Nettle & Bone

 Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher, 245 pages.

I reviewed this book here almost precisely a year ago, and I like it even better the second time! I still appreciate the precisely captured fairytale atmosphere, but I'm also intrigued by the larger world the story is set in. This book is it's own neatly contained story, but their are hints of others at the edges, and I certainly wouldn't mind more stories set in the same world (although I don't expect them). The characters remain very good and the story engaging. I completely failed to stop myself from finishing the second half in one sitting. I'm very excited to talk about this one with Orcs & Aliens this month!

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian (2022) 333 pages

Marian, the Duchess of Clare, turned out to have married a mean dude. The Duke had already married a couple other women and was apparently still married to them. The first Marian learns of this is when she receives a letter asking for 500 pounds to keep the Duke's bigamy a secret. After a lively correspondence with the blackmailer, she tracks him down, drugs him and ties him up in a room in a public house. Then later, when she shoots the Duke, in order to save an adult son of his (by a different wife), she ends up returning to the blackmailer to ask for help escaping into the country, to lie low at the home of her senile father until she finds out if she'll be charged with murder.

The book is a lively adventure of these two souls ‒ Rob, the blackmailer with a soft spot for children and kittens, and Marian, a young woman who has learned not to trust anyone and who isn't afraid to do what needs to be done.

I would characterize this book as a Robin Hood-like adventure set in old days but with modern language, and a good measure of sex thrown in. Definitely a fast read.

Pyramids

 Pyramids by Terry Pratchett, 341 pages.

Teppic breaks his family's extremely ancient conventions when he decides to go off to Ankh-Morpork to train as an assassin instead of sticking around to learn how to run his family's ancient river valley kingdom. But when his father dies his family's divinity hits him at high speeds, and he has to go back to Djelibeybi to fulfill his role as god-emperor. Teppic's foreign upbringing brings some friction to his unchanging kingdom, and Djelibeybi may yet be dragged into the present at last.

Pratchett's discworld novels are always funny, but I did find this one a little disappointing. It's a pretty early book in the series, and the roughness of it shows. I also feel like it lacked the clarity of purpose that really makes satire shine. This is a fine book, but I don't think I would recommend it as an entry point to the series.

Artists in Crime

Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh  253 pp. 

This is the sixth book in the Detective Chief Inspector Alleyn series and the one in which he meets Agatha Troy, the artist who would become his wife. Alleyn meets Troy during his return trip from the South Pacific. On his return to England, Alleyn is visits his mother, the Lady Alleyn when the murder of an artist's model occurs at the home/studio of Agatha Troy which is nearby the Alleyn home. The suspects are part of a group studying at Troy's studio. The victim is a young, conniving piece of work who is killed by a hidden knife while posing for an artists' exercise. The prime victim is the model's lover, a sculptor with a not nice reputation who conveniently disappears after the murder. Alleyn and his assistant Inspector Fox along with journalist Nigel Bathgate interview all the artists and others and wade through lots of evidence before solving this one. The potential love match between Alleyn and Troy is not quite a romance at the end of the book.

How to Do Nothing

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell, 232 pages

It's really hard to summarize this book, as the title is not really an accurate indication of the contents. I picked it up (well, checked out the downloadable audiobook anyway) in the hopes that Odell would offer some tips for, or at least a treatise on, avoiding the anxiety-inducing vacuum of social media. And I *think* that's what she set out to do. But the book didn't feel very cohesive, in that it meandered from her musings on noticing birds in her urban environment to David Hockney's photo collages to the earliest versions of social media (a couple of publicly accessible computers networked in the Bay Area) to the need to pay attention to inequalities and keep fighting the good fight. With a more accurate title and a more cohesive throughline, this could've been an enjoyable book. But as it was, it was just meh.

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

 Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson, 474 pages. 

Yumi was chosen by the spirits to act as a liaison between them and the people of her burning world full of floating plants. Nikaro lives in a world of shadows, lit by neon, and works painting walking nightmares to render them harmless. The two lead their own lonely lives until a supernatural force links them together, unarguably and inconveniently. The two start waking up on each other's worlds, while the other has to linger like a ghost nearby. So they have to figure out why they were bound in the first place so they can figure out what they have to do to make it stop (assuming they still want to by the time this is all over) (assuming they have a choice). 

The visuals in this book are so extremely cool. Both Yumi and Painter's worlds are cool and magical in totally different ways, and it was a real pleasure inhabiting both. I also quite liked all of the characters, who were flawed, and ridiculous, and deeply sympathetic. I will say it took a little bit of work keeping up with the plot in the second act, but I definitely didn't mind. That being said, I suspect the fact that I've read all of the other Cosmere novels probably helped me make sense of what was going on, even if this one in particular is a stand-alone. This book has a lot more Japanese influence than most of his other novels, which made for something a little bit different. Overall the story is a lot of fun with some heavy emotional gut punches mixed in (standard Sanderson) and I would definitely recommend it.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath

 To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose, 511 pages.

There have been no dragons on Masquapaug for generations, so it is a cause for celebration in the community when a dragon egg hatches and bonds a member of the tribe. But times have changed since her people worked with dragons; they have been colonized, and the Anglish have laws about how a dragon (and their companion) are to be trained. So Anequs goes off to the Anglish boarding school with all of it's rich Anglish pupils and quickly learns that their attitude towards dragons are very different than her people's. For example, they kill dragons that are deemed too dangerous or unmanageable. So if she wants to save her dragon and learn enough of managing her magic to help her people she has to endure the Anglish school, and the polarizing political effect of her enrollment.

