The Big World According to Little Hunterman

The Big World According to Little Hunterman: Fun and Seriously Cool Doggy Wisdom for Dog Lovers by Lassal Hunter  230 pp.

Hunter is a small Parson Russell Terrier (the former Jack Russell Terrier renamed by the AKC) who imparts his doggie sized view of the world (and croissants) in this fun little book. Hunter is found in the Webtoons comic Little Hunterman. Hunterman delivers his message in the form of "wee mail" some of which is about wees but also covers other topics like his tail-less rubber duck named Flynn, his persnickety eating habits, how to find the perfect wee tree, the difference between naps, blackout sleeps, and lazy Sundays, and of course, croissants - his favorite food. Some comics are interspersed in the chapters to add to the amusement. 

Red, White & Royal

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, 423 pages.

Alex Claremont-Diaz hates Prince Henry of England and his stupid face and boring personality. After he makes headlines when the president's son is seen in an altercation with the prince at his brother's wedding they have to convince the press that it was all a misunderstanding and actually they're best friends in order to save both families a scandal. Unfortunately (fortunately?) the act isn't an act for very long, as Alex realizes that most of Henry's public persona is in fact a persona, and soon the two are talking more honestly than they talk to anyone else. This turns into something more romantic before too long (shocking), but since their relationship would literally cause an international incident, everything has to be very clandestine. Is this a long term solution? Probably not! The question becomes how much will they each give up for this relationship.

I liked this book, I found the characters compelling. Like all of McQuiston's books I find the supporting characters to be one of the most compelling parts. This wasn't my favorite of the author's books, but I still found it sweet and fun, a perfectly enjoyable book.

The Secret History

 The Secret History by Donna Tartt, 559 pages.

Richard is a scholarship student at a small but respected university in New England. From the day he sees them he is intrigued by the insular and enigmatic group of classics students, the only five at the whole university involved in their program, which rarely puts them in contact with the other students and almost exclusively taking classes with one charismatic professor. After a chance encounter he is accepted into the program and their ranks, which begins a year that forms social bonds he can never break and ends with murder.

It's honestly a little surprising that I am just now reading this book, which definitely had an influence on many books I've enjoyed. The plot is honestly only alright, but the writing is lush and descriptive. It's not surprising the dark academia (which this book is largely credited as the progenitor of) is a sub-genre defined more by its aesthetics and atmosphere than anything else. The novel is immersive, and I found myself entirely unbothered by the fact that the details weren't anything phenomenal. Somehow reading The Secret History felt like the quintessential experience of reading a book. I don't know if I would recommend this book to everyone, but I would definitely recommend it to people who are more invested in prose than plot.

The Lost Girls

 The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl, 197 pages.

Due to the exceptionally cruel rules of vampirism, Holly Liddell hasn't been able to change at all since 1987, when her vampire boyfriend convinced her they would be in love forever. Thirty-four years later he abandoned her at a gas station and she's stuck with her crimped hair and night shift at Taco Bell, magically bound to follow him around. It's even worse when she finds out that she's the THIRD girl he's done this to, and that he's getting ready to do it again. Elton's other exes, Rose and Ida, are determined to kill him to both save this new girl and secure their own freedom, and as soon as Holly meets the new target (and feels some shockingly strong feelings about her) she's on board too. 

This book was interesting, but I'm not sure it entirely worked. It's rare to see a young adult novel about vampires portray them as truly monstrous, and it was definitely interesting that this one did. However, as a romance novel, and especially a romance between a human and a vampire, it made it a little hard to buy-in. There's just a lot of murder and corpse mutilation to feel too sympathetic to the protagonists you are clearly supposed to feel very sympathetic for. This book was sort of fun, but there are a lot of components that just don't feel like they quite come together.

We Could Be So Good

 We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian, 384 pages.

 Nick Russo works as a reporter at one of the biggest newspapers in New York at the end of the 1950s. Andy Flemming is set to inherit said paper, which terrifies him, because he can't keep track of his own keys. So Andy gets assigned to work as a reporter for a year to get a feel for it, and soon enough he and Nick are inseparable. They're best friends, and Nick pushes down the possibility of anything more, because even if Andy feels the same, being outed as gay in 1958 would cost him his job, and probably get him arrested besides. But soon both Andy and Nick have to decide if this growing relationship between them is something worth fighting for.

