All We Were Promised

All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore, 368 pages

It's 1837 in Philadelphia, and after four years in the city, Charlotte's father James is finally establishing himself as a renowned businessman. The only catch is that Charlotte and James are runaway slaves from Maryland, and while James is passing as white, Charlotte has been stuck in the role of his black housemaid, unable to pursue the activism and education she longs for for fear of exposing her father's secrets. But when their former mistress arrives in town with one of their close friends still enslaved, Charlotte realizes that she must act to help free her friend and walk a tightrope to avoid getting herself or her father captured.

This book does a good job of highlighting the frustratingly slow abolitionist movement and the slaver-friendly laws in "free" states (for example, you could bring your slaves with you and keep them enslaved, as long as you didn't stay more than 6 months) in the years leading up to the Civil War. However, there were elements of the story that just felt a bit too unbelievable (particularly near the end), which took me out of the story. A better book on a similar topic is James by Percival Everett (check out my blog post for that here).

The Vanishing Half

 The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (2020, 352 pages)

Identical twins Stella and Desiree grow up in a small, deep south town obsessed with light skin. When they run away as teenagers, they start to drift apart. One continues to live her life as white, with a white family, kids, neighborhood, life. The other continues living as Black, marrying "the darkest man she could find." As a result, the twins' respective daughter (cousins to each other) look nothing alike.

In a story that spans decades and many cultures in America through space and time, we follow the four main characters through their lives and identities.

Amazing prose, had me crying by the end!

★★★★★

Boyfriend Material

 Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (2020, 432 pages)

The estranged son of a washed up rock star is setup with a successful attorney in a fake-dating scenario to benefit both of their professional lives. They both have important work functions coming up, and figure they would look better with an attractive man on their arm.

Of course, they end up actually falling for each other. But also of course, they don't communicate it very well. Lots of back and forth and (in my opinion, excessive) drama.

The whole thing was pretty silly, mostly in a funny way. The one liners were cute, friends were quirky, etc. Bonus points for queer representation, but I am not personally a fan of miscommunication plot lines.

★★★☆☆

The Vinyl Underground

The Vinyl Underground by Rob Rufus (2020) 328 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla narrated by Nick Mondelli. It is 1968 and Ronnie is still grieving the death of his brother over in Vietnam the year before. He's now a senior and questioning his future plans. Does he still want to pursue his brother's dream of being a radio DJ in California, or go to college to pursue his own path? Will either of those even be an option if he is drafted? Ronnie's brother had sent him a series of letters each with a recommended song on a 45rpm. He privately cherished these letters and his brother's stash of great albums. With his best friend Milo, their new neighbor Hana, who is half-Japanese, and a fellow star wrestler Louis, who has already failed his first senior-year to defer being called in the draft, Ronnie forms the Vinyl Underground. They form the record club to share righteous songs and chat about school and the war while drinking and smoking weed. They also plan how to dodge the draft. Ronnie finds it is better to work through his grief when he shares his brother's letters and recommended songs. Hana's family is new to town and faces a lot of racism. A bully at school constantly accuses her of being a spy for the Vietnamese. There is a scene of a sickening attack on Hana that is racially motivated. Milo wants to be a filmmaker and has recorded the attack, but the police doubt the identity of the assailant. This sets in motion the boys planning a super secret prank at the school prom. I loved the name-dropping of musicians from this decade. I could hear most of them in my head. I loved the exploration of courage in the face of pro-war forces and those who protest the war machine.
 

The Brides of High Hill

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo, 128 pages

On their never-ending quest for stories, cleric Chih has found themself in the company of a bride-to-be and her parents on the way meet the groom at his estate. When they arrive, however, something seems off, with fortified walls surrounding the compound, odd sculptures spread throughout, and, perhaps most unnerving, the groom-to-be's insane son locked in a labyrinth. Soon Chih learns that stories are even more powerful than they thought, and that monsters are not always hidden in the shadows.

This is the fifth entry in Vo's Singing Hills Cycle of novellas, and just like all the others, it's excellent. Not really much more to say than that, and also, read these books (in any order, though I wouldn't necessarily start with this one).

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies

Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack, 352 pages

Ten years ago, Eleanor Dash went on vacation in Rome, fell in love with charming PI/"consultant" Connor, and helped solve a string of bank robberies that ended up with the head of the local mafia behind bars. When she came home, she wrote about it, changed a few names, and unbelievably had a bestselling mystery novel.

Today, Eleanor is getting ready to write her tenth book, and is back in Italy with now-ex-boyfriend Connor (who ended up being as self-centered as he is charming), her assistant/sister Harper (who put aside her own dreams of becoming a writer to help Eleanor), a few other novelists (including Eleanor's other ex, Oliver), and 20 of Eleanor's superfans (who won the trip by winning an online contest). While this is already a recipe for discomfort and wacky hijinks, there's also someone on the trip who seems to be trying to kill Connor...and possibly Eleanor.

This was a light and somewhat silly read, full of fourth-wall-breaking footnotes (more than 200 of them, yeesh), and situations that still make no sense to me. I was able to figure out the killer WAY too early (before there was a corpse, actually), which definitely took away from my enjoyment of the book and makes it really hard to recommend. Instead, read Benjamin Stevenson's Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone for a more interesting meta-mystery.

First Lie Wins

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston, 340 pages

When this book opens, Evie Porter is on the verge of moving in with her dreamy boyfriend Ryan Sumner and while she's having a bit of trouble fitting in with his friends (they all grew up in the same small southern town they still live in), everything seems to be coming up roses. But as the story unfolds we learn that Evie is not at all who she claims to be — instead she's a grifter on a long-con assignment from her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, and unsuspecting Ryan is her target. When a woman comes to town bearing Evie's real name and biographical details, she realizes that this job is not like anything she's dealt with in the past, and she must figure out what's going on before she gets caught in her web of lies.

I generally like stories about grifters on the verge of being caught, and this buzzy book is definitely a fine addition to that library. However, there were points where I felt the book was twisty just for the heck of it, and I felt like one of the characters in particular was a bit derivative (but probably because he reminded me so much of a character in Leverage, a heist show I've been binging recently). Not the best thriller I've read, but definitely not the worst either.

Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff

Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff: Declutter, Downsize, and Move Forward with Your Life by Matt Paxton (2022) 310 pages

I have too much stuff; this kind of book always draws me in. Author Matt Paxton, who has a business emptying houses, also has a presence on television, with an A&E series called Hoarders and a show on PBS called Legacy List with Matt Paxton. He tells stories of real people he has helped, starting with his own when he was a young man tasked with cleaning out his father's and grandparents' homes. He thinks it's critical for us to tell the stories of why we have trouble letting a particular item go, and he believes that if we can tell the story of what it means to us, then it will be easier to give the item away.

In addition to the psychological aspects to decluttering or preparing to move, he also has many practical guidebook-type suggestions on how to start and what to do with the things that we're relinquishing. He also tells us what supplies and precautions we should take when physically cleaning a house. The book has a resource section at the end, along with a thorough index.

The section I need most is his section on dealing with documents and photographs. He thinks we should be able to pare away 80-90% of our photos. He also suggests using digital photo managers and making sure to back up anything that we digitize.

I liked the way the author's own story, and those of several of his clients, were woven into this helpful guide.

The Unsinkable Greta James

 

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith (2022) 306 pages

Greta James has worked her way up in the music industry. She's now a well-known indie rock guitarist. But her career is at risk because just a week after her mother's sudden death a few months ago, she had an onstage meltdown that has gone viral. She hasn't gone back to perform anywhere since then, although her sophomore album is ready to be released and needs to be hyped.

Meanwhile, her father, whom she has butted heads with since she was in her teens, is set to go on a one-week Alaskan cruise that was supposed to be a 40th anniversary trip with his now-deceased wife. Greta's brother talks her into going on the cruise with their father. There are a lot of emotions that need to be addressed, and their conversations are frustrating for both of them.

When Greta meets a professor on the ship, there's a mutual attraction between them, in spite of him being quite different from anyone else she has dated. Oh, and he's not quite divorced yet, and has two young daughters. 

There's a lot that needs to be unpacked between her personal life and her professional life, but I feel that it is handled realistically.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (2012) 320 pages

Harold is retired with little to do. He and his wife, Maureen, have long ago lost their spark. One day, Harold receives a letter from a former co-worker, Queenie, who had left her job suddenly more than 20 years ago. Queenie has cancer and has written to say goodbye. Harold writes a sentence or two and goes out to mail it. but keeps passing up mailboxes to walk farther before mailing the letter. Somehow the thought arises that he should visit Queenie in her hospice, some 500 miles away, so he just keeps walking.

Once the reader can accept this idea - along with the thought that by walking (not driving), he can keep Queenie alive longer - a new purpose for Harold is set into play. He walks, he thinks, he talks to people. He calls Maureen from time to time. Maureen, by the way, is bewildered by his actions, and actually starts to think back on their relationship's origin and reassess her opinion of Harold. Harold is doing the same - for his relationships with Maureen, their son David, Harold's parents, his old boss, and Queenie.

It's a tough trip, and especially so as Harold picks up disciples along the way.

What seems to be a simple story expands, often injecting surprises. I liked it, and had to see what happened at the end.

Just for the Summer

Just for the Summer by Abby Jiminez, 418 pages

Justin and Emma suffer from the same curse: everyone they date ends up going on to meet their soulmate immediately after breaking up with them. So the pair comes up with a plan to break that curse: they should date each other for just long enough (one month, four dates total) and then break up so they can each meet their own soulmates. Except when they meet, the sparks fly and Justin in particular is determined to make this relationship last longer than required by their agreement. However, both of them have some serious baggage to deal with too: Justin's mom is headed to prison and he'll soon become the guarding of his three minor siblings, while Emma's a traveling nurse who only sticks around anywhere for three months tops (which may or may not be a holdover from her nomadic childhood with a largely negligent mother and bouncing around in foster care).

While all romance novels feature an element of unbelievability, this one features some of the most believable problematic dates, hurdles to the relationship, and solutions to problems that I've seen in quite a while. It's a fantastic slow-burn romance with an amazing cast of characters well beyond Emma and Justin. Highly recommended!

James

James by Percival Everett, 302 pages

In Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the titular character and runaway slave Jim travel south on the Mississippi River, encountering a series of perilous mishaps that repeatedly separate the pair. That classic of American literature is narrated by Huck, and when Huck and Jim get separated, the story naturally follows Huck.

In James, Everett retells the story from Jim's point of view. And in this book, Jim is an eloquent, educated man who plays up the stereotypical vernacular and dumbs himself down in the presence of white folks (his way of thinking is that it seems a good way to stay alive, being the dumb slave they expect). Along the way, Jim and Huck encounter many people who wish Jim harm, as well as some who claim to be anti-slavery but still refuse to treat Jim as an equal (or even someone worthy of decent treatment).

This is an excellent retelling of an American classic, bringing extra dimensions to the shared adventures with Huck and filling in the gaps where Huck and Jim are separated. While it's definitely possible to enjoy this fantastic book without reading Twain's original first (that's the boat I'm in), I have a feeling it would be even better with that book in your reading history. Either way, it's well worth a read and worthy of the many accolades that it's sure to acquire.

As the Crow Flies: A Longmire Mystery

 

As the Crow Flies: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson  316 pp.

This is the eighth book in the Longmire Mysteries Series. After an unpleasant encounter with the new reservation Chief of Police, Lolo Long, Sheriff Walt Longmire and his best friend Henry Standing Bear are out scouting on the rez in Montana for a location for Walt's daughter's wedding after a conflict eighty-sixed previous plans. The wedding is two weeks away. While in a remote location they witness the death of a young woman who falls from the cliff at Painted Warrior. Was she pushed or did she jump? Then Walt's dog, Dog, discovers the infant child she was apparently holding when she fell. The baby is bruised but not seriously injured. They secure the area and rush the baby to the medical center. Long arrives at the center ignoring Walt's reason for being there and immediately starts causing problems. Eventually she realizes what has happened and ends up enlisting Walt's help in solving the death even though he is out of his jurisdiction. The arrival of Walt's daughter, Cady, and her mother-in-law-to-be complicates things further. After much conflict with Chief Lolo and then the FBI agents, who arrive because the death occurred on Federal land and the arrival of Walt's daughter, Cady, and a couple more deaths, the mystery is satisfactorily solved. There is so much more in this story than just the mystery and the wedding. Walt's relationship with "the Bear" and Henry's beat up truck, "Rez Dawg", add great comic relief to what would be a mostly depressing story. And the I listened to the audiobook read by the master, George Guidall.