This is an exceptional novel. The whole thing feels very fresh and original, even while treading old ground (dragons and magic boarding schools are staples for a reason). I was never entirely sure if this was meant to be high fantasy or alternate reality Earth, but ultimately it doesn't matter all that much one way or the other. Most cultures on Earth have their own versions of dragon in folklore, and Blackgoose does a phenomenal job building up the fictional folklore of her world to reflect the same variety. Even more impressive, the stories that many characters tell about their culture's own version of the first dragon story still feel like folklore, rather than history, which isn't a distinction many writers preserve when the stuff of folklore is unarguably real. I also found the way the lines between magic and science were blurred to be very interesting, but it makes total sense in a world where societies developed alongside dragons. This novel is definitely structured around a more indigenous storytelling method, which I also found really interesting. 

My only complaint is that this is very much a first book in a series, so there are a lot of things that feel very unresolved. Related to that the author (necessarily) spends a lot of time on world-building, so this book is sort of plot-light and lacking in a single central conflict. That being said, I suspect the series will really hit it's stride in the next book, and I'm very excited to read it when it is published.

Amy Falls Down

Amy Falls Down by Jincy Willet (2013) 324 pages

Amy hasn't written anything to sell for 30 years, although she frequently makes time to jot story ideas in a notebook. She makes her living as a writing teacher now, interacting with most of her students online. A journalist is scheduled to come to her house one day, as part of a series of women writers in the San Diego area. Before the journalist arrives, Amy takes a fall in her yard and hits her head hard on a birdbath. She notices a lot of blood and wonders if she's dying at first, but gets herself up and into her house, not quite herself, fading into and out of awareness. This incident sets off a series of events that change her life. She had not been looking forward to the interview, but when the time came, she gave it, although she couldn't recall anything about it. However, when the story appeared in the local newspaper, interest in Amy began to build and to snowball, drawing her old literary agent Maxine back into her life, along with various interviews and panel discussions and more.

What I like about the story is Amy's quiet reluctance to put herself out there in the world again, but how she finds ways to do it anyway, along with her strategies for dealing with activities and people which she would prefer to avoid.

After reading this book, I learned that some of the backstory referred to in the novel is part of a previous book about Amy, The Writing Class (2008). Another book about her is more recent, Amy Among the Serial Killers (2022). One or both of these books will make their way onto my reading list soon.

Baptism of Fire

 

Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski (1996) 349 Pages

Geralt of Rivia, witcher, continues on his daunting series of adventures. In this novel, Geralt is seriously injured during the coup of the sorcerers guild. Ciri vanishes, and Geralt spends most of this novel attempting to track down his child surprise. Linked by destiny, they share dreams and nightmares. Geralt soon finds out she is not in Nilfgaard because an impersonator is playing the part of captor with Emhyr, the white flame of Nilfgaard. Yennefer is not mentioned for most of the book until Enid, or Francesca, the elf-queen releases her from a spell that compressed her into a small jade statuette. Continuing on the journey, Geralt has become one in a horde of random comrades. Regis, a vampire who is "sober" from human blood acts as their barber-surgeon. They also are back with the dwarves, Zoltan and and the parrot, Field Marshal Windbag. Cahir, former Nilfgaardian and "black knight" who once upon a time briefly captured Ciri in the fall of Cintra, half-druid Milva and of course the bard, Dandelion. The book ends with a battle between Nilfgaard, the witcher and the comrades, and Lyrians. They defeat the Nilfgaardians and the witcher is dubbed a knight by queen Meve of Lyria. Ciri is currently pretending to be "Falka" among a band of thieves and misfits. A paragraph in the book mentions its a shame she was trained as a witcher at Kaer Morhen, because she is an excellent assassin and is beginning to enjoy killing and pillaging. 

Thornhedge

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher, 116 pages

In this retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Toadling is a homely person who has lived hundreds of years at a tower surrounded by thorns and brambles, wishing and hoping that no knights will come close to break the curse upon it. But when a young knight arrives searching for the source of an ancient story, Toadling is forced to reckon with the past, and more importantly, the present, specifically how to deal with this surprisingly bookish and gentle man.

T. Kingfisher has a wonderful way of looking at fairy tale tropes and forcing her readers to reexamine our own biases (in the gentlest and most humorous way possible) when it comes to the tales we all grew up with. Thornhedge is an excellent example of how to do that, and other fairy tale-twisters should use this as a guide going forward. A great short read.

Solitaire

Solitaire by Alice Oseman, 260 pages

Tori is nearing the end of her pre-university education at a largely all-girls private school (the oldest two years are coed) and she has almost completely lost interest in everything — her "friends," her schoolwork, anything outside of her blog, really. But then a post-it note with an arrow on it leads her to "Solitaire," a prankster/blog that disrupts her school in sometimes humorous, sometimes wild ways. And then there's Michael Holden, a new transfer who is weird in some of the same ways Tori is, though she can't seem to figure out why anyone would find her interesting enough to be friends with.

Written before (but released in the U.S. after) Oseman's lovely boy-meets-boy graphic novel romance Heartstopper, the book focuses on the sister of one of Heartstopper's protagonists, and the events of this book happen concurrently to the graphic novel. But this is a much darker story, with disaffected teens thinking dark thoughts. Heartstopper tackles some pretty tough topics, and so does Solitaire, though the way they're handled is a bit different, as Tori deals with things alone. It's not always an easy book to read, though it's definitely a worthwhile use of your time.

The Real Frank Zappa Book

The Real Frank Zappa Book by Frank Zappa and Peter Occchiogrosso  352 pp.

