264 pages,

This book follows female "pirates" from the earliest days of sailing to modern Hollywood. I put pirates in scare quotes because this book really stretches the definition of that word, both far and often. I really wanted to like this book. The premise was awesome, and the table of contents looked extremely promising. Unfortunately it just wasn't very good as an informational text. I think that there's a real question about whether at least half of the women in this book ever actually existed, and a lot of wild speculation (especially in the first half). It also mostly read like a series of undergraduate essays compiled into a single book. There are other problems, but most of them boil down to I would recommend people find a different pirate book.

Wayward vols. 1&2

 Wayward: String Theory and The Ties That Bind by Jim Zub, 134 and 136 pages. 

Rori Lane has just moved in with her mother in Tokyo and is both excited and nervous to start a new life in Japan. Those emotions get turned way up when she quickly starts seeing monsters and red strings leading her to important places. Soon she's got a small group of other super-powered teens to help her fight the monsters who seem to very much want them dead, even if she doesn't know why. Volume two (without spoiling too much of volume one) has even more monster fighting.

One of the reviews describes this series as "Buffy in Japan" and that's the vibe overall. The city is very flushed out and all of the monsters are really cool modern adaptations that are firmly rooted in Japanese folklore (I love the encyclopaedia-type entries on the history of the creatures at the end of every volume). The art is cool, the magic powers are cooler, and I'm super excited to see where this series is going. Plus at six volumes it's relatively short for comics, so I'll probably tear through the rest pretty soon.

Fun fact: I first heard about this comic through it's board game adaptation and thought the story sounded cool enough to read on it's own.

June totals

Well, we're halfway through July, which means it's high time to announce our June totals. Big thanks to Jan and Regan, who are keeping this team afloat!

Christa  1/403

Jan  7/2303

Kara  3/1228

Regan  10/2935

Total  21/6869

All Out

 

All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell, 368 pages.

This anthology is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. It's a collection of historical fiction stories (sometimes with fantasy elements) about queer teens. Overall I would say that it's a very okay collection. There weren't any stories I struggled to get through, but there also weren't any that made me go look up other works by the author. Although, to be fair to the anthology, I've learned that I'm a bit of a hard-sell for romance short stories. There were many times in this collection I was left at the end of the story having to suspend my disbelief pretty hard because the characters had only known each other for like two hours, but were convinced they were deeply in love.

 

(This cover is so pretty though, I left it extra large to show off the pretty cover)

The Charm Offensive

 The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun, 358 pages.

Kara wrote about this book here and I've got to say I agree with everything she said. This book pulled me in from the first page and held on until the end. This book was extremely cute and very thoughtful, I would definitely recommend it.

Heartstopper vols. 1&2

Heartstopper vol. 1 and 2 by Alice Oseman, 263 and 294 pages

Charlie is the one out gay kid at his all-boys high school, and, last year, experienced plenty of bullying from the popular kids, particularly the jocks. This year, he's becoming a bit more comfortable, and has made a good friend in Nick, star of the rugby team and friend to many of those who bullied Charlie last year. As Nick and Charlie become closer, they individually realize that there's something more than friendship between them. But will they ever be able to express those feelings for each other?

This is such a cute and sweet romance between two kids who are trying to figure out who they are and how they fit together. Charlie's protective family and friends are wonderful, Nick's internal struggle is harrowing (but so comforting to read about), and the art is lovely. Highly recommended.

Glamour in Glass

Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal, 334 pages

This sequel to Shades of Milk and Honey finds Jane and her new husband Vincent happily settling into married life, making magical murals together and pushing the boundaries of what can and cannot be done through their artistry. After creating a large "glamural" for the prince, Jane and Vincent decide to travel to Belgium to study with another glamourist, a longtime friend of Vincent's. Unfortunately, their timing is somewhat problematic, because while Napoleon has left France, he still has plenty of supporters there and in Belgium, and the unrest means that it's not the safest place for British artists to be.

Not only does this charming book feel like Jane Austen with some added magic, but it also pushes the bounds of the roles of women at that time, with some magical complications thrown in. I love Kowal's attention to period detail, which mixes so well with the magical elements that you'd think that we somehow just missed that bit in the history books. I can't wait to continue reading this series.