The Kamogawa Food Detecitves

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, 200 pages

On a tiny street in Kyoto, there's a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where the proprietors, a retired police detective and his daughter, make incredible food from a wide variety of cuisines. But what really pays the bills is the Kamogawa Detective Agency, in which the restauranteurs track down and make the comfort food recipes that their clients can't seem to replicate. Told in episodic format, they find everything from a beef stew served more than 50 years earlier at a vaguely remembered restaurant to family recipes created by long-dead mothers to tonkatsu made by a dying ex-husband who was also a chef. This is a supremely cozy and satisfying book, a warm hug of a novel if ever one existed, and a wonderful respite from everyday stresses. Highly recommended.

The Good Asian: 1936

The Good Asian: 1936 by Pornsak Pichetshote with art by Alexandre Tefenkgi (2023) 304 pages

Hoopla has this graphic novel split into two volumes. The bonus historical material about the Chinese Exclusion Act provides important
background. The synopsis on Goodreads sums it up well. "THE GOOD ASIAN follows Edison Hark – a haunted, self-loathing Chinese-American detective on the trail of a killer in 1936 San Francisco – in a noir mystery exploring the first generation of Americans to come of age under an immigration ban: the Chinese, as they’re besieged by rampant murders, abusive police, and a world that seemingly never changes." This has all the essential parts of a detective noir. I like a lot of the artwork. The mystery is complex with many twists and turns as Edison Hark and the other central figures remember their distant past, their recent past, changing identities, and questionable loyalties. Searching for a missing woman and turning up the trail of a killer reveals many secrets.

The House of Hidden Meanings

 The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir by RuPaul  256 pp.

As RuPaul says, "We are all born naked, the rest is drag." Beginning with life as a queer kid with the unusual name of RuPaul Andre Charles, growing up with problematic parents in San Diego, through his evolution into a celebrity icon RuPaul doesn't hide the reality of the wild years, the relationships gone bad, homelessness and couch surfing, and extreme substance abuse. RuPaul is his own creation that evolved over many years, surviving the AIDS crisis of the '80s while others fell around him. And then there is the drugs, so many drugs. I find it hard to believe he was able to function as a rising international star while continually using multiple substances. And yet, he did it and became a phenomenon, recognizable in and out of drag around the world. Then there is the moment of realization as his husband, George, enters rehab, that he also needed to rehabilitate himself from what, until then, he thought was just recreational drug use. Unfortunately the book ends before the creation of "RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars" which hopefully will be in a second volume. The audiobook was read by the author. 

The Familiar

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo, 385 pages

Luzia is a servant in the home of a spiteful (but not particularly wealthy) mistress in 16th Century Madrid. While most of the world sees Luzia as the lowest of the low (she does sleep on the floor of the pantry, after all), Luzia has a secret up her sleeve: she can perform little miracles like mending tears in fabric and un-burning the bread. When her mistress finds out, she puts Luzia's abilities on display in the hopes of climbing the social ladder. But soon, Luzia's miracles have grabbed the attention of Antonio Perez, the disgraced former secretary of King Philip. Perez puts Luzia in a perilous competition against three other so-called miracle workers, pitting them against each other under the watchful eye of the Inquistion. Complicating things further is the titular familiar, Santangel, a mysterious man who has been tasked with helping hone Luzia's talents.

I loved the character of Luzia, a woman who is intelligent, talented, and ambitious well beyond the bounds of her station. The way this book unravels keeps the reader guessing at what will happen next, and it's never clear who Luzia can trust, if anyone, as her skills and power grow. An excellent, if somewhat dark, fantasy, set against an unexpected (but somehow perfect) backdrop. Highly recommended.

That Prince Is Mine

That Prince Is Mine by Jayci Lee, 320 pages

Emma is a culinary teacher on the cusp of launching her own school when her godmother, a matchmaker in L.A.'s Korean American community, begins setting her up on dates to find a husband. While Emma goes on one bad first date after another, Michel observes her from the corner of the café, captivated by this gorgeous woman with horrible luck in men. When they finally meet, the chemistry between them is immediate and undeniable — though Michel isn't the visiting professor he claims to be. Instead, he's the crown prince of a tiny European country who is determined to avoid an arranged marriage by falling in love on his own. He just didn't think it would be an American firmly entrenched in Los Angeles.

With some definite nods to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, this royal romance novel definitely includes many modern considerations than you'd expect from a more traditional royal affair — both main characters spend plenty of time agonizing over the impossible situation of her growing career and his responsibilities to the throne. But the problem is that they don't agonize together. Instead, they worry about it on their own, when they could easily hash it out over a series of honest conversations. That's one of my biggest romance pet peeves, and between that and the way things end for one of the characters, I can't really recommend this one (despite the mouthwatering descriptions of Korean food). Try Alyssa Cole's Reluctant Royals series for modern royal romance instead.

Dude: The Big Book of Zonker

 

Dude: The Big Book of Zonker by G.B. Trudeau  284 pp.

Zonker Harris has been a pivotal character in the Doonesbury comic strip for 50+ years. This collection of strips featuring the beloved Zonker covers his time at Walden College and living in the Walden Commune with the other characters through to his time serving as a nanny for his college football captain, B.D. and his wife, Boopsie, and daughter, Sam. The strips follow Zonker's career gaining national acclaim as a  professional sun tanner, as the Lt. Governor of Haiti, joining the British aristocracy, periodic returns home to his parents, helping to provide medical marijuana to cancer and AIDS patients, becoming a nanny for first for former roommates Mike and J.J. and then for B.D. This collection ends when B.D. loses a leg in combat and the story of B.D. continues in further volumes. In spite of the drug using, anti-establishment antics of Zonker, the comic strip contains much social/political commentary of the years of it's publication. In spite of much that is ridiculous, like surfing with a small baby, Zonker is a loveable dude and provides a kind of social conscience no matter how quirky.