I bought this book for my husband a long time ago but never read it. This time I went for the audio book read by Frank's son, Ahmet Zappa. It's surprising how similar Ahmet's voice is to his father's. Included in the audiobook are sound recordings of comments and interviews with Frank which showcases their vocal similarities. The book covers Frank's childhood, his musical beginnings, the creation of the Mothers of Invention, his children, successes, failures, and run-ins with the "authorities". The last couple chapters are his views on a variety of music industry, political, and business absurdities. He minces no words there. I wish he was still around so we could hear his opinions on the current political insanity. Alas, we lost him to cancer in 1993. 

The Refrigerator Monologues

 The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente, 160 pages.

The Hell Hath club is something like a support group, and something like a group of friends. It's made up of the fridged residents of Dead Town, women who died to advance a male hero's story. The six women who tell their stories in this novella have very little in common; they all had different careers, interests, and personal arcs. Yet they all understand what it is to be treated badly by the narrative.

This was a really interesting little novella. I know just enough about comics to be familiar with the phenomenon that this book is critiquing, and I feel like I definitely have a more complete understanding having finished it. Outside of that, I also found the Valente's characters to be very compelling (which is, I suppose, the point). I also quite enjoyed how the novella alternated between the monologues and scenes of the characters together in Dead Town, which I felt gave the story a lot of cohesion. I would definitely recommend this book to comic book fans, but honestly probably to other people as well.

One Kid's Trash

One Kid's Trash by Jamie Sumner 231 pp. 

Hugo is a sixth grader who is very small for his age. This has been a constant problem for him at school and made him a victim of bullying. Now he is in a new town at a new school, having to start over with making new friends and settling in. The jokes and bullying begin almost immediately after arriving at school. Hugo's parents are having problems and appear to be heading toward a split. His one anchor at the new school is his cousin Vijay but they start having issues with each other. Things start to improve with his classmates when Hugo begins using his talent for Garbology - analyzing people by the trash they produce. Then it all goes wrong. This book is nominated for the 2023-2024 Missouri Mark Twain Award and is one of the selections chosen for our Treehouse Book Club. 

The Holver Alley Crew

 The Holver Alley Crew by Marshall Ryan Maresca, 352 pages.

The Rynax brothers were determined to give up their life of thievery to instead run an honest gadget shop. Then their home, their as yet unopened shop, and the whole of Holver Alley burn down in a fire overnight. And the more they look into it the more it looks like it wasn't an accident. So they gather a crew who all lost everything in the fire and plan a few heists, even as they are reminded of why they wanted out in the first place. Verci Rynax has a baby, and Asti Rynax is clinging to the scraps of his sanity after having a very traumatic time working in Druth Intelligence. 

This book had all of the components of a fun fantasy heist, but it never felt like they quite got enough momentum behind them to get off of the ground. The characters were fine, and the setting was a pretty standard city with a few fantasy elements at the periphery, but I very nearly stopped halfway through after the first heist was over because the story structure made it feel like the book should be over. A fine novel, but I don't know that I will read the sequels.

The Tale of Genji

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu 1177 pp.

This is one of the books selected for the adult summer reading discussions. It is a book that had been on my "to read" list for many years but its length made me keep putting it off. Kara's commentary is excellent and I don't have anything to add except that it wasn't quite what I was expecting, although I'm not even sure what I expected. I do enjoy Asian literature although this is the first I've read with 1000 years of age on it. I'm glad I finally crossed this one out of my "to reads". 

The Ballad of Perilous Graves

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings, 456 pages

Twelve-year-old Perilous "Perry" Graves knows that music is magic, something he witnesses on a daily basis when piano-playing haints pop up to create spontaneous dance parties on the street. But when one of those haints, Doctor Professor, tasks Perry, his sister Brendy, and their friend Peaches with capturing some songs that physically manifested and escaped, Perry discovers that the music magic is more complex than he ever imagined. 

This debut novel weaves a rich tapestry of music, magic, history, and attitude for a complex fantasy tale that could only take place in New Orleans. The patois of the city's residents permeates the story nearly as much as the music does, and when it's combined with the fantastical elements and thick musical background, the book is confusing as heck, but in the best possible way. I loved the characters (Brendy is AMAZING), even the villains. I'm still digesting the complexities of the plot, and I'm sure I'll be thinking on this one for quite some time, but I'm absolutely OK with that.

Norse Mythology

 Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (2017) 301 pages

One of the best storytellers of all time, Neil Gaiman brings Norse myths to life with this stunning retelling. I listened to the audiobook on a road trip after having read the publication sometime last year, and have to say it was great fun listening to Gaiman read. These are classic myths, retold with some humor that Gaiman has given to some of the various characters. I especially love the way he portrays Loki, the notorious god of mischief. An excellent read, whether you're listening to it or reading.

Happy Place

 

Happy Place by Emily Henry (2023) 400 pages

Harriet, a surgical resident working in San Francisco is thrown into an extremely difficult situation in her very favorite happy place: a gorgeous mansion in Maine she has spent with her best friends and significant others since their college days. She arrives to find her ex-fiance is waiting for her at the beach house. Her friends announce that because this is the last year they will be able to use the house, as it will be sold, they wanted to have a final-hurrah with everyone in the same place. Harriet's friends do not know that her and Wyn, her ex have broken up for the past 5 months. Not only that, she hasn't even seen or talked to Wyn in the last several months as she blocked his phone number because it was too difficult. Most of this book is diving into the previous "happy places" spent during the various relationships: the girls during their college years, and various apartments and places where Harriet and Wyn have lived. The rest of the book bounces back in time and present day, where in private Harriet and Wyn struggle with picking up the pieces and trying to figure out where everything went wrong. It was a fairly good read, but I was under the impression it would be a much lighter-content beach style of read, but it was actually pretty emotionally heavy!