This is the first book I've read by Cat Sebastian, and I've got to say I'm really impressed. From the very beginning I was sold on the fact that these two characters like each other, and there were a whole lot of reasons why they work romantically. I also appreciated that, due to the plethora of external factors, there didn't have to be a lot of contrived emotional reasons why these two characters, who obviously care deeply about each other, can't be together. I'm always annoyed by (romance novels in particular) where there would be no plot if the characters just talked to each other, and I was pleased that there was very little of that here. Overall a pretty neat historical fiction novel, and I would definitely recommend it to people interested in either the time period or a solid historical romance.

Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse Five, or the Children's Crusade, A Duty Dance with Death by Kurt Vonnegut Jr (1969) 215 pages

I read this long ago, but needed a refresher. It's clear that many of the events that Vonnegut experienced in World War 2 were incorporated into this novel, especially when he and other American soldiers were captured by the Germans and shipped to Dresden to be used as labor in the beautiful, culturally significant city that was said to have no military value. Despite that, after a month, the Americans and English firebombed the city, killing 135,000 people and turning the city into an ashy moon-like wreck. The American prisoners of war survived only because they were based in an underground meat locker of a slaughterhouse, Slaughterhouse Five, to be exact.

The story revolves around a man named Billy Pilgrim, who, like Vonnegut, also fought in the war and experienced this horrific event. What's different about Billy is that long after the war, Billy says he was kidnapped by an alien people called Tralfamadorians, and taken to live in a zoo-like enclosure on their planet. This is when Billy becomes unstuck in time. When he isn't on Tralfamadore, he lives in Ilium, New York, as an optometrist, married to the daughter of the optometry's school's president. Lots of snippets of Billy's life unfold in a non-linear manner, indicative of the time travel he experiences, visiting and re-visiting times in both the past and future. He learns that the Tralfamadorians don't understand humans' concern with death. They think that that there are some bad moments, but there are a lot of other moments that are not bad. All moments have always existed, and there's nothing that can be done to change them. Billy is told that of all the inhabited planets Tralfamadorians have studied, only Earthlings believe in free will.

Terrible story about coping with war, told in an entertainingly wry way...

 

Hickory Dickory Death

Hickory Dickory Death by Agatha Christie (1955) 164 pages

When Hercules Poirot's very capable secretary makes a few mistakes, he's amazed and finds out that she's distracted because of some weirdness happening in a boarding house that her sister manages. Several unrelated things have gone missing or damaged, and some of the young people who live there (mostly college students) are getting annoyed or unnerved as a result. 

Poirot goes to visit the students with the excuse that he's giving a talk about crime. The students aren't fooled, but they are interested in hearing what he thinks about their situation. One evening shoe, a diamond ring, a stethoscope, lightbulbs, and many more things have disappeared over the past couple of months. Additionally, a silk scarf is cut up, along with a rucksack. These occurrences seem random, directed at several different people in the building. When one young woman, who works in a hospital pharmacy, confesses to Poirot that she was responsible for some of the disappearances - but not all - Poirot is troubled and thinks the police should get involved. 

The possible suspects include a medical student, as well as students studying archaeology, psychiatry, law, medieval history, and more. A couple others aren't in college anymore. When suspicious deaths start to happen, Poirot and his friend, Inspector Sharpe, put their heads together and - of course - solve the crimes.

The Salt Grows Heavy

 The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw, 106 pages.

After her daughters devour the kingdom where she was once held captive, a monstrous mermaid goes on a journey with a mysterious plague doctor to anywhere but there. They soon come upon a small village full of children with monsters of their own, monsters who are very important to our plague doctor. 

This dark fairytale is mostly a play on the little mermaid story, but it definitely plays with other elements as well. I was really excited to get my hands on it, because that cover is gorgeous and everything about the (admittedly vague) premise appealed to me. Unfortunately, it didn't feel like this story had any idea what it wanted to say or do. There was a lot of very graphic gore and violence that didn't really feel like it was there for any particular reason, and the tone was confused. I was tragically very disappointed in this novella, which made it's scant 100 pages feel too long.

When Women Invented Television

When Women Invented Television by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, 333 pages

In the late 1940s, when television was in its infancy, four women helped shape the medium, introducing genres and formats, and blazing trails that have largely been forgotten. Why? Because their shows were for the most part broadcast live and not captured on film. But Betty White (pioneer of daytime talk shows), Gertrude Berg (Jewish sitcom queen), Irna Phillips (mother of soap operas), and Hazel Scott (the first African American woman to host a TV show) were the founding mothers of TV, and Armstrong's book shines a much-needed spotlight on these overlooked women. It's well worth a read (or a listen, which is how I experienced the book). 

The Nursing Home Murder

 

The Nursing Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh 224 pp.