Cascade Failure

Cascade Failure by L.M. Sagas, 405 pages

Jal is a genetically enhanced former Guild ranger on the run when he ends up on Ambit's Run, a Guild-adjacent ship with a tiny crew made up of AI Captain Eoan, medic/mechanic Nash, and grouchy old soldier Saint, the latter of whom happens to be an old friend from Jal's past. The Ambit crew isn't sure if they can trust Jal (and vice versa), but when they receive a distress call from an otherwise dead planet, they put aside their differences to rescue programmer Anke, the sole survivor on the planet. She has evidence of a conspiracy to destroy populated worlds in the name of commerce, and as expected, there are people after her who are determined to stop her from revealing the truth. The crew and visitors of Ambit's Run are soon on a mission to save themselves, and various unsuspecting planets, complicated by the fact that they don't know who to trust, including each other.

I love a good space opera, especially one with a found family like the one found in this book. I loved the characters and their unique flaws, and while the overall plot made sense, there were a few portions where I was a bit confused as to who was playing against whom. But it's a fun book, and I'll look forward to reading the next book in this series, which is due out later this year.

Timeline

Timeline by Michael Crichton (1999) 496 pages

Hammy recently reviewed this book as well.

The title refers to the time travel story going back to the 1300s in France near the time of the Hundred Years' War, but also to what could be called chapter headings. Something this book does well is build tension through the countdown that provides something like chapter breaks. The scientists who have traveled back in time have a device that they can activate to bring them back to the present when they've retrieved the Professor, who went back a few days before. But you know the mission will not be easy or quick! They will need the full time granted until the time travel machine automatically pulls them back. Marek and the Professor adjust pretty well to life in Medieval times with their knowledge and skills. Chris and Kate, despite some historical knowledge, stumble through the adventure. One scientist from the French archeology site stays in the present at the tech company facility of ITC. The CEO of ITC is a brash, ambitious guy who doesn't seem to care what sacrifices others make to advance his company. Turns out the technological problems in the present are as dangerous as the life-threatening challenges in the past.

Lavender House

 Lavender House by A.C. Rosen, 274 pages.

Andy Mill's life has gone to pieces after he was caught in a raid on a gay bar by his fellow policemen. In 1952 he's lucky that his job and reputation are all he lost, plenty of other men in his situation get beaten and jailed by his former colleagues instead. He's hours from tossing himself into San Francisco Bay when a widow comes up to him in a bar and offers him a job. Her wife (by all but law) was Irene Lamontaine, soap mogul and matriarch of Lavender House, an isolated country estate that serves as a haven for her queer family. But now Irene has been murdered, their perfectly protected bubble has turned poisonous with secrets, and Andy is their only chance of finding the murderer without destroying their own lives. 

I have some conflicting feelings about this book. I almost put it down in the first couple of chapters because the writing was going for gumshoe but mostly just felt very simplistic. I am ultimately glad that I kept going, because I did find myself pulled into the mystery. That being said, the mystery is not all that subtle and I found the conclusion to be something of a let down. The mystery itself reminded me a little of Agatha Christie's Poirot, and I think fans of older mysteries may enjoy it more.

Cloud Atlas

 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, 509 pages.

This nested novel is complex and twisting, but I will do my best to summarize it concisely nonetheless. The novel begins with the Pacific voyage of Adam Ewing in 1850, where there is much philosophy on the nature of race and civilization, and where Ewing is treated by his new friend Dr. Henry Goose treats him for a mysterious parasite. The story then jumps to 1931, when  disinherited bisexual composer Robert Frobisher finds his journal in the house of the aging composer who he is working for (and being abused by) in an attempt to break into the musical world. Then in the 1970s reporter Louisa Rey finds Frobisher's letters in the possession of a man murdered for trying to warn the world about an unsafe nuclear reactor, a catastrophe it falls on her to stop. A novelization of Rey's adventures are sent to publisher Timothy Cavendish in more-or-less present day England, which he reads on the run from debtors before being inadvertently locked in an old folks home. The film adaptation of Cavendish's ordeal is illicitly watched by Sonmi-451, a clone in a far future Korea taken over entirely by corporate greed where she has the opportunity to discover herself as a person instead of property for the first time. A recorded interview with Sonmi after her arrest is found by a young man in a post-apocalyptic iron age Hawaii, who's culture reveres Sonmi as a goddess. All of these source materials are interrupted, so all of these stories go unfinished. That is until we reach young Zachry on Hawaii, whose adventures at the end of recorded history reach their conclusion, as the stories finally ripple back through the centuries and all reach their conclusions. 

I picked up this book pretty much immediately after watching the 2012 film by the Wachowskis because I thought it was such a fascinating experiment in structure that I felt like I needed to compare them immediately. And I was not disappointed. Just as I suspected, the film and the novel are different in a lot of ways, but both play masterfully with their structures, allowing format to reinforce themes. And I would say that this is a novel driven by themes more than any other element; I believe I will be thinking about the details for quite a long time. This is an intensely literary novel, but despite that it rarely feels slow or difficult. It is full of action, and the characters are all flawed and compelling. I am also extremely impressed by how well Mitchell captured each of the many genres he wrote in, the style and language shifted dramatically in each story, which I think went a long way towards making each character feel complete in their own story (even if the language shift after the apocalypse was a little hard to parse until I got used to it. Overall I think this book was a masterwork, and I would definitely recommend it to others.

Micro

 Micro by Michael Crichton with Richard Preston (2011, 563 pages)

As I read more Michael Crichton, I realize some parts of the story are predictable. His characters are a little flat, and he clearly has a problem with greedy authority. But his science is incredible.