Rememberings

 

Rememberings by Sinéad O'Connor (2021) 304 Pages

Beautiful, heart wrenching, so incredibly sad. She went through SO much not only as a child but a teen, young woman, mother. I mostly listened to the audiobook as she read it, she laughed at some of her own words which was so wonderful to listen to after her untimely recent death. I cried! 

This memoir goes through most of Sinéad O'Connor's life, from her early traumatic childhood (CW: abuse) throughout her teenage years, relationships, and of course the beginnings of her musical career. This is honestly one of the best memoirs I've read, I don't read a lot of nonfiction but this one was absolutely worth reading, especially if you are a fan of her music. Learning the life behind the artist is always incredibly interesting to see how their art translates from the things that have happened to them in their personal life. I was really interested in listening to someone who grappled with their Catholic faith, especially the abuse and family dynamics as someone who is from a predominantly Irish Catholic family.

Die vols. 2-4

 Die vols. 2-4 (Split the Party/The Great Game/Bleed) by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, 496 pages.

25 years after they escaped the five former friends have been pulled into the world of Die, and they can't go home until everyone agrees that the game is over. Everyone alive anyways. After finding out that Sol is not only alive, but has been designing the game for them the last 25 years, this becomes divisive. It becomes even more divisive as our "heroes" decide which lives count as real in a fantasy world. If the tensions can't be resolved everyone can't go home. And soon the world pushes them to cooperation for much bigger problems, as everyone must ask what Die really is, where it came from, and what it wants/

After getting readers familiar with the premise in book one, the plot and characters can really start taking of starting in volume 2. I found the characters very compelling (if not always very likable) and seeing them engage with an also very interesting world is both compelling and thought-provoking. The series also has some interesting things to say about the iterative nature of creative invention. The plot lost me a little at the end (I do not enjoy non-linear causality as a plot point), but I found the story compelling enough overall that by that point I didn't really care. The character arcs end in a place that feels both satisfying and dramatic. This is a short series that packs a whole lot of punch and I would definitely recommend it, especially for people who are interested in getting into comics but not interested in dealing with the sprawling mess that is series that have been running for decades.
 

Dawnshard

 Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson, 171 pages.

This novella takes place between books three and four of the Stormlight Archives, and follows side characters having there own adventure. That description told me very little, so I'm just now getting to it three years later, and I definitely regret waiting this long. Rysn (the Thalen trader from an earlier book's interlude who suffered a fall and lost the use of her legs) needs to get her larkin (a mythical flying, stormlight eating creature) back to it's ancestral home to save it from a mysterious illness. Unfortunately it's ancestral home is a mythical island in hostile seas. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately again) a formerly disappeared ship that was previously looking for that same island has reappeared (sans crew) and the queen of Urithiru wants it investigated for any relation to the war effort. So Rysn has government support and a few Windrunners (Herdazian knights Lopen and Huio). Which are absolutely necessary with all of the weird and ominous signs that keep appearing on the boat. This island holds ancient secrets, and there are forces that will do anything to protect them.

This book short little novella had way more deep lore for the Cosmere than I was expecting! There are some implications in some of the secrets we discovered that will probably be felt in plenty of books. Aside from that, the story itself was a real treat. In his acknowledgments Sanderson thanks several paraplegic people who he consulted with for Rysn, and the amount of care and interest really shines through the whole book. It is also an absolute delight to get chapters from Lopen's perspective. The character is always fun, but it was very interesting to see his fun-loving nature (which is completely genuine) interact with some more serious internal thoughts (which we rarely get to see from him from an outside perspective). The very multi-cultural nature of this cast also put a lot of emphasis on language differences on Roshar, which I thought was neat and rarely gets much time in the mainline books. I would absolutely recommend this as necessary reading for anyone who enjoys the Stormlight Archives.

The Tale of Genji

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Dennis Washburn, 1177 pages

Written more than 1,000 years ago, The Tale of Genji is often considered to be the first psychological novel, as in it deals with emotions and relationships instead of action. And indeed, this book is ALL about the relationships, particularly those surrounding the super-attractive son-of-an-emperor Genji and the many ladies of his life. He might be "radiant" and swoon-worthy to the Heian court, but so many of his actions are abhorrent to modern readers and eye-roll-inducing to even the narrator. I appreciated the subtle sarcasm and the strong female characters (despite the fact that most of them don't have actual names), as well as the insight into Heian Period Japan. At times, it was hard to keep track of timelines and characters — though with all of Genji's wives and consorts, I'd be shocked if a first-time reader could keep them all straight — but overall I'm glad I read this monumental book. I'm curious what the final word will be on Genji at our last adult summer reading discussion tomorrow night.

The Devil You Know

The Devil You Know (Mercenary Librarians #2) by Kit Rocha (2021) 304 pages

I read the first book in this series back in 2020. I was sold by the sales pitch that Deal with the Devil is Orphan Black meets the post-apocalyptic Avengers as well as the series being named the Mercenary Librarians. The story mainly takes place around Atlanta with an evil TechCorps that has monopolized services and resources for the wealthy on the Hill. A small group of super soldier men called the Silver Devils, led by Knox, finally escape being employed by TechCorps when their assignment is to eliminate a group of enhanced lady clones, led by Nina, who subversively help the poor and disenfranchised in the Atlanta area. The first book focuses on the leaders Knox and Nina and how the two groups find family and common purpose. There is action, romance, and psychological tension. This second book develops Maya, who has a super memory and is the primary librarian, and her budding relationship with Gray, the brooding sniper with a brain implant that his body is rejecting. The main mission is to save a bunch of cloned children, and they have a showdown with the big bad who wants our heroes dead. Tobias Richter is the big bad head of TechCorps security. There are chapters from the point of view of each member of the team mixed with traditional chapters in the third person. We also get background hints from company memos and journal entries from the woman who raised Maya. These keep the experiments done to the clones and super soldiers and the abilities they develop fairly mysterious. The found family grows with new members and allies. I'm continuing right away with the third book in the series.
 