This is the third book in the Inspector Alleyn series. The death of a prominent member of Parliament dies after an emergency surgery at a nursing home (British for private hospital) and most thought it was just an unfortunate outcome. However, his wife insists on an inquest which brings Alleyn into the investigation of who injected the MP with a fatal dose of a drug. The surgeon is the prime suspect along with the nurse who had an affair with the MP. Then there are others on the surgical team with connections to communist agitators who could also have played a part in the murder. The murderer is revealed after Alleyn stages a reenactment of the surgery. Alleyn's reporter friend, Nigel Bathgate, assists with the investigation.  

Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum  270 pp.

This book was the basis for the classic 1932 film by the same name starring Greta Garbo, John & Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, and Joan Crawford. It is the story of patrons of the luxurious Grand Hotel in 1920s Berlin. One resident is a WWI veteran who has lost half his face and spends his time hidden behind the daily newspaper in the lobby. There's a famous ballerina who fears that she is growing old too quickly, a businessman who's company is failing, and a clerk who is spending his savings on a last hurrah after receiving a fatal diagnosis. It's an interesting social commentary on an era of tremendous change in Europe. 

Enter a Murderer

 Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh  245 pp.

Inspector Roderick Alleyn is invited by reporter Nigel Bathgate to attend a performance of a play. In the play two characters fight over a gun which discharges. However, someone replaced the blanks in the gun with real bullets cause the real death of one of the players. It's up to Alleyn with assistance from Bathgate to figure out who in the cast and/or crew in the theater is responsible for the crime. I remember reading another Marsh/Inspector Alleyn mystery involving a theater but it concerned the "Scottish Play" of William Shakespeare. Marsh's mysteries are tightly woven, quick to read, and satisfying.

Witch Please

Witch Please by Ann Aguirre, 362 pages

Danica is a modern witch who uses her magical abilities to fix technology. She's been raised by her grandmother to shun relationships with non-witches, based in large part on the historically bad results of witch/mundane run-ins (hello Salem!). But when Titus, a non-witch baker, stops in Danica's shop to enlist her help with a malfunctioning oven, it's love at first sight. Can Danica balance her no-mundanes life with a relationship with Titus?

This is a fun slightly supernatural romance, where the stumbling blocks seem fairly believable (I don't think I had a single "but if you just talked to him, the problem would be gone" moment as I read it). It's quick, it's steamy, and yep, a lot of fun.

Aftermath

 

Aftermath by LeVar Burton (1997) 320 pages

The author, who is the same actor from Roots, Star Trek: TNG, and host of Reading Rainbow, wrote this in the '90s. In a way, he predicted a future America that would elect its first African American President in 2012, but within three short months the President was assassinated. Then a civil war over race in America collapses our society. This reminded me a bit of Stephen King's The Stand, which I've only read in graphic novel form, but this book has fewer characters. There are really four separate stories for three quarters of the book. Renee is a scientist who has invented a neuro-enhancer, and she is able to mentally call out for help when a rival scientist steals her invention and imprisons her. I wish the four characters' stories wove together sooner and that combining their skills to save Renee took more planning. As it is, it all wraps up in less than 50 pages and it doesn't seem like there is a great reason for each of the characters to be there. Still I mostly enjoyed the journey.

The Road

 The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) 241 Pages

In a mysterious post-apocalyptic world, a nameless father and son are traveling "the road", looking for a warmer place to live. The story begins directly before winter. The man and the boy have a single shopping cart which houses all their belongings, and a revolver with two rounds. There are no chapters to this book, and much of it is conversations between the boy and the man. This post apocalyptic world is full of dangerous people, all doing whatever they have to do (horrible atrocities) to survive. 

I loved this book in that it was heartfelt despite being incredibly dark. It is an ode to human ingenuity but also true compassion and kindness in the midst of horrors.