The Bird King

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson, 402 pages

Set during the heart of the Spanish Inquisition, The Bird King follows the escape of Fatima (concubine to the last sultan of Iberia) and Hassan (the sultan's gay cartographer, who can bend reality with his artistry) as they are pursued across the desert and into the ocean by inquisitors. They are helped by a no-nonsense dog-like jinn named Vikram, who is skeptical of their flight to the mythical island of the king of birds, a place they learned of while reading the first half of The Conference of the Birds (a real 12th-Century Sufi poem).

My description gets the basics, but does NOT do justice to Wilson's absolutely gorgeous writing, which is simultaneously full of details, wonder, adventure, and introspection. This book is absolutely wonderful, and I'm happy to say that my Orcs & Aliens book group thought so too. Well worth a read.

Ship of Fools

Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter, 278 of 497 pages

A whole pile of upper-class twits get aboard a ship in Mexico, traveling to Germany in 1931. This, Porters only novel, follows them as they judge each other and the lower-class passengers, professing their opinions and being scandalized at anyone and everyone. From the seasick dog to the demonic twin children to the anti-Semitic husband of a Jewish woman, there is not a single likable character on this aptly named Ship of Fools. 

So why am I blogging about it? I spent several weeks slogging my way through this morass of detestable characters before finally giving up; I earned every last one of the 278 pages I read and darn it, I want them to count. My only saving grace is that everyone who discussed this in the Read the Classics book group ALSO hated this novel.

Portrait of a Scotsman

Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore, 408 pages

Hattie wants only three things: to become a better artist, to fight for a noble cause, and to marry for love. Unfortunately, as a high society daughter, her chances for any of these is slim, particularly when she learns that her father has promised her hand to an unscrupulous financier in a business deal. Soon, she's wed to Lucian Blackstone, a man known throughout England as a devil who's happy to gain from the downfall of his peers. But on an unexpected trip to Scotland, Hattie learns that there's more to her new husband than appears...and he soon learns the same about her.

This is a fun romance set against the backdrop of women's rights, workers' rights, and the changing technology of the 19th Century. Somehow, it's all woven together well, and while there are certainly unbelievable elements, it's still an enjoyable read. I'll have to check out more of Dunmore's series focusing on suffragists.

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw, 179 pages

I am well overdue for writing a review of this short, powerful, and absolutely fantastic short story collection by Deesha Philyaw. That said, my first sentence pretty much sums up my thoughts on this debut collection, which was a finalist for the National Book Award (and for good reason!). Each of the stories follows a different woman, spanning four generations of Black women and discussing their relationship with the church, with themselves, with their sexuality, and with each other. It's amazing, Deesha Philyaw is amazing (her talk on June 29 was phenomenal — check it out on our YouTube channel), and I CAN'T WAIT to see what she does next.

Life Without Parole

Life Without Parole by Elaine Viets (2021) 231 pages

I've been enjoying the Angela Richmond Death Investigator series by native St. Louisan Elaine Viets. I had never heard of the job title Death Investigator before, which is not the same as a medical examiner or a coroner. Angela takes an array of photos around the scenes of suspicious deaths, and meticulously notes all the details such as injuries on the body, the physical setting, and much more, delivering all that information to the medical examiner, along with the body.

In this novel, Angela is called to the home of Tom Lockridge, a wealthy man who has apparently been killed by a gang of thieves dubbed the Ghost Burglars, which has been striking the wealthy who live in Choteau County, Missouri. This is the first time they have murdered, though. But Jace, the detective on the case, wonders if Tom's wife has anything to do with his death. Her upbringing was rough, and her new life of luxury apparently has gotten her into drug usage. Plus she seems to have overly close connections to Wesley, Tom's protégé. As Angela and Jace investigate further, other wealthy (as well as not-so-wealthy) people emerge as suspects. Upsetting the wealthy people in the county is putting their jobs in jeopardy, since the police brass usually work for the top 1%. For example, when a wealthy old widow kills a bank teller while driving at highway speeds through the downtown area, she's belligerent when the detective wants to hold her accountable for the death of the teller. Usually when she drives drunk, the police just call her housekeeper to come bring her home. Jace is committed to justice but his superiors are threatening his job unless he finds the murderer of Tom Lockridge within the next week. The stress is on, for both Angela and Jace.