Vintage Murder

Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh 274 pp.

This is the second Inspector Roderick Alleyn mystery to take place in a theater . I know there is at least one more that I read many years ago (not surprising as the author was also a theater director). Alleyn is on holiday in New Zealand and is offered a seat in the train carriage carrying a traveling dramatic troupe. He is trying to stay incognito so as not to disrupt his vacation but he is recognized by a few of the players, including one who was present at the previous theater murder he solved. An after performance party in honor of the leading lady becomes the murder scene with the victim being the manager of the theater company. An elaborate surprise was planned where a Jereboam of Champagne was set to drop easily onto the arrangement on the table. Someone removed the weight that was to control the descent and instead, it smashed into the head of the manager/husband of the leading lady. Once the local police learn the identity of Alleyn, they enlist his help in solving the crime. In my opinion there are a few too many suspects which make the story a bit convoluted. However, it is nice to read Marsh's descriptions of the lush scenery in her native land.  

How the Word Is Passed

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning of the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith, 336 pages

In this fascinating and vital book, Smith recounts his experiences visiting a handful of places that are in some way tied to slavery in the United States. He visits Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation, which is only recently starting to include details about the enslaved people who built and maintained the plantation in the site's tours; the Whitney plantation, which centers its education efforts around the lives of the enslaved people who worked there and throughout the South; Louisiana's Angola Prison, which was once a plantation and (through some questionable Jim Crow laws that have only recently been challenged or struck down) still houses a shockingly high percentage of Black prisoners; the Confederate Blandford Cemetery; Galveston Island, where Juneteenth began; New York City, where the history of slavery has literally been paved over; and Senegal's Goree Island, where thousands of people were packed into the ships that took them from their homeland and into a life of slavery. 

Smith notes in an afterword that this isn't meant to be a definitive description of each of these places and that his experience is certainly different than it might be for someone of a different race, gender, or educational background (he is a Black man with an Ivy League doctorate). That said, it's eye-opening and sometimes uncomfortable, and it's a book I'll be recommending to everyone. An amazing book that should be required reading.

The Collector

The Collector by Daniel Silva 402 pp.

Daniel Silva masterfully continues the series that takes storylines from the headlines  and turns them into all too plausible plots in my favorite series. Gabriel Allon, art restorer and former head of Israeli Intelligence has retired from his spy/assassin duties to live a quiet life in Venice with his wife and children, working as an art restorer. At least that's the plan until he ends up involved in the recovery of a priceless Vermeer painting missing for decades. Allon teams up with a beautiful master thief and a Danish oil executive to recover the painting. The team ends up sidetracked in a race to stop the Russians from using a nuclear option against Ukraine. Even though retired, Allon enlists the assistance of his former colleagues of "the Office" so many of the usual characters once again appear in this novel,

I Have Some Questions For You

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai (2023) 435 pages

Bodie Kane is a film professor and podcaster who goes back to the boarding school where she attended high school to teach a couple of two-week long mini courses. Being on campus pulls her 25 years back into the past: she had roomed one semester with Thalia Keith, who was murdered during their senior year. Omar, a Black coach who ran the athletic programs had been found guilty of the murder and had been in prison for a couple of decades now. Bodie is now re-hashing her time at high school, including many instances of sexual harassment by male students towards female students, and of possible grooming of Thalia, by one teacher in particular, and she now thinks Omar is innocent.

She gives her podcasting class an assignment to investigate and report on a number of possible topics, including the murder of Thalia, and two students are looking into it. Most adults on campus, in addition to Bodie's former classmates, are displeased when word gets outs that Bodie is encouraging the re-examination of the murder. 

Numerous instances where women have been killed by their partners are interspersed throughout, which help inform Bodie's reconsideration of Thalia's murder. The modern MeToo movement and racism both loom large. Bodie is obsessed and goes through her own list of suspects one by one, trying to look for reasons and opportunity for each person to have murdered Thalia. In a sleep-deprived moment, she even adds herself to the list.

Bodie's character, and the other characters she describes in the course of the story, seem so well fleshed out in this riveting novel.

Two Wrongs Make a Right

Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese (2022) 320 pages

Bea's twin sister Julia and her fiancé, Jean-Claude, decide to fix Bea up with Jean-Claude's roommate, Jamie. The last thing Bea wants is a boyfriend, having come off a bad relationship that she's still feeling 18 months later. Jamie seems stiff and serious, so unlike Bea, who is artistic, neurodivergent and rather tattooed. Their interactions are positive in the physical sense, but "ick" in the social sense. When Julia and Jean-Claude persist in trying to get them together, Bea and Jamie decide to pretend to fall for each other, with the thought that they will have a big break-up in a few months in order to forever discourage the would-be matchmakers from trying again.

It's a stretch to believe that this strategy will work, but it puts into play a storyline into the inner workings of the couple, individually and together, and we see how their previous relationships affected them. The novel also shows lots of family relationships, some good, some not-so-good. Neurodivergence seems to be cropping up in novels more often lately, and I thought it was handled well in this story. Even though I thought the plot was contrived, I still wanted to see how everything worked out.

Goblin Mode

 Goblin Mode: How to Get Cozy, Embrace Imperfection, and Thrive in the Muck by McKayla Coyle, 208 pages.

This is a pretty cute lifestyle/self-care type book that has the addition of many crafts and projects. It's light and fun, and some of the projects in here seem pretty fun. I think I'll probably try my hand at taking a mushroom spore print at sometime. I will warn that the chapter on foraging is not very good for multiple reasons, and I would recommend taking it with a heavy grain of salt. There isn't a whole lot of substance in this book, but it is very fun to flip through.