Psyche and Eros

Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara (2023) 352 Pages

A retold story of Psyche and Eros, a budding love between human and a god. Psyche, a princess of Mycenae, who has been prophesied by the Oracle at Delphi to become a great hero in defeating a monster. Aphrodite wants to curse Psyche, who rivals her in beauty and because she does not honor the gods. Aphrodite sets up the curse with one of her Son's (Eros)  arrows. He agrees to use his arrow to curse Psyche. The curse is that whoever gets hit with the arrow will fall DEEPLY in love with the first person they see...but if they make eye contact with that person they will be ripped apart forever, and only left with horrid love-sickness. So Eros goes to hit Psyche with an arrow but grabs it the wrong way and ends up cursing himself and falling for..you guessed it...Psyche. He flees but instantly falls so deeply in love with her he can hardly stand it. Eros' friend Zephyrus, the god of wind, helps him out by whisking Psyche away to the seaside house he has secluded himself in. The catch is that they must not see each other, so Eros visits at night and proclaims that he is Psyche's husband. She is of course, extremely confused but they soon seem to become fond of each other's time nonetheless. If Aphrodite finds out about Psyche and Eros, she has vowed to destroy the thing he loves most. Psyche yearns to see who her husband is after many moons, and lights an oil lamp while Eros is sleeping, waking him up which destroys their house and rips them apart from each other. Eros becomes Aphrodite's prisoner under Mount Olympus. The rest of the tale is a journey of Psyche and Eros attempting to get back to each other...with the Trojan war myths intermixed as well. 

Overall I loved this book, a little slow in the beginning and a weaker ending than I would've liked but a solid read for Greek myth lovers.

 

The Night in Question

The Night in Question by Kathleen Glasgow & Liz Lawson, 401 pages

In this excellent sequel to The Agathas, super-smart Iris and former popular girl Alice team up to solve a decades-old mystery of a Hollywood starlet's untimely death, which somehow led to the assault of one of Iris and Alice's classmates. It had been a minute since I'd read The Agathas, so it took me a bit to remember who everyone was, but really, that's my only complaint about this book. The first book has been described as "Veronica Mars meets Nancy Drew," and I'd say that description still holds up here. A great sequel to a great book. Can't wait to read more of their adventures!

The Hunting Party

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley (2019) 327 pages

A group of friends from Oxford has been getting together to celebrate New Year's Eve for each of the ten years since graduation. The women are Miranda, who is glamorous and perfect; Katie, Miranda's best friend from childhood, who is an attorney and not at all glamorous; Samira, who used to be a hell-raiser, but is now a somewhat anxious mother of a baby. The men include Julien, Miranda's husband, who is into finance; Giles, husband of Samira; Mark, who may have an anger management issue; and Nick, a gay man who has brought along his partner Bo, an American. Emma, somewhat of an outsider, has been dating Mark for the past four years. 

Emma wants to become closer to the group, and she has gone all out in choosing the location for this year's reunion: a fabulous hunting lodge that is open for outside guests only a couple times a year. It's in a remote area of Scotland's highlands, cut off from most of civilization. Employees of the lodge are Heather; Doug, the gamekeeper; and Iain, who is the handyman.

As it turns out, a snowstorm hits on New Year's Eve. A guest goes missing, and is finally found dead outside in the blizzard. It's likely this person has been murdered. The police cannot get there until the weather clears, so the guests and employees must wait. Much of the story is told in Foley's usual - and effective - flashback style: we don't know for the longest time who it was that died. Everyone looks guilty, everyone has their personal demons, and many have made bad choices or said things that can't be forgotten. Another great book by Foley, with a large share of suspense.

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (1986) 329 pages

I listened to the audiobook. I have not seen the animated movie yet. There are a handful of elements from The Wizard of Oz, like pieces of a puzzle, that are jumbled and rearranged to make this new fantasy adventure. Later in this story, I could hear in my mind Dorothy being asked, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" The main character Sophie is a young woman venturing out to find her fortune when the Witch of the Waste transforms her into an old woman. Sophie's self-image is a normal, everyday woman who is bored of making hats for a career, but it turns out she has magical abilities as well. She'll also find out if the rumors about Wizard Howl eating young girls is true. I should say that this is quite unique. There is no one single quest. The characters are trying to achieve many different things. From scene to scene I had no idea what was coming next. The author avoids many fantasy tropes. From slime, to Wales, to misfired spells, and tricky geography it gets pretty weird, but enjoyable. 

 

A Pirate's Life for Tea

A Pirate's Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne, 444 pages

In this sequel to Can't Spell Treason without Tea, former queensguard Reyna and her "Mage of Ages" girlfriend Kianthe are back and finding more adventure, this time on water. Seeking info about some missing dragon eggs, Reyna and Kianthe stumble across a Robin Hood-esque pirate named Serina who has a complicated backstory with Bobbie, the constable tasked with arresting her. While the plot of this book involves a lot more back and forth — literally, as they sail up and down a wide, wild river — than the first book, and so isn't quite as tight, it's still an excellent second chapter in Reyna and Kianthe's story. I'll definitely be picking up the third book in this trilogy when it comes out!

(Bonus points to Thorne for the best dedication ever for a book. If I hadn't already been determined to read it, the dedication would have convinced me.)