A group of graduate students are lured to a biotech company, Nanigen Microtechnologies, in Hawaii, with the idea of potentially hiring them out of grad school. It seems too good to be true. The students are shown incredible micro-computer technology they didn't even think possible.

Unfortunately, the horrors of the Hawaiian jungle are closer than they thought. Thankfully, they're biology students and can use their knowledge of flora and fauna to navigate. But knowledge can only get you so far when hostile ants are bigger than you, spider webs aren't easily shaken off, and hawks fly above.

It actually gets pretty scary at times -- the small things creeping around the Hawaiian jungle that pose no threat to us at our size, are terrifying and deadly at micro-human size.

Would have been four or five stars for great sci-fi, but lost stars for characters. If you liked Jurassic Park, you'll probably like the concepts in this book!

★★★☆☆

The Album of Dr. Moreau

The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory, 176 pages

This was my second time through this book about a boy band made up of human-animal hybrids and their horrific manager, who was found dead in his penthouse suite in Las Vegas. I took a glance at my first blog review, and yeah, nothing has changed: it's still a solid murder mystery that's full of fun nods to boy band culture and animal puns. A super fun novella.

You Will Never Be Me

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto, 336 pages

Seven years ago, Meredith was a social media influencer on the rise when she met Aspen, a woman who was struggling to find her own footing in the cutthroat social media world. Meredith took Aspen under her wing, and showed how to grow her following. But as Aspen became more successful and eventually bypassed Meredith's follower count, the dynamic of their relationship changed — what looked peachy on the outside was rotten on the inside, much like the social media personas they created. With heightened competition and cutthroat tactics, who knows what they'll do to get ahead of each other.

Prior to this novel, Sutanto's novels have been funny and filled with quirky characters that you'd love to spend time with (even if it's just a short period of time because they're a LOT) — see Dial A for Auntie and Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murder. This book, however, is a straight-up thriller with absolutely despicable characters (with the exception of six-year-old Elea, who I think I would get along with quite well) doing horrible things in the name of self-promotion and garnering a few more likes on Instagram. And you know what? Sutanto nails it. This book is full of slowly ratcheting tension, crazy twists, and everything you want out of a psychological thriller. Plus it drives a stake through the heart of influencer culture. Absolutely fantastic, and I can't wait to recommend it to everyone.

*This book will be published August 20, 2024.

The Great Wave

 The Great Wave by Michiko Kakutani (2024) 238 pp

Polemic alert! But not in a bad way. The obvious premise— all things are changing — hence the extended sub-title: The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider.  And to illustrate, the author produces a whirlwind overview of well-trod ground. This is preaching to the crowd writ large.

Well written and wide ranging, this work summarizes a potpourri of historical trends, current events, and prognostications. The primary weakness here is the mile-wide, inch-deep approach. For instance, a three-page overview of the gilded age fails to illuminate the complexities, intricacies and ramifications of the era - broad strokes instead of a careful brush.

The author is a well-respected journalist but this is not a scholarly tome, and although she fills the last forty pages of the book with notes/sources — mostly news articles, opinion pieces, and the occasional think-tank report — this is not a place to look for academic insights.

Criticism aside, as a person in the Biden/Trump demographic, I was pleased, enchanted and surprised by the interweaving of historical contextual references to the positive and strong accomplishments being made by today’s activists.

Truly, Madly, Deeply

Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur, 336 pages

Truly St. James is a successful romance author with a deep-seated belief in true love (based on her parents' long marriage, not her own now-defunct relationship with a cheating fiancé). When she meets divorce lawyer Colin McCrory on a podcast recording, she's sure that the two of them will never see eye-to-eye, though her parents' surprise trial separation and the undeniable chemistry she and Colin have certainly keep drawing them together.

I've really enjoyed Bellefleur's past romance novels, so I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, it seems poorly considered, almost unfinished. She picks up threads and then forgets about them (nothing ever comes of Truly writing something for her high school's GSA about bisexual erasure and her and Colin's subsequent discussion about being bi, making me wonder why it was included); there's no real conflict to set up a will-they-or-won't-they moment between the main characters; and Truly's parents' musical theatre game chucked my ability to suspend disbelief right out the window. Like I said, I had high hopes for this one, but it fell VERY flat. Skip this one and pick up Written in the Stars instead.

*This book will be published April 30, 2024.

Paws to Remember

Paws to Remember by Sofie Kelly (2023) 290 pages

Kathleen Paulson is a librarian in a town in Minnesota. Christmas is approaching; a power failure during a cold snap causes a water pipe to break in an old building used by artists. While helping a workman named Harry pull down damaged drywall in the building, Kathleen and Harry find a dead body in the wall. The body has been there for almost 40 years. Kathleen's fiance, Marcus Gordon, is the police detective who's on the case. They need to identify the body and figure out how she died. Ella, a woman in town who was adopted as a baby, suspects that the body is that of her birth mother. She knows that Kathleen has solved mysteries before, and she wants Kathleen to solve this one, too.

The mystery is kind of the usual "young problem-solving woman figures out who to talk to to learn more info about a mystery/murder, with a few people making it clear that they don't want her looking into this issue, which muddies the suspect list, then the climax." I have to say that the climax in this story is quite an active one. Added to that, Kathleen's two cats have extraordinary powers, including the power of one of her cats to walk through walls and the other to become invisible. Plus the cats seem to know a lot more than a cat would be expected to know... It's the 15th book in the series, although it's the first book I've read. A fast-moving story.

Camp Zero

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (2023) 320 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Libby. There are three narrators because there are three main parts of the story. This science fiction story is a subgenre called cli-fi, which means it is science fiction in the near future dealing with climate disaster. The globe is warming, the southern part of the U.S. is having record heat waves and wildfires (sound familiar?). Those that survive are pushing north into the previously frozen tundra of Canada. If you ever wanted to spend more time with the Jezebels in The Handmaid's Tale, this story might be for you. The main part of the plot follows Rose and other young women, all named after flowers, who work as "Blooms" in a far North mining/construction camp. Then there is a privileged college grad who takes a teaching job at the camp. His rosy outlook is quickly brought down by the harsh conditions at the arctic location. Third, we meet the women soldiers working at a military meteorological research station in another camp up north. Things get desperate and gruesome at times, since there is no escape for many of the characters. I didn't love the way the three plots are tied together in the end, but the journey leading up to those last chapters was pretty entertaining.
 