All Good People Here

 All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers, 336 pages.

Margot Davies has been haunted her whole life by the murder of January Jacobs, her childhood neighbor and friend who was murdered when they were six. When she returns to her uncle's house in Wakarusa, Indiana, she finds that very little has changed. Soon after she arrives another little girl in the next town over is murdered, and the cases look similar to her reporter's eye. As she begins to investigate she finds plenty of secrets in the quiet town, and she'll need to find even more to solve a murder that's twenty years cold.

I quite liked this twisty mystery. It did a really good job having a mystery that was easy enough to follow (and to often get exactly one or two steps ahead of), but was not so obvious that it offered no surprises. It's the kind of book that makes me feel a little clever reading it. Although I will admit that by the end there are so many twists that the series of events twenty years ago begins to feel extremely improbable (I won't elaborate for spoilers reasons). I found the ending frustrating, and overall found Flowers' second book a more compelling portrayal of small town life, but I still thought this was a really interesting book, and an engaging mystery.

I Didn't Do It

I Didn't Do It: Thriller Writer Conventions Can Be Murder by Jaime Lynn Hendricks  325 pp.

The title pretty much says it all. Murder mystery and thriller writers are gathered in New York City for Murderpalooza, a convention of the industry's best and brightest and those who aspire to be them. The high point of the convention is the awarding of a prize for the best thriller author of the year. But the front runner is found murdered in her hotel room. Four other authors are receiving Twitter (before it was X) messages saying they may be killed next. Whoever is sending the tweets seems to know the dirty secrets of all four. They band together to find the murderer while still suspecting one of their group may be the killer. The twist at the end is somewhat of a surprise. It's a fun ride.

The Fixer Upper

The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe (2022) 286 pages

Aly runs into a former boyfriend and was startled to learn that he was married and doing well and that he credited his success to her, for pushing him to make some life changes. Aly's work friends, Tola and Eric, note that she's really good at this kind of thing, and as a lark, they start helping women they know by injecting themselves into situations where they play-act near the woman's partner, which helps move that partner to make some changes in how they behave, improving the relationships.

Their Fixer Upper group becomes so successful that they are approached by Nicki, a well-known social media influencer, who would like for them to get her boyfriend to propose marriage to her. When the boyfriend turns out to be Aly's old best friend from high school, whom she has now avoided for fifteen years, she finds herself feeling conflicted. Added to that, she has been dealing with her divorced parents' issues and her quest for a promotion at work. 

This is a fast read with many memorable and/or likeable characters.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley 341 pp.

Tanner Quimby is a 21 year old former college student whose dreams were shattered when an injury put an end to her soccer career and her scholarship. Louise Wilts is an elderly woman recovering from a broken hip whose children decide she needs a live-in caretaker even though she is able to care for herself. Tanner takes the job which allows her to play video games most of the day and drive Louise to her various appointments. Then things get weird. Tanner becomes the driver on a sudden cross country trip with Louise to save an old friend of hers. Meanwhile the FBI are on their tail believing Mrs. Wilts to be a dangerous criminal mastermind and jewel thief who has kidnapped Tanner. The story is funny, heartwarming, and strange and I enjoyed it immensely. The audio narration is well done by Hillary Huber.   

How to Land a Plane

 

The Little Book of How to Land a Plane by Mark Vanhoenacker  64 pp.

At only 64 pages this is indeed a little book. And it is exactly what the title says, a book on how to land a plane, specifically a Boeing 747. Written by an experienced pilot of 747s who now pilots Boeing 787 Dreamliners for British Airways, the author gives a detailed explanation of the flying and landing process in mostly layman's terms with illustrations. Why would I choose to read this? Because when I was a young teen I wanted to be an airline pilot (later changed to surgeon and we know how that turned out).  

The Priory of the Orange Tree

 The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, 830 pages. 

Tis' the season for all of us to be finishing the big book challenge for the summer! If you want to see a synopsis of this book, I would recommend scrolling down one post to see what Kara had to say.

As far as my own thoughts, I really enjoyed this book! The writing was engaging enough to make it seem shorter than it is (although it is already shorter than it looks). I really appreciate a fantasy novel with enough points of view to give you a good idea about what most of the world looks like, and it is definitely the case for this book that countries where people are from and spend time feel more real than ones we only talk about. A neat book overall, although I'm not sure I'm invested enough to read the other book in the setting. Although I am excited to talk about this one on Monday!

The Priory of the Orange Tree

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, 830 pages

In this hefty fantasy novel, Queen Sabran of Inys is the latest Berethnet woman in a 1,000-year line. She must give birth to a daughter to continue not only her matriarchal line, but also to keep the the fire-breathing wyrms at bay...or so say the religious prophecies of the land. Ead Duryan is one of Sabran's ladies in waiting, but she's also a powerful sorceress who was sent from the titular priory to protect Sabran and must hide that or risk persecution and death. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, Tane has been training her whole life to become a dragonrider, the most esteemed warriors of her insular homeland. But when she breaks the land's largest taboo by letting in an outsider, her life's goals are suddenly imperiled — and her fate is unfortunately entwined with that of alchemist/con Niclays Roos, who was exiled from Inys years earlier for offending Sabran.

Phew! That's a lot to sum up in one paragraph, and it doesn't even scratch the surface of the intricacies of the plot and backstories. We've been discussing it for two months already, and I'm anxious to hear what the adult summer readers think of the ending when we discuss it on Monday.