The Song of Achilles

 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2011) 408 pages

There are so many books I have missed out on, this being one of them. I am so glad to have finally read it, as someone who has a fondness for Greek mythology. 

This is a retelling of The Iliad. A story told from Patroclus' pov, this story begins with a young prince who is exiled from his father's lands for killing another young boy. He lands in the care of another king, who fosters other young boys. Patroclus and the king's son, Achilles form and attachment and become companions. Achilles is also the son of the sea Goddess Thetis, who often shares her disapproval for the companionship between Achilles and Patroclus. The story continues throughout their boyhood leading into manhood, in which they discover feelings for one another. They train for survival over the course of years with the centaur Chiron until they are called away to fight in a war. Queen Helen has been kidnapped by Troy, and King Agamemnon calls all Greeks to fight for her honor and to return her to her king. Achilles has been prophesied to be the most famous warrior of all time, and joining the war is to begin him on this path. The rest of the book covers the struggles during the 10-year long Trojan war and how Patroclus grows and deals with the growing pride of Achilles. 

A Man Lay Dead

 

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh  224 pp.

This is the first book in Marsh's series of mysteries featuring Inspector Roderick Alleyn. It was written in the 1930s, in the heyday of British mysteries (although Marsh was from New Zealand). I read this about 30 years ago and that was long enough for me to have vague memories of the story but not remember who the murderer was. Alleyn is a rare detective who comes from the upper classes and was educated at Oxford. After working for the diplomatic service he turned to policing. The story is a classic one of a British house party where a "murder game" is played but one of the guests actually ends up dead, stabbed with his own dagger. The victim's cousin, Nigel Bathgate, is also in attendance and ends up helping Alleyn with the investigation while still being a suspect because of inheriting the victim's fortune. Bathgate reappears in later stories about Alleyn. Of course, there are multiple characters who could be the killer (including the butler). A side story about a band of Russian anarchists enhances the investigation. Inspector Alleyn is still single in this volume and appreciates young, eligible women, but not in a creepy way. He meets and marries artist Agatha Troy in a later book.  

Lucy By the Sea

Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout (2022) 288 pages

I still have not read the original Lucy book, My Name is Lucy Barton, but have read Strout's other books which have offered snippets of Lucy's life. The most recent chronology of Lucy's life occurs during the pandemic. Her ex-husband William, a parasitologist/microbiologist, is driven to get Lucy and their adult daughters out of New York City as the pandemic gets underway. He has found a remote place on the shores of Maine where he has rented a house for Lucy and him to live in, while their daughters find other places to stay during the lockdown.

As with Strout's other Lucy books, Lucy's story is told in first person, in her conversational and understated way, even when she feels the pain of isolation impossible to bear at times. Other times, she feels joy at the little things that make her days better, like taking a walk near the ocean and waving to neighbors. Her relationship with William is intriguing; he seems difficult at times, but they still share quite a kinship.

Life is slow in Maine, but I still found the book to be a fast read.

Painted Devils

 Painted Devils by Margaret Owen, 512 pages.

In this sequel to Little Thieves, which I wrote about here, we catch back up with Vanja several months later, and she is not doing well. Her own self-destructive tendencies make her flee the friends and loved ones she had by the end of Little Thieves, believing herself unworthy of them and going off on her own to try to learn some honest skills that will make her feel worthy of love. Unfortunately, old habits die hard, and she accidentally starts a cult instead. This becomes an even bigger problem when the god she made up manifests and demands human sacrifice. It is an even bigger problem when she demands the sacrifice be Emeric Conrad, Vanja's (ex?)boyfriend, who was in town to investigate if divine fraud was being committed and finally earn full admittance to the prefects. A quest follows trying to find a way to resolve the multiple situations that are implied there, which soon begins to show ties to Vanja's past.

This was an excellent sequel. Although it wasn't quite as much my thing as the first book, Owen is a good enough writer that things that would drive me crazy in other books (such as a lot of pages dedicated to the sex lives of teenagers) are handled well and feel like they contribute significantly to the themes of the book overall. This is slated to be the second book in a trilogy, and it definitely reads like one. There is a lot of time spent developing relationships, establishing problems, and a less than satisfying ending. This book is written with craft and maturity, and is a great example of literary merit in young adult novels. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one!

Enchantment

Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age by Katherine May, 212 pages.

Jan wrote about this cozy nonfiction book here a couple of months ago. May writes about trying to recapture not just a sense of normalcy, but something better after the long stress period of a global pandemic. The book is mostly part memoir and part meditation on nature and life, one which encourages the reader to do the same kind of thinking.