The Bright Sword

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman, 688 pages

The tales of King Arthur and Camelot have been told for almost 1,500 years, with almost as many variations as authors and stories. Most, however, have dealt with Arthur's modest upbringing and rise to the throne (a la The Sword and the Stone), the heyday of the Round Table and the feats of its knights (Gawain and the Green Knight), and/or the quest for the Holy Grail (for example, Monty Python and the Holy Grail). Grossman's book, however, focuses on the days after Arthur's downfall, after Lancelot and Guinevere have brought disgrace to Camelot, and after Arthur and his illegitimate son Mordred have killed each other. 

The Bright Sword finds would-be knight Collum arriving at Camelot just in time to learn of the death of Arthur from the ragtag handful of Round Table knights who remain alive. These are not the particularly great, godly, or even good knights, but the ones who survived. Without a leader or structure, they have no idea what to do to find a new king, and it's only after a lot of faffing about (albeit entertaining faffing about) that they figure out what their aim should be. 

There are a few whiplash moments in this book (brought on by a chapter suddenly being set years before the previous chapter), but altogether, this story of the leftovers is an excellent modern addition to Arthuriana. Highly recommended.

*This book will be published July 16, 2024.

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes

 The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian (2022, 350 pages)

A continuation of The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, this book focuses on two new characters. Kit's friend Rob started out as Marian's captive (or was she his captive?), but decides to help her hide from the public view after the heist in the first book.

Loved the casual queer representation, I also like the unique characters (loved reading about a aggressive woman who knows what wants in a romance!). Their banter is entertaining and it's a sweet story, more relaxed than the first book. It's cute watching this little family form!

★★★★☆

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb

 The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian (2021, 352 pages)

Queer romance, 18th century England, and a criminal element led me to pick up this book and it delivered.

Kit Webb mostly gave up his life of Robin Hood-esque crime after an injury and opened up a coffee shop in London. He's a little grumpy, but is happy with his new life.

Percy suspects his days as a lord are coming to an end, if a certain secret about his lord father are to be publicized. All Percy wants from him now is a book and enough money to care for himself and his childhood bestie (who is also his father's new young bride), Marian.

Neither Percy nor Marian are prepared to take this on,  so they reach out of Kit for help. Kit is reluctant to help the royal family that he despises, but finds this heist might be just what he needs.

Great queer romance with both comedy and drama bits. Wasn't too predictable and has funny characters that I genuinely want to read more about.

The ending of this book continues almost flawlessly into the sequel, The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes which is another queer romance but with a different couple (whom you meet in this book, but this is a continuation/beginning of their story!).

★★★★☆
 

The Happy Couple

The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan (2023) 258 pages

Books with multiple viewpoints always grab my interest. Here, Celine and Luke are engaged to be married. Celine is a pianist who loves nothing more than playing music. She's the kind who will just flit away with hardly a moment's notice to go play music, even if it means abandoning her boyfriend in Paris. Luke is quite nice in many ways, but he has cheated on Celine and lied to her. He also disappears during their engagement party. The author brings their relationship to life by giving each of them their own section of the book. Sections are also allotted to Celine's slightly wild sister Phoebe (the bridesmaid), who flunked out of university her first term; Luke's friend and former lover Archie, an attorney and a cokehead, who is to be the best man; and Vivian, one of the wedding guests (another former lover of Luke's who didn't put up with his baloney, which allows them to be close friends now). All of these viewpoints help the reader assess what's really going on with the engaged couple. Much of the book rests on wondering whether or not the wedding will actually take place. Also intriguing is getting a close look at nuances within so many of the relationships of these characters.

A Death in Door County

 A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan (2022, 336 pages)

This is my second wrapped book of 2024!*

A mysterious death on Lake Michigan leads police chief Jon to cryptozoologist and oddities store owner Morgan. The police need a little help with this death, it doesn't seem to be a drowning. And it's hard to ignore the bite marks on the body, so a large animal attack must be taken into consideration. Morgan asks to go out on the lake to check it out, not convinced it is a Nessie-like creature. I mean, could one even possibly live in the great lakes? She's not even 100% convinced when she thinks she sees a pair of glowing eyes in the water...

Charming mystery with lovable characters and fun twists. Maybe a little cheesy at times, but it was a perfect vacation read. Coincidentally, I read this book in Scotland. Bonus photo of it with me on Loch Ness!

Highly recommend this book if you've visited Door County before, it's fun to recognize different locations in the story!

★★★★☆

*I took 15 books I own but haven't read yet, wrapped them in wrapping paper, scrambled them, numbered them, and put them back on my shelf! Now I roll a die to see which I'll read next!

The Love Hypothesis

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (2021, 400 pages)

Was very excited to read this one as I LOVED Love, Theoretically also by Ali Hazelwood. While I tend to like romances of all kinds, the added science factor makes it interesting. It has the regular cast of fun, quirky characters. The few things I didn't like were the non-consensual kiss in the beginning and the fact that the main couple is a grad student and a professor. The book was cute but the age/power difference made it a little weird.

Would have done three stars, but the romance was well written to overcome the age gap!

★★★★☆

Indelible City

 Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong by Louisa Lim, 319 pages.

Hong Kong's conflicting colonial pasts has led to a pattern of intentional story building that has largely buried the city's true history. It was in England's best interest to portray the region as a "barren rock" to justify their possession and development of the area. Meanwhile, it's more advantageous to the Chinese government to present Hong Kong as having always been unified with China, to justify its reintegration. Journalist Louisa Lim, who grew up and reported in Hong Kong, attempts to sort through these competing myths to arrive not only at the history of the city, but also it's identity. This search for identity also carries her through to the present, where the city is attempting to operate under "one country, two systems" after it's return to China, and failing so spectacularly that large scale protest movements made international news. 