China Rich Girlfriend & Rich People Problems

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan, 479 pages

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan, 397 pages

In these sequels to Crazy Rich Asians, we find Rachel and Nick finally ready to settle down, despite all of the Nick's family's worst intentions. While Nick's controlling mother and grandmother are persona non grata with the happy couple, that doesn't stop Eleanor Young from trying to weasel her way back into her son's life. And this time she has the trump card — she found Rachel's biological father, a man that Rachel's been searching the globe for since she learned about him in the first book. And in the final book of the trilogy, Nick's faced with a dilemma, as his estranged grandmother is dying. While their recent relationship has been rough, they were quite close when Nick was younger, to the point that EVERYONE knew that Nick was Ah Ma's favorite. Should he try to mend fences before it's too late? And if he tries, will his materialistic cousin Eddie even let him into the house?

While the first book was centered on the Youngs of Singapore, in these books, we also mingle with the uber-rich of Shanghai and Hong Kong, including Rachel's biological father and half-brother, social-climbing former porn actress Kitty Pong, and Nick's lovely and stylish cousin, Astrid. As always, the books are full of Kwan's trademark footnotes full of frothy gossip, slang translations, and jaw-dropping pricetags, all of which make this series fun and, to me at least, infinitely rereadable.

July totals

Kara is now a wizard. Gandalf says so.

Byron: 1 book/512 pages

Jan: 8 books/2632 pages

Kara: 4 books/1318 pages

Karen: 7 books/1917 pages

Kathleen: 8 books/3716 pages

Kevin: 2 books/682 pages

Regan: 7 books/1405 pages

TOTAL: 37 books/12,182 pages

You Lucky Dog

You Lucky Dog by Julia London (2020) 338 pages

Carly Kennedy and Max Sheffington did not know each other. But when their dogs got swapped by someone returning them to their homes because the dog-walker was indisposed, Carly and Max finally met. But not right away, because the dog-walker was in jail. Finding out who had which dog was not easy.

This was a cute "dogs bring people together" story. But between their work life, with Carly struggling financially after a layoff from her publicity firm, hoping to land a job in New York City, and with Max trying to overcome the final hurdles to reach tenure as a neuroscientist at his university in Texas, the stars were not cooperating. And their families were also a contributing factor in the difficulties of becoming a couple. This is an understatement!

This was a light, but engaging afternoon read. The dogs were as compelling as the people characters, which added to the charm.

The Time of Contempt

 

The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski (1995) 331 pages

The Time of Contempt is the second novel in the Witcher series. In this story, we are seeing the effects of a brewing war between the kingdoms and Nilfgaard. The story begins where Blood of Elves left off, with Yennefer bringing Ciri to Aretuza, the school of magic, to hone her skills and receive proper instruction. On the journey, they run into some issues in the big city outside of Aretuza. Ciri is allowed to venture around the city with an escort, and they attempt to free a wyvern who is being held captive by a man who is selling tickets to see the poor creature. Things quickly get out of hand and Ciri and Fabio, her escort narrowly escape the mess. Ciri activates an amulet which brings attention to her location by other sorceresses in the city. She soon is captured by Tissaia de Vries, a sorceress who instructed Yennefer at Aretuza. Luckily, Yennerfer finds Tissaia and her companion holding Ciri, but soonafter Ciri once  again escapes from the inn they are staying at in order to find Geralt, who is supposedly in a nearby town. A horrible storm is brewing with extremely bright lightning which is illuminating the farmland and nearby tower of Lara, which was once a portal created during the Conjunction of Spheres. While trying to find Geralt, and while Geralt is trying to find Ciri, they all witness The Wild Hunt, a spectral phenomenon of horsemen riding across the sky, similar to "the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse". 

Ciri finds Geralt, and Yennefer teleports to them both. Geralt and Yen have not spoken in about three years. They were told once that they were made for each other, but nothing would come of it because "something more" was needed. They figured out that the "something more" was Ciri. 

Continuing on, the first night of Aretuza, an attempted Coup begins with some sorcerers who have betrayed their comrades in order to gain favor with Nilfgaard. Emperor Emhyr of Nilfgaard wants the mages chapter to be dispersed due to their unfavorable massive loss at Sodden. Ciri disappears, Yennefer cannot be found, and Geralt is taken hostage by Djikstra's men. 

Geralt gets away, Ciri manages to escape but is soon chased after by Cahir, the black knight. Ciri overpowers Cahir but decides not to kill him. The story leaves off with Ciri waking up in the middle of a desert, and narrowly survives. She tries fire magic on her own to save a unicorn's life, but because of this action, her magical capabilities were revoked.

The Cellist

 The Cellist by Daniel Silva 471 pp.

Even though I impatiently wait for the new Gabriel Allon books to be released, somehow I started but never finished this one. Maybe because all the veiled references to the then U.S. President and his criminal buddy, the Russian president. After the nerve agent poisoning of Viktor Orlov, an exiled Russian who once saved Allon's life, Gabriel is drawn into the investigation with British Intelligence. Believing the Brits are on the wrong track, Allon enlists the help of a talented young woman who worked for the dirtiest German bank, notorious for it's money laundering and other illegal activities. They set up a multi-billion dollar sting operation to catch the oligarch and childhood friend of the Russian president. The book ends with the inauguration of the new U.S. President following the insurrection at the Capitol when the Russians make one more attempt to eliminate Gabriel Allon. Following the novel is a chapter of commentary by Silva on the Trump attempts at overthrowing the election which he lost.   

Death in Ecstasy

 Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh  280 pp.