I had a hard time getting into this book, but I'm pretty sure it is a perfectly fine book that would be very impactful if it spoke to you. I liked that the book was structured around the four classical elements, which felt like an effective organizational method. Overall, it wasn't for me, but I think it could be a very could choice for someone who enjoys an introspective memoir.
 

Hide and Seek

 

Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin  288 pp.

This is an early book in the Inspector Rebus series. John Rebus is called to the scene of a dead body in a squat in a derelict part of Edinburgh. The young man is laid out on the floor with candles around him. Witchcraft symbols are painted on one of the walls. Death was by an overdose of heroin, or was it? Rebus believes there is more to it and begins an investigation, trying to find the "Hyde" that seems to be at the heart of the mystery. While this is happening, Rebus is tagged by his boss to be the face of a new anti-drug campaign to be funded by some of Edinburgh's movers and shakers. He doesn't want the job but after being forced to socialize with the elite, he finds much to be suspicious of. Soon Rebus finds connections between the dead boy and the same elites he is supposed to work with and their illegal and violent activities. Lots of twists and turns in this one but Rankin got a little cutesy with character names - Rebus's boss is Watson, his assistant is Holmes, and the criminal they are looking for is named Hyde.   

Warrior Girl Unearthed

 Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley, 400 pages.

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was looking forward to a relaxing summer of fishing and hanging out with her dog. Instead, she ends up stuck in the tribe's summer internship program to pay off damages after a minor car accident. Even worse, she ends up assigned to Cooper Turtle, manager of the Sugar Island Cultural Learning Center and local weirdo. However, she soon comes to like and appreciate Cooper Turtle as he draws her into the fight for repatriation of ancestral remains and grave goods, a topic she quickly finds a passion for. Also featuring in Perry's summer is the possibility of romance, illegally obtained Anishinaabe artifacts, and a slew of missing girls. 

I quite liked this book, and Perry in particular. I found the plot engaging, the characters good, and the information about NAGPRA thorough and informative. Unfortunately, I feel like this book was trying to do a bit too much, and it ended up feeling sort of unfocused, and the resolution felt like it only sort of made sense. Still, I consider this a pretty enjoyable book, and a good addition to the growing category of young adult novels by indigenous authors.

Die Vol. 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker

 Die Vol. 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, 184 pages.

In 1991 six teenagers disappear from the home where they were playing a tabletop roleplaying game called Die for Dominic Ash's sixteenth birthday. Two years later five return. They cannot speak of what happened to them. Twenty-five years later Ash receives in the mail the metal twenty-sided die that transported them to a terrible fantasy world on his sixteenth birthday, splashed in blood. It belonged to Sol, the gamemaster, the one who didn't come back. The group hasn't seen each other in years, avoiding reminders of their traumatic two years. But now they are together again considering if they can save the friend they thought was dead, and are instantly pulled right back into the world they never wanted to return to.

This comic series has been described by the author as "Goth Jumanji" and that doesn't seem too far off the mark. This volume had to do a lot of heavy lifting establishing the world, rules, and history, which meant we only got hints of a lot of what I believe it's building to. That being said, I'm already hooked. The characters are very flawed, and also very engaging, so I'm excited to see where we're going with this! The art is also super cool. And, as a ttrpg nerd, I am of course sold on the premise. This won the British Fantasy Award and was a finalist for a Hugo, and I think those accolades are definitely deserved. 

Fun Fact: The author is releasing an actual rpg book for the game represented in this story, and it sounds really interesting!

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks, 417 pages

They say you should write what you know, and Hollywood veteran Tom Hanks definitely took that advice in this, his first novel. The book follows, well, the making of a big budget comics-based superhero movie, from source material and backstory, all the way through the film's release. The book spans decades and hops between several main characters, including the creator of the comics, the writer/director of the movie, the director's right-hand woman, the local hire that ends up being completely invaluable to the film production, and the lead actress in the film. It's a complex story, full of amazingly three-dimensional characters and plenty of insider knowledge of filmmaking, and I loved reading it. Really, my only complaint is with the world's longest tongue-twister of a title.