Lim's background as a journalist is very clear throughout this book. She interviews former colonial officials, art curators, amateur historians and archaeologists, and local artists of all stripes in an attempt to find the spirit of Hong Kong. Centrally woven through the whole narrative is the King of Kowloon, a controversial street artist who claimed ancestral possession of Hong Kong and surrounding territories, and who for many became a key symbol of Hong Kong itself. Lim paints a picture of a people who have been regularly, in fact nearly constantly, erased from their own history and excluded from making decisions about their own lives and governance; and have nonetheless managed to maintain a very unique identity and strong protest culture. I found this history to be both accessible and thorough, which can be a difficult line to walk, and I definitely came away feeling like I learned quite a lot.

Hum

Hum by Helen Phillips, 272 pages

May has lost her job to the artificial intelligence that she helped create, and forced with late bills and the increasing cost of living, she agrees to undergo a controversial surgery that will change her features just enough to make her invisible to facial recognition programs — and she'll get paid enough to do it to cover the bills for a while. When she gets paid, May decides to splurge on a couple of nights in the botanical garden, a walled, nature-filled resort that she would never have been able to afford otherwise. To fully appreciate the nature, however, she asks her husband and two children to be completely unplugged while they're on the short vacation — which starts out OK, but takes a disastrous turn when the kids wander off on their own.

It's not clear from the book when or where this story takes place, but while there is a bit more technology than we have today (the titular hums, for example, are humanoid AI robots), the prevalence of surveillance technology and the monetization of EVERYTHING seems disturbingly similar to what we're seeing today. May's experiences throughout the book (especially after the trip to the garden) are scarily relatable, and through her actions and reactions, Hum offers a meditation on technology and what it means to be a good mother. A fantastic, thought-provoking book, and I can't wait to recommend it widely.

*This book will be published Aug. 6, 2024.

March totals

Byron: 12 books, 2042 pages

Jan: 8 books, 2511 pages

Kara: 13 books, 4632 pages

Karen: 6 books, 2031 pages

Kevin: 2 books, 560 pages

Regan: 2 books, 902 pages

Total: 43 books, 12,678 pages

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend

 Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban, 400 pages.

At twenty, Beth is debuting slightly later than the average debutante. Her late father refused to "waste" the money on her when he was alive, but then he went and died and left nothing to her and her mother, so if Beth doesn't find a suitable husband by the end of the season they'll be out on the street. Gwen, on the other hand, is in her fourth season, and honestly not expecting to come out of this one with a husband either. Luckily her rake of a very wealthy father is in no real hurry to get her married off. As the girls start getting closer they come up with a bright idea, why not scheme to get their parents together instead? It would solve every problem, and surely the fact that they seem to sort of hate each other won't be any obstacle. As the season goes on they grow even closer, to close, in fact, to be allowable by law in 1857. Suddenly, between the quickly approaching end of the season and a very advantageous but completely loveless match for Beth, getting their parents together seems like the only way forward without breaking everyone's hearts.

This book was marketed as lesbian Bridgerton/Parent Trap, and honestly that seems pretty accurate. This book was really enjoyable. I genuinely believed in Beth and Gwen's relationship, and could also really sense the love the author had for the time period in the little details she included. I will say this book was a little bit less fun than I was expecting, as there's a lot of heartbreak and angst by volume compared to the expected hijinks. That being said the hijinks are in fact delightful, and I am happy to report that everything does eventually turn out alright. There was a teaser in the back for the next book in the series (whose premise seems to involve acquiring a gay couple to fake marry) and I will almost certainly pick that one up when it comes out.

The Women

The Women by Kristin Hannah, 471 pages

Just about everyone is familiar with the horrors associated with the Vietnam War — confusion, guerilla warfare, Agent Orange, napalm, prisoners of war kept for years in the "Hanoi Hilton," PTSD, antiwar protests that often got violent, etc. But for the most part, when we think about Vietnam veterans, we think about the soldiers and airmen. 

The Women turns the focus on one of the 10,000 female combat nurses who also went to Vietnam and saved the lives of many of those who came through their operating rooms. Inspired by her older brother (who proudly signed up and shipped out before being killed in action), Frances "Frankie" McGrath took her nursing degree to the front, unaware of the pain and destruction that awaited her. But as she spends time in country, she finds her purpose, thriving under pressure and helping anyone who needs medical attention. Upon returning home, however, she's mentally and emotionally adrift, grief-stricken by those she's lost, out of touch with her pre-war life, and boxed out by her parents and the VA.

It's obvious by now that Hannah knows how to write stellar historical fiction novels (The Nightingale, The Four Winds, etc), and this is no exception. She has a dedication to accuracy that's commendable, and does an excellent job shining a light on an overlooked aspect of the Vietnam War. A fantastic novel, and highly recommended to fans of historical fiction.

Maisie Dobbs; Birds of a Feather; Pardonable Lies

 Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (2003) 301 pages

I plunged into the first three books of the Maisie Dobbs mystery series. In the first book, Maisie Dobbs, named after the protagonist, the story begins in 1929, with Maisie opening her own business, "M. Dobbs. Trade and Personal Investigations." Her first client asks for Maisie to find out whether his wife is cheating on him or not. It becomes clear that Maisie is not just interested in doing a job, but in enhancing the lives of the people she works for. She follows the wife and also gets to know her. The story also jumps back in time to 1910 and traces Maisie's life from the time when she and her father were grieving her mother's death. Her father becomes concerned about his daughter and finds her a place to live and work in the house of a wealthy family that he delivers groceries to. While their separation is difficult for them both, Maisies's life trajectory is altered. She eventually becomes educated and later becomes a nurse in France during WWI.

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear (2004) 311 pages

In Birds of a Feather, Maisie is tasked with finding Charlotte, the daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur, the owner of upscale grocery stores. She learns that three of the girls that Charlotte used to hang around have recently died. Maisie needs to figure out whether Charlotte fled because she thinks she is in danger, or if Charlotte fled because she is a murderer.

We learn a bit more about Detective Inspector Stratton, who sometimes butts heads with Maisie, but who also seems interested in a having relationship with her. Another suitor is Andrew Dene, a doctor who was also mentored by Maisie's mentor, Maurice.

Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (2005) 342 pages

In Pardonable Lies, Maisie juggles several tasks: A well-regarded British barrister wants Maisie to help him honor the deathbed wish of his wife, to find out whether their son, Ralph, had really died in the war. It would seem that the barrister would prefer that his son were dead, based on the strained relationship they had had. Also related to war, a college friend of Maisie's‒Priscilla‒who lost all three of her brothers in the war, asks Maisie to find out where her brother Peter died, because that information was never turned over to the family. In a third case, Maisie is looking for justice for Avril, an abused thirteen-year-old whose stepfather handed her over to a man who brought her to London to work as a prostitute. When that man died, Avril was accused of his murder. While Maisie's assistant Billy finds out information about Avril's family, Maisie goes to France to investigate the war deaths, and to also confront her own war demons from nursing near the battlefields and sustaining injuries. Maisie is also feeling somewhat estranged from her mentor, Maurice Blanche, finding it hard to know whether she can trust him anymore.

I enjoyed all these stories, which show Maisie's poor background and her evolution into a different kind of investigator as tutored by her mentor, Maurice Blanche and by Khan, a man from Ceylon, who teaches meditation.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark, 224 pages

Eveen is an undead assassin who has no memory of her life, but is slowly working off years of tribute to her patron goddess, abiding by the three unbreakable rules of assassins: a contract must be just, you can't kill anyone who isn't contracted, and once you take a contract, you have to carry it out. But when Eveen takes a contract that involves killing someone who evokes impossible memories, she has to reevaluate exactly what "unbreakable" means while simultaneously solving the mystery of who this woman is and keeping them both alive long enough to sort it out.

This was a ridiculously fun book, with excellent worldbuilding and intriguing characters. Of course, that could describe any of Clark's books, so I'm not particularly surprised by this. It's well worth the short time it'll take to read through this one.

*This book will be published Aug. 6, 2024.

Uncommon Measures

 Uncommon Measures, by Natalie Hodges, 224 pgs, 2022

A great piece of memoir writing that tracks the author's failed dreams of becoming a first-rate, solo violinist alongside some of the most recent scientific breakthroughs as they apply to music and our perception of time. Hodges recounts her struggle with performance anxiety, practicing difficult classical pieces over and over again, only to miss notes during the execution. She also touches on her Asian-American heritage growing up with a "tiger" mom, dancing Tango to unlearn her fear of performance, and ultimately accepting that the grand musician's dream she once held for herself must go unrealized. Along the way, she introduces us to several scientific studies regarding how the musicians brain operates during times of improvisation, how entrainment works to help us move to a beat and how unburdening your mind from the physics of time allows people to enter a "flow state." Of interest to anyone inclined towards classical music, performance, or even sports--a heartfelt and vulnerable work that covers an often unviewed aspect of the artist life. 

Listen to this playlist of all of the music mentioned throughout the book.

Dominoes

Dominoes by Phoebe McIntosh, 288 pages

Layla McKinnon has always thought it was just a funny quirk that she and her fiancé, Andy, have the same last name — she's biracial and grew up in North London, he's from an upper-middleclass family with deep Scottish roots. But when she sees a documentary just a few weeks before their wedding day, Layla discovers that Andy's ancestors may have enslaved her ancestors. The revelation sends Layla into a tailspin, causing her to re-evaluate everything from her lack of genealogical knowledge to her upcoming nuptials. 

The premise of this book set it up to potentially veer into sappy cheese or dark and gritty (or, if the author really mishandled it, way too light and quirky). Instead, McIntosh walked that very fine line, and created a book that's an enjoyable, engrossing read that also addresses colorism, the generational impact of slavery, and privilege head on in the context of Layla's life. I was impressed, and highly recommend this one.

The Fox Wife

 The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo, 390 pages.

This novel follows two protagonists in Manchuria at the start of the twentieth century. Bao is a detective in a time before private detectives are really a thing that exist, but he's been able to hear lies since he was a small child, and using this power to solve people's problems brings him great satisfaction. He is especially intrigued when a girl is found frozen to death in an alley and people say it is the work of foxes, a subject that has fascinated him his whole life. Snow is a fox spirit (a traditionally trickstery spirit who consumes qi to live) on the hunt for her child's murderer. Their separate searches often overlap across Manchuria at the end of the Qing dynasty, and together the reader can put together answers to a whole slew of questions. 

I quite enjoyed this book, although I definitely have some criticisms. The setting was really interesting, and I think Choo did an excellent job making this story feel very rooted into it's setting while also keeping it accessible to people who don't know all that much about Chinese history. I also really like both of the protagonists, and I really enjoyed watching them interact with the world. Unfortunately, even when the protagonists eventually meet it never really feels like the two stories come together, which is puzzling since the plots definitely do. The perspectives shift every chapter, and I found it, without fail, jarring. I believe it is because it feels like the two protagonists are in different genres despite having very similar plots. Despite sometimes feeling like I was reading two books squished together, I still really liked it, and found it fun to put together the information gathered across different plots. I would recommend this book, especially to fans of historical mysteries and classic detective readers who don't mind a splash of fantasy.

My Life in Pieces

 

My Life in Pieces: An Alternative Biography by Simon Callow 320 pp.

Actor and author Simon Callow provides an overview of his life and work in theaters, movies, and authoring articles, critiques, and books. It is part memoir and part anthology of his writings and sometimes seems jumbled as a result. His beginnings in the theater were not as an actor but in the workings and accounting in the box office, first at the Old Vic when Laurence Olivier was running things, and later at other venues. Watching the actors and the process of producing plays made Callow decide he wanted to act and he began to study acting. It was during that period when he became active in the gay liberation movement. He also began writing, generally about the theater and was frequently published in periodicals involving theater, film, and actors. Directing soon followed. While not as well known in the U.S., Callow has become a fixture in British theater earning a CBE for his service to acting. As I said, this book is a mixture of his life and his writings but, while mostly linear in time frame, still feels disjointed. Callow read the audiobook.