The fourth book in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn series finds Alleyn investigating the cyanide murder of a wealthy woman during a ceremony at the House of the Sacred Flame, a cultish organization lead by "Father" Garnette. The clues are many but all seem disconnected from each other. The suspects are varied and jealousies and suspicions within the church members abound. There is obvious drug use but the possible source varies widely. Even the discovery of an old chemistry manual that opens to the instructions on how to extract cyanide from household items serves only to add confusion. Of course, the intrepid Inspector, assisted by Sergeant Fox and journalist Nigel Bathgate wrap up the investigation satisfactorily. Alleyn produces droll comments throughout although my favorite line came from the medical examiner during the inquest when he was asked why he had not thought it worthwhile to send for remedies (for the victim) to which the doctor replied "There is no remedy for death."

Fine

Fine: A Comic about Gender by Rhea Ewing  319 pp. 

Rhea Ewing began a working on a college project that was to culminate in a 24 page zine about "what is gender?" After ten years and many interviews with friends, associates, and strangers they produced this book. During that time, Ewing, who never felt comfortable in their own body, came out as trans to their amazingly supportive family and friends. The interviews cover the topics of coming out, gender dysphoria, pronouns, abuse, body image, suicide, and many others. The most important take on all this is the need to find those who accept you as your are and make them your "tribe," then build on that.

Blood of Elves

 

Blood of Elves by Adrezej Sapkowski (1994) 398 Pages

Blood of Elves is the third publication of the Witcher series, but technically the first full novel of the series. In this story, we meet the child surprise, Cirilla of Cintra, who has been Geralt's destiny. They finally find each other again and Geralt gains responsibility for all of her needs as her grandmother, Queen Calanthe, was killed (well subsequently committed suicide) in the destruction of Cintra by Nilfgaard. As Geralt assumes responsibility for Ciri, he brings her to Kaer Morhen, the compound where Witchers are trained. Ciri is taught fighting, agility and some spells in which she cannot yet perform. A sorceress, Triss Merigold arrives at Kaer Morhen and discovers that Ciri is much more powerful, and capable of magic than Geralt realized. She explains that Ciri's magic should be carefully watched and maintained so that it doesn't become uncontrollable and dangerous to herself and others. Triss mentions that Geralt should seek out Yennefer, his former lover because she is an incredibly powerful and knowledgeable sorceress, to help Ciri. Meanwhile, Dandelion the bard is captured and tortured by a man who is tracking down Ciri. The rest of the novel details Geralt delivering Ciri to the temple school in order to receive a better education than Geralt can provide. Geralt tries tracking down Rience, the sorcerer who was charged with finding and capturing Ciri. The end of the novel deals with Yennefer becoming Ciri's main mentor and teacher, and soon they become quite close. A war is brewing as Nilfgaard continues to conquer the lands, with elves and their "Squirrel" posse on the rise, attempting to avoid the pogroms of elves and non-humans.

Improbably Yours

Improbably Yours by Kerry Anne King (2022) 329 pages

Blythe is turning 30 and feels the pressure to take on the life that her mother, sister and boyfriend want for her. But everything is upended when she's unexpectedly given her grandmother's ashes along with the job to go to a specific island, find the spot where something special was buried long ago, and then to inter the ashes in that place. If she is successful, she will inherit $500,000 that her grandmother had put into a trust for her.

By leaving her boyfriend and rejecting a high-profile job which he had lined up for her, Blythe reaches for the unknown, and the chance to find out what she really wants to do with her life. She books a spot on the island of Vinland, a tourist destination for treasure-seeking. The tourists choose to be Vikings or Pirates, and they learn how to use metal detectors to find clues that have been planted for them. But Blythe's hunt is a much different one, and she meets a few people on the island who try to help her find where to bury her grandmother's ashes - in particular, Flynn, a man who doesn't really want to be on the island, but who came to be with his 12-year old niece after his sister died, and Savannah, the niece. The uncle and niece are butting heads constantly.

Blythe's grandmother has been dead for 24 years, but when she was still alive, she and Blythe had such a playful and loving relationship, with more than a touch of make-believe magic in it. Or *was* it make-believe? This book is filled with magic, at least one ghost, lots of ravens (including one who talks), and a lot of secrets.

Playing Dead

Playing Dead  by Peggy Rothschild (2023) 289 pages

Molly Madison is an ex-cop who has moved from Massachusetts to California after her philandering husband was murdered and she was a suspect, apparently the subject of the first book in the series. This second book features her and her golden retriever named Harlow and her more newly acquired Saint Berdoodle named Noodle at a training facility for dog agility and barn hunting. Noodle finds not only a rat in a barn, but also a dead body - the body of Celeste, a woman who was so unpleasant that it was hard to decide who had the best motive and opportunity to kill her. Molly gets into the investigation when her newest human friend, Felicity, is arrested for the murder.

I learned a lot about the training of dogs, about girls' gymnastics, and also about people who have trouble socializing. I liked Molly's character - she's got a heart of gold for animals and likes humans *almost* as much, but is not afraid to let people know what she's thinking.

Makeup Man

Makeup Man: From Rocky to Star Trek The Amazing Creations of Hollywood's Michael Westmore by Michael Westmore with Jake Page (2017) 320 pages

I added this to my collection because of the Star Trek connection. Only about 60 pages deal with his time designing aliens for Roddenberry's franchise. I loved the early part of the book covering his family's history in hair and makeup. His apprenticeship with John Chambers of Planet of the Apes makeup fame was interesting. And establishing his special effects makeup cred by working on both Rocky and later Raging Bull was significant. There are stories of his work experience on many other lesser known projects too. He's made a lot of Neanderthal character makeups. Each story is pretty short, maybe too short, and draws on his memory. There are some cases where my film history knowledge makes me doubt that his memories are totally accurate. Hollywood's history of sexism is also revealed in some of his narrative. This wasn't quite all that I was hoping it would be.