The Misplaced Legion

 

The Misplaced Legion by Harry Turtledove (1987) 323 pages

This is the first book in a series called The Videssos Cycle. I picked it up at a nerdy yard sale because it was recommended by the host. A Roman Legion is fighting "barbarians" in Gaul. When the leaders of both forces stand off against each other, both carrying Celtic swords, and the swords make contact, as pictured on the cover, the whole legion is transported to the Empire of Videssos, a strange magical land. No elves, or orcs, or dragons make an appearance, just different human cultures living within or outside of Videssos. There are wizard/priests who can do magic drawing from either the light or dark divine realms of the local religious system. I mainly enjoyed the story because of the main character, Marcus Scaurus, the leader of the Romans. He is inquisitive, observant, fair-minded, disciplined, and brave. The way he and his men adjust to this new world, and the way this world is revealed through Scaurus's eyes kept me engaged. Another Goodreads reader points out that the author is an expert on the Byzantine empire and that this is the basis for the world of Videssos. There are not many fantasy elements. It does feel like the Legion, which is somewhat over 1,000 men, has jumped 1,000 years into the future into the medieval Middle East. It all leads to a big battle. It is the start of a series, so maybe I shouldn't have expected a neatly wrapped happy ending. I don't imagine it is easy to find this old series, so in my mind it will probably remain a stand-alone adventure, and it was enjoyable enough for what it was.

Tower of Dawn

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

(2017) 660 pages (Throne of Glass #6)

Having a hard time with how I feel about this one. I think this series should have been much shorter, but on the other hand there were parts of this book that I really enjoyed. The background information about the Torre and the healer Aelin met at the very beginning was a nice tie-in. 

 

This book is different from the rest in that it focuses on the healer Yrene Towers, Choal Westfall and Nesryn Faliq, who are all heading to Antica where the healers have fled Adarlan. Choal is paralyzed from the waist down since the glass tower was destroyed by Aelin. Him and Nesryn are in search of the powers that may help him regain his mobility. They also are on a mission to secure more bodies from the great Khagan to help with the war against Erawan. Yrene Towers, who we met at the very beginning in Innish, who was saved by Aelin (then Celaena Sardothien) and given a fortune to send her to the healer's tower in Antica in order to study and become a healer herself. In the time spent at Torre Cesme, she has risen in ranks and become the one who will be chosen to replace the Healer on High. She heals Choal throughout the course of the book, but at the beginning hates him because he was one of the evil king's men, the ones who murdered her mother and burned her village. Many things are discovered about the Valg as they have arrived in Antica, stirring up the Khaganate and trying to get close to Yrene. Overall, it is a great bridge to have all the information for the big battle that should be taking place in the next book.

Beastly Things

 

Beastly Things by Donna Leon  372 pp.

And another Venetian mystery featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti: This time the body of a man is pulled from one of the canals. He was not drowned but stabbed and robbery doesn't appear to be the motive. It's not too difficult for Brunetti to learn the identity of the man, a veterinarian with a private practice and a part-time job as an animal inspector in a slaughterhouse. Aside from the affair that broke up his marriage, there is nothing in the victim's life that would point to him as a target for murder. Brunetti's investigation provokes another round of head butting with his superior, Vice-Questore Patta, whose main function in life seems to be protecting his status in Venice by keeping the old money aristocrats of Venice from any scandal. The whole mystery hinges on money and a ruthless murderer who seemingly can't get enough. This is one of the better books in the series. The funeral for the veterinarian is charming. 

Kitchens of the Great Midwest

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal, 312 pages

Eva Thorvald was born to a chef and a sommelier, and while both of them left her life pretty early, Eva still had gourmet food and drink in her blood. Told in vignettes from different points in Eva's life, Kitchens of the Great Midwest paints a portrait of an up-and-coming chef as she follows her curiosity from childhood through adulthood, becoming a culinary superstar. It took me a while to get around to this book (originally published in 2015), and while I enjoyed it well enough, I think I liked Stradal's The Lager Queen of Minnesota more. However, I may be in the minority in that opinion, and that's perfectly OK.

Drawing Conclusions

Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon  273 pp. 

Commissario Guido Brunetti is called away from dinner with his police superiors to investigate the death of a retired schoolteacher. The medical examiner calls it a heart attack but Brunetti wonders about the faint bruises on the woman's neck and shoulders. Why is the woman's son acting suspicious? And why does she have multiple new packages of women's underclothes in different sizes stored in her spare bedroom? Brunetti's investigation takes him to an old people's home, an organization helping abused women, and finds a connection to a long ago death and shady doings surrounding it. This isn't my favorite in the series but it's still good. 

The Kite Runner

 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, 372 pages.

Amir and Hassan (the son of his father's servant) are best friends and the kings of Kabul (or at least that's what they tell themselves. They go through the trials and tribulations that many young boys do, but everything changes when Hassan goes through something much worse, and everything breaks between them. And then things quickly start breaking all across Afghanistan, as war and political unrest force Amir and his father to immigrate to America. Decades later Amir gets a call in California calling him home, and promising that he can atone for his past. What follows is a harrowing journey to a city full of memories.

It took me a really long time to figure out how to write about this book, and I still don't think I did it justice. It's a story with a lot going on, both plot-wise and structurally. It's a novel about stories that can't seem to stop, and about human connections, and justice, and also about Afghanistan. It's extremely well-done and emotionally difficult to read and I would definitely recommend it. This has been on my to-read list for literally a decade now and I'm very glad I finally got to it. 

Snobbery with Violence

 

Snobbery with Violence by M.C. Beaton  224 pp.

This is the first book in a series by the author of the Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin mystery series. Lady Rose Summer, an strong minded, upper crust, young Edwardian woman, has found herself in disgrace after participating in Suffragette demonstrations and having her photo in the newspaper. This is a disaster for her "season", when she is supposed to be putting herself on display at balls and parties for the purpose of finding a "suitable" husband. While Lady Rose is at a house party a murder occurs and she finds herself assisting in the investigation with a Captain Cathcart who she despises. In addition to the investigation, Lady Rose is trying to prevent being sent to India by her parents who believe her chances of a good marriage have been ruined by publicity but might find a match among the officers stationed there. It's a light and amusing read. 

This is How You Lose the Time War

 

 This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (2019) 209 Pages

I really don't know how to describe this one, I feel like it is simply a story one must read for themselves. It is written like poetry, riddles, puzzles. It's truly beautiful. A substack I read tuned me into this book as it has recently gone viral thanks to a random "Trigun" anime fandom twitter user. It has skyrocketed on the best selling shelves across the board thanks to this tweet and I must say...it is well deserved! 

Time travelers "Red" and "Blue" are rivals from the "Agency" and "the Garden", who travel across the millennia and spaces in order to make subtle changes to timelines or "strands" in order to save, or destroy  populations. They come in contact with each other through letters and soon form a budding relationship that transcends both time and space. The letters are always incredibly unique in the ways they are written and discovered. The sting of a bee, the rings of a tree spanning hundreds of years. I really don't want to give too much away with my recap, if you haven't read it yet you definitely should! 

"I want flowers from Cephalus and diamonds from Neptune, and I want to scorch the thousand Earths between us to see what blooms from the ash, so we can discover it hand in hand, context in context, intelligible only to each other. I want to meet you in every place I have ever loved."

Maisie Dobbs

 

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear 304 pp.

This is the introductory book to the popular Maisie Dobbs series about a young woman private investigator in England. After being mentored by her former employer, sent to college, and then becoming a nurse at the front during the horrendous battles of World War I. After the war she starts her own private detective agency. Her first case leads her to another mystery, one involving veterans of the war who are physically and/or mentally maimed by their experiences and the strange "Retreat" supposed to be helping them. Just enough information is given about Maisie's and her story to make a perfect lead in to the later books. 

The Motion Picture Teller

 

The Motion Picture Teller by Colin Cotterill 240 pp.

I am a big fan of Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery series which ended with The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot. This latest book takes place in Thailand with entirely new characters, Supot, a mail carrier with the Thai Royal Mail and Ali, Supot's buddy who runs a video store. The pair spend their evenings watching classic films in the store's back room. When they discover an unknown film "Bangkok 2010" about a dystopian future Thailand they are enthralled by it. The duo sets out to find out the source of this "masterpiece" only to find those who don't want it to be found. Unfortunately, I found this story hard to get into and then rather disappointing once I did. It just didn't have charm and humor of Cotterill's other series.

Effin' Birds

 Effin' Birds: A Field Guide to Identification by Aaron Reynolds  208 pp.

This small, amusing, and profanity laced volume provides bird lovers with identifying details about mostly unknown members of the avian world with mostly black & white and some color illustrations. Some of my favorites include the Hipster Pelican whose habitat is "Probably at the vegan, locally sourced juice bar", Forethoughts Heron whose call is "I tollllld you sooooooo!", and the Weary Jackdaw, "a small, vocal bird with an overdeveloped outrage muscle." The perfect gift for your favorite birder who is not offended by f-bombs.

May totals!

A hearty welcome to our new blogger, Kathleen, who certainly packed a wallop with her blogging this month!

Byron: 3 books/971 pages

Jan: 8 books/2274 pages

Kara: 9 books/3363 pages

Kathleen: 7 books/2615 pages

Regan: 9 books/2879 pages

TOTAL: 36 books/12,102